Kumaran Nambiar alias Hyat Sahib

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Some months ago I had written about the Jao Da Cruz who reached great heights among the Portuguese Fidalgo’s, who then later came back to torment the Zamorin and become an advisor to St Xavier. This time it is about the Nawab of Bednore (Now in Shimoga – Karnataka), alias Sheikh Muhammad Ayaz Khan alias Ayya Khan alias Malik Ayaz alias Hyat Sahib alais Dowlat Khan. It is yet another gem from the deep annals of history.

This story starts in 1766 when Haider Ali decides to march into the rich kingdoms of Malabar. During this campaign, he took back a large number of Nair captives to Mysore. Many die and a few survive. One amongst them was a bright ‘good looking’ lad of 10-12, named Kumaran Nambiar, hailing from Chirakkal in Canannore, who immediately caught the fancy of Hyder’s eyes. Hyder takes him under his wings and is captivated by the boy’s intellect and genius. He is circumcised, converted to Islam and given a name Muhammad Ayaz Khan.

Soon they forge an enviable relationship and Hyder keeps mentioning the superiority of Ayaz Khan over his real son Tippu. Tippu’s resentment over the convert develops into cold hatred against Malabar. Father Hyder soon appoints (originally offers the more important position as governor of Chittledroog which Ayaz does not accept stating he was illiterate) Ayaz as the governor, Jemedar or Nawab of Bednore (Hydernagar), a wealthy kingdom Hyder had recently captured. Bednore lies about 40 miles inland from the Mangalore coastline, one not dissimilar to Chirakkal where the boy originated from. He made it his home.

Hyders advice to Ayaz runs thus – Keep a Corla (rope whip) in your right hand, and that will do you better service than pen and ink. Place reliance on your excellent understanding, act for yourself alone, fear nothing of the calamities of the scribblers, trust in me as I trust in you. Reading and writing, how I have risen in the empire without knowledge of either? His love for Ayaz is also stated in the case where 20 year old Tippu forcefully circumcises a British soldier in Public. Hyder upon hearing of this abuses Tippu publicly and sends Tippu into solitary confinement and states – It is unfortunate that you will succeed me, if only it was Ayaz instead of you!! (Historical sketches of S India – Mark Wilks Page 522). Logan also confirms (Malabar manual) that Hyder stated many times that Ayaz was always his right hand in the times of danger.

Donald Campbell (son of Col Campbell) is the first to recount a fascinating meeting with the now regal Jamedar Ayaz, circa 1783 in the book ‘A narrative of the extraordinary adventure’. The first aspect one notices is Ayaz’s absolute reverence for Hyder, in the manner in which a lecture is provided to Campbell about Hyder’s power & exploits. As he was being entertained by Ayaz, an offer is made for Campbell to lead Ayaz’s army of 5000 men which is rebuffed. Campbell then comes across the previous Dewan of Chirakkal (must have been the Dewan of an uncle of Hyat) who is being tortured to divulge the location of the previous raja’s wealth. After a few months of imprisonment, Campbell is released and hears that Hyder has died suddenly and that Tippu had issued a death order on Ayaz Khan. Ayaz decides to hand over the fort of Bednor and all other neighboring towns to the British and escape to Bombay, which he does. Capt Mathews and Ayaz settle terms for the takeover. It is under the British that Ayaz as a name gets corrupted to Hyat. The British take away all of Ayaz’s wealth, a huge amount (some 12M Sterling) as rumored and Ayaz is blamed by Tippu though Tippu finds some or most of it after defeating Gen Mathews force under Maj Campbell (read the story here..) . Mathews dies in 1783.

Tippu later claims gleefully that the ‘ungrateful Malabari slave’ Ayaz has run away with considerable booty at this first opportunity and that his father Hyder should never have trusted him. His revenge thence on Malabar was apparently severe; he forcefully converted the whole Bednore populace (Hindus & Christians according to English sources) and sent all the young men to his army in Seringapatanam.

