Historic Alleys

The Zamorin’s Demise - 1766

2012-01-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hyder’s takeover of Calicut

April 27th 1766 - Hyder Ali and his troops are at the gates of Calicut. The rumors of his violent reprisals against the Nayars up north have reached the Zamorin’s ears. There is perhaps no hope now for Calicut and the people in the domains of the Zamorin. He decides to take his life and sets fire to his armory after locking himself into the powder room. With that comes the end of the long and unbroken 600 year reign of the Thamburan – the Tamuri or the Samoothiripad of Calicut. Soon the lands and domain go into the hands of the Mysore Sultans and some decades later, to the British, thus recording an inglorious end to the glorious fiefdom of Malabar. This is what most of us have learnt from various history books. What actually happened in those last days? There are quite a few versions, some wild stories while others are possibly closer to reality. Perhaps we should take a look.

I wished (as I have said a few times before) I could discuss this at length with KV Krishna Iyer, but in those days of his retirement, in our village of Pallavur, where he used to walk along majestically now and then on the road near our house, dhoti tied around his neck or chest (he was a little bit of an eccentric at times), I had no interest in history. But then I do have one source to refer, his oft mentioned work on the Zamorins of Calicut. So let us start with that.

The 116th Zamorin was a warring Thampuran from the Puthiya Kovilakom. The princes of Thekkamkoor, Vadakkamkoor and Kayamkulam had fled northwards to Calicut. The Cochin raja, a cause for much of the Zamorin’s problems, sent Ezekiel Rabi to Calicut for negotiations of support, and the Dutch were also in discussions with the Zamorin. The war that followed went in favor of the Travancore Raja and quickly the Cochin raja changed sides and went with the winner. Finally after the frantic efforts of captive Paliyat Komu Menon, Marthanda Varma signed a peace & friendship treaty with the Zamorin during January 1757. The Zamorin in return during the following months applied relentless pressure on the Dutch in Cochin and eventually a treaty was signed by March 1758. Finally the wars were over, the regions around Travancore, Cochin and Calicut were at relative peace…Soon the Zamorin behind all this died and the new person took over.

So they thought, for the enemies of the North, the Mysore rulers were having other ideas. Little were the Calicut rulers to know that they would soon be in full flight southwards, reversing the earlier flight from South to North.

This was the 117th Zamorin of Calicut, from the Kizhakke Kovilakom, not considered very able. He had problems at home too where his chief lieutenant Mangat Achan withdrew from the court and other commanders rebelled for some reasons. Prof MR Raghava Warrier concurs by explaining -The ruling Zamorin and his 3 sisters were all adopted from the Neeleswaram Palace and he was, thus, alien to the Calicut culture. Enough indications exist to show that the ruling bureaucracy was also reluctant to accept the ‘outsider’. The difference of opinion which arose about the engagement with Hyder’s forces and the humiliating defeat of Zamorin’s forces at the battle of Iringal, led to the ouster of Mangatt Achan, the Prime Minister-equivalent. The Zamorin came into power at a difficult juncture, for Marthanda Varma was in full swing again, trying to further his borders and the Zamorin soon lost Trichur and some other places. But the Travancore king was also under threat from the Carnatic rulers attacking from the south, so he soon concluded a treaty with the Zamorin at Padmanabhapuram in 1763. As one can imagine all these protracted wars depleted much of the Calicut treasury..

It was during this period, starting around 1756, that the Palghat Achan requested support and got it from Hyder at Dindigul. Haider sent his army to support the Palghat Achan, but the Zamorin decided to buy out Haider, due to the other wars and more pressing problems he had at hand. The settlement to pay 12 lakhs in compensation was to prove too dear very soon, as we shall see..

In the meantime, Hyder became the Sultan of Mysore and demanded the 12 lakhs owed, which the Zamorin did not have. As Hyder’s messengers (money collectors) came back with no money, Hyder moved to take Calicut in 1766. The Zamorin was soon becoming powerless for he had lost much support from other bastions such as the Moplahs after the treaties with the Portuguese and the Marakkar episodes.

So as we see, Hyder was bearing down the North with some 12,000 troops. The troops had a head on skirmish at Chirakkal where the Zamroin’s forces fought fiercely but had to withdraw for the Mysore army, infantry were too strong for their kind of fighting. The defense lines were breached, and Hyder paused to rest & recuperate. But by then he had an ally in the Ali raja of Chirakkal to carry on the cause. So he deputed the Ali raja to Calicut to take care of the Zamroin. Now we take up the story from Krishna Iyer

KV Krishna Iyer Zamorins of Calicut (pages 226-228)

Hyder sent Ali Raja by sea to Calicut. The Eralpad who was in charge of the fort refused to surrender whereupon the Aliraja infested it with the help of local Moplahs….The Zamorin tried to make peace but the demand from Hyder now was 1 crore gold mohurs (in fact Hyder was so sure even later that the Zamorin had this kind of money and spent much time hunting for it in various places at Malabar ..so where did it go? Did it go with the folk that fled to Travancore? And is that part of what you see in the temple vaults? Perhaps…for it would have been natural for the Travancore raja to demand large sums to offer asylum to the whole family and others who came there)..On April 20th Hyder arrived and made camp at Palayam in Calicut, a few hundred yards away from the fort and palace.

With his arrival the siege became more rigorous. As provisions ran short, the Zamorin sent the Eralpad and the Thampuratis to his Ponnani palace. As his position became more and more desperate, he grew more and more stubborn in his refusal to surrender. As last he resolved to put an end to his life and with it the fort which no enemy has entered as a conqueror since the first Zamorin laid the foundation (KVK was wrong here, the Portuguese had entered it during Albuquerque’s time….See my blog on this subject). On the 27th of April, corresponding to 14th medam 941 ME, Chitra the fourteenth lunar asterism, he set fire to the powder magazine with his own hand and was blown up with the fortress, from which his ancestors had marched out, to conquest & annex.

KVK bases this on Michaud’s history of Mysore, so let us see what Michaud had to say

History of Mysore - JF Michaud (pages 23-24)

The city fell under the power of Hyder Ali and the Zamorin the king of Calicut became his prisoner. This prince belonged to the religion of the Brahmins and it was his custom to feed a large number of the poor of his own religion, he sent to demand provisions from the victor so as to be able to keep up his own charities. Hyder wished to have an interview with the king of the nayars but the latter, true to his principles of his sect which did not permit holding discourse personally with the Mohamedans declined the visit of Hyder Ali. The victor remained in his camp and sent the king of Calicut a quantity of grain to feed 500 people. But later it became impossible for Hyder to deprive himself of provisions which became even more necessary for himself and his army. The poor who were living on the charities of the king of Calicut were from this moment deprived of his generous help and the cry of famine made itself heard in the palace of the chief of nayars. Hyder sent some Mysore chiefs to visit him, they returned to inform him that something extraordinary was happening, they had noticed on the kings face a somber and sinister air. He had already been fasting for three days for a religious ceremony they learned ere long that the unlucky prince had collected together all his family (how about those who were sent to Ponnai?) and after having recited prayers in the presence of principal Brahmins, had set fire to his own palace and thrown himself into the fire.

History of Ayder Ali Khan-Nabob Bahadur - Maistre de La Tour written in 1784 (Pages 62-72)

Some contemporary historians like Kareem doubt the veracity of this book and the identity of the author, which I will discuss later in another article, however this is the account written closest in time to the event.

MDLT starts with a purported massacre of 6,000 Muslims by the Zamorin’s forces whereupon they go to Hyder and Aliraja for help (Note that this MLDT account was subsequently revised by Tipu’s son, so I doubt some parts of it especially this part, for now). He confirms that Hyder started out with 12,000 troops, but just 4 (or 12 mentioned later) cannons and his fleet of (some 95) ships to support from the sea, supported by 8,000 of Ali raja’s moplahs. The Zamorin assembled 100,000 forces but they were not tactically good or well disciplined. Now we zoom in to the event itself

Hyder caused his army to halt near these settlements (Kurumbranad), and sent an offer of peace to the Samorin, and other princes, on reasonable terms. The Samorin, who was old, remained quiet in his palace, and sent word that he waited for the conqueror, and trusted to his discretion. Hyder marched for Calicut, and found no other resistance in his route but from a large pagoda built on a mountain, and fortified. In this place the nephew and presumptive heir of the Samorin had taken refuge, and found means to make his escape from thence, though it was invested after his departure, the Bramins opened the gates to Hyder. The conqueror continued his journey to Calicut, and took up his residence at the English factory, where his fleet arrived before him. He inquired for the Samorin on his arrival, and was informed that he was in his palace, without any guard, waiting the commands of the conqueror; from whom he hoped for mild treatment, as he had always formally opposed the resolution to massacre the Mapelets, and had foretold the consequences to his nephews. On this intelligence, Hyder returned into his palanquin, and gave orders to advise the Samorin of his approaching visit. He met this Prince, who came forth and threw himself at his feet. Hyder hastened to raise him, and the Samorin offered his presents, consisting of two small basins of gold, one filled with precious stones, and the other with pieces of gold, and two small cannons of gold, with carriages of the same metal. The two princes (Ravi Varma’s) having entered the palace, Hyder testified his respect for the Samarin, and promised to restore his dominions (on condition of his paying a small annual tribute) as soon as his subjects had laid down their arms, and the affair of the Mapelets was amicably settled. These two princes parted, apparently much satisfied with each other but the world was highly astonished the next day, to behold the palace of the Samarin on fire and though Hyder himself assisted in procuring help, it was impossible to save anything, the edifice being entirely wood and the Samarin, with all his family, and, as it is presumed, much treasure, perished in the flames. This prince had himself caused the palace to be set on fire, being resolved to terminate his life in that manner, on account of some letters he had received from his nephews, and the kings of Travancore and of Cochin. These letters contained the bitterest reproaches and execrations, treating him as the betrayer of his country, and apostate to his religion, which he had abandoned to the Mohumedans. The Bramin who had conveyed these letters to him; vowed to him at the same time, that he was degraded and excluded from his caste and that all the Bramins and Nayres had sworn never to have any communication with him. The tragic end of the Samarin affected Hyder extremely and he was so irritated against the nephews of that prince, that he publicly swore he would never restore their dominions. (From here continues the story of the Ravi Varmas of Calicut that I wrote about earlier)

Samoothirimaar – PCM Raja

This interesting book provides some additional clues while referring to the above accounts. It also says that the agreement between the Palghat Achan’s and Hyder was that the Zamorin would be delivered to them as a prisoner after surrender. Accordingly they proceeded to Calicut to collect the Zamorin but heard of the account of immolation. The author also (quoting Lewis Rice states that the Zamorin was prepared to sign off all his wealth to Hyder ( which Hyder agreed to) , but when he saw Hyder bearing upon him with his army and horsemen was perturbed. Later hearing that his ministers were tortured and fearing shameful death by torture or hanging, committed the immolation act. A Sreedhara Menon also concurs with this account.

PA Syed Mohammed – Kerala Muslim Charitram

Syed Mohammed provides some more depth to these accounts, he states that the Zamorin met Hyder at Kurumbranad and agreed to settle the matters for 28 lakh Rupees. The discussions went amicably and the Zamorin invited Hyder to visit him at Calicut. This discussion and settlement were opposed by certain members of the Zamorin family who threatened him of dire consequences. The aforementioned Eralpad was ready for a stiff fight until death. During this period the Travancore kings also threatened him with consequences if he reached any agreement with Hyder. This continuous pressure forced the Zamorin to commit the act of immolation and the whole episode also saddened Hyder.

Campbell - History of Hindustan

The Zamorins, or Kings of Calicut, were ascertained to entertain 1,200 Bramins in their household, and until they had first been served with victuals, he never began to eat himself: it was etiquette also, that he never spoke to, or suffered a Mahomedan to come into his presence. Hyder, after taking the palace, sent his compliments, and desired to see the Zamorin, but was refused; but the Zamorin admitted Hyder's head Brahmin to speak to him, and carry his answer back to his master, who was to be at some distance from them. After this interview was over, Hyder sent them rice for only 500 men the first day; this they dispensed with; the second day he sent enough for 300, and the third day, for only 100; after which, all further supplies were refused, nor any notice taken of the Zamorin's complaints and applications. After fasting three days and finding all remonstrance’s vain, he set fire to his own palace, and was burned, with some of his women and three Brahmins, the rest having left him.

C. K. Kareem - Malabar under Hyder & Tipu

In spite of the entreaties of the Zamorin and his plea that he had no money available for the full settlement, the conqueror was unrelenting. Driven to despair, the Zamorin sought escape from his dilemma through death. The position was such that no one can blame either the Zamorin or Haidar Ali for creating a situation leading to such a crisis.

Logan - Malabar manual

Adds to the accounts above by stating that another fear the Zamorin had was shameful death either by hanging or by blowing from a gun barrel.

Gidwani – The sword of Tipu Sultan

This book provides the most preposterous commentary, though fictional. Now, it appears Gidwani by his own admission, consulted many sources and papers (not any that I could find) before he came to these astounding conclusions, which even a lay person in Malabar can easily rubbish. Not only did he make one error, but two combining the stories of Ayaz Khan and the Zamorin’s death into one.

According to his book Chapter 3, Ayaz Khan (See my earlier blog on him for more correct details) was born as the son of Ashila banu a famous courtesan of Calicut (ugh..he now equates Calicut with Lucknow – dances, mujras and so on, even before the Mysore Sultans brought in their brand of life to Feroke). Seems it cost a handful of gold to hear her sing and two to see her dance and the only person she was freely available to was the (old) Zamorin. Apparently Ayaz was born to her after her liaison with the stable boy Maqbool or Hayat her step brother. Ashila of course declared that Ayaz was the Zamorin’s son and the Zamorin was proud about it! Anyway let us humor Gidwani’s fancy for a while and see how far he goes. Ayaz is then brought up as a Nair, becomes the chief of the palace guard (ha!) but is more interested in composing (the real Ayaz never did that) poems!! Well, Hyder is in town and the Zamorin and 30 of his chiefs go to Hyder and declare allegiance. On the fateful night in 1766, the Zamorin was drunk, Ayaz tells the Chief minister to move the treasure and the Zenana and orders the army to march to the ‘Paldha’ fortress (where on earth is that in Malabar? Maybe in Atlantis). He then goes and tells Hyder that the Zamorin has ordered the troops against him. Ayaz is gladly taken in by the furious Hyder and is asked to go and capture the (already imprisoned) Zamorin. He quietly gets into the palace (hoodwinking all the guards) and the Zamorin’s bedroom and sets fire to it. He also tortures the chief minister, finds the treasure chests and hands them over to Hyder. Ayaz later joins up with Hyder and moves on to Mysore, fearing the wrath of the Malabar Nair’s. Hyder later converts him and makes him governor of Chitaldurg.

The book incidentally is dedicated to ‘the country that lacks a historian’. Perhaps you can get away with all this by titling it a historical ‘novel’.

Henry Beveridge - History of India

Maan Vicran Raj, the zamorin, convinced that resistance would prove unavailing, and being assured that early submission would procure for him special favor, made his appearance in Hyder's camp on the 11th of April, 1766; and, after a most flattering reception, and a present of valuable jewels, was confirmed in his territories as Hyder's tributary, on agreeing to pay a military contribution of four lacs of Venetian sequins. Mutual suspicions of insincerity soon arose, and as the monsoon was approaching, while the contribution was unpaid, Hyder believed that it was intended to delay payment till the season would make it impossible for him to enforce it. In this belief he placed both the Zamorin and his ministers under restraint, and endeavored to extort treasure from the latter by subjecting them to torture. The Zamorin, to avoid similar indignity and cruelty, barricaded the doors of the house in which he was confined, and setting fire to it, perished in the flames, with many of his attendants; several of those who happened to be excluded rushing in to seek a voluntary death with their master.

Mark Wilkes -History of Mysore

Maan Vicran Raj, the Samoree (Zamorin), perceiving that resistance would be ultimately unavailing, and having heard of the peculiar favor which the Poligar of Raidroog had secured by an early submission, opened a negotiation ,and proposed, if a safe conduct should be assured to him, to pay his respects to Hyder for the purpose of adjusting the terms of submission. His proposal being heeded to, the Raja proceeded to camp, where he was received by Hyder on the 11th of April 1766, with marks of particular distinction, and presented with valuable Jewels. The terms adjusted at this interview were the confirmation of the Raja in his actual possessions as the tributary of Hyder, on his payment of four lacs of Venetian sequins as a military contribution. This arrangement being made, the army moved forward towards Calicut, accompanied by the Raja; but at the very moment that Hyder was receiving him with the honors which have been stated, a column was in motion by a circuitous route to seize the post of Calicut, the garrison reasonably concluding from this movement that the Raja was a prisoner, considered defense to be unavailing, and evacuated the place on the same night. Hyder had adopted this precaution from his experience of the deception practiced by this Raja regarding the military contribution of 1757; and the Raja apprehended from this virtual infraction of the present agreement, measures of farther circumvention on the part of Hyder. After the expiration of a few days, Hyder intimated his expectation of receiving the stipulated contribution: and the Raja consulted with his ministers regarding the proper measures for its realization. But whether from inability, or design, they appeared to make but little progress in its collection. As the monsoon was not distant, Hyder, suspecting deception, placed both the Raja and his ministers under restraint; and applied to the latter the customary Indian methods of extorting treasure. The Raja, apprised of the cruelties and inanities offered to his ministers determined to anticipate the possibility of a similar disgrace to himself; and having barricaded the doors of the house in which he was confined, set fire to it in several places, and was consumed in the ruins in spite of all the exertions made by Hyder's command to extinguish the flames. In the remembrance after a lapse of years of ‘extraordinary a scène’ that which has been related, and even in the confusion of such a moment, a spectator may have misconceived what he saw; but I have been assured by more than one eye-witness, that several of the Raja's personal attendants who were accidentally excluded when he closed the door, afterwards threw themselves into the flames, and perished with their master.

Narendra Krishna Sinha - Haider Ali

even states

Apprehending that he was no better than a prisoner, the Zamorin, with the help of 4 or 5 Pathans who were with him, had cloths soaked in oil with which he put fire to the house in which he was kept and burnt himself to death.

Galletti in Dutch in Malabar

In conquering the kingdom of the Zamorin, he captured also the king, whom he treated with contempt, kept a prisoner in his own palace, mocked and threatened to flog as a common Malabari unless he pointed out his treasures. The Zamorin was worried that he would not be cremated according to religious tradition if killed by Hyder.

So in summary one can conclude that the reigning Zamorin, a product of both the ancient Zamorin lineage and the Kolathiri princes, hailing from Neeleswaram, was a deeply troubled man during this period of strife and stress. He was pressured by the internal politics of the Kovilakom, living as a misfit and stranger in the Calicut palace, with little support. The nephews the Ravi Varma’s were against his ideas of appeasement with Hyder, to survive. He had lost the most important war against the Travancore Army, he could not marshal support from the Dutch or the English, the Mangat Achan had resigned and the situation was in a state of proper shambles. The Moplahs had thrown in their lot with the enemy. Into this scene of turmoil entered Hyder with his impossible demands. The Zamorin first decided to continue the stonewalling, but finds that he has no choice but to settle up with Hyder. Perhaps they had an amicable discussion at Kurumbranad during which the reduced 24 lakhs was arrived at as compensation.

This of course was not acceptable to the Eralpad and others who then did nothing with the collection of the 24 lakhs. The caste issues had become stronger by this time, one can see that the Zamorin would not even talk to a Muslim. The kings of Travancore & Cochin built up the pressure further asking him not to accede under any circumstance to Hyder. They actually wanted the fighting to continue at Malabar so that Hyder would not venture further southwards into their territories. So if Calicut surrendered, Hyder would have time to venture south before the monsoons. Incredible pressure build up due to these palace intrigues and the pressure from the Cochin and Travancore kings troubled the old Zamorin no end. Then again many others, perhaps close relatives wrote to him and said that he was being a traitor in agreeing to Hyder’s demands. The threat of excommunication was perhaps the proverbial ‘last straw’ which made the Zamorin take the eventual step of setting fire to the palace built of wood and immolating himself. That was the end of the 600 year reign of the Zamorins.

Haider was not to last long – he died a painful miserable death by cancer, far from home and while on a march, a few years later, in 1782. Their (Mysore sultans) attempt at empire creation was very much shorter than the 600 year reign of the Zamorin’s, an unenviable 40 years. Like Vasco Da Gama, that was perhaps his destiny, to die a painful death, far from home, for all his misdeeds.

References

Zamorins of Calicut – KV Krishna Iyer
Malabar manual – Logan
History of Kerala – A Sreedhara Menon
Malabar under Hyder & Tipu – CK Kareem
History of Mysore - JF Michaud
History of Mysore - Wilkes
History of Ayder Ali Khan-Nabob Bahadur - Maistre de La Tour
Hindu Muslim relation in N Malabar - T Gabriel
The sword of Tipu- Gidwani
Henry Beveridge states in his History of India
Dutch in Malabar – Galetti

Related articles

Ayaz Khan article
Ravi Varmas of Calicut
Palakkad Fort story

The Danish factory in Calicut 1752-1796

2012-01-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

We had all kinds of foreign traders in Calicut in those medieval periods and in that cosmopolitan field which comprised Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, English, Turkish, Dutch, French and so on, there were also a few from faraway Denmark. Yes, you heard right there were Danes as well in Calicut once upon a time; in the 1750’s…..So I guess we should get to know them. It is perhaps interesting to look at that short period when they also staked their claim to get into the trade at Calicut. What interested them? Spices like pepper, cloth, tea or guns? In any case their stay and situation was at best precarious, for the Portuguese are gone, the Dutch were gingerly clinging on, with the Travancore Raja setting sights towards the North and the Mysore sultans planning their forays down South through Malabar. The Anglo Dutch and Anglo French wars were on, In the middle of all this, the English in Malabar, Calcutta and Madras were waiting and watching from the fences, scheming for the spoils.

Somewhere close to today’s beach hotel, a little to the south, near the old jail stood the first of the hospitals (it was also a travelers bungalow for some time, perhaps confused at times with the Malabar British club that the limerick king Lear stayed in) in Calicut. Before those medical personnel occupied it, this was the Danish warehouse or factory.

After the British East India Company was formed, some wealthy Europeans decided on forming competing organizations. The organization thus formed in 1717 was called the Ostend Company. Later on the Danish East India Company took shape and came down to the Coromandel Coast, planning liaisons with Malacca and other spice ports in the Far East. They established a base at Fort Dansborg in Tranquebar and other Eastern bases at Serampore and in the Nicobar islands. The Danish also established several commercial outposts, governed from Tranquebar: They were Oddeway Torre or Eddowa or Edava Tura South of Cochin (1696 – 1722) and Calicut.1752 - 1791 and later in Colachel.

First a few words of the Danish EIC – was founded in 1616, following a privilege of Danish King Christian IV. During those good days, the Danish East India Company and Swedish East India Company imported even more tea than the British East India Company but smuggled 90 percent of it, interestingly, into Britain, where it was sold at a huge profit. In 1733, it was renamed the Royal Danish Asiatic Company and the new company was granted a 40-year monopoly on all Danish trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. For the next 20 years some 60 ships covered the distance for trade and made over 20% profit. In 1772, the terms was extended for another 20 years but this time private persons were allowed to trade using Danish vessels. For various geopolitical reasons we won’t get into presently, the company lost its monopoly, and in 1779 the British EIC took over its assets.

So it was in 1618, that a fleet of six ships, including several men-of-war and 250 marines, set sail for India under the command of a young nobleman and admiral, Ove Giedde (1594-1660). The originally envisaged establishment of a trading post at Trincomalee on Ceylon failed (actually the entire expedition was undertaken at the instigation of a Dutch trader named Marcellius de Boschhouwer who apparently had the Ceylon kings support and a Lankan wife – but died during this voyage and the Ceylon idea was promptly scuttled after the Ceylon King had arguments over it with Giedde). In southern India, however, the Nayak of Tanjore, under the treaty of November 19th , 1620, and with a moderate annual payment, ceded to the Danes the small fishing and trading port of Taramgambadi on the Coromandel Coast. It was named Tranquebar by the Europeans and known as Trankebar in Denmark. With this deal, the ruler meant to counterbalance Portuguese predominance in Tanjore’s principal port of Nagapattinam. Hendrick Hess with 20 personnel and a few cannon took charge of this fort. The rent due to the Tanjore Nayak was Rs 3,111 per annum. With that the Danish presence in India was formally established and they continued to be part of the India trade much to the British annoyance for a period until 1808. By 1772, there were over 300 Danes in Tranquebar, but when Denmark ceased to be neutral in 1807 things changed.

In the scheme of things, they brought in luxury goods from Europe in small quantities and sold it or auctioned it to the British and others in Madras. Then again there was increased demand for ammunition and armaments. For the most part this was profitable, i.e. till the shipping lanes had too many ships or till money markets thinned out and purchasing power reduced. The return voyage took in mainly cloth from the Tamil weavers. The lading of the ships is interesting and tells you how things were done so differently. All ships needed ballast for even keel and so one of the goods had to be heavy. Then again there had to be stuff for filling up the hold tightly or filler cargo. A typical Danish ship was filled up as follows, 80% made up of textiles, ballast was Bengali Saltpetre or sugar, redwood as under cargo and bamboo as side packing between the cargo and the sides. Demand for pepper from Europe of course meant that it was one of the cargoes carried in the return voyage; the pepper was strewn about the ship and generally used as a filler cargo, though it meant the quality was affected. Pepper was poured between cargo or stowed between the bales of cotton. However the initial supply came overland to the Coromandel through the Palghat gap and at inflated costs. This coupled with demands for armaments from the Travancore kingdom meant that a Malabar coastal presence was to be established. But the problem was the Dutch and English opposition to the idea and the fact that they had already cornered most of the pepper supply.

So the next ‘lodge’ was a small warehouse (more aptly a thatched hut) in Edava established around 1698. But on the West coast the English and the Dutch were not too supportive of the Danes and the English also established a factory in Edava in 1629. "It is a thatched House", says Captain Cope about Edava factory, "of a mean Aspect and their Trade answers every way ... By 1702 the Danish resident Bertelsen left the factory for unknown reasons and by 1702 it was formally abandoned. In 1755 a very large portion of the remaining facilities were washed away by the sea, which was anyway eating up the shoreline. In the same year 1752 two Danish warships arrived at Tranquebar to reestablish the colony, and to protect it from the impact of the Anglo-French wars.

Edava was soon becoming untenable and that is when the Zamorin of Calicut induced them to come to his capital. Kulachel, south of Trivandrum was another location where the Danish traded.

In 1752, DAK established a pepper procurement lodge at Calicut. Ans Arnest Bonsark the Danish Governor in Tranquebar deputed Jacob Christove Suytenan (Christopfer Soetmann actually came to Calicut first in 1749 on a secret mission to sound out the Zamorin) to meet the Zamorin and conclude a deal with him based on three tenets, payment of customs duties, supply of armaments when needed and provide armed support if the Zamorin’s dominions came under attack. Accordingly the Zamorin allocated a plot of land next to the French factory across the beach, called ‘Valappil kadavathu’.

Let’s now take a look at the agreement with the Zamorin (3 translations)

Powers given by the King SAMOORIN to the Factory of the Royal Company - I the King Samoorin Pundorrecon give my powers to Jacob Christovo Suytman who came by the order of the Governor of Tranquebar to this port of Calicut to trade where I gave him a place in Vallappy Cadavattu in breadth from south to north 72 Malabar koles and in length from east to west 332 koles for the purpose of building a factory with godowns to reside and carry on trade. The cost of the said Factory can be deducted from the dues which will come to me in the trade which will be made in this port within the space of three years. I say that all exports and imports of goods from the north as well as from Tanoor and Ponnani as also from this port will be calculated per candy and of other goods agreeably to usage and custom and to the agreement which was made with the French and in the same manner the Company will be obliged to pay me all others. According to the stipulations made between us we are obliged to keep so according to the power I have given you Company may make contracts and trade This 17th April 927 (1752).

Treaty entered into between the King SAMOORIN and the DANISH COMPANY in the year 927 By the order of the Governor of Tranquebar Hans Ernest Bonsaco. I Jacob Christovo Suytman came to trade at Calicut where the King Samoorin gave a place in Ballapy Cadduttu 72 koles Malabar from north to south and 332 koles from east to west in order to build a Factory at the expense of the said King and carry on trade paying duties on customs on exports and imports as well as on all the goods which may be brought whether from the north or from Tanoor or Ponnani. All shall pay as above referred to and all these rights and privileges shall be the same as the French Company enjoy them. In case any European nation or any other be insolent towards the King the Company is obliged to give aid whether by land or sea with all the artillery and munitions of war, also if necessary, men to fire cannon, and for all balls powder and muskets which may be given their cost will be repaid and if necessary any money is wanted the Company must make the advances which will be repaid with interest. While the Company is at Calicut should any European nation or any other as well as the very vassals or inhabitants of the country commit any outrage the King Samoorin binds himself to help and defend the Company and give it entire satisfaction.

DANISH FACTORY I the King Samoorin hereby declare by the present Olla of my signature that on Wednesday the 17th May 1752 I granted that a Factory and houses of commerce for the Danish nation may be built in this Port of Calicut through a letter which was sent to me from the Governor of Tranquebar Mr Arns Arnest Bonsak by Mr Jacob Christovo Suytman under date the 19th April of the same year and I declare that for establishing the same I have granted the place named Valapil Cado in extent 72 cubits and from east to west (sic) 32 cubits to be enjoyed by the Danish nation who are to build a Factory and carry on trade freely on condition of contributing to me the rights of customs on every candy of goods imported into and exported from this port also on goods from the north and from Tanoor and Ponnani according to the agreement made with the French nation It has been conveyed to me by the said Jacob Christovo Suytman that his nation will assist me on occasions of any enemies making war against me by sea or land as much as I require with men arms artillery cannon balls powder and muskets their price I oblige myself to pay with interest Having agreed between us all that has been referred to further I bind myself to punish any Christian or any other person who insults or intends to obstruct the commerce of persons belonging to the King of Denmark.

After the above was concluded, construction of the factory started in1752 and was completed in 1754 and cost 25,000 rixdollars (rix$=5-6 shillings worth). In 1753 Soetmann was sent back to Bengal. As the Dutch VOC had a firm agreement with the Cochin Raja and the English were still dilly dallying, the Zamorin perhaps thought the Danes were a good option, but they proved to be at best a feeble ally.

The Calicut lodge was not very much in the scheme of things as far as the Danish were concerned and was just an outpost for pepper procurement. However it also served as a listening post to sound out the English overtures in the Malabar Coast. The Danish were wary of supplying arms and armaments to the Travancore kingdom and the Mysore rajas though they did quite a bit of that quietly under the British eyes and the response from the buyers were not too enthusiastic and the equipment was old, outdated and even unusable at times. But they continued on. Sometimes brown sugar and salt from the Calicut factory found their way to the ships headed back to Copenhagen. The ships came from Tranquebar in Jan/Feb and got back by April/May. During the incoming trip they brought in weapons offloaded at Colachel and later at Calicut for Hyder & Tipu. The principal items of trade were saltpeter, pepper, salt, soft brown sugar, textiles, rattan, indigo & tea (from China). For the Danish ships, the journey to Europe was direct from Tranquebar and not touching the Malabar coasts.

Trade from Tranquebar was accomplished initially with silver as capital from Denmark, but later the supply of money was primarily from independent wealthy British traders in Madras. The Danish Indian rupee was the currency of Danish India. It was subdivided into 8 fano, each of 80 kas.

By 1761 Hyder was in power in Mysore and looking down south for more wealth to expand his territory. His first venture was of course in 1757 to Palghat as Foujdar of Dindigul. By 1766 he encroached Malabar again with the summons from the Ali raja and soon the Zamorin was dead after the fire in the palace and Hyder’s men were ruling Malabar after entrenching themselves in Feroke and Calicut. In 1773, Hyder again came to Calicut and after a few skirmishes got involved further against the EIC, after allying himself with the French.

In 1767 time period Hyder on the trip south and the Calicut city was affected, the Zamorin died after setting fire to the palace. The Danes were almost decided on abandoning the Calicut factory by 1778 due to paucity of funds, mainly money. Requests to Tranquebar were not heeded and Passavant had to take loans from local merchants to pay salaries and upkeep. The situation was grim, for the buildings were soon affected by the weather, the flagstaff was rotten, the roof had a leak and by 1781 the entrance gate had collapsed. Then again they were forced by the Mysore invaders to erect palisades (a low wooden fortification) in front of the building to prevent or deter a British attack which the Mysore governor was worried about.

In 1779, the Natalia a Danish vessel reached Calicut. It was owned by a Jewish merchant (perhaps the Isaac Surgun we talked about in the previous article?) and carried eight British passengers including Ms Elizabeth Fay. By this time Calicut was in Mysore hands and Sardar Khan promptly confiscated the ship & imprisoned the passengers. The Danes finally gave up claims on the ship to avoid worsening the situation and the passengers were finally released after the intervention by Isaac Surgun. But the diary of Ms Fay provides some information of the Danish factors actions in helping them at Calicut. It is also mentioned that he maintained a tenuous relationship with Hyder (Hyder had charged them a hefty fine of £14,000 in 1780 for supplying arms to the Nawab at Arcot) and final support had to come with the arrival of Isaac surgun.

In 1784 the resident Leonhard Passavant died during a visit to Tranquebar. Interestingly he had married a lady named Maria Catherina at Calicut and was survived by his widow and two daughters. During the early period, the Danes supplied muskets and cannon balls to Hyder through the Calicut factory. Hyder was dead by 1782 and Tipu took over. But Tipu was not too keen about the Danish support and the Danish Resident at Calicut, Westerholt quit the post in April 1787 (some say he had gone mad) and proceeded to Tranquebar. His functions and the Care of the Factory were entrusted ad interim to a Portuguese trader named Manuel Bernandes. Meisner who was appointed to take over from Westerholt never reached in time. Bernandes fled before Tipu landed up in Calicut and Tipu took over the lodge or factory as a stable for his horses. It is also stated in various sources that Tipu destroyed parts of the factory. In 1787-89 Tipu came to Calicut, but by 1790 Calicut was taken by the English and Tipu’s forces were defeated. In 1792, Malabar was ceded to the EIC – Madras by Tipoo in the Seringapatanam treaty.

Factory description

A description of the hospital – previously part of the Danish factory in Calicut provides you a general picture of the construction - The hospital an upper storied building constructed of laterite is situated 60 yards behind the jail and 260 from the sea it was formerly part of a Danish factory and is enclosed by a high wall. A considerable space of ground between the two buildings which are separated by a wall is used as a work yard. There are four rooms on the ground floor (later used as the dispensary and two others are set apart for lunatics). The upper story is composed of three rooms having boarded floors, the principal being 30 feet by 20, with one on either side, measuring 26, by 15 feet. The hospital is capable of accommodating 100 patients. The ground on which it is built is sandy, and its upper-story is freely exposed to the sea-breeze, but owing to the outer wall, the rooms below are confined. During Tipu’s invasion the lower portion was used as a stable for Tipu’s horses. Until then the Danish lodge was well known for its beauty.

Paulinus of St. Bartholomew in his notes about Malabar seems to have spent time with the Danish factor during his visit around 1774. His anecdote about eating crabs in Malabar is certainly interesting..

Crabs, called in the Malabar language Gnanda, and in the Samscred Carchidaga, are poisonous in October and November; for about that period the poisonous aquatic plants, such as the blue tithymal, or wolf's milk, grow up; and as these animals feed upon them, they are rendered so poisonous as to occasion death to those who eat them. It would be therefore proper, that in Malabar, as is the cafe in the Isle of France, a law were made to prohibit crabs being caught during these two months. M. Passavant the Danish factor at Calicut, Father Louis Maria a Jesuit, now a bishop, and myself, once happened to be in company, and to eat of these animals. The other two gentlemen each ate two of them; but I contented myself with one. Three hours after, M. Passavant became pale as death, and was seized with so violent a vomiting, that we absolutely thought he would have expired. Father Louis Maria was attacked with vertigo; all the veins in his body were swelled; his face, lips, and hands became blue, and he experienced an oppression at the heart which threatened to prove fatal. I immediately gave him some theriac (a compound comprising 64 drugs), which the missionaries generally carry about with them, and sent for a barber to bleed him. In regard to myself I was seized with a giddiness and vomiting, the latter of which I endeavoured to provoke. This accident, and others of the like kind, which frequently happen in this country, ought to serve as a caution to those who travel through Malabar, not to eat crabs there during the summer' months.

Manuel Bernades, the Danish Factor fled from the Danish factory at Calicut, when ordered to leave by Fouzdar Arshad Beg Khan in 1788. It is at this point that Murdoch Brown reappears in the documentary record, when in 1792 and 1793, he wrote from Alleppy as the Danish Agent to the East India Company at Tellicherry requesting that they restore the Factory to the Danish Company. In 1795, the officers at Fort William decided that the Danish had abandoned the factory and ceded it by default to Tipu who in turn had ceded his territories to the EIC. The year 1796 witnessed the final act in the fitful connection of the Danish nation with Calicut with the passing of the decision that the Danish had no claim to the factory in Calicut.

By 1801 hostilities erupted between the BEIC and DEIC. In addition to all this was the immense frustration of the British EIC with the Danish owing to the support of private Anglo businessmen in the conduct of parallel trade. The DEIC properties were seized by the EIC, but returned in 1805. In 1811 they were again seized and returned in a dilapidated condition back to the Danes in 1815. Finally all properties were sold to the EIC in 1845 for 1.25 million Rigsdaler (Rs 4 lakhs). The Nicobar was handed over in 1868 FOC. With that the Danes left India forever…

References

Malabar manual – William Logan
Maritime Malabar & the Europeans – KS Mathew
The original letters of Eliza Fay
A history of European commerce with India – David Mcpherson
India trade under the Danish flag 1772-1808 Ole feldback
The Danish East Indies: They Once Existed - By Rolf Dörnbach
The land of the Permauls: or Cochin, its past and its present - By Francis Day
Doing business in India: a guide for western managers - Rajesh Kumar, Anand Kumar Sethi
Short essay on Danish Settlements – J Ravi

Some background of the period

During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1801 and again in 1807, the British Navy attacked Copenhagen in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). As a consequence of the last attack, Denmark (one of few West European countries not occupied by Bonaparte) lost its entire fleet and the island of Helgoland (part of the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp; ceded to Germany in 1890) to Britain. Denmark finally sold its remaining settlements in mainland India in 1845 and the Danish Gold Coast to the British in 1850.

