The Chola interregnum 1036-54 – A discussion
One of the popular sources referred to when it comes to the history of the Zamorins of Calicut is the seminal work by KV Krishna Ayyar titled - Zamorins of Calicut (From the earliest times down to AD 1806). The version available to peruse is the 1938 publication. This was preceded by a concise version - A history of the Zamorins of Calicut Part 1 - (From the earliest times down to A.D. 1498) published in 1929. A latter paper titled – A short sketch of the second dynasty of the Zamorins of Malabar (1742-1774) provided details of the second lineage in the family. In 1965, Ayyar published the limited edition - A history of Kerala and followed it up in 1966 with - A short history of Kerala as well as a short article Calicut under the Zamorins in the Calicut Souvenir 1966. One of the more recent articles is the 1976 – Importance of the Zamorins of Calicut. Over time where he revised some aspects of the original 1938 monograph and made even more revisions in the 60’s and proposed a very interesting hypothesis in the 1976 paper about the Chola presence in Calicut.
As we do most of the time, we try to find the earliest
mention of the person or persons who established the Zamorin’s dynasty namely
the Nediyirippu Swaroopam. We do know that that it was created in the Eranad,
and we also know that the Naduvazhi’s came into being after the disintegration
of the Chera empire. The Keralolpatti and a few other sources provide some
information of how the Cheraman Perumal gifted a little area Ullanad in Calicut
to the two youths who helped him fight an invader, as well as a ceremonial
sword and a conch shell.
Let’s start with the 1929 text where Ayyar admits that it
was a hasty study - He covers a few of the legends pertaining to the gift of thickets
near Calicut and the sword as well as an anklet to the Eradi youths after their
success in staving of the attack from the Anagundi Rayar.
He summarizes thus - The whole of Kerala once obeyed the
authority of a single ruler styled Cheraman Perurnal. He ruled the seventeen
nads that comprised his empire through hereditary governors. As the result of a
powerful religious impulse, he resolved to abdicate. Ho had no lawful heir on
whom he could lay the burden of state. Before his retirement he provided for
the future government of the country by investing the provincial governors with
the power and dignity of independent kings over the territories they had
formerly ruled under him. The ancestors of the Zamorin were the governors of
Ernad, their family seat was Nediyiruppu and the head of the family was known
as the Ernad Utayavar. He wa9 a feudatory of the first rank, having no less
than 30,000 nayars under his command. He was the son either of the last Perumal
or more probably his immediate predecessor by sambandham, His rank and
relationship entitled him to a high place in the empire. He also deserved it by
his abilitiy. He saved the country by expelling the foreign invader whom the
Perumal himself had failed to dislodge. So, when he made him king of Ernad, he
also gave him as a mark of his regard his sword of state and a piece of
territory along the coast known as Calicut, then overgrown with morass and
jungle. (We can also understand that only one of the two youths survived the
war and that was Manavikraman). The date of the event is entirely unclear and
is presumed to be 342A.D.
Ettan thampuran (my great grandfather) in his
Agnivamsacharita (Agnivamsa rajakatha) narrates the story differently – he says
- The retiring Perumal gave to Manavikraman, as the reward for his services
against the national enemy, the town of Srikandhapuram and the country round
it—the present Trikandiyur and Vettetnad. But Manavikraman imediately handed it
over to the ancestor of the Vettet family in fulfilment of a promise he
had made to him. The Perumal was struck with his vassal's scrupulous regard for
the plighted word and in his joy and admiration gave him his sword of state.
According to another version of the Keralolpathi, the
Perumal was a lieutenant, not of Krishna Rayar, but of the Chola king, and he
established himself permanently in Malabar with the full knowledge and consent
of his suzerain. The Chola ascendancy, which resulted from this event, roused
the jealousy of the Pandyan king, who invaded Malabar by way of the Anamalais,
and secured his conquest by a fort at Taravur. The Perumal assembled a large
army at Trikatamathilakam, but with all the courage and strength he could
muster, he could not destroy the fort. The Perumal was at his wit’s end. Every
day he supplicated his tutelary deity to save him from the calamity. While he
was thus invoking divine help to second the efforts of his soldiers, two young
men, hailing from Puntura, belonging to the Samanta caste (descended from the
Sun), arrived at Tirunavayi on their way from Rameswaram to Benares.