Sadly while Tippu was busy trying to wreak revenge on Ayaz & Malabar, Col Fullerton had increased British readiness and moved to capture the Palakkad fort (A jolly good story for another day) from Tipu’s soldiers, working together with the Zamorin. For once a Malayali (Ayaz) helped Malabar though not meaning to by diverting Tippu’s attention.

Sometime in 1792, Hyat reappears on the historic scene (Logan - Malabar Manual) with a claim for land in Chirakkal that he claims to have got from his Hindu ancestors. The claim is considered fraudulent & thrown out by the British.

After Hyat retired to relative peace in Bombay he sat hoping that Bednore would be restored to him, which of course never happened. Tippu later tried to ‘bargain’ to repurchase Ayaz and take revenge as part of his negotiations with the British, but the EIC did not do so though they were advised that it would be a good riddance (since Ayaz had legitimate claims over his plundered & unreturned wealth which was becoming a major embarrassment to the EIC). Ayaz ended up getting Rs 4’000/- per month ‘as a pension’ till he died (which unfortunately happened soon after). All his claims were studiously ignored (Counter flows to colonialism MH Fisher pages 192-210) by the Crown.

Ayaz Khan, died in 1799 (in his early 50’s) leaving his widows & sons destitute. His funeral expenses worked up to Rs 40,000/-. Fyaz Ali khan, his minor son was denied the father’s pension and he then chased the bureaucracy for due justice in Bombay courts and London. The British did not even give him permission to travel to UK to fight the case. A representative Muhial Din did considerable studies on the case in UK but soon found himself indebted and facing imprisonment in UK. The EIC offered to clear his debts by paying GBP 3,500 & a return ticket if he dropped support to Fyaz. As the London stonewalling was going on, the EIC finally saw sense and restored the pension to Rs 4000 p.m plus the funeral expenses to Fyaz. The lawyer returned to Bombay but as fate destined, the ship that carried all the case papers sank in the ‘Bay of Bengal’. Finally in exasperation, the settlement was accepted as final by Fyaz and his lawyer.

Thus ended the legacy of the Nambiar from Chirakkal – the one who had a few million pounds of wealth in his hands and a small country, to end up destitute in Bombay.

ReferencesMemoirs of Hyder & Tipoo Ramachandra Rao
Collection of most celebrated voyages – Forster
Collection of treaties & engagements – Aitchison
History of Mysore – mark Wilks
Counterflows to colonialism – MH Fisher
Malabar Manual – Logan
Campbell’s story

33 comments:

  1. Nikhil Narayanan

    Maddy
    Tippu was always a bad guy.He converted a lot of people, plundered temples and so on.
    He should have been mentally unstable for sure.

    Poornaiah Story

    Thanks for the post.

    -Nikhil

  1. Maddy

    Nikhil - history is full of good and bad guys, who also did good and bad things. Tipu had his good side. His hatred to malabar could have been due to hyder chiding him mercilessly from childhood how even a malabari slave ayaz turned out better than him (both grew up under the same tutelage..)

    remember also that for us, mere students of - history & human behavior, these are the guys who make it all the more interesting.

  1. poor-me/പാവം-ഞാന്‍

    Dear nikhil
    Tips looted temples in kerala because temple on those periods were what Air ports, Dams,Generating stations are today .first target for an enemy.
    This same tippu has gifted a sivalingam (carved out of diomond or so )(one of the biggest of that sort)to a mysore temple!
    In kerala King Samoothiry has permitted christians and muslims to settle but refused GSBrahmins" settlement.So is Cochi Raja.Cochi Raja thrown the GSBIans Sree Ram statue ! Sakthan thampuran killed one of the GSB merchant.
    History is actually a mystery .Just read it but with out any prejudise and set mind.
    Do you agree Maaddy or agree to dis agree?
    Regards Poor-me.
    www.manjaly-halwa.blogspot.com

  1. Anonymous

    Maddy,

    In "Kolathunaadu" we have the story of one Valluva Kammu, who was assaulted and left for dead by the river by his own people. He is discovered and saved by Hyder's army, where he becomes famous as Ayaz Khan. The story then continues as per your account.

