Historic Alleys

Vadakan pattukal came to light in the 16th century, but there were vernacular poets even before that and the first such documented poetry is the story of Nilakesi in ‘The Payyanur paattu’. Dr Herman Gundert unearthed it during his days in Telicherry in the 19th century and transported some of what he obtained to Germany. Since then, it has been much talked about. This is not an in-depth study and I am happy to say that there is plenty of material out there and many experts have conducted solid studies on the subject. So consider this just an introduction to the uninitiated with a request to read the other available material, if history interests you.

When you unearth a bit of colloquial poetry like the Payyanur Paattu which tells a story, you would first concentrate on the story. The story in this case is only the medium, expressing human relationships and emotion, striking the chord with the public. But as a text from even earlier times, it hides in between the jumbled words, a good amount of history, especially relating to trade and cultural activities of a period. So when this appeared, the rich treasure trove was dissected by the learned and the wisdom gleaned from it is rather illuminating, so to speak. And that is why it is much heralded in recent times.

Payyannur (actually termed as Pazhayannur in the poetry) incidentally is the Northern most district of the Chirakkal taluk and finds mention from Parusurama’s times as the seat of the Payyannur Grammakkar. These people were the Brahmins specially favored by ‘Parasurama’ and had even practiced ‘matrilineal maraumakkattayam’ and not the Vedic prescribed Makkattayam inheritance system which Namboothiri’s later followed.

The Payyanur Paattu is a ballad dedicated to a local goddess and written around the 13th or 14th century in Malayalam by an unknown writer belonging to the trading Chettiar community. While almost all textual work in India is attributed to the scholarly Bhrahmin class (for only they were allowed study of scriptures & Sanskrit), this was done by the merchant sect or Chettys. Interestingly, while many relied on the word of mouth, Chettys had to write out their accounts & contracts, so were used to writing things. The document when first discovered by Gundert was incomplete, only some 104 verses or 448 lines in all were found, and is still largely incomplete. However the story line has been augmented by other contemporary poetry to come to an acceptable conclusion.

The original text runs as follows and then stops abruptly, for that was all Dr Gundert could get out of the manuscript he received and exemplified as “certainly the oldest specimen on Malayalam composition which I have seen”. He adds “the language is rich and bold, evidently of a time when the infusions from Sanskrit had not reduced the energy of the tongue, by cramping it with hosts of unmeaningful particles”. Gundert and many others studied this one and only fragment without corroboration of text or matter from other sources. Due to this reason, understanding of some of the words were difficult not only to Dr Gundert, but even today’s Malayalam experts. But naturally, for this was heavy colloquial poetry with a large dose of trade related usages & words, that are still being deciphered.

For now, I will condense the story a bit…

Nilakesi, a woman born in a very good family in Trissivaperur (Trichur), did not have any sons even though she had tried marriage with several men for the sake of progeny. Finally she decided to perform penance, left her place alone on a pilgrimage and reached Kachilpatanam a famous trading centre near Ezhimala. There lived a merchant named Nambu chetty alias Combu chetty who was the chief trader. Nilakesi meets this Chetty who after performing some vows takes her to his mansion as his lawful wedded wife. The matrimony is eventful. Nilakesi begets a son off him named Nambusari Aran. Pleased at the birth of a son the parents gave a 41st day feast at the big Payyannur plains. At that time the brothers of Nilakesi were coasting by the area in a ship. Hearing the music and seeing the festivities, they disembark to see the play. To get inside the temple, they climb the walls and get caught by spectators who consider them as unwanted and suspicious characters. An argument ensues; the brothers vainly try to explain that they are Kulavaniyars (traders of grain) not knowing local customs and request an audience with the chief Chetty (unknown to them, their own BIL). He comes and without further questions, straightaway strikes one of them on the head but this thus continues into a bigger scuffle and the two brothers are killed.

On hearing about this, Nilakesi is distraught and leaves home (leaving everything behind including her son) with a vow (kudi paka) to take revenge by killing her own son, and continues wandering around as a mendicant, once again.

