That crafty minister
If you were to study the successful reign of Marthanda Varma,
you will quickly notice that there was one person who faithfully tended to him
and guided him through those hectic days. In fact that person had been around
even before MV took the throne, rightly or wrongly, from his uncle Rama Varma. The
shrewd man was not only a Shakuni and Chanakya rolled in one, but also a very
able administrator. Krishnan Raman or Ramayyan, that was his name, of Tamil
Brahmin stock, was a good cook and a person of stern behavior, great logical
outlook and acute intellect. Well, if you were to look at his story, you would
be surprised at the involvement he had with the illustrious king, and not only
that but you will also come across a large number of anecdotes attributed to
him and retold even today. He is also considered to be the inventor of the
Malayali dish Aviyal or what is sometimes termed as Ramayyar kootu in
Travancore.
For a Sanketi Brahmin, travel and resettlement is nothing
new, as they were Smarta Brahmins who originated from Tirunelveli and moved to
all the nearby regions in search for work and patronage. One such person was
Rama Iyen or Ramayyan who came to Travancore from Irunkanti, near
Rajamannarkoil in Tirunelveli. He was born in 1713 in nearby Valliyur which was
part of the Venad kingdom. From there the family moved to Aruvikkara closer to
Kalkulam where prospects of employment with the royal palace was bright. Rama
Varma, whom we talked about earlier was the king and the young boy was
introduced to the palace by his uncle’s father in law Rama Sastrikal who incidentally
was a court Pundit.
Many stories abound about the manner in which the young man
or kuttipattar was introduced to royalty. The first is about his using care in
trimming a flickering lamp wick after ensuring that a second wick was first lit
and held as standby. The king who was
observing all this noted the careful method adopted and asked Sastri to leave
the boy in the palace and thereafter appointed him into royal service as a
petty clerk (pakatasala rayasam). A second version states that he was employed
as a boy servant at the Vanchiyoor Attiyara Potti’s (one of the ettara yogam)
house where the king once went for dinner. The flickering wick story comes into
play again and as there was no brass wick trimmer at hand, and since it is a
sin to trim a wick with one’s hand, Ramayyan pulled out his gold ring and did
the needful. The king noticing this had the boy transferred to the palace. A
third version is related to a clerk writing a nittu (writ). The clerk after
finishing his nittu read it to the king and obtained his signature. Ramayyan
who had been observing the clerk told his uncle that what the scribe wrote
& subsequently read out were not the same and that some falsification had
been done. The writ was reexamined and the king seeing the error dismissed the
clerk and questioned Ramayyan how he knew as the boy himself had not the occasion
to read or study the finished writ. Ramayyan explained that he was following
the movement of the clerks hand and figured out the text in his mind. Following
this exhibition of mental clarity, he was absorbed into palace service.
Ramayyan proved himself to be a great asset to the palace.
There is a mention of his brilliant redrafting of a reply to the Nawab of
Carnatic and subsequent promotion to the post of Samprati and the gift of a
house at Kalkulam in 1726. During this period he cemented his friendship with
the young Marthanda Varma and curiously distanced himself from his family, ensuring
singular attention to the young Yuvaraj. His family (wife and brother)
continued living at Aruvikkara and it appears that he was miffed with his
brother as he had refused to give one of his two sons to Ramayyan for adoption.
That was reason enough to cut himself off from his family or so it is stated.
But this was good for the royals, for his unstinted support and brilliance
ensured victories for MV. He rose through the ranks, to Kottaram Rayasam and
after Tanu Pillai’s death in 1737, to the post of Dalava (Dewan in later days) or
Sarvadhikar. Not only was he the prime minister, but he also held the defense
portfolio. The 19 years he spent in this position were full of problems, not
only with respect to the accession of MV to the throne, but also with respect
to negotiations with the European powers, wars with neighboring states,
expansion of the Travancore kingdom and continuous threat to his own life from
the Ettara yogam members, the Ettuveetar and many other petty chiefs of the
locality.
He was certainly different, for in his steadfast support for
his patron king, he employed every bit of trickery, treachery, cruelty and
guile and when it came to scheming, planning and execution, he was supreme.
