Historic Alleys

On 7th Dec 1782, Hyder died aged 60 and his son Tipu succeeded him. If Hyder had a chance, he would have allowed Hyat Sahib to succeed him as he always desired in his heart and soul, but that never happened. If you recall, I had introduced the fascinating Hyat (Ayaz Khan) in a separate blog. One must keep in mind now that when the Sultans of Mysore attacked Malabar with intent to get the overdue tribute or protection money of 12 lakhs apparently owed by the Zamorin, a number of North Malabar Mappilas supported the Sultans with a hope that they would be favored by fellow Muslims. You must also remember that a beleaguered Zamorin (after the many wars with the Cochin kings, the Portuguese and the Dutch) had by then weakened his relationship with the Moplah’s of Malabar, his erstwhile ally’s. This had happened during the capture and death of the Kunhali Marakar who according to the Moplah’s was sacrificed to the Portuguese by the Zamorin. The Moplah’s were a depressed lot by then, having lost the trade to the Portuguese and Dutch, without land and title or any say in regional matters or any sway in the circles of power.

When Hyder Ali took control of Malabar and the Zamorin family and other land owning wealthy families fled to Travancore, a number of punitive measures were put into place to ensure an increased revenue collection. Hyder needed the money desperately to fight his wars against the Marathas and the British. Stiff tax was imposed and it is said that he taxed only Hindu landlords, but not Muslims. The land and revenue tax was set at 50-80%. The governance was accorded to Hyder’s deputy Arshad Beg Khan a man reputed for his honesty and kind behavior. A number of entreaties by the landlords (Janmi’s) with various supporting reasons that I won’t get into at present, resulted in the taxes being subsequently reduced to 20-33% by Arshad Khan.

For those a little unfamiliar with Malabar history, Hyder together with Arshad beg Khan (1783) were the first to implement a ‘formal and documented’ land tax structure in Malabar. The Cochin & Travancore Raja’s and their subjects did not pay taxes they paid a fixed amount of protection money, tribute or premium!!

It was at this stage that Hyder suddenly died while camping at Chitoor. Tipu took over the reins of the Mysore empire, Hyat Sahib at Bednore handed over his local kingdom to the British and fled to Bombay (a very interesting tale in itself) and Tipu decided to take his revenge on the populace of Malabar.

Arhsad Beg Khan, an able and humane soul who was Hyder’s appointed governor, was actually under threat when Tipu took over. Mir Ibrahim was given civil authority and he promptly cancelled all the previous agreements made by Arshad & Hyder. His next step was implementing heavy taxation that was neither acceptable nor payable by any of the landowners. Now Hyder had decided that temples need not pay tax, Tipu changed it. Tippu’s next ruling with respect to change of currency and other measures raised taxes far above 50%.The need for money was acute due to Tipu’s wars in other parts of the country. Then he demanded change of culture and forced conversions to Islam. Many alarmed land owners - the wealthy Nair’s, Namboothiris of the Eranad Valluvanad, Malappuram, Nilambur areas and other Nair landowners decided to flee South to Travancore, and they sold off (or in reality just exchanged in words) their land to the tillers or to the local Muslim populace for a pittance.

The revenue collector of the Zamorin and later Arshad at Manjeri (though he tendered no taxes to Arshad) was Attan (Hassan) Kurikkal. Let me now introduce to you to this old ally of the Zamorin. His was a reputed (tharavadi) Muslim family in Manjeri and he was also the tax collector for the Zamorin in that district. But somewhere in history their relations also soured and Athan Gurukkal (Attan Kurikkal in British books) himself administered Manjeri and collected the revenues, not sending the agreed amounts to the Zamorin. The rest of the Zamorin family and the heir apparent were in Travancore, so Gurukkal did not have to bother about claimants.

When Ibrahim took over he even taxed standing crops, and exacerbated the situation. But a question came up in my mind. If Muslims were exempted, why did a branch of powerful Mappila’s led by the Manjeri Thangal (kurikkal) himself a tax revenue official of Tippu, go against Ibrahim and Arshad beg khan?? The intrigue had to be cleared and I scoured many books for an answer. It appears that while Arshad was benevolent to Muslims, Tippu wanted to collect taxes even from the Moplas. Why? Simply because the Hindu land owners had fled, the benami owners were the Moplahs, who of course paid no taxes and tax revenues had crashed. Tipu realized that the Mopilah’s had the land now but were not paying any tax, and he needed the money desperately.

Athan Koya refused to pay any taxes or what he collected. It was under his leadership that the Mopla’s rebelled as Tipu became insistent. During this period there was one person who kept on indulging in guerilla warfare with Tipu and his army, which was Ravi Varma from the Padinjare Kovilakom at Calicut. The Manjeri Muslims were the first to revolt against Tippu on various occasions between 1785-1788, later joining Ravi Varma the nephew of the ousted Zamorin, in revolt.

Arshad Khan had managed to keep Ravi Varma at bay previously. Curiously, he had with Tipu’s approval paid Ravi Varma a ‘jaghire’ (a tract of land, tax free) in 1784 to keep him quiet and in order to help Tipu subdue the Manjeri Kurikkal. The intrigue is interesting, Tipu using a Hindu warlord to fight a fellow Muslim, but that is how situations change – call it manipulation of the fickle human mind.

After Tipu’s war in Coorg, he concluded a treaty with the British around 11th March 1785. According to Mark Wilkes, Mir Ibrahim’s actions had by then set the local populace aflame. Arshad Khan had earlier written to Tipu that this was going to create no end of problems and it was thus that Tipu had to come personally with a hurt ego and fury in his mind in 1788 to Malabar where he jailed Ibrahim and sent him away. Arshad (Wilkes says he was in Malabar till he was jailed by Tipu in 1788, Logan states he went to Mecca in 1786) resigned and went to Mecca on a pilgrimage.

Tipu was furious with the people of Malabar even though he was obtaining large revenue overall from the region and insisted that they obey his conversion dictums. After a disastrous affair involving Kishen Raja’s deputation of his dewan to meet Tipu instead of meeting him himself, Tipu lost his temper and the much talked about atrocities and mayhem against the Hindu’s occurred. It was Tipu’s revenge not only against the Hindu’s of Malabar but also (in my opinion) his revenge against his father Hyder and Hyder’s relationship with Malabari Hyat Khan.