The son grew up and the father taught his son everything about trade and ship building. The father gave him a new ship for trading and the son plans to man it with Vapuravas, Pandyas, Jonakas, Chuliyas,Pappavas and a Yavana. The ship is loaded, launched and it sets out to Poompattana near Ezhimala, and then goes to the Maladives, to Puvenkapatana, then up the Kaveri River to another sea and finally the shores of the Gold Mountains. Here the trader and his team barter their goods for a heap of gold and return to Kachilpatanam and dismisses his mariners with their share of gold and profits.

One fine day the son is playing chess with his father when a female ascetic requests their audience, not satisfied with the alms usually given at the gate. . She comes in and requests to be allowed to talk to the young merchant, but the boy refuses to be the giver of alms to the woman. The lady threatens dire circumstances should he not accede to her wishes, so they agree to debate and if she won, he would personally give her alms.. The Sanyasini of course was none other than Nilakesi the mother of Nambusari Aran, the young merchant. A long discussion and a regular debate takes place between them, Nilakesi wins and she then invites the boy to a cultural festival and feast.

She requests him to come to Payyannur for a feast conducted by women there. She actually taunts him saying, come there if you are a man, seeing him hesitate. The boy takes on the challenge and agrees, but finds his father distraught about the idea. The father states that the boy will be killed, and also explains the reasons of his fears to the boy and the story of his mother’s ‘koodi paka’( here there is a twist – Some experts state that the father never mentions that the lady is his mother but does say that she would kill him) .. Father says I’ll die if you go, son says, I will die if you do not allow me to go…. They have a major argument about it at the end of which the son falls and prostrates on his father’s feet begging for approval to go. Finally the father accedes with great reluctance, but sure of grave & mortal danger to his son, insists that he take along with him strong guards from the family of the Gopala Chetty of Anjuvannam, the Manigramma families (he explains to his son that there are four classes of trading colonists in the four towns),.. So he plans to go with 14 companions to avoid being outwitted by anybody of the country (presumably Kolathunad). The son states that he will not sleep until he returns home, and that he would return in the morning even if he has to be dragged home by his feet. The father then suggests that they take some trading goods along as for a fair. The final 10 stanzas are all about the goods to be taken for the trade at the fair.

The poem ends there thus with 104 verses. In suspense..

Whatever happens to the boy? Wait a bit I will tell you what the believed answer is. You see, it took us another 100 years after Gundert’s discovery to find out a plausible answer

This poem is very important for historians and anthropologist for a few reasons. One, it was the first documented poem and secondly it was passed on by tradition in the vernacular. The story was completed only from the Theyyattam songs of the area, as narrated by the washer man or ‘mannan’ caste. How did the story go from the Chetty guilds to the Mannan caste? Also it was the first document that identified the merchant guilds existing between the 9th and 13th century. Later studies established the details of the said guilds, more on that and the Ayyavole guild in a follow up blog.

Then again, this is the first documentary evidence of Changathams and Chavers in Malabar. They are alluded to in the poem as mercenaries and support for the trading caravans (it says – Chavalarepole Niyakkalepovum, Changatham venam Perikkayipol).

You can also see here that the mariners mentioned were from various parts. Pandiyas & Chuliays were of Tamil (refer my blog on marakkayars to learn about Chooliyas) origin. It is mentioned, I believe that the boats are sewn boats termed ‘marakalam’, which is typical of Malabar boats. Then there were the sail boats and rowing boats. So the Chooliyas in the marakkalam may haven been marakkayars. Note again that the ships went to the Maladives which later became a personal fiefdom of the Mamally Marakkar.

In the passages where the father teaches the son, there are mentions of book keeping methods, as well as understanding purity of metals. Good qualities that a trader should possess are meticulously explained and also the fact that trade comprised rice from other Eastern areas (as it was ferried by ship) is clear from some paragraphs (showing a scarcity in Malabar). As we know now, Valluvanad & Kuttanad were the areas where rice was eventually cultivated.