Many of the acts he carried out can be questioned now, but at that point of
time, he had just one aim, to keep his king’s needs and desire above all, not
even bothering about his own caste or its strict Smartan requirements as well
as what is termed as local tradition or nattunadappu.
One of the accounts details how he hit back at the
Suchindram (recall our Abhirami and the Ilaya Thampi story) Brahmin trustees
who were supportive of the Abhirami family. He had no qualms in destroying their
houses and driving them away and ensured that a large amount of land controlled
by the Suchindram trustees was reallocated to Marthanda Varma.
In those troubled days when MV was on the run, he was always
accompanied by Ramayyan. Ramayyan helped organize the irregular army comprising
the maravers and pathans, as well as a group of Nairs who supported the
yuvaraja. He was instrumental in forcing many of the recalcitrant chiefs
(madampies, temple trustees and pillas) to pay up any tax arrears due to the
new king. Later when the treasury had a surplus he ensured in return, a number
of development projects in Nanjenad. He was also very much involved in the
struggle with the ettuveetar and the various intrigues which we talked about in
earlier articles. Careful planning and scheming by Ramayyan ensured victory and
solidification of MV’s seat at the palace. His role as military chief between
1730 and 1755 is much talked about, and that was the period when the Travancore
kingdom expanded.
In 1731, the Quilon rajah allied himself with the Kayamkulam
raja, in opposition to the wishes of Marthanda
As a Dalawa, he did much in the renovation of the Padmanabha
temple and Padmatheertham as well as many other improvements and the architecture
of the Trivandrum as we know today. He also ensured that the Travancore king
was vested with supreme powers and all kinds of monopolies.
In fact, the Kerala state records mentions that the first
land survey was carried out by Ramayyan. He was instrumental in levying taxes,
though one might say that much of it was excessive and only meant to fund the
wars fought by MV. The expenses were huge as MV had to bring in a lot of
mercenary soldiers with promises of good compensation as well as elevation to Nair
status. As we saw, even traditional marava robbers were brought in to staff the
new army. He was instrumental in developing mavelikkara and kayamkulam and
today you can see the Krishnapuram palace built by him. Also the concept of
state monopoly of trade was brought in by him, but we will get to the details
later.
Next came the standoff with the Dutch who feared that the
combination of the British and the Travancore sovereign would threaten their
commercial activities. Van Imhoff tried threatening the king with an invasion,
but it had no effect(Interestingly according to Shungoony Menon, Marthanda
Varma made a counter threat that he would then be forced invade Europe with his
vanchis (country boats) and fishermen!). A war resulted and while the
Travancore forces were initially successful in routing the Dutch, Dutch reinforcements
from Ceylon wreathed havoc when they landed. They then proceeded to Kalkulam to
take over the palace. Marthanda Varma quickly contacted the French in
Pondicherry and signed a treaty with them for support. The full-fledged
confrontation with the Dutch happened soon after, headed by the king and
Ramayyan and success followed at Colachel. That was how and when the king met
De Lannoy who was to become one of his trusted lieutenants and get known as the
Valiya kapitan. I had provided more details of the affair in the article Tipu’s waterloo and will in the culminating article cover De Lannoy in more detail.
Eustachius De Lannoy was soon appointed as Ramayyan’s
assistant and was involved in wars that followed with Kayamkulam, Quilon and Kilimanoor.
The Kayamkulam Raja sued for peace in 1742 following which Varma and Ramayyan
set upon Kottayam and Vadakenkoor. Finally the Dutch also agreed to discuss a
peace treaty which was brokered and headed by Ramayyan. This did not work out
even after three meetings and efforts as the Dutch were able to continue keeping
the supply line open with Kayamkulam for the articles of trade such as pepper.
In the meantime the Kayamkulam Raja again rebelled and Ramayyan was sent to
quell it, but the Kayamkulam king finally seeing no means to win a war, quietly
escaped to Trichur after moving all his treasures out of the palace. The Dutch finally
forced into a corner, signed and ratified the Ramayyan peace treaty in 1753.