Back to Athan (a.k.a Hassan Koya) Gurukkal – He refused to pay taxes (by now termed raitwari) to Tipu and then destroyed a temple belonging to the Manjeri Thampuran (Tipu had earlier warned Gurukkal not to do that) for reasons I do not know. I think he got the thampuran killed as well. The rebellion rose in intensity, Ghulam Ali was sent by Tipu to Manjeri to quell the riots and some 90 odd Muslims were killed (Roland Miller implies that 20 were killed by fellow Mopilah rioters to avoid their capture by Ali and became martyrs of Shahid’s). Athan Gurukkal and his son were captured and interned in the Srirangapatanam jail.

But this interesting rebel escaped from the jail and came back to Manjeri. Interestingly the situation had changed by then. Tipu had been defeated by the British and he ceded Malabar to the East India Company. The EIC then made Athan (Hassan) Gurukkal the local police superintendent.

The situation would take a dramatic turn again. Later this Gurukkal, his son by the same name and other interesting characters like Chemban Pokker and Unni Moosa Moopan joined up with Ravi Varma, and the Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma in their revolts against the East India Company, again for the main reason of unjust and unreasonable taxation and refusal for self governance. The men were declared outlaws with a bounty of Rs 5000/- per head. Athan (Hassan) Gurukkal was eventually killed in 1802.These families were later involved in the 1849-1921 agrarian revolt and Muslim riots.

Ghulam Ali who captured the Gurukkal went to Istanbul as Tipu’s emissary to meet with the Ottoman Sultan between 1786 and 1790. After the 1799 defeat and Tipu’s death, Ghulam Ali Khan became a pensioner of the British, and allegedly received 3000 star pagodas per annum. He was appointed as District Munsif of Krishnagiri in 1816; retired in 1854 and died at Krishnagiri in 1863 at the age of 105.

Trivia – A new movie will be released soon in Malayalam – titled ‘Pazhassi raja’ and Mamooty will play the Kerala varma role. Athan Gurukkal will, as I understand, be played by Mamu Koya.

References
Historical sketches of South India – Mark Wilks
Kozhikodinte Charithram - Balakrishna Kurup
Tipu Sultan – Kirmani
Malabar Manual - Logan
Tiger of Mysore - Henty

When Alexander and his troops (Anabasis of Alexander) stormed down upon some Jains and Brahmins walking around in the meadows around the Indus valley, the Brahmins did not flee, but just looked at them and stamped their feet in unison on the ground. Alexander was amazed. When he asked them to explain their actions, they said “Every man possesses as much of the earth as this upon which we have stepped, but thou being only a man like the rest of us, except in being meddlesome & arrogant, art come over so great a part of the earth from thy own land, giving trouble to both thyself and others, and yet thou also will soon die and possess as much of the earth as is sufficient for thy body to be buried in”. Alexander was spellbound and decided not only that he needed a new Guru, after decades of advise from Aristotle, but also decided to take on of them back to Macedonia after his conquests…That guru who accompanied him happened to be a Jain called Calanus (certain quarters maintain that the emperor actually preferred a more sober ascetic called Dandamis (or Mandanis according to Strabo), a senior to Calanus).

Much later, when the ailing Calanus, after a long march over the desert to Perisa, late 325BC, sitting still on his funeral pyre somewhere (Pasargadae Iran, Sush or Susa Iran or Babylon) on the Bampur Basin of the Iranian Plateau, told Emperor Alexander ‘we will meet again soon, in Babylon’, the Macedonians were horrified. This Dikambara Jain saint, who had never fallen ill till his 73rd year, took the fateful decision in his life to leave the holy land when he accepted Alexander’ invitation to go to Macedonia much against the wishes of senior sage Dandamis. A few days later, Alexander died in Babylon in a way that is, to date, an unsolved mystery. The prophecy of Calanus came true in a matter of days…

So who was Calanus, Calanos, Kalanos, Kalyanaswami, Shobhanaswami, Sphines or Kalyan? Alexander first met him discoursing with a senior saint Dandamis. While Dandamis refused to move away from Indian soil, the curiosity in Calanus and the persuasion by the king of Taxila (Takshashila) took the better and he agreed to accompany Iskendar despite vehement disagreement from Dandamis. Alexander thus took Kalyan or Kalyanos in Greek, a Jain saint, as his guru or mentor in replacement of his boyhood tutor Aristotle. In 325 BCE (roughly 2 years before Alexander's death) the Macedonian Army withdrew after an unsuccessful Indian war. The Army was forced to march through the deadly Makran - a high desert. The retreat was disastrous. Some accounts say that three quarters of Alexander's forces perished in the Makran and Calanos also took ill. But rather than burden his fellow travelers, Calanos decided on death by immolation.

The story ‘How Abu Hasan Brake Wind’ from the 1001 Arabian nights (the story of the 410th night), Version by Richard F Burton goes thus – It is one of the many fascinating stories set between the 9th & 14th century AD, and outlines how one Bedouin widower moves from his village to the city, becomes a wealthy Hadhrami trader at Kaubakkan in Yemen, marries again, and on his wedding night fills himself with so much drink and food that at the most inopportune moment lets loose a great and terrible fart, only to lose face in front of his beautiful wife & many relatives & friends. So embittered does he become that he leaves the scene and sails away, sniveling bitterly without even spending a minute with his wife, to the port where he sees a ship waiting to sail to Calicut in Malabar. He reaches Calicut, meets many other Hadhramites and is introduced to the Zamorin who makes him the captain of his bodyguards. There he lived for 10 years, always yearning for his hometown and so returns one fine day, again without telling anybody. In a beggar’s disguise, he wanders around before going home, with just one hope - that nobody remembers his farting incident. He stops to rest near a hut and hears a young girl asking her mother inside if ma could tell her when she was born. The mother tells “of course my girl, it is easy to remember that, it was on the day Abu Hasan farted”. Abu Hasan hearing this is mortified and leaves Yemen again, going back to live his last sad years in Calicut.