It was also one of the earliest mentions of chess or Chaturangam being played in Kerala. It is known that Namboothiris used to play it a lot, even demarcating temple grounds with huge pieces and squares to signify the board, but this is documented proof of others playing it and describing the pieces. All the chess pieces are named: King (Mannava), Horse (Kutira), Elephant (Varana), Chariot (Ther), Footmen (Natakkum Chevakan) and Minister (Mantri).

Anyway, the wise Gundert Sayyip took his collection including this fragmentary ballad and stored it in the Tuebingen Library where it rested peacefully and safely. I shudder to think of the consequences had it been left at its place of origin, we would never have got richer with all this information & history. And it explains the special attachment of the woman of Malabar to her matrilineal family, where for example the husband comes second. It also hovers around the kind of confusion that Abraham Ben Yiju felt about Ashu’s relationship with her brothers.

Now who is this ballad dedicated to? Presumably a Bhaghawati or goddess (some arguments on this subject with Shiva and Subramaniam also coming in) – Historian NM Nampoothiri explains - Many Female deities in the village groves are seen praised as Kannaki of Madura who is the Principal Goddess of Trade .Many Bhaghavathis come to the Groves in a ship or ‘kappal’(a signifier of maritime trade.) These Female deities are worshipped by Chetties of the eastern coast who are Trade Groups. Deity of ‘Maataayikkaavu (maatu+vaay=Port near hillocks, Varakkal is another case Vara means hillocks). The deity praised in Payyannur Paattu and the deity of Pishaari kaavu (Pantalayini port/ Kollam Port) are these types. Pitaari or pishaari signifies Kaali in Tirunelveli. There are shrines of deity Pitaari widely spread over Tirunelveli /Madura areas.
Many years later the rest of the story was obtained as part of a washer mans’ exorcism ballad. These mannan’s performed ‘teyyattam’ for the merchant community. So the Paattu as we know today is a hybrid of the manuscript and the vernacular ballad, a hybrid poem. The second poem is called Nilakesi Paattu where Nilakesi meets up with Nambusari and they have a contest of chess in which he gets defeated. Nilakesi then takes the story to the end, which is, as she avowed, his death. So to complete the story, the mother Nilakesi kills her son in revenge.

People had access to Gundert’s simplified version of the Payyannnur Paattu in the Madras journal of Literature & Science (XIII-II) April 1884, but not the original parchment until recently. It rested in the Tuebingen University and nobody had any real clue about this Malayalam script, i.e. till Dr Scaria Sachariah came along. But in passing Gundert Sayip concluded thus ‘I believe that the people of Anjuvannam and Manigramam here mentioned as belonging to yonder country can only mean Jews and Christians (or Manicheans) who for commerce’s sake also settled beyond the Perumal’s territories. It would be interesting to know which the other two classes are. In the meantime the existence of four trading communities in Kerala seem proved, and the ‘nalucheri’ of the first Syrian document receives some elucidation from this incidental allusion.’

For now, I will conclude. This as I mentioned, is only an introduction. Reading the books referred below will provide a history enthusiast great perspective and much information about culture, trade and relationships of that time…

Introducing the experts

Dr. Scaria Zachariah, professor of Malayalam, at the Sree Sankara University of Sanskrit, Kalady, is an expert in 16th century Malayalam . P Antony was a student in the same university, and researching on Vadakkan Poattukal.

Others who have written various essays on this subject are Prof Guptan Nair, Dr Leelavati, Mahakavi Ulloor, MGS Narayanan, Venugopalan Nambiar, K Balakrishnan, Dinesan, Sajitha, T Pavithran to name a few, these can be read in the Tapasam issue.