Pics – Calicut beach – sanjupalayat, trottertours

A Jewish trader in Calicut – The story of Isaac Surgun

2011-12-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

When Calicut Heritage Forum wrote about the Jew Street in Calicut, there was an animated discussion in the comments section, as to whether it was indeed right and if a second thought was needed. The person who precipitated the matter in the first place was a young chap from Cochin, who has varied interests in Calligraphy and history and who I met in Bangalore some weeks back.

For me, it was clear that a trading community like the Jews would never be missing from Calicut. It was just a question of time lining & detailing their life in Calicut. I had initially hoped to find details of their existence in Calicut and Pantalayani detailed in Prof Jussay’s book, but did not find anything other than a trace mention. So I thought it should be detailed somewhere but it was not that easy. While we do have brief mentions detailing their stay in Pantalayani, Mangalore and well documented records on Cochin, the references of their presence in Calicut and thereabouts were vague, barring the fantastic Abraham Ferrisol mentions. But to summarize,

With the coming of the Portuguese to India, travelers such as G. Sernigi (1499) refer to the Jewish association with Calicut. L. di Varthema (early 16th century) mentions a Jew in Calicut who had built a fine galley and had made four iron mortars. ... While the Portuguese historian Correa speaks in 1536 of the great number of Jews in Calicut, the Yemenite traveler Zechariah b. Saadiah (16th century) looked in vain for coreligionists there. Half a century later Pyrard de Laval lists Jews among the various religious groups in Calicut with their own quarter and synagogue. The outstanding Calicut Jew in the 18th century was Isaac Surgun (d. 1792), a wealthy merchant who hailed from Constantinople.

It was as if Calicut was reserved for Arabs and those from mainly the Middle East or those aiding the trade of the Arabs, for we read that even the Chinese were perhaps driven out. But it is quite clear that there were visiting Jews like the person I will now cover.

To look at his life to see what it was like, and for that we have to go to the troubled times, when the Zamorins were weak, when the Mysore sultans had laid their cursed eyes on the wealth down south. I am sure they always knew there was wealth in the temples, as you can see now from the trove at Anathapuram. I am also absolutely positive that when the Malabar rulers fled to Travancore seeking asylum, they took their riches to Anatapuram and those form part of what you see there, but all of that is not important, it was just my mind going astray..

Many years ago, when I used to live in Istanbul, I knew a Jewish family living in a place called Beyouglu near Taksim . It was a stately avenue with old high rise buildings and the location where the wealthy Jewish gentry lived. My son’s friend from the Levi family lived there, and we got to know those nice people. I had no inkling then or until recently that there was one person who actually came in the exact opposite direction to India, many years ago. He had come from Istanbul to Calicut in the 18th century. His name was Issaac Surgun and it was an act of kindness at Calicut that earned him an entry into history books.

The year is 1766. At that time, the main traders of Calicut were Isaac surgun and Moplah Haji Yusuf. In the Cochin region trade was in the hands of a group of Konkani business men and Ezechiel Rahabi. The traders were profiting immensely from the latest pepper boom after the collapse of Surat and the safvid dynasty collapse in Persia. Calicut was the port of choice, but trouble loomed ahead. The Zamorin had threatened the Palghat Raja, who appealed to Hyder. Hyder did not lose the opportunity as we all know and later invaded Malabar. However he was provided a large bribe and consequently left the traders in peace, while he and his son tormented the Nair’s and other classes.

Let us get to know this Isaac Surgun and his activities at Calicut. What did he look like? What kind of person was he? What was he upto? If he was travelling often to Calicut, did he stay amongst a group of Jews in Calicut as it usually is? But first things first…Let’s draw his caricature…To figure out how he looked, we have to check out the words of Elizabeth Fay the English lady whose ship had reached Calicut and who was imprisoned by the new Mysore governor left behind by Hyder at calicut.

Isaac, then, is a fine venerable old man, about eighty five, with a long white beard; his complexion by no means dark and his countenance being yet majestic. I could look at him till I almost fancied that he resembled exactly the patriarch whose name he bears, were it not for his eye which is still brilliant. His family, I find, according to ancient custom in the East, consists of two wives, to whom I am to have an introduction………..

Strangely I had nearly completed reading the story of Elizabeth Fay some months back, but I had glossed over an important fact, the persona of Surgun himself and his Jewish house in Cochin and the Jews of Calicut.

Back to Isac Surgun, the person who wielded a lot of influence with the rulers of Cochin, Calicut and Travancore and worked often for the Dutch VOC. The first mention of Surgun was his accompaniment with the Jewish team sent to meet Hyder and Sudder (Sardar) Khan in 1766 carrying expensive gifts on behalf of the Cochin king with an entreaty not to attack Cochin. He was the linguist in the group and this signifies that he perhaps knew Persian or Urdu as well as Malayalam and perhaps Tamil. Next he is part of a team used by VOC’s Breekpot in 1767 used for a diplomatic settlement of troop movement complainst with Srinivasa Rao and Sardar Khan administering Calicut. In compensation an agreement to supply muskets and other armamanets was made by Surgun. Seven years later, he was the go between the remaining family of the Zamorin and the VOC – as they wanted safe passage to Parur. But problems between Calicut and Travancore prevented a settlement of the issue. He is seen again in discussions with Hyder and Sardar Khan at Calicut and Mysore during 1775-1788. He is also seen in discussions with the Ali raja of Cannanore. We find out from Dutch records that Surgun had a factory in Calicut, speaks a Moorish language, apparently Persian or Urdu and has many friends among the courteris of the Mysore sultans. He even had a not so good meeting with Tipu at Calicut on April 5th 1788, and that happened to be his last diplomatic experience.

Fay meets him in 1779, under telling circumstances, but one can now understand from the previous paragraph that Isaac Surgun indeed had the required influence with Sardar Khan (Hyder’s brother in law) the Nawab of Calicut. As is apparent, Surgun is known as Isaac of Calicut, even though hailing from Cochin, signifying that much of his trade was perhaps conducted around Calicut. The delay in their release was related to Hyder’s search for foreign gunners and his need to figure out if the men in Fay’s ship were suitable for that purpose. The final release was made after the conclusion that none were fit for soldierly activities, Fay’s husband was coming to practice as an advocate at the Supreme court in Calcutta. The other issue was the friction between the EIC and the Mysore sultans with a possibility of armed conflict.

Interestingly, Isaac Surgun spoke no English (he later ensured that his son was sent to Surat for English Studies)and the conversations between Fay and Isac was through interpreters. Isaac was introduced to them by another European Jew named Franco. And it was the utterance of Franco’s name and Constantinople (and their camaraderie in that city 60 years ago) that made him help the Fay’s.

The general introductory letter which as you may recollect Mr. Franco gave us at Leghorn had remained in Mr. Fay's pocket book from that time till we reached Calicut. We had been told that Isaac, the Jewish merchant, who agreed to freight the Nathalia and received £700 as earnest on that account, was immensely rich, and had great credit with the Government of which he held several large contracts for building ships, etc., besides a very great one with Sudder Khan- Everyone also, even Ayres, spoke highly of his general character. …………Mr. Fay, therefore, petitioned the Governor for leave to go out under a guard, which being granted, he immediately delivered his letter to Isaac, who seemed highly gratified at hearing from Mr. Franco, whom he had personally known at Constantinople, where they were both young men, about sixty years ago, for, like him, he enjoys a full possession of his faculties, both bodily and mentally, being equally remarkable for temperance and sobriety. Mr. Fay could not speak to our strangely acquired friend except by an interpreter so that no confidential conversation could take place. He was apparently touched with pity for our sufferings, especially on hearing how much I was afflicted with illness.

After 15 weeks of imprisonment, the Fays were released by Sardar Khan, thanks to Surgun and taken to the Surgun house in Cochin. It is Feb 1780 now.

This morning, about eleven, we arrived at our long wished-for Port, and were landed close to the house of our good friend Isaac which is pleasantly situated by the river side, about a mile from Cochin, and rendered in every respect a most delightful residence. Here we were welcomed by the two wives of Isaac who were most splendidly dressed to receive us, rather overloaded with ornaments yet not inelegant. Indeed I think the Eastern dresses have infinitely the advantage over ours. They are much more easy and graceful; besides affording greater scope for display of taste than our strange unnatural modes. They were extremely hospitable and very fond of talking.

I mentioned before having learned a little Portuguese during my imprisonment which was of great advantage to me here; for, except Malabar, it is the only language they speak, and a miserable jargon indeed is what they call Portuguese here. However, we contrived to make ourselves mutually understood so far as to be convinced that each was kindly disposed towards the other. …….. We were entertained with all the profusion that wealth can command and generosity display. Though religious prejudices banished us from their table, ours was loaded with every delicacy—all served on massive plate. Among many articles of luxury which I had never seen before were numbers of solid silver peekdanees, which serve the purpose of spitting boxes (excuse the term,). They stood at each end of the couches in the principal room. Some of them were nearly three feet high with broad bottoms; the middle of the tube twisted and open at the top, with a wide mouth for the convenience of such as had occasion to expectorate. These are not what we should call indulgences in England, but in a country, where smoking tobacco and chewing betel are universally practised, they must be allowed to be necessary ones……….

The younger wife of Isaac attached herself to me in such a manner as I never before experienced, and really appeared as if she could not bear to part with me even when I went to see the town of Cochin, which is truly a very pretty romantic place.

Fay is effusive in praise for the efforts of Isaac at Calicut

Thus, by the indefatigable exertions of this most excellent man, we are at last released from a situation of which it is impossible for you to appreciate the horrors. To him we are indebted for the inestimable gift of liberty. No words I can find adequate to the expression of my gratitude. In whatever part of the world, and under whatever circumstances my lot may be cast, whether we shall have the happiness to reach in safety the place to which all our hopes and wishes tend, or are doomed to experience again the anxieties and sufferings of captivity, whether I shall pass all the remainder of my days in the sunshine of prosperity, or exposed to the chilling blasts of adversity, the name of Isaac the Jew will ever be associated with the happiest recollections of my life; and, while my heart continues to beat and warm blood animates my mortal frame, no distance of time or space can efface from my mind the grateful remembrance of what we owe to this most worthy of men. When we were plundered and held in bondage by the Mahometan robbers amongst whom we had fallen, when there was no sympathising friend to soothe us among our Christian fellow-captives, when there was no hand to help us, and the last ray of hope gradually forsook the darkening scene of our distress, kind Providence sent a good Samaritan to our relief in the person of this benevolent Jew, who proved himself an Israelite indeed. Oh my dear sister! How can I, in the overflowing of a grateful heart, do otherwise than lament that the name of this once distinguished people should have become a term of reproach! Exiled from the land promised to the seed of Abraham, scattered over the face of the earth, yet adhering with firmness to the religion of their fathers, this race, once the boasted favourites of Heaven, are despised and rejected by every nation in the world. The land that affords shelter denies them a participation in the rights of citizenship. Under such circumstances of mortifying contempt and invidious segregation, it is no wonder that many of the children of Israel in the present day evince more acuteness than delicacy in their transactions, and are too well disposed to take advantage of those from whom they have endured so much scorn and persecution. It gives me, therefore, peculiar pleasure to record their good deeds, and to proclaim in my limited circle, that such men as a FRANCO and an ISAAC are to be found among the posterity of Jacob. These sentiments are not overstrained but the genuine effusions of a thankful heart: as such receive them.

Now you have a vivid picture of the patriarch, who was also a scholastic and religious Jew from Cochin working in Calicut. The next reference we have is his granson’s quest for the original tribes of the Bene Israel and his discussions with a Cochin Jew settled in Cannanore and now we find that about 14-15 families traded around the English settlements there. Let us check what that quest reveals. Late in the 19th century, a study of the remains of the lost tribes of Israel was concluded and among them was a report by Surgun (this is Issac E Sargan – perhaps grandson of the person in this article). He states

I left Cochin for Cananore on the 1st of May and reached that place on the 12lh On my way I touched at Calicut where I had an opportunity of conversing with several gentlemen residing there and distributing among them a few of the Society's English tracts and where I am happy to inform you also I have been enabled to collect a few rupees in aid of the society On the 13th in the evening I walked out with a view to collect some information respecting the Beni Israel and met with a white Jew's free servant an intelligent man with whom I had a short conversation on the subject of my mission I first asked him if he was one of the Bern Israel He replied No Sir I am from Cochin and one of the white Jews free servants Q How long have you been in this place A I have been here now about fifteen years ever since the late war between the Honourable Company and the Rajah of Travancore Q Are there any of the Beni Israel here A There were about fourteen or fifteen families on my first arrival but as they met with much discouragement and ill treatment from their principal men or masters who are still here they left this purposing to go back to their native place The names of the master above mentioned Balajee or Benjamin Isaac and Mosajee…….

So we now know that a group of Jews indeed existed as a community. An important question from the prose is if Surgun was in Calicut or Cannanore on the 13th. If he was in Calicut, then we know that the Jewish community lived there.

Finally to conclude this piece on Surgun, a little bit about his family. He had 10 children from his two wives Miriam and Rachel and passed away around 1790. From reading the accounts above, one should be able to draw conclusions about the times, the communities and the relationships between foreigners and residents of Calicut and of course the 'Jew from Calicut' Issac Surgun.

Notes on the family name Sürgün and the connections to Istanbul

Those interested read this fine paper by Moshe Sourjourn – though he erroneously locates Isaac Surgun in Calcutta..........an extract on the name.....

The Turkish branch is almost certainly the older of the two and originates either with Romaniot Jews or those who came as refugees either in the wake of the Expulsion in 1492 or in subsequent smaller waves. While most of the Turkish Souroujons arrived from the city of Istanbul a smaller number came from Adrianople – Edirne.Here the name Surgun comes into the picture. There is a word in Turkish – sürgün, which means expelled or displaced. The scheme of relocating populations, which had its origins in ancient times, and which was chosen by the Turkish sultans was known as ‘the surgun system.’

References

Trade finance and power By Patrick J. N. Tuck, Pg 62
The Enigma of the Family Name Souroujon - Moshe Souroujon
Revue des études juives,, Volume 126
Critica Biblica edited by William Carpenter
The original letters from India of Mrs Elizabeth Fay

Map from Shalom Bombay restaurant home page – thanks

The EIC factory in Calicut – Early days 1616-1618

2011-11-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

William Keeling is certainly an interesting fellow, and I observe so with purpose, for no other would perform Shakespeare’s Hamlet during an ocean voyage to get rid of idleness and to prevent his sailors from playing unlawful games, but then again that is not the subject of this article. So let us try to see what he was upto, sailing eastwards, and trying to work out new business frontiers for the EIC in those early days of the 17th century.
The Portuguese and the Dutch were in control over various parts of their domains in Malabar and Goa. The local rulers like the Zamorin and the Cochin kings were at each other’s throats fighting petty wars, the Venad rajas were eyeing the Northern parts with increased predatory interest and Malabar was thus a murky place to be in, at best, especially for one trying to secure trading permits. It was into this mess that Keeling ventured on his sailing ship, with winds behind him.

The 26 year old William Keeling had received his first position of responsibility when he was given command of the ship Susan in 1604. The EIC were headed towards wealthy Javan ports where the Dutch and the Portuguese were making merry and amassing fortunes. It was the second EIC venture destined for Indonesia, and on the return journey, Keeling was asked to take over another ship Hector. The return journey was indeed eventful as the laden Susan sank, and from Hector’s crew only Keeling and 13 others survived. Next he was destined to the domains of the great Mogul of Agra, as commander of the fleet, but commanding Dragon with Hawkins in Hector in 1607. It was during this trip that the sailors enacted Hamlet and Edward II perhaps making it the first amateur Shakespeare performance. The mission was completed; Hawkins remained in Delhi while Keeling sailed around Indonesia and discovered the Cocos Keeling islands in the bargain, just keeping out of the hair of Portuguese and Dutch traders. After he got back in 1610, he spent five years at home before venturing out into the Indian Ocean and Arabian seas again in 1615, this time headed for Surat and Bantam Java aboard the Dragon. This time, he was not too keen on Shakespeare though, and he tried hard to get EIC to permit him to take his wife on board, but the efforts were in vain. He landed Thomas Roe in Surat as ambassador to the Mogul court and sailed down the Malabar Coast, meeting resistance from the Portuguese at Goa. While most books, especially the English sources state the date as March 1615, Sanjay Subrahmanyam mentions March 1616.

Francis Day states that Keeling came to Calicut, and discovering that the Zamroin wanted to meet him, went on to Cranganore where the Zamorin was warring, whereas others mention that the summons came near Cranganore. It is thus unlikely that Keeling ever visited Calicut. The fancifully worded and somewhat ridiculous agreement signed between him and the Zamorin is recorded a little later in this article. Underacon chete as mentioned is the Kunnalaconathiri or Punthuresa or Punthura Conathiri, the title used by the Zamorin. The whole incident is very interesting and provides much insight into life in Calicut during that period, as we shall soon see.

Francis day concludes with very one sided remarks- The Samorin in forming this alliance, appears to have been actuated, by a wish to obtain European assistance, against the Portuguese and this treaty, offers Cranganore, and the whole island on which it stands, as far as Chetwye, to the British: as well as Cochin which he asserts, was formerly his own, and which he promises to make over, as soon as captured. Captain Keeling, much to the Samorin's annoyance, declined, remaining with his vessels, to join in the attack on Cranganore: but left ten Englishmen, who after the war was over, were to found a factory at Calicut.

But to get to the real details, one must read the record left by Roger Hawes. To a certain extent he appears truthful since he is also critical of his own colleagues, involved in this affair. However his reading of the Zamorin’s intent and demands as depicted are quite circumspect and not with any understanding of the situation or the consideration that the British were the people asking and the Zamorin as the one considering the proposal..

Proceedings of the Factory at Cranganore,Jrom the Journal. of Roger Hawkes

On the 4th of March 1615, we chased a Portuguese frigate, which ran into a creek and escaped. While on our way a Tony came aboard of us, with messengers from the Zamorin to our general, Captain William Keeling. Next day, the governor sent a present, and entreated the general to proceed to Cranganore, which we did next day, taxing with us the messengers sent from the Zamorin, who requested the general to come on shore to speak with him. But, while he was doing so, some frigates came and anchored near the shore, by which he was constrained to go on board the Expedition, Captain Walter Peyton. On this occasion some shots were exchanged, but little harm was done. The general went ashore on the 8th, accompanied by Mr Barclay, the cape merchant, and several others. They were well used, and agreed to settle a factory in the dominions of the Zamorin, the following being the articles agreed upon:—

"UNDERECON CHEETE, great Samorin, &-c., to James, King of "Britain, &c. Whereas your servant and subject, William Keeling, "arrived in my Kingdom, at the port of Cranganore, in March 1615, "with three ships, and at my earnest solicitation, came ashore to see "me, there was concluded by me, for my part, and by him for the "English nation, as followeth:

"As I have ever been at enmity with the Portuguese, and propose "always so to continue: I hereby faithfully promise, to be and "to continue, in friendship with the English, both for myself, "and my successors, and should I succeed in capturing the "fort of Cranganore, I engage to give it to the English, to possess as "their own, together with the island belonging to it, which is in "length along the sea coast, nine miles: and three in breadth: and "I propose to build thereon, a house for my people, to the number "of one hundred persons.

"I shall hereafter endeavour, with the aid of the English, to conquer the town and fort of Cochin, which formerly belonged to my "crown, and kingdom: and shall then deliver it to the English, as "their own; provided that the charges of its capture, be equally "borne by both parties, one half by me, and the other half by the "English Nation. And in that case, the benefit of the plunder thereof, "of whatsoever kind, shall belong half to mo, and half to the English. And thereafter, I shall claim no right, or interest, in the "said town, precincts, or appurtenances, whatsoever.

"I also covenant for myself, my heirs, and successors, that the "whole trade of the English, in whatever commodities, brought in, "or carried out, shall be entirely free from all customs, imposition, "tax, or other duty, of any quality, or description.

"To these covenants, which the shortness of time, did not permit "to extend, in more ample form, I, the Samorin have sworn to perform, by the great God whom I revere, and not only for myself, "but my successors; and in witness thereof, I have laid my hand "upon this writing, &c." And the said William Keeling promises to acquaint the king his master with the premises, and to endeavour to procure his majesty's consent thereto."

The Samorin's sign 'manual', consisted in placing his extended hand, over the written, or more properly speaking, the engraved ollah, or palm leaf, on which most deeds were executed. It is unclear if this was executed in Sanskrit or Malayalam on palm leaf or in English though the latter is unlikely, with the above words recorded from some ‘one sided draft translation’…..

This being agreed upon, a stock was made out for a factory, such as the shortness of time would permit, and three factors were appointed. These were, George Woolman, chief, Peter Needham, second, who was one of the general's servants, and I, Roger Hawes, third; together with a youth, named Edward Peake, as our attendant, who was to learn the language. John Stamford, a gunner, was likewise left to assist the Zamorin in his wars. On the 10th the ships departed, leaving us and our goods in a shrambe at the water side, together with a present for the Zamorin. We continued there till the 13th, at which time the last of our goods were carried to the Zamorin's castle; whose integrity we much suspected, after having thus got possession of our goods. On the 20th, he insisted to see Mr Woolman's trunk, supposing we had plenty of money, Needham had told him we had 500 rials; but finding little more than fifty, he demanded the loan of that sum, which we could not refuse. He offered us a pawn not worth half, which we refused to accept, hoping he would now allow us to proceed to Calicut, but he put us off with delays. He likewise urged us to give his brother a present.'

On the 28th, the Zamorin came into the apartment where we were, and gave Mr Woolman two gold rings, and one to each of the rest; and next day he invited us to come to his tumbling sports. That same night, Stamford went out with his sword in his hand, telling the boy that he would return presently. The next news we had of him was, that he was in the hands of the Cochin nayres. He had lost his way while drunk, and meeting with some of them, they asked where he wished to go; he said to the Zamorin, to whom they undertook to conduct him, and he knew not that he was a prisoner, till he got to Cochin. This incident put us in great fear, but the Zamorin gave us good words, saying he was better pleased to find him a knave now, than after he had put trust in him.

We had leave in April to depart with our goods to Calicut, where we arrived on the 22nd of that month, and were well received; but had to remain in the custom-house, till we could get a more convenient house, which was made ready for us on the 6th of May, with promise of a better after the rains. We were very desirous, according to our orders from the general, to have sent a messenger with his and our letters to Surat, to acquaint our countrymen that we were here; but the governor would not consent till we had sold all our goods. On the 18th of June, one was sent. On the 26th, part of our goods were sold to the merchants of Calicut, by the governor's procurement, with fair promises of part payment shortly. But it is not the custom of the best or the worst in this country to keep their words, being certain only in dissembling. Mr Woolman was desirous of going to Nassapore to make sales, but the governor put him off with divers shifts from time to time. The 3rd July, our messenger for Surat returned, reporting that he had been set upon when well forwards on his way, and had his money and letters taken from him, after being well beaten. Among his letters was one from Captain Keeling to the next general, the loss of which gave us much concern; yet we strongly suspected that our messenger had been robbed by his own consent, and had lost nothing but his honesty. A broker of Nassapore told Mr Needham, that our dispatches had been sold to the Portuguese, and when the governor heard of this, he hung down his head, as guilty. We here sold some goods to merchants of Nassapore. (Nassapore is Narsapuram in W Godavari AP)

Mr Woolman died on the 17th of August. We could not procure payment of our promised money, and were told by our broker, that some one of our debtors would procure a respite from the governor, by means of a bribe, on which the rest would refuse till they all paid. On the 24th, the Zamorin's sister sent us word, that she would both cause our debtors to pay us, and to lend us any money we needed; but we found her as false as the rest. The queen mother also made us fair promises, and several others made offers to get letters conveyed for us to Surat; but all their words were equally false.

Thus wronged, Mr Needham farther wronged himself by his indiscretion, threatening, in presence of a nayre who attended us, and who revealed his threats, that he would go to the king of Cochin, making show of violent revenge to put the governor in fear. He behaved outrageously likewise to a scrivano who is the same as a justice with us, taking him by the throat, and making as if he would have cut him down with his sword, for detaining some of our money which he had received. Our broker also told Mr Needham, that it was not becoming to go up and down the streets with a sword and buckler; and indeed his whole conduct and behaviour more resembled those we call roaring-boys than what became the character of a merchant. For my admonitions, he requited me with ill language, disgracing himself and injuring the affairs of the company.

A Dutch ship, which had been trading in the Red Sea, arrived here on the 23rd of September, with the intention of settling a factory, and they were referred by the governor to the Zamorin, promising to carry a letter for us, but went without it; so that our delays continued. Mr Needham went himself to the Zamorin on the 4th November, and returned on the 25th, having got a present of a gold chain, a jewel, and a gold armlet, with orders also from the king to further our purposes; but the performance was as slow as before. The 20th December, a Malabar captain brought in a prize he had taken from the Portuguese, and would have traded with us; but we could not get in any of our money, due long before. We also heard that day of four English ships being at Surat. The governor and people continued their wonted perfidiousness; the former being more careful in taking and the latter in giving bribes, than in paying our debts.

We used a strange contrivance of policy to get in some of these; for, when we went to their houses, demanding payment, and could get none, we threatened not to leave their house till they paid us. We had heard it reported, that, according to their customs, they could neither eat nor wash while we were in their houses; and by this device we sometimes got fifty fanos from one, and an hundred from another. They would on no account permit us to sleep in their houses, except one person, with whom we remained three days and nights, with three or four nayres. They were paid for watching him, but we got nothing. The nayre, who had been appointed by the king to gather in our debts, came to demand a gratuity from us, though he had not recovered any of our money. He would go to the debtor's houses, taking three or four fanos, and then depart without any of our money.

On the 9th of Januarys 1616, Mr Needham went to demand payment of a debt, and being refused permission to pass by a nayre who struck him, as he says, he gave the nayre a dangerous wound in the head with his sword, of which it is thought he cannot recover, and others of the natives were hurt in the fray. Word was presently brought to us to shut up our doors, lest the nayres should assemble to do us some mischief, as feuds or kindred-quarrels and murders are common among them, having no other law or means of vengeance. Our nayre with his kindred, to the number of thirty or more, with pikes, swords, and bucklers, guarded Mr Needham, home, on which occasion we had to give a gratuity. Our house had to be guarded for three or four days and nights, none of us daring to go out into the streets for money or other business for a week, though before we used to go about in safety. After that, our broker advised us never to go out, unless attended by a nayre, as they had sworn to put one of us to death, in revenge for him who was slain.

The 20th, the Portuguese armado of thirty-four sail passed by from the south, of which fourteen were ships, and the rest frigates or grabs. They put into the harbour, in which three Malabar frigates lay at anchor, and a hot fight ensued, in which the Portuguese were forced to retreat with disgrace, having only cut the hawser of one of the frigates, which drove on shore and was stove in pieces. This belonged to the governor, who was well served, for he remained like a coward in the country, keeping four or five great guns that were in the town locked up, except one, and for it they had only powder and shot for two discharges. Before the fight ended, some 4000 nayres were come in from the country, and several were slain on both sides. Nine or ten Portuguese were driven ashore, and two or three of the chiefs of these were immediately hung up by the heels, and being taken down after two days, were thrown to be devoured by wild beasts.

On the 28th of January, we were told by a Pattemar, that the governor was only our friend outwardly, wishing rather to have the Portuguese in our room, as we did no good in the country, bringing only goods to sell, whereas the Portuguese did good by making purchases. The 8th of February we had letters from Surat; and on the 4th of March, the Zamorin wrote to us, that if our ships came, he wished them to come to Paniany, and that we need not be anxious for our money, as he would pay us, even if he were forced to sell his rings.

R Kerr concludes - This is a very imperfect and inconclusive article, yet gives some idea of the manners and customs of the Malabars. In other words consider the words with a pinch of salt.

So as we saw, the Portuguese had control over the seas, the Dutch did nothing much for the Zamorin and the Zamorin made an appeal to the EIC for support against the Portuguese. Some months previously, Malabar Moplahs had also made a submission to the EIC at Mocha for support against the Portuguese.

The English promised quicker support, unlike the Dutch. By 1616 they moved to Calicut and established a factory there with George Woolman as the factor with a lot of tin and benzoin to trade. George after studying the populace and their requirements promptly declared that these were good presents but bad merchandise.

Keeling returned to Britain in 1616 after a short (he was severely ill as well) stay at Java and after losing 62 more sailors. Some rewards awaited him, for James I made him a groom of the chamber and captain of Crowes castle at the Isle of Wight. Kelling died a wealthy man in 1620 with much gold and jewels ‘collected’ during his travels. So much for Keeling, now let us look at Woolman’s & Needham’s later days in Calicut from Subrahmanyam’s perspective.

As the English settled down, frictions started. The Zamorin had wanted military support, the English only wanted to trade (mainly sell, not buy) and profit as the mandate of the EIC went. Some English textiles were purchased by local merchants after the Zamorin exhorted them to, but Woolman found procurement of Malabar spices to be too expensive. Moreover the Zamorin found the English too timid to even write to their superiors in Surat about for military help fearing that the Portuguese would find them and set upon them. In August 1616, Woolman died and his assistant Needham ran away to Cochin to set up private business. The furious Zamorin took over the factory and the assets. The factory was wound up by the Surat authorities in 1617 and the British left Calicut nursing a grudge against the ‘beggarly false Zamorin’, eventually writing off a 3,000 rials of eight loss. The Zamorin on the other hand concluded them to be unreliable and timid, worse than the Dutch. In 1621, the English mulled over asking the Zamorin for a return of the 3000 rials or even attacking Calicut vessels to recoup the losses but wisely decided against it.

The British kept this grudge in mind for close another two hundred years and as we saw earlier worked steadily till the entire Malabar was theirs. The 3000 rial account was to prove too costly for the Zamorin to settle, in hindsight…

A study of the Hawe's notes

1. The dates recorded by Sanjay and others vary by a full year, I have not been able to concur with Sanjay’s dates but he on the other hand refers to the EIC company letters archive.

2. Logan hardly mentions this account and passes it off in a couple of sentences

3. Imbibing alcohol seems to have been pretty popular even in those days as is clear from the antics of Mr Stamford, the gunner. What happened to him thence, in the hands of the Portuguese, is however not clear.

4. The governor appears to be the port Shabandar. As we see from the happenings in Calicut, they needed appeasement even in those times with bribes, if Hawes is to be believed. So by then the honesty standing of the port seems to have deteriorated.

5. The Zamorin’s demands in the agreement were clear and distanced from trade. It was strangely not referred to as a matter of fact; the EIC interpreted it as a trade treaty. It was also subject to consent from King James1 and I am not certain that James countersigned the agreement at any time. In any case the British did not provide the required war support.

6. Mentions of the Zamorin wanting to see Woolman’s box, taking charge of a sum of 50 riyals, giving presents of golden rings and visiting the room of the English himself appear very fanciful. It could have been one of the lesser officers of the Zamorin.

7. We see that the textile traders in Calicut were mainly from West Godavari regions.

8. We see that the Shabander or governor had responsibility for repayment of goods sold. Dubious practices of him needing to be bribed can be seen as a lack of law and order, and more consistent with activities today. We also see that he had authority to decide who got control of the goods cleared through customs.

9. We note for the first time the involvement of the sister and mother of the Zamorin in the trade activity, which has no precedence. We also note that they had already been provided gifts of European mirrors by the factory personnel.

10. As we read, Needham threatened all and sundry and even mentioned going to the Cochin kingdom, which would have destroyed any chance of a proper settlement of the EIC affairs in Calicut. However we see that he met the Zamorin who compensated him and EIC losses with much jewelry. Whether Needham appropriated it for himself or not, is unclear, as the EIC did not use these to offset any balances.

11. We see that by now even the Nairs who were sent as akamabadi (body guards – armed representative) were keen on improper payments and bribes. The Koodipaka tradition is exemplified once again in the Needaham incident.

12. We see that people were already fearful of the rigors of caste system which the British used to effect by waiting out in their house till they were paid, for the landlord would not eat until the outcaste visitor had left and the place was cleaned up.

13. We also see that the Nair guards employed by the British, defended them from the koodipaka revenge attack due to Needham killing a nair.

14. We see that the Portuguese were not very successful with their frigates and lost out easily to the Malabar seamen, perhaps the marakkar ships. On the other hand the Portuguese did pay properly for their purchases and did a two way trade.

15. We also see that the Zamorin sometimes wanted the ships to dock in Ponnani rather than Calicut – why? Was he coerced by the marakkars or is it to avoid problems with the Portuguese?

16. Capital punishment meted out to the Portuguese were similar to what they did to the moors in the past, but the bodies being cast away to be devoured by wild beasts appear a little farfetched.

17. We find mentions of the 4 guns (perhaps the ones completed by the Italians) but also the mention of a lack of gunpowder and shots. Begs a question, why did the Zamorin not venture out in filling that shortage? He certainly knew about gun powder since the Chinese arrival in the early 1400?.... Food for thought.

18. As a backdrop one must note that it was a breach in the agreement in 1614 between the Cochin raja and the Portuguese that the Zamorin took advantage of. With that he attacked Cranganore and lay siege to the fort & town. This particular Zamorin died in 1617. He was succeeded by a new Zamorin about whom CHF will be talking about shortly.

References
Who’s who in Shakespeare’s England – Alan & Veronica Palmer
The political economy of commerce: Southern India, 1500-1650 - Sanjay Subrahmanyam
A general history of voyages Vol 9 – Thomas Kerr
Malabar Manual – Logan
Zamorins of Calicut - KV Krishna Iyer

Gaspar Da Gama

2011-10-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

Gaspar Da India, Gaspara Da Almeida, Gaspar Rodriguez, Gaspar de las Indias, Gaspar Perriera

There are certainly many colorful persons in the murky grey depths of medieval history. One such person is Gaspar. He is a typical example of one who seized every opportunity he got to better his existence. Such an extraordinary varied life is rare for a person of the time and how he handled himself in these difficult situations is exemplary. This then is the story of a Polish Jew who lived in India. Originally I was not too keen on the issue, but as I read a little about his travails, I was quite interested. His life is connected in a way to another colorful character Timoja whom I will introduce some another day. But for now, let us meet the Polish Jew in Malabar who has no face, for no portrait of his could be located, but a huge presence.

Gaspar Da Gama was born in Poland sometime around 1444 (Barros thinks he was born in Alexandria in 1458, some others believe he was from Bosnia), but virtually nothing is known about his early years. At some point he began traveling and ended up in Jerusalem and later at Alexandria. Eventually he was taken prisoner and sold into slavery, winding up in India. Soon he won his freedom and began to work for the ruler of Goa - Abdul Muzaffar Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur, who possessed a powerful army of 40,000 horsemen. Gaspar had by converted to Islam, taking the name Yusuf 'Adil, and rose to the rank of Admiral or Shahbandar. The Portuguese chronicler Gaspar Correia, in his work Lendas da India (Legends of India), refers to Gaspar da Gama as a Castilian whose real name was Alonso Perez.

Whether by intent or not, Gaspar was the person who provided Gama with large doses of misinformation, he explained that most of India was ruled by Christian kings (see CHF blog on this subject) including the Vijayanagar kingdom. He was later to become the person who arranged the meeting of Cabral with the King of Cochin and thus become the primary reason for the later problems of Malabar after the Portuguese were welcomed at Cochin. But let us see how this interesting meeting came about. I would assume that he was thus the reason for the Gama to fall somewhat out of favor with King Manual some years after he got back. But let us check out the story in more detail.

As we know, Vasco da Gama arrived in India in 1498 and after his tumultuous reception (actually rejection) at Calicut, went to Anjediva to repair the damages to his ego and ships, remaining there during the winter months. His ships had to be re-caulked for the journey home. The first person to check the scene out was Timoja with his boats, and later the responsibility was given to the Yusus Adil (Gaspar) to sail out and see what was going on with the foreigners on the island. The intent was to take the white men prisoners, and so Yusuf Adil docked his ships a little farther and ventured out nearer to the Gama’s ships on a boat, hailing them in Castilian. What happened of course was typical of Gama and atypical of Malabar courtesy & hospitality, for life was certainly civil until then. But in fairness to Gama, it must be said that he got a tip from the local fishermen that the people from the mainland in the fustas coming near were having an attack plan in their minds.

Gaspar a tall European with a long white beard now approached his ship, in a boat with a small crew and was caught by surprise. Gaspar Correa’s words (Voyages …) go thus - When he was near their sterns within hearing, he hailed the ships in Castilian, saying, "God preserve the ships and the Christian captains, and the crews who sail with them;" and the rowers gave a shout, which was answered from the ships with the trumpets. All the crews were much excited and pleased at hearing the Castilian language; and the Jew, coming up nearer, said, "Gentlemen, captains, give me a safe conduct and I will come on board of your ships to learn the news of my country, and from me you also may learn whatever you please, since God has brought you hither for your good and for mine; for it is now forty years that I have been a captive, and now God has shown me ships from Spain, which is my country, therefore may it be your pleasure to give me the safe conduct which I request, for without it I should not dare to come on board." They answered him from the ship that he might safely come on board with peace, and that they would do him all honour, because they much rejoiced at hearing him speak, and that in the ships there was no one who would do harm to anybody. The Jew, trusting to these words, approached and came on board, and they received and welcomed him, and bade him sit down, and questioned him as to the country he came from, and how it was that he was at such distance from his native land, and many other things which the Jew answered; and the captains showed that they were much pleased to hear him. Of the rowers of the small fusta several also came on board, and were much surprised at what they saw and in great security as they saw their captain sitting down thus and conversing with so much satisfaction. The captain-major ordered Nicolas Coelho to be called to come and see the new guest who had come to visit them. Nicolas Coelho came to the ship in his boat with a few men, and as he approached the ship the captain-major ordered him to come alongside on the side where the fusta was, and when they arrived to board the fusta. The captain major then rose up and at once ordered the Jew to be bound by men who were ready for that purpose; and on seeing that, the sailors of the fusta threw themselves into the sea, and the boat came up and gathered them all in so that none escaped. The Jew, seeing himself bound in that manner, said, “Oh, gentlemen, noble Christians, God protect me and you; for having trusted myself to your words I am now bound hand and foot." The captain-major answered him, "Jew, it was with treachery that you asked for a safe conduct, and on that account it shall not avail you." Then they put heavy irons upon his feet, and sent all the rowers down below decks. Afterwards the captain-major ordered the Jew to be stripped, and two ship-boys to give him many stripes with cords; and he said to the Jew that he well knew of the treachery with which he had come with the fustas which were concealed amongst the islets, and therefore he swore, by the life of the King of Portugal his sovereign, that he would put him to death by flogging and torturing him with drops of hot fat, until he confessed the truth out of his mouth. The Jew, finding himself in such straits, and that he was already questioned about the fustas which were at the islets, said, " Sir, I confess that I am worthy of death, but have pity on me and on this white beard, and I will tell you the whole truth." Then the captain-major ordered him to be unbound and dressed, and he related all that I have mentioned above.