That story, true or fable coupled with the remnants of history, establishes the ease at which an Arab could sail to and settle in Calicut in those days, just like how a young man from Calicut can settle in Dubai (though not sail to), today…..But this is not about farts and Dubai, it is about Beypore in Calicut, a port popularized by the Yemeni Hadhramites. The story of Abu Hasan being a captain etc may be just that, but many Hadhrami’s came to Calicut around the early 18th Century (Frietag & Smith) and became the first Sayyids & Thangals. Much before them was the Adenese Arabs and Jews and so many other nationalities. Some of the mercantile Hadhrami’s tracing their roots to Al Mukkalla for example are the Al Jifri’s and Baarami’s of today’s Calicut & Beypore. But more on all that later in this article - let us first establish perspective.

The Indian Ocean trade started from ancient times and strengthened during the medieval times. While in the old days Malabar directly traded with the Greeks and Romans, it concentrated on exchanges with the Middle Eastern ports in the medieval times. This exchange of goods resulted also in transfer of people from their abodes. While it is mentioned that Malabari’s were found along African ports and even Egypt’s, it was mostly Arabs who migrated to the Malabar coasts, mainly to administer, control and conduct the trade with their brethren in Yemen, Basra and Egyptian ports. The ports around Calicut were virtually free ports with only an export import duty imposed by the ruling Zamorins. The intermediaries between the Arabs and the Nairs were the Moplah’s (themselves a community started by the intermingling Arab men and local women from ancient times). Also the SE Malay ports sent ships to Malabar for the cloth from Kerala, until British cloth took its place later in the 19th century. It was also a stop over for Hajj pilgrims from SE Asia. The Arab settlers in Malabar even had African slaves during that period.

We now go to Beypore, some 10 miles south of Calicut where it all began. Beypore was the headquarters of the ancient Parappanad Rajas and their dilapidated palace can still be seen, I believe. Beypore was also that village writer Vaikom Mohammed Basheer (fondly known as ‘Beypore Sultan’)went to ‘‘so that his dreams became his address’’.

Some days ago, we talked about Aden trade and Abraham ben Yiju. This time we go a bit north East of the Red sea ports, to Hadhramaut. Hadhramaut is a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the Dhofar region of Oman. The people of Hadhramaut are called Hadhramis. During the days the Omani’s and Hadhramis traded with Calicut in the early 18th century, many Moppilas themselves were of Hadhrami descent (I believe also that the famous Malabar biryani can be traced to the Hadhramite Mandi rice – more on that another day). One of the names mentioned in history is Yemeni Syed Muhammed Al Zahir who left Hadhramut in 1830 and settled in Malabar. His son Abdul Rahman was one of the big names of Malabar trade in the later parts of the 19th century and became a kingpin of mercantile relations between the red sea ports and Malabar (even controlling the Dutch Sumatra war of 1873).

The Baraami’s were the ship builders in Beypore. Local teak wood was used for manufacturing the dhows. These Baramis can be traced to the Al Mukalla tribe in Egypt and struggle to continue the ship building in Beypore.

Beypore was where the great Urus and the tough Dhows were built. They were the mainstay of the spice trade between the sea coasts of Malabar & Arabia. Here was where master craftsmen (Maistry) or the carpenter breed called Khalasis crafted these wonderful ships with the aid of no modern tools like charts or instruments, but from memory & mental calculations. The old ships were crafted from Malabar teak (see my note on Malabar teak – the teak logs came down the Chaliyar river to the boatyards) but sadly now we import a variety similar to Irul, from Malaysia for price (a fifth of the price) reasons.

It was from these Malabar shores that the first migrants to the Gulf launched themselves on a long lasting exodus, when young men desperate for jobs smuggled themselves out of the country in long country boats called uru’s which took cargo to the Gulf ports. Do you remember Mammu koya in Nadodikattu (see the attached youtube video) - Remember the song ‘Kara kana kadalala mele’? Watch Srinivasan and Mohanlala taking the Uru trip.

The Beypore area is today home to the Mappila khalasis, famous for their expertise in lifting heavy weights. Till today, when machines and bulldozers fail, the khalasi teams are called on. Using little more than a wooden pole used as a dower or winch and leveraged by hawsers and pulleys, they move and lift huge masses. The Mappila khalasis were traditionally employed in launching the 400 tonne Arab dhows built at the Beypore docks but now are masters in hauling heavy wrecks.

An exciting fact about the ship-building industry in Beypore is the way in which the craft are built and the variety which can be found. The flat bottomed zambuk, the majestic breek (both Indian and Arabian designs), the boom which boasts of an enormous cargo carrying capacity, and the bahala with its beautiful and intricate carvings and arches, are all made using traditional tools and techniques. Even more incredible is the number of people dependent on this industry. More than 500 families are directly and indirectly dependent on the ship-building industry. Special methods used from historic times were the use of wooden dowels instead of nails, use of coir rope and tar to seal joints etc…Duarte Barbosa first recorded (around 1500 AD) manufacture of keeled ships boats carrying 1200 bahares burden (some 400 tonnes) in Beypore. He also noted that they had no decks. They were classic sewn boats of teak wood (both of which were at that time only available in Malabar – in this context). The caulking was done with shavings off the palm trees and the ships were coated with shark oil or castor oil for waterproofing.

It was the previously described people from Oman, Hadhamut, Yemen & Gulf – Iran who settled in Malabar to build these first Sanbuqs. The Hadhrami Sayyids, built the first ships in the 18th century with the Handramut techniques. Trade shifted from Basrah in 1773 to Kuwait and Qatar. Later Muscat & Jeddah took over; even the aristocratic Baghla was built in Malabar in the 19th century. The Kuwaiti & Omani Bum’s like the ‘the light of the earth and sea’ (the named ship was built in Beypore with Kuwaiti architects & Indian carpenters but did not become a popular ship though). Kambari’s were built using mango wood. Badan’s had the stitched patterns and so on. Once the Arab traders discovered wealthy Kerala, her willing craftsmen and her native teak plantation centuries ago, they shifted their dhow construction to Beypore. This industry thrived till Iron & Steel took over the ships medium of construction.

When the Price of Wales toured Beypore with Logan, he mentioned seeing Moplas, and Robinson explaining that they were of Arab extract & untrustworthy (Russel & hall – Pg 216). The very first ship built by the British in India was launched in 14th Nov 1803, named Duncan in honor of the governer of Bombay. It was a 400 tonne teak boat, but the difference was that nail and tar were used in construction. The tar itself was extracted from the teak sawdust (considered superior to Norwegian and other imported tars) . Information sourced from ‘The good old days of Hon John Co – WH Carey, pg 118.