There they fell into conversation with some Brahmins, who
were among the trusted ministers of the Perumal, and learnt of the invasion of
the Pandyas, the futile attempts of the Perumal to expel the intruders, and of
the preparations that were being made for a last effort by sea. No sooner had
the Brahmins finished their narrative than the youths, unable to contain
themselves, exclaimed: “Send us with the army: we will destroy the fort”. This
offer reached the ears of the Perumal, who invited the youths to his palace.
Assuring himself of their ability and skill by numerous tests, the Perumal sent
them at the head of his 120 captains and 900,000 soldiers……..
At night the Eradis surrounded the fort, the ten thousand
taking their station at the northern gate. At last, after a strenuous fighting,
which lasted for three days and nights, they expelled the foe, and seized the
fort. Elated with the victory of the Samantas, the Perumal summoned the elder
to his presence, and seating him in his lap, put on his leg the “anklet of the
heroes’’, and installed him as his heir at Calicut. The ten thousand nayars
were settled in Polanad, the wealthiest part of his dominions. One division of
them was settled at Edakkazhinad, another at Iringadikot, and the most notable
among the ten thousand at Calicut itself. The youths then resumed their
intercepted pilgrimage and left Chitrakutam for Benares.
In the 1938 book, Ayyar goes with the traditional story and does not focus on the Chola elements. Thus, it was common perception that the Perumal gifted the sword and a portion of Calicut to the youth or youths after they defeated the enemy, and these youths went on to head the Nediyirippu Swaroopam. From the foregoing we see that Eranad already existed as one of the 17 nadus, and since the nadu formation is believed to have come about after the disintegration of the old Chera empire, the second story seems more probable, i.e., the Perumal or overlord was a Chola lieutenant. Its chieftain Eralanadutaiya Manavepala Manaviyan has previously been mentioned as a signatory in important grants.
While all these stories mention that the two bright Samanta
youths who later fought the invaders and re-established the Eranad dynasty were
iterant souls enroute Benares, other accounts mention them as sons or nephews of
the Cheraman Perumal. They all agree that the lads were given a bit of land
near Calicut together with the conch, lamp, and the sword, while the Velattiri
was given the shield to defend himself. One question remains, why was the land
near Calicut of any importance to the lads? They were already nobles from the
Eranad, and owners of a huge, landed property and had access to the sea through
another Southerly port. Why bother about a bit of land near Calicut? Was it
because it was already quite popular and better situated, with calmer waters?
Perhaps.
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With this background, let us see how the Chera kingdom was
decimated by the Chola invaders and how a Chola lieutenant could possibly the
Cheramaan Perumal. According to a review of Ayyar’s work by SK Mukopadhyaya -The
chief feature of the political history of South India in the first period was
the struggle between the Pallavas and the Pandyas and the rise of the Cholas.
The Cheras first supported the Pallavas against the Pandyas, and subsequently
the Cholas against both. But as soon as the Cholas established their power they
turned against the Cheras. This Chola invasion came to an end only with their
withdrawal in 1120, the Cheras disappeared, and Kerala broke into a number of
petty Kingdoms, each ruled by its own Thampuran. The epoch of the 'Thampurans
was perhaps the most brilliant period in the history of Kerala·.
The Cheras were by now headquartered in Makotai – or Muciri
in Kodungallur, a dynasty headed by Cheraman Perumal Nayanar (800-844 AD) and
this resulted from the Pandyan expansion resulting from attacks from the Kongu
side and the Ay country. The Cholas started their expansionist regime but
through matrimonial relations, the Cheras aligned with the Cholas, against a
common enemy, the Pandya. Together they then took over the overlordship of the
Kongu and Ay areas. It is an interesting aspect that the Cheras of Kongu were
in a way rivals to the Cheras of Makotai. Later, we see Vellan Kumaran, a
Valluvanatu prince who became the commander of the Chola forces under the King
Rajaditya. However, in the war which followed Rajaditya lost, and the Chalukyas
were on the rise. For some reasons, the relationship between the Cheras and the
Cholas worsened and wars broke out between them and continued until the
accession of Rajaraja. It was after his arrival that the 100 (988-1089AD) year
war phase in Kerala set in, with the first two decades witnessing the attacks
on Kantallur Salai followed by complete victory for the Cholas. After the
initial wars of Rajaraja, his son RajadhiRaja took over in 1019AD and went onto
subjugate the Chera regions. Around 1066, the Cheras shook free and announced
their independence. According to MGS, it was in 1122 that the last Cheramaan
Perumal abdicated.