As the story goes, Gaspar took Gama to his fustas and his sailors, lying to them that he was bringing some of his white relatives and allowed Gama to capture, and destroy his boats, maim and kill his people, and the remains of his boats were gifted to the fishermen.

According to Barros, Gaspar was the Shahbandar of Goa. He also says that Gaspar originally deceived the Gama by showing a wooden cross, before asking to be invited to come on board. It was then that the local fisherman stated that Gaspar the ‘moor’ was actually a soldier of the king. Barros then explains all the rubbish Gaspar fed to Gama (after seeing his interest in the religion) about the country being heathen waiting to be led in the right path and all that. Anyway the Gama was about to sail for Lisbon and realizing the man would be useful to him as he spoke various languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldean (Caldeu) and Italian mixed with Spanish, Gaspar was to accompany Gama back to Portugal. Initially he was vexed about leaving Goa since he had a wife and son there, but Gama convinced him that the king would not do anything to them. Then he was baptized and provided the name Gaspar Da Gama and taken to Lisbon.

He quickly became a favorite of the King of Portugal, whom it was said he would dazzle with tales of the Far East. He was indeed a grand story teller, befitting a king’s court…the King spoke to this Jew frequently, and took pleasure in listening to what he related, on which account the King did him many favours, and gave him many dresses from his own wardrobe, and horses from his stables, and servants from among those who became Christians whom Dom Vasco gave to him; and all the people used to call him Gaspar of the Indies, for so he wished them to name him. And thus Gaspar Gama became Gaspar Da Indies.

He told them in Portugal that his name was Gaspar and that he had been born in Posen, Poland. A local persecution compelled his parents to take refuge in Granada in Spain, whence they had migrated to Alexandria. As a young man Gaspar crossed the Red Sea to Mecca and travelled to India. Captured by slavers on the way, he remained in captivity for many years, eventually gaining his release by feigning conversion to Islam. He settled in Goa as a shipowner, marrying a woman and rearing a family. Entering Sambajo's service he had gained much experience at seafaring, becoming in time Sambajo's admiral.

That was how the Jewish boy who ran away from his motherland during a persecuting period became a Muslim slave in Arabia, came to Goa and became a trusted Moorish officer of the king, then converted to Chritianity, sailed all the way across to Lisbon, met the king Manuel and became his trusted friend and later an official guide, pilot and advisor of the Portuguese admirals traveling to India. He was soon employed as a pilot, interpreter, and negotiator for subsequent voyages of Vasco de Gama as well as explorers Francisco d'Almeida and Pedro Alvares Cabral.

Gaspar served King Manuel II well. He sailed in 1500 with Cabral, who had been appointed as a leader of an expedition and who, on Gaspar's advice, shipped west on a voyage which led to the discovery of Brazil. He had by now become renowned, one captain writing of him as "a trustworthy man who speaks many languages and knows the names of many cities and provinces, who made two voyages from Portugal to the Indies Ocean and journeyed from Cairo to Malacca, a province on the East of that Ocean. He also visited the island of Sumatra, and he told me he knew of a great kingdom in the interior of India which was rich in gold, pearls and other precious stones." Historians believe Gaspar da Gama was the first European to set foot on the new land of Brazil when he accompanied Cabral on a voyage to India. Thinking they had landed in India, da Gama went ashore to talk to the "Indians", but discovered his knowledge of the language was of no use. He was with Nicolau Coelho when he first stepped ashore in Brazil. On the return voyage he met Amerigo Vespucci, the Tuscan explorer after whom America is named, at Cabo Verde and was consulted by him.

Within a few years, Gaspar had sailed round the Cape of Good Hope on a number of voyages. He sailed with Vasco da Gama to the Indies, with Francisco d'Almeida when he went to take possession of India as the first Viceroy, and with Cabral to Calicut and then to Cochin. Cabral had got into trouble with the Zamorin at Calicut and had bombed the place. But then he had no cargo or spices to take back. Enters Gaspar to the rescue - As the account goes - The Portuguese position was now very serious, the season had nearly passed, only two of the ships had any cargo at all, and they knew of no port on the Indian coast where they could safely pass the monsoon. In one of the councils, Gaspar da India suggested Cochin as a place where they might possibly get cargo. They were off that port on December 24th, a message elicited a promise of help; prices were arranged without any formal treaty or meeting with the Raja, and in less than a fortnight the ships were laden. And thus the Portuguese had a place to park themselves for the next few decades.

In 1502 he was reunited with his wife (Some say he had another wife in Goa and now married the Cochin Jewess) who is now explained to be a Jewess from Cochin. So as one can infer, Gaspar did know the Malabar terrain well and had been in touch with the Jews of Cochin, As accounts go, she was from a wealthy family. In spite of his fame, Gaspar was possibly not altogether a happy man in the service of Manuel II. He was very insecure about his Jewish past. King Manuel was always wary of Jews and it was perhaps out of this fear and the risk of losing a good life that Gaspar tried hard to induce her to convert to Christianity. She had remained true to him and to Judaism since he was carried away by the Portuguese, but probably both of them considered it unsafe for her to join him. Gaspar again journeyed to Cochin in 1505 in the retinue of the first Viceroy of India, which also included the son of Dr. Martin Pinheiro, the Judge of the Supreme Court of Lisbon. The young Pinheiro carried along a chest filled with "Torah" scrolls which were taken from the recently destroyed synagogues of Portugal. Gaspar's wife negotiated the sale in Cochin, "where there were many Jews and synagogues." obtaining four thousand parados for thirteen scrolls. D'Almeida heard of the transaction, confiscated the money, and after severely admonishing Pinheiro, reported the matter to the King.

After the murder of d'Almeida by the Hottentots on Table Bay, Gaspar served the next governor of India, Albuquerque. With him Gaspar made an attack on Calicut. The assault proved disastrous. Albuquerque was wounded and Gaspar was probably killed, for no more references to him are found after 1510. Nevertheless, his contribution to the rise of Portugal as a maritime power, in the few years he served King Manuel II, proved invaluable.

As you have seen, he was certainly a colorful and resourceful character who survived all his life with his well endowed gift of the gab. He talked himself out of any situation, served many master and travelled back and forth across continents. Not only that he had wives and children in most of the places he lived in and as mystery would have it, vanished at Calicut in 1510. Why was his death not accounted if he died with Coutinho in Calicut? (Of that event, please check out my article written earlier). His lesser actions were always reported in Lisbon. What really happened in Calicut? But of course, the mysterious Jew with the long white beard would be never too far from intrigue. Others believe that he returned to Portugal where he died (he had a wife there too). Some say that his death occurred between 1510 and 1515, or even by about 1520 after nearly eighty years. Certainly a specimen of resilient humanity, to have survived as long as he did!

Gaspar Gama’s son Baltazar also served Almeida’s court in Cochin as an interpreter and figures for his work in Cannanore and also in the well accounted spying mission to Vijayanagar in 1506. Of his wife, there is no further information, but I assume that a good search can turn up something.

References

Sanjay Subrahmanyam – Vasco Da Gama
The rise of Portuguese power in India, 1497-1550 – R S Whiteway
Penumbral visions: making polities in early modern South India - Sanjay Subrahmanyam
A journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499 - Alvaro Velho, João de Sá
Travel and ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European - Joan-Pau Rubiés
The last Jews of India – Nathan Katz

Notes

Osorius calls him a Sanuate by nation and Jew by religion; Barros says a Polish Jew; Castanheda says he announced himself as a Levantine Christian, and that at a distance of two hundred leagues from Anchediva he confessed he was a Moor, and later he was converted, and it was said afterwards that he was a Jew, because it was found that he was married to a Jewess who lived in Cochim. Correa's account is the most probable.

Quotes from A journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama - By Alvaro Velho, João de Sá
Correa (Lendas da India) usually refers to him as Gaspar da Gama, but also calls him Gaspar de las Indias, or Gaspar d'Almeida. King Manuel, in his letter to the Cardinal Protector, calls him a "Jew, who turned Christian, a merchant and lapidary".
Sernigi held a conversation with him at Lisbon. He speaks of him as a Sclavonian Jew, born at Alexandria.
According to the information given by Barros and Goes, the parents of Caspar fled from Posen, in Poland, at the time when King Casimir cruelly persecuted the Jews (about 1456). After a short residence in Palestine they removed to Alexandria, where Gaspar was born
Vespucci (He accompanied Cabral as interpreter) met him on his homeward voyage at Cape Verde, and in his letter of June 4, 1501, published by Baldelli (II Milione, 1827), he speaks highly of Gaspar's linguistic attainments, and refers to his extensive travels in Asia.
Lunardo da Cha Masser, who came to Lisbon in 1504 as ambassador of the Signoria, in a letter written about 1506 and first published in the Archivio Storico Italiano (Florence, 1846), says that Gaspar married a Portuguese lady, and was granted a pension of 170 ducats annually, in recognition of the valuable information which he furnished respecting the Oriental trade.
Moncaide, who came on board Vasco da Gama's vessel at Calecut, is stated by Barros and Goes to have been a native of Tunis, who, in the time of King John II had done business with the Portuguese at Oran, and spoke Castilian. He accompanied Vasco da Gama to Portugal and was baptised. In King Manuel's letter to the Cardinal Protector he is referred to as a " Moor of Tunis". The author of the Roteiro calls him a "Moor of Tunis" whom the Moors of Calecut suspected of being a Christian and emissary of the King of Portugal
Correa savs that he was a native of Seville, who, having been captured when five years old, turned Moslem, although "in his soul he was still a Christian". He generally refers to this man as "the Castilian", and says that his true name was Alonso Perez.
If Correa can be trusted, he still had a wife at Cochin in 1506. Sernigi (see p. 136) credits him with a wife and children at Calecut.
Lipiner his biographer mentions a wife and family in Brazil - Bento Teixeira, who is considered the first Brazilian poet, had been consulted by Lianor da Rosa "if the said niece of his had married the said Gaspar de Almeida formerly, in the tempo dos judeus, if the children of such a marriage would be legitimate.”

Tipu’s Waterloo

2011-09-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Travancore lines - Tipus ‘Contemptible wall’

Today there is much talk about the Padmanabha treasure, the immense hoard of gold and coins at the temple in Trivandrum. Was its existence known in the past? Well, Tipu for one certainly believed in the wealth hidden by the kings and Naduvazhis of many parts of Malabar and many of his temple plunders were to unearth the hidden wealth in temple vaults. And as we all know he tried hard to get into Travancore subsequently and failed. Did he perhaps have an inkling of what existed in the Padmanabha vaults?

But how did this David and Goliath story pan out? What happened? Let us take a look and as we do, thank the efforts of a Flemish captain who strayed into these lands, a person named Eustachio de Lannoy, the person fondly known as ‘valia kapitan’, in stopping a possible plunder.

Most of you believe that Tipu met his might at the battle of Seringapatanam with the English, where he eventually died, but it was in an earlier battle where he saw defeat from a smaller army. Before I get to it, let me thank two people, Manjith & Bernard. One started me on this route by asking a question about Dillani kotta; the other provided me much information to complete Lannoy’s part of the story. I will not get too deep into the Lannoy story right now, but will instead hover above the battle of Nedumkota. I must also thank the person who first called it Tipu’s waterloo; it is somebody who goes by the pen name a_kumar writing in the Bharat-rakshak forum.

History books call this the Third Anglo Mysore war. Let us get the background and perspective set, to start with borrowing from Wikipedia entry. The kingdom of Travancore had been a target of Tipu for acquisition or conquest since the end of the previous war. Indirect attempts to take over the kingdom had failed in 1788, and Archibald Campbell, the Madras president at the time, had warned Tipu that an attack on Travancore would be treated as a declaration of war on the company. The rajah of Travancore also angered Tipu by extending fortifications along the border with Mysore into territory claimed by Mysore, and by purchasing from the Dutch East India Company two forts in the Kingdom of Cochin, a state paying tribute to Tipu. In 1789 Tipu sent forces onto the Malabar Coast to put down a rebellion. Many people fled to Travancore and Cochin, a state paying tribute to Tipu, in the wake of his advance. In order to follow them, Tipu began, in the fall of 1789 to build up troops at Coimbatore in preparation for an assault on the Nedumkotta, a fortified line of defense built by Dharma Raja of Travancore to protect his domain. Cornwallis, observing this buildup, reiterated to Campbell's successor, John Holland, that an attack on Travancore should be considered a declaration of war, and met with a strong British response. Tipu, aware that Holland was not the experienced military officer that Campbell was, and that he did not have the close relationship that Campbell and Cornwallis had (both had served in North America in the American War of Independence), probably decided that this was an opportune time to attack.

I must also admit that whenever I write about the Mysore Sultans, I disregard (right or wrong, I cannot say conclusively, but my studies show these two characters to be somewhat poor specimens of humanity) all the rubbish about them being freedom fighters fighting for a greater India and all that. They were simply greedy rulers in the larger context, misusing the power of religion (inciting the moplahs) and had no reason other than annexation of riches for themselves and plundering their neighbors for no good reason other than to collect finances to later pay foreign powers like the French for arms and ammunition. That their enemies were later enemies of a united India is another matter, but in the period we talk about there was no united India, so the point is moot.

But first a few more words about the scheme of things and the period setting. Malabar had been decimated by the attack and plunder by the troops of Hyder Ali and later by Tipu Sultan. It was ruled by by the governors placed in Ferokabad and the Zamorins had lost their power after many hundred years. Their families had fled and so had the wealthy land owning Nair’s and Namboothiri’s, to the southerly kingdoms of Venad or let us say for convenience Travancore. The Dharma rajas of Travancore had kindly given them asylum. The Cochin king had already aligned with the Dutch and so were supported by a western power with military facilities. The returns from Malabar were not sufficient for the wars Tipu was fighting with the Marathas as well as the English and other petty kingdoms. He had more than he could chew and more finances were needed. His sights were trained at Travancore, for he believed that he could easily trample over them as well, like he did at Malabar in order to get what he wanted.

But step back a little (in jest - people who have seen recent Malayalam films may understand the back & forth technique used in direction), for we have to go backwards in history to an earlier period when the Zamorins were powerful and were fighting regularly and wastefully over petty reasons with the Cochin king while the Portuguese and the Dutch were making merry with the spoils and watching the fun. The Travancore Kingdom which was somewhat calm and sedate until now was getting a bit alarmed with the Zamorin’s growing powers. Marthanda Varma first imported a number of mercenaries (even Mogul and Maratha) from various places and many were provided the titles and rights of Nairs. They did have their periods of diplomacy and tributaries with the Dutch, the Mysore Sultans and the English, but I will not get too much into those details or this will become longer prose that it is going to be.

So we are in the year 1741.The Dutch VOC is in a strained situation with Travancore’s Marthanada Varma, over pepper supply and prices. They decide to take a different route to trouble the Travancore king and precipitate armed conflict by supporting the Kottarakara king, but this as desired, starts an armed attack of the Travancore Nair’s by a Dutch fleet headed by Capt. Hackert. In an engagement at Colachel, the Dutch forces led by Hackert are defeated by Marthanada Varma and his forces.

Here traditional history books and usual accounts go wrong. The Dutch are by now a demoralized lot, they had not been paid for two years, the army and naval personnel had no respect for their immoral captains and had no stomach to fight. The person who first deserted the VOC and joined Marthanda Varma was actually a German named Carl August Duyvenschot who had deserted in April 1741. Carl August then gave Travancore chieftains instructions on retaking Colachel. De Lannoy was never the captain who headed the fleet at Colachel, nor did he surrender at that battle as is oft mentioned.

Captain de Lannoy and other Dutchman deserted later in August and were imprisoned in Iraniyal. Carl August convinced Marthanda Varma to let them and some 40-50 European prisoners join the Travancore Nair brigade. Now comes one of those strange twists of fate. Lannoy was just a soldier in the Travancore army. The ailing German captain was to be succeeded by a Sgt Hartman. But one fine day, Marthanda Varma sees the smart and affable Lannoy, takes a good look at his face (most you may not know this, the king was also a face reader, a physiognomist). He foresaw that Lannoy had a great future and chose him over Hartman to succeed Carl August… and as history tells us, Lannoy would prove him right many times over.

By 1744, Lannoy had trained and created an able army for the raja and had built many forts for him. He was also entrusted with making a cannon foundry and a gunpowder making factory. By 1747 Travancore had wrested control over the area upto the Cochin borders. The political and military stages of Malabar were by now no longer directed by the Dutch or the Portuguese or English, though they were looking from afar and waiting….like many a medieval tale, the kings were at play, the vultures were hovering above for the spoils of war. The Zamorin attacked Cochin and was about to annex it in 1757 when the Cochin raja in desperation signed a treaty with Marthanda Varma. But well, as luck or the lack of it would have it, by 1758 both the warring Zamorin and Marthanda Varma died. Rama Varma took over in Travancore and charged Lannoy to build fortifications to prevent any further incursions into Travancore. It was soon 1763.

Thus the Travancore lines or Nedumkotta took shape. 35 miles long, 12 miles tall, it was though not massive or grandiose as the Great Wall of China, built with the same purpose. A ditch 16-20 feet wide and 16 feet deep kept attackers at bay. Starting at the isles of Vypeen (Pallipuram Kotta), it continued upto the Anamalai hills. The wall was raised mainly with clay and mud, and reinforced with stones, laterite and granite at strategic places. There were underground cells to store gunpowder and other war materials, special chambers for soldiers to live, and look-outs and mounted field-guns all along the fortification. Besides, on the north side of the fortification, ditches were dug twenty feet wide and sixteen feet deep, and filled with thorny plants, poisonous snakes, and hidden weapons. On the south side as well as on the top of the fortification, wide roads were laid for the convenience of military movements.

Let’s back up a little bit now. By 1757, Hyder had marched into Malabar and the Zamorin had killed himself and the family had fled to Travancore as we know already. The new enemy for all of Malabar was the marauding Mysore Sultan, and their atrocities had by now been well explained to the Travancore nobility by the asylees, and it was amply clear that the Sultan had eyes for Travancore. It was now the period more popularly known as the ‘Padayottakalam’ or the period when militaries marched and ran amok. The common man had no respite; it was a period of turmoil, fear and anxiety. The calm Malabar was a boiling caldron with religious animosity, foreign soldiers, atrocities, plunder and mayhem. The only area that was calm was Travancore and the Dharma Raja’s wanted to keep it that way. Lannoy’s wall was created with that purpose, for there was no Zamorin to worry about, he had died already.

It was in 1774 or thereabout that Hyder expressed his intentions of overrunning Travancore in clear terms. But to get to Travancore, he had to pass Dutch territory; they would not give him permission. Hyder then asked the Rajas of Cochin and Travancore, to compensate him for his Malabar campaign. Cochin was asked to pay a total of Rs.400,000 and 10 elephants, while Travancore was asked to pay Rs.1,500,000 and 30 elephants. Hyder warned the Raja that if Travancore refused, "He will pay a visit". Typical bullying I would say or extortion and that of course, coming after Hyder’s destruction of the Zamorin’s suzerainty over a failed demand over 12 lakhs.

Although the Cochin Royals agreed to pay the amount and accepted the Mysore's superiority, King of Travancore replied, stating that it was "neither to please him nor in accordance with his advice that the invasion of Malabar was undertaken". But he stated that if Hyder Ali withdrew from Malabar with his forces and reinstated the local Rajas back in their kingdoms, he will provide some amount of money.

And so, the Mysore army began to move to Travancore from the North. But after a series of incursions and fort takeovers, Hyder had to return to Mysore after trouble in Malabar where his forces lost a few battles. By 1782, he was dead (as fate decrees and as we saw earlier, cruel people have painful deaths), suffering from cancer. Tipu, his son took over.

In the meantime, the strength of Travancore Army had reduced after many battles. The death of De Lannoy in 1777 further diminished the morale of the soldiers. The death of Makayiram Thirunal and Asvati Thirunal in 1786 forced the Travancore Royal Family to adopt two princesses from Kolathunad. Tipu Sultan had planned the invasion of Travancore for many years, and he was especially concerned with the Nedumkotta fortifications, which prevented Hyder Ali from annexing the kingdom. On December 29, 1789, Tipu Sultan marched his troops from Coimbatore and decided to attack and destroy the Nedumkotta and enter Travancore.

Travancore purchased the strategic forts of Cranganore and Ayacottah from the Dutch as a preparation for the war. The deal was finalized by Dewan Kesava Pillai and Dutch merchants David Rabbi and Ephraim Cohen under the observation of the Travancore Maharajah (Dharma Raja) and the Dutch governor (John Gerard van Anglebeck). Travancore also held a treaty with the British East India Company, under which two battalions of the Company army will be stationed at the Travancore-Cochin frontier.

Kesava Pillai was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Travancore Nair Army. He was to prove himself a master at strategy.

Battles at Nedumkotta

It was December 1789. Here we first take a look at the words of Nagam Aiya and Shungoony Menon. The location is near today’s Chalakkudy, locally known as Kottamuri. The first battle took place at Vedimaraparambu in the Muringur village.

Nagam Aiya’s Travancore State Manual.

Tippu not satisfied with these replies sent, on the 24th December 1789 A. D., another embassy with two caparisoned elephants ostensibly meant for taking the two Rajahs of Cochin and Travancore, and on the night between the "28th and 29th of December encamped at a place six miles distant northward from the main entrance to the lines. Leaving most of his forces to maneuver at daybreak in front of the principal gate, Tippu marched with 14,000 infantry and 500 pioneers by a roundabout way at 10 o'clock in the night being guided by a native of the country. Before day-break he found himself in possession of a large extent of the rampart on the right flank of the lines. His aim was to gain the gate about nine miles from the point of entrance, to open it to the division of his army placed to maneuver in front of it and to place his whole force within the lines in one day. About 9 o'clock in the morning the Sultan had come three miles along the water in the inner side with his whole force without any opposition, and he at once commanded his pioneers to level down the rampart into the ditch which was there 10 feet wide and 20 deep and thus make a road for him to pass. This was found rather difficult and so he advanced along the rampart in one column, the Travancoreans retreating from successive towers until finally they made a stand in a small square enclosure within the works employed as a magazine, storehouse and barrack, and having drawn a small gun inside they poured grape upon the advancing Mysoreans. The Sultan at once issued orders to take the place at the point of the bayonet. But as they were advancing to execute this ill-advised order, a party of twenty Travancoreans at once poured in a heavy fire which killed the commanding officer and created a panic and inextricable chaos.

"The relieving corps awkwardly advancing along the tame Hank was met and checked by an impetuous mass of fugitives; the next corps caught the infection, the panic became general and the contusion irretrievable. The Sultan himself was borne away in the crowd; the rear, now become the front, rushed into the intended road across the ditch, which had been no farther prepared than by cutting down the underwood, and throwing a part of the rampart on the berm; the foremost leaped or were forced into the ditch: and such was the pressure of the succeeding mass, that there was no alternative but to follow. The undermost, of course, were trampled to death; and in a short time the bodies, by which the ditch was nearly filled, enabled the remainder to pass over. The Sultan was precipitated with the rest, and was only saved by the exertions of some steady and active chelae, who raised him on their shoulders, and enabled him to ascend the counterscarp, after having twice fallen back in the attempt to clamber up: and the lameness, which occasionally continued until his death, was occasioned by the severe contusions he received on this occasion."''

He then made the best of his way out with very great difficulty and was soon carried in a dhuli unperceived to his tent. In an intense fit of rage and humiliation he swore that he would remain in that camp until he took what he described as ' this contemptible wall'.

According to the English dispatches the ditch was said to have been filled with bales of cotton by the Mysoreans for the purpose of passing in and an accidental inflammation of the cotton made them seek another passage. Mr. Powney in his account written from Parur on the first of January 1790 states:Tippu has met with a repulse from the raja's troops. He breached a weak part of the lines and filled the ditch with bales of cotton and earth for his cavalry to enter. He made the attack with seven thousand men. They carried it and possessed the lines for three miles in extent, but reinforcements of the Raja's troops coming from the right and left, the enemy were hemmed in between two fires and were driven out with great slaughter. Near a thousand were left dead within the lines, some horses and prisoners were taken. Zemaul Beg, commander of a cussoom was killed, likewise another person of consequence; it is said to be a son of the late Meer Saib. The enemy as soon as he fell, cut off his head and carried it with them. About two hundred of the Raja's people were killed and wounded. By all accounts they behaved very gallantly. A Brahman of some consequence is among the prisoners; he says that Tippu was at the attack, and had a horse shot under him. We apprehend he is meditating some grand attack. Report says he has crossed the Chetwa River and is advancing along the sea-side with the intention of attacking Cranganore and Ayacotta. I think we shall be prepared for him at these places. He has certainly drawn oil his army from the lines."

The account of bales of cotton having been used for the purpose of passing over the ditch is not corroborated by other accounts, though it is affirmed by all that the mass of bodies in the ditch were consumed by fire after the retreat, fuel being supposed to have been added for the purpose by the Travancoreans. Tippu's palanquin, his seals, rings and personal ornaments, sword etc, fell into the Dalawa's hands as trophies, which were duly forwarded to the Nawab of Arcot at his request. Shortly after this, he had nearly lost his life in an attack on the lines of Travancore where he was forced to leave his palanquin behind him, together with his pistols and a small signet or sealed ring which he usually wore, and which the editor of these sheets has seen, and so very small that the finger on which it was worn must have been delicate in the extreme."

Shungoony Menon’s History of Travancore

On the 11th Dhanu (24th December), Tippoo encamped at a place four miles distant from the Travancore lines, where he began to erect batteries on the 12th (25th). On the night of the 15th Dhanu, 964 M.E., (28th December 1789 A.D.), Tippoo's powerful army, under his personal command, attacked the Northern frontier of Travancore and attempted a breach of the barrier; but the attack was ably and gallantly resisted by the troops on duty, generally known by the designation of "Paravoor Battalion”.

On the morning of the 15th Dhanu (28th December), the Sultan's force, consisting of 14,000 select infantry and a body of 500 pioneers, paraded in front of the line. The pioneers were ordered to clear a part of the ditch where the wall was not guarded, and they proceeded with the work which was not successfully completed during the night. However, the Sultan ordered the force to proceed and effect an entrance within the walls during the night. By day break on the 16th Dhanu (29th December) he gained an entrance and succeeded in possessing a considerable extent of the ramparts. The troops of the Maha Rajah, occupying those ramparts, retreated before Tippoo's army as the latter was marching by the side of the wall with the full view of reaching the gate. The Travancore garrison opposed their progress. Tippoo found it necessary to bring in a reinforcement to afford help to the leading corps. In the hurry of the moment, the order was misunderstood and ill-executed. In this confusion, a party of twenty men of the Travancore garrison, who were stationed at a corner of the rampart, threw in a regular platoon on the flank which killed the officer commanding, and threw the corps into inextricable disorder and flight. The advancing relief was met and checked by an impetuous mass of fugitives.

The panic now became general and the retreating men were borne on to the ditch, while others were forced into it by the mass which pressed on from behind. Those that fell into the ditch were, of course, killed. The rear now became the front. The bodies that filled the ditch enabled the remainder to pass over them. The Sultan himself was thrown down in the struggle and the bearers of his palanquin trampled to death. Though he was rescued from death by some of his faithful followers, yet he received such injuries that he never forgot in this episode in his invasion of Travancore.

Tippoo's State sword, signet ring, and other personal ornaments fell into the hands of the Travancore army; several officers and men were taken prisoners, and of the former, five were Europeans, and one a Mahratta.

Tippoo retreated with great shame and chagrin, and Dewan Kasava Pillay returned to Trivandrum in triumph, bringing with him Tippoo's sword, shield, as trophies. The Maha Rajah communicated the news of his success to his friends the English and the Nabob, and received their warm congratulations. The Nabob requested the Maha Rajah to send Tippoo's sword, shield, dagger, belt, palanquin, and they were accordingly forwarded.

Tippoo was now determined on retaliating on Travancore. He remained in the vicinity of the northern frontier and concentrated a large army there which consisted of infantry, cavalry and artillery. The rest of the story involves the British who were asked by the Maharaja for help. The bureaucracy, after some stonewalling by J Holland (some say bribed into inactivity by Tipu) finally decided to enter the fray. Tipu in the meantime was methodically destroying the Nedumkottah which was becoming a long and arduous task.

The British did not receive orders to attack though stationed in readiness. By the time they received it, Tipus forces had become very big and the officers decide to retreat. Keshava Pillay also decided to retreat.

The Sultan's first object was to destroy the "contemptible wall" and fill up the ditch, and so he took a pickaxe himself and set an example which was followed by everyone present and the demolition of the wall was completed by his army without much delay.

The wall was smashed down and Tipous forces pillaged and burnt their way forward, but then another fate befell them, for the master strategist and planner from the placid plains had never seen the fury of the South west monsoon, the very same winds that helps the country with trade.

The south-west monsoon broke out with unusual severity and the beautiful Alwaye river, a stream which usually rises after a few showers, filled and overflowed its banks causing Tippoo's army great inconvenience and rendering their march almost impossible.

Tippoo was certainly in a very awkward predicament and one for which he was not prepared. He had no idea of what a Malabar monsoon was. His army had no shelter; no dry place for parade; all their ammunition, accoutrements etc got wet. Even the very necessaries of life were washed away by the impetuous current of the flooded river.

Cholera, small-pox and other epidemics broke out. Provisions became scanty, and the scarcity was followed almost by famine. Numbers began to perish by disease and hunger.

And thus Tipu limped back to Mysore, defeated at his own waterloo. The limp was to remind him constantly of his misadventures into Malabar, through the rest of his miserable life.

Today there is no physical evidence of the historic Nedumkotta in the form of even ruins anywhere in the Mukundapuram Chettuva, Parur, Kodakara, Chalakudy, Mullurkara, Enamanakhal and Karikodu areas through which it passed. However, some place-names having a reference to the historic fortification are still popular in the northern borders of the erstwhile Cochin and Travancore States - Krishnan Kotta (meaning Krishnan Fort), Kottamukku (fort corner), Kottamuri (part of a fort), Kottaparampu (fort land), Kotta Vazhi (fort road), Kottalaparampu (magazine ground), Palayam (cantonment), etc.

The people at Trichur, Chalakkudy and other areas continue to live their lives in peace, mostly unaware of the stories of 1790, with no physical remains of the wall to remind them of the ghastly events of that war.

References

Shungoony Menon – History of Travancore
Nagam Aiya – The Travancore State manual
A Dutchman in the service of Travancore Eustache Lannoy – By Mark De Lannoy

Notes

Was it a decisive battle in anyway? I historians believe so, for the Travancore battle pitched the EIC into the third Anglo Mysore war providing them the reason and permissions, after forming a coalition with the Marathas & the Nizam. Tipu hastened back to placate the Marathas but it was too late. Soon he too met a violent death in battle at Srirangapatanam. But most people do not even know about the story at Nedumkotta.

Why is it Tipus waterloo? A_kumar gives a good explanation – In 1789, Tipus attack with 14000 soldiers was repulsed by a small Travancore army, enraging him. He then waited three months for reinforcements, giving his enemies valuable recouping time. Tipu then bribed Holland into inaction and the Calcualla high command of EIC when they found out, became furious about the traitor in their fold, forcing them to look closer into the matter. Tipu batters the wall, but loses other minor battles locally, and while stuck in the morass, hears about the treaties between the Nizam, the Mahratas and the EIC. In the meantime the rain decimates his troops and he finally trudges back, demoralized, and is defeated in future campaigns, even having to supply his sons to the EIC as ransom..

Some historians like Kareem, Ibrahim Kunju etc continue to question if Tipu really participated in these battles or lost his sword, if he even became limp from the above battle etc while maintaining that he was a benevolent and honorable King, who only believed in the well being of his subjects. I will get to this topic another day, but for now I think of him only as an example of an unworthy person desiring the crown of greatness and one who believed that violent pursuit of his goal through despotic wars was the answer.

The Sha-mi-ti mystery

2011-09-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Ming China & Calicut – Part 1

This study resulted from the reading of a very complicated document covering China and Calicut relations during the early Ming period. The excellent article by Roderich Ptak would have reached a complete and proper conclusion if he had access to more Malabar history books, but then again, Malabar history is neither well understood and recorded by indigenous people living then, nor are the relations with foreign traders well documented. There is a reason for that of course since trade was kept at arm’s length by the rulers and the local populace who went about their normal course of living, leaving the sailing and port handling to expatriate Arabs and other nationalities who were free to come and work as they wanted, provided they kept to themselves and paid the duties in time. And with that background, we go to Beijing, the new capital of imperial Ming China…

In 1403, Yung Lo (Yong Le – Zhu Di) had come to power in China, and was about to project the Ming capital into limelight, with the massive building efforts of a new city, a new palace and plan and organize the dispatch of a vast armada of ships under the admiralty of Zheng he (Cheng Hu). The new emperor, the representative of heavens received many emissaries from countries that it had relations with. The how’s and why’s will be discussed in another more detailed article, but let us look at an interesting entry into various Chinese manuscripts which thence pose a few questions. Quoting Ptak…

An envoy sent by the ruler of Calicut (now referred to, for the first time, as "Ku-li"), Sha-mi-ti (Samutiri), came to China in the wake of Yin Ch'ing's returning ships. This Calicut emissary was entertained twice by the Chinese, together with other envoys including the one from Hsi-yang, once on 21 October 1405 and once on 6 November 1405. Note here that we are actually talking about two emissaries from Calicut (His-Yang Kuli was also Calicut). While we do not learn anything about the subsequent departure of the Calicut envoy, it is important to realize that this is the first instance where a Calicut ruler is said to have been formally granted a Chinese title (on 3 October); perhaps Sha mi-ti had acceded to power some time in 1403 or 1404 and news of this only arrived in China with Yin Ch'ing, hence the Calicut envoy who accompanied Yin received all honours on behalf of his king.

However, the situation is complicated by the fact that envoys representing a place called Ch'e-li (here probably not identical with the Yunnan tribal office in MS, ch. 325) were received, as indicated, on 23 September 1405 together with ambassadors from Hsi-yang (representing perhaps Chola) and Java, and on 25 February 1403 (erh-yueh jen tzu), together with diplomats representing Korea and Siam. Since, quite obviously, Ch'e-li in both events is linked to other maritime countries it could be that we are dealing with an Indian Ocean country here and not with the Yunnan tribal office. There is little reason, however, to believe that "Ch'e-li" is a mistake for "So-li" or "Ch'e-li (a)" or for any of the other forms representing "Chulya" since no other text alludes to such a possibility. Moreover, Ch'e-li is listed together with Hsi-yang (which may have something to do with Hsi-yang So-li or So-li, as shown above) as two places in the entry of September 1405. Furthermore, Hsi-yang and La-ni (if these stand for two places) submitted tribute in 1403, i.e. in the same year in which the first Ch'e-li diplomats were received; in other words, if Ch'e-li and Hsi-yang (So-li) were to stand for the same place, there would have been two envoys from that place submitting tribute in one and the same year which is highly unlikely. A second possible interpretation of Ch'e-li is to consider this name as a variant form of Ku-li.

This is possible in the case of 1403 but not in the case of the 1405 envoy since it is clearly stated in MSL that in 1405 Yin Ch'ing brought with him to China an ambassador from Calicut (Ku-li). So, why would two envoys from the same place (under two different names) have arrived almost simultaneously in 1405? Now, before continuing with the discussion of this name problem a second question has to be considered. Several of the geographical descriptions of Calicut, starting with the HYTC and TMITC, which do not list Sha-mi-ti's mission of 1405 claim that another Calicut ruler, Ma-na Pi-chia-la-man (Mana Vikraman), sent tribute to China in 1403 through his emissary Ma Shu, while other works, for example SYCTL, SIKC or TWL, speak of two tribute missions, of the one of Ma Shu in 1403 and the one sent by Sha-mi-ti in 1405. The SIKC even lists a third envoy for the year 1404. While the latter cannot be verified through any other account, we have seriously to consider the "two envoy option" Perhaps the 1403 tribute mission sent by Ch e-li (as listed in MSL) is identical to the Ma Shu mission dispatched by Ma-na Pi-chia-la-man. If so, we may again infer that a change in government took place at Calicut after Ma Shu had left, most likely towards the end of 1402 or during the years 1403/4………………..

Does this imply that Calicut was called "Ch'e-li" by the Chinese before and "Ku-li" after Sha-mi-ti's accession? Once again, there are no definite solutions to the above questions. We may only conclude that, in all likelihood, two Calicut envoys arrived, one in 1403 under the old ruler, one in 1405 under the new one. The part played by Ch'e-li, Hsi-yang and La-ni or Hsi yang La-ni remains unclear……….

Cheng Ho took back to Calicut Sha-mi-ti's envoy who had arrived, as we saw, on 3 October and remained in China until 5 November 1405. When Cheng Ho returned from his first expedition on 2 October 1407 he was accompanied by several emissaries including a new ambassador from Calicut. This envoy is also mentioned in KC. In MSL he is referred to as Pi-che-ya-man-hei-ti. Moreover, the sovereign of Calicut is now no longer called ch'iu-chang (chieftain) but wang (king), according to the status granted to him in 1405.44 ranted to him in 1405.

To get a better understanding of all this text, one should be aware of what the Chinese called a tributary system. Why did Calicut and the other countries listed have to send envoys and pay tribute to China? We will try to get a fair understanding from reading Fairbank’s article.

Quoting Fairbank - First is the fact that the emperor is the son of heaven. He had to maintain harmony between heaven and earth.

"The kings of former times cultivated their own refinement and virtue in order to subdue persons at a distance, whereupon the barbarians (of the east and north) came to Court to have audience. . The first tenet of this theory-and this is an interpretation-was that the alien, however crass and stupid, could not but appreciate the superiority of Chinese civilization and would naturally seek to "come and be trans- formed" (lai-hua) and so participate in its benefits. The formalities of the tributary system constituted a mechanism by which formerly barbarous regions outside the empire were given their place in the all-embracing Sinocentric cosmos

First of all the tributary ruler who tendered his submission was incorporated into the charmed circle of the Chinese state by several forms. An imperial patent of appointment was bestowed upon him-a document which recognized his status as a tributary. More than this, the tributary system was a diplomatic medium, the vehicle for Chinese foreign relations. Whenever a new ruler ascended the throne of a tributary state, he was required by the regulations to send an envoy to obtain an imperial mandate from the Chinese court. By imperial command he was then appointed ruler of his country, and the imperial patent of appointment was given to his envoy; after receiving this document, the new ruler sent a tribute mission to offer thanks for the imperial favor. A recognized vassal might appeal in time of need for Chinese help

In summary one can see that the early days of the Ming dynasty saw envoys being deputed from two kingdoms around Calicut, both vying for Chinese approval, one being the Manavikarama envoy from Calicut and the other from the neighboring principality of Chaliyam. And thus we see Chaliyam on the global map for the first time.