Next in Ramayyan’s trove of victories was the one involving the Ambalapuzha
raja and his poison arrow wielding archers. Soon to follow was Changanaseery
(thekankoor) but here Ramayyan was faced with a group of Telugu Brahmin
mercenaries working for this king. It was expected that Ramayyan would stop as
killing of Brahmins was not the said thing. The unflinching Ramayyan directed
De lannoy to drive them out and that was done without any further qualms. With
that, all land upto the Cochin territory had been annexed by Marthanda Varma
with Ramayyan’s help and leadership.
The Cochin raja was now in a quandary for he was sandwiched
between two aspiring chieftains, Marthanda Varma in the south and the Zamorin
to the north. The Paliyath Menon now conspired with all the petty kings who
were against the Travancore king and planned to wage a final battle, again this
was foiled by Ramayyan and De lannoy. Ramayyan was now camped in Cochin and as
he was planning to make his final surge, the Cochin king sent his abject apology
to Marthanda Varma which was formally accepted. Nevertheless as accounts show
the people in the Kayamkulam area had no plans to accept the sovereignty of the
Travancore king. Both Marthanda Varma and Ramayyan were now a bit troubled as
it appears that the resurgent Zamorin had entered the fray in support of those
kings. And here is where Marthanda Varma makes the terminal mistake of writing
to Hyder Ali for help. Hyder agreed and deputed forces down south, but soon
after the Travancore king wrote to him stating that help was no longer needed, as
the situation had been sorted out, thus irritating the Mysore Sultan.
There were many other incidents following that, like the Tinnavelly
affair, the fight against the Zamorin at Cochin, but during a period of
peaceful sojourn, Ramayyan together with De Lannoy proceeded to fortify the
Travancore border. In addition, Ramayyan started to build up the commercial
infrastructure following a land survey and establishment of godowns as well as
a royal monopoly on pepper and such spices for trade. Chowkies for levying
duties on transport of material for trade were established along the way.
Pandakasalas for salt manufacture were constructed, and finally a system of
budgets and balances instituted. For the first time in the history of
Travancore, a decision was made to control expenditure in proportion to income
and a budgeting system called Pathivu Kanakku was established. The fort at
Trivandrum, the sheevelipura as well as the royal palace within the fort were
constructed under his supervision. As we see today, many of his edicts (termed Ramayya
sattams) related with commerce, excise, budgets and taxes later became so woven
into the fabric of the history of Travancore, but there were also many a
decision that could be called wrong such as imposition of taxes on lower castes
such as the poll tax.
Since the end of 1745, Martanda Varma was apparently suffering
from some illness, which made him more and more reliant on Ramayyan Dalawa, who
as explained previously reformed taxation and successfully introduced several
monopolies. With all the needed completed, Marthanda Varma dedicated the kingdom
to the lord and Ramayyan moved to the commercial headquarters, that being
Mavelikkara where all the natural produce was concentrated. By now it was 1750
and the king had become more of a religious person for presumably the past actions
had caught up with him. Another six years passed, and we find that the able
Dalawa Ramayyan has taken ill and is sinking with death looming close. Marthanda
Varma is devastated and deputes his nephew Rama Varma to check what he could
do, but Ramayyan only expresses his one lasting regret, asking for nothing else.
When the Prince Rama
Varma reached Mavelikara, he found the Dalawa sinking and on being informed of
the Maharajah's wishes to perpetuate his name, Rama lyen said with his
characteristic modesty: "I disclaim any personal right to the proposed
honour. I was merely the instrument in my Royal master's hands. Although I have
accomplished all my aims I am only sorry that I was not permitted to conquer
and annex Cochin."
Ramayyan passed away at the comparatively young age of 43.
The Anjengo Factors recorded in their Diary that Ramayyan breathed his last at
Mavelikkara on 1st January, 1756. After the death of his wife, it appears that Ramayyan
consorted with a Nair lady. Upon his death people found that he has amassed no
wealth and had expressed no death wishes. The only departing request he made to
the king was to take care of this Nair lady’s wellbeing. Ramayyan Dalawa's
family of 2 sons and 1 daughter moved back to Pudukotta after his death. Author
Sethu Ramaswamy incidentally claims some ancestral connections.
