That Quilon was well known to seafarers is not surprising, for it is well situated in the South West of the Indian coast. It was well known not only to Greek and Roman seafarers going back in time before Christ but also to later entrants such as the Arabs, Persians and Chinese into the Indian Ocean. If we dig deep into historic accounts left behind by some of the sailors or visitors, we can come up with a decent silhouette of the entrepot Quilon once was, as well as the preeminent position it held among the trading ports of Malayala, as Kerala was then known. Its name got attached to the Malayalam Calendar Kolla Varsham and for a time was reason enough to associate with a popular proverb in the Malayalam language which meant 'one who has seen Kollam, forgets his house’.
Dec 26, 2020
Dec 3, 2020
The Mamluk – Calicut - Jeddah Equations
And an event which happened ‘out there’ – at Calicut
For the Arab merchants, traders and rulers, Calicut was the
place in Al Hind where they had established a lucrative trade, where they had families
and representations, and a relationship with the benevolent king, the
Ox-worshipper Al-Samiri. For most others who benefited from the trade in
Europe, it was just a place out there. For the crusaders, it was perhaps the
general region where a potential supporter, the Prestor John came from. Later
authors, who never even set a foot there, equated it to Utopia. From the
inimical Arabian nights story of Abu Hasan’s fart, you know that Calicut was a
place where you went to in order to start afresh and make a new life. In a way
it was akin to the Dubai of Malayali’s today, it was the Dubai for the Arabs
those days.
We will now get into the story of two interesting individuals, one who daringly transferred trade from Aden to Jeddah and the other, a senior official of the Mamluk establishment who severely tested the diplomatic abilities of the Zamorin. And along the way, we will talk about the interesting relations between the Mamluk administration in Arabia and Calicut, while dwelling upon the interesting event which occurred some decades prior to the arrival of the Portuguese at Calicut.
Nov 22, 2020
The Samiri and Taj-al Din at Dhofar
Continuing with the Cheraman Perumal myths…
The Keralolpathi, the Zainuddin Makkhdum’s call for a jihad
against the accursed Franks, the Fath ul mubiyn, they all mention of a King
from the Hind who traveled to Mecca and died on the way back, at Dhofar. We
talked earlier about the Cheraman Perumal legends, the Perumal and the pickle
and so on, but with additional information at hand, I would like to revisit the
topic and also cover the interconnected story of the al-Samiri and Taj-al din
tomb’s at Dhofar in Oman.
In an area called Dhofar is buried a person, a king actually who has been venerated over centuries by the locals there. His name is purported to be Abdul Rahiman Samiri. An inscription explained that this person reached Dhofar in 212 and died there in 216 (821-831 AD). Now comes the question, who could this gent be? He has been connected to the Cheraman Perumal who converted and went to Mecca and also one of the earlier Zamorins of Calicut. We do know that the Samuthiripad or Samoothiri, a term which morphed to Samorin or Zamorin dates to the 13th century. During the 821 period or even later to 814 as Logan implies, we had a Eranadu Utyavar, not a Zamorin. But legends mention that this was a king from Malabar. Let’s try to investigate a bit to try and find out if we can get to the bottom of this myth.
Nov 11, 2020
Zamorin – An etymological discussion
Oct 9, 2020
The Mutts of Trichur and Tirunavaya – Seats of Vedic learning in Kerala
Bhrahmaswom Madhoms
Sometimes you despair at how the Englishman corrupted the transliteration of a Malayalam or Sanskrit word, in this case, Mutt which actually stands for Madhom or Matha, a monastic institution for spiritual studies, certainly has nothing to do with stupid persons or mongrels. I had come across mentions of these Vedic universities while reading accounts of missionaries such as the Arnos Pathiri as well as some others and more recently when Vinod who led the conservation and renovation efforts, was in conversation with Arun at Intach Palakkad. As the discussion related to the work at the Bhramaswom madhom at Trichur, it piqued my interest, what with the connections to the Nediyirippu and the Preumpadappu, and I decided to delve deeper into it. The result of that short study follows, but I must admit that while the history of these schools interested me, I have virtually no knowledge of the Vedas themselves or their teaching methodology!