Some would wonder how a place like Chaliyam could be connected to the Ming king. Others would be surprised to know that this small principality was an independent kingdom. Some others wonder how a Chaliyam ambassador could rub shoulders with other bigwigs in imperial Peking, and conclude that there was a time when all this was possible, mainly due to the trade links that existed. In today’s measures, the trade was not that significant, but it was enough to encourage private traders to start the process and for a large kingdom to take notice, if only to cater for their rich men’s fancy tastes for things like spices. This kind of imagination becomes difficult when you know that those tastes have become common place now.

Anyway as we can see, the Chaliyam raja was also connected with the Chinese trade. Cheng Ho comes around in 1405 and established the superiority of the Zamorin and his accession as the ruler of Malabar, and places him above the Chaliyam king. Many history books wrongly mention that Zheng came to establish the Manavikrama Zamorin’s accession to the throne; it was actually to present the papers and install the stone monument establishing the relationship as a fact.

Chaliyam’s (the nearby locales of Parappanad, Beypore, Tirur, Tanur are all known in history from ancient times and form part of this locale) history is certainly checkered after that, and the events in that region were to determine the futures of many a king, namely the Zamorin, the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Arabs and Moplahs. One can think a bit and easily figure out why the place was important. One was the acess to the river Bharatapuzha, trade connected to it and secondly the geography of the vicinity. As you will note the serene Puzha flows over the Nila valley and empties the waters from the mountains into the Arabian Sea at Ponnani, so it was an important sea port that connected though a major river to inland centers where material for trade arrived. This locale in early Malabar history was called Vettathnaad, Prakasha Rajya or land of light. Today the family that ruled these areas is extinct, and their story is not very easy o piece together, but we do know that at one time, one of the chieftains for the sake of survival even changed religion to side with the Portuguese. Rivalry with the neighboring Zamorin of Calicut determined the future of that place. Sad events continued, after life had settled down somewhat and the British had taken charge. Violent events connected with the Moplah revolts shook the sleepy villages of Vettath naad, Chaliyam and the offices of the powerful EIC.

Readers should note that there were two chieftains, one being the Tanur king or Vettath raja, the other being the vassal of the Zamorin called the (N) Parappanad raja. The Tanur kingdom was in those days very learned, and produced many famous people, mathematicians and artists. Tanur was thus a swaroopam. Somewhere during the 1350 period the wars between the upcoming Zamorin and the Vettah raja intensified and the dynasty were defeated by the Zamorin. The Ponnani port was very important for Arab trade and thus the strategic importance meant that the Zamorin had to have a long term relationship with the raja. Following this the Tirunavaya wars took place and in the uneasy truce that followed the Vettam raja was given a significant position in the ceremonious Mamankham where he stood to the right of the Zamorin and the Shahbandar koya of Calicut to his right.

Vettatnad (Vettam) or Tanur Swarupam comprised of parts of Ponnani and Tirur Taluks. It included within itself such places as Tanur, Trikkantiyur, Chaliyam, Triprangode etc. Chalium on the other hand was controlled by the Parappanad raja called Urinama. So note that the Parappanad swaroopma is different from the Tanur swaroopam, but then again entire area for foreigners was perhaps termed Chaliya.

What connection would the Chinese trade have with the principalities of Chaliyam or Tanore? To figure that out it must be noted that Ponnani was an important port where many of the trade ships berthed. The main exports specific to Chaliyam were the muslin shawls, Chalia (areca) nuts other than the usual trade goods & fine articles that came down the river. It rivaled Pantalayanai to the North of Calicut and eventually became the seat of the Yemeni Arabs as well as the Portuguese when they established a fort there. So how about the Chinese?

Ibn batuta had to say this in 1326 - I next came to the city of Shaliat, where the Shaliats are made, and hence they derive their name. This is a fine city. I remained at it some time, and there heard that the kakam (third sized vessels) had returned to China, and that my slave girl had died in it and I was very much distressed on her account. The infidels too had seized upon my property, and my followers had been dispersed among the Chinese and others.

A later observation by P Vincenzo is certainly curious. We passed Cinacotta", says P. Vincenzo, "at the mouth of the river Ciali, where the Portuguese formerly had a fortress" (liv. I, cap. xxxiii).. G De Orta certainly mentions a fort of the Chinese, whereas Vincernzo equates it to ‘little fort’. But the time lines covered in past and present tenses cross in translations and one cannot be sure, nevertheless, did the Chinese settle down in Chaliyam or were they mostly around Calicut?

Reading all these one can infer that there was a sizeable Chinese presence in the location, around the turn of the 15th century, even before Cheng Ho’s arrival in Calicut. It could have been so that they were mainly centered on Chaliyam and the mention of a Cinacotta probably signified a Chinese settlement around that location. Perhaps that was the very reason the Chaliyam raja had his envoys in China even before the Zamorin’s envoy reached Ming China.

Who could have been the emissary of Sha-mi-ti? Was Sha-mi-ti a translation for Samuthiri as Western historians conclude? Unlikely, for the word did not come into use until later in the 15th century, it was therefore just some confusion by the translators or could very well have been a name other than Samuthiri. But the mystery is still not solved, for suddenly the Paraksh Rajyam or Vettathnadu now delivers a ruler named Viraraya in ancient history notings. As people who study the Zamorins will agree, the Mana Vikaramas are understood, but nobody really knows how the Viraraya became a part of Zamorin titles. Nampoothiri concurs - He says that the Viraraya title seems to be acquired 15th AD, when Zamorins annexed Valluvanadu territory (or was it actually the Vettathnadu?).

Was there perhaps a time when the Virarayas of Vettath nadu were part of the Zamorin’s ruling coalition, i.e. not just standing to his right on important occasions, but also as part of the family? Did they drift apart in time to become enemies? But that drift is more difficult to analyze without more matter, and so we will try to do so another day.

Soon the Chinese were to leave Malabar shores entirely. I had covered it briefly in the past, but will get back to it in more detail soon. The Ming dynasty shifted its interests to internal problems and land border issues, forgetting their tributaries abroad. Probably the relationship between Calicut and China was broken already for other reasons as ‘Joseph the Indian’ mentions. The Portuguese came next and the Zamorin had to resort to asking the Egyptian and Turkish Sultans for help. The heavily armed Chinese armada of Zheng He was not available anymore and the tributary status was perhaps lost… but why? That will be another story for another day.

As for Chalium, the uneasy truce with the Zamorin continued till 1498 and the Portuguese appeared on the scene. Seeing an ally in them, the Vettath rajas sided with the Portuguese in the wars that followed, and allied with the royal families of Cochin and Travancore. By the 18th century the family became extinct, though the Zamorin was to send his family to Paonnani, just before his own death, when faced with danger from Hyder Ali.

The area around continued to be a prosperous trading center and became home for many a famous person including the Zainuddin Makkadum’s, the Maraikkars and so on, all figuring regularly in Malabar history. The weavers vanished in the turmoil’s that followed and the Shaliat manufacture was attributed to Kashmir. The Portuguese finally constructed a fort in 1532, fulfilling their their main aim. The fort was later (1571) demolished by the Zamorin and many big battles followed, resulting in the departure of the Portuguese from Malabar soil once and for all. It later became a terminus for the Madras railway in Malabar and slowly faded from notice. Today there are talks of creating a warship building center there. Perhaps the locales near Tyndis will become famous once again after years of obscurity.

Notes
1. Ibn Batuta states that Shaliats are made in Chaliyam, and it is possible that the fine cotton head scarf (Keffiyeh) worn by Arabs (muslin from cotton & silk weed) were manufactured by the Chaliyar weavers of Chaliyam in those days. However the modern day shawl is attributed to a Shaliat in Kashmir. As Chaliyars were always resident close to a river, this is likely. Batuta called the place Ash Shaliyat.
2. The Kilimanoor koil thampurans such as Marthanda varma are related to the Malabar Parappanad family. Vettathu Nadu annexes Chowara, one of the original list of 64 Namboothiri Gramams’ and Queen Gangadhara Lakshmi of Kochi adopted children from Vettathu Nadu for this reason.
3. The Vettath sampardayam in Ramanattam(which later became Kathakali) originated from Vettah nadu,.

References

Tributary Trade and China's Relations with the West – JK Fairbank
China & Calicut in the early ming period – Roderich Ptak
Samoothirinaad – NM Nampoothiri

Malik Kafur in Malabar – A Myth

2011-08-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

The old capital of the Hoysala Ballalas at Dvarasamudra was taken in 1310, and Malik Kafur went to the Malabar Coast where he erected a mosque, and afterwards returned to his master with enormous booty (A sketch of the dynasties of Southern India Robert Sewell-1883 .

Now is that correct? To determine the answer you have to understand the differences between the usages M’aabar & Malabar signifying two geographically different areas of South India, as mentioned in history. One of them is lost in modern parlance, while the other will soon be forgotten in today’s integrated Kerala save in the minds of some from an older generation or those studying history. These two words are known to some historians, but the occasional reader is definite to get confused. In reality these are two different parts of South India and both names originated from Arabic terms used to signify the region they traded with. Basically both names signify ‘passage’ or ‘the crossing’. In the early medieval, the South Coromandel area was synonymous with the kingdom of M’aabar (Incidentally, the word Coromandel that we use came from Cholamandalam). The word M’aabar was used often by Arab writers and then when it became a kingdom post invasion it came to limelight, and thereafter got confused with Malabar after the English arrived.

Ma’bar as a kingdom appears in history books around the 13th century and is defined as the area eastwards from Cape Comorin (Abdulfeda) to Nellore. It was however mentioned as a trading area even before that. The western region of Melibar (Menibar) which we know as today’s Malabar, is defined to be the area between Mt Deli (Cannanore) and Cape Comorin. Of the origins of the usage Malabar to depict the west Coast of Kerala, I will not get into much detail at this moment, and we have covered that before.

During the later parts of the 17th or 18th century, the definitions between these two words got blurred and some English writers like Sewell mixed up the locales. One of the mentions that changed the entire course of history of a region, if it had really been accepted would be the mythical invasion of Malabar by Malik Kafur. It never happened, for Kafur never crossed the Western Ghats. On the contrary, as some books mention, the Kulashkhara Varma of the Chera dynasty, supporting the Pandyas drove Kafur and his minions out of Madurai during his first foray. This is probably a confusion as well, which we will see shortly.

Then there is another rclaim that needs further study - this mention in the Kulashekara dynasty entry in Wikipedia - The Various sub-castes of Bunts (community) such as Nayara, Menava, Kuruba and Samantha established Matriarchal dynasties in Kerala only after 1310 when Malik Kafur invaded Kerala. The first ever mention of Nairs is at Thrikodithanam mentions a Chennan Nair who was a Drummer migrated from Tulunadu. But more on this some other day, for now we will focus on Malik Kafur.

A number of articles mentions about the southerly invasion by Malik Kafur, the 1000 Dinar slave and eunuch at the command of Alaudin Khilji, the subsequent sacking of Malabar and his return up North with huge amounts of booty. Now was that right?

In order to clear this confusion from the records, let us take a real look at the movements of Malik Kafur, for the story of the man is pretty interesting and so is the story of the Sultanate of M’aabar which lasted less than 50 years. The best descriptions of the Sultanate can be obtained from a fine book written by Mehrdad Shokoohy titled Muslim Architecture of South India. I will get to these parts and the empire of M’aabar another day while covering the Coromandel and later the Chinese traders , but will presently introduce it as the area east of Cape Comorin (Kumhuri) and its many ports. This area and upto Madurai later on became the Sultanate of M’aabar.

Somewhere around the 13th century (Nov 1310) this area came under the direct notice of the Delhi Sultans, possibly because of the export of pearls and other trade related activities and an urgent summons to mediate in a family quarrel. Sundara Pandya of Madurai requested the support of Alauddin Khilji over a matter of accession and Ulugh Khan was deputed to support the king. But he died before he could raise the forces, and his place was taken by the vice regent Malik Kafur (white camphor) or Kafur Hazar Dinari.

The story of M’aabar is somewhat similar to what happened when the Palghat Appan invited Hyder Ali, who was hanging round Dindigul. Let me borrow words from Tamil Tribune.

King Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandyan (1268 - 1310) had two sons Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarman Veera Pandyan. The elder son, Sundara Pandyan, was by the king's wife and the younger, Veera Pandyan, was by a mistress. Contrary to tradition, the king proclaimed that the younger son would succeed him. This enraged Sundara Pandyan. He killed the father and became king in 1310. Some local chieftains in the kingdom swore allegiance to the younger brother Veera Pandian and a civil war broke out. Sundara Pandyan was defeated and he fled the country. He sought help from the far off northern ruler Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji who was ruling much of northern India from Delhi. At that time, his army under General Malik Kafur was in the south at Dvarasamudra (far to the north of Tamil Nadu). Khilji agreed to help Sundara Pandyan and ordered Malik Kafur's army to march to Tamil Nadu. With Sundara Pandyan's assistance, this Muslim army from the north entered Tamil Nadu in 1311.

Kafur and his troops created mayhem in the area for a full year, looting and pillaging, finally carrying an immense treasure on 312 elephants, 20000 horses and 10 crore gold coins. Since then the place has been mentioned by Ibn Batuta as well (who married a girl from the local rulers family), and we hear about the many battles of the M’aabar rulers with local kings & chieftains. By the 15th century the sultanate was no more. Prior to the 14th century, this was the area where the much interaction with the Chinese took place. But it is important to note that M’aabar was the place where the Arab ships delivered horses though we hear of smaller deliveries to the Malabar coasts. The reasoning should be that Malabar did not need horses due to the nature of the terrain and Arabian horses did not quite fit in, but were more important for the plains of the East and from where they were traded up north to the Deccan and Delhi kings. If you recall I wrote about the famous horse trader of Kayalpatanam who converted the Paravas during the later Portuguese reign as well. Anyway one other reason why the Delhi Sultans wanted a foothold in the south was to control the horse trade as horses were needed for any war campaign.

So who was Malik Kafur? Let us first look at what is mentioned in most books – Borrowing from Wikipedia, Malik Kafur (1296 - 1316),or "Chand Ram" as his name was supposedly ,was a eunuch slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat (Cambay). Alauddin Khilji fell in love with the effeminate beauty of Malik Kafur, castrated and converted him to Islam. He was made malik naib, the senior commander of the army. Another article states thus - In 1297 AD Alauddin Khilji set off for conquering Gujarat. The Raja of Gujarat took shelter in Devagiri where Nusrat Khan an Ulugh Khan pursued them and looted. During Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Gujarat, his generals had brought immense booty from there including Raja Karan’s consort Kamla Devi and the handsome slave Malik Kafur Hazardinari.. The Sultan fell in love with both. In the words of Farishtah, he converted Kamala Devi to Islam and married her, and treating Kafur as a favourite “tied the sacred thread (zunnar) of his love in his own waist.” Shanti Sadiq Ali in the book The African dispersal in the Deccan: from medieval to modern times mentions he was African slave purchased in Baghdad. Abdul Sherif identifies him as an Ethiopian. Chand Ram or African, he went on to create havoc much like Ayas Khan did for Hyder Ali.

So that was Kafur, the slave and later commander. I will get to his life thereafter a little later, but let us see how historians interpret the story.

See what German historian Wilhelm von Pochhammer has to say about this in ‘India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent’ – He reorganizes the history - As the weakest among the Tamil states, Kerala maintained its identity by identifying with the strongest power. After the dissolution of the Chola Empire, Kerala obtained complete independence once again. It was then threatened by a new danger. With the Muslim invasion, the cavalry general Malik Kafur (1310) wanted to plunder Kerala. Kerala however defended itself partly by skilful guerilla warfare and partly by drawing the Muslim general’s attention to the much greater riches in the neighboring territory of the Pandyas. The state although saved from danger, broke up into small segments of which the biggest was ruled by the Zamorin of Calicut.

So we have already seen two new definitions to the medieval period of Kerala, one based on the parley of Bunts to Kerala and the second based on the threat of the Khilji Eunuch general.

Krishnaswami Iyengar in his book Some Contributions of South India to Indian Culture opines thus - In the meanwhile the Mohammadan garrisons left by Malik-Kafur had been dislodged from the Tamil country by the Kerala ruler, Harivarma Kulashekara, who broke out of his mountain frontier and carried his armies successfully as far as Poonamallee, perhaps only to retire, when the Kakatiya general advanced against him.

This is confirmed by JBP More, who states that Kafur’s first invasion attempt was a failure, but he was immensely successful the second time around. If that were the case, why did Malik Kafur not retaliate during his second and successful raid and attack the Chera king in his domain? Anyway we do not know if he did, probably he did not.

Malik Kafur did not live very long after the plunder. As Dunning explains - On the 4th Jumada Sani 711 H. (1311) Malik Kafur arrived in Delhi with all this treasure and presented it to the Sultan Ala-ud-Din. But a curse seemed to attach to all the gold and jewels taken from the Hindoo idolaters, and in the same way as the Warangal treasure tempted Ala-ud-Din to murder his uncle Jelal-ud-Din, so now the same temptation brought upon him the same fate from the hands of Malik Kafur. In 1317 Ala-ud-Din died, his death having been hastened(poisoned), it is said, by Malik Kafur, who at once seized the throne. He put out the eyes of two of Ala-ud-Din's sons, "by cutting them from their sockets with a razor, like slices of melon," and confined another (Mubarak Khan), intending him for the same fate. Before, however, he could do this, retribution overtook Malik Kafur himself. A conspiracy was formed amongst some of the nobles, who entered the palace at night and killed him when he was asleep. This being done, Mubarak Khan was placed upon the throne and assumed the title of Sultan Kutb-ud-Din (1317).

Ziauddin Barani (translation by S Kidwai) says thus – In those last 4-5 years of Alauddin Khilji’s life, the sultan was losing his memory & senses; he had fallen deeply and madly in love with Malik Naib. He had entrusted his responsibilities to the useless, ingratiate sodomite Kafur. In a scornful obituary to Kafur, Barani says – This ignorant man did not know that to be castrated, to be addicted to the vice of being sodomised and to be faithless are the worst vices. He did not know the necessities and rules of Kingship require a person to be exceptional, independent, fearless and strong. … That was Malik Kafur..

But Malik Kafur is remembered in history for something else as well; he looted and brought to Delhi the great diamond taken from Rudradeva, identified by some with the famous Koh-i-Nur. Of that I will talk at length soon.

So that was the story of Kafur and his foray into M’aabar. The story got tainted in time, when M’aabar vanished from the vocabulary and further got confused with Malabar. Regretfully many works of history and even text books still mention that Malik Kafur plundered Malabar, which as you saw from this study is after all, a misconception..

References

Mehrdad Shokoohy - Muslim architecture of South India
Tarikh-i ‘Alai or Khazainu-l Futuh by Amir Khusru
Dhow Cultures and the Indian Ocean - Abdul Sheriff
The history of India from the earliest ages: Mussulman rule - James Talboys Wheeler
A history of the Deccan, Volume 1- James Dunning Baker Gribble, Mary Gribble Pendlebury

Notes:

There is an interesting but false legend about Kafur which is heard in old men’s tales. It is a fabrication and is mentioned below only for the fun of it….

In 1312 AD, Malik Kafur invaded Devagiri in Deccan for the second time and captured two beautiful daughters of King Ramadeva. Malik Kafur sent those two young ladies to Alauddin Khalji in Delhi along with other loot. Alauddin, who had natural weakness for beautiful ladies irrespective of their marital status, invited them to join his royal harem with all dignity. The elder girl replied that both of them were not fit for emperor as Malik Kafur had already enjoyed them. In anger Alauddin forgot that Malik Kafur was a Eunuch and cannot enjoy girls normally. He ordered an immediate arrest of Malik Kafur and got him sent to Delhi after packing him in a sack made of cow skin. Alauddin knew that during the fortnight’s journey from Devagiri to Delhi, the cow skin would shrink gradually in hot and humid climate killing Malik Kafur by suffocating him slowly. After a fortnight the cow skin sack containing Malik Kafur’s dead body reached Alauddin. Alauddin opened the sack in presence of those two ladies. On seeing the dead body, one of the girls told him that emperor should have checked genuineness of their allegation before giving the death order. Alauddin became furious and asked why they made false allegation against Malik Kafur. They replied that they wanted to take revenge on Malik Kafur who had destroyed their country. Source rajendracholan – Ponniyinselvam forum

Vasco’s death

2011-07-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Vasco Da Gama made three trips to Malabar. The first brought him fame and riches, the second helped him satiate his sadistic and cruel tendencies on the troubled Malabar shores and the third was to take him to the gates of hell, from the same lands that ironically brought him his fame and glory. The value of his discovery was immense to Europe, but it also created immense turbulence in Malabar. The tight grip of the Zamorins of Calicut on Malabar was weakened, the importance of Cochin increased, a wedge was slowly inserted in the balanced relationship between the Nairs and the Moplahs of Malabar and many other social economic changes were initiated. Malabar came to know about new things and new practices, but they were also to see a new enemy in cavalcades after the arrival of the feared Parangi. Yes, the people who followed from the west like the Dutch and the Englishmen capitalized on the turmoil created by the Portuguese, but the people of Malabar eventually benefitted over time from the sale of the produce of the land namely the famed spices of Malabar that grew and ripened in the Malabar sun and rain, prophetically attributed to the famous saying of a Zamorin – you can take away our pepper but not our sun and rain (surely a legend as I answered a readers question earlier). Many died in the battle for pepper control and the Zamorins lost their control after hanging on to them for some six centuries.

Vasco was always a hunted man after his arrival in Malabar. One of the first attempts on his life was after his landing at Kappad/Pantalayani, by the moors. He did not really have to fear then, for he had some experienced convicts in his entourage. This was not clear to me until I read an article by Jose Calico. He explains ‘Vasco da Gama personally recruited the crew (that was) to accompany him on this maiden voyage. It was not very easy to find recruits for this journey. Many promised to join the mission but few actually dared to show up. The voyage to India was seen as being fraught with immense dangers. Many were keen but few were willing. Eventually an assortment of individuals was put together for this voyage. Among the crew were 10 convicted killers whose sentences had been specially commuted. They were to be used for the suicidal dangerous missions anticipated en route’.

When a threat was uncovered against the Gama's life it upset the Portuguese, for they had believed that the Zamorin was a Christian of some kind. The antagonistic atmosphere in Calicut left little sense in their remaining at Calicut, and on top of that disease and accidents had taken a heavy toll of his men by now. There were more rumors of plots against his life, and so Gama sailed away from Calicut at the end of August 1498. These stories were covered in earlier posts.

Anyway this is not an attempt to trace all of his life but only to cover the final days of his life. Time had moved on and the final voyage was on the charts. The 64 year old man thus started out on his last voyage to Goa, by then the headquarters of the Portuguese colony in India. The weary old man, who had finally became a fidalgo after intense negotiations, was now titled Count or Earl Vasco Da Gama, travelled to Goa in 1524. Eduardo Duarte Menezes in Cochin was a disaster in the eyes of the Portuguese superiors and had to be replaced. Vasco arrived in Goa, in stately fashion, to take care of that mission.

Vasco was destined for Cochin, some eight weeks later, and was by then very sick. It became clear that he was dreadfully ill, and rumors swirled around the Portuguese bureaucracy. Questions like who would take over and what their responsibilities were going to be, bounced back and forth. The interesting question was what his ailment was all about. Some said it was malaria and some said nothing. But later studies point out that he had contracted anthrax.

Trade was one of the fastest carriers for intercontinental diseases. Many diseases moved from one place to another, from places where people had immunity to places where they did not, thereby creating havoc. The Bubonic plague was one of them; influenza was another as microbes piggybacked carriers over the oceans. There was one more and that was Anthrax, something that afflicted meat eaters or those who drank milk from these afflicted animals.

Gama moved to Cochin for two purposes, one to check the continuous attacks by the paros of Kunjali and secondly to arrest Duarte De Menzes. By then the Portuguese establishment had become very corrupt and people were happily enriching themselves. Duarte had amassed wealth and fearing the arrival of Gama went onto bury it (that is an interesting story for Duarte sailed to Lisbon with it but lost it again at the beaches of Farao and I am not sure if it has been found as yet).

St Francis church Cochin Photo byThoufeek Zakriya

Back to Gama’s sickness- Da Gama began to suffer "great pains in the neck," wrote Correa, and large boils prevented him from turning his head in any direction. Duarte who was not allowed to disembark from his ship decided to wait and see if he could outlive Vasco.

Correa explains - The boils were very hard, and they would not ripen for all the remedies that were applied, for nothing availed, and they gave him such great torment that they did not allow him to turn his face in any direction. At this the Viceroy was subject to great fits of irritation, with the heavy cares which he felt on account of the many things which he had got to do, so that his illness was doubled, and went on getting worse until he altogether took to his bed, and from thence gave all the necessary orders, with great travail of spirit, which caused him to be overtaken by mortal illness, with such pains as deprived him of speech.

The Viceroy, feeling that he was ill, spoke secretly at night to the guardian of St. Antony, who was his confessor, with whom he consulted; and at this conjuncture there arrived at Cochym the ships and vessel from Ceylon with the cinnamon, which was transferred from them into the ships bound for the kingdom, which were now almost laden, and the Viceroy hurried this on. He dispatched at once the vessel to the kingdom with his letters; Francisco de Mendonca went as captain of it, and he sailed on the first of December.

Gama was first buried here - Photo by JK@Varnam

Vasco continued with the responsibilities until the last moments, did his confessions and one of his last acts was to compensate the women had had ordered flogged, some years ago and breathed his last on the shores of Cochin shortly before Christmas eve 1524. His last wish was that his bones be conveyed to Lisbon for burial. 26 years had passed since he touched the Malabar shores and he was cursed to die there, a painful death for all the atrocities he had committed. The body was buried in the St Antony’s chapel (others mention the Franciscan monastery of Cochin) a building that was later destroyed in 1806.

The people let out a sigh of relief, the feared man was gone, Vasco had ruled Portuguese India for all but 3 months.

His body was first buried at St. Francis Church, which was located at Fort Kochi, but his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539. Even his dead body had an adventurous trip. The body of Vasco da Gama was re-interred in Vidigueira in a casket decorated with gold and jewels in 1539. In 1838 or thereabouts, Jose Sylvester Riberio opened the casket to discover that the casket had a skeleton and two craniums. It appears that the marauding French had desecrated many graves, searching for gold. Here the body remained until 1880 after which the body was transferred to the monastery of Jeronimos at Belem. But then it was discovered that the wrong body was moved. Finally in 1898, the right body was moved to Belem (or so it seems – for nobody is sure) and there it remains for you to visit & see….

How did the Gama die? Did he die of Malaria as it was said or Anthrax? Was he poisoned? It is now believed that due to the cumulative effects of the arduous journeys and what is perhaps consistent with anthrax bacillary infection, Vasco da Gama died in Cochin on December 25, 1524, a sad and painful death. Possibly he regretted his violent actions in those final days, probably he did not, for he and he alone was his judge.

References
Three voyages – Gaspar Correa
Vasco Da Gama – Career & legend – Sanjay Subrahmanyam

Notes: The two (some books mention three) women he had flogged had stowed away on his ship from Lisbon, to marry men in Goa. When Gama found them, he had them taken around Goa and flogged and on a yoke (Canga) all of two hundred stripes, despite their entreaty that if he did so, nobody would marry them. Correa’s three voyages goes into this story in great detail for those interested.

On the location of Muziris………..

2011-06-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

Muyiri or Mirjan

Today most people including me accept that the location of Muziris is close to Kodungallur. We accept that the Periyar River changed its course and silted, resulting in the closure of the old port and the move of trading centers elsewhere. But there are still a few people who believe that the real location of Muziris and for that matter Nelcynda are elsewhere, in varied locations such as Mirjan, Karur and Chitambaram. I thought it an interesting task to analyze the information we have, so that the mystery is revisited, if not cleared and also take a second look at the presently accepted conclusions of Pattanam’s discoverer Dr Shajan.

I had consciously stayed away from the subject of Muziris, straying only once to discuss the papyrus, but a persistent reader made me take a relook at the location of Muziris. His contention was that it was surely around Mangalore, as Dr Vincent & Maj Rennell had said many years ago. It raised interest in me for another reason, for I recalled my pet project – the story of the trader Yiju who was located in Mangalore in the 12th -13th century. With that background, I was aware that there was a shipping channel open between the Red Sea ports and Mangalore and I was also reminded of the peculiar anomaly where Yiju himself could not find a Jewish wife nor could be find a Jewish husband for his daughter. So much so that he married a Nair girl and he wandered off later to Cairo in search of a bridegroom for his daughter. Now if there was a big contingent of Jews at nearby Muziris (i.e. if Muziris was close to Mangalore) it may not have been an issue. That there were Jews in Muziris is pretty clear, at least after the start of this century (but then It is said they were at Shingly since 562 BC even though trade started much before, in King Solomon’s times).Anyway Yiju came to Mangalore 11 centuries after the mention of Muziris, so Yiju has no standing here. I was also reminded of the study of the Payyanur Pattu which mentioned much trade with Arabian and Yavana sailors which was located close to Nileshwaram, which again dates to the 12th century. Due to all this in my mind, Muziris surely felt farther away from Mangalore. Am I right? I have to revisit the conclusions by eminent historians to check the reason for ambiguity. And I finally reread my study of the Udyavara.

But the main point to note here is that Muziris, like Prestor John is somewhat mythical. It is important to note that Muziris was first mentioned briefly by just one western writer, in the 1st century AD and repeated by Ptolemy in his copied notes. After a century the port disappeared from texts and historians who have studied this subject in greater detail agree that for all practical purposes, just as Malabar ports and activity shifted in time, the port of Muziris vanished with the fall of Roman trade. Many also state after studies that Muziris was just a frontier town as opposed to a well established port of long standing, so it quickly got disbanded. Other aspects such as the Augustus temple shown in the Tabula Peutingeriana, amphorae of wine and Garum etc have been explained as necessities for the expatriate Yavanas who waited for the next year of the monsoon or for commodities to be delivered from inland locations.

First and foremost, one should realize as I explained in past posts that the Arab or for that matter Greek and Roman traders did not typically venture beyond Malabar. They used Malabar ports or Lymurike ports as transshipment points. From Malabar the stuff went eastwards or inland. Similarly the Chinese & SE Asian goods reached these Malabar ports through Kalingan ships or overland and changed hands with the traders. Why did the traders not venture eastwards? One reason being lack of propulsion, second being lack of knowledge, but the third and more probable reason was a clever use of misinformation by Indians. For example outlandish stories about monsters were spread and the location or source of goods were never divulged. The Adams Bridge finally ensured that only shallow bottomed Malabar boats and not oceangoing yavana ships could go to the other side of India.

Still the question is where is the port of Muziris? Starting with Forbes, followed by Rennel and later, Dr William Vincent conclusions were made that Muziris was in the Mangalore area. Their hypothesis was based on some reasoning as below

The problem started with Forbes in 1783 who said in his Oriental memoirs

Sir James Sibbald, for many years the English resident at Onore, informs me that Mirzee (the Musiris of the ancient Greeks) is situated twenty-two miles to the northward of Onore. At spring tides large ships can sail over the bar, at the entrance of the river, and remain in safety during the monsoon.

The supposition in brackets was used by some to bolster their case.

Major Rennell around 1788 concluded that Nylcanda was Neeleswaram.

Ptolemy's ideas are these: Tyndis (going southward) succeeds Nitria; then Muziris; Becare (which is one of the readings of Barace) Melcynda, or Nelcynda; Cottiara; and then Comaria, or Cape Comorin; whose proper name is Komrin or Komry. And the Periple (my information is from M. D'Anville) enumerates in the same order, Tyndis, Muziris, and Barace: allowing 500 stadia between each, respectively. No three places appear more convenient to this relative disposition, and to the circumstances of the pirate coast and pepper country, than Goa, Meerzaw (vulgarly, Merjee) and Barcelore, or Baflinore. The first, namely, Goa, is just clear of the pirate coast; having Newtya, possibly the Nitrias of Pliny and Ptolemy (near which the pirates cruised on the Roman vessels in their way to Muziris) on the north of it. The second place, Meerzaw, or Merjee, has even some affinity in sound, with Muziris and is situated on a river, and at some distance from the sea. And Baccelore, or Baflinore, which may possibly be Barace, is one of the principal pepper factories, at present: and therefore answers so far to Barace. Nelcynda, I take to be Nelisuram: and do not, with M. D'Anville, suppose Barace to be the port of Nelcynda, but a distinct place. It is said by Pliny, to be situated within the kingdom of Pandion; which is pretty well understood to be Madura: or to be comprised, at least, within the southern part of the peninsula: and therefore, the farther south we go for Nelcynda, the less we are likely to err. But even all this is conjecture as far as relates to particular positions: nor is it of much consequence for we are clear that the ports of merchandise, must be situated, in or near to the country of Canara, the Cottonara, or pepper country of Pliny: that is, between Goa and Tellicherry; as before observed.

Vincent Williams in 1805 added his analysis stating

For the position of Nelkunda, I am obliged to major Rennell, who is the first geographer, as far as I have learnt, who has fixed it at Nelisuram. That he is correct in this, I am persuaded, admits not of presumptive proof only, but demonstration:

For we may first observe, that Nelisuram is not only a mart itself, but gives name to a district. This district is not in Canara, but Malabar: the frontier of Malabar, the boundary wall which runs from the sea to the foot of the Ghauts, is at Dekly, or Dekully, immediately north of Nelisuram. This wall is still visible; and this in a peculiar manner

A second proof may be derived from the name itself, which Orme writes Nelleaseram. Nella, according to Paolino, signifes rice, and Ceram a country; and if Nellaceram be the country of Nella, Nelkunda must be the fort of Nella, resembling Golconda, Inna-conda, or Conda-poor, on this identical coast of Canara.

But the last and best testimony is that of major Rennell himself, who mentions ' a large river, named Cangerecora, whose course is from the N. E. and which falls in about four miles to the north of mount Dilla; previous to which its course is parallel to the sea-coast for about eleven miles, being separated only by a spit of land. The forts of Nelisuram, ifamdilly, and Mattuloy, are situated on this river, which is joined by several others that descend from the Ghaut Mountains, which in this part approach within twenty-two miles of the coast. I cannot help considering this Nelisuram, which is situated twelve miles up the river, as the place meant by Nelcynda or Melcynda, by Pliny, and Ptolemy—a place visited by the Egyptian and Roman ships.'

Let us then observe, that the Nelkunda of the Periplus lies actually the same twelve miles up the river; and after this ask, whether all these circumstances can be accidental? For it the correspondence is evident, it is but reasonable to assume this proof as a demonstration."

Naoora is the first port of Limurike, and Mooziris the last. The Periplus places Mooziris fifty miles to the north of Nelkuda, Tundis fifty miles north of Mooziris, and a third fifty north are assumed to Kaoora.' These positions agree with Mangaloor, Barceloor, and Onoor. These stations are certainly assigned with, much greater probability than those adopted by former geographers.

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d' Anville opines that Calicut or nearby Chaul was Muziris and nelcynda somewhere near Goa, but I could not quite understand or follow his train or thought and any interested reader may peruse his conclusions by checking page 43 and 44 of the book.

But Burnell, Caldwell and Yule after further studies fixed Muziris close to Cranganore. Casson strongly agreed with it, just like Schoff and Warmington and the only dissenter, with a (?) mark against the Muziris location in her studies was Vimala Begely. Many others followed convention since then. The primary reasoning was based on the situations of the Tamil kingdoms of the Cheras and Pandians in the old days. The only way Muziris could be Chera held and Nelcynda to be Pandyan held was if they were located near Cranganore and Porakad. The rivers are also seen as stated and things fit though there are some inconsistencies possibly created by passage of time and the changing geography of the cpoastal towns and rivers. A detailed analysis can be read in Kanakasabhai’s book with some older place names in Kerala.

So what does the Periplus state actually? Let me quote the paragraphs from Schoff’s book

53. Beyond Calliena there are other market-towns of this region; Semylla, Mandagora, Pala-patmae, Melizigara, Byzantium, Togarum and Aurannoboas. Then there are the islands called Sesecrienae and that of the Aegidii, and that of the Caenitae, opposite the place called Chersonesus (and in these places there are pirates), and after this the White Island. Then come Naura and Tyndis, the first markets of Damirica, and then Muziris and Nelcynda, which are now of leading importance.

54. Tyndis is of the Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is a village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia. Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river and sea about five hundred stadia, and is of another Kingdom, the Pandian. This place also is situated on a river, about one hundred and twenty stadia from the sea.

55. There is another place at the mouth of this river, the village of Bacare; to which ships drop down on the outward voyage from Nelcynda, and anchor in the roadstead to take on their cargoes; because the river is full of shoals and the channels are not clear. The kings of both these market-towns live in the interior. And as a sign to those approaching these places from the sea there are serpents coming forth to meet you, black in color, but shorter, like snakes in the head, and with blood-red eyes.

Following the analysis of Edward Hurbert Bunbury in his History of ancient geography, we note

The territory of Limyrice was subject to an independent sovereign of its own, who resided in the interior, and whom our author calls Ceprobotras, evidently the same name with the Coelebothras or Celobothras of Pliny. The first ports in this district were Naoura and Tyndis, and beyond these to the south Muziris and Nelkynda, which were become the chief places of trade at the time our author wrote. Nelkynda however was not properly speaking included in Limyrice, but was subject to another king named Pandion, whose dominions appear to have comprised the whole southern extremity of the peninsula of India. The writer of the Periplus tells us that it was 500 stadia from Tyndis to Muziris, and again 500 stadia from thence to Nelkynda.

Nelkynda was situated on a river, about 120 stadia from the sea, and there was another port at its mouth, which was called Bacare: evidently the same with the Barace of Pliny, which he places in the territory of the Neacyndi, probably also a false reading for Nelcyndi. It is clear therefore that the ports referred to by both authors are the same: but there is much difficulty in determining their precise position on the western coast of India. Nelkynda was placed by Major Rennell at a place called Nelisseram, at the head of an estuary, the mouth of which is a few miles to the north of Mount Delli, in latitude 12° 10': and this identification was adopted by Dr. Vincent, as well as by the most recent editor of the Periplus.