    Do the historical records you reference talk about his name as Kumaran Nambiar? Kammu, I would think , would be the short form of Kammaaran, rather than Kumaran.

    VG.

  1. Maddy

    Thanks VG.
    Logans' malabar Manual pg 497 mentions him to be a nambiar from Chirakkal.Wilkes Historical sketches mention him to be a Nair youth.If I remember right it was Kareems book that provided a name to the boy, but let me check my collection and get back to you.

  1. Maddy

    Poor me - I agree with the last line.

  1. Maddy

    VG - Campbell's first person notes pg 265 mention him to be from the Chirakkal royal family. Duncan's reports in the British parliament refers to this fact. and btw he is listed as a notable - Kumaran Nambiar under Wikipedia and other encyclopedia entries for Nambiar. Late Zamorin PCN Raja also confirms the name in his article in Kesari 1964. The article was titled 'the religious intolerance of Tipu Sultan.

    http://voiceofdharma.org/books/tipu/ch02.htm

  1. Anonymous

    Thanks Maddy. Kammu was of Nair/Nambiar birth in our stories as well. The Wiki entry that you mentioned refers to him as Kammaran though, not Kumaran. And PCN Raja's article also refers to him by the name Kammaran.

    I have my doubts about the part where Campbell mentions him as belonging to the Chirakkal royal family. A Kammaran Nair/Nambiar could not have been part of the Kolathiri household, who typically described themselves as Vermas. One explanation linking him to the Kolathiris that I can think of would be where his family would be related by marriage, which would have been possible under the social conditions of the time. Another explanation could be the fact that there were a number of powerful families/tharavads in Kolathunadu at the time, whose power (localised) was as great as the king himself. The Koodali and Kalyat families come to mind, as well as the Vengayil and Moyan families. It is possible that he was from one of these "royal-like" families, which was lost in Campbell's writings.

    Thanks for the blog, lots of great articles.

    VG Mangad.

  1. Maddy

    Hi VG..

    Yes, you are right - Kammaran is what is mentioned in the Wiki article & Raja's. But I was under the mistaken impression that Kamaran was an Anglicization attempt of Kumaran. The strange thing is that the family line, I believe still exists in Bombay somewhere..

    Now back to the youth Hyder took away. He was 10-11 yrs old when Hyder took him very fair and of aristocratic looks (!!)

    Some questions to ask - Would a lad of that age have gotten assaulted and left for dead in the Malabar of those times?

    Also it makes sense that he was from a known family since he came back to claim those lands. But as you say It is probably not clear if the links were to the Kolathiri's.

    Thanks VG and keep visiting - I have a lot more on Malabar to serve...

  1. Maddy

    VG - I have been thinking - When you said valluva Kammu, did you mean of kammalan caste? I doubt that was the case. Kammaran would in which case would be a kammalan. If you recall - converting lower castes were no big deal for Hyder & Tippu,converting Nair's was the symbolic requirement. Hyder would not have spent too much time on a lower caste convert, I guess...but again just a feeling.

  1. Maddy

    VG - Just to get to the bottom of things, see here the relation between the Kolathiri raja and Hyat. Now I am not talking about a blood relationship but some connection...

    Refer Logan's 'A collection of treaties.....Page 81. I will post a link on Google books, here
    http://books.google.com/books?id=Q9ZLGRcx4ksC&pg=PA81&dq=hyat+chirakkal&lr=&client=firefox-a

    Now i believe that the possible connection to the royal family was because the Rajah of Parapanad was also captured by Hyder along with Hyat, The Nambiar.

  1. Anonymous

    Maddy,

    Kammaran, Koman, Kunkan, these were all common names in Malabar(atleast the Northern part I'm familiar with) at one time. It is possible they are coloquial modifications of some "civilized" name though. In fact, I'm trying to trace the history of one Emmen, who played a part in a civil war between two branches of the Kolathiri kovilakam.

    There is indeed a discrepancy between my story and Campbell's account, regarding Kammu's age when he was captured. It is possible that Campbell's account is right. Then again, Campbell is told this story not by Hyat sahib himself, but by one of his junior officials. Could it be possible that he was wrong?

