Those of you who have lived in Calicut will always remember
a Guajarati or two from their days in school or college or daily life. It is
simply so, that they have always been around, though they have kept somewhat to
themselves and the Gujarati area of Calicut (or lately Mavoor) since so many
centuries. We will always remember them fondly and they have always made our
lives easier and colorful. In the old days their shops were the ones that
brought in fashion from Bombay and it was their attire that people looked at
when a fashion change was planned. There was a time when mimics mimed their
funny Malayalam accents and many a Malayali lad pined after a comely Gujju lass
with no results. Anyway let’s take a look at that community which enriched
Malabar.
In the very early times, Brahmins from the North had
embarked on a southerly sojourn for some reason or the other, and some perhaps
even settled at Cellur near Taliparamba. It is even said that Parasurama
himself was born in Anarta in Gujarat (though others say he was from MP
Maheswar) and his legend or myth were supposedly propagated by the migrants
from Gujarat. Nevertheless, as to when they came in large numbers is not
exactly clear though there are some indications that it happened after the
Afghan lord Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Gujarat (1025- 11th century) and
quite a few Vanias or Banias (Lohanas, Bhatias and Patels) and Brahmins moved southwards
to the land Parasurama had established (I will not use the term created – and all
that axe throwing bunkum) for the Brahmins between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. As
time went by the Muslim traders (Memons, Bohras and Khojas) also moved to
Malabar when it acquired importance in the Indian Ocean trade. One must also keep
in mind that these Guajarati traders had already been trading with the Red Sea
and Gulf traders for a very long time. Recent Geniza fragments with Gujarati
text in those scrolls testify to the vibrant trade relationships, and in a
recently uncovered scrap, it is clear that the parchment is addressed to one of
the earlier nonresident Gujaratis living across the oceans, perhaps Aden where
they always had a vibrant community. But we will talk about the Geniza Gujarati
scraps some another day and for now concentrate on their presence in Calicut.
According to another source - It is also said that
'Akananuru', a collection of records, refers to people from the North West
having settled in Malabar during 4th century AD. The collection speaks a lot
about earlier relationship between Kerala and Gujarat. Migration of Gujarati
community to Kerala and other places occurred at different stages in different
centuries (PS Zaid – rediff article).
Gujaratis of course kept their account books till they were
closed and eventually destroyed them in flames, but never made an account of
their times or their history, so quite a bit of their hoary past is gleaned
from oral accounts and of course, the one and only book of their past in
Kerala, written by Dr Jamal Mohammed, which I was thankful to lay my hands on
recently. So with many thanks to Dr Mohammed, let me carry on.
It is not that Gujarati’s were only involved in trade of
Malabar goods, but one must note that they were also conduits to many other
commodities sourced from the Gujarati interiors like cotton, poppy, opium,
honey, wax, sugarcane, betelnut, woods and bamboo. Finished textiles and indigo
were also staple in addition to leather and tanned goods.
As time went by, it was also a Gujarati who guided Vasco da
Gama to Calicut, for more details see my article on the subject. But one of
their main reasons for frequent visits to the South was because Malabar in the
6th and 7th centuries was a center for Jainism. In fact
it is said that the Calicut Jain temple, supposedly 2,500 years old was an
abode for Kalikunt Parasunath, and that is how Calicut gets its name (we will
get to some more details in a separate article about how Calicut got its name).
During the early Portuguese times, the Zamorin deputed a few Gujaratis to help
get the Portuguese settled. According to Pearson, the house where the first Portuguese
factory of Calicut was started belonged to a Gujarati. While they were very
much in support of the Portuguese in furthering their trade relations, once the
Portuguese started restrictions with Cartazes, the Gujaratis went on the offensive
with the Moplahs and even joined hands in attacking Portuguese ships. Their (Gujarati
merchants – not the ones in Malabar though) fortunes are well documented by Pearson
in his book for those interested. In fact many of the Gujaratis then moved to
the SE Asian ports like Malacca and that was how the famous though ancient saying
came about – Je java jaye pariya pariya khaye…those who visit java would become
commercially successful for many generations.
The later day trading Gujarati community of Calicut were
primarily comprised of Banias and Muslims and the Banias were mainly Kaira
Patels, Bhatias and Jains. Sometimes I wonder how strangely these matters turn
out. The Kaira Patels came to Calicut and Cochin in Kerala seeking prosperity.