In accordance with this view Muziris was placed at Mangalore, Tyndis probably at Cundapoor, and Naoura at Honauer in 14° 16', at the opening of a considerable estuary formed by the river Sherramutter. But the most recent writer who has investigated the subject, Colonel Yule, has transferred the whole group of ports, and with them of course the district called Limyrice, nearly three degrees farther south: identifying Muziris with Cranganore, which was a port much frequented in the middle ages, though now decayed, situated in about 10° 12" N. latitude. This change has the advantage of being in accordance with the 7000 stadia given as the distance from Barygaza to Limyrice—an estimate greatly in excess of the truth, if that district be supposed to coincide with the modern Canara: and of affording an explanation of some expressions very obscurely worded in the description of the coast from Tyndis to Muziris and Nelkynda. But on the other hand no site can be found on this part of the coast that corresponds nearly as well with the description of Nelkynda and its port of Bacare as that selected by Major Rennell. The difficulties attending the identification of the ports in question are certainly not altogether surmounted by either theory.

So many opinions can thus be found, but the one conclusive follows the identification of the name Muyiri with Cranganore in a Hebrew translation of a Tamil document dated 774AD which became one of Dr Burnell’s bases for establishing that Muziris is near Cranaganore. The Copper scrolls state -

I Erveh Barmen . . . sitting this day in Canganur. ..." {Madras Journal, xiii. pt. ii. p. 12). This is from an old Hebrew translation of the 8th century copper-grant to the Jews, in which the Tamil has "The king ... Sri Bhaakara Ravi Varman . . . on the day when he was pleased to sit in Muyiri-kodu. . . ."thus identifying Muyiri or Muziris with Cranganore, an identification afterwards verified by tradition ascertained on the spot by Dr. Burnell.

Gundert however makes a cryptic comment about the part concerning Muyiri kotta (Moderi oota or Muyeri oodu) which I have not been able to understand. Ellis another expert who studied the copper plates agrees it is Muyiri kotta.

To this if you add some inputs from some ancient Sangam Tamil literature; leads one to concur with Yule & Burnell. The Akananuru (5th century BC?) by Erukkadur Thyankannanar mentions how the Pandyan king attacked the Muziris port belonging to the Chera king and mentions the plunder of the (Augustus) temple and explains the subsequent shift of trade to Nelcynda. There are additional inputs from Silappadikaram and the distances travelled by Kannagi to establish Vanchi, but I will not complicate this more than it already is.

As Peter Francis puts it ‘There may be another reason why Muziris is difficult to locate today, it may not have functioned as a port for very long..The admittedly scant descriptions of it suggest that it was more of a frontier town than a city with substantial architecture.’ And probably that is the reason why not so many Roman antiquities have not been found as yet. Muziris traded for a short time during 1AD and quickly gave way to Mantai in Ceylon. Was it perhaps set up quickly by a clever king, then based in inland Karur for this trading purpose? Could be.

But let us go back to Udyavara in Udupi for a moment, for here appears a little twist. As we know, the Oxyrynchus Papyri from 2AD show the intercourse between the Greek Nile river town of Oxyrunchus and Odora (not mentioned in the Periplus). Some scholars determined the mime to be a Kannada form (Tamil + Tulu) language. You can also see an ancient temple purported to be from those times where a goddess was worshipped. Does it have anything to do with our Augustus temple? Did the Yavana sailors stop at those northerly points due to the fear of pirates in the southerly areas? Was that the mythical Muziris? Or was Odora somewhere else? One thing is for sure, the answers still lie on the Malabar Coast, the Lymurike of Ptolemy…..

Summarizing again the Periplus - Tyndis is of the Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is a village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia...Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river and sea about five hundred stadia, and is of another Kingdom, the Pandian.

Various people are involved in these studies today, some study sails, some study beads, some study boats and others study topography. Some concentrate on the red sea ports, some look for clues in Inda. The compilation Migration, trades and peoples summarizes much of it. As times went by, the coast lines changed, it went inland and then stretched out and back again. Not necessarily global warming, but the changes in global sea levels were due to many reasons. Roman remains were found in Pattanam to clinch the location spotted by KP Shajan showing that it was a port of call. But was it Muziris? It has been established so. KP Shajan came to his conclusions by following satellite imagery of the course of the river, finding Chera coins, Roman pottery and believes that Muziris a.k.a Muciripatannam existed since 500BC. Once cannot say it is totally conclusive but evidence suggests so. Major archeologists and many historians seem to accept it. With Muziris hopefully out of the way, we will study Nelcynda or Niranam another rday.

So we determine that trade existed, ports existed, some were famous at a time and declined quickly as the ports moved to the next one for various reasons. While Muziris was one of the oldest, the Calicut area ports remained popular for a long time till it went back to Cochin. In between I am sure there was a time when Mangalore and Mirjan ports were popular for one or the other reason.

Let us now try and check some questions

Why should Pattanam be Muziris? Why not Karur in Coimbatore? The answer lies in the fact that according Periplus, the distance between Musiris and the sea was only some 120 stadia (31 km).Why is Nelcynda not Neeleswaram? If it is, then it follows that Muziris is North of Neeleswaram and close to Mangalore. Neeleswaram was never ruled by Pandian kings. Also see the analysis provided by Edward Hurbert Bunbury, as above and the conclusions of Shajan.

Sagam writings mention Vanji and Periyar. All rivers were Periyars and Cheras at Cranganore were not established by 1st century. So why is Cranganore associated with Cheras? This argument hinges on the fact that Karur on Amravati was the Vanji or Chera capital. This questions the fact that the Cheras were located at Mahodayapuram or Tiruvanjikulam or Cranganore area earlier than they actually were. Now such an argument will of course mean that the known borders of the Cheras cannot be used to displace Rennel’s argument. To get to the answers one must read the analysis by Prof A Sreedhara Menon in his ‘A survey of Kerala History’ pages 70-75. In addition we do have records of Chera trade with Yavanas (though dated 155AD, we know of the king Iamaiavaramban Nedunjeral Adan who poured oil on their heads & imprisoned some Yavanas who upset him). And the Valmiki Ramayana mentions Mucaripatannam.

The present arguments supporting the Cranganore area fit in reasonably with later studies and stands up to most tests if not all. So I tend to go along with the present conclusions, but for the Udyavara angle. But it is a continuing study…..

This is in no way any kind of formal analysis but just my way of trying to understand and tabulate the diverse opinions. We all agree that much trade took place between the western shores and the red sea ports as well as kingdoms beyond. Many of the traces have been washed away by the sea, so it is an ongoing attempt at trying to compare what was in the mind of that unknown sailor to what we see today. Whether there is sense in it or not, I cannot say, but it is a life’s work for some, and a passage of time wasted for others, just like study of history is. And the whole exercise may just turn out to be flexing the grey cells for a few hours, farfetched from reality. As for me, I am happy I got a chance to read relevant parts of most of these books below in the past few weeks, and can only marvel at the availability of these at the nearby NC State university library.

References

A geographical illustration of the map of India - Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d' Anville
Cathay and the way thither – Henry Yule
The Tamils 1800 years ago – Kanakasabhai
Oriental memoirs - Forbes
Map of Hindoostan – Rennell
The periplus – William Vincent
The periplus – Casson
The periplus – Schoff
Proposed identification of two south Indian place names – Schoff
Rome and the distance East – Raoul Mc Laughlin
History of ancient geography among Greeks and Romans., Edward Herbert Bunbury
A survey of Kerala History – A Sreedhara Menon
Madras journal or literature & science – Vol 13
The Periplus – McCrindle
Asia’s maritime bead trade – Peter Francis
Rome & India – Begley & De Puma
Commerce between the Roman empoira & India – Warmington
Migration, trade and peoples – Ed Michale Willis
Maddys Ramblings – The Chariton mime & Udyavara

Pics
Pattanam image from KP Shajan’s paper. Roman trade - Wikipedia

The Second Voyage of Vasco Da Gama

2011-05-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Trap at Calicut

As we saw in the previous article, Vasco was in a very disgruntled and violent mood when he arrived at the shores in Malabar. However, the plunder of the Meri did indeed give him a good amount of satisfaction; he had after all decimated a number of heathen and amassed riches from the burning ship. The cries and death throes of the dying were of no concern to him and he now decided to take his bearings and head south, hugging the coast line. His first port of call was Cannanore where he summoned the Kolathiri chieftain to the dock and conducted the interview in the most uncivil and arrogant fashion, but we won’t get into that, for it is not quite important and we have already determined that Vasco was not the most diplomatic or civil of persons. The ensuing trade agreement did not satisfy the Gama and he was upset not only with the prices, but also the fact that Mappila merchants were being sent to negotiate with him. It was an exhibition of fiery tantrum which followed, which was quickly quenched by Paio Rodriguez who arrived to continue relations with the merchants.

The infuriated Gama departed the shore, and bombarded a small port on the way in anger (more like a tantrum) thinking it was a locale under the Zamorin’s protection, only to realize later that it was not. By this time Paio explained to the Kolathiri king that the Gama was acting on his own and this made the Kolathiri write a letter to Vasco stating that while he valued friendship with Gama, his intention was to lodge a formal complaint to Don Manuel about his actions.

Anyway the irritated admiral was by now wondering what to do to the Zamorin, for he had professed peace in a recent missive. The Zamorin requested a compromise and he agreed that the Gama had reasons to retaliate against the attack on the Portuguese factory and the Gama had retaliated in kind by destroying the Meri. The Zamorin’s letter indicated that they now had a clean slate from where the two parties could continue negotiations. Gama of course would have none of it, he wanted the entire 4,000 or so Arab (Cairo) Muslim population of Calicut, ‘the firangi traders’ expelled immediately. The Zamorin naturally refused to do that and Gama petulantly threatened to bomb the shoreline of Calicut (If one could check Vasco’s BP now, you would have recorded exceedingly high readings, possibly exacerbated by the intake of large amounts of salt on the voyage).

Back to the present – Residents of Calicut may have noticed a number of coconut trees lining the Calicut beach. Have any of them thought a bit about it? So how did these coconut trees get there and become objects of enjoyment these days? Well, look at them once more to heart’s content, for some developer is soon going to take them off to give new and richer residents a clear line of sight to the beach and the sea. Interestingly, the first of the palms were planted in 1500 after Cabral bombed Calicut. The Zamorin wanted some kind of a limited stockade to prevent a landing and to create a simple barrier against artillery fire. And that friends, was the story of the palms on the shoreline. I am sure those palms you see today are not 500+ years old, but they probably had parent trees out there…

And so the Gama commenced bombing the Calicut shorelines and created mayhem. The trees were alone in resistance while the gentry watched. As bad luck would have it, some ships laden with rice were coming towards the harbor (I assume near Kallayi) and the Gama plundered them too. All the sailors on those ships were chopped up and hung to dry or cast into the waters. Temporarily satiated, he left for Cochin leaving his uncle Vincent Sodre to continue the blockade. This was about the time Vasco wrote the first of his abusive letters to the Zamorin in Malayalam (now this is interesting and we will get back to it another day for the other letters exchanged with the rulers were mostly in Arabic)

Now comes the prelude to the story of the purported trap which historic chronicler KD Madan introduces in a lovely choice of word play, to be – ‘a lean vein of history enveloped in thick and myriad layers of legend’. To get to the story, we start at Cochin.

Vasco had just mediated and impaled to death a local trader for selling beef, acting on the complaint of the Kochi raja. The Muslim traders were by this time aware of the atrocities done by the admiral and were not too keen to work with him. Rumors were strife that people of Cochin, Calicut and Cannanore were planning to rise up in arms against the Portuguese and Vasco was getting angrier by the minute. The capitulation that he expected after his show of force was not happening. By now it was January 1503.

On one of those troubled days, Vasco was surprised to meet a contingent of three people, a Brahmin (it appears this was Talappanna Namboothiri who knew Gama from his first visit - the person who conducted Gama to the Zamorin's chamber May 1498), his son and accompanied by two Nair bodyguards. He carried a letter from the Zamorin offering to settle the old argument by compensation of the goods lost in the Portuguese factory. The Gama was impressed with the choice of a Brahmin for negotiation and was even more surprised when the Brahmin asked to return to Portugal with the Gama. He had even brought along jewels worth 3000 Cruzados for the trip. He also requested to load about 12 bahars of cinnamon that he could trade in Portugal in his own account to which the Gama agreed.

Later the Gama agreed to visit Calicut to discuss the matter with the Zamorin. The ship chosen was the Flor de la Mar, manned by his cousin Estevao. Upon reaching the shores of Calicut at the port on the river mouth, the envoys of the Zamorin disembarked and vanished. Another envoy came quickly to the Gama informing that the compensation had been readied and asked if the Gama could depute a gentleman to pick it up. Gama felt the trap closing in and refused. The envoy stated that he would come back the next morning.

The attack happened that night when a group of 70-80 small Zambuchi attacked the Flor de la Mar. That was the first and possibly only time Vasco was ever attacked with an intent to kill and destroy. The ship tried to flee but found that the Zamorins flotilla had secretly attached another anchor to the ship and made it immobile. Fighting raged, but the gods and luck were with the Portuguese. Just at that moment, Sodre arrived with his ships from Cannanore and with that the attackers fled.

The Gama hung the envoys (some say the Brahmin, some say his son) on the mast and went up and down the shoreline and wrote another blunt and threatening letter in Malayalam to the Zamorin, promising revenge. In some other versions it is said that the trap was detected not by Gama but by Koya Pakki and upon hearing this, the Brahmin was made to stand on hot embers till he confessed to the Zamorin’s plot. Afterwards, his ears and lips were cut off and parceled to the Zamorin.

The event is described thus in ‘the three voyages’ - Then, the captain-major commanded them to cut off the hands and ears and noses of all the crews, and put all that into one of the small vessels, into which he ordered them to put the friar, also without ears, or nose, or hands, which he ordered to be strung round his neck, with a palm-leaf for the King, on which he told him to have a curry mad to eat of what his friar brought him. When all the Indians had been thus executed, he ordered their feet to be tied together, as they had no hands with which to untie them: and in order that they should not untie them with their teeth he ordered them to strike upon their teeth with staves, and they knocked them down their throats; and they were thus put on board, heaped up upon the top of each other, mixed up with their blood which streamed from them; and he ordered mats and dry leaves to be spread over them, and the sails to be set for the shore, and the vessel set on fire; and there were more than eight hundred Moors; and the small vessel with the friar, with all the hands and ears, was also sent on shore under sail, without being fired. These vessels went at once on shore, where many people flocked together to put out the fire, and draw out those whom they found alive, upon which they made great lamentations.

Following this, the first organized retaliation took place. The Portuguese were attacked by about 32 local vessels, each with 400 men but they were quickly rebuffed by the Portuguese according to the various accounts. Gama captured a boy from one of the ships who recounted the background behind the attack. It appears that this was the first time the Mappilas (remember that all the previous engagements were primarily with the Arab trading community in Calicut) rose up in arms against the Portuguese, after being told to do so by the Zamorin. He had ordered about 7000 of them to go up in arms in a Chaver style suicide attack against the Gama. The Mappailas were not quite prepared for that as the Vasco had declared enmity only at the ‘moors of Mecca’, not the local Moplahs. But they finally decided to. The Zamorin as it appears had a palace near Kallayi on a hill from where he watched the event, which sadly ended in defeat and much devastation and loss of life.

The Dutch narrative Calcoen describes it thus - On the 12th of February we fought with the king of Calcoen, who had thirty-five ships, besides the rowing boats. In each of these boats were about sixty to seventy men, and we had no more than twenty-two men, and with that, thanks to God, we beat them; and we took two large ships, and slaughtered all the people that were in them, and burnt the ships before the town of Calcoen, where the king was present; and the next day we sailed for Cannaer, and prepared everything to return to Portugal, That happened in 1503, the 12th day of February.

In another article I will tell you the story of this Koya Pakki, but before that I cannot rest in peace till I tell you about the death of the Gama which will conclude the story of Gama and his atrocities in Malabar. That summer did not go well for the Zamorin as well, for he lost close to 20000 people to twin attacks of Cholera and Smallpox. Interestingly the events surrounding Gama’s second and third visits are not found in the Tuhfat Al Mujahidin and I wonder why.

Vasco and his ships sailed back, to be received in Lisbon to much fanfare by Sept 1503.

The Nau Floe De la mar continued its existence for some more years till it sank off Sumatra in 1512. The ship’s hull was by then eaten through by worms, for the Portuguese had not yet learned to coat the hull with copper lining as yet, nor was it made of teak like Indian ships which were more impervious to worms. Slaves tried hard to get the water out, but it sank, laden with booty. This shipwreck, one of the most famous in history, is believed to be the richest ship, the ultimate shipwreck, ever lost anywhere. Albuquerque commanding it, barely escaped, with only the clothes he was wearing. You can see a replica of it at Malacca. It is a subject of much interest, argument between Malaysia and Indonesia and has interested many treasure hunters including Robert Marx who is said to have spent many million dollars trying to get to the multibillion dollar bounty.

The curse of Calicut lies over the Flor de La Mar.

References
Life and travels of Vasco Da Gama - K. D. Madan
The career and legend of Vasco d agama – Sanjay Subrahmanyam
The Three Voyages of Vasco de Gama H. E. J. Stanley

Pics –Maritime Museum, replica of the Frol de la Mar ship, Malacca – Malaysia (Portrugral Luzo)

The Plunder and Massacre of 'The Meri'

2011-04-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Off Cannanore - Northern Malabar Sept 1502

Vasco Da Gama is considered by many to be a great navigator, a shrewd leader and a diplomat in history books. But was he really that? Did he have a violent streak? If you dig deep into history books, you will find that he indeed had a violent streak and this was exhibited many times, though it was all far away from home and in trading lands, especially those he subdued with the power of the gun. This unlettered though crude and many a time sadistically violent sailor was nevertheless loyal to his king and proved fearless until his death. By today’s legal yardsticks and violence that Europe eschews, he would be rotting away in jails for his actions. Then again this was a long time ago, when might was perhaps, right and where it was proven by the power of a bigger gun and dishonest warring techniques. Vasco was after all, to summarize, as a detailed study of events that transpired after 1497 proves, brutal and single-minded, cunning, rash and suspicious. According to Sanjay Subrahmanyam, the "systematic use of violence at sea" was introduced after the arrival of the Portuguese.

Lets us first get some perspective. Gama had come to Calicut in 1498 and returned. A couple of issues caused his detractors to hound him, one being his declaration that Malabar was a land of Christians and second being the fact that some others in the kings court did not accept the discovery of Calicut a discovery, as Gama did, sailing close to land. But Gama rode the storm with aplomb and became a noted figure in Lisbon. In the meantime, Cabral was sent to assimilate the Portuguese positions in matters concerning trade. The old Zamorin whom Gama had met had passed away and the new entrant was a younger and more energetic person, who was up and about. Cabral quickly got his attention by an act of piracy, getting him a war elephant he desired, from a Gujarati vessel. Soon after a trade agreement was signed and the Portuguese built a factory in Calicut. But the Portuguese misinterpreted the broad aspects of the agreement thinking that they had priority over all spice loading. A laden vessel bound for Jeddah was thus seized by them, and the Muslims at Calicut reacted violently massacring the Portuguese, killing about 54 of them and destroying the goods stored in the factory. The Portuguese reacted in kind as they did not get any support from the Zamorin, by destroying 12 Arab vessels and bombarded Calicut and Pantalayani, before departing to Cochin where Unni Goda Varma seeing great possibilities welcomed them with more than open arms. The background and more is quite well explained in the many sources covering the Portuguese harassment of Malabar.

Things continued on for a couple of years and the hostilities between Cochin, Portuguese and Calicut continued as I had recounted earlier in other articles. In 1502, however, Vasco departed with 20 vessels to Malabar. The reason why Vasco Da Gama was deputed to Malabar in 1502 is not quite clear for the ‘regimento’ of the 2nd voyage has never been found. It is believed that the ongoing rivalry and politics between Alvarez Cabral and Vincent Sodre (Gama’s uncle – who was responsible for naval support to Cabral) resulted in the Gama drawing up on all his seafaring relatives and proceeding to Malabar to sort out the issues. Or was it personal greed? We shall soon see.

The story that I will now detail is about the callous massacre of some 300 people and the destruction of an inbound ship from Mecca carrying mainly Hajj pilgrims back to Malabar. It took place over 5 days between 29th Sept and 3rd Oct 1502.

Gama left Lisbon on 3rd March 1502 commanding 15 ships accompanied by his cousin Estavo Gama commanding another 5. Gama assumed the Captain Major title (it was a special decree granted by the King of Portugal that allowed Gama to assume the title whenever he wished!). The long voyage to Cannanore and Calicut was not uneventful, for at Sofala, his ship collided with another in his fleet commanded by Joao De Fonseca after which the latter had to be burnt and sunk. The Gama was obviously in a vile mood as he reached the shores of Cannanore around the 28th of Sept. They spent a couple of days trying to locate some inbound ships from the Red sea with intent to pillage, but it was not until the 29th Sept that they sighted the fully loaded Meri (also called ‘The Merim’ in some accounts).

The ownership of the boat is disputed. KM Panikkar states it belonged to Khoja Kassim’s brother settled in Calicut. KV Krishna Iyer mentions it was the Sahabandar Koya’s (port commissioner of Calicut) brother’s ship. According to Iyer, this Koya was Gama’s number # 1 enemy, so the intent from the beginning was clear. In some other sources the ship belonged to a rich Gujarati trader and yet others, the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. Other accounts refer to this ship as the Meri or Miri and claim that it was owned by the Mamluk Sultan Qansawh al-Ghawri. Then again comes the issue with the names, for Koyas were not exactly Khojas as far as I know, since the Koya’s were Tharavadi Moplahs with Hindu ancestry (I will cover this interesting collection of Muslim subdivisions and caste divisions of medieval Calicut in another article). Anyway back to our story…but note here that this would come up later in discussions, for the Portuguese countered that they believed the ship was Gujarati. The ship was returning from Mecca (some accounts mention it was bound to Mecca, departing Calicut) and curving down in passage to Calicut.

The meeting of the Portuguese armada and the pilgrim ship resulted in an event that can perhaps be called one of the cruelest actions in history, though it has been glossed over by people of that time and many years thereafter. Upon seeing the Meri, The Portuguese ships fired warning shots, but the pilgrim ship did not retaliate even though it had artillery. The ship was loaded with very rich people and 10 of the richest Muslims of Calicut were on board, led by Jauhar Al Faquih. Gama proceeded to negotiate with this man, who first offered money & spices, which was refused by Gama. He then offered Gama one of his wives, his nephew as ransom and offered to load 4 Portuguese ships with spices. These discussions went on for 5 days. He also offered to arrange friendship between Gama and the new Zamorin. Gama refused and demanded all the wealth on the ship. The proud Al Faquih responded by asking Gama to ask for it himself as he had taken over command of the ship. Gama did that and obtained much money and jewels and in return first provided five boats of food items. He then disarmed the ship and boarded it, ordering his men to set fire to various parts of the ship and after it had caught fire, sailed away. The valiant pilgrims somehow put out the fire, but seeing this, the Gama came back to finish it off. The desperate pilgrims and women offered all their jewels and riches, if only they were allowed to leave with their infants and children.

Gama watched on impassively (or was he enjoying it?) through a spy hole as Thome Lopes noted; thoroughly perplexed for the riches left on the ship were so much that it could be put to great use. But let us pick up the event from his words..

The ship being taken after a vigorous resistance, the General went on board, and sending for the principal Moors ordered them to produce such merchandizes as they had, threatening them, otherwise, to have them thrown into the sea. They pretended all their effects were at Kalekut; but one of them having been flung overboard, bound hand and foot, the rest, through fear, delivered their goods. All the children were carried into the General's ship, and the remainder of the plunder given to the sailors. After which, Stephen de Gama, by Don Vasco's order, set fire to the vessel; but the Moors, having broken up the hatches under which they were confined, and quenched the flames with the water that was in the ship, Stephen was commanded to lay them aboard. The Moors, having been made desperate with the apprehension of their danger, received him with great resolution, and even attempted to burn the other ships.

" Night coming on, he was obliged to desist without doing his work; but the General gave orders, that the vessel should be watched, that the passengers might not, by favor of the darkness, escape to land, which was near. All night long the poor unhappy Moors called on Muhammad to help them, but the dead can neither hear nor succor their votaries. In the morning, Stephen de Gama was sent to execute his former orders. He boarded the ship, and, setting fire to it, drove the Moors into the poop, who still defended themselves; for some of the sailors would not leave the vessel till it was half burnt. Many of the Moors, when they saw the flames approach them, leaped into the sea with hatchets in their hands, and, swimming, fought with their pursuers. Some even made up to, and attacked, the boats, doing much hurt; however, most of them were at length slain, and all those drowned who remained in the ship, which soon after sunk. So that of three hundred persons, (among whom were thirty women,) not one escaped the fire, sword, or water."

Castenada another scribe and historian concurs

When the ship surrendered, De Gama went on board and commanded the owners and all the principal Moors to come before him, whom he ordered to produce all their goods on pain of being thrown overboard. They answered that they had nothing to produce, as all their goods were in Calicut; on which De Gama ordered one of them to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the sea. The rest were intimidated by this procedure, and immediately delivered up every thing belonging to them, which was very valuable; all of which was committed to the charge of Diego Hernando Correa, the factor appointed for conducting the trade at Cochin, by whose directions they were transported into one of the Portuguese ships. De Gama ordered all the children belonging to the Moors to be taken on board one of his own ships, and vowed to make them all friars in the church of our Lady at Belem, which he afterwards did.

All the ordinary merchandize belonging to the Moors was divided among his own men; and when all the goods were removed, he ordered Stephen de la Gama to confine the Moors under the hatches, and to set the ship on fire, to revenge the death of the Portuguese who were slain in the factory at Calicut. Soon after this was done, the Moors broke open the hatches, and quenched the fire; on which the admiral ordered Stephen de Gama to lay them aboard. The Moors, rendered desperate by this inhuman treatment, defended themselves to the utmost, and even threw firebrands into our ship to set it on fire. Night coming on, Stephen had to desist, but was ordered to watch the Moorish ship carefully that it might not escape during the dark, and the Moors all night long were heard calling on Mahomet to deliver them out of the hands of the Christians. When day appeared, the admiral again ordered Stephen de la Gama to set the ship on fire, which he did accordingly, after forcing the Moors to retreat into the poop. Some of the Moors leapt into the sea with hatchets in their hands, and endeavored to swim to our boats; but all of these were slain in the water by our people, and those that remained in the ship were all drowned, as the vessel sunk. Of 300 Moors, of whom thirty were women, not one escaped alive; and some of our men were hurt.

The author of Calcoen alludes to the monetary value of plunder thus - " We took a Mecca ship on board of which were 380 men and many women and children, and we took from it fully 12,000 ducats, with goods worth at least another 10,000. And we burned the ship and all the people on board with gunpowder, on the first day of October." Lopes declares that the wealth on board would have sufficed to ransom every Christian slave in " the kingdom of Fez," and even then to leave a handsome balance.

Sanjay Subramanian adds that the Meri tried some desperate tactics like ramming the Portuguese ship. In the middle of all this, one person escaped from the doomed Meri (in addition to the 20 children), this being the hunchback pilot of the doomed ship. He swam to the Portuguese ships and bargained for his life by telling the Gama where to place the charges to blow up the ship effectively. Gama did just that and brought an end to the 5 day misery of the Meri and its victims. He took a position later by telling the Zamorin that all this was done to avenge the events of 1500 in Calicut (which I had started with) and the death of one Portuguese sailor during the melee (crushed during the ramming event).

With that a curtain was finally brought down over one of the most barbaric acts by a cruel man, one that would draw a rigid line between the Portuguese and the Muslim traders of Malabar. As Kerr concluded, ‘Such a story as this is enough to make us deny De Gama's right to the epithet humane, which is frequently bestowed, did we not make proper allowance for the barbarity of his times. Besides, it amounts to a trifle compared with the atrocities which marked the course of some of his successors in their career of conquest and crime’.

Aftermath

The hunchback pilot became a mainstay for the Portuguese after this event. In fact a number of fine clothes that the Gama plundered from the Meri were, as an afterthought given to the pilot to dress himself. But he would not live long, for during a voyage to the Red sea with Sodre, Vincente Sodre himself was mysteriously killed. Sodre’s brother Bras then murdered the hunchbacked pilot, who incidentally considered as the best pilot in their service. And later, Bras also got killed mysteriously. All this is good stuff for a nice fictional story for the motives and events are all there to create a good fictional account.

The Zamorin was not going to take it lying down, he planned his revenge, and proceeded to lay a trap for the Gama, that story will be told in the next part.

The 20 children taken off the Meri became friars. According to De Faria, this was done in retaliation for the action of a Portuguese soldado who had turned Mohammedan. The 20 kids were attached to St. Mary's church, at Belem near Lisbon.

My copy of Sanjay’s book is a second hand purchase. On the page with the story of the Meri, the previous owner, a student obviously, had penned in ink “Da Gama is a Punk’. I agree with that young fella, with all my heart.

Gama did not hesitate in enriching himself during all this. During this trip he amassed a fortune of pearls by plunder and other jewels worth about 40,000 ducats. That alone established the extent of his horrible character. The 1502 trip was thus a family event where all of them quietly amassed fortunes at the expense of the people of Malabar. So was the 1502 trip just meant to enhance his retirement account and a peaceful passage to heaven? Not really, for some years later, he died a miserable death, about which I will write in part 3 of this article. As we know even after his death, his soul did not rest in peace. But naturally, he deserved that and more.

The story of the Meri has been used by a number of writers to spice up or pepper their books. The first fictional account was written around 1939 by Saradindu Bhandopadhyaya, in his short story Raktha Sandya. I read that with interest, a fine story, though kind of abrupt in its ending.

As somebody else remarked – That is Dom Vasco da Gama! There's no appeasing the devil in him; no chance of exorcism.

Concluding, let us read the words of KG Jayne - D. Vasco proceeded on his way, doubtless well pleased with this exploit, and anchored off Calicut on the 30th of October 1502. There can be little doubt that the burning of the Meri and similar achievements were regarded in Europe as laudable manifestations of zeal for religion. D. Vasco, had his conduct been challenged, would assuredly have answered, with honest and indignant surprise, that he was only doing his duty as a Christian in exterminating the vile brood of Muhammad ; that his acts of piracy and pillage were authorized by ‘ letters of marquee from God’

References

A general history of voyages and travels to the end of the 18th century - By Robert Kerr
History of the Discovery and Conquest of India - Hernan Lopez de Castaneda
The three voyages of Vasco de Gama - Gaspar Corrêa
The career & legend of Vasco Da Gama – Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Vasco Da Gama and His Successors - K. G. Jayne

Notes

I have not yet seen the movie ‘Urumi’ which alludes to this story as a backdrop. It appears that the sword Urumi is made from the gold melted out of the ornaments of dead people - women and children - who were burnt alive in a massacre aboard this ship. But as we know, nothing is left of the 300 odd people and they sank with their jewels.

An Urumi made of gold would be a relatively worthless though symbolic piece of weaponry, gold being too soft for the purpose even if it were less than 20 carat. Then again the urumi was a weapon of choice for chekavar women (Unniarcha used one with great effect), so the prospect of that being the main weapon of Kelu Nayanar seems somewhat vague. But then again, Tatcholi Otenan had also mastered the use of the Urumi (a thin sword) from what I read. He was a master in the use of the Urumi and he could, by one sweep of it, graze the throat of a man without cutting and shedding a drop of blood. Interesting, eh??

Part 2 – The Trap at Calicut
Part 3 - Gama's death

Ankhams of Malabar & The Curious Duel

2011-03-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

While the history of North Malabar, especially as related to Calicut proves to be relatively serious, the area around Cochin has added a number of curious and zestful stories to the historic texts, even if it were connected to a period of strife or occupation by foreign powers like the Portuguese or the Dutch. I cannot quite fathom why this is so, but the joviality was indeed lacking around Calicut.

The caste system was rearing its ugly and mighty head with great strength in Kerala during the medieval times. While the system was reasonably clear amongst the Hindu castes, it was a bit awry amongst the ruling elite with mighty quarrels erupting between the Cochin king, the Kolattiri and the Zamorin with the former two always claiming that the Zamorin had a lower caste status compared to theirs.

However the position of Christians and Moplah’s are curious indeed, for they were placed somewhere around the middle levels, thus sometimes providing a reason for conversion of the lowest class Hindus, the said reason being utilized cleverly by the Moplah leaders of those times to increase their ranks. The Christian and Moplah were thus somewhat on par with the Nair though even those religions set up their own caste systems.

Well, the Nairs were also adamant about maintaining their levels in the furor though their own higher classification was arguably suspect, with the questions resting around being Kshatriya or Sudra. Nevertheless, they were the armed warriors of Malabar and had the might of sword, I assume, to decide their standing in firm tones. If one were to ask about the various privileges and honors a Nair chieftain (Naduvazhi) enjoyed, they include among many others Ankham, Chungam, Ezha and Kozha (KKN Kurup – Kerala Studies). While each of them is an interesting term, we will in the course of this note dwell upon Ankham or the right to duel, for that is what we will talk about together, with the right of way and exemplify it with a small record of a duel.

But the position of the foreigner was always interesting, for they were allowed to intermingle even (possibly owing to their apparent military might) with the Brahman and ruling classes or remain on top. But it was not necessarily easy as we shall see. In fact there is one documented instance where the Portuguse used their power to elevate certain Sudras to Nayar level (we also know that Marthanda Varma used this as a tool to get more people into his fighting ranks in Travancore) after a war around Chetwa. Over time, many became Nairs, like Andhra Nairs or Ottu Nairs who were originally Kusavans or potters and the categorization of Nairs went from 7 to 64. But this is not an anthropological study; I was just providing some background to establish perspective.

So we saw that the Nair placed himself at his spot and ensured a clear separation from classes lower down. A Nair as we read was expected to instantly punish a person who would apparently defile him by touching his body or even breathe near him; and a similar fate awaited another, who did not clear the road when a Nair passed (Buchanan) According to the tradition at that time, these classes were forced to maintain a distance of 64 feet from the upper classes to avoid pollution. Other castes like Nayadis, Kanisans and Mukkuvans were forbidden within 72 feet, 32 feet and 24 feet respectively from the higher levels.

As a writer recorded - Take the sad example of the Pulayas. If a Nair felt the breath of a Pulaya, he fancied himself polluted, and was obliged to kill the man, and make certain ablutions in public with great ceremony. If he spared the Pulaya, and the matter reached the ears of the Raja, the Nair would be either put to death or sold for a slave. The Pulayas in the fields were obliged to cry out ‘Po! Po’ incessantly, in order to give notice to any Nairs who might chance to be in the neighbourhood. If a Nair responded, the Pulayas retired to a distance. No Pulaya was allowed to enter a town. If a Pulaya wanted anything he cried for it with a loud voice outside the town, and left the money at a certain place appointed for the traffic. Some merchant then brought the commodity that was called for, and took away the price of it.

So in order to avoid defilement or pollution, the Nair also walked along noisily, drawn sword in hand, and if somebody of lower caste crossed his path, it is said that they got killed, otherwise serious purification rites at exorbitant costs had to be completed before the said person was clean. Thus came about the concept of ‘right of way’. Now as the story goes, the Nair being a proud individual refused to give way to the new entrant – the Portuguese soldiers who had been granted staying rights in Cochin, by the King. The Portuguese would have none of it. A huge hue and cry ensued and the king of Cochin finally decided to bring the matter to a closure with a formal Ankham that got reported in a number of history books. Let us see what happened, but before that a few words about the concept of the Ankham.

Ankham – The right to duel

Duel fighting was a traditional way of formally settling private claims. A payment was made to the naduvazhi, important personnel were invited and a sword and hand to hand fight took place. There were of course petty duels and major duels. In the latter category lie the various famous duels fought by Aromal Chekavar & Tatcholi Othenan. Such major duels were complicated affairs which I will cover another day for it involved much drama as it was more of a fight until death, involving drama, prayer, celibacy and many vows. It is said that the combatants had to have at least 12 years training to fight an Ankham. Some of these aspects seem folklore, especially the time of training and the fight until death which were definitely not the norm, but valid for ceremonial major duels (To cover this I have to get to the story of the Chekavars as well as the Mamankham)..

So to summarize, a Malabar duel, or single combat was quite common among the Nairs with each duelist required to pay a sum for permission to fight. Sometimes they were fought by hired champions (reminds you of the Wild West - right??). A duel is thus fought between two fighters, each side being represented by a Ankachekavar. The ruler represented by the surviving Ankachekavar was considered the winner.

But back to strict protocols to establish the perspective, let us look at the top –When the Zamorin writes to the Rajah of Cochin, or any of the superior Princes write to each other, the letter must be addressed not to the Prince, but to the chief Rasidoor, who in Cochin is called the Naicoviti, and the chief Rasidoor of the Zamorin is called the Mangatachan. If a Nair brings a letter from his Rajah to another, or to the Commandant, he must prostrate himself thrice in token of reverence; a Brahman or Pattar is exempt from this ceremony. When the Rajah is employed in religious activities no one may speak to him, not even a Brahman; but if any very important circumstance occurs which demands his attention, he must be informed of it by certain signs on the fingers.

So in those days when things were so to say amicably settled with a fight enjoyed by the watchers, a small complication arose. What about the right of way for a foreigner? Well, the Portuguese of course imagined themselves to be at the top of any hierarchy, and the Nairs would not allow these warriors above them if they could help it. While sea fights were one thing, the Portuguese walking with a retinue of soldiers, local or foreign on local roads or pathways is another thing. They could be decimated by the guerilla warfare and hand to hand fighting expertise of the Nairs. The numbers were not on their side and this kind of combat was not on the lines of the organized war that was waged at that time, and thus it was imperative that the protocol was established for the foreigner.

The dispute ran so high (according to the Portuguese) that at last it was agreed between the Rajah and the Portuguese General in Chief that it should be settled by a duel between a member of each party, and that the winner should win the right for his associates. As the Portuguese themselves record, they decided to use a little deceit in order to win this duel. But I smell a ‘fix’ in this story, so as to bring about a workable conclusion.

In Vissicher’s words - So on the appointed day, the Rajah selected his most able fencing master, who was well versed in the use of sword and shield. The Portuguese also made choice of the bravest of his army for his champion, but dressed him in common sailor's clothes, so that if he were to lose, the disgrace might not fall on the army, however he prostrated his adversary three times, and the Rajah, unconscious of the deception, was very much surprised that a common sailor should display such dexterity. Anyway the duel progressed and it is said hat the Nair lost to the Portuguese following which the king accorded the right of way as he had previously agreed, to the Portuguese.

As Vissicher states - Since this time, the Nairs have always conceded the right of way to the Europeans, except in one or two instances in my time, when they have disputed that right with our soldiers, who resisted their incivility so valiantly that they have not had courage to repeat it.

Thevenot describes the duel as well: " They yield precedence to none except to the Portuguese. To appease the quarrels which often arose on this point, the Portuguese General came to an agreement with the King of Cochin, that a duel between a Nair and a Portuguese should be fought, and the conquering party be entitled to precedence; and as the Nair succumbed, the Portuguese precede them."