Beypore was formerly known as known as Vaypura / Vadaparappanad. Tippu Sultan later named the town “Sultan Pattanam. Here was where in 1837, they found an iron box in the riverbed with a huge cache of gold coins with Ceaser’s face on them (some coins as old as 2 BC and some dated later to 50 AD) Source WJ Richards – Indian Christians of St Thomas Pg 69.
A remarkable feature of the technology of Uru making is that, there are no documents, work plans, technical data sheets or drawings right from the concept stage to completion. The construction details are assigned on a day to day basis to the assistants and carpenters by the master carpenter or Maistry. No electrical tools or heavy machines are used. The basic tools are the indigenous carpentry tools. All heavy lifting is done using elaborate pulley systems. Another amazing feature is the pre calculated water line marked around the hull, will be precisely on the water-level while the boat is launched. The master craftsmen of khalasis apparently use certain shlokas (or are they Arabic verses?) as their guide to ship building. Even today, the formula of dhow making remains a closely guarded secret that is handed over from generations to generation. Today, only as few as four master craftsmen are left behind.

Today you can see Beypore dhows in action in Dubai, though not usually around the coasts of Malabar. You can see them come and go in the creek; you can even board one of them. Radha Nair sets a beautiful perspective in her Deccan Herald article ‘Romancing the Uru’ (more detailed Outlook traveler article by her as well). Beypore town today is dotted with dozens of shops that sell model ships and one can notice iron anchors lying on either side of the road, which are tell tale signs of this flourishing industry. According to Captain Iwata, founder member of the Association of Sumerian ships in Japan, Sumerian ships might have been built in Beypore. There are evidences to prove that Beypore had direct trade links with Mesopotamia and was a prominent link on the maritime silk route.

Read these lovely set of articles on Sailing in a Dhow . Some Extracts from above link - Various types of ships were built in Beypore. Some of them were: Boom , Padavu , Bireek , Kottiya , Sambook , Bahla & Pathemar . The Beypore ships were usually around 300 tonnes and sometimes 600 tones. Today’s manufacturing methods are slightly different – Nails are used. The ‘Keel’ is the first part of a dhow to be made. The second phase of work is concentrated on the second layer of the dhow from the bottom called ‘ganel’. Iron and copper nails are used to hold the wood together. Filling the gaps using quality cotton is the next tiring phase of work. It is a very time consuming process that has to be done with absolute care. Making of ‘chukkan’ is the third part of the construction. The ‘Chukkan’ begins from the keel itself and its height would be the actual height of the dhow. ‘Chukkan’ provides the total control of the vessel. Then the inside part of the dhow ‘deck’ and, finally ‘aruthi’ is made. The manufacturing process is completed with the tying up of the sail ‘mat’ (paya) to the mast (chamaram).

The launching of a ship is a festive ceremony, attended by a large number of people. First, a prayer is said by the Qazi. When a Dhow was ready for launch wooden planks were kept up to appropriate height. The logs of the Puvathi tree serve as rollers are put on either side. Over these roller beams (Balus) strong enough to support the ship are kept. The gap between the beams and ship are filled tight with ropes. Then the ship is allowed to slowly move over the rollers with the help of rope and pulleys. In water they dip exactly up to the water mark earlier drawn by the Baramy. After the successful launch, a feast is laid out for all who have contributed to the ship building effort.

An interesting look back at the old times - ‘‘The cry would go out ‘the Omani has come, the Omani has come’ and we would leave everything behind and run to the beach. For weeks thereafter, the nakudah (ship’s skipper) and his men would roam the streets, eat at our homes and we children would accompany them as they haggled over the purchase of cordage, hawsers and various items of ship chandlery for their return journey,” said Libero, recalling a not-too-distant past and Beypore’s pivotal place in the age-old East-West trade.

Snippet – Vaikom Mohammed Basheer – Amongst the many things he did to live, he even found himself sailing as a khalasi on SS Rizvani carrying Haj pilgrims to Jeddah via the Red Sea. Alibayi a recent Malayalam movie set in Beypore & starring Mohanlal is based on the ship building families of Beypore.

Notes: For an Arab a fart at the inopportune moment apparently has a disastrous face losing effect to his esteem. Scholars maintain that this Abu Hasan story was concocted by Sir Richard Burton who surreptitiously inserted it into his translation and does not actually figure in the original Arabian nights. Some others mention that it was actually removed from normal Arabic versions as it was not right for children. Whatever be the case, it is indeed an interesting story and apparently originates (it is either from ‘The story of a Quadi who bare a babe’ or the Muntafiq tribe’s ‘story of the Prince of Kermanshah and his misfortune’) from another collection of Arabian tribal fables.

References

Khalasi Video
Launching the uru at Beypore
In the Wake of the Dhow Dionisius A. Agius
Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean - Ruth Barnes
Hadhrami Traders, Scholars, and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s - Ulrike Freitag, W. G. Clarence-Smith
Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut Ulrike Freitag
Southern Arabia – Forbes

I was intrigued by mentions of sunken ruins of an old part of Calicut city in a few history books. Having lived there for many years and not having heard of any such ruin perked my interest. Also I have been out into the sea having undertaken a dhow trip two miles into the waters to board a merchant ship captained by my uncle, many years ago. I had certainly seen no underwater ruins at that time. So what where these historians talking about??

Varthema first stated in 1503 that the city of Calicut had no wall around it and that houses extend for a mile or so from the shores. In town the houses are built close together, and he then explained that larger houses with a compound could be seen for another 6 miles. He also states that if you dig about 4-5 spans, water can be found and thus large houses were never built. For this reason, the Zamorin’s palace in the middle of town was low and insignificant. (Strange to note: This shows that Calicut did not change much until the 20th century).

Hamilton stated that around mid Feb 1703, when he visited Calicut, as he stood and looked, he chanced to see some of the ruins of the sunken town (on Coote’s reef off Calicut) and the remains of a fort built by the Portuguese in former times. He is not sure if the town was undermined by the sea or swallowed by an earthquake. This devastation apparently happened in the 1550-1585 time frame.