The advent of Rajadhiraja 1
Source Nilakanta Sastri, Vol 1, 1935 - Rebellions in the Pandya and Kerala
kingdoms called for severe action, and the extensive campaign undertaken by
Rajadhiraja for the suppression of these risings is described in the following
terms : “ Among the three allied kings of the South (Though “ tennavar may mean
Pandyas it seems possible that here it means only “kings of the South," an
alliance between Ceylon (Manabharana) Kerala and Pandya being meant) ……The
exact date of this invasion of the Pandya and Kerala countries is unknown. As
there are no Pandyan inscriptions of this period, we have only the story as
given by the victors and lack the means of checking it from independent
sources. Strangely enough, none of the numerous Cola-Pandya inscriptions of the
period throws any light on these transactions…..While the strong Villavan
(Cera), in his terror (was attacked by pains in the bowels) hid himself in the
jungle, (the Cola) put on a fresh (garland of) Vanji flower, and forthwith destroyed the ships at Kandalur
salai on the never-decreasing ocean….In the course of this expedition, on his
way from the Pandya country to Kandalur, and most probably as a result of his
successful attack on the king of Venad whom he sent to heaven. Rajadhiraja is
said to have liberated the king of the Kupakas, a local chieftain of south
Travancore, from his bondage apparently to the ruler of Venad.
The death of the Chera King Rajasimha, the rebel
The Chera king or Villavan is assumed to be the last Chera
King, named Rajasimha (who was rebelling against the Cholas overlords) and the
attack happened circa 1036-1045. Revising his previous inferences, KVK Ayyar in
his 1966 Calicut Souvenir article mentions thus. Sometime about A.D. 1036
the last of the Chera, named Rajasimha was defeated with the great slaughter by
the Chola Rajadhiraja 1(A.D. 1018-54). On the eve of his fight, he commanded
the Eranad feudatory to rally the scattered remnants of his beaten forces, and
strike, slay or seize the enemy wherever found, giving his sword of state as
sufficient authority. Thus, the Cheramaan sword came into the possession of the
Eranad Utayivar whose descendants still keep it as a precious heirloom,
worshipping it every day.
The formation of Calicut
In the 1976 paper, Ayyar gives more details as follows.
The Zamorin's ancestors appear for the first time in the
Cera emperor Bhaskararavi Varman's grant of A.D. 1000 as Eralanad Utaiyavar
(Chief of Eralanad) Manaviyan, whose strength is “Honour and Honour
alone". The Zamorin's personal name is invariably Manavikraman or
Manavedan (not of any deity or Puranic hero). Rajasimhadeva was the last of the
Cera emperors. In 1036 A.D. his army was annihilated at Mullaiyur by the Cola
Crown Price Rajadhiraja. The disaster was due to the inability of the Cera king
to lead his army person on account of 'pains in his bowels'. The news of the
defeat hastened his end. On the eve of his death, he nominated the Eralanad
Utaiyavar, who had been attending upon him and who was the only senior nobleman
to survive, as his successor and gave him his sword as sufficient authority.
Setting aside the Cera prince Rajarajadeva, Rajadhiraja annexed Kerala,
appointing Cola generals and officers to hold and govern the newly conquered territory.
To contain and starve the Eralanad Utaiyavar in his own
homeland, he (Rajadhiraja) built Kolikkod at the mouth of the Kallayi river to
stop his rice imports. Unfortunately, Rajadhiraja died in A.D. 1054 and after
his death, the Cola garrisons and officers began to withdraw. As the new
generation had grown up during the Cola interregnum (1036-1054) without a Cera
Emperor to rally round, they (The Zamorin’s ancestors) assumed the title of Kon
or Tiri, meaning king. The Eralanad Utaiyavar however kept the Cera Emperor's
Sword with him, and the princes, who did not recognize the authority conferred
by the Cheraman Sword, later on began to attribute their defeat and the
Zamorin's success to its virtues, rather than to his superior prowess. The
Porlatiri or chief of Polanad, who occupied Kolikkod after Rajadhiraja's death,
harassed the Zamorin's imports and exports through the Kallayi river. So, the
Zamorin drove him out and occupied Kolikkod. To remove its Cola associations, he
changed its name to Puntura and assumed the title of Punturakkon sometime
before A.D. 1100; nevertheless, Kolikkod continued to remain in popular
parlance. Ayyar explains- Kolikkod, traditionally explained fort as
small as a hencoop, was historically perhaps a fort built by Colas (from Koli
meaning Cola, and Kod fort). It became Kalikut in Arabic and Persian and
Calicut in the European records.