Now to introduce briefly the fighter or the Chekavar - As the saying goes, "one became a Chekavar only after the fight of an ankam" and that "A Chekavar's food was on the tip of the sword. They were a special sub caste of Tiyyas termed chekavars who were highly trained Kalari masters, and were engaged to fight in an ankham, to the death in order to solve disputes between higher castes. As the ankham ended with the death of one of the warriors, the warriors charged high prices for fights. In addition, it was also customary to pay compensation to the families of those who died in the fight. Foul play in the ankam was disallowed and the parties were expected to observe the highest ethical standards while taking part in the combat. Ankham were fought on an ankathattu, a temporary platform, four to six feet high, built specifically for an ankham. The price paid per combatant was about a 1000 fanams at that time, a large amount which of course went to the naduvazhi who had the rights to supervise & conduct an ankham. So as we saw, these were the deadly gladiators of the medieval Kerala, fighting the deathly duels for the higher castes.

U Balakrishnan Nair states in an old article - In Old Malabar, blood-feuds and mortal combats were the rule rather than the exception: in truth, the common saying ran that " the slain rests in the yard of the slayer." For the Nair was by no means peaceful in private life even. He invariably carried arms, kept a sharp look-out for those who had offended him, and thirsted for revenge. Assassinations thus were frequent; there were often surprises and scuffles, and sometimes contests in the open field. In passing through a crowd, he bore his head high, struck his sword upon his target, and, in the grand style, called out, not simply to obtain a clear passage quickly, but also to make known his rank and establish his dignity. When a man was slain, the duty devolved on his kith and kin to be avenged on the slayer or a member of his family. And with that we come to another facet of life then, remnants of which we see even today in Kerala society. This is something termed Kudipaka.

What is Kudipaka?

By definition, it is a hereditary family feud verging on Vendetta. Basically the concept of family feud and deadly hatred rested upon vendetta or revenge, which will continue until death of the opposing member. Upon death of a member of a family in a duel or fight, the family kept a blood soaked rag in the sanctum sanctorum of the house, and the family took a vow of revenge that should traverse generation to generation till all male members of the other family are killed and their dwelling (most usually just the outhouse) destroyed or burnt.

Above all was the fidelity of the Nair swordsman or foot soldier to his employer. They were thus usually employed in Changathams or convoy escorts who defended any responsibility given to them, even at the cost of his life. It is well recorded that this was always discharged honorably by the Nairs of that time, for if they did not, they were degraded to the level of Kosavans (it is thus that the derogatory usage ‘eda kosava’- came about in Kerala) or potters. Upon the death of a Nair in the course of duty, the aspect of Kudipaka commences and a series of new duels take place. Of course if the level was the highest involving the death of a chieftain, then the Chavers or suicide squads enter into the foray as I wrote earlier in another article.

So as you saw, those times were not bereft of all kinds of strange but interesting customs which bewildered anthropologists and travelers enough to get them writing voluminous texts that we are lucky to read today

References

Kerala Studies – KKN Kurup

Cochin state manual – Achuytha Menon

Malabar Manual – William Logan

Letters from Malabar- Jacob Canter Visscher

The Royalty of Palghat

2011-02-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

We talked a bit about the Cochin Kings, we talked much about the Zamorin, we mentioned the Kolathiri and Arakkal Beevi in passing and we even sidestepped the Velathiri thus far, but did not forget the king of them all, the Cheraman Perumal. We met them all in many historical alleys over the past few months. As I stumbled past these dark alleys with little fear but much excitement, you all kept me company. Thank you for that

The various Naduvazhi swaroopams, like the Perumbadapuu, Nediyirippu, Kurumbra, Kola etc were mentioned and we talked of external factors like the Dutch, the Portuguese the English and so on. We also mentioned the Achans of Palghat, but I did not venture to detail that part at all. I even entered the Nila valley and talked about the lesser though richer Kavalappara feudal family and the Palghat gap, though not getting involved in the history of Palghat itself or its kings. Now that was not quite nice on my part as my origins are actually from Palakkad and so this is overdue.

So we go to Palghat for a while, we will talk about the past of the present granary of Kerala, the un-spoilt green lands, where we still have tribal dwellers, silent valleys, majestic elephants wandering in forests, lush paddy fields, gramams, tharas, and traditional tharavads with a tank or two, temple festivals and so on…and I belong to such a village and a tharavad in that small village called Pallavur.To get to Palghat from the East in the past, one must cross the Western Ghats and trace out the Palakkad gap which I talked about some time back. As you cross over, you are struck by the change of soil type and green ambience. Gone is the dry and black cotton growing soil and you now see lush green with wetter soil and a spread of paddy fields. From here the Bharatapuzha flows serenely westwards, to meet the sea.

Palghat was unfortunately or fortunately in the paths of hungry people, greedy traders, marauders preying on them, fugitives and of course travelers. On the Tamil side were weavers, grain and gem traders, and on the other side the kingdoms of Cochin and Calicut, vying to maximize the spice trade with the Arabs and the Chinese. The flow of goods and wealth was always through the Palghat country and the strategic location as a wedge in the middle of them all made Palghat a veritable battlefield on many occasions as I detailed out some months ago. Different kinds of people came, went or settled in these plains and later, paddy cultivation ensured low level work. While the Kongu kings never settled, the over-lordship of Palghat careened between the Cochin and Calicut kings acting as Suzerains. Many a type of people remained, like the Tamil Iyers, the Mannadiars, Chettiars, Moplah’s, the Rowthers and of course the Namboothiris and Nairs. They were coexistent with the aborigine indigenous hill tribes, many of whom are still present. And so it was an amalgam of cultures and dialects, each peacefully living in harmony, except when one or the other among the mighty neighboring kings decided to create havoc in those placid lands, and later even the greedy and ruthless Sultans of Mysore.

But to put it in a nutshell why did Palakkad present such a strategic importance to Calicut and Cochin? Because both were dependent on imported rice and other grains from other states, especially Tamil Nadu and Orissa which reached them through the ships of the Marakkar sea merchants. In good times, all was well, but with the arrival of Western powers who threatened these staid shipping lines for their own greedy purposes, the Zamorin believed correctly that he would be in deep trouble if there was a rice shortage. As you may recall, almost all sundry payment to soldiers and services was in rice. So he looked southwards into Palghat which had abundant rice cultivation. For some years the relationship was fine, during some years it bristled, some years it erupted in violence.

The two ruling clans of Palghat were established when the lands were once upon a time split along the Bharatapuzha with the more productive south ruled by the Nambiati’s from Kollengode and the lands North by the Palghat Achans. As you could imagine, whenever faced with a problem, these two less than mighty rulers, curried favor with the opposite suzerain (Cochin & Calicut) to maintain a proper balance. This continued till eventually the Mysore Sultans destroyed it all, like the veritable monkey and cake story. After the British took over, the North portion belonged to the British, whereas the South continued under the Cochin administration as Chittur – Cochin.

It is said that the very first ruler of Porainad the old term for the area was a Pandian Tamil king called Subhangi who turned out to be a woman in mans clothing. The ruler was called Poraian and the region was part of the Chera empire as time went by this became Nedumporiyar. In 980 Ad we have the Kongu pada story when the Kongu kings army was defeated by the armies of the Nedumporiyar, Ernanad,Perumpadappu (Cochin) & Valluvavad. In compensation, the Poriyar had to give the Chittur area to the Cochin king, Koduvayur to the Ernanad people etc. In all the region had over 15,000-20,000 Nairs of fighting force which naturally was a very important statistic in times of war.

Of course there was a time before these kings when Palghat was the seat of Jainism and Buddhist learning, the birthplace of many famous astrologers and astronomers. But that is something I will cover later in a separate article, some other day.

The Nedumpurayur or Tharoor swaroopam

As thus I get into the story of Shekari Varma. Ancient Tamil literature terms the raja of Palghat as the Vellappanatta (Vellapanad) raja and the Tharur family traces their lineage back to Sekharai varma. Their original palace and tharavad were once located close to the present Victoria College grounds, but moved to Kallekulangara after Haider came to Palghat. The Southern tip of their rule was Tharavur which later became the seat of the junior branch. They had a peculiar relationship with the Zamorins of Calicut (and a stronger relationship with the Cochin raja as you will see) for on one side there were a number of sambandham’s between the two families, but they also stood in the way of the Zamorin’s expansionist policies. The Nedumpurayur royal family was later known as Tarur, Taravur or Taruvayur Swaroopam and finally as Palakkad Raja Swaroopam. The Tarur Swaroopam covered Palghat, Alathur and Chittoor Taluks.

Sreedhara Menon mentions that the original seat of the Palghat Rajas was at the Athavanad Amsam (Ponnani Taluk) and they are believed to have exchanged their lands there for their later dominions in the Palghat-Chittur area with the Azhuvancheri Tamprakkal. The Nairs of Kongad, Edathara and Mannur were originally feudatories of the Palghat raja, but were later courted by both the Zamorin and Cochin Rajas during the medieval periods. Some time in the 13^th century, a couple of princes from the family married into the Cochin family to maintain the line of male succession.

But for the origin story, and the first connection to the Cochin royal family, we go a long way back, to the fun part, for this sounds like it is straight from a movie story.

The story ( I quote Sibi) is that once in the unmemorable past, the land around Palakkad consisted of thick forests covered by hilly granite heaps, where human habitation was virtually impossible. It is said that four big elephants of Raja of Cochin once ran amuck into the forests of the 'Kuthiran' hills The Raja sent his soldiers with mahouts in search of these elephants, but in vain At last one of the princes of the Cochin Royal family entered into the thick forest with four Nair soldiers He obtained the assistance of some hill tribes and with their help regained the lost elephants The prince and the Nairs returned to the Raja of Perumpadapu and were received with great jubilation But the prince himself felt bad as his heart was weighed down with grief. The members of the Kshatriya Royal house found to their dismay that this prince was deeply in love with a tribal girl with whose help he had obtained the assistance of the hill tribes.

The rigors of the caste system were immediately evident from the reactions. This resulted in the immediate excommunication of the prince. He returned to the Palghat hills, where he got married to the tribal girl. With the help of the tribal’s who rallied around him with all sincerity and enthusiasm, the Raja established a royal dynasty and extended his sway over these uninhibited regions. The wisdom and statesmanship in him, combined with the courage and dedication of the jungle heroes, released a new lease of life, among them. It is believed that this prince was the founder of the dynasty of Palghatcherry.

Shekary Raja, then lorded over eight edoms (houses or major tharavads), divided between its Northern and southern branches. The Southern or Thekke thavazhi comprised Elayachan, Peruvakal, Naduvil and Ponnil edoms. The vadakke (Northern) thavazhi comprised Cherukotta, Pulickal, Mele and Poojakkal edoms. The members were called Achanmars (fathers) and the eldest five were the rajas 1-5 (shekhari, eleya, cavasseri, talantampuram & tariputamuran raja). So you can imagine that the raja, being the oldest was usually a grand old man who really could not govern, in return employed an able Achan as his deputy, to do the real ruling. As time went by the eight edoms became 27 (20 in the north sect and 7 in the south). The female members were called Nethiars.

Anyway the family continued to have troubled or cozy relationships with the Cochin king and Zamorin and got into serious trouble with the latter at times. In between we even had the case of the Portuguese and the Vijayanagar rayars coming to Palght to fight the Zamorin (actually Krishnadeva raya did not come himself as alluded – see my earlier article, but his generals Ramapayya and Devapayya came, and were aided by the Tharur Nairs in a battle against the Zamorin which the Mysoreans lost miserably). But these skirmishes continued on during the continuing times.

It was in the 18^th century that the Zamorin finally took over some territory of the swaroopam as a result of the rice blockades and various other issues. It is said that in the 1756-7 period, the Zamorin summoned the Achans to Kalpathi (Palghat Granthavari) where some of them were murdered. It is also mentioned that Kombi Achan who escaped the tragedy turned to Hyder Ali and thus brought in the miserable reign of the Mysore Sultans to Malabar. Today the family is sparse and separated, and we have of course some illustrious sons in the forefront these days.

The Kallekulangara Bhagavathy temple in Akathethata (also called the Kaipathi temple or Hemambika temple which has a pair of hands as the main idol) is the family deity of Palakkad kings.

Kollengode Nambiatis

It would not be appropriate to leave this topic without mentioning the other power brokers of PALGHAT, namely the Kollengode nambiatis, though it is a long and somewhat interesting story by itself. As we all know, the panas and yakshis of Palghat are famous and I had written about them some time ago. But there cannot be the two without Gandharvas. So we get to the land of the Gandharvas or the south of Palghat, ruled by the Kollengode family.

Kollengode is the seat of the Venganad Nambidi whose family claims descent from an ancient Kshatriya Raja named Vira Ravi. The name Ravi Varma is accordingly still affixed to the names of all the male members of that family. Note here that the region named Venkunrunad or Venkatanad was corrupted to Venganad above in writings as time went by. The Venganad Nampitis are regarded as "Three-fourths Brahmin"; for they have the Upanayana ceremony, but are not entitled to study the Vedas, can sit and dine in company with Brahmins (though not sitting in the same row as the Brahmins). They were later termed the Valiya Rajahs of Kollengode after Tipu left the area. The location and strategic importance were high for it was another entrance to the Kerala side from the pass through the Anamalai hills. The Zamorin’s Naduvattom Nair was given the key responsibility, which as I understood, he sublet to the Kollengode Nambitis. Thus the nambitis ruled roughly the small region below the river comprising some 8 amsoms with the Zamorin as suzerain.

The traditions recorded by the family traces their beginnings to a royal person named Dharmavarma, who belonged to the Chera dynasty. The earliest story starts with the arrival of Dharma Varama to the Tiru Kachamkurissi temple near Payylur. As the article in The Hindu explains Dharma Varman, a prince, from what is now central Kerala, came, in search of a cure for a debilitating ailment. It is said that the dying Dharma Varman bathed in the healing spring waters that then existed in the forests around the temple, and after undergoing many days of ritual penance at this temple, at the feet of Perumal, returned to his kingdom, completely cured. Dharma Varman's grandson, Vira Ravi, became the first `utaiyvar' of this region, and it is a popular thought that he named his miniature principality, `Venkatanad' (later `Vengunad') in honour of Mahavishnu Perumal of Thirukachamkurissi.

But as legends go, Dharmavarma's son Hamangoda, is brought up to become a professional hunter, archer and warrior, by a black smith living near the Palghat gap, is supposed to have given the name Kollengode which literally means the land of the black-smiths, to the region which came into his possession. At this stage of the legend, a sister of the King, named Dronavadi appears and it is from her son Vira Ravi that the descent of the dynasty is traced, reflecting the matrilineal origins of this family as it was the case with most other families of chieftains of Kerala. As time went by another legend came up about Indra, the various Yaga rites and so on, but it would take too much space to cover that story. The family then split into 3 and migrated, one lot to Vendavanad-Pollachi, another to Thriprayar – Irinjalakkuda and finally the third to Thalipparamba in North Malabar. The palace they constructed can still be seen in Kollengode in full splendor though it is a popular Ayurvedic spa these days.

But a keen reader would get back and ask a question, why were the Kollengode kings half Brahmins or ¾ Brahmins? It appears that a girl was the cause, as most stories in history are, when heart ruled over the brain. The Raja of Kollengode was also ostracized by the Namboodiri Brahmins for his alleged illicit liaison with a low caste girl; however no real story could be traced out. Well, the raja was a clever man, he did not give in to the Naboothiris, he invited the Tamil Brahmins (who were at that point fleeing Madurai) over to his territories and bestowed his patronage in the form of lands, jobs and other amenities to them. But then again, it just might be a jumbling of the Skekharai varama story, with the story of the Nambiti. The Venganad Nambitis were mostly aligned to the Zamorin and figure in the list of feudatories usually invited for the Ariyittuvazhcha (coronation ceremony).

For a very detailed study of the Kollengode nambitis, please refer the NM Nampoothiri’s book, SammothiriNadu chapter 27.

References

A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar - Francis Buchanan

Malabar Studies – Samoothirnadu – N M Nampoothiri

Hyder & Tipu Sultan in Kerala - CK Kareem

Political development among the Tribals – Sibi Zacharias

Hindu Article

Luís Vaz de Camões (Camoens) - The Shakespeare of Portugal

2011-02-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you wonder at the miseries that befall certain remarkably adventurous people. Look at this man Camoens, he accompanied some of the earliest Portuguese mariners to uncharted waters, lived in alien lands like Goa and Macau and wrote the greatest of Portuguese poems – The Lusiad. Today he is known as a national hero and the poetic genius of Portugal, but how was he treated during his lifetime? Not many will remember him or his times, or his love for a slave girl from India, or deep affection for his man Friday, the Javanese Antonio, for they were the only people who stood by him. Suffice to say that Camoens was an enigma, and little was he to know what the stars were to tell about his future, or how star crossed his affair with a gorgeous blond would turn out to be and how sad and forlorn his last days wood be, instead of basking his fame and spending a substantial pension.

Luiz De Cameos (Cameos in Portuguese) somewhat related to Vasco Da Gama and hailing (according to historian Manuel Correia) from Lisbon was born around 1524, first endured misery when Lisbon was struck by an earthquake in 1526 (and later plague) and the family moved to Coimbra. He later studied in the Santa Cruz monastery until 1537 as an honorable poor student (now note here that his uncle was the university chancellor – so all it meant was that Camoens was on a scholarship). It is read that due to some problems with the university, he left and went back to Lisbon, to join the royal courts.

Soon he was involved in a romance with lovely blonde Catarina Ataide with golden tresses, a 13 year old lady in waiting to the Queen Catarina of Austria. Unfortunately another court hand by name Caminha had his own eyes on Catharina and as matters would have it, Caminha had a higher degree of influence on Catharina’s father (As you may observe, it is sounding like an Indian movie now). It appears that Camoens made lovely poetry for his beloved and passed it on (‘burning lines of passion’ as records put it) it to her directly in contradiction to the strict rule that it had to be passed through an intermediary, namely the court chamberlain, who by the way was De Lima – Catharina’s father. Well, as matters would have it, he was soon banished from the court for that and other reasons. He was next heard of in Ceuta were in a naval engagement alongside his father, against the moors, he loses his right eye to a flying splinter and returns to Lisbon in 1542 where he soon reignites his romance with Catarina.

The next three years were spent as a vagabond with disreputable company and known as a ‘face with no eyes’ , he composed satirical poems that alluded to the love the king had for his step mother. This was to raise eyebrows and more and in 1552 he was arrested and imprisoned (actually as it turns out, he was helping his low-class friends and injured an assailant who belonged to the king’s cavalry). But he agreed to be sent off to India for 5 mandatory years in return for a pardon and after first serving 8 months in jail in Tronco Goa. Another reason for his going to Goa was in search of his father who had departed in command of a ship destined to Goa (it appears the father was shipwrecked and died later in Goa). The bitter and not so young man sails out to the East in the mail boat San Bento, stating “Ungrateful country though shalt not possess my bones”. At a parting meeting, Catarina tearfully promises to wait for him.

His is the lone ship that reached Goa the following year (the others catch up much later after surviving the storm), the place where his father is buried. Cameons now 29, soon gets disgusted and upset with the immorality in Goa and writes about all this while spending the next few months fighting in the West coast and the waters against the armies and navies of Malabar and Bijapur. He writes about Portuguese Goa “Of this land I can tell you that it is the mother of despicable villains, and stepmother of honest men. Because those who are here to get rich, always float on water as bladders”.

During this period, Camoens continued writing his style of poetry, which was saved for posterity by Correia. One of them which detailed the debauchery in Goa was soon to prove the reason for his expulsion from Goa to far away Macau by 1556. This part is certainly an unproven phase of his life though many historians continue to attest to the period in Macau. CR Boxer’s studies allude that the dates and events are quite wrong and grossly exaggerated. Anyway let us follow the popular tale for now.

There in Macau, he sat down to write the first 6 cantos of the famous Lusiads where worked as a chief warrant officer. He was apparently charged with managing the properties of missing and deceased soldiers in the Orient. He was later accused of misappropriations in Macau and was summoned to Goa to respond to the accusations of the tribunal. During his return journey, near the Mekong River along the Cambodian coast, he was shipwrecked, saving his manuscript but losing his Chinese lover. His shipwreck survival in the Mekong Delta was enhanced by the legendary detail that he succeeded in swimming ashore while holding aloft the manuscript of his still-unfinished epic.

Life was to prove even more difficult for the persecuted poet, for he not only heard that his old flame Catarina was dead (heartbroken as one is led to believe and unmarried) but also, upon landing in Goa, was cast into prison. He is released by the incoming governor, only to go in once again, for it was the turn of money lender Coutinho to get Camoens put in jail for a small but unpaid debt.

It was around this time that Camoens met Barbara, the Indian slave in Goa. Of her exact nationality, I have made a guess favoring India, but she is mentioned as Mulatto, African and so on, and one is led towards the Indian Hindu direction by a stray comment by biographer Richard Burton.

Teófilo Braga , in his “History of Portuguese Literature: Camoens, his Life and Work” describes beautifully the magic spell of Barbara:

“The poet could not remain impassive before the voluptuous flexuosity of those curves which make alive the movements that wrapped him up; neither from the languid looks of a morbidity which magnetizes and breaks the will by desire. Barbara was the type of a native girl, dark skinned; arms and neck such as a bronze sculpture of a complete correction, lewd hips by the habit of hieratical dances. which bestow all movements a feline flexuosity, wholly wrapping, completing the seduction by the maddening brilliancy of black almond shaped eyes which provoke an infinite desire, which illuminate the smile of a small mouth, bordered by extremely white teeth with which she chewed aromatic plants; a light way of walking such as a free gazelle; a primitive grace such as of a submissive animal, which offers itself at the first caress”.

Camoens went bonkers over “this slave which has me enslaved” and wrote a famous poem (Endecha of Barbara) about her. Little was he to know that she would play an even greater part in his life. But life continued to be difficult in Goa and Camoens wanted his poems published. So he finally decided to go back to Lisbon, but he was unable to pay the full amount to his carrier and is abandoned at Sofala. In 1569 he was rescued from this beggarly and miserable plight and taken back to Portugal with nothing but the full Lusiad manuscript. He reaches Lisbon in 1570, after a full 17 years of exile and penniless.

But well, life is always unkind to some, for the plague was sweeping Lisbon as our man and his ship reach its shores. They are not permitted to land for many days. But they disembark finally, and Camoens gets engrossed in getting his manuscript approved for printing by the inquisition tribunal. The royal permission to print the Lusiads is finally obtained in 1572 where it was published, but resulting in no great monetary benefits for the author. Camoens is paid a silly pension and in return asked to remain in Lisbon. The next few years were spent in total misery, where the poet loses his benefactors one by one and finally his pension as well.

Strangely at this point of time, two other characters come back to life in his story. It appears that the slave girl Barbara as well as Antonio have reached Lisbon by now. Barbara is running a small grocery or fish shop and Antonio in the service of his master. Possibly Barbara was living with Camoens as well, for in the visitors book of the church of St. Anne one can read the inventory taken in 1572 of the house of the poet, and making a reference to the concubine, and there appears the following sentence: “Barbara who lives together with a person, who, for just causes, one does not mention”.

Faria e Sousa points out a tradition of an ambulant female seller, who was brokenhearted about the poverty of the poet: “a black woman called Barbara, knowing about his misery, gave him sometimes a dish of food, with the money that she earned from her sales and sometimes the money that she got from her sales”. António too became a beggar, and with the proceeds of his alms, he too took care of Camoens, until António died of the plague. Camoens left the world of the living on the 10^th of June 1580.

The death is recorded thus

The sad sickness unto death came at last, on the 10th of June, 1580. In a small, cheerless room of a shabby house in the Rua de Santa Ana (No. 52 or 54) Luiz de Camoens died, and he was buried in the neighboring convent of Santa Ana. On the fly-leaf of a copy of the first edition of the Lusiad (said to be in the library of Holland House), and in the handwriting of Fray Just; Indio, a Carmelite monk of Guadalajara, is found the following statement "What thing more grievous than to see so great genius lacking success! I saw him die in a hospital in Lisbon, without a sheet to cover him, after having triumphed in the Indies, and having sailed five thousand five hundred leagues by sea. What warning so great for those, who, by night and day, weary themselves in study without profit, like the spider weaving a web to catch small flies."

Camoens was a sad and miserable man in his last days - When a Ruy Diaz de Camara a noble, came to his poor dwelling to complain of the non-fulfillment of a promise of a translation of the penitential psalms, Camoens replied—" When I wrote verses I was young, had ample food, was a lover, and beloved by many friends and by the ladies; therefore, I felt poetic ardor. Now I have no spirit, no peace of mind; behold there my Javanese who asks me for two coins to purchase fuel, and I have none to give him."

Of the person - He was of middle stature, his face full, and his countenance slightly lowering; his nose long, raised in the middle, and large at the end. He was much disfigured by the loss of his right eye. Whilst young his hair was so yellow as to resemble saffron. Although his appearance was not perhaps prepossessing, his manners and conversation were pleasing and cheerful. He was afterwards a prey to melancholy, was never married, and left no child."

Of the dark skinned raven haired, black eyed beautiful slave girl Barbara or Barbora (as Camoens put it) christened Luisa Barbara , Richard Burton describes as probably a shipwrecked Hindu girl, she is lost from history, but personified eternally by Camoens, just like Baudelaire did in his Malabar girl (in copycat fashion). Experts state that Barbora could not have been Camoes's slave because he couldn't afford one. She was the slave or cook of the governor, Francisco Barreto, which made her subject to ill-treatment, though she was an excellent housekeeper and cook.

Let us take a quick look at the man and his poem on Barbara

Camoens and Malabar

It appears he went to Malabar in late 1553 or early 1554. On his first expedition, he joined a battle along the Malabar Coast. The battle was followed by skirmishes along the trading routes between Egypt and India. The fleet eventually returned to Goa by November 1554

But a final question remains – If Camoens a Portuguese fidalgo found it so difficult to raise money for his voyage back home, how did the slave girl barabara or Antonio from java manage it? Did she perhaps stowaway to Lisbon? An interesting story lies behind all this and is a fit subject for fertile imagination.

Notes

1. Escrava means female slave so Barbara or Barbora Escrava is the slave Barabara. Goa’s slave market of the 16^th century provided an abundance of slaves. Slaves were auctioned, and bartered, even at door steps. Domestic help were frequently used or even prostituted by their masters and friends.

2. Endecha is a kind of poem which induces 'emotional correlations by the sound and rhythm of the speech' Endecha is lyrical poem, melancholic and often, built from four lines, each verse with a six syllables.

3. There are experts who also say that Camoens died of malaria and neglect, not plague as reported. BMJ Sept 12^th, 1908 reveals - It appears that the poet contracted malaria in the East, and in 1580, when the authorities of Lisbon were in fear of the plague; they appointed an official with large powers for the safeguarding of the public health. There is reason to believe that these powers were exercised for political purposes, being found highly useful for the removal of inconvenient persons, and it is hinted that Camoens, being obnoxious to the party in power, was thus put of the way. He was declared to be suffering from plague, and in March or April ordered to be segregated among the other victims of the disease.

4. To the uninitiated, the Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem written in Homeric fashion. The poem focuses mainly on a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries.

5. To see the Camoens memorial in Lisbon, click here

References

Memoirs of the life and writings of Luis de Camoens- John Adamson, Thomas Bewick

Camoens: his life and his Lusiads - Sir Richard Francis Burton

Camoes – Seen from Goa

Was Camoens ever in Macau C R Boxer

To many, fame cometh too late- Camoens

The Many Faces of the Zamorin

2010-12-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

Vasco Da Gama’s meeting with the Zamorin at Calicut 1498

There were many depictions of the natives or savages of Malabar before the arrival of Vasco Da Gama and I had covered some of them earlier. But the first time the Zamorin of Calicut was presented formally to the European public in pictorial images was after Vasco Da Gama met him. The Zamorin was by then titled as Samorin, Samuli, Samudri, Chamorin and so on….

The "Roteiro," or Journal, on the contrary, as is emphasized by Ravenstein in his translation for the Hakluyt Society, has the highest value, and from it the following description of the visit at Calicut is taken. The description of the meeting from the ship’s Roteiro of Gama, authorship unknown goes as follows. I am taking up the narrative from the arrival of the coterie at Manachira.

When we reached the palace we passed through a gate into a courtyard of great size, and before we arrived at where the king was, we passed four doors, through which we had to force our way, giving many blows to the people. When, at last, we reached the door where the king was, there came forth from it a little old man, who holds a position resembling that of a bishop, and whose advice the king acts upon in all affairs of the church. This man embraced the captain when he entered the door. Several men were wounded at this door, and we got in only by the use of much force.

The Brahmin priest is depicted in most paintings, as the main with the shaved head and the tuft. As you can see, the incongruity in hair style of the Iyer or Namboodri Brahmin seems to have been firmly imprinted on various minds which talked to the artists.

The king (Zamorin) was in a small court, reclining upon a couch covered with a cloth of green velvet, above which was a good mattress, and upon this again a sheet of cotton stuff, very white and fine, more so than any linen. The cushions were after the same fashion. In his left hand the king held a very large golden cup (spittoon), having a capacity of half an almude (eight pints). At its mouth this cup was two palmas (sixteen inches) wide, and apparently it was massive. Into this cup the king threw the husks of a certain herb which is chewed by the people of this country because of its soothing effects, and which they call atambor (Arabic tambur, "betel-nut "). On the right side of the king stood a basin of gold so large that a man might just encircle it with his arms: this contained the herbs. There were likewise many silver jugs. The canopy above the couch was all gilt.

The spittoon and the Vetilla thalam are obviously of brass, which have been confused with gold. The fact that the Zamorin was sitting on a reclining couch is somewhat confusing for many other pictures depict a throne. The green velvet is also a little confusing, it would normally be red, but then again it may have been a Persian or Arabic gift. Silver jugs would be approipriate for water. The canopy in gilt is also difficult to reconcile with. But let us assume all these are correct, for the time being.

The captain (Vasco da Gama), on entering, saluted in the manner of the country; by putting the hands together, then raising them toward heaven, as is done by the Christians when addressing God, and immediately afterwards opening them and shutting the fists quickly. The king' beckoned to the captain with his right hand to come nearer, but the captain did not approach him, for it is the custom of the country for no man to approach the king except only the servant who hands him the herbs, and when any one addresses the king he holds his hands before the mouth, and remains at a distance.

Some of the paintings obviously want to show the Gama as a person of higher standing that the Zamorin, so they show him close to the Zamorin on his right side.

"When the king beckoned to the captain he looked at us others, and ordered us to be seated on a stone bench near him, where he could see us. He ordered that water for our hands should be given us, also some fruit, one kind of which resembled a melon, except that its outside was rough and the inside sweet, whilst another kind of fruit resembled a fig, and tasted very nice. There were men who prepared these fruits for us; and the king looked at us eating, and smiled; and talked to the servant who stood near him supplying him with the herbs referred to.

Apparently the fruit is the jack fruit and the fig type fruit being bananas. But then again offering jack fruit seems a little stange, especially with the rough outside. Usually the jack fruit is plucked out and served, never will the skin be shown in an offering to the guest. Was it perhaps a tender coconut to be drunk? As you can see, the Zamorin was conversing with his Brahmin advisor who was at the same time preparing his betel leaves.

Then, throwing his eyes on the captain (Vasco da Gama), who sat facing him, he invited him to address himself to the courtiers present, saying they were men of much distinction, that he could tell them whatever he desired to say and they would repeat it to him (the king). The captain-major (Vasco da Gama) replied that he was the ambassador of the King of Portugal, and the bearer of a message which he could only deliver to him personally. The king said this was good, and immediately asked him to be conducted to a chamber. When the captain-major had entered, the king, too, rose and joined him, whilst we remained where we were. All this happened about sunset. An old man who was in the court took away the couch as soon as the king rose, but allowed the plate to remain. The king, when he joined the captain, threw himself upon another couch, covered with various stuffs embroidered in gold, and asked the captain what he wanted.

Many an artist working with cloth, wood, paint media presented him thus. It is certainly amusing to see how the scene was transformed into an image. Let us take a look at some of the images

The 1752 Le Abbe Prevost image

Shows the Zamorin with a golden conical crown which is a depiction of a possible Thalapaavu or turban. Did the Zamorin wear a turban for ceremonial occasions? It is doubtful, but may have been keeping up appearances. The people around are obviously half clad (in reality just wearing a dhoti) and look terribly muscular (virtually impossible). As we read in Correa’s and other writings, the possibility of rings around his shin and calves like Romans is pretty doubtful, though he wore a Shringala. The large spittoon is depicted wrongly and the overall ambience thoroughly inappropriate. The room itself looks too high (impossible for a thatched roof dwelling) with ornate curtains and hangings. Note that the Zamorin has no beard.

The Moore’s depiction Voyages & Travels on copper plates in 1778

The room looks even bigger, the Zamorin looks very young, no beard, the spittoon has become a kettle, the throne has become more ornate, but in general a version based on the Abbe Prevost image with the same conical crown.

The Maurício José do Carmo Sendim (1786-1870) sketch

This one is pretty interesting. The Zamorin has anklets which is the veera shrinkala, he looks very much Chinese, has a great mogul style crown. The Brahmins have flowing hair, the men are dressed in a strange fashion and the throne looks more like a modern sofa. The hall looks very large, which again is incongruous. The spittoon looks like a large flower vase.

The Calicut Tapestry version (clipped from left corner of tapestry introduce din previous article)

This dates to the 16^th Century and of Flemish origin. The Brahmin looks more appropriate, the Zamorin and his courtiers of course very western with typical clothing of that period.

Jose Veloso Salgado’s painting 1898 - Vasco da Gama perante o Samorim

Shows a darker and younger Zamorin, with a stylish beard, wearing a lot of jewels and a collection of people closely clustered around him. The throne is also ornate and you can see carpets on the floor. The Spittoon and the water jug (no longer silver are a way away)

The Coke Smyth version 1850’s

Shows a much older Zamorin on the floor, and the persons look wearling Punjabi and Mahrata garb. The brahmin looks dimunitive and the spitoon has become miniature.

An engraving from 1851

Very Arabic style with a general Persian impression. The Zamorin looks more like a traditional Sultan.

A more basic depiction (origin unknown)

An old painting showing Vasco Da Gama (right) meeting the Indian king and his courtiers in Calicut. The Zamorin has become a queen in this version and they are meeting outdoors.

The 1510 commemorative medal by F Fonseca

This one is pretty interesting, shows the Zamorin with a royal turban, a couple of maidens base don temple forms playing the veena and a vision of the courtyard with elephants and the such. The Zamorin has no beard, is reasonably healthy for his age and sits cross-legged, while receiving his Portuguese visitors.

The commemorative coin released celebrating 500 years of Camoes Lusiad, date unknown (possibly circa 1900)

The Zamorin now has a beard, is fully dressed more in Arabic style including a sultan slipper, looks older, the Brahmin looks somewhat appropriate, and the picture is pretty much similar to the B&W Lokesh Raina version in the Life magazine. I do not know which is the original sketch though.

Two more recent versions (around 2003)

More versions based on Camoes poems. Shows the Zamorin sitting on an ornate throne. The spears have been replaced with Western maces and the such.The Brahmin has changed shape and the palace walls have changed a lot with pictures of tigers and so on.

Now based on all this and many other factual descriptions, my next attempt would be to describe the palace of the Zamorin as it would have looked in reality. Unfortunately the palace grounds are covered by SM street, LIC buildings and so on these days., but all of the shopping area there encompassed the old palace. A depiction of it as an artist of that time saw it, was quite surprising, but more of that in a later blog.

References

Vasco Da Gama – Sanjay Subrahmanyam

Em nome de Deus: the journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama to India ...Glenn Joseph Ames, Vasco da Gama

Pics

Veloso Salgado’s painting – geographical society of Lisbon site

Medals, Abbe Prevost & Moore versions – Columbia Calicut page

Maurício José do Carmo Sendim from Wikipedia page on Vettathunad

Wishing all readers a happy & prosperous new year

Introducing the Calicut Tapestry series

2010-12-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Voyage de Caluce – Voyage to Calicut

Some months ago, I wrote about the wood carvings by Burgkmair on Calicut Sprenger, Burgkmair and the Savages of Calicut. This time I will introduce you to what is known as the Calicut tapestry series from Tournai, the Flemish weaving center.

It was the crowning moment of Portuguese age of discoveries. Calicut had been discovered, Malabar had been connected and a commemoration was in order. The Portuguese wanted to show the world the exotic nature of the orient, and at the same time the vast difference in style and cultural advancement of the white man. The Calicut tapestry series was to be carried out in Antwerp and Dom Manual VI insisted that the depiction be accurate. Images and events were to be shown naturally and 25 themes were to be drawn covering the entire voyage of Vasco Da Gama from Lisbon to Calicut.

Various tapestries were made in Southern Netherlands in the 16^th century and one of the important centers was in Tournai (Tower) which was originally occupied by English and later came under the Habsburg rule.

Two things stand out – the fact that the artists had to work on written or oral accounts of the travelers and secondly the strange ideas they had in their own minds of lands and people far away which found its way into the images. It is said by experts that the weavers even used images from the old tapestries portraying the exploits of Alexander the Great. As children listen to parents reciting tales of high romance or adventure, the people of Europe hung on the tales told by sailors returning from faraway lands and in Flanders the weavers took stories brought back by Vasco da Gama's men and wove them into these tapestries. As there were no newspapers, rich nobles procured such tapestries commemorating and explaining the event.

Originally 26 panels were ordered, to introduce the oriental exotica to gawking European public, and thus were introduced the camel, giraffe, black skinned people, naked children, or outlandish costumes. The Voyage to Calicut series was completed in 1504. It was very popular and many copies were made.

The voyage to Calicut was procured for the regent Margaret of Austria, from Clement Sarazzin according to Delmarcel. The picture depicted is called the Voyage de Caluce, another name for Calicut. However Jardine and Brotton and others state that the tapestry maker was Giles Le Castre and sold 5 panels from the series through the shops of Arnold Poissonier to Robert Wytfel (Wingfield), counselor of Henri VIII or England in 1513.

The tapestry depicted shows Gama’s leave taking and arrival at Calicut, with the audience before the king, the procession of the monks on the right and at the left reaching Calicut meeting the bearded Zamorin (I am not 100% sure of this part as yet) and unloading a unicorn.

References

Flemish tapestry from the 15th to the 18th century - Guy Delmarcel

Global Interests: Renaissance Art Between East and West - Lisa Jardine, Jerry Brotton

Circa 1492: art in the age of exploration Jay A. Levenson, National Gallery of Art (U.S.)