A Malayali named V Kurien from Calicut went to Anand in Kaira district of
Gujarat and created Amul and later prosperity for the same lot!! See how fate
works. The Patels quickly cornered and monopolized the tobacco business in
Malabar. The Bhatia’s on the other hand, established trade with far off lands
such as Arabia and Persia and one of the pioneers in Calicut was the Kutchi
Hitenda Bhatia. He created the first shipping agency in Calicut around the turn
of the 19thcentury, living near the Beach road. He was the main
British port agent in Calicut and monopolized later day spice business. The
fashionable Hathis and Bhimji’s of Calicut were also Bhatia’s. Another group of
52 Kutchi Lohana’s came to Calicut in 1865 and soon cornered the money lending business
of Calicut and Cochin. Famous among them are Jamnadas and Mathurdas. The later
day Jains headed by Rameshlal on the other hand were officially granted a plot
of land by the Zamorin in 1872 and they established 5 Jain temples in the beach
area Jain colony, the most famous being the Kalikund Parasnath temple in the
Trikovil lane. Perhaps this was in the general area I mentioned in an earlier
comment, about a mosque in Kuttichira.
Let us now look at the Muslim Gujaratis of Calicut. While the
Cutchi memons or mumins, an offshoot of the Hindu Lohanas flourished in
Travancore (kayamkulam) and Ismail Sait even went on to produce the famous film
Chemmeen, Abbas Sait was a famous shop keeper in Calicut dealing in imported
goods and among them they had as many as 120 shops in Calicut. But most of them
closed down when exchange rates fell after the world war. Many went to Pakistan
after the partition. Then there were the Dawoodi Bohras, of which some 25
families lived in Calicut. Among them Ibrahimji was well connected with the
Zamorin’s family during his time and helped the declining family tide over many
a bad situation.
But they came into much infamy when a Bohra boy named
Powderwallah Bohra married Mappila girl Suhra in Calicut. The Bohra community
excommunicated Powderwallah who then settled down in the house of Suhra. The
powderwallh bohra then became known as Mappila Bohra. Finally to arrive were
the Khojas (not to be confused with the Koyas though many still do) and we see
Mohiuddin Khoja, another Zamorin associate. These Sufi Chisti khojas came
during the reign of Tipu Sultan and started off in Kondotty and continued to
produce a number of Thangals of Kondotty according to Jamal Mohammed. In fact
there were instances where Manjukutty and Inayat represented the Zamorin at the
Madras presidency meetings.
Interestingly, looking at history books, they were termed the betrosians
(Portuguese terms for Gujarati) or bedrosians of Calicut, and considered to have moved into the
area some 400 years ago. Trisha in her paper however believes it started much
earlier in the 6th – 7th century. Trisha
explains – The Gujarati Street is in the vicinity of other commercial streets
like Halwa Bazaar, Valiyangadi, Gunny Street, Copra Bazaar, etc. which were
olden day Arab Bazaars and Dutch markets. In the 1800s and 1900s, the port city
and the Zamorin’s welcoming nature provided several opportunities to agro-
based merchants who readily invested in the infrastructure required to carry
out their business. - The settlement grew around the already existing Arab
Bazaars and Dutch markets, 50-100m from the sea. The Gujarati businessmen lived
in Pandikasalas which are typical warehouse– cum- office– cum residential
buildings having its own form of architecture, social relations and culture.
She concludes - With the closing of the port and the monopoly of government in
agro based industry, and because of the supermarket and brand culture, both
wholesale and retail options have been closed for many of these small
merchants. The very large infrastructure required to carry out those activities
have become obsolete spaces.
The opportunity which the Gujaratis seized with open hands came
when the American civil war broke out and cotton exports to England ceased. The
Gujaratis using their contacts with the British in Calicut and Cochin provided
large amounts of raw and finished material. One such firm which rose to the
front was the Asghar group dealing with silver, gold and spices. And of course
we know from the various historic sources that they were brokers of great
skill. With their command over Arabic, Gujarati and local languages as well as
a smattering of western languages like Portuguese and English, they managed to
be great port agents certifying the delivery quality and quantities as per any
given agreement. The ability to credit sales for 6 months allowed them to play
decisive roles in the business of Malabar. Manekji, Indulal, Sunderji, Velji
and Haribhai were well known names in Calicut. Nagalbhai from Navasari and his
son Nagal Parekh were prominent brokers representing Harrison and Crossfield.