    Lets look at the two scenarios:

    Scenario1: A boy of 11-12 is captured as a slave, impresses Hyder, is converted and semi-adopted.

    Scenario2: Hyder's soldiers (or a warband under one of his generals) comes across the body of a man by the river. From his physique, it is apparent that he is a good soldier. They take him along and nurses him back to health, and he joins them.

    Now in scenario 1, what would a 11-12 year old slave been put to by his captors? By your article, Hyat Sahib himself says he is illiterate (although this could have meant advanced studies and not basic reading and writing) when he refuses the governorship initially. Assuming this is true, he could not have been emplyed in Hyder's court, which means his only possible vocation would have been in the army. A Nair youth of 11-12 would still have had 4-5 years of training in the Kalari, so it is possible he excels in fighting, thereby catching Hyder's eye.

    Now lets look at scenario 2. As he comes to, Kammu realizes who his captors are. The important question here is why he would agree to join the army of a person who, basically, is an invader of his homeland. The story's straight forward explanation would be that as he had been almost murdered by his own people (because of some prior feud, let us assume), he would have no problem in joining up with Hyder (a sense of gratitude for saving his life could have been the reason too). But going back to the social customs of those days, there is a much more potent problem for Kammu where he to decide to run away from his captors and come back home. Among the Nairs of Kolathunadu, he (and possibly his family) would be classified an outcast merely because he ate food with the Mohammadens. Mukkaal (as in 3/4) is a term still in use in Kannur today to refer to some families because of what happened during Hyder and Tipu's padayottam! (Its a long story, and I can come back to it some other time). So there is no real choice for Kammu other than hitch his wagon to Hyder's. Being highly proficient in Kalaripayattu (this is an important point, because it is his physique that makes the soldiers rescue him initially), he is able to distinguish himself in Hyder's army.

    Both are possible scenarios, and until we unearth the memoirs of Hyat Sahib himself, we probably wont know what the truth is. :-)

    Note that I'm doing all of this from memory. I will confirm the details once I get back home and get a chance to refer my notes, by the end of this week.

    VG Mangad.

  1. Anonymous

    Regarding your second last commment, I meant Kammu as a short form for (probably) Kammaran, and Valluva would then be the name of the tharavadu.

    The thing to note is that those days, atleast in North Malabar, there was no need to add a Nair/Nambiar to the person's name for colloquial usage, as the tharavadu name name would have already confirmed your status. So you have a local zamindar going merely by the name of Moyan Kunhiraman, without the need for specifically putting a Nair in his name; his tharavadu name of Moyan already confirms his status in society.

    VG.

  1. Anonymous

    Your last comment is very interesting. On going through that document, you can see that the actual deed is being made to one "Cunie Cone" of "Valia Pudiya" house. Who is this Cunie Cone? And notice the house name "Valia" has a resemblance to Valluva. If the Raja is making this deed to the Hyat Sahib (as the footnote says), then he (Hyat) is being referred to by a name other than Kammaran or Ayaz Khan. Or, the Raja is making the deed to somebody in the "Valia Pudiya" house because of favours received from Hyat Sahib.

    This gets curioser and curioser :-).

    I dint get the meaning of your last statement. Where does the Raja of Parapanad come into the picture?

    VG.

  1. Maddy

    Thanks VG..

    A few quick replies..
    1. I feel that there was another relationship implied in the case of Hyat. Tipu hated Hyat all his life (and malabar nair's even more for that reason) and I think I can now guess the reason. If you send me a personal email, I will explain my reasons.
    2. The Raja of Parapanad was apparently picked up together with Hyat and taken to Mysore.
    3. I have been studying the case of the re induction of the 'toppi-itta' nairs into Hinduism. Can you provide me some details if you know of the same? The Tippu & Hyder part of history is clear & familiar but not the story of what they term as 'chelat' nairs.
    4. Kunhi Konan or Koman perhaps? Kunhi Kuttan maybe.