By this Ayyar hypothesizes that Rajasimhadeva (Ravi Kotha
Rajasimha (1021–1036 CE)) is the Cheraman Perumal of Keralolpathi, since the
sword the Zamorin is given is the Cheraman sword.
Now let us take a look at what other history stalwarts have
to say
MGS Narayanan – Perumals of Kerala - Looking a MGS’s study,
he does not pause at Rajasimha and establishes a continued dynasty, The Chera
Kings who came to power following Rajasimha’s death were Rajaraja, Ravi Rama
Rajaditya, and Adityan Kotha Ranaditya preceded Ravi Varma Kulashekara. Ravi
Varma Kulashakara Perumal and the Cheras took to the sea in 1122, aligning with
the Keralolpathi story. While he says that the Eralnadu existed from the time
of the last Chera sovereign, the area of Kozhikode may have been gifted to the governor’s
younger brother for his military services. The senior Manaveda may have died in
battle. Manavikrama later shifted to Kozhikode.
The last Chera according to Ayyar therefore is the 1036 Chera,
while according to MGS it is Ramavarma Kulashekara of 1122 (this is the
mainstay of his 1972 thesis and the book Perumals of Kerala), ~100 years
thereafter.
An additional corroboration for MGS’s conclusion is provided
by a medieval manipravalam poem (Kunjan Pillai, Haridas) - "no one can
take on Nediyirippu head on, as it was on the ruler of that territory that the
last of the Cheramans - Ramavarma, conferred [the gift of land] with libations
of water on the sword". This implies that the last Cera ruler (Ceraman)
was named Ramavarma. K Sivasankaran Nair - Prachina Keralathinde Charitram
(History of Ancient Kerala) in his analysis, howver disagrees with MGS alluding
that the subsequent Perumals were Venad rulers, not Mahodaya Perumal’s.
One can conclude that the 1976 study of Ayyar and his
hypothesis supersedes the earlier myths, but Iyer’s conclusion of RajadhiRaja
building Kolikkod is quite tenuous, for he bases it entirely on the following
vague paragraph provided by Nilakanta Sastri. I could not quite figure it out.
In some of the aforesaid sources, there is a mention that the Eradi youths were
from Puntura and it is perceived that the Puntura in this case is the Beypore/Ponnani
harbor. However, it also becomes clear that there was a competing and better harbor
up north, namely the Kallayi harbor of Kozhikode, which the Zamorin eventually wrested
away from the Porlathiri, who was until then the lord of the sea.
While all these stories mention that the two bright Samanta
youths who later fought the invaders and established the Zamorin dynasty, were
iterant souls enroute Benares, later accounts mention them as sons of the
Cheraman Perumal. They all agree that they were given the conch and the sword,
while the Velatiri was given the shield to defend himself. A prominent outcome
of the Chola - Chera war during the eleventh century was the disintegration of
the patrilineal or makkathayam system. Considering that the youths were the
sons of the Perumal, the nephew had a greater right, and this resulted in many
wars thereafter between the Zamorin and the other aspirants.
From the Kerala Avakasa Kraman, we can note - There is also
a tradition that the great Cheraman Perumal had married a woman of the
Samanthan caste and had several sons and daughters. His daughters by the
legitimate wife were allowed to enter into wedlock with the Brahmans, while
those of the Samantha wife formed matrimonial alliances with the then rulers of
territories, and the first son by the Samantha woman and his nephews became the
Zamorins of Calicut.
Let’s get to the next item - To contain and starve the
Eralanad Utaiyavar in his own homeland, he built Kolikkod at the mouth of the
Kallayi river to stop his rice imports. Unfortunately, Rajadhiraja died in A.D.
1054 and after his death, the Cola garrisons and officers began to withdraw
- This implies that the Eranad Utaiyavar was one of the chiefs fielding Chavers
against the Chola kings. But from a previous conclusion regarding the usage
Puntura, we know that he had access to Beypore, so the blockade may not have
had an impact on rice imports, unless all rice traders were at Calicut.