Sep 11, 2020
Guruvayur, Hydrose and the Dutch
Clearing up some cobwebs
The temple is well known to most people in South India. It is very popular, quite crowded these days with thousands of devotees lining to get a peek of Unnikrishnan or Guruvarurappan. True, the pandemic has affected all these quite a bit, but I am sure things will improve soon. Which takes us back in time to two occasions when the temple was threatened by marauding armies, first by the Dutch and later by those laying Malabar to waste, namely the Mysore armies sent to plunder, by Haider and later Tipu. Let’s review the record and also take a look at that interesting person, who was involved in the continuation of finances of the temple at that latter occasion. In these days with so much of divisive attitudes, it is helpful to remember that there was a time when communities also came together for the common good.
Jul 30, 2020
The Strategic Wedge
The Checkered Story of Naduvattam, Palghat
Most inhabitants of Palghat would know little about this principality, located right in the middle of the district. In fact, it is the very area I come from, once upon a time full of forests and hillocks, later all paddy fields, sparsely populated. During the history of Malabar, it was a bone of contention that forced three powerful chieftains to fight many a war, the chieftains being the Cochin Raja, the Palghat Raja, and the Zamorin. The story which I narrate is far from complete and I am sure others will someday add to it or correct some errors now and then. What I present comes from the bits and pieces of information cleaved out from various Granthavari’s, NM Nampoothiri’s Malabar studies and KV Krishna Ayyar’s papers.
Jul 20, 2020
Menon and Menoki – a little study
Some time ago, we talked about the Nair caste and the
various sub castes related to it, as well as their characteristics. Medieval
Malabar, Cochin and Travancore had many castes, classifications, do and don’ts,
and what not. It was not fun if you did not belong to the top and even if you
did, you had to remain in your tramlines (as they say in the US) or dividers.
In the Nair caste, there were many more profession related titled
classifications as well. Most significant were the Menon and the Menoki titles
within the Nair caste, which are not very well understood. Complications also
arose due to regional differences between Cochin, Malabar, and Travancore. This
little article will provide more details to those interested as well as some
background explanation.
Principally all these titles were connected to either
supervisory capacities or positions or that of a scribe and accountant in the local
chieftain’s Kovilakom or temple, preparing Grantha palm leaf manuscripts!
Compared to the foot soldier Nair, these personnel were better educated, were
closer in proximity to the ruler or chieftain and were ordained or titled, with
the title passing on through generations, in a matrilineal fashion.
In general, Menoki is an overseer — By definition, Menoki in
the 1901 Travancore and Cochin Census Reports are classified as a sub-division
of Nayars, who are employed as accountants in temples. The name is derived from
mel, above, nokki, from nokkunnu which means ‘to look after’.
Jul 11, 2020
Rama Nilayam, Trichur - A look back
An outhouse, a palace, the British residency and now a
guest house
Jul 1, 2020
Variyan Kunnath Kunahmad Haji - An Eranad Warlord
There is a furor these days about this 1921 Eranad rebel
warlord and many expert opinions are being voiced. I was a bit intrigued as I
had encountered VKH often in my Malabar Rebellion studies, but I had not really
paused to study him, though spending a while on the Sinderby account
caricaturing an antagonist based on VKH’s character. But it is time to do a little study and I will try to detail his actions as dispassionately as I can,
referring to the numerous secondary sources I am in possession of. We will see
that this is actually the story of a tired old man who had been perpetually on
the run before 1921, nursing his grudges against the British, straying somewhat
unwillingly into a larger revolt, with only a desire to help out his benefactor
Ali Musaliyar, quickly changing his ideology when he became a fugitive and lording
a gang who resorted to tactics he would not have approved otherwise.