The Maharajah Marthanda Varma and Ramayyan Dalawa were more
than just King and minister to each other. King Marthanda Varma, his Diwan
Ramayya Pillai Dalawa, along with De Lannoy's military skill, together were a
force to reckon with in the South. Tara Sankar banarjee hints that the
so-called greatness attributed to Martanda Varma by other historians, who
always depicted the king as invincible, is silently challenged by Madhava Rao who
hints that it was the Machiavellian strategy of Ramayyan, the General of Marthanda
Varma, who saved the honor and greatness of the master in his wars with
Kayamkulam. As is reported, they were intimate friends (like Chandragupta
Maurya and Chanakya), so much that after the death of Ramayyan the Maharajah
went into a deep depression and started losing health himself. It is recorded
that he pined for his minister, friend and companion and died within two years
after Ramayyan’s death, in 1758.
The Ramayyan curry that he is credited with was apparently
made for MV when he was suffering from a stomach upset. It comprised ground
coconut, curry leaves, curds, some jaggery (normally not a part of Avial),
green chillies, other vegetables and yam. Today it is known as the avail which
is almost a state dish.
Many legends are attributed to Ramayyan, it is rumored that
the king once offered half of his kingdom to this trusted deputy, making him a
king of that part. Ramayyan refused stating that he was a Brahmin and it’s the
duty of Kshatriyas to rule (a little clarification is needed here – even
Marthanda Varma was a Samanthan Kshatriya and did a Hiranya Garbha ceremony to
attain the Kshatriya caste position towards the end of his career). He is also
credited to providing shelter to poor Brahmins in the fort area where the temple
provided them with means of livelihood. But his enmity with the local Nampoothiris
is also well known, especially those in Kayamkulam, who were replaced later with
Kolathunad potties. Ramayyan is also credited with the removal of the Sree
chakkara bhagavathy idol from Kayamkulam and reinstation at Trivandrum (This
was done to remove the powers that protected Kayamkulam kings).
For two years following his death, Travancore had no Dalawa.
Ayappan Pillai acted in that position and received the appointment only after
the death of Marthanda Varma. Ramayyan’s younger brother Goplayyan did become a
dalawa though, some years later.
The simple but crafty self-cooking Brahmin had done enough for
the kingdom of Travancore and it was many years later that another decided to
emulate him, Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer…
References
A History of
Travancore from the Earliest Times - P. Shungoonny Menon
Rise of
Travancore: a study of the life and times of Marthanda Varma - A. P. Ibrahim
Kunju.
29 comments:
I was wondering if you could do a post on the social reformists like Sahodaran Ayappan who are less well known.
Also my own research revealed that Kerala has produced rationalist luminaries such as Abraham T Kovoor, Joseph Edamaruku, M.C. Joseph and others.
Thank you :3
I was wondering if you could do a post on the social reformists like Sahodaran Ayappan who are less well known.
Also my own research revealed that Kerala has produced rationalist luminaries such as Abraham T Kovoor, Joseph Edamaruku, M.C. Joseph and others.
Thank you :3
Hi maddy,
finally read both ur articles.regarding MV being Samantha Kshatriya, wasn't all Kshatriyas in Kerala, Samantha ones ? the hiranyagarbham ritual was a consequence of arya brahmin rise in kerala; i read so in many articles related to the caste system. besides Maharaja Chithira Tirunal never conducted Hiranyagarbham or Tulapurushadanam (HE DIDN'T WANTED TO WASTE 28 LACKS ON HIMSELF !!!).
also about the famous statement of MV related to Dutch: he said that, Dutch attacking Travancore will be foolish & it vil be like MV attackin Holland with his fisher men army. MV said that he can always retreat into the jungles of Travncore, & later launch attack from there... (read in V.Nagamayya's Travancore State manual, if i remember correctly)
was the moustache tax & breast tax invented during that era or was it during DharmaRaja's era?
regarding MV writing to Hyder 4 military support was one never heard b4 . never read it anywhere else; seems unlikely (im no expert)to me. besides British actively supporting MV (???) didn't that came during Tippu's attack ? even then, in the beginning, they promised military support to Travancore but didn't kept their word ! SO I'M NOT SURE ON THAT.
didn't knew about the avial history (hahaha)nice one; my father's fave dish. over all another brilliant article from u Maddy. thanx a lot 4 writing these .