  1. Maddy

    Kunhi Kannan is most probable

  1. Maddy

    VG - This gives some more detail
    http://books.google.com/books?id=9mR2QXrVEJIC&pg=RA1-PA497&dq=hyat+sahib&lr=

  1. Anonymous

    Maddy, thanks. I'm traveling and will get back to you by Wednesday.

    VG.

  1. Anonymous

    Maddy, sent you an email.

    VG.

  1. Unknown

    Hello Maddy,I have heard about kammaran nambiar , was actually a tharavad karnavar( elder) from my father's side.This is the first time that i have read about him. I have heard many years back that he was taken to mysore by hyder ali and converted to Ayaz khan.Till i read this article , i thought that the story was just a legend ,my grandmother trying to glorify her family name .Ayaz khan's is from Kunnath family.I have also heard that when tippu's army attacked kannur, our family was not harmed because we were relatives of Ayaz khan. Hence i have doubts about the claim that Tipu wanted to avenge Ayaz khan's betrayal..None of my family memebr knew he was a nawab of bednore. What i have heard is he was a captain in Hyder Ali's family... and after that we never heard about him. Lemme know if i can be of any help to your research..

  1. Maddy

    thanks Arun..

    VG and I have been discussing this the last few days and finally information from you has explained a few missing links.

    Question - so was his name Kunnath Kammaran or Kumaran? I am reasonably certain about the Bednore part as it is well documented in EIC records.

    However the relationship between Tipu and Ayaz is hearsay. We can of course conclude that Tipu was instructed to spare the Kunnath Tharwad by Hyder.

    However, how could Kammaran have been a karanavar if had been kidnapped at the age of 15 or lesser?

  1. Anonymous

    During Tipu´s ransacking of Malabar, instances of forcible conversion of Nayars, looting of temples, molestation of women and young lads are many. Almost every prominent nayar family in erstwhile Malabar can cite examples of how a some of its members were ostracized owing to them having been converted to Islam. Therefore it might be too premature to jump into the conclusion that Kammaran Nambiar aka Ayaz Khan belonged to a certain particular family based on hearsay would be precocious

  1. Anonymous

    A LIKELY CASE OF TWO MEN WITH SAME NAME

    Let us compare what two sources say – I mean Vadakkan Aithihyamala of Vanidas Elayavoor and Malabar Manual of William Logan.

    Logan says that in 1766 - a 12 year old kid – meaning year of birth of the boy would be 1744 of VALIYA PUTIYA VEIDU of CHIRAKKAL AMSAM is seized and converted into a Chela [Slave Soldier] and from then on he spent his formative years with Hyder in Mysore and upon death of Hyder surrenders to British and acquires a grant of 3 Amsams on outskirts of present day town of Kannur from Kolathiri Rajah in 1784 which British cancels as an illegal transaction. Also he is reported to have children – his son was denied pension. + He is illiterate

    Elayavoor differs in some crucial respect. He gives year of birth of Kammaran as 1713! Which mean at time of his imprisonment he would have been 53 years! A 53 year old man is by no standard a boy or young man! Home village of Kammaran is given as EDAKKAD AMSAM– a point midway between Thalasseri and Kannur – and that he belongs to a Taravad named VALLUVA EDOM. On top of that Kammaran is married to a woman named Madhavi and is reported to be childless + Kammaran is described as well versed in Malayalam and Sanskrit.

    Valluva Kammaran of VADAKKAN AITHIHYAMALA is celebrated as great fighter and general who helped Kolathiri check the aggressions of Bednore Nayak and was in end treacherously murdered as result of a conspiracy by some of his rivals in Kolathiri court and Bednore Nayak.

    One of our fellow debators had pointed out to the story of Kammaran being attacked and left to die.

    But it was not his own people who tried to kill him – it was soldiers of Bednore Nayak. Vadakkan Aithihyamala state that in night Bednore troops as they took Kammaran’s body to be thrown into a river. At this time Hyder and his men appears and chases off the assassins and saves Kammaran who joins Hyder. But Vadakkan Aithihyamala also states that for time being world thought Kammaran was dead. After that VADAKKAN AITHIHYAMALA and MALABAR MANUAL gives more or less same story – his conversion, service under Hyder, rivalry with Tippu, surrender to British, land-grant by Kolathiri that was cancelled by British, then his life in Bombay and so on.