Forbes in 1772 confirms having seen underwater temples & minarets and explains all these in greater detail in his accounts.

Stanhope confirms in 1785 that he had heard about an event in 1585 where there was a sudden uprising of the sea that killed all the local inhabitants. He claims to have anchored at the spot where the old city stood and saw the foundations of the old city with naked eyes!!

Newbold confirms in 1846 that he saw the ruins of the Portuguese factory underwater as well. Local people also mentioned of underwater ruins some 12km north towards Kappad.

Let us now look at the geography – At the south extreme part of the Calicut reef somewhere close to the Kallai - Beypore entrance of the Chaliyam river is what is called the Coote’s reef (about 1.5 miles from the lighthouse). This was called Coote’s reef due to the loss of an EIC ship (sloop of war) of that name which ran into the reef and was destroyed at that location on 1st Dec 1855. (A detailed coast survey of the Calicut shores can be read on Page 148 of the Manual of administration of the Madras Presidency Vol 2, 1885). This was also the reef that Hamilton’s ship struck and where he stepped aside to see the ruins.

Logan believed circa 1900 that there definitely was sea encroachment to the shores of Calicut, but that reports of a Portuguese fort was found among sunken ruins at the location of Coote’s reef is not conceivable (Malabar Manual – page 75) though affirms that Sheikh Mammu Koya’s tomb probably stood at that location.

According to Logan, the said Portuguese fort was square in shape (see picture in MGS – Calicut the city of truth page 29) facing the sea and built in 1513 & designed by Thomas Fernandez. This was abandoned after hostilities, in 1525. If this was located at the reef and was overrun by the river or sea, the foundations may have been visible. The general conjuncture however was that this kind of rising of the sea has not taken place, for many other parts of inhabited Calicut would also have had reported flood situations consequent to this event.

However, let us now look at Danver’s accounts for more details on the fort’s construction – It states that the Zamorin of 1513 expelled the Arab traders who would not trade with the Portuguese and assisted the Portuguese in the construction of a fort in Dec 1513. He states that the foundations of the fort were laid underwater at the reef, close to the shipping anchorage. The fort was of the same size as the one at Cochin. Albuquerque placed Francesco Nogueira in charge with a sizeable force to protect it (The story of this Zamorin is interesting – He was apparently the Eralpad who poisoned the reigning Zamorin at the behest of the Portuguese and ascended to the throne – Also the person involved in deputing Dom Joao Da Cruz (refer my blog - The torn earlobe and the horse trader) to Lisbon as his envoy)

Looking at Earthquakes & Tsunamis of that period, it was determined that a small one occurred in 1524 (recorded in history by Vasco Da Gama and some others). Subsequently small quakes were felt in Calicut in 1881 and 1882. However this was not the cause of any event outlined above and from a different period as you can see.. In 1887 Lt RN Helby and party surveyed the region between Beypore & Calicut thoroughly and the reefs were mapped. I must however admit that I have myself heard many people admit that there has been considerable sea encroachment at Calicut

One may thus conclude with evidence available that the underwater city of Calicut is basically a myth and that there was no great erosion or cataclysmic event that inundated Calicut underwater around1500-1600. It is also clear from Danver’s accounts that the ruins seen were actually the real foundations of the Portuguese fort at the edge of the reef.

But well – the one thing that survived a long time was the British built screw pile at Calicut. One end stood close to the customs Bungalow (see picture from 1903) and the other end went as far as 4km in the mid 1800’s. This is the screw pile ‘Kadal Palam’ or sea bridge. The pile or Jetty as it thence got termed was shortened to some174 yards (500ft long). This screw pile pier of Calicut was built in 1871 at the cost of Rs 64,000/- . (pg 23/24 MGSN ‘Calicut City of truth’). Until it was fully operational, the pier built to receive the Prince of Wales at Beypore was used, even for transporting & boarding troops. Today the historical cast iron Jetty is lost and only a few forlorn pillars are testament to the lost glory of that great trading port that once dictated the fortunes of medieval Malabar.

Note – When the HMS Coote ran into the reef, a lot of effort was made to salvage it, but it was of no avail. The hull was sold for Rs 10,000/- to a local merchant who unfortunately lost his entire investment due to the fact that it could not be towed ashore.

References
Himalaya & Tibet (Study by Bendick & Bilham) – Allison Mcfarlane, Rasoul Sorkhabi, Jay Quade
The Portuguese in India : A.D. 1481-1571 Frederick Charles Danvers

Pics – Thanks to the BEM Calicut archives, District website

The Indian sub continent, as Abu Lughod puts it ‘was in the way to everywhere’. And one such stop over in medieval times was the Malabar port of Calicut. It was always the key link in the Indian Ocean and the Indo China sea trade system. Picture a 15th century day at Kozhikode - The big bazaar (Valiyangadi) just off the Calicut beach resounded with multiple languages, and a teeming populace consisting of so many races. Nairs, Tamil Chettiars, white & black Jews, Arabs, Persians, Syrians, Christians, Turks, Somalis, Chinese, Malays, Italians and many more nationalities rubbed shoulders with each other speaking a score of languages and dialects. Thinking back I wonder, where did they live and what did they eat???

Some time back I had written about Cheng Ho’s arrival in Calicut, the Chinese treasure ships and the ambassadors they took back. I had also mentioned about the trade as such and the way Chinese traders conversed (see links below). Let us now try to understand how it started and how it ended.

Normal maritime links between Arabia and China and the Far East existed some 1200 years ago. That presumption is proved by the recent discovery of a sunken Dhow filled with trade goods, near Indonesia. Arab dhows piloted by fearless Middle Eastern traders continued what they excelled in, sailing with the winds, taking their time, with minimum fuss, plying at the ports of Calicut, Zeytoun (Quanzhou – Citong city - S China) and Basra to offload and exchange trade merchandise. The porcelain and silk continued to reach Basra & Europe through overland and sea routes. The Spices went up North to China and West to Europe. The Kling or Kalinga (Chettiar?) merchants from the Coramandel also sailed their great ships to Chinese ports.