Thanks JK 47..
The kings of Cochin and Kolathunaad, were considered 'Kshatriyas', others were not and became Samanthan after some poojas and donations, at least so it seems, i will get back to this topic later. Also I will get to the taxes another day. Those you mentioned I believe, came a little later.
The British support and the Hyder letter are correct,you will not find such details in popular writing.Lena More's studies on this topic are quite factual and supported by many communications between them. I will touch on this again when i do the Lannoy article.
I had some information on this Dalva but never knew that he as the inventor of Avial. Excellent post.
Thanks Anil
Will get to it one day
Thanks PNS..
It is one of those legends, who knows, perhaps it was somnething he picked up from his mother.. you know one of those special home recipes...which went viral
Maddy,
Nice post.
Being an Iyer myself, I am proud one of them was the inventor of Avial! It is also nice to know they have contributed in significant ways in Kerala, Travancore in particular, besides being targets of Pattar jokes.
You have a knack of relating complex historical events and stories in such simple language. Have you considered compiling a book on Kerala history? You already have a customer in me and my brother will buy one too!
Thanks
Ramu
thanks ramu..
i had written an article on PI's, linked here, that might be of interest to you
http://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-iyers-of-palghat.html
About the book - well, I guess i will get to it some time, and I do have some thoughts playing around in my mind about it!!
MV did not do an elaborate hiranyagarbha in view of his war broken economy... he did the padmagarbha, the less costlier ceremony... Gopikrishnan Kottoor
Thanks Gopi
appreciate your comment..that makes me wonder again when and how the temple vaults got filled
As one of those who belongs to the family of Ramayyan Dalwa, many of these stories remind me of my childhood when I would listen in awe and wonder at the "royal" connection of our family. Good job.
Thanks Nanditha..
I am glad you got to read and enjoy this..
Telugu Brahmins in Changanaserry?When and where did they come from?Where did they go after being driven out?Do you have more information?
Thanks Susheela
It comes from Shungoony menons book - pages 153, 154
quote
When this intelligence reached the Maha Rajah Rama Iyen was directed to make preparations for war against the principality of Thakankoor Chunganacherry Some new corps of Nairs from Kulculam Eraneel Velavancode Kayemkulam and other places were raised in addition to the standing army and Rama Iyen proceeded to Arrummolay when a number of Telugu or Gentoo Brahmans dependants of the Rajah flocked together and placed themselves before Rama Iyen's army in the belief that in Travancore the life of a Brahman was sacred and consequently that they would not be in danger of being killed But Rama Iyen though himself a Brahman determined to do his duty and in the first instance told the Brahmans that they had no business with the politics of the country and that they had better look to the performance of their religious ceremonies instead of unnecessarily endangering the safety of their lives But heedless of the Dalawah's advice and remonstrances the Brahmans began to shout and throw sand and stones at the army and to curse both it and the sovereign of Travancore On this Rama Iyen requested Captain D Lanoy to do his duty without shrinking This brave officer calling a few companies of his detachment consisting of Christians Mauplays and fishermen directed them to drive away the mob of Brahmans and clear the way for the march By the confusion created by the Brahmans sufficient time was afforded to the cowardly and weak Rajah who was at a place near Arrummolay to flee from his country to the north On the 28th Chingum 925 11th September 1750 Rama Iyen Dalawah took possession of Chungana cherry the seat of the Thakankoor Rajah The State treasury jewels arms and accoutrements and pro erty of a considerable value fell into Rama Iyen's ands among which were some brass guns and mortars of European manufacture besides some clocks and timepieces 28 in number The latter together with several arms of European manufacture testify to the connection of Travancore with European nations from ancient times ............
That said, I don't think they went anywhere, and must have remained to become the fore-bearers of the present day pattar population of Changanassery...