    I will not pass any comments as to which one of these accounts is true. But in my opinion, THERE ARE 2 KAMMARANS WHO IN DUE COURSE GOT MIXED INTO A SINGLE MAN!

    To conclude, one Kammaran is the martyr-hero of Valluva Edom Taravad. Second one is Kammaran of Valiya Putiya Veidu Taravad who became Ayaz Khan. People would have confused the 2 into a single person since both shared same names and surnames – KAMMARAN NAMBIAR. Same as it happened with Krishna Varma and Ravi Varma of Calicut.

    Or there is another probability – in Northern Malabar there is an old custom by which one of kids – be that son or nephew - is given same name of father or uncle. If that is the case, it is not farfetched to suppose that there were 2 VALLUVA KAMMARAN NAMBIARS – probably uncle and nephew- UNCLE THE MARTYRED WARRIOR AND NEPHEW THE ISLAMIC CONVERT.

    It was interesting to note that Mysore troops spared kin and kith of Ayaz Khan during operations in Kolathunad. THAT IS MOST INTERESTING SINCE AYAZ SURRENDERED TO BRITISH OUT OF FEAR OF TIPPU! What I think is likely is that it could not be Tippu, but Hyder as Hyder’s troops were active in Kolathunad from 1766 – 1776 after which he returns the realm back to Kolathiri only to be violently annexed by Tippu in 1789 – 1791 period. Or else we will have to attribute the sparing to Mysore officers sympathetic towards Ayaz Khan.

  1. Anonymous

    A LIKELY CASE OF TWO MEN WITH SAME NAME

    Let us compare what two sources say – I mean Vadakkan Aithihyamala of Vanidas Elayavoor and Malabar Manual of William Logan.

    Logan says that in 1766 - a 12 year old kid – meaning year of birth of the boy would be 1744 of VALIYA PUTIYA VEIDU of CHIRAKKAL AMSAM is seized and converted into a Chela [Slave Soldier] and from then on he spent his formative years with Hyder in Mysore and upon death of Hyder surrenders to British and acquires a grant of 3 Amsams on outskirts of present day town of Kannur from Kolathiri Rajah in 1784 which British cancels as an illegal transaction. Also he is reported to have children – his son was denied pension. + He is illiterate

    Elayavoor differs in some crucial respect. He gives year of birth of Kammaran as 1713! Which mean at time of his imprisonment he would have been 53 years! A 53 year old man is by no standard a boy or young man! Home village of Kammaran is given as EDAKKAD AMSAM– a point midway between Thalasseri and Kannur – and that he belongs to a Taravad named VALLUVA EDOM. On top of that Kammaran is married to a woman named Madhavi and is reported to be childless + Kammaran is described as well versed in Malayalam and Sanskrit.

    Valluva Kammaran of VADAKKAN AITHIHYAMALA is celebrated as great fighter and general who helped Kolathiri check the aggressions of Bednore Nayak and was in end treacherously murdered as result of a conspiracy by some of his rivals in Kolathiri court and Bednore Nayak.

    One of our fellow debators had pointed out to the story of Kammaran being attacked and left to die.

    But it was not his own people who tried to kill him – it was soldiers of Bednore Nayak. Vadakkan Aithihyamala state that in night Bednore troops as they took Kammaran’s body to be thrown into a river. At this time Hyder and his men appears and chases off the assassins and saves Kammaran who joins Hyder. But Vadakkan Aithihyamala also states that for time being world thought Kammaran was dead. After that VADAKKAN AITHIHYAMALA and MALABAR MANUAL gives more or less same story – his conversion, service under Hyder, rivalry with Tippu, surrender to British, land-grant by Kolathiri that was cancelled by British, then his life in Bombay and so on.

    I will not pass any comments as to which one of these accounts is true. But in my opinion, THERE ARE 2 KAMMARANS WHO IN DUE COURSE GOT MIXED INTO A SINGLE MAN!