Chinese trade originally started with both Coromandel (Chola) Nagapatinam and Malabar ports during the Sung dynasty between 967-1279. Quilon was where the Arabian coast trade with China really started, and as the geopolitical scene and export power base shifted, the Chinese moved up the coast from Quilon to Cochin and finally Calicut. During this period the Chinese ships ventured out from Zeytoun and Canton usually until Malabar (the lure was pearls from the Ceylon straits) and not beyond to the Arab ports. It was only in the 13th century that Chinese ships frequented the Arabian ports. Suleiman in his writings around 852AD state that ships leaving Muscat stopped at Quilon on the way back, a time when they had to pay a very heavy customs duty of 1000 Dinars! In 1282 we even had Quilon Envoys at Zeytoun. It must have been during these periods that the Chinese fishing nets landed up in Travancore & Cochin, a period when Kublai Khan ruled. The Chinese king/queen, the ruler of Venad, was titled Penate (Venadan) by the Chinese. The Quilon royal residence was called Apuhota. It was in 1294 that Marco Polo visited Quilon, while in the service of Kublai Khan. Quilon ginger & pepper were in great demand in China.

Somewhere around 1310, as documented by the Roman Friar John of Monte Corvino (Quilon was called Columbum then by the West) the Arabic missionaries and Mopilah merchants stepped into Quilon and started to strengthen their religious bases and their numbers, eventually wresting away the local trade from the Chinese. Around 1340, Ibn Batuta visited Quilon and Calicut. This is just about the time that the Calicut port’s supremacy starts. The Chinese trade in Quilon is by now on the decline, the Arabs, Moors and the Moppilahs are taking over the trade at the other ports as well. The first reports of the flourishing trade came when Ibn Batuta came in 1343 he wrote about seeing some 13 Chinese junks in the Calicut harbor.

The 14th & 15th Century was the period when trade with the Chinese rose dramatically owing to the visits by Cheng Ho and the warm relations between Kuli (Calicut) and the Ming China. The decline of the Chinese trade in Calicut started when the Bahrami traders took an upper edge at Calicut, according to Ashin Das Gupta. The advantage the Moors had over the Chinese was numbers and their willingness to help the Zamorin in his conquests. Ashin Das Gupta however mentions in his books that the Chinese trade virtually ended with Quilon and mentions only a few visits by Chinese Junks to Calicut which I believe was erroneous considering Mahuan’s writings and the Cheng Ho saga.

By the 15th Century the Chinese shifted their focus to Malacca. Curiously the Arab trade route also restricted itself to the Arabian Sea resulting from the fall of the Abbasiud Caliphate. Thus, Indian ships plied the routes between Malacca and Malabar ports. Let us now look at the 15th Century trade. In 1402, during a devastating civil war, Zhu Di seized the throne from his nephew. Since he had seized the throne by force, Emperor Zhu Di was especially anxious to demonstrate and prove his legitimacy.In 1403 Emperor Zhu Di ordered construction of an imperial fleet that was to include trading ships, warships, the so-called "treasure ships," and support vessels and ordered the fleet, under the command of Admiral Zheng He, to embark on a major voyage that same year. The emperor and Admiral Zheng He had been friends since the admiral was in his teens, and they trusted one another. Since Zheng He was a Muslim, he would be able to establish good relations with Muslim trading communities as well as with Chinese traders in the ports the ships visited

Zheng He (Cheng Ho) voyages - Zheng He commanded a fleet of 317 ships, almost 28,000 men, their arms and supplies. He oversaw seven voyages that touched upon Calicut between 1405 -1433. Multi lateral trade prospered and formal relations between the Ming dynasty and several Indian, Middle Eastern and South East Asian countries were established. Zheng He or Cheng Ho dies at Calicut in 1433. The Ming emperor orders a halt to wasteful spending on treasure ships and thus the Chinese sponsored maritime trade comes to a complete halt. After 1439 there is no further evidence of any envoys from or to Calicut. (See my blog on Zheng Ho)

Malabar was one place where all the products from the East or the West could be purchased or sold. As a free port, administered under the benevolence of the Zamorin, Calicut prospered. Many nationalities coexisted in harmony, crime was minimal and honesty in trade was well documented.

Now you, the reader may question – why did the native of Malabar rarely venture out into the seas, during the medieval times? Why was it that this was done only by the Arabs and probably the Moppilas – the Maraikkar community (with Sri Lankan Origin perhaps). The answer is very interesting and comes from the deep rooted belief that if one leaves the shores, then you lose caste. That is the story of Kala Paani. The old Aryan myth goes as follows – The Ocean is the resting place of the great God and any human activity on it will disturb the tranquility. Doing so would mean losing your caste, possible excommunication and banishment from society. Thus the oceans were called Black water or Kala Pani and the English had a tough time getting labor across to the West Indies, Africa and other places. Read a separate blog on this subject.

What did the Chinese do at Calicut? They picked up spices of course, but only on the Journey eastwards back to China. They did stop over in Calicut on each of the voyages, recuperated, replenished their stores and continued on frequently to the west. For the westerly trade, they bartered in Calicut with gold coins, spices from SE Asia and mainly rice that they had picked up at Orissa, to purchase Silver for the trip to Zanzibar. Ian Blanchard gives the reasons in detail in his book on Mining. Curiously in Zanzibar, they bartered the Silver for Rhodesian native gold and more spices!! Another item traded by Calicut merchants was Arabian Opium that was purchased at a third of the price in Canton, by Chinese traders in Calicut. It was something the Chinese considered very important and needed for their medicines

Here the reader should note that the Opium story again takes a funny course. The Malabar people never got hooked on drugs like Opium, however it is mentioned in the annals of history that the people around Dutch Cochin were habituated for a period after the Dutch who controlled the Opium trade, used Opium to barter for spices during their supremacy. Then after the British came, they cultivated Opium in Bengal (George Orwell’s father headed the department) for delivery to China….

According to traveler Ma Huan’s notes, the only people the Chinese had any regard for was the people of Kuli or Calicut. The rest were typically barbarians. The reasons are amply explained in this description.

This is the great country of the Western Ocean. In the fifth year of the Yung Lo, the court ordered the principal envoy, the grand eunuch Cheng Ho and others to deliver an imperial mandate to the king of this country and to bestow on him a patent conferring the title of honor and the grant of a silver seal, also to promote all the chiefs and award them hats and girdles of various grades…..The people are very honest and trustworthy. Their appearance is smart, fine and distinguished. Foreign ships from every place come there, and the king of the country also sends a chief and a writer and others to watch the sales, thereupon they collect the duty and pay it to the authorities.