As Nanditha Sankar has commented earlier on 5/8/2014 and I quote "As one of those who belongs to the family of Ramayyan Dalawai, many of these stories remind me of my childhood when I would listen in awe and wonder at the "royal" connection of our family", in my case also, as a child, I have listened to stories of Sri Ramayyan Dalawa from my grandmother (who died at the ripe old age of 90+ in Jan., 1994).
One of the most poignant stories which I still remember relates to Ramayyan Dalawai as a young boy. At the time, he was employed as an assistant to the Cook in the royal Kitchen of Marthanda Varma.
One day Ramayyan Dalawa was ordered to prepare Urad dal dough. No matter
how much Ramayyan ground the Dal into fine paste, the Cook never seemed to be satisfied and asked him to grind it some more.
Deciding to teach him a lesson, Ramayyan took a handful of butter and showed it to the Cook. As expected, the Cook was still not satisfied and asked him to grind it some more. Upon this, Ramayyan gave him a slap and walked out.
Stunned, the Cook complained to the King, who immediately summoned Ramayyan and demanded an explanation.
Ramayyan, who was waiting precisely for this opportunity, related the whole matter to the King. Marthanda Varma was impressed by the courage and intelligence shown by the young boy and immediately inducted him into the Royal Court. The rest is history.
Our family still owns a small piece of land & a house in Aruvikkara village (Tiruvattar, Kanyakumari Dist.) which was handed down by our ancestors. This piece of land is said to be a portion of a much larger parcel which was gifted to Sri Ramayyan Dalawai by the King long ago.
Dear sri Krishnan
My mother belongs to Ramayyan Dalwa's family. Will you give me deiails about you and your family
Hi ,
Just met my uncle Krishnamoorthi and he mentioned that we were descendants of Ramayya Dalawa through my Grand father V. Shankaranarayana Iyer. That prompted me to Google on the topic and I am quite amazed.
Ramayyan seems to have been an astute administrator and general and quite the Chanakya. Does any one have the family tree of Ramayya Dalawa? I wanted to see where I fit in.
Ravi Shankar
New Jersey
The breast tax is myth created by vested interests. The story was promoted by the communist party in the sixties to sustain relevance of communism in Kerala. Cloth tax was introduced to get money into the exchequer, which was misrepresented as breast tax.
A very informative article. Thanks for the efforts. Could you enlighten me on one point: I am from Kottayam. We have a number of Tamil Brahmin families in and around Kottayam. They were involved in money lending as a profession. In old records(1850 CE) give their profession as Panama palisa (meaning money-on-interest). For example, Mankompu annavi, Kaitharam annavi. Was this profession introduced by Ramayyan Dalwa?
Thanks Prof Pillai.
I have covered the Breast tax issue in detail here
https://maddy06.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-breast-tax-and-upper-cloth-movement.html
Again Prof Pillai,
That there was a large influx of Tamil Brahmins when Ramayyan Dalawa was in power is confirmed by K Saradamony in his book. How they got into this profession is not clear, and if they were doing such work in Tamil Nadu previously is to be ascertained. I will investigate and revert
Sir
Thank you for this information. I needed a small clarification. When you said that Ramayann Dalawa family consisted of his wife and brother and that he had asked to adopt his brother's child, does that mean he did not have a child by his Brahmin wife? What was the name of his brother who later stayed in Aruvikkarai? I would be much obliged if i could get this information. Thank you
Dear Maddy,
Thank you for the wonderful tips and info on many aspects of History Could you please tell me the name of the ruler who ruled Kayamkulam, at the time of Devon Ramayyan Dalawa's war against Kayamkulam and if the year of the war was around the same time when Kayamkulam Kochunni lived? How was the economic condition of the subjects of Kayamkulam then? Or, have I misunderstood history? Kindly guide me with this and please respond, shall wait to hear from you. Your response should help me with my research article that I am trying to write.
Thank you
Vishaka
Dear Sir,
I have been eagerly waiting for a response from you, regarding the question raised above. I hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you
Vishaka
Hi Vishaka,
Pls study this to get a better understanding of K Kochunni. His period was the 1830-1850's
https://maddy06.blogspot.com/2012/11/kayamkulam-kochunni-robin-hood-of.html
rgds
Thank you very much Sir, shall surely do. Thanks once again!
Vishaka
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