    To conclude, one Kammaran is the martyr-hero of Valluva Edom Taravad. Second one is Kammaran of Valiya Putiya Veidu Taravad who became Ayaz Khan. People would have confused the 2 into a single person since both shared same names and surnames – KAMMARAN NAMBIAR. Same as it happened with Krishna Varma and Ravi Varma of Calicut.

    Or there is another probability – in Northern Malabar there is an old custom by which one of kids – be that son or nephew - is given same name of father or uncle. If that is the case, it is not farfetched to suppose that there were 2 VALLUVA KAMMARAN NAMBIARS – probably uncle and nephew- UNCLE THE MARTYRED WARRIOR AND NEPHEW THE ISLAMIC CONVERT.

    It was interesting to note that Mysore troops spared kin and kith of Ayaz Khan during operations in Kolathunad. THAT IS MOST INTERESTING SINCE AYAZ SURRENDERED TO BRITISH OUT OF FEAR OF TIPPU! What I think is likely is that it could not be Tippu, but Hyder as Hyder’s troops were active in Kolathunad from 1766 – 1776 after which he returns the realm back to Kolathiri only to be violently annexed by Tippu in 1789 – 1791 period. Or else we will have to attribute the sparing to Mysore officers sympathetic towards Ayaz Khan.

  1. Anonymous

    Very well written article. I loved it.

    Keep up the good work, Maddy.

  1. Maddy

    thanks toshkhana.
    keep reading...

  1. Nisha Dev

    Very interesting reading about Ayaz Khan, the Nair chela of Hyder Ali. I have a few questions:1. If Ayaz Khan surrendered the Bedanore Fort to the British under General Mathews and fled to Bombay; then why did the British not treat it well? 2. Why did the British allow General Mathew to die in Srirangapattanna? It appears from Wilkes papers that other British military officers were rescued after the treaty of Mangalore. 3. What really happened to the last Rani of Bedanore? (Veeraammaji) Why did the people of Bedanore dislike her so much as to allow Hyder Ali to invade their country?

  1. Maddy

    Thanks Nisha Dev
    Let me study your questions and reply them in detail, soon.
    I have just returned after a long trip

  1. Ramachandran

    There is a novel on Ayaz Khan in malayalam-Velluvakkammaran by Sardar Panikkar.Lot of details are there.Ayas Khan had a palace ib Kolaba.

  1. Charisma

    Hello All,
    I belong to the Velluva Puthiya veedu, near to chirakkal in a place called Chalad. We beli=ong to the Velluva Nambiar family, have a family temple at Edakkad and also live in a place which was once considered to be occupied by the sister of Valluva Kammaran. According to stories told by my grandmother, Kammaran saved the life of Hyder ali and hence was considered to be like a son to him. According to my grandmother Valliva Kammaran is our tharavad karnavar because we are his sisters descendants.

  1. Kafir-e-ishqam

    Theres a book called Valluvakammaran by C.Kunhiraman Nair.Kammaran was the real name of Ayaz Khan and he was from the Velluvaidam tharawad that later branched into the Kalliat tharawad.Due to family circumstances,he was sent to fight in the Kolathiris army and all his tharawads property was taken over by the Kolathiri.
    http://kalliatthazhathveedu.blogspot.in/2011/03/history-of-kalliat-thazhathveedu-family.html
    http://hamletram.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-first-nambiar-who-built-empire.html
    these links may be helpful!

  1. Kafir-e-ishqam

    Theres a book called Valluvakammaran by C.Kunhiraman Nair.Kammaran was the real name of Ayaz Khan and he was from the Velluvaidam tharawad that later branched into the Kalliat tharawad.Due to family circumstances,he was sent to fight in the Kolathiris army and all his tharawads property was taken over by the Kolathiri.
    http://kalliatthazhathveedu.blogspot.in/2011/03/history-of-kalliat-thazhathveedu-family.html
    http://hamletram.blogspot.in/2014/11/the-first-nambiar-who-built-empire.html
    these links may be helpful!

  1. Radhakrishnan5

    i remember reading a novel by name valluva kammaran when young-do not know who was the auther