Dr Gundert – See my previous blog on The Sahib & Collector. An additional footnote about Dr Gundert - "There is something that many people do not know about Mr. Gundert. He actually began his work in Tamil Nadu as a private tutor to the son of a British missionary. He had stayed in Madras, then in Tirunelveli, all of which is recorded in his diary. Mr. Gundert was not a missionary, he was never ordained. He was always a teacher. In Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, he had established 10 schools. Very few know that Mr. Gundert had written a Tamil-Greek, a Hebrew-Tamil dictionary and a Church History in Tamil. But this has been lost forever. He had given the manuscripts to possibly the mission press in Nagercoil in October 1838, but our efforts to dig this out has failed," informs Dr. Albrecht Frenz, his great great grand daughter

The guilds – Merchant groups such as Kolanchiyar, Valanchiyar, Anchuvannam and Manigramam operated during this period. Ayyavole seems to have worked in the North of Coorg areas.

More details on this subject and related areas will follow

References

Payyannur Paattu – Paadavum Padanavum - Dr Scaria Zacharia, P Antony
Tapasam – Vol II, issue 2, July 2006 with many articles on PP

Much has been said and written about the origins of Nairs of Malabar and to this date it still remains as murky and obscure as it was to the 15th century anthropologist or the curious foreign traveler who recorded his thoughts. It is certainly strange that no record stands or can be traced relating to the advent of this warrior class into Kerala and the reasons behind their special relationship with the Namboothiris or Brahmins of Kerala. But we could perhaps go over some of the conclusions made by leading historians and anthropologists and later summarize. Nairs did become a much studied group of people, not due to their origins, but because of their practices such as matriliny & marriage traditions, the ways they conducted war & those ‘special’ relationships with the Namboothiri.

The spelling has floated between nayar and nair over time and between writers. I have used both in the text below, signifying one and the same group. The Nair clan itself covers many other titles and groups like Menon, Panikkar, Nambiar etc, but those aspects are not discussed in this context. Today the nair’s constitute some 12-13% of the Kerala population, declining from about 18% in the 16th -17th century.

Were they hill people, were they from the North, were they Scythian in origin, were they from Tulunad, were they Chalukyar’s, and were they Nayakas? Were they perhaps Nagas or Newars from Nepal or Assam? Let us try to find out or at least understand the reasons behind all the confusion.

KVK Iyer – Zamorins of Calicut – he starts by saying that there was absolutely no hostility between the Tamil Chera rulers of Kerala and the Nayars who succeeded them as rulers of the land. In the Zamorin granthavari’s, they are called ‘Lokar’. They were somewhat equivalent to the Spartiate of Greece. In Sanskrit it means nayaka or leader. While it was originally a title, Portuguese writers extended it to cover the military followers. Today it covers everybody between the Ambalavasis on the upper end and the polluting castes at the lower end. KVK quotes Kanakasabhai that both the Tamils and Nairs came from Mongolia. However for some obscure reason the nairs followed a matriarchial system while the tamils followed a patriarchial system. Others like Kunhukuttan thampuran claim a naga lineage, but here again the nagas were patriarchial. Iyer concludes that in all probability, the nairs were a hill tribe living on the slopes of the Western Ghats. He attributes this reasoning to the consideration of Tirunelli in Wynad as their most sacred place, the title Kunnalakonatiri or ruler of the hills and waves (Zamorin) reminiscent of hill dwellings, the use of the plantain leaf for all auspicious activities, the manner of military strategy of nairs being more suited to hills & guerilla warfare than open fighting. Based on various copper plates he concludes that nairs rose to power around the 4th century AD. (Kanakasabhai also mentions that Malayalam language resembles Mongolian and that a Mongolian tribe called Marar conquered the Nagas of Malabar around 1st century AD)

KVK Iyer – History of Kerala – In this book Iyer is a little more forthright and explains the relationship between the Nampoothiris and nayars. He starts thus – The invasion of Kerala by Rajaraja 1 in 988 AD (to 1120) brought an end to the free intercourse between the Brahmins on both sides of the Ghats. Their customs diverged to create the Nampi sri or Nampoothiri. The needs for the wars brought the nayars to the forefront. The nampoothiris joined them to fight the aggressor. The camaraderie forged on the battle field was cemented by the free access of the former to the homes of the latter and this personal intimacy reinforced by the spiritual ascendancy of the former as priest gradually led to an establishment of theocracy more powerful and permanent than the Pope III of Europe. Based on this relationship the learning of Sanskrit continued in nayar homes.