Where did the Chinese live in Calicut? Look no further than in a westerly direction from the environs of the Big Bazaar, the Northwest port area. Calicut of the 14th Century was built as a model city, following the Hindu grid formula based on the image of a sacred man Purusha. The axis and energy centre was dictated by the position of the Tali temple, and all trades and people had a place. The Chinese lived in the Chinese street now called the Silk Street. This was later occupied by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English (the Portuguese fort was located there). The Mappilas lived South West. South East was Tali temple, the palace and the kalaris. Northeast was the commercial quarter.

It is also interesting to note that in one of the Zheng Ho voyages; he participated (and probably even helped) with the installation of a Manavikarma Zamorin.

Chinese Arab rivalry - The instigation of the Zamorin by Arab traders who were envious of the competition from the Chinese started the process. Various references indicate sharp rivalry between the Arab and Chinese traders and OK Nambiar in his book reaffirms that a Chinese village was set fire upon by the Arabs of Calicut. Joseph the Indian, visiting Europe in the 16th century, accompanying Cabarl (Read the linked Cabral’s hostages) on his voyage back to Lisbon states that the Moppilahs armed with the Zamorin’s backing destroys a Chinese settlement in Calicut over some trade dispute. While this may have happened in the 16th century, during the 13th century, the Chinese had frequent visits at Zeytoun by Marakkar Muslims and during 1291 even gave asylum to Bouali (Abu Ali, I guess a Marakkar), from Tuticorin until he died and was buried there in 1299)

There is a belief that many of the Chinese shifted base from Calicut to rival Cochin as a result of these attacks, but after taking revenge (Ashin Das Gupta confirms it as well, based on Joseph’s notes). Joseph also states that the Chinese have remarkable energy and conducted a first rate trade in Calicut. According to Jospeh, the Chinese left Calicut after this slaughter and after taking revenge on the people (late 14th century) finally shifting base to Mailapatam under King Narasinga towards the sea of Cengala (also recreating dwellings and scenery like Calicut – De Barros) and leaving behind only a colony of half castes (Chini Bachagan referred to in Malabar Manual & AbduRazzak) and some Chinese temples (??). The one apparent problem was, I understand, the desire of exclusivity that the Chinese demanded in bilateral trade relations. The Zamorins could never grant that, considering the Indian Ocean trade with Arabs, the large Europe trade and considering that Calicut was after all a free port.

By the time Gama reached India, the Chinese trade was just a matter of tradition, and not a flourishing one. The Chinese had their temples in Calicut and had a settlement including half caste progeny, that’s all.

They were not alone and all this time, they had stiff competition with the Arabs and Moppliah’s of Malabar, whom the Zamorin favored. Even though the shipping stopped after 1435 and the edict by the Mings not to continue trade links, the overland routes prospered. However they continued in Calicut till the Portuguese came. That was the final nail in the coffin and once the massacre of everything that did not fall into the Portuguese line of thought started, the Chinese left. They probably moved on to other new trade centers like Calcutta which the later day English favored, or to Malaysia, Indonesia etc which was more conducive to unthreatened existence.

The Portuguese and the Dutch ensured the fall of Calicut from trading grace, shifting it first to Cochin and Goa. A casual English visitor to Calicut in the late 17th Century mentions a thriving port that once bustled with activity and bristling with trading rivalry had declined to looks presented by a modest and peaceful fishing village. However one must bear in mind that the only reason for Portuguese success in the late 15th century was the abrupt removal of the Chinese from the maritime scene by the Ming dynasty due to problems at home. The Portuguese next shifted focus to Malacca and it was by 1521 that the Chinese broke off relations with them once and for all.

Who are the Chinna Kribala, another type of Koyas of Calicut – William Taylor feels that they came by sea and were probably of Chinese origin. But he also infers that they could be Malay. It is one of those half castes who became Marakkar’s confidante – Chinali.

Incidentally the port frequented by the Chinese in Calicut was Pantalayani Kollam and was termed Fandaraina. Here was where their ships docked during the monsoon months.

Some words about where the Chinese departed to - They shifted base to Mailapatam under King Narasinga of Vijayanagara towards the bay of Bengal (also recreating dwellings and scenery like Calicut – De Barros). Further research shows that this China Patanam is Chennapatanam or today’s Chennai, yesterday’s Madras (Hobson-Jobson – Chinapatam)!!

But there is also a comment in history books that the Maraikkar’s (KM III) captured somewhere near Goa a Chinese treasure Junk laden with goods in 1592 (corroborated by many writers & historians). That’s funny – according to other information the Chinese had stopped shipping around the early 16th century?

Note – The Compass was apparently invented by the Chinese circa 1110AD, with that, sea navigation became easier. In the very early days when Arabian Dhows reached Chinese shores of Zeytoun, the Chinese always met the incoming ships at the straits to conduct trade and only a few were allowed in, in which case trade was carefully supervised. The five major ports in the world according to Ibn batuta (1304-1377) were Alexandria, Quilon, Calicut, Zeytoun and Soldaia or Sudak in Crimea. All five were fed with the Indo-China trade.

Tail Note – In the 15th and 16th centuries, Calicut was reportedly larger than Lisbon (Hope Diamond – Richard Kurin) Can you believe that?

Links & References
Cheng Ho in Calicut
When Fingers talk
Enterprising Malayalees
Cabral’s hostages
Beyond Price - R. A. Donkin
Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the middle Ages - Ian Blanchard
Quilon – An Indian port of former Days – Padmanabhan Thampi
Before European Hegemony - By Janet L. Abu-Lughod
History's Great Untold Stories - Joseph Cummins

Pics

It is very interesting to note that in India’s medieval maritime history, the real seafarers were rarely Hindus. There were many mentions of sailors from Malabar, Coromandel, Gujarat and Bengal in earlier times though. In those days the concept of borders was not definite and people of many nations intermingled, primarily at the ports of India. Calicut and Gujarat (Cambay) were considered great ports. Vedic text recounts the sea farers and recent discoveries cement that line of thought. Like the ports of Muziris and Calicut, Mahabalipuram was a port where the Kalinga ships ventured out into South East Asia and perhaps even the Pacific. From early times the inhabitants of Gauda in (Murshirabad) Bengal were known as seafarers. So ancient Hindus had a very good knowledge of the oceans, possibly even magnetic compass and star charting, resulting in brisk maritime trade. But with the Indian Ocean trade that continued, and focusing on the Arabian Sea ports, it is again curious that the trade & sailing was carried out by Chinese or various types of Moors and low caste Hindus. The question why has a simple answer – religious taboo. So how and when did the ocean taboo come about? Pires was one of the first to confirm its existence in Malabar in his Suma Oriental.