Ratansai was also a well-known broker representing H and C.
Nagji Saitji rose to fame with cloth sales to Japan and his
umbrella assembly company in Calicut, and of course there was Ibrahim Currim..
Most of the saw mills were Gujarati owned, like Devesh’s. But in the years
after Independence, when communism took hold of Kerala and labor unrests became
commonplace, the Gujarati industrialists moved on to other states.
Sundardas Shamji of Calicut was for example the host of
Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Calicut in 1921. He later went on to create the
Charka Sangh of Calicut. The creator of the Indian Muslim league of Kerala was
Calicut’s Abdul Sattar Sait, who then rose to high levels in that organization.
Sattar Sait later moved on to Pakistan after the partition and became the
Pakistan ambassador in Egypt. And of course do not forget Mandakini from Bhavnagar
who went on to became an activist in Kerala. Moving to Calicut with Kunnickal Narayanan,
she became a teacher at the Gujarati school, but again veered away into
activism. Ajitha her daughter followed her footsteps in activism.
There was a time when
the Azakodi kavu was also called the Bhavani temple since the Bali pooja was
performed there by Gujarati’s during the dasara festivals. Eventually the
Gujarati school and the Haveli temple were established.
Today we still have the Pankaj variety hall of Calicut, and
the small community continues to do well, though the families are scattered.
Their festivals especially during Navarathri and merry lives go on as usual,
the school does well, and in fact it has gone ultra-modern with AV facilities
in classrooms, according to a recent newspaper report. They still keep to
themselves, with hardly any case of inter community marriages reported and otherwise live a harmonious existence with other communities, though the younger generation quickly moves to other metropolises in search of fame, fortune and other luxuries...
References
The
Gujaratis, a study of socio-economic interactions, 1850-1950 – T Jamal Mohammed
The Study of
a hundred year old Gujarati settlement in Calicut – Trisha Parekh
Calicut city
centenary celebration – 1966 souvenir – article by Ramaniklal Jamnadas
Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat: By Michael Naylor Pearson
13 comments:
Nice post. When I visited my aunt in Cochin for the first time as a youngster from Bombay, I noticed that her neighbor was a Gujarati family. Their Malayalam was a bit accented, but fluent. I did not understand how Gujarati people landed in Kerala. Your article sheds light on that mystery. Thanks. Keep up the good work.
Ramu
Thanks Ramu.
a number of such groups existed and exist. One of these days I will cover the chettys of calicut.. the rest I have covered already
In our "Gang"we had lots of Gujarathis. All of them spoke excellent colloquial Malayalam .Good set of people with sixth sense for trade.
The Gujarathis like Pharisees have dwindled to a small group here in Calicut probably the traditional trade has taken a different route?
"Gujarathi Street" and Nagjee Football tournament are the standing testimony to their contribution to life of Calicut
thanks premnath..
in fact i was reading a late 19th century manuscript and even that mentions the position the seths had in those days at calicut..
their foreign goods trade dwindled, then the number of shops selling wares from N India increased as you can see..and perhaps tehc hildren settled in Bombay etc...
Beautiful article on Gujjus of Calicut.They do possess unparalleled business acumen.
Thanks PNS
It would be a herculean task to track the fortunes of countless Gujarati's who settled in so many countries since the dawn of trade!!
Great read and yet another throwaway to the era when calicut was perhaps india's most cosmopolitan city
Maddy, there are plenty of references you have given of malabari's who migrated to Pakistan post partition, i have personally heard about distant relatives who were 'stuck' on the other side due to business/social/moral obligations and stayed on...sounds like a fascinating subject worth a post :)
Thanks Jassim,
I had written about this briefly some years ago,
http://maddy06.blogspot.com/2009/03/malayalees-in-pakistan.html
I am a Balija Chetty(Telugu) aka Valayal Chetties(bangles) or Gajulu Balija from Calicut. Together with the Vysya chetties our people were prominent business men in their days. Eagerly awaiting the blog.
I was always inquisitive about the presence of Gujrati street in Kozhikode. Your article really fed my quest to a great extent. Good job. Keep writing.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks JK
Nice
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