He later provides a more detailed analysis; the Nairs are sometimes identified with the Satiyaputras of Ashoka’s rock edict II, Satiyaputra being held to be a variant of Striputra. They are also satisfactorily identified with the Atiyamans of the Sangham works.

Looking at the characteristics of the Nayars, the Aratta vahikas of the Mahabharata seem to provide the right comparison. They were ayudhajivans, their women had considerable freedom, the man’s heir was his sister’s son and these Aratta vahikas might themselves have been a branch of the Brahuis of baluchistan. They probably moved down south following the invasion of Darius (518-516). Some moved to Tulunad, some came through the Palakkad gap; some went to Laccadives & Ceylon. Some were stranded in pockets around North Arcot, Trichy and Salem.

C Achyuta Menon – Cochin State manual – He states that the immigrants who subjugated the native Cherumars appear to have been the nayars. They evidentially had to struggle hard to conquer the country and even more to keep it. That they had to maintain themselves for a long time amidst hostile surroundings is evidenced by the peculiarity of the dwelling of the Nayar which by itself is like a small fort isolated from the dwellings of others and surrounded by such preparations for resistance as would be adequate against comparatively unarmed enemies. He believes that they are etymologically identical with the naik or naidu. But he confirms other opinions like Scythian origin and similarity with nagas and takshaks who entered India in the 6th century. He also believes that the naga theory is more appropriate and that this is conformed by the similarity of names, serpent worship & polyandry, and that as stated in Keralolpathi, the nagas had driven out the first Brahmin settlers. He believes this occurred about the time the naga king of Maghada conquered Ceylon in the 4th or 5th century BC.

Nagam Aiya – Travancore State manual – Quotes the Kerala mahatmyam in that nayars are the product or offspring of cohabitation between junior namboothiri offspring and women brought in by Parasurama from the groups viz rakshasas, ghandharvas & devas. The more rational Keralolpathi states that they came in together with the namboothriis from the North. By & far he states that this was a combination of Aryan and Dravidian races and after having created the group fiercely protected it from further pollution with the polluting groups below. He also mentions the similarity with the Singalas of Ceylon who are of naga stock and their matrilineal customs. He also alludes to a Tibetan origin, or that they are the same as the Newars of Nepal.

F Fawcett – Nayars of Malabar – opines that the resemblance between nayars and uriyas of Gumsoor is striking. Quoting him – ‘But the circumstance that inheritance through women was once, perhaps, the rule in Southern India cannot be accepted as of itself proof that the Nayars are identical with the Dravidians, as the people of Southern India are commonly called. It is not yet time to say whether they are or are not. To the ordinary visitor their outward appearance, customs, habitations, mode of life generally, are very different from what he sees in the Telugu or Tamil countries; for Malabar, " the west coast," is as unlike the rest of the Presidency as Burma. The only other district of the Madras Presidency which resembles Malabar, is Ganjam, more particularly the northern part of it, where the people are almost entirely Aryan. The resemblance between these, the Uriyas of Gumsoor and thereabouts, a fine fighting stock, and the Nayars of Malabar is very striking. It is not, perhaps, a mere coincidence that in these two furthest remote corners of the Presidency alone, the people at large are to be seen wearing umbrella hats to protect them from the sun.’

PCM Raja – Samoothirimaar – Looking tangentially at the origins of the Zamorins, one lands up at Nediyirippu, a place near Kondotty in Eranad -N Malabar. Raja opines that they moved there from Karnataka and originated from the shores of the River Sindhu in North India., moving towards Salem and Mysore. According to him they were Chalukyas and Agnivansha kings. He believes that the clan were part of the group that later split to become the Rajput Chauhans, malwan Parmars or Gujaratiu Solankis. According to another historian Dr Ayyathan Gopalan quoted, the originators of the clan were Manichand and Vikaram, two brothers who came from Punjab or Rajasthan, moving down through the Deccan plateau to Salem. Around the 3rd century, they moved through Coimbatore to Ernad and settled there creating the Eradi clan. They were the Manavedan and Vikraman of the Zamorin dynasty or the Puntura Konathiris. But a question remains, were the Nairs a group of people who came with them?