The Malabarese soldier

2010-12-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

Vijay, a fellow blogger and history enthusiast asked a question some weeks ago about the Malabarese soldiers who accompanied or fought for the Portuguese in various wars. It was an interesting question, considering the turbulent situations in medieval Malabar. Were they Nairs, the traditional warriors, or conscripts from the Christian trader communities, were they the ‘low class converts’, or soldiers from other classes such as Thiyya or Ezhava or hillmen like the Kurichiyars or otherwise or were they Moplah’s? Considering that the Frinigi or Parangi – the Portuguese settlers were equally hated by all of the indigenous people, was it the lure of money that created this new mercenary class of Malabarese soldiers? How did they fare? How were they equipped and treated? Did they get equal opportunities? Interesting questions indeed! An anthropologist thrives in these situations, looking at the conqueror or occupier, the conquest or the spoils, the relationships and various angles, the land and the terrain, but I will not go in such a direction for I am no anthropologist, I will view the facts as an amused and deeply interested history buff, which I am and will try to bring them across to you in a somewhat coherent fashion.

And so I decided to do some checking. A detailed research is quite difficult for it means poring through a number of ancient Portuguese texts and working out meaningful translations, since this topic has not interested many in the past to elicit an English article. But I think I have sufficient information for a small note, so here goes. I will not continue beyond the Portuguese period and into the Dutch and British times, for the time being. The British times have been very well accounted anyway.

The greatest help in this area came from an interesting two volume book written by Sir William Wilson Hunter. The volume 1 covers the early period in good summary and my intention was to start there and augment the information with those from those who concentrated on the Portuguese period and written great works – people such as Panikkar, Subramanyam, Danvers, Mathew, Maleknadathil, De Souza and so on. The second half will be completed some other time.

We have to start with Vasco Da Gama, but naturally. He was of course not one to enlist any kind of local support and went back home fairly quickly, he was convinced he was in Christian lands though somewhat confused why he was not obtaining cooperation from the Christian Zamorin (I still find it difficult to believe he was so naive) against the Muslims. But we can zoom in to Almeida’s (1505-1510) period and then drift on to Albuquerque (1509-1515), the first statesman, who possessed a strategic vision.

The first Malabarese who worked on the Portuguese side were soldiers supplied by the Rajah of Cochin. They find mention in the 1504 battle led by Pacheo when he was placed in charge of the defense of Cochin. Having only 150 Portuguese and a small number of Malabarese auxiliaries at his disposal, Cochin was vastly outnumbered by the Zamorin's army of 60,000. Nonetheless, by clever positioning, individual heroics and a lot of luck, Duarte Pacheco successfully resisted attacks for five months, until the Zamorin finally called off his forces. So now you can see that they are grouped under the title ‘auxiliaries’.

Some time back I wrote about Joao Da Cruz a Chetty or a Nair youth, who excelled himself amongst the Portuguese and rose to become a fidalgo, but that was just an individual. But many others joined the enemy’s forces as well after these initial forays. Now you must remember that many Nair men of those times were a kind of on demand soldier who worked for one or other naduvazhi, though the relationship lasted for a long time and they hardly defected to another. However they were loaned for ‘akambadi’ or escort activities to other wealthy citizens and traders or sent to take care of issues singly or as a group. If the headman or eventually the king ordered you to fight against other Nairs, you did so as a professional soldier. So at this stage, do not cloud your mind with patriotism and the such, it was just the usual Cochin against Calicut skirmishes, but one side had additional Parangi support, viewed from the Malayali mind. It must be noted here that the Nair foot soldier did not always fight for one chieftain or one noble. There have been many instances of one lot joining the other after a battle. They were in some ways mercenaries who allied with the best payers, I suppose. But this is gemeral conjuncture at this point of time.

So for a lot of Nairs in the Cochin, teaming up with their better paying Portuguese collaborators was but natural. In history they are termed Malabarese. Many a Moplah also joined these groups. Interestingly as you pore through these musty old history books, you come across many battles fought in Malabar where the Zamorin or the Cochin king had many tens of thousands of Nairs whereas the Portuguese or Dutch had tens to hundreds of white soldiers with guns and a score of armed auxiliaries, but in many of these cases the Portuguese or Dutch win the battle. Whether it is discipline or just misinformation in the books, I cannot confirm, but that is how it is written in many books. Anyway many auxiliaries were available, armed with lances, swords and shields, possibly bows and arrows too. The way battles were fought then were different from the skirmishes during the British period of the guerilla type and the intent was not to move in action. Until then the battle was a formal stationery type of specified duration and fought in big fields, like a competition. I will get to that description another day.

I would assume thus that the source of the militia into the Portuguese forces, was mainly through the Cochin ranks and possibly because they paid better, in gold and not just rice. But let us try and find out more. For that we have to read the conclusions of WW Hunter in his book History of India Vol VI. The results were interesting to say the least, for it turns out that Malabarese soldiers had been fighting in those times not only for Malabar rulers or noblemen, not only for the Portuguese, but also for the Vijayanagar kings in their armies and not only was this force comprised of Nairs but also Moplahs and Christians. Now one must take “nairs’ with a pinch of salt, for in many cases, it is believed that they participated as group heads leading groups of faithful Thiyyas and hill men as I described previously.

So as we saw, the practice of enlisting native soldiers commenced with Pacheo. Albuquerque later employed two hundred native soldiers in the attack at capturing Goa (1510), and later used one thousand natives during Goa’s subsequent defense. His Indian troops consisted partly of Nairs, partly of the native Christians of Malabar, and interestingly it was these soldiers who first forced their way past the bastions of Goa.

As Hunter puts it, After its final recapture, Albuquerque advanced with a mixed force of one thousand Portuguese and two thousand native troops. How far the native soldiers in these early operations were drilled, it is difficult to say, but the contemporary records disclose bodies of Asiatics as a regular part of the trained Portuguese forces, both on shore and in distant sea expeditions. To quote only a few examples: Albuquerque employed a mixed force of 1700 Portuguese and 830 Indians against Aden in 1513; and 1500 Portuguese with 700 Indians against Ormuz in 1515; while Soarez in 1516 sailed for the Red Sea with 1200 Portuguese, 800 Indian soldiers, and 800 Indian seamen.

The cavalry remained for the most part European; the infantry consisted largely if not chiefly of Indians. In 1520 the commandant of Goa seized part of the adjacent mainland with 250 horse and eight hundred Canarese foot soldiers, so by now you can see that it was not just Malabarese. As Hunter continues, Human beings were cheap in India in those times of wars, raids, and famines: a slave was valued in Bengal at fourteen shillings, " and a young woman of good appearance at about as much again." The slave population was also put into military service later.

Later you can see that while setting out on the expedition against Aden in 1530 Nuno da Cunha got together a fleet of four hundred vessels, most of them small craft fitted out by natives, with a force of 3600 Portuguese soldiers, 1460 Portuguese sailors, 2000 Indian soldiers, 5000 Indian seamen, and 8000 slaves. But all was not quite well, for the Portuguese in India, especially the lowest ranks were, as they wrote, an unmanageable and a reluctant foot-soldier.

Hunter continues - Albuquerque, following the example of Alexander the Great in his Asiatic conquests, and of Hamilcar in Spain, encouraged his troops to marry native wives. The Lisbon court supplied dowries for these unions which at once created the nucleus of a female Catholic population and yearly added infants to the Faith. It soon appeared, however, that such nuptials had another aspect. In 1513 Duarte Barbosa raised his voice against " paying more for marriages to men who afterwards became Moors, than the worth of what Goa has produced up to the present, or ever will produce." But the priests defended the system, the Government provided posts for the husbands, and the records show a frequent desire that "the married people" should be greatly favoured. A languid population of half-breeds sprang up, and employment had to be found for them. In 1569 the attacking force on Parnel included 100 Portuguese, 50 Moorish horse, and 650 half-caste soldiers. Three years previously, in 1566, a militia, chiefly natives and half-breeds, had been organized for Goa— divided in 1630 into a body of regulars 2500 strong, and a defensive reserve of 5000 men.

As the flow of pay from the treasury dried up, the Portuguese soldiers and their half-caste descendants degenerated into a military mob, selling their muskets to native princes and stooping to every disgrace to fill their stomachs. In 1548 the King of Portugal was implored to allow war-service grants to the soldiers, "for they walk day and night at the doors, begging for the love of God. And if it would but end here it would be a lesser evil. But they go over to the Moors because they give them wages and allow them to live at their own liberty." "What stipends they received they gambled away.

The native infantry were disciplined and directed by Portuguese officers, but sometimes led by their own. Antonio Fernandes Chale, for example, a Malabar native Christian, held important command under Portuguese generals, and was raised to the dignity of a Knight of the military Order of Christ. Slain in action in 1571, he received a state funeral at Goa. In the previous year, 1570, the viceroy manned the defensive works of Goa against Adil Khan with 1500 native troops under Portuguese officers, holding his little force of seven hundred Portuguese as a reserve to support whatever position might be hardest pressed. "I certify to your Highness," wrote Pedro de Paria to the king as early as 1522 about the Calicut troops, “that they are as good as ours” and are practiced in shooting three times a week. The differences in drill and weapons were not so decisively in favor of the European system in the sixteenth century as they afterwards became. The chivalrous confidence of the first Portuguese adventurers in their Christian saints degenerated among their half-caste successors into a vague hope of supernatural succor, a habit of “always awaiting the benefits of our Lord working miracles on our behalf—which is a trying thing.”

Meanwhile, the officers of the Indian Department at Lisbon and at Goa embezzled pay for seventeen thousand soldiers, while only four thousand were actually kept up. The native troops became masters of the situation and rose in mutiny. After many troubles they had to be disbanded, and, when re-established on a different footing, commenced in our own day a fresh course of mutiny and revolt.

Antonio Fernandes of Chalium

I then tried to find some more detail on Antonio Fernandez, the convert soldier who rose up the ranks and who always delivered success. The mentions are not many but he seems to have merged well into the Portuguese ranks and is mentioned briefly by many historians. Let us look at some of his battles

1570 - Three thousand of the enemy began to invade the island of Joao Lopes, whereupon Antonio Fernandes de Chale, with 120 men, engaged them and killed a large number, and the rest took to flight. Adil Khan, in order to divide and weaken the Viceroy's forces, again persuaded the Queen of Garcopa to attack Onor. She collected an army of 3,000 of her own men, which, with 2,000 of the Adil Khan's soldiers, besieged the fort. It was in July, 1570, that the news of this further trouble reached the Viceroy. He immediately dispatched Antonio Fernandes de Chale with two galleys and eight other vessels with such men as they could accommodate. In five days Antonio Fernandes reached Onor, and having joined Jorge de Moura, the commander there, fell upon the besiegers, putting them to flight.

Danvers provides some more data of the 1571 battles - Peace having been thus concluded, the next care of the new Viceroy was to send relief to Chale, which he dispatched thither in two galleys, one galleon, and four ships,, under the command of Dom Diogo de Menezes; and subsequently two more galleys and three other vessels followed. These reliefs reached Chale too late, as the fort had already been surrendered to the Zamorin on certain conditions. The surrender was made, in opposition to the opinion of the majority of his officers, by Dom Jorge de Castro, who gave way to the entreaties and tears of his wife and the other ladies there. At this point I have to suppose that Antonio Fernandez (who was obviously from Chale – Chalium, it appears he converted some time ago) participated in that fight as well.

Dom Diogo de Menezes took on board his vessels all the people of Chale who were subjects of the King of Thana, and carried them to Cochin. He then divided his fleet with Mathias de Albuquerque, and cleared the sea of pirates. He next captured, and demolished, a fortress (built by a Naik, subject to the Adil Khan) at the mouth of the River Sanguicer, in which action there fell Antonio Fernandes Chale, a Malabarese, who for his bravery had often occupied important commands under Portuguese captains. Being a Knight of the Order of Christ, his body was carried to Goa, where it was interred with great ceremony and state.

Mentions of Malabarese in the Vijayanagara army

This is the description of the arrangements for a fight between the Vijayanagar and Bijapur armies. The Vijayanagar forces were made up of large drafts from all the provinces - Canarese and Telugus of the frontier, Mysoreans and Malabarese from the west and centre, mixed with the Tamils from the remoter districts to the south; each detachment under its own local leaders, and forming part of the levies of the temporary provincial chieftain appointed by the crown. According to Couto, they numbered 600,000 foot and 100,000 horses. His adversaries had about half that number. As to their appearance and armament, Paes mentions that the common soldiers were clad in the lightest of working clothes, many perhaps with hardly any clothes at all, and armed only with spear or dagger.

So it is all rather clear that the fighting forces roamed around for work and found work amongst the various kings and conquerors of the area. But there is more to all this and further study will provide details of their day to day activities while outside the home territory.

References

A History of British India - William Wilson Hunter

A Forgotten Empire, Vijayanagar: Robert Sewell

The Portuguese in India – FC Danvers

Pics – Scenes from the movie Pazhassi raja

The European Demon

2010-10-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

The Mystery of the Pooly sahib

Sometimes you come across the strangest things in India. I was reading a book, a fine one at that (through it would be termed dry & academic by many others) called Saints Goddesses and Kings by Susan Bayly and then this snippet popped into the reading frame. It was just a brief mention of the Pooly ghost in Tirunelveli, but I thought it would make a somewhat interesting story, if indeed there was one behind it and so I spent a while researching it.

To get to the bottom of all that you have to go to a village called Illamulli in Suvisheshpuram – near Tirunelveli. Not many people knew it then, not many do even now. But this is back in 1809, a time when the CMS missionaries were still to plan their missionary activities.

Some who have been involved with history would recognize the year, for a major event took place in Travancore, something that would change the course of events our there. The events took place right at the beginning of that year and so I am going to take you, to a place called Aramboli, Aramunny, Arambuli or Arambooly. As I explained some months ago, there were mainly two passes * in the Western Ghats, one was at Palakkad, which I wrote about connecting it to trade.

This story is set to start around the second pass or the Arambooly pass. The Kingdom of Travancore had by then fortified their borders both at the North West and the South East with stone walls, bastions and forts. Eustace De Lannoy was the architect of those defensive plans, and the walls had been proven in resisting Tipu’s advance into Travancore in 1793. About Lannoy, much has to be said and I will get to that topis another day.

Quoting James Mill (History of British India) - The mountains are lofty and covered with jungle, and present in general almost insuperable obstacles to the march of an army with baggage and artillery. The most practicable passes are situated near the southernmost extremity of the chain, where the mountains decline in elevation as they approach the sea; and through one of these, the pass of Arambuli or Aramuni, it was determined on this occasion to force an entrance into Travancore. The Arambuli pass was defended by formidable lines, consisting of a number of small redoubts, each mounting two or three guns, and connected by a strong wall of masonry. The whole extended about two miles along the sides of steep and rugged hills, and terminated at either extremity by a strongly fortified mountain flanked by impenetrable jungle. The high road from Palamkota led through the centre of the works, by a gateway which was commanded by two large circular bastions armed with several pieces of ordnance.

Colonel St. Leger arrived at the foot of the lines on the 6th of February; and, as the division was unequipped with a battering train, determined to attempt to carry the pass by surprise. On the night of the 10th, Major Welsh, with two companies of the 69th, four flank and five battalion companies of the 3rd native infantry, quietly climbed the hill on which the southern works were erected, and, after six hours' arduous ascent, reached the foot of the wall unperceived. The ladders were planted, and the ramparts scaled, before any effective resistance could be opposed; and although a short stand was made, which was attended with some loss of life, the redoubt was quickly in possession of the assailants. As soon as the day broke, the guns of the bastion were turned upon the defences of the pass, which they enfiladed; and, reinforcements being sent to Major Welsh, he was strong enough to attack the rest of the lines, and the whole of the works were speedily cleared of their defenders.

Having thus secured his entrance into Travancore, Colonel St. Leger advanced on the 17th of February into the interior; and dislodged, after a short action, a body of troops strongly posted, with nine guns, on the bank of a river near the village of Nagarkbil. The next march brought the troops to the forts of Udagiri and Papanavaram, which were abandoned: the gates were set open, the garrisons had fled, and ensigns denoting submission were seen flying in every direction. Our loss was Captain Lenn of the Caffres, and Lieutenant Swayne of the 13th Native infantry, wounded, and forty-nine rank and file killed and wounded. After this brilliant affair, which did infinite credit to Colonel M'Leod and the brave fellows under his command, the army encamped, four miles beyond the village of Nagracoile. The country was now completely in the possession of the British: the Nairs disbanded, and retired to their homes; the Dewan, despairing of forgiveness, fled into the thickets; and the Raja, left to himself, hastened to tender his submission, and profess his readiness to conform to any conditions which the Resident should please to dictate.

As we said before, most of the fortifications had been created by a clever French Officer Eustace De Lannoy. The northern Travancore lines were the ones that foiled the attempts of Tipu from marching into Travancore. The British used a rear entry tactic to get into Trivandrum. After the battle was won and various postwar activities commenced at Travancore, the people on the other side of the hill, however experienced a legendary incident involving a wounded white strangler from this war. In the heat of the battle, one British officer was mortally wounded, started across the hills and was picked up by some native Shannars (Shanars or Nadars) of Tinnevelly. His name was Capt Powell or Poole. But one who read the previous paragraphs carefully would say - The only losses were Lenn, Swayne & Cunningham. No deserters or mortally wounded were named. So who was Powell or Poole?

Let us take up the commentary as recorded by RC Cladwell - In the early part of this century, when we had some difficulty with Travancore, and our troops had to storm its " lines " at the Arambooly Pass—the southernmost pass in the Ghauts of India—there was a certain Captain Pole, who was mortally wounded. The poor man appears to have tried to return across country to Madura, to obtain European medical assistance, but died on the way, in the South Tinnevelly Palmyra forest. The simple Shanars of the district were terrified. They opened his scanty " kit" and amongst other things found some brandy and cheroots. What was to be done? His manes, according to their belief, were now abroad in the neighborhood, and must be duly propitiated. A grave was dug under the banyan I have referred to, a hut was hastily erected, the services of a local devil-dancer were procured, and the ghost of the officer was duly worshipped. But he was a white man; what gift would be most pleasing to his soul? The brandy and cheroots! So almost to this present day has continued this extraordinary worship. Alcoholic liquor, in some form or other, and cheroots, have been periodically presented at the grave of Captain Pole, under that spreading tree and before that solitary hut on the sandy waste, in order that the spirit of the departed soldier might refrain from wreaking vengeance on the simple rustics of the neighborhood. Near to this curious shrine are a number of small obelisks. The intention of these is well known. The devil-worshipper believes that the ghost of the dead man or the local he or she devil, as it walks about, never touches the ground with its airy feet, and is therefore always on the move, seeking rest. These obelisks, therefore, please the spirits, who rest on the top of them and watch the dances in their honor, and see, with a grin of infernal satisfaction, the fowls which are being sacrificed to them have their throats cut, and go flapping and tumbling about comically in their death throes!

To commemorate the event a song was created by the devil dancers.

Over time the story and its variations multiplied.

Bishop Caldwell then tried to get to the bottom of the story separately and clarified in detail - I shall here give an exact account of what took place. The circumstances are these. From the rude verses which were sung in connection with this person’s worship, it would appear that he was an English officer, a Captain Pole, or some such name, who was mortally wounded at the taking of the Travancore Lines in 1809. They were carrying him towards a place on the sea-coast of Tinnevelly called Manapar, probably in the hope of seeing him recover, but he died on the way at a place in a dreary range of sand-hills about four miles from the place where I write this. Shortly after his death, the ignorant people in the neighborhood commenced to worship him as a demon. Every demon has offered to him what he is supposed to like best. An ordinary Indian demon would have preferred blood, but the offerings made to this English officer consisted in ardent spirits and cigars! I found this worship in full vigour when I arrived in these parts more than forty years ago, but it has long since passed away and been forgotten. My chief reason for mentioning it here is the unfair use of it which has sometimes been made. An English “globe-trotter,” who afterwards went into Parliament, asserted in Parliament, in the course of a tirade against the English Government in India, that this worship of an English officer as a devil was an illustration of the horror in which the English were held by the natives. The fact is, that the motive of the people of the neighborhood was not horror or dislike of anything they had heard about the poor man, but pity for his melancholy end, dying as he did in a desert, far away from friends, so that it was impossible that his spirit could have rest.

Another version by Monier Williams went thus - The most terrible of all demons are thought to be those created by Europeans. Of course the propitiating process must vary according to the character of the man whose demonized spirit is to be coaxed into good-humor. His tastes and idiosyncrasies during life must be carefully inquired into and judiciously indulged. The story is told of a certain choleric Englishman who was a terror to the inhabitants of a district in the South of India, and whose ghost after his death had to be constantly appeased by offerings of good cooked meat, brandy, soda-water, and cigars placed daily on his tomb. The same was done to secure the continued good-will of a philanthropic sportsman, who when he was alive delivered a large tract of country from the ravages of tigers. You can now see how the story changes character..

The next version by Rev Ragland was even more interesting - I will add another page out of the history of Satan's lyings. Near Suviseshapuram (the town of the gospel) is a lofty red sand-hill, which at the beginning of this century was chosen as the first station for the trigonometers' survey of South India. About a mile or two distant from this station is an inveterately heathen town called Illamulley, abounding with pey-coila or devil-houses, the largest of these, at least the largest of the altars in these, being dedicated to a pey called Pooley Sahib. He is the favourite, i. e. the most dreaded deity of the place, I believe, is hymned in a lengthy poem of some merit, of which the translation of a great part was read to me, and is attempted to be appeased by offerings of mutton, arrack, and cheroots. And whom do you imagine this mysterious personage to be? You will be as much astonished as I was to learn that he is nothing more nor less than the spirit of an English officer, of the name of Pole, or Powell, or some other similar name, metamorphosed by the Hindoos into Pooley, who was killed in 1809, at the taking of the Arambooly lines, and carried back to the station on the hill to be buried. Having met with a violent death, his ghost was supposed to be the cause of all the sicknesses of man and beast in the neighborhood. A man could not get a headache in a walk past the grave, but the Englishman's spirit was taxed as the author of it. The senseless Illamulley-ites at length sent a deputation, invited the spirit to their town, bribing it with the offer of a larger altar than any that had been erected there, promised offerings such as they shrewdly imagined would be most grateful to an English officer's ghost, and provided, I suppose, a native poet to prepare a hymn to be sung on peculiarly solemn occasions. This hymn speaks of Pooley-Sahib, as one of the greatest of heroes, and the conqueror of Madura, Tinnevelly etc., describes the attempts of his wife (a second Andromache) to dissuade him from the fatal fight, speaks of his power since death to inspire men with madness and to slay with a blow or breath whole herds of cattle. But the opening of the hymn is the most remarkable part of the whole. The spirit being Christian, and popery being the only form of Christianity known in this part of India until later years, it commences with an invocation of the Virgin Mary.

I carefully studied the event. In the first skirmish when Col Welsh and the others took the pass, one British officer was killed, his name was Cunningham. With this they overran the pass and continued on. Two more British soldiers died before they reached Trivandrum. They are curiously not named (I believe one was called Capt Syms), very uncharacteristic of the early English in India. One of them could be Powell or Pole, but it so happens that a Lt Powell later participated in the final events that transpired at Trivandrum.

So Pole or Powell, or some such name as Dr Caldwell admits (yes, one check with the war office would have been enough to clear the matter had there been a doubt, but since Caldwell and Thurston and many others, evangelists or not chose to leave the story be, it seems that one of the unnamed dead Englishmen was indeed the Pole or Powell) was buried by the Shannars or Nadars and a small burial stone erected, together with the obelisks in line with their practice. The English did not, I assume mention the desertion or flight of this gentleman or even his existence probably as he was considered a deserter, without perhaps the knowledge that he was mortally injured.

But why did the Shannars accord a dying strangler this honor? Was it the courage of the soldier in the last hours, was it the officer’s pride in facing death that impressed the tribals, sadly, we are not to know.

But anthropologists like Sundar Kaali have an answer after study of the thought process of those ancient times– Studies of tribal rituals indicate that a violent death generates a cult. Violent death transfers power to death deities. This power can be summoned to counteract other elemental forces such as disease, disaster or death!! So it is not just a matter of honoring the dead, but a category transfer that enables contact with them…

Now to imagine how violent that death would be, you have to read my article on the Pazhassi Raja. If Pole had been shot with a Brown Bessie, one ounce musket ball, it would have knocked him flat and you stayed flat with shock, ripped muscles, shattered bones, arteries and nerves, and heavy bleeding. Maybe that was the sight seen by the Shannars who are mostly used to bows and arrows and lance or sword wounds.

According to Sundar Kaali, two stories possibly merged to create this legend, one being the Pooley story otherwise known as the Vellaikaran, and the other the Ittimulli story involving another Englishman called Turaimatan. Turaimatan lost his life fighting against one of the Nayaks, possibly the Veera Pandya Kattabomman during the times of the Khan.

The place where Pole is worshipped is I believe called Pole pettai. A typical description of the propiation ceremenoy is provided in the story A witch’s den by Mme Blavatsky.

But another portrait, amazed my friend a good deal, and put him in a blue funk. The whole district recognized an English officer, a certain Captain Pole, who in his lifetime was as kind a gentleman as ever lived."

"Indeed? But do you mean to say that this strange people worshipped Captain Pole also?"

"Of course they did! Captain Pole was such a worthy man, such an honest officer, that, after his death, he could not help being promoted to the highest rank of Shanar devils. The Pe-Kovil, demon's house, sacred to his memory, stands side by side with the Pe-Kovil Bhadrakali, which was recently conferred on the wife of a certain German missionary, who also was a most charitable lady and so is very dangerous now."

"But what are their ceremonies? Tell us something about their rites."

"Their rites consist chiefly of dancing, singing, and killing sacrificial animals. The Shanars have no castes, and eat all kinds of meat. The crowd assembles about the Pe-Kovil, previously designated by the priest; there is a general beating of drums, and slaughtering of fowls, sheep and goats. When Captain Pole's turn came an ox was killed, as a thoughtful attention to the peculiar tastes of his nation. The priest appeared, covered with bangles, and holding a wand on which tinkled numberless little bells, and wearing garlands of red and white flowers round his neck, and a black mantle, on which were embroidered the ugliest fiends you can imagine. Horns were blown and drums rolled incessantly. And oh, I forgot to tell you there was also a kind of fiddle, the secret of which is known only to the Shanar priesthood. Its bow is ordinary enough, made of bamboo; but it is whispered that the strings are human veins. .... When Captain Pole took possession of the priest's body, the priest leapt high in the air, and then rushed on the ox and killed him. He drank off the hot blood, and then began his dance. But what a fright he was when dancing! You know, I am not superstitious. . . . . Ami? . . ."

Many other white soldiers died in various parts of the Coromandel while fighting the Nayaks, but were not accorded such legends and rites. So those final moments hold the key, which I am unfortunately not able to unlock. So we know not who this English soldier was, if he was an Englishman, Welsh, Scots or Irish or the rest of his melancholy existence, though he lives on in ghostly fashion, after death. But the story proved to be an interesting one and one for a rainy day, which today is and is just right for Ghostly Haloween which is tomorrow.

References

Contemporary Review – Vol 27
Brahmanism and Hinduism - Sir Monier Monier-Williams
Journal, Volume 1 - Anthropological Society of Bombay
A memoir of the Rev. Thomas Gajetan Ragland - Thomas Thomason Perowne
Military reminscences; extracted from a journal of nearly forty years - James Welsh
The Travancore state manual, Volume 1 - V. Nagam Aiya
A political and general history of the District of Tinnevelly Robert Caldwell
Omens and superstitions of southern India Edgar Thurston
History and the Present - Partha Chatterjee, Anjan Ghosh
Historical records of the XIII Madras infantry Robert Pilkington Jackson
Diary of Colonel Bayly -12th regiment. 1796-1830 - Richard Bayly
From the caves and jungles of Hindostan - Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

*There were actually three passes during that period. One into Coimbatore, called the Chavakkad (near Trichur) or Palakkad pass; the second is the Ariyankol, into Tinnevelly ; the third is the Arambuli. Somewhere in that region is the Thovala Fort; near Aramboly about 10 km from Nagercoil on the Nagercoil-Tirunelveli Highway, the remains of the Eastern Defence Lines of Travancore.

A French Calicut?

2010-10-09T06:37:00.000-07:00

One of the little known and less written about stories of Calicut is set during the period just after the immolation of the Zamorin and the conclusion of the Zamorin era in 1766 during the onset of Hyder’s invasion of Malabar. I will be covering the Zamorin’s death and the story around it soon, but this one comes after the said event and snapped the last thread of hope the family of Zamorins had of holding on to their prestige & territories.

We talked in other articles about the Portuguese, the Dutch and at times the English. This one involves the French Infantry colonel and Governor of Mahe, later theologian Le Comte Du Prat and of the astounding situation where for the first time; a French flag was flown on the flag mast at the Zamorin’s palace in Calicut. Now imagine what would have happened if that situation had taken root, just imagine, we would be eating crepes and croissants, foie gras, duck confit and all that and talking French and I would not have had to trouble my friend Murali to try and get to the gist of what Duprat had to say in his own antiquated French words in his memoir. Just imagine, we would have been swimming in perfume and doffing our noses daintily at the English. But as you all know that did not happen.Let us now get serious and find out what happened.

French in Malabar
We now go to a period around 1774 to Mahe. Now historians would prefer to start with the 1642 when the French East India Company was formed, but actually the French got started around 1668 at Surat to set up a factory under the French flag. Then it was Madras. The French finally came to Malabar, some years after establishing themselves in Pondicherry, and founded a factory at Mahe in 1721, but settled down there by 1725.

Situation in Calicut
By 1764 the complacent Calicut was attacked by Hyder’s troops. Hyder had started out from Mysore via Palghat with his army demanding a tribute and restitution amounting to Rs 12 crores or something like that but the Zamorin had no money to pay that kind of retribution. He tried delay tactics, but when the armies were at his door and he was threatened with bodily injury and starvation tactics were hinted at, he had no option but to give up and committed suicide by immolation in his palace. The Zamorin’s families moved on to Tanur or Kottakkal and Hyder’s people ransacked Calicut with able support from the Moplah populace.

Finally in 1768, the new Zamorin returned to Calicut after agreeing to pay the required annual tribute to Hyder. Peace prevailed for 6 years between 1768 and 1774. The Zamorin in the meantime started the usual quarrels with the Cochin rajah on petty issues, this time over the appointment of a priest at the Trippayar temple. As Krishna Iyer succinctly puts it ‘as though his head and existence of his kingdom depended on it’. Hyder on the other hand was busy with his fights elsewhere, the Marathas and the English. Once that was all done and dusted, and he had come to agreements with the foes, he took notice of the transigence at Calicut and deputed his General Srinivasa Rao through Wynad with an army to occupy Calicut once again and quell any revolt.

Knowing that Hyder the Nawab of Mysore was pally pally with the French, the Zamorin approached the French for help, through the newly appointed Governor of nearby Mahe - Colonel Duprat.

Le Comte Pierre-Antoine Duprat
The French were smarting under the English takeover of Mahe in 1761 and it was in 1764 that they wrested it back. The English had pillaged and destroyed the settlement by then, working in league with the king of Kadathanad. Law de Lauriston the French commander at Pondicherry considered maintaining the small town of Mahe uneconomical, due to the heavy expenses in keeping a garrison and a constant vigil. The Zamorin no longer had absolute power over the region and there were skirmishes all the time, some directed against the garrison. Kottayam, Kurangod, Kolathunad, Chirakkal, Kadathanad and so on continued with their internal issues. Mahe was in their middle. The 3 or 4 forts that the French had, were destroyed by the British in 1761.The question in 1765 was whether to quit Mahe or not. The garrison contained 160 French and 150 sepoys or topasses, which according to Law was a greater ‘citizens to soldier ratio’ than even Pondicherry. But the feeling of trouble hung low like the monsoon clouds, ready to break at any moment. The French were also considering relocation to Colachel in Travancore, upon the Travancore Raja’s invitation. During this period the station head at Mahe was Picot De La Motte. He left briefly in 1773, on a leave of absence and his place was taken up by Duprat.

Duprat was a firm believer in French might and would fight hard to maintain its prestige. Historians say it was an unduly false notion, but as we all know plenty of people with such notions have been there in history and still remain in various countries in and out of power. Many a war as been fought by them due to these notions and visions, all through the the history of time.

Duprat decided to extend the French holdings and influence in Malabar, entirely on his own initiative, with all of his resources (310 soldiers as we saw previously). Very forthrightly he said in his memoirs ‘I have never looked at things except in a great way, I believe a man can do what man has done and many have done great things’. Interesting person, right? What he was to do would put the French directly against the might of the Mysore Sultans and earn their distrust for a very long time indeed. So let us see where Dupart led the French to.

As we saw before, Sreenivasa Rao was on his way to subdue Calicut once again, upon Hyder’s orders, and late in Dec 1773 the Zamorin had established contact with Duprat. The ambitious Duprat decided that this was an opportunity to make the once mighty Zamorin his vassal and annex his forces and influence. Duprat without waiting for formal clearance from Pondicherry agreed to provide military support to the Zamorin against the forces of Hyder bearing down on them through the Wyanad passes. Dupart sailed to Calicut with 100 or so soldiers and 3 cannons, in the frigate Belle Poule.

Duprat in his own words states that he left out for India in 1772 and after stays in the East coast and later Pondicherry, reached Mahe in Nov 1773. His first observation of the people of Malabar is interesting. “I studied it much the character of the Indian They are sweet & shy people easily deceived, though somewhat inconsistent, and are suspicious assets, very ignorant in the art of war”. Interesting fellow, I suppose.

In January 1774, the French flag was apparently hoisted on the Zamorin’s palace and the citadel (what and where was that?) and on the 12th a treaty was signed with the Zamorin where Calicut was placed under the protection of the French and in return the Zamorin granted the French a complete monopoly over trade and the right to build forts wherever they pleased. Well, that was interesting and is indeed a fact. Some day I will provide you the text of that treaty after some translation efforts.

In the meantime, Duprat sent off letters informing Hyder that Calicut was under the French flag and that it would be wise if he called back Rao and his forces. The tone was rude and arrogant. Again, in strident tones he added text to inform Hyder of the might of the French empire backing his actions (which of course was not the case). In fact Duprat’s letter even mentioned that he had come in a French battleship and was expecting two more ships and 4,000 men as reinforcement. He even offered a formal alliance to Hyder with the French nation in return. Hyder of course called the bluff.

Srinivasa Rao reached Calicut with his forces and found the French in control there. It appears that he was a very wise man and so paused for a while at the gates. The vast army of Hyder would have decimated the 100 (or 140) soldiers and 3 cannon of Duprat. Duprat finally encountered lady wisdom after seeing the forces. What happened was this, the Zamorin left Calicut in a hurry and Duprat slunk away to Mahe with his flag and soldiers.

The adventure was rash and the withdrawal was humiliating, and on top of that Hyder was enraged. But Duprat was Duprat. He wrote to Hyder from Mahe saying that he had not retreated in fear and haughtily claimed that it was due to his refined wisdom and that Hyder actually owed the French a lot for all the help they had obtained from the French. Hyder did not forget this for a long time and his distrust of the French was to become even more marked after this episode. It built up later into outright animosity. On one hand, Law was in regular touch with Hyder and on the other hand there was a lower level commander Duprat threatening him. For 5 years Hyder was to maintain a cold relation with Pondicherry due to this act.

Duprat was severely reprimanded in writing in Feb 1774 , but then he would not keep quiet. He was smarting from the ignominy and defeat at Calicut and decided now to flex his arms at the king of Kadathanad. He decided to enforce a monopoly on pepper and refused to allow them to sell it to the English as they had done for years. The revenue which was to be provided indirectly to Hyder was to be diverted to the French. Hyder protested but Duprat in reply instead threatened Srinivasa Rao in Calicut that the French forces would be directed against them with full might, soon. Law finally decided to put an end to this and recalled Duprat to Pondicherry and sent De Rependigny to take charge at Mahe.

Dupart indignantly resigned from the French forces and joined the army of the Nizam in Hyderabad. But fate is what it is, quite quirky as many have noted. Later, Duprat while working for the Nizam, trespassed Mysore territory and was arrested by Hyder’s men. It took much intervention from Law in Pondicherry to get Duprat released. Duprat also quickly completed a short memoir on the events at Mahe, explaining is stand.

Duprat finally returned to France after all his adventures and became a theologian in Paris around 1791 to retire amongst the saints and to writing stuff dealing with theology and the Lord. As for Mahe, Repentigny was also a problem and so Picot De La Motte returned to his old position around 1775 or 76 and kept the matters suitable low key, as they were once before, while Mahe returned to being a sleepy little town with a French twist.

Just imagine, if all had gone in the directions that Monsieur Duprat had wished, Calicut would have been a French Colony and instead of eating chicken biriyani at Sagar we would have been ordering Bouillabaisse or Coq au vin or some such strange stuff like frogs legs sautéed in wine in some French restaurant. Well, thankfully that did not happen, but chefs of French ancestry like Anthony Bourdain travel to Kerala these days, spend days on houseboats drinking Kallu and talk at length (and sometimes cuss in private) on TV about the exquisite cuisine of the Malayali, through their food channels.

References
The French in India – SP Sen
Zamorins of Calicut – KV Krishna iyer
Voyage Du Comte Duprat Dans L’inde - Duprat

The Murder of Collector Connolly

2010-09-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

Oru perumazhakkalam – 155 years ago

I had introduced Collector Connolly to readers when I wrote about the canal and the teak gardens some months ago. Lt Henry Valentine Connolly (Connelly or Conolly or even Canoli in texts & records) was the Malabar Collector and district magistrate between 1841 and1855. Connolly was tragically murdered in 1855 by Moplah fanatics at the start of the Moslem revolt in Malabar. What led him to his death? Why was he so chosen for this? Who were the killers? The event was to prove momentous to the British, for it was the first and only case where a senior administrator was murdered while in office in Malabar. That he was an able and far seeing administrator is clear, with the development of the one and only man made teak plantation in Nilambur and the canals and roads he constructed in various parts of Malabar. In spite of the broad and firm measures taken by him in suppressing revolts, a retrospective study indicated him to be a very balanced and neutral collector for which he deserves to be commemorated to memory of the people in Malabar. Now to do that, let me take you some 155 years back, to the tail end of a monsoon season, to West hill Calicut, to the Collector’s Bungalow.