I must however mention though this taboo gained support in the medieval periods, the richer merchant (banias or vanias) had no qualms about sea crossing (albeit not too often) and on return carried out the required ‘prayaschita poojas’ to retain caste, according to many accounts. It was finally sometime around1850 the taboo lost support due to many Bengalis traveling abroad.

The first thing to note here is the belief in Hindu mythology that the Ocean is a resting place for gods and they shall never be disturbed. So one may not venture out into the oceans and incur their wrath and thus face fierce demons & monsters. Both Manu Smriti and the Baudhayana Dharma Sutra specifically dissuaded Brahmins from sea travels, and the penalties and penances if one did so were very severe. You could lose caste on that one account and the expenses incurred in doing the required penance were imposing to say the least. Manusmriti (written circa 200BCE, Chapter 3, verse 158) mentions the rules - if a Brahmin did cross the waters, he is to be denied a Shrardha (the annual appeasement of spirits - Shrardha - serves to remind one at important times throughout one's life that death does not severe the link between the present and the past, between the living and the dead). Such an offender is grouped with prisoners, sellers of soma, one who eats food given by the son of an adulteress, a bard, an oilman or a perjurer. Now if you do read the Manusmriti you are sure to find it pretty rigid and sometimes preposterous compared to today’s laws!!

However these rules formally applied only to the highest of castes and thus the lower ones were allowed to cross the seas. Nambuthiris in Kerala later instilled similar rules on Nairs, not even allowing movement out of ones districts!! It was even more strictly applied to women who could not even leave their general dwelling area.

With these strictures in place, noblemen and higher castes lived well away from water. Looking at Malabar, you would see from historic days that only houses of Muslims, Mukkuvars and foreigners were located close to the beaches or coastline.

Some who have incurred religious wrath for crossing the seas are notables like Tagore, Gandhiji, Vivekananda and Ramanujan. However it must be pointed out that this became a noteworthy issue only around the time when white foreigners came to India and trade contact ensued. This was probably when (13th to 20th century) the Hindu clergy started to impose the strictures of religion on the masses. In the later part of the 17TH and 18th century, the English suffered in their attempts to get labor across to Africa and West Indies due to this reason. They finally took large cauldrons of Ganges water on board to keep these men contended. The crossing of the seas was termed crossing the dark waters or Kala Paani. The taboo was in force till the end of the 19th Century when the Bengali elite broke it, which was ‘avante garde’ in many respects

A Brahmin explained the taboo as follows - This because one cannot perform his daily ‘pujas’, the three time ‘sandyavandans’ because the sun and moon was "in the wrong place at the wrong time". Moreover, people lived only within their community and did not "touch" anyone else. If one goes out, he would have to compromise on those religious practices, ‘touch’ many unclean people and eat food prepared by "mleccha’s (non Aryan or non Vedic follower)". Another reason stated was that India is a "Punyabhoomi (Holy land)" and the rest of the world is “karmabhoomi (Land of duty)”. Furthermore, such a departure from this land entailed the end of the reincarnation cycle, as the traveler was cut off from the regenerating waters of the Ganges (thus the English solution of carrying Ganges water on ships). It also meant the departure from family and social ties, besides caste dissolution especially among the higher spheres of society.

KM Panikkar the historian however does not concur that this taboo had any real effect, "Millenniums before Columbus sailed the Atlantic and Magellan crossed the Pacific, the Indian Ocean had become a thoroughfare of commercial and cultural traffic between the west coast of India and Babylon, as well as the Levant." He goes on to assert that Hindus had in use a matsya yantra (magnetic compass) and possessed the skills to construct ocean-going ships, sturdy enough to venture into the distant reaches of the Arabian Sea. Debunking the commonly held belief that all Hindus had a religious objection to crossing the seas, he says, “It was never true of the people of the South." Panikkar then recounts the continuum of colonisation as well as cultural and religious osmosis by sea from India's east coast to SE Asia. Starting with the Mauryan emperors, he traces Indian maritime activism through the Andhra, Pallava, Pandya, Chalukya and Chola dynasties. He concludes that Hindu influence could not have prevailed so far from home from the 5th to the 13th century without resolute and substantive maritime sustenance from the mother country.

Rig Vedic references to early seafarers - The oldest evidence on record is supplied by the Rig Veda, which contains several references to sea voyages undertaken for commercial purposes. One passage (I. 25.7) represents Varuna having a full knowledge of the sea routes, and another (I. 56.2) speaks of merchants, under the influence of greed, sending ships to foreign countries. A third passage (I. 56.2) mentions merchants whose field of activity known no bounds, who go everywhere in pursuit of gain, and frequent every part of the sea. The fourth passage (VII. 88.3 and 4) alludes to a voyage undertaken by Vasishtha and Varuna in a ship skillfully fitted out, and their "undulating happily in the prosperous swing." The fifth, which is the most interesting passage (I. 116. 3), mentions a naval expedition on which Tugra the Rishi king sent his son Bhujyu against some of his enemies in the distant islands; Bhujyu, however, is ship wrecked by a storm, with all his followers, on the ocean, "where there is no support, no rest for the foot or the hand," from which he is rescued by the twin brethren, the Asvins, in their hundred-oared galley. The Panis in the Vedas and later classical literature were the merchant class who were the pioneers and who dared to set their course from unknown lands and succeeded in throwing bridges between many and diverse nations. The Phoenicians were no other than the Panis of the Rig Veda. They were called Phoeni in Latin which is very similar to the Sanskrit Pani.

This is just an introductory article on the medieval taboo and not one covering details on the seafaring Indians. Those exploits will be covered later. And all this is again in the news with the discovery of the reed boats from the Indus valley civilization.