However it must be noted here that these two Puntura youths did utilize the existing Nayar forces, personally annexing the Polanad 10,000 in one fight on behalf of the Cheraman Perumal; fighting the Chola Rayar defeating him at Tirunavaya. So Nayars existed prior to the arrival of the Zamorin leaders.

KM Panikkar – Some aspects of Nayar Life – States that without a shadow of doubt is actually Nagar and was a totemic clan which has been living always in South India. Aryan invasion thrust one side to the west of the Ghats forming what we know as Nayars today and to the South into Ceylon as the Nagas of Ceylon. He also states based on other authority that Naga is Naya in Singalese. Buddha’s visit to Ceylon in the 2nd century BC apparently chronicles the presence of Naga people there. He sternly rebukes the supporters of the ‘Nair was Nayaka’ theory for if that were correct, they then would not have supported the Aryan superiority in spiritual & temporal matters. He also goes on to satisfactorily argue against the comparison f Tibetan polyandry with purported polyandry in Kerala that was reported entirely based on Buchanan’s totally unsatisfactory reporting on his travel in Malabar. The Nayars were not a caste, they were a race, he concludes.

Kathleen Gough – Matrilineal Kinship – At least in the first century AD, Kerala’s social structure was based upon plough agriculture with irrigation, specialized crafts and overseas trade. Productivity was sufficiently high so that more than one quarter of the population could be exempted from manual labor and set apart as specialist literate groups engaged in religion, government, warfare & wholesale trade. The nayars as the ruling and Military cases, formed the core of this aristocracy and probably comprised one quested and one fifth of the total population. But she does not get into the origins, per se.

Newar connection
There is a theory that they came from the Nepal Valley, adjacent to Tibet. Some consider them to be early descendants of the Newars of Nepal. Serpent worship is one of common custom between the Newars and Nairs. Dr. Zacharias Thundy’s theory is that groups of Newars who were partially Aryanized and would be later Dravidianized joined the Munda exodus and finally settled down in Kerala after a long period of sojourn in the eastern plains of Tamil Nadu. Newars of Nepal could be the relatives of Nairs as the Newar architecture closely resemble that of the Nalu kettu of Nairs. Nairs even now display the slightly mongoloid features, yellowish skin, sharper features and resemble Nepalese or the highlanders of Uttaranchal. Well, personally I do not see much resemblance, but maybe in the past, there was one!

Indo Scythian connections
NT Shetty’s blog and some comments there provide these clues - Bunts and Nairs are perhaps of Naga descent or perhaps with Scythians otherwise called in India as Saka. The Saka invaded India around 200 BC. The Nairi people of Central Asia with their Mittanian Aryan rulers were defeated and assimilated by the Scythians around 600 BC. Scythians were a martial people of central Asia who often went for long raiding trips against the cities of Persia and other Hindu nations of then Afghanistan. Scythians practiced Matriarchy, Polyandry and Slavery. Nairis were a sub group of Scythians. Nairi surname exists among many people from North India Nayyars, Nehrajats and Nepalese Newars. Nairs of Kerala also may have Nairi blood who had mixed with the Nagas of Ahichatra. Nairs were Nagas from Ahichatra, not ethnic Tamils. Nairs appeared in Kerala History very late only by the end of first Millennium after the repeated attacks and occupation of Kerala by Rashtrakuta forces. Nairs perhaps never talked Tamil but the Prakrit or some other Aryan tongue. Nairs did mix with few Dravidian clans including Vellalas. The arrival of Nairs led to the mixture of Tamil with Prakrit and Sanskrit words converting the language to Malayalam. In the early period of Dravidian History Nagas were regarded as the worst enemies of ancient Tamils and Nagas were not related to Dravidians.
Mythical versions
Kerala Mahatmyam - Nayars are the product or offspring of cohabitation between junior namboothiri offspring and women brought in by Parasurama from the groups viz rakshasas, ghandharvas & devas. Another mythical version says that Nairs being Kshatriyas belonging to the Nagavansham who removed their “Janivara” (sacred thread) and escaped to south to evade Parasurama..