Writer & traveler Richard Burton had just left after a stay as a guest of the collector Connolly. His reminiscences of that visit are public and available and CHF had written about it some months ago. Calicut I understood, at that point of time had probably 20 Europeans living in the West hill area. Burton pitied the Malabar expatriate’s life in September, during the monsoon; as he remarked “what a dreary life they must be leading, with no other sounds in their ears but the roaring wind, the pelting of the rain and the creaking of the palm trees.” The richer families and nobles were having their traditional rain treatments of Ayurvedic oils and massages, the women busy making the ‘monsoon special’ porridge and reading the Bhagavatham at dusk while the Moplah women were busy preparing their goat leg and chicken broth soup for their spouse’s well being. It was a tranquil part of Malabar, a sleepy little hamlet as some others were to later describe this once busy trading entrepot. But was it? Beneath the tranquility of the tropical paradise lay a seething cauldron of discontent, religious fervor and the brimming of a revolt rising to pressure cooker proportions. It had exploded a couple of time already. The EIC bureaucracy was struggling to come to terms with the reasons and actions. The after effects of the EIC retaliation was soon to be felt on the figurehead of law and order in the area, the District collector HV Connolly.

Henry Valentine was one of the four brothers who served the British Indian establishment. He had entered the India service in 1824 and was posted to Calicut in 1840-41. It was going to be a turbulent and testing time for the 35 year old Englishman from the Midlands of UK, but then he was not the first from his family. He was from the Connolly family that carried a curse so to speak, four distinguished brothers of this name served in India, Captain Edward Connelly, Captain Arthur Connelly, Captain John Connelly, and Lt Henry Valentine Connelly, all of whom were cut off prematurely. Two of them were killed in action and two of them murdered. Captain Edward of the 7th Bengal Cavalry was killed by a sniper during battle in Afghanistan, October 1841. Captain Arthur Connelly was kept captive till his death or murder at Bokhara in 1842. Captain John Connelly was killed (or died in captivity) at Kabul in 1842. These three distinguished brothers perished in Afghanistan within a year of each other. The last brother Henry Valentine Connelly, of the Madras Civil Service, was posted to Calicut after these tragedies. What was his fate going to be? Was he also ill fated?

He had been in India since the age of 18, after education at Rugby and joining the EIC in 1824, His bio reads thus - Writer by 1826: Assistant to the Principal Collector and Magistrate of Bellary. 1828: Head Assistant to the Principal Collector of Tanjore; Deputy Secretary in the Military Department. 1831: Canarese Translator to Government. 1834: Cashier to the Government Bank. 1835: Assistant to the Sub-Treasurer. 1836: Acting Additional Government Commissioner for Carnatic Claims. 1837: Cashier to the Government Bank and Assistant to Sub-Treasurer, and Canarese Translator. 1838: Proceeded on furlough. 1840: Returned to India. 1841: Collector and Magistrate, Malabar.

After 14 difficult years at Calicut, where he struggled with a revolt of a different kind with no straightforward rule book and formulating the POA, creating solutions on the fly and keeping a reasonable amount of control on the district affairs, but at the same time working to improve the lives of the people living there as well as the coffers of his masters, Connolly was sadly assassinated towards evening of the 11th September 1855, at Calicut.

CKR alluded to the death in his recent blog and mulled over the reasons. As I had studied this for a while, I thought it would be a good idea to pen a little bit of the affairs of the time and the death itself. In doing so, I have not taken the British view or the Moplah view. But it was not too difficult to come to a just conclusion. If I am wrong or have drifted, I invite discussions which will enliven the subject. However I must also admit that the many books I studied were definitely polarized in favor of one or the other side, depending on the author. Some blamed the caste system, some blamed the landowners, some blamed the lack of education of the Moplah, many blamed the Mambram Pookoya Thangal, others blamed the new lower (labor) class ‘inland Moplah’ converts, many blamed the British for their heavy handedness and the Moplah act, some said it was just personal revenge owing to a contractual matter between the accomplice of one of the murderers and Connolly during the canal construction, but well, it was in reality a combination of all this. First we need a little understanding of the relative situation of that period.

Malabar 1805-1855 - The Moplah restlessness

The Pazhassi Rajah was killed in Nov 1805 and with it (barring another revolt in 1809) the Hindu populace of Malabar warily settled down to a long period of British rule. The proud Nair resistance had been subdued, their leaders slain and kings & suzerains gone, many decided that this was so fated by the course of destiny and started learning new trades such as overseeing the tilling and maintenance of ancestral property. While the coastal Moplah continued his trade, the inland Moplah (many of them recent converts) did not really have lands of their own and were working for the landowners. Then there were Tharavadi Moplahs like the Manjeri Athan Kurikkal who were to figure in these revolts. The lands that some Moplahs had usurped during the Hyder – Tipu interlude had been taken back by the landlords who returned from Travancore and the issues and problems started over ownership and revenues. The British apparently sided with the landlords and with it the Moplah’s directed their anger against the landlords and the British. Then again some say they were further instigated by the Arab religious leaders in their midst about equality and so on. This by itself is a long case best discussed separately on another day, for it requires even more thought and consideration.

Suffices to say that the Moplahs were a discontented lot embarking on expressions of revolt, which though heroic if viewed through a narrow lens, were largely unproductive and polarized opinion against them even more as time went by. All it ended up was creating a caricature of the Moplah as a brutish hopeless, illiterate fanatic driven by religious fatwa’s in the minds of the ruling EIC. Between 1836-53, a number of outbreaks took place (some 22 or so). The British retaliated in typical fashion, with a show of arms, confinement, deportation, collective fines and confiscation of property and weapons. The community was getting hopelessly alienated by this time and some illiterate youngsters as I read, were led to believe that their jihad will reach an explosive and victorious end with support by way of many ships arriving from Arabia loaded with arms, food etc for 40,000 people (Sadasivan- Social history of India) to annihilate the non believers. Many a youngster or recently ‘capped’ person then ended up as a Halar – a Shahid after the hal-ilakkam and conducted attacks on temples and landowners. Reasons attributed were the retribution exacted on the Moplahs by the Hindus after Tipu was slain, forced contributions towards temple constructions (this was a special case where the Manjeri rajah insisted on it because his temple was destroyed by the Moplahs). Another reason stated was that the Hindus used courts and the British to get back lands that originally belonged to the Hindus but were decreed for mosque construction etc by Tipu Sultan. Then there were issues related to the newly converted Cherumars who insisted that they be addressed respectfully and refused to work on Fridays and started to ‘dress up’. Some explained that it was all a case about land ownership. The Hindus would not sell them land and the Moplahs were not too keen on identity as indentured labor after being traders for long. Then again as the numbers of Muslims increased, the numbers of mosques or the need thereof increased and according to custom a mosque can only be built on freehold land, otherwise it had to be classified ramshackle or temporary. The attempts to procure land to build mosques of course met with little success thus becoming a major irritant to the community.

The Thangal Syeds on their part tried to force the British to find solutions to a number of these issues by increasing mass awareness with the issue of fatwas and booklets, but the results were on many occasions indiscriminatory riots. Another special situation was a fact that Moplahs were not considered for government employment, especially in the Police. The British wisely or unwisely backed out stating that these were either unfounded or private matters beyond the reach of the British government.

This was the situation HV Connolly was in. He was among the small British presence in West Hill and struggling to administer justice while at the same time conducting lengthy correspondence with his superiors in Madras for approval was needed every step along the way. Connolly on his part was considered a very fair person, analyzing most cases thoroughly, though he administered justice firmly as stipulated by the law. He was to prove balanced, as an example he had concluded that the possession of arms were proportionate by both Hindus and Muslims though the general rumor was that Muslims had amassed large caches of weapons.

An example of his fairness is cited in the Joint commissioner’s report - In Malabar, torture for revenue purpose/ is entirely unknown; and although traces of its use for police purposes still linger in the district, the ill-fated collector, Mr. Connolly, had been most active and energetic in repressing the practice and punishing the offenders. A peon, who, in 1843 (long before this agitation had been thought of), had ill-treated a prisoner so as to lead him to attempt suicide, was sentenced by Mr. Connolly to two years imprisonment and hard labor.

He also believed originally that Moplahs should be included in governance and increased Muslim adhikaris from 2 to 22 in Ernad. However the situation was rapidly careening from bad to worse. The alienation between the communities was reaching breaking point and the revolt in the name of land and tenure was rapidly taking a strong religious tone. Connolly saw and concluded an outside hand in this, the hand of the Arab cleric Mambram Pookoya thangal – Syed Fazal. With this observation, Connolly got into the thick of the revolts in 1851 and spent 4 years wallowing in the muddy waters seeing no quick fire solutions. He was forced to admit that he would need army/police help using battalions from Bangalore and Madras if things continued in this fashion or even mounted troops. As for himself, personally, he knew that he was in deep waters for he said

I wish for the utmost publicity. If any want of or mistake in management on my part has led in the slightest degree to these fearful evils (far more fearful in my times than they have ever been before) I am most desirous that a remedy be applied, whatever be the effect as regards my personal interests…..No measures taken as yet have reached the root of the evil which there is too much reason to fear is growing in place of decaying.

An Allens mail report - A correspondent, writing from Malabar, says, “Regarding the cause of these atrocities, two opinions prevail here, and we are informed that the collector and his sub are at issue upon the subject. The collector has hitherto been of opinion that fanaticism was the cause and martyrdom the object in view. Of late, we are told, he allows that this fanaticism is taken advantage of by evil-disposed men, and that the attention of the fanatics is directed to influential landlords, who may have offended their tenants either by expulsion or oppression. The sub-collector holds that this fanaticism is purposely created by the influential Moplahs and their head priest, and that parties are set aside for the purpose of gradually carrying into execution the extermination of the Hindoo proprietors by murder, or causing them to emigrate through fear. This opinion he grounds upon the fact that these atrocities are increasing in exact proportion with the success attending them. The collector advocates a more liberal policy towards the Moplahs, by admitting them into public employ, and giving them an interest in the peace of the district, by holding them, as public servants, responsible for the parish or umshan over which a party may preside. The sub-collector advocates a system of repression, and the establishment of a local corps to keep the Moplahs down, and protect the Hindoo landlords in the exercise of their just rights, holding the Moplahs as a race in general unfit to be entrusted with power, or to be admitted into equal privileges with the Nair population. —Madras Athenaeum, Feb. 13. (The collector was HV Conolly and the sub collector was Mr Charles Collet)

Agrarian aspects

One could always discuss the caste system, the agrarian system, the feudalism, the enslavement of the lower class and so on. One could also say that the workers who were reasonably contented with their selves were instigated upon with a new identity and a glorious and free future ahead if they converted. Whatever may have been the case, some Cherumars and some Tiyas were in a state of uncertainty. Some converted but continued to work in the lands of the wealthy owners, but with a new moplah identity and new clothes (covered chests). This was a break from the age old traditions; some landowners like Krishna Panikkar did not quite like it and with it started retaliation and further turbulence. The British focused on the instigators to put an end to the disturbance, the Moplah’s worked to increase their ground strength which was obtaining more recruits & converts.

If only the instigators had studied Connolly’s original work in this area - In 1839 orders were issued "to watch the subject of the improvement of the Cherumar with that interest which it evidently merits, and leave no available means untried for effecting that object." Ultimately the Government of India passed Act V of 1843, abolishing Slavery in Malabar. Its provisions were widely published throughout the district by Mr. Connolly, the Collector, and he explained to the Cherumars that it was their interest as well as their duty to remain with their masters if treated kindly. He proclaimed that “the Government will not order a slave who is in the employ of an individual, to forsake him and go to the service of another claimant, nor will the Government interfere with the slave's inclination as to where he wishes to work." And, "again, any person claiming a slave as Jenmi, Kanom, or Panayom, the right of such claim or claims will not be investigated into at any of the public offices or Courts." Another aspect was a statement by Connolly that Cherumar slaves would be employed on Government works at the same rate of wages as free men (Cherumars of Malabar Vol 110-111 – CR)

But it was Syed Fazal Thangal’s writing of an article on equality for lower Cheruman classes and how they should be addressed etc that signaled broader rebellions against the British and the Hindu landlords and attracted the ire of the British who were finding slow solutions in the meantime as stated above. Pressure was slowly brought on the Thangal to move out of the troubled area. But rumors flew thick & fast that the British were going to attack and forcibly capture the man. A show of force was made by the Moplahs with the amassing of some 7000 men near in his house. Connolly did not want to precipitate the issue.

On 21st Feb 1852, he wrote

I thought it well to send a confidential person to intimate to the Tangul, that the reports which he had heard regarding his forcible seizure were exaggerated or false, and that no definite orders had come on his case, which was under the consideration of Government.

2. The person made use of was one Atra Coya, a connection of the Tangul by marriage, an extremely intelligent and respectable (half) Arab merchant, and a person, who from his position, commands that private access to the Tangul which the cupidity and evil designs of the immediate attendants of that personage render very difficult to most visitors.

3. Atra Coya returned with a message from the Tangul to the effect, that the crowd had assembled at Tiruwangady on the 13th instant, without his orders, on hearing that he was in danger; that he, the Tangul, was not conscious of having done anything to deserve the displeasure of the Government; that he repudiated the deeds of the fanatics; and that it was his misfortune that a general blessing intended to convey spiritual benefits to those alone who acted in accordance with the Mahomedan faith, should be misinterpreted by a few parties who acted in contradiction to its precepts.

The arguments were, indeed, just similar to those brought to notice in my letter of the 12th October 1849, paragraph 35, as having been advanced by the Tangul on a former occasion.

But the Tangul went on to make the very important addition, that as his blessing was sometimes misunderstood and his presence in the country unfortunately had led to deeds of horror, he was willing, if the Government chose it, to end further embarrassment by leaving Malabar and taking up his permanent abode among his people in Arabia. He had more than once, he said, thought of doing this before, but had been restrained by the remonstrances of his immediate connections and adherents, who insisted on the spiritual loss which Malabar would sustain from his departure.

4. How far this message and proposition came from the Tangul's own mind, or how far it was prompted by the shrewd connection who brought it—(from his intercourse with the world and knowledge of our power he was evidently alive to the inevitable consequences of a collision between the Tangul and the Government, as regards the former),—I could not say, but the opening presented seemed to me so providential a one, that I at once resolved on doing all I could to further it on my own responsibility, trusting to the Government to pardon what I had done, in case it seemed to them objectionable.

5.- The consequence of my resolve and of another visit to the Tangul by the same agent has been, as I am just informed by him, that the Tangul has determined on starting for Arabia with the whole of his family, some 60 or 70 people, in an Arab ship which will sail within twenty days.

On 19th March 1852, the Hadhrami family of clerics that had arrived from Yemen centuries ago sailed out of their temporary abode. I will not get into the description of the Tangal his antecedents or his life after he left, but they moved first to some Gulf states and finally to Istanbul. The Thangal then relocated to Yemen and eventually back to Istanbul, where he died.

Three years were to pass by. In the meantime a number of events transpired, including attempts by the Thangal to try & return to Malabar, for he himself stated that he had left on his own accord and so would not accept any edict barring his stepping back on Malabar soil. His relatives tried to test the waters, but did not succeed and settled in Mahe under French protection.

Was the eventual act due the deportation of the religious head of a wild and barbarous people as Collett had documented? Was it because Connolly disarmed the Moplahs? For in Dec 1854, Connolly had led a vigorous march to collect war knives from Moplahs. By January the collection of knives had reached a figure of 7561. Connolly unmindful of personal danger never armed himself, not carrying a weapon or revolver in his person. It was not a matter of pride of the backing of a huge EIC establishment, but I believe a feeling of righteousness on his part.

In the middle of all this Connolly got a warning from Aden asking him to be careful. As we know today, Connolly paid no heed to it. The result of all this was apparently what ended up with the event of 11th Sept 1855, a full 3 years later. Let us read the report of the event

It appears that on the evening of Tuesday, the 11th Sept., the ill-starred gentleman (Connolly) was sitting with his wife at their house, West Hill, in Calicut, when, about half-past eight o'clock, a noise on the gravel attracted the attention of Mrs. Connolly. She looked up and saw a man emerge from the darkness outside, and spring with a single bound on her husband, who occupied a couch just opposite her own. The place was a small verandah adjoining the house, and Mrs. Connolly fled inside, screaming for assistance. A peon and mussalchee (torch bearer) came forward at the summons, but both were grappled with by the assassins, who stabbed the mussalchee in the arm, and cut off four of the peon's fingers. There were three fellows engaged in the murder, and in an incredibly short time they had completed their work, and had disappeared. More assistance was procured, and Mr. Connolly was carried to his room, where he lived for an hour, but had only consciousness to commit his soul to God, and speak a single word to his poor wife. Dr. Barker was sent for, but living three miles from Calicut he only arrived to see the lifeless clay. On examination, it was found that Mr. Connolly was nearly cut to pieces, no less than twenty-seven wounds having been inflicted upon him : seven of these were on the head, three of which penetrated to the brain—one of them through the ear and mastoid process of the temporal bone must have caused death. Both hands were cut to pieces, and nearly severed from the arms; the lower jaw was cut through. There were two stabs by a bayonet on one arm, and seven or eight wounds on the back, very deep, apparently stabs with a dagger or knife. The right knee-joint was opened, and the lower part of the bone of the thigh fairly cut through. How the tortured Victim survived for a moment, is almost past comprehension. Mr. Connolly had been for upwards of fourteen years presiding over the wild districts of Malabar and the able way in which his administration was conducted received on more than one occasion the thanks of Government—Telegraph and Courier.

The Mappilas who murdered Connolly were escaped convicts from Calicut Jail (from the town Jail, not the courthouse) called Valasseri Emalu, Puliyakunat Tenu, Chemban Moidin Kutti and Vellattadayatta Parambil Moidin. They had escaped from a prison working party on the 4th of August 1855, spent the following month on the run in various houses in the foothills of the Ghats. At Mambram, they prayed at the shrine of the Thangal. Then they hid in a house three-quarters of a mile away, for several days, before taking vows at a Nercha ceremony where they sang a song called Moidin Mala Pattu. Their war knives were passed through incense smoke.

A huge manhunt commenced, and eventually on the 17th Sept near a village called Eddamannapara the attackers were tracked down to a building where the Police Corps and a part of No. 5 Company of H.M. 74th Highlanders under Captain Davies attacked the house they were holed up in. A mortar and cannon were used to force the men out of the building, whereupon they were cut down, but only after they had killed a Scottish soldier and wounded another in the throat.

Why did the three decide to murder Conolly?

A clue comes up from the investigation of the involvement of one Malakel Mammu (who was imprisoned in the aftermath and is termed 1st prisoner) of Calicut in whose house the murderers stayed. Apparently Mammu had some monetary issues involving Connolly.

He (Mammu) had also had a good deal of intercourse with Mr. Conolly since the canal was begun. On account of his being in default for some work he undertook on the canal, Mr. Conolly was forced to bring a suit against him and obtained a judgment for the money (Rupees 156). As he had little property, Mr. Connolly out of compassion recovered the sum (except interest which he forgave him) by keeping back the rent for the temporary Jail. Nevertheless the 1 st prisoner in a petition in October 1854 demanded this rent, which as he strictly owed money to Government, Mr. Conolly refused, telling him he should think himself lucky to be let off what he owed. The necessity for bringing a suit against him and his subsequent unjust demand of rent render it probable that he had a personal bad feeling towards Mr. Conolly.

Initial reports also linked the murder to the Thagal – Collet reported - In the course of this enquiry it was clearly ascertained that the object of the attack upon Mr. Conolly was to inflict vengeance on him for the part he had taken in the banishment of the Tungal to which he had already adverted. "The murderers," said Mr. Collett, the Joint Magistrate, "in more than one place declared this to be their motive. "It is now clear, he observed," That, from an early date, they shaped their proceedings with a view to this end. It is from the knowledge that they were plotting to retaliate upon the person of the Chief Officer of Government for this offensive measure, that their caste people generally conspired together to aid them, and preserved their secret inviolate, though it was literally known to scores, including women and children."

Most reports thus mentioned that the murderers were avenging the deportation of the Thagal (One Pathumah who was interrogated was asked why Connolly was singled out, replied - Is it not the case that our Thagal is not to be seen in the country?? Conrad), but it was never established. Magistrate Walter Elliot in his report of 1856 stated

Several speculations are advanced to account for the cause of Mr. Conolly's murder. But the attempt to connect its origin with the deported Tangul is not to my mind successful. No doubt his name was used by the murderers as a means of obtaining more general sympathy and support, and the vindication of his cause entered largely into the motives of all concerned. But I am inclined to think that the irksomeness of the continued imprisonment to which the assassins were subjected, and the certainty of further prolonged incarceration if recaptured as they must have been, made them desperate, and induced them to fling away their lives in a manner far more daring, and more likely to invest their memories with the reputation of distinguished martyrs than had previously been heard of.

The anonymous letter angle - Collett had originally reported - Mr. Connolly had received an anonymous letter warning him, but unfortunately thought it needless to take precautions, and had not even mentioned it to Mrs. Connolly. It later transpired that Capt Haines in Aden had written to Connolly in Nov 1854 that his life was in danger. An intense search was launched to get to the details of the tip, however the result seems to have been somewhat of a whitewash and ends up in intriguing fashion with Haines himself in some Indian prison, and Mrs Haines writing on his behalf that it was just an innocent observation in private and so on. It would have made a lot of sense at that time to prove that all this was instigated or premeditated from Arabia by the irate cleric or his relatives, for that was what the EIC and Collett would have preferred to establish. Or was it quashed for political expediency? Perhaps so, in the name of peace, but we can only speculate. Perhaps it was the truth.

One recent writer Bob Williams remarked - Sometimes it seemed that the English came to India just to die. And died they did in their droves, often quite young, and invariably in a very English kind of way. Connolly’s memorial sports the following epitaph - Henry Valentine Connolly Esq. 49 of Madras Civil Service Collector and Magistrate of Malabar who “after nearly 12 years devoted to the improvement of the province committed to his charge, fell at the hands of a band of fanatics.”

To most Malayalees, Hindu, Muslim or Christian, Connolly was a collector, who lived in Calicut and administered the masses with a firm hand, under the British flag. He was to them a British ruler to the core, even equated to the likes of Gen Dyer, not interested in the development of the land he was administering, all he was interested was in collecting the taxes for her majesty. How wrong we are is proven if you study Connolly’s life, for he was a man with a vision and he lived 30 years of his life in India and died in India.

Younger brother Arthur Conolly participated in many reconnaissance missions into Central Asia and coined the term ‘The Great Game’ to describe the struggle between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for domination over Central Asia. Often travelling in disguise, he used the name "Khan Ali" in a word-play on his true name. In November 1841 he was captured on a rescue mission to free fellow British officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stoddart held in Bukhara. The two were executed by the Emir of Bukhara, Nasrullah Khan in June 1842 on charges of spying for the British Empire.

Edward Connolly, the first discoverer of Seistan, was shot from an unknown fort in Kohistan. Sīstān is a border region in eastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan , the vanished paradise, the ‘sakake’ of the Greeks.

John Connolly - British political officer who remained in Bala Hissar during negotiations in 1841-42; was taken prisoner by Afghans; died of fever in 1842.

They were born a year apart, they died in India. While three of them died in Afghanistan, the fourth died in Kabul. None died a natural death. They were so fated

Charles Collett who was threatened with death during the trails moved on to Madras and wrote a reader in Malayalam (written in 1856). Whether he is the same person who later wrote a number of law books is not clear.

After all this one other attempt was made on the life of a sitting collector. In this case, CA Innes interfered (upon a complaint by the boy’s father) in the case of a 11 year old tiya boy who was (forcefully?)converted.

Connolly was survived by wife Anne who returned to England. The family had two sons, one of whom I read was named Edward and who became a lawyer. More details of the family are not available. Some Rs 31,000 collected by way of fines from the Moplah locales was paid to the widow as compensation.

Connolly was buried in Calicut, in the old burial-ground close to the pier. After his death a monument was erected in St George’s Cathedral Madras and a scholarship and endowment named after him was created at the Madras University.

A great epitaph is provided to him by Jeremiah Ryan in his book ‘Gold mining in India "Than whom no purer minded or more philanthropic man ever graced the bright roll of the best of any service the world has ever produced, that of the old East India Company".

The teak gardens in Nilambur and the Canal in Calicut stand as silent testament to the labors of Collector Connolly. The water flows silently through the Canal, as the few trees left sway in the mountain breeze and brave the wood robbers. They remain as witnesses of a rough and tough time long gone, long forgotten. The Malabar they were borne into is no more, the people and the prosperous but later troubled lands, now a part of a busy city which remembers neither the Gama nor the Zamorin, neither the Conolly nor the Logan.

The monsoons continue with regularity.

References

Mappila Muslims of Kerala – Roland E Miller

Malabar Manual Logan

Mappila Padanangal – M Ganghadharan

Kerala Muslims – KT Hussien

Malabar Kalapam – K Madhavan Nair

The Moplah rebellion and its genesis – Conrad Wood

Hindu Muslim relations in North Malabar 1498-1947 Theodore Gabriel

Mappila Padanangal – M Gangadharan

Kerala Muslim Charithram – PA Syed Mohammed

The Hadhrami Diaspora – Stephen Dale (Ulrike Frietag collection)

Correspondence on Moplah outrages in Malabar – vol 1, vol 2

The Tangled Web: A Life of Sir Richard Burton - Jon R. Godsall

Aftermath

The "West Hill bungalow" continued to be a collector’s bungalow. West hill itself was purchased by the Government and converted into barracks for the European detachment comprising an Officers' quarters, the Racquet Court, the married men's quarters and other buildings. The collector’s bungalow in which Mr. Conolly was murdered in 1855 became part of the European barracks on West Hill. A flagstaff on East Hill opposite the barracks marks the bungalow of the Collector, which was guarded nightly. In its heydays, this bungalow had one of the most extensive wine cellars in India. A report in 1906 stated - It takes the form of a central single-storied block containing a large drawing room (40'X25') and a dining room with wide verandahs (17') round drawing room, and entirely distinct blocks (1) for occupants and (2) for guests.

I used to think all this time that the East hill Krishna Menon Museum was the collector’s bungalow, it was apparently not. If somebody could clarify this I would be happy.

One person who was somewhat troubled by the religious places bill and the burial grounds issue was Judge Hobart in Madras. His deliberations on this issue are of immense value to the historian and show the seriousness accorded by a person of responsibility in disposing such a heavy issue. It provides for fascinating reading and shows a balanced thought process. I wish sometimes that the judiciary today worked with this kind of seriousness and were less guided by matters of self gain and political pressure.

In 1881 a commissioner was appointed to enquire into all these Agrarian grievances and that was none other than William Logan, whom some of us know pretty well from the Malabar manual.

20 years later another famous man came to Calicut, and it was another perumazhakalam, another monsoon when the rain came down in huge torrents. This famous writer and artist lived for some days at the Malabar Club (today’s Beach hotel premises). He looked at the sea, he sipped gin tonics, he read the Punch, he observed the populace streaming by, he wandered around Mananchira and rode bullock carts and he sketched and he wrote about them and the crows – ‘Ye crows of Malabar, What a cussed bore you are’ was a famous utterance. More of those interesting days and sketches of Calicut will follow in the next article.

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No disrespect is meant to any religion involved, with any part of the text of this article, all events are sourced from historical accounts as referenced. If any personal inference or reference is erroneous, I invite the reader’s views for corrections.

Malemo Cana - Vasco Da Gama’s pilot

2010-08-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

Readers get to the Vasco Da Gama story by sheer curiosity; desire to read about adventure, interest in Malabar or Portuguese history or a need to study in the academic course. Vasco or Gama as he is called is indeed an interesting person and there is so much of text out there praising him, ridiculing him and lauding him for his sheer tenacity. Well, the explorer did set out in search of the spice route and found it for his King. ‘He set out with 170 men in July 1497 on three ships (plus a 4th supply ship that was lost early). By Feb 1498, he had reached Malindi, and here was where his fortunes were to change.

For here he met and contracted the services of a person who was to direct the ships to the coast of Malabar. For the first time, the Portuguese had to cross a large expanse of water. Today we have navigational aids and propulsion that makes it easy, but in the days of winds, sailing and the non availability of precise charts, it was a hit and miss. They needed some person who knew how to navigate the monsoon winds. They found such a person, and sources argue over the identity of the pilot, identifying him variously a Christian, a Muslim, and a Gujarati Hindu. Some stories, text books and novels describe the pilot as the famous Arab navigator Ibn Majid, but historians and contemporaneous accounts disagree. The Portuguese historians of the time also fail to connect the person to Ibn Majid or mention the August name. So who could this pilot have been, the person who changed the course of history, both for the west and the east? People who have read about the age of history will agree that the impact of this Portuguese landing indeed changed the course of trade and history.

Let us first get to know Ibn majid. Quoting Wikipedia, Shihab Al-din Ahmad Ibn Majid al Najdi was an Arab navigator and cartographer born in 1421 in Julphar, which is now known as Ras Al Khaimah. He was raised with a family famous for seafaring; at the age of 17 he was able to navigate ships. He was so famous that he was known as the first Arab seaman. The exact date is not known, but bin Majid probably died in 1500. He was the author of nearly forty works of poetry and prose. His most important work was Kitab al-Fawa’id fi Usul ‘Ilm al-Bahr wa ’l-Qawa’id (Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules of Navigation), written in 1490. It is a navigation encyclopedia, describing the history and basic principles of navigation, lunar mansions, thumb lines, the difference between coastal and open-sea sailing, the locations of ports from East Africa to Indonesia, star positions, accounts of the monsoon and other seasonal winds, typhoons and other topics for professional navigators. He drew from his own experience and that of his father, also a famous navigator, and the lore of generations of Indian Ocean sailors. Bin Majid wrote several books on marine science and the movements of ships, which helped people of the Persian Gulf to reach the coasts of India, East Africa and other destinations. He grew very famous and was fondly called Shihan Al Dein (Sea's Lion) for his fearlessness, strength and experience as a sailor who excelled in the art of navigation.

His maps certainly helped the Portuguese find a way to India, and many Arabs find fault with Ibn Majid for personally helping Gama across to Malabar and destroying their lucrative trade with Malabar. For as you know most of the ships that plied these waters were Arab, the traders in Malabar were of Arab or Arab extraction and the goods were destined to Arab ports where hefty customs duties were levied. They found their way over even more expensive camel caravans to Alexandria where they were again loaded into ships bound for Europe. This trade from time immemorial was honorably wrought, till the Gama destroyed it all. The pilot is blamed by many Arabs for having helped the Gama destroy this trade.

Calicut heritage forum covered the contents of the book Pepper & Christ, where the fictional account introduces you to young Taufiq, a disciple of Ibn Majid who guides the Gama to Calicut. Was Keki Daruwalla right in his train of thought?

The time lines were right and much interest could be brought about in the subject by bringing the two people together, one in relentless quest of scientific discoveries and the other a rapacious trader. How did this happen? To figure it all out, we have to read the masterly book on the Gama by Sanjay Subrahmanyam, the heavily bearded Professor and Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair of Indian History at UCLA, a person who not only is ‘the expert on these matters’ but also one who loves to demonstrate such diverse aspects like South Indian cooking. A very interesting man (no! I have not had the honor of meeting him, but have read about him and his books) Subrahmanyam has written books in Tamil, Hindi, Portuguese and Italian, English and French, to name a few. In all, he knows ten languages and reads in two more.

Sanjay explains in very interesting fashion how Ibn Majid was brought into the picture, by a writer of Gujarati extract in Mecca.

Barros and Castaneda termed the pilot a Malemo Cana or Malemo Canaca a moor, Barros clarified it as Moor from Guzerate whereas Castaneda called him a Gujarati. The person who connected this to Ibn majid was French orientalist Gabriel Ferrand writing on Ibn majid. He borrowed text from the book written by Qutb Al-din Muhammed Al Nahrawali. Al makki. Nahrawali, a Gujaratai living in Mecca, wrote a book to celebrate Ottoman achievements over the Yemeni Arabs. He mentioned the name Ahmad Ibn Majid as the name of the pilot, wrote that he was given much wine to drink by the Portuguese and the pilot in a state of drunkenness explained the methods of sailing the oceans to the Admiral. Interestingly, the text does not state that Ibn Majid accompanied the Gama, but only states that he explained the way. I will not recount the text, but all he said was ‘do not follow the coast, make for the open sea without fearing it and well, follow the winds’. Now that is not expert advice, in my mind but plain common sense in rough and uncharted waters. Anyway Ferrand connected this Ahmad Ibn Majid to the expert Ibn Majid and set the tongues wagging. However it is still not clear why and how Nahrawali mentioned the name and where and how he obtained it. Was it another Ibn Majid of Gujarati extract?

The clinching reasoning behind Ahmad Ibn Majid’s involvement was his supposed regret over helping Gama as evidenced in a poem written by him. These arjuzas were discovered by Russian orientalist Kratchkovsky and translated. The devil is in the detail and the detail provided in the rather clumsy translations (and substantial additions by the translators in the process) made it an even bigger mess. Ibrahim Khoury a Syrian historian pointed out later the corruption of the translated text and the fact that Ibn Majid was already too old to navigate by the 1490’s and that this poem by Ibn Majid where he expressed regret over helping the Portuguese, was actually composed in the 1470’s, much before 1498 when all this happened.

Anyway the fable and legend continued to grow. The most interesting part is that according to Gama’s letters, the pilot accompanied him back to Lisbon for interrogation. So as you can see, Ibn majid, dons the guise of a Gujarati, gets drunk and guides the Gama and after wretchedly showing him the way to Calicut returns to Lisbon with him and settled down there, for there are no records of him returning.

So who was the pilot? Was he one of the Gujrai Nakhuda’s in Malindi? There was a sizable Indian population there according to Portuguese records. The sailors were not all Arabs, as I wrote in my previous blog. Was it just another chap who succumbed to threats or avarice and well, finally went back to settle down in Lisbon as a Fidalgo? Perhaps, but then we get to know that he really knew his business and to be called a Mualim in an Arab world required you to be one. To get to the details you have to read what Barros wrote

Let us see what Barros had to say – Quoting the footnote in ‘3 voyages of Gama’ based on Correas Lendas, translated by the Hakluyt society.

Barros says that some gentiles from Cambay, whom they call Banians, came to see the ships, and that seeing a picture of Our Lady in Da Gama's cabin, and that the Portuguese reverenced it, they made adoration to it with much more ceremony; and next day they returned to it. The Banians and Portuguese were mutually pleased, and the Portuguese imagined that these people were samples of some Christian community in India from the times of St. Thomas.

About the l5th July. Barros says that among the people who came to visit the ships was a Moor of Guzarat, named Malemo (malemo – Muallim or instructor in Arabic and Cana – kanaka – Astrologer in Sanskrit) Cana, who, both from the satisfaction which he felt at the intercourse with the Portuguese, and to please the King of Melinde who was looking for a pilot for them, accepted to go with them. Vasco da Gama, after talking to him, was very well satisfied with his knowledge, especially after he had shown him a map of all the coast of India, with the bearings laid down after the manner of the Moors, which was with meridians and parallels very small (or close together), without other bearings of the compass ; because, as the squares of those meridians and parallels were very small, the coast was laid down by those two bearings of north and south, and east and west, with great certainty, without that multiplication of bearings of the points of the compass usual in our maps, which serves as the root of the others. When Vasco da Gama showed him the great wooden astrolabe which he had brought and others of metal with which he took the sun's altitude, the Moor was not surprised, and said that some pilots of the lied Sea used brass instruments of a triangular shape, and quadrants with which they took the sun's altitude, and chiefly that of a star which they most made use of for their navigation. But that he and the Cambay mariners and those of all India made their navigation by certain stars both in the north and in the south, and also by other notable stars which traversed the middle of the heavens from east to west, and they did not take their distance with instruments like those, but with another which he used; which he brought at once to show, which was of three tables (or plates). Since we have treated of its shape and use in our geography in the chapter of instruments of navigation, it is sufficient to say here that in that operation they use an instrument which we now use, and which mariners call balhestilla the cross staff (or Jacob's staff), and in that chapter an account of it and its inventors will be given.

Osorio, in speaking of Gama's arrival at Mozambique, describes the compasses used by the Arab mariners at great length; he also says they used quadrants for observing the sun's distance from the equinoctial line; and says: "Finally, they were instructed in so many of the arts of navigation, that they did not yield much to the Portuguese mariners in the science and practice of maritime matters."

Where did the Melinda Sheikh find the pilot or pilots? It appears that they belonged to the Gujarati ships docked at Melinda. How come they left their ships and accompanied the Gama? For monetary compensation of course, considering the fact that the pilot demanded his reward as soon as he sighted Calicut. Could this have been Ahmad Ibn majid? Doubtful, for he had already retired and was living in peace, I suppose.

Would Ibn Majid be an ordinary pilot for a Gujarati ship? Doubtful again and considering that those Indian ships would have also been waiting to sail back to Cambay with the monsoon winds, it is doubtful that he left his own ship in the lurch had he been a honorable pilot. A Melinda King would not be able to overrule that, I presume.

The St Gabriel sailed out on April 26th 1498, as we know reached Kappad around 20th May 1498. The pilot demanded his reward which was apparently provided immediately as soon as the hills behind the city of Calicut were sighted. The Gama and his sailors made history and small fortunes though Vasco vanished for the next few years, however not before heralding the Century of discovery and the start of the ruin of Malabar. Vasco returned twice and eventually fell sick and died during the third of his voyages in the lands he discovered for the West, in pain of an unknown disease.

The Kamal or the Rapalagai (Malayalam) - The Gujarati pilot used a kamal to guide the San Gabriel to Calicut. In using the kamal, the knots are counted by keeping the string between one’s teeth; hence the name kau (=teeth) for the pole star. Vasco da Gama’s men actually thought that the pilot (Malemo Cana) was telling the distance by his teeth! Vasco da Gama later carried back a copy of the instrument “to have it graduated in inches”, suggesting that he did not understand the difference between a linear scale and a harmonic scale. In fact, Europeans seem never to have quite understood the principle of harmonic interpolation used in the kamal.

Notes:

1. The sheikh of Melinda actually provided two pilots to the Gama, though mentions are made often to one and him being Ibn majid in history books. Who was the second? Food for thought.

2. GR Tibbetts feels that Barros may have borrowed from Varthema as he wrote his book in 1540. Varthema mentions a chart seen during his 1508 voyage, marked with latitudes & longitudes. Whereas Correa and Castenada do not mention nay such thing.

References
The career & legend of Vasco D agama – Sanjay Subrahmanyam
E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 1 - M. Th. Houtsma, page 362
Indo-Portuguese Encounters - Lotika Varadarajan
The Navigator Ahmad bin Majid – Paul Lunde - Saudi Aramco World
Arabs and the sea – Saudi Aramco World
Ancient sailing and navigation – Nabateae.net

Pic of Arab with kamal- Nabateae