The Ilaya Thampi’s and Marthanda Varma– Part 1
I was led to this topic some months ago when Calicut
heritage forum posted an interesting article on the Black hole of Attingal .
In the discussions that ensued, there was some talk about the Ettuvettil Pillamar
after which I read more about it at Sharat Sundar’s interesting blog and perused the
comments therein. Were the eight baronial Pillamar just part of a legend created
by CV Raman Pillai or did they really exist before being exterminated by the
Yuvaraja during his powerful rule? The story was interesting and somewhat
difficult to factualize, but still like with the Keralolpatti, one could after digging
deep into some sources get a glimmer of a fact or two.
This will form the first part of a three part article
covering the role of the Pillamar and Marthanda Varma (who actually connects up
to the Malabar Kolattiri lineage through his mother from and his father from
the Kilimanoor Kovialkom) and how perhaps a North Indian or Tanjavur lady came
into play, for she was the cause of it all. The final part will cover the tale
of VMV’s friend Ramayyan who became a Dalawa.
But first some background on Venad (Vel-nad) and the South
eastern area of Nancinad in those days, to lend a proper perspective and here I
take the help of narrative by KV Krishna Iyer, referring to his History of
Kerala covering the so called Venatiri’s (whom he couples with Kolatiri’s as
birds of the same feather). The days of the last part of the 17th
century and the early parts of the 18th were beset by all kinds of
feuds related to succession, Vanad – Madurai rivalry, temple related demands,
settlement of dues, embezzlement and so on. For a period the famous Umayamma
Rani brought order to the region, but with her passing in the early part of the
18th century, the problem from the past began to reassert themselves and the feudal
barons started to get belligerent. Marthanada Varma as it turned out, was the
rani’s grandson, even though by adoption and in the end proved to be efficient,
ruthless and was able to tighten the reins of the Trippappur swaroopam at
Trivuvitamkode (Trivandrum).
In 1697, Mangammal Rani of Madurai sent an expedition to
Travancore to punish its ruler, Ravi Varma, who had attacked and destroyed an
army sent from Madurai to Travancore to collect an overdue annual tribute. Defeated
in this Nayak raid the king was compelled to submit and remit taxes and in
order to do that he subjected Najinad to heavy taxes with more than an iron
hand. The subjects were not too happy, nor were their village and Desam heads
and a sort of anarchy prevailed. To subdue them this king used mercenaries and
armies as well as support from Madurai and much of this activity was
spearheaded and / or supported by his nephew, the young lad in his late teens
(born 1705-1706), Marthanda Varma. Around this period the1721 Attingal revolt took
place against the English, a story which CHF had written about, and this
resulted in the English factory getting a monopoly on pepper and giving a
secret promise to support Marthanda Varma in his future endeavors.
In 1726, Rama Varma who succeeded Ravi Varma, offered his
allegiance to the Nayak of Madurai and requested his help in subduing the
anarchy that prevailed. Various mercenaries and English support were drummed
up, including English weapons and a battle was fought with the rebelling Pillamar.
The situation went on in an unsatisfactory manner until the king Rama Varma
passed away in 1729. As matriarchal tradition decreed, the young Marthanda
Varma who had all the qualities required to rule the region with an iron hand was
to take over from his uncle. But a problem cropped up, when two of his cousins
claimed the throne under the earlier patriarchal succession system (which had
been followed in Venad through the end of the 13th century - the
matriarchal system came into being later). They were the two sons (Ilaya
thampis) of Rama Varma, named Raman (Valiya Thampi a.k.a Padmanabhan or Pappu
Thami) and Adityan (Kunju) Tampi.
Those who have read the CV Raman Pilla’s novel would
recognize the brothers mainly from the drug infused villainous character of
Padmanabhan Thampi, but who were they and how did they come to the fore? For
that you gave to look at the family of Rama Varma, especially Abhirami and her
brother Kochukumaran Pilla. As we know from many other cases, the identities of
these people have been shrouded in derogatory legends especially when they have
been on the losing side. Writers supporting the winner usually cast them off
quickly in their accounts or make negative remarks about them while hovering
long around the incumbent’s glory. Such is the case of these two people. To
bring them and their characters out to light proved to be quite difficult, but
let me present to you what I obtained.
Christopher Buyers supported by a few of his Travancore
contributor’s record the following in his website on Indian rulers.