The Vellala Link
The Vellalas were the protector class of the east coast. U B Nair states that tradition alludes to the advent of Vellalas into Malabar. It appears that 64 families of karakattu vellalars formed the Kiriyathil nayar group. They were the groups which won distinction from the pandya king for guarding the clouds and were apparently the ones brought in by Parasurama into Malabar. However it is also stated that they came in to Malabar even before parasurama, during Bhaskara ravi varma’s time 700AD. This is considered a very non plausible story due to the fact that nairs were in Malabar before 700AD.

Nairs and Bunts – Tulu research
According to Tulu legends Bunts came from aichatra madastana in “Uttaranchal” state today which is surrounded by Tibet in north and Nepal on east. The city is now called “Ram Nagar”. According to another legend ahikshetra was a place on the banks of Saraswati River. “ahi” means snake (chiefly serpent). It is believed that Bunts were “naga or serpent worshipers prior to being buta/boota or spirit worshipers. Of course, we worship our ancestors in spirits (kule) too and thus have various ways/rituals to pray and remember them (agel to kulekulu, new dress to kulekulu, marriage of kule etc.). So there is reason to believe that bunts were mainly serpent worshipers and many groups of Bunts might have come from north. Nairs or Nayars and bunts belong to same cast. Like Bunts and Nadavas (and other tuluva people) Nairs too follow their own form of inheritance called Marumakkathayam, which is “ali katt”. Bunts have “Nayaranna bali” (bali = matriarchal lineage). Last ruler/king of Kanajar (a village in Karkala Taluk) was Nayar Hegde. In this village it was prohibited to take name of the king. So Kanajar folks always called the plough equipment commonly known as nayer/naver in tulu as guddal (from kannada ‘guddali’). The royal house (oMjane ill) of Shetty’s village Kowdoor (adjacent to Kanajar) is “Naayara bettu”. Nayara is one of the 93 Bunts surname. Varma is a common surname of Nairs and Bunts.

Some of you may remember the Panam, Taram & Kasu etc of yester years in Malabar. If you look around on the internet, you will find many auctions of the gold fanams minted at Calicut from the 1200-1800 time frames. They cost an average of 15-40USD these days to a collector. These Viraraya fanam’s minted at Calicut were stated to be popular beyond its boundaries, in Cochin Tamil regions, Ceylon as well as many other places, due to the stability of its value (they fetched a premium of some 12% over certain other fanams). Notably this gave the Zamorin of Calicut much power, for he alone could mint currency in Malabar for a very long time. So let us take a look at some details but let me warn you, this is not a numismatic article on Kerala coins, but mainly covering the Malabar Fanam and related denominations from a historic perspective, though you will also find mention of some details of Travancore & Cochin minted currencies. Note that even though the Malayalam terms are Panam, Tharam and Kasu, I have used the popular fanam and tare at times in this article, but not the term cash.

If I were to tell you that this coin termed in history books as the ‘fanam’ or PANAM in Malayalam owe its origin to a weight standard based on the Manjadi seed, some of you may be surprised. The name VIRARAYA (now you could always question - if it just meant a ‘courageous king’ or the ruler clan of Vijayanagara or Coimbatore), probably came after the first person who minted it and got it standardized. An old Chera silver coin bore the legend "Vira Kerala” so that was probably the forerunner. Some historians assign the Vira raya coin to Vira kerala who ascended the throne in Malabar around 1127 A.D. Some state that the title Viraraya is a form derived from Rayeran, a name of Valluvanadu seen even in 9th Cent AD, in Panniyur inscriptions of 2nd Cheras. Some confirm that it was indeed the this name that the Zamorin used (others being manaveda or manavikrama)

This was the main coin that was used in those times, the Gold panam (currency) or gold fanam as the westerners called it. The same type of coin was also minted in neighboring Tamil & southern lands and Vijayanagara, holding strong for many centuries. After the Hyder & Tipu incursions into Malabar, the coins were re-minted with different emblems & notations, but were still called the fanam. I think it was one of the Moguls, Shahir Shah, who eventually heralded the issue of the Rupee.