As the new generation had grown up during the Cola
interregnum (1036-1054) without a Cera Emperor to rally round, they assumed title
of Kon or Tiri, meaning king…..To remove its Cola associations he changed its
name to Puntura and assumed the title of Punturakkon; nevertheless Kolikkod
continued to remain in popular parlance -(Quilon Inscription of Cingam 278
M.E., August 1102 A.D. Travancore Archaeological Series, Vol. V, pp. 41)
Puntura is generally explained as a corruption of the Tamil Perumturai or great
(Perum) harbor (turai) . But it seems better to derive this word from the
Arabic Bantar meaning port; for Calicut owes its importance as a port. Zamorin
is also called Punturakkon Punturesen. Interestingly MGS in his paper feels Puntura
is a place near Vilinjam, and that the title Punturakon was conferred to him by
the Chera Perumal due to the bravery exhibited in the Vilinjam battle, but to
me it is confusing to say the least!!
The Malabar Gazetteer adds - Ernad formerly comprised the
náds of south Parappanád, Rámnád, Chéranád and Ernad, the first named belonging
to the Parappanád Rája, a feudatory of the Zamorin. Nediyiruppu in ancient
Ernad is by one account the birthplace of the Zamorin's family; and to this day
the second Rája is known as the Eralpád Rája, and the family is sometimes
called the Erádi or Nediyiruppu dynasty. The nád has belonged to the Zamorin
for a very long time, and he is probably the Udayavar of Ernad mentioned in the
Jews' and Syrians' deeds, the date of which is certainly not later than the 8th
century A.D.
From the above we can see that while MGS Narayanan,
following Elamkulam’s line establishes that the last Perumal was Rama Varma
Kulashekara Perumal who abdicated in 1102, following which the Zamorins came to
power and established it with the Cheramaan Sword, KVK Ayyar as late as 1972
maintained that the Zamorin obtained the sword from the Chera chief Rajasimha
in 1036. Ayyar believes that the original fort at Calicut must have been built
by the Cholas to starve the Eranad lot and predates the Porlathiri.
I have to continue sleuthing for the additional references
which Ayyar may have come across and verified, those which made him obstinately
cling to the 1036 dating, after having drifted from his earlier 8th-9th
century dating of the Perumal. Until then, let’s stew on these two divergent
views, which like many other aspects of Kerala history is confusing, and continue
to keep researchers and historians in business.
A document collected and archived in the 15-16th
century, at its outset mentions a flood (or tsunami) and the consequent
submerging of much of the Kerala/Malayala lands, and the emergence of the new
lands in AD 390. It goes on to detail 204 years of Perumal rule following the
Kerala raja’s rule ending in 453AD, with each of the 17 rulers ruling the land for
12 years, after which the last Shankara Cheraman Perumal abdicated. This
incidentally is not the Calicut version of the Keralolpatti and is still being
reviewed by me. Interestingly, if the departure of this last Perumal to Mecca had
been around 630 A.D., it would have allowed him to meet the Prophet Mohammed
(570-632), as alluded to by some other early writers!
As Mukopadyaya mentioned - Krishna Ayyar has no theory to
prove, no model to sustain. He writes
history as he collects information and is ready to revise his opinion in the
light of fresh evidence that may be discovered in future. He quotes Hecataeus (550
B.C.) to say that history should be based on verifiable evidence. This gives an
insight into the methodology he followed and his attitude to sources…. The only
difference between 'history and other sciences is that we cannot test
historical laws by contrived experiments'. History, he tells us, is philosophy
teaching by examples, the examples being themselves the premises on which laws
and their tests are based.
References
KV Krishna Ayyar books &
papers as below
A history of the Zamorins of
Calicut Part 1 - (From the earliest times down to AD 1498) pub 1929.
Zamorins of Calicut 1938
Cheraman Perumal a new study –
1945
A history of Kerala 1966
Calicut under the Zamorins - 1966
A short history of Kerala 1966
The importance of the Zamorins of
Calicut - Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 1976,
Perumals of Kerala – MGS Narayanan
Manavikrama alias Punturakkon of Eranad
- M.G.S. Narayanan
The emergence of a medieval
south Indian kingdom: Calicut under the Zamorins - Haridas v.v.
Pracheena Keralathinde Charitram
- K Sivasankaran Nair
Pics - Wikimedia, acknowledged with thanks
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