He introduces Abhirami as the consort of King Rama Varma and
lists her three children in the following words
Ammachi Panapillai
Amma Srimathi Abiramapilla Kochamma, née Abhirami, a former devadasi or temple
dancer ennobled just prior to her marriage, daughter (I think sister) of
Krishnan Kochu Kumara Pillai, a Bengali or Tamil gentleman from outside
Travancore. He (I think the smallpox death relates to Rama Varma) died from
smallpox, at Kalkulam, 30th August 1729, having had issue, two sons and a
daughter:
1) Sri Padmanabhan
Tampi [Pappu Tampi] [Valiya Tampi] [Raman Raman]. Conspired with his brother
and the eight Nair chiefs to oust the Heir Apparent and later Maharaja Martanda
Varma. He was killed by his uncle, Maharaja Martanda Varma at the Kalkulam
Palace, 28th October 1730.
2) Sri Raman Tampi
[Kunju Tampi] [Raman Adichen]. Conspired with his elder brother and the eight
Nair chiefs to oust the Heir Apparent and later Maharaja Martanda Varma. He was
killed by his uncle, Maharaja Martanda Varma at the Kalkulam Palace, 28th
October 1730.
3) Kittinathal
Ammaveetil Srimathi Ummini Thankachi [Kochumadathamma]. Courted by Martanda
Varma, but her refusal of him, providing the stem cause of enmity between
Martanda and her brothers. She died (by suicide) after the death of her
brothers, at Padmanabhapuram Palace, 28th October 1730.
The story concerning the two sons of Rama Varma, is covered
in the ballad called Tampi Katha (another ballad called Tampunarkata covers the
same story with slight differences) and I will get to the details shortly. Manu
writing at inorite adds that Tampimar Katai mentions that Abhirami and her
brother were given titles and estates and she was called “Kittanathil Ammachi”
Another version comes to light from S Sundars blog, where Abhiramai
turns out to have a royal link - Rama
Varma was married to a Rajput Princess Abhirami of the Kosala Royal House
(present day Ayodhya). He had two sons (Sri Padmanabhan Thampi and Sri Raman
Thampi) and one daughter. The princess held the Royal title of Vempadi Valiammachi.
Princess Abhirami had problems in her horoscope and therefore the Royal
astrologers of Ayodhya sent her on a pilgrimage for 14 years to various holy
places. A number of her relatives and bodyguards accompanied her during her
journey. King Rama Varma met her in Suchindram and married her. He promised the
Royal family of Kosala that Abhirami's children would succeed the throne,
although as per the Travancore custom, it was Prince Marthanda Varma (Rama
Varma's nephew), who held the right to succeed him.
Sharat in his blog on Travancore ( One and Two ) states that the late Krishna
Singh (of Rajput extract himself) told him the tale of Princess Sandhya (a.k.a
Abhirami) and pointed out her Rajput lineage. As the story goes, Sandhya left
Ayodya and travelled southwards to end up at Suchindram. Raja Rama Varma hears
her singing there, and proposes to her. In my mind the Rajput connection seemed
a little tenuous, but before we decide let us look at a few semi historical
resources, as well as the conclusions made by Prof Ibrahim Kunju in his study
of Marthanda Varma.
In the Sri Marthanda Mahatmyam by an anonymous author, a
contemporary, it is said that an astrologer had predicted the rise of Marthanda
Varma and that even in his childhood, Pappu Thampi had attempted to murder him.
This cause for the feud which ensued for the rest of their lives can perhaps be
quickly dismissed as both children were of the same age.
We start by referring to Manickavasagom Pillai’s paper based
on the Thampimaar Kathai by R Natarajan and P Sarveswaran- Accordingly, Rama
Varma sees a dancing girl during the car festival at Suchindram. While Pillai
agrees that the poem mentions her native place as Ayodhya, he goes by other
accounts which mention her hometown as Tanjore. Abhirami bore three children,
Pappu, Raman and Mani and the king had promised her that one of her sons would
be the future king. Right from childhood, the two tampis were not on friendly
terms with Marthanda Varma. As they grew up, Martanda fell in love with their
sister. The feud continues on, more ferociously after Varma takes over the
throne and eventually the two brothers are killed by him or upon his
instructions. The girl commits suicide and becomes a yakshi.
The Travancore Matilakom records which I have not seen,
apparently remain silent and pass off the entire account in just one cryptic sentence
according to Ibrahim Kunju. It is concluded by him that the poem is perhaps
right because the records were in this instance, suppressing a truth unpleasant
to the incumbent royalty. While I will get to the details in the forthcoming
article on the feud that followed and the pillamar, let us stick to Avirami for
now.
Abhirami would certainly have demanded patrilineal
inheritance, in line with the custom in her native N Indian lands. But then
again was she a Rajput? Or was she a Tamil noble, a Tamil devadasi or a Bengali
lady, perhaps a singer or dancer at Suchindram?
To continue with the analysis, one has to check out the work
published later named ‘Vasulakshmi Kalyanam’ detailing the marriage of King
Rama Varma with a Rajput princess called Sandhya. When you analyze the
dateline, you will find that this Rama Varma was not the predecessor, but the successor
of Marthanda Varma.
There are two versions, the first by a poet Sadasiva and the
second by a later author named Venkata.
Sadasiva’s version goes thus - The king of distant Sindhu had a daughter named Vasulakshmi and had set
his heart on marrying her to the king of Travancore, Ramavarma-Kulasekhara,
whose accomplishments were much noised abroad. But the queen who had another
bridegroom in view in the person of her nephew, the prince of Simhala, started
her daughter on a voyage ostensibly with the intention of visiting a famous
temple while the proposed destination was in reality Ceylon. Providence however
upset the queen’s calculations and the royal barge was stranded on that part of
the Travancore shore which was in the jurisdiction of the frontier-captain
(antardurya pala) Vasumadraja, the brother of the Travancore kings consort Vasumati.
The shipwrecked princess was then sent by this captain to his sister at the
capital where her beauty at once captivated the pliable heart of king
Ramavarman, the hero of the drama. The
usual love intrigue culminates in a ‘clandestine’ meeting of the lover’s in the
palace garden and the jealous senior rani then attempts to dispose her rival by
marriage to her cousin, the Pandya king.
But this scheme is frustrated by the king and his accomplice, the inevitable
Vidushaka, who in the disguise of the Pandya king and his friend receive the
bride. In the meantime, the Sindhu raja learns of the whereabouts of his
missing daughter through Nitisagara, the Travancore minister, and coming to
Travancore with a large escort confirms the betrothal of king Ramavarman with
Vasulakshmi, which happily coincides with his own inclinations.
Vasulakshmi Kalyanam is also the subject of a play by
Venkata Subramanya, a descendant of Appayya Dikshit. This work also deals with
the same marriage of his patron king Rama Varma of Travancore (1758-1798) with
Vasulakshmi, the Sindhu princess, but for securing a political alliance. Let us
take a look at that, quoting from Travancore Archeological series I. Venkata’s
version is pretty much the same as Sadasiva’s. However it clarifies that the
alliance was for diplomatic reasons, calculated to raise his status to
Sarvabhauma (emperor), in order to obtain a better relationship with the Hunaraja
(East India Company or perhaps the Dutch?)
The minister
Buddhisagara who has seen the portrait of Vasulakshmi, the princess, is anxious
that the king of Travancore should marry her, so that the latter's political
influence may extend northwards and his friendship with the Hunaraja may also
be strengthened. When news is received that the Sindhu princes is voyaging to
Ceylon, the minister manages to waylay this ship in the Travancore waters with
the active cooperation of the Huna fleet, and Vasuman, the officer in command
of the sea-coast- who was also the brother of the Travancore king’s consort,
sends the captive-princess to the royal Palace. There the king falls in love
with her and manages to meet her in the royal pleasure gardens to the intense
chagrin of Vasumati who tries to marry her rival to the Chera prince Vasuvarman
and thus remove the unwelcome competitor out of the way. This plot fails, as in
the other drama, by the counter machinations of the king and his Vidushaka who
successfully personate the Chera prince and his boon-companion. By the artful
scheming of the minister coupled with the influence of her brother, Vasumati is
however, finally won over to consent to the marriage of Vasulakshmi with her
own husband and the Sindhu prince Vasurasi, instructed by Buddhisagara comes
posthaste from his country to celebrate his sister's marriage with the
Travancore king. By this alliance, it is stated, the friendship of both the
parties with the Hunaraja was strengthened and the influence of the Travancore
was visibly enhanced.
Let us study this second King Rama Varma and his consorts in
order to check if he indeed married a Sindhu princess. Buyer’s page states - m.
(first) a lady from the Arumana House. m. (second) Vadasseri Ammachi Panapilla
Srimathi Kali Amma Nagamani Amma. m. (third) a lady from the Nagercoil House.
m. (fourth) a lady from the Thiruvattar House. You see no mention of a Vasulakshmi
from Sindh.
So, I might not be wrong in concluding that the Sindhu
(place or name) angle came about from the successor of Marthanda Varma and not
the predecessor. Nevertheless, we should take note that the former supposedly
married a princess from Ayodhya according to the Thampimar kathai. The only
links are Krishna Singh’s testimony and the presence of the Meenachil village
near Palai in Kottayam.
The Meenachil Karthas were supposedly Rajputs belonging to
royal lineage who migrated to Madurai in the 14th century. As is said, they later
migrated to Kerala and settled in "Meenachil" near Palai. Their
capital was named Mevada (after Mewar). Perhaps Abhirami was from this village,
but it is just a guess. (See inorite blogs one and two)
According to Krishna Singh, the Rajput relatives and
attendants of Princess Abhirami initially settled down near Nagarcoil. After
the revolt by the Kunju Thampis, the surviving Rajputs were brought to
Trivandrum. Many of them were recruited into the Travancore Armed Forces,
mainly in the cavalry division. Although their population was quite significant
during the 18th century, this declined and many were assimilated into the Royal
Nair clans of Travancore.
After ascending to the throne, King Rama Varma apportioned
the southern portion of Venad (Northern portion was governed by the Attingal
Rani) into three parts. The areas surrounding Kalkulam and Nagercoil palaces
were given to his two sons - Pappu and Raman Tampi (Ilaya Thampi’s) and the
Neyyattinkara area was given to his nephew Marthanda Varma.
Now that we have looked at it from a few angles, there is
only one left, that pertaining to the legend of the girl Marthanda Varma was
besotted with, i.e. the sister of the two thampi’s and the daughter of Abirami.
As one account goes, when the Thampis rose against their cousin for the throne
with the support of the eight lords, Marthanda Varma imprisoned their mother
and sister, Ummini Thanka, in the Nagercoil palace. As the Thampis were
rallying troops around themselves, Abhirami died and Ummini Thanka zealously guarded
her body for five days. The story of this wronged and vengeful Ummini Thanka or
Kochu Manithanka has a continued presence in popular memory.
As we continue to search for clues, we come across yet another
story, this one being the story of the Kochu Manithankai recounted by Ramesan Nair.
The few additional additions to the legend can be seen below.
He describes the Kalkulam (Padmanabhapuram) palace, the
Charottu palace, the tunnel between them, and of the previously narrated
meeting between the king and Abhirami at Suchindram. Howver he goes on to
explain that he started living with her at the Nagercoil palace. The locals not
happy with the confinement, request the
king to legalize the union, which he does and promises the new queen as well as
the locals that one of her sons would be king. He then moves her to his
Iraniyal palace and renames her as Krishnathalamma. When Pappu was 20 years
old, Rama Varma died of Small pox following which Marthanda Varma took the
throne after promising the dying king that he would take care of them. Abhirami
and her children then move to the Charottu palace. The king then gets besotted
with the sister Thanka and his feeling is soon reciprocated. But then the
quarrels with her brothers intensified and resulted in their deaths, and soon
Thanka in painful retaliation commits suicide in front of M Varma by stabbing
herself with a dagger (in other stories she pulled her tongue out and died).
She then wanders around for a few years as a Yakshi till she is finally
consecrated in a small shrine at Chembakavalli near Melankode (hence the name
Melankode Yakshi).
So Abhirami was erased from the annals of history by the Marthanda
Varma factions though she remains in the minds of the people of Venad, as a
mysterious wronged mother, who lost all her children to the violent retaliation
of the new Yuvaraja. Perhaps she was indeed a princess from an area between Kutch
and Sindh or Ayodhya, and was later degraded to a Devadasi in the legends to
legitimize the actions of Marthanda Varma. Perhaps she was a person from the village
of Meenachil who went to pray at Suchindram when the king met her, or even a
Tamil dancer from Madurai, but in almost all tales, she was the wronged one.
As the analyst in the TAR 1 states, the stories in
Vasulakshmi kalyanam do not connect up with any real people expect for the king
Rama Varma. As was a practice in those days, this kind of poetry pleasing the
king and connecting him up to imaginary stories was common. Maybe there was no
fact behind Thambi katha as well, though Ibrahim Kunju does not believe so. In
fact there are even opinions that Varma was originally married to Ummithanka,
and that she killed herself after her husband killed her own brothers. But the
legend still lives on, and Marthanda Varma remained celibate for the rest of
her life, finding solace and friendship with his man Friday and friend Ramayyah,
about whom we will talk about in the concluding article.
In the next article we cover the scheming between Marthanda Varma,
the madampis and the pillamar, the death of the thampis and the settlement of
VMV on the throne. We will not cover the rule of Marthanda Varma, for that is
well documented and it suffices to conclude that his rule took Travancore to
new heights, the size of his empire multiplied and finally the king in a surprising
and magnanimous act laid all his gains at the feet of Lord Padmanabha.
References
Rise of
Travancore: a study of the life and times of Marthanda Varma / A. P. Ibrahim
Kunju.
Travancore
at the accession of Marthanda Varma – ME Manickavasagom Pillai
Eighteenth
century India: papers in honor of Prof. A.P. Ibrahim Kunju
History of Kerala
– KV Krishna Iyer
Travancore
Archeological series Part 1
Venad
Yakshigal – K Ramesan Nair
Travancore
state manual- Nagam Aiya
History of
Travancore. P. Shungoony Menon
Marthanda
Varma – CV Raman Pillay
Photos – Painting covering all the named people thanks to Debpratim De
8 comments:
Fascinating, Maddy. Thank you for sending me the link. I have tried for years to delve into the history of Kerala, but there are so few written accounts, and much that canot be corroborated. Looking forward to reading the rest of this article.
thanks anuradha..
Actually there are quite a few (but varying) accounts and books on Kerala history and a number of historians are coming up with new hypotheses...you can get a fair idea of Malabar from this blog..give it a try..
Hi Maddy,
Thanx a lot for this. i am glad that u have chosen to write about Marthanda Varma & events related to him.
It is really sad that most of our history is shrouded in legend. When it comes to MVarma it is all the more complicated.
Even i feel the Rajput angle is a little strange( i am no expert). The society in those days were very forward. Even if Abhirami indeed was a Devadasi, i don't think it would have appeared scandalous or anything to the people/MVarma himself. Bcoz as we know Maharaja Swati Thirunal married one,Sugandhavalli/Sugandhaparvathy. Besides i read many accounts which pointed towards the relationship btw MVarma & UmminiThanka. I don't know during which era the status of Devadasis got degraded. In one of the books of Princess Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, i read that Devadasis weren't always considered prostitutes/courtesans but artists devoted to a particular temple.
I also read about the presence of a carving of Melankode Yakshi in Sree Padmanbhaswami Temple!!! The Temple construction was started by Maharaja MVarma &completed during the reign of Maharaja Rama Varma Dharma Raja. So did ummini thanka really turned into a Yakshi ? One of the comments related said that during the shooting of movie Manichitrathazhu, the Padmanabhapuram palace officials refused to open a particular set of rooms for the crew as it contained the 'Spirit' of Ummini Thanka(don't know if it is true). So may be Ummini Thanka lived with MVarma at the palace or died there. Well, the frustrating thing is we cannot be sure of any of this. Anyways, as usual a very nice article from u. Looking forward to the next one.
Take care. Once again thanx for the link.
thanks JK47..
the ummi thanka angle is something i wanted to work on, but there is hardly any information to go by except a couple of yakshi stories, so i gave up on that
regarding the devadasi aspect, i will be writing an article on the system as it existed, will let you know when i post it. it is partly clarified in the king and dancer post - had sent the link...
Dear Maddy,
I have heard that Abhirami was a Vellala. The Rajput tie is quite improbable and seems to me to have been concocted later on.
Soheb Vahab
Dear Maddy,
I have heard that Abhirami was a Vellala. The Rajput tie is quite improbable and seems to me to have been concocted later on.
Soheb Vahab
Thanks Soheb Vahab..
Typically devadasi dancers were vellalas. so that makes some sense...
http://hamletram.blogspot.in/2014/12/ummini-thanka-married-malabar-prince.html
Please do check out this link.Apparently Marthanda Varma killed his elder brother who was married to Ummini Thanka!
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