Let us start with some of the earliest records. The weight system for gems, currency & gold is provided in the ancient ‘Kanakku Saram’ of the Chera world as follows

1 nenmani = 1 visa thukkam
4 nenmani = 1 kunni (rati) kuru
2 Kunri = 1 manjadi
2 manjadi = 1 panathukkam
10 panathukkam = 1 kazhanchi (kalanju)

The Manjadi weighs actually between 4.1-5.3 grains (I can only assume in jest that over time, the seed became healthier & heavier). Roughly one could say 5 grains per manjadi and 50 grains per kalanju was the accepted norm. The nenmani is ‘rice in the husk’ or nellu. The kalanju is the fever nut, Molucca bean (Caesalpinia bonduc) and the manjadi is the (Adenanthera pavonina). As time went by, the scale was halved and a panam became one manjadi. So except for the word panam in the above list, all were vegetables!!

Recall the Manjadi and Kunni from visits the Guruvayur, where they can be found in bronze vessels for children to play with ? It is said that they make them wise, naughty etc…I certainly am still fascinated by those lovely seeds. Though the manjadi disappeared from the weight system, they are sometimes used by diamond smiths and are a 16th of the older rupee system and related to the ‘anna’.

A great number of coins were in circulation in Kerala and some of them were Pon, Kashu, Kanam, Panam, Rasi panam, Kaliyuga rayan panam, Veera rayan panam etc. Parasurama, the legendary founder of Kerala, is stated to have minted gold coins called Rasi panam. The hun, varaha or pagoda as currency based on the kalanju seed was of course different between areas of India, varying from 55 to 53 grains of gold, but more on that later and was exchanged for 10 panams.

As far as Malabar & Cochin is concerned, the minting of currency again goes back to the Cherman Perumal days, of (presumably) the early 8th-10th century. It is said that the permission to mint money was given by him only to the Zamorin and he held on to the authority until his unseating by the Mysore Sultans in the 18th century. While we had plenty of other foreign currency changing hands in the trading areas and were primarily used to pay the traders ( there are hoards of coins discovered now and then, dating back to Greek and Roman times) the currencies used for local transactions were based on the Panam. Malabar used to have the smallest coin in the word, the silver tare weighing a mere 1 or 2 grains. More on that argument within Kerala, later on…

The Viraraya fanam
The Vira Raya Fanam (which was mostly used on the Malabar Coast of India) had been struck over a very long period and over a dozen versions existed. Historians record that they originally had a purity level of 17 carat though more recent records state 12-14 carat or 60% gold. It was roughly 5-6 grains in weight (1 gram=15.4 grains). The fanam was called Viraraya, vir-raya, viraya or rati fanam, nowadays translated as the plough fanam. A more detailed chemical analysis revealed that the Calicut fanam (1800 version) had 53.5% gold, 29% silver and 17.5% copper.

While the Zamorin’s fanam, was the most sought after legal tender, the coin was apparently first stuck by the Kolathiri raja of Chirakkal. Years later when the Mysore Sultans were in power, the Ali raja of Cannanore also started minting his version.

Various gold fanams were current in Travancore before the nineteenth century, the oldest, known as the rasi, also has a shankhu or conch shell on the obverse, and is closely allied to the "Vlra raya " fanams of Calicut. During the eighteenth century the copper coinage of Travancore was known as the "Anantan kasu "; on the obverse was a five-headed cobra, and on the reverse the value of the coin, one, two, four or eight "cash " written in Tamil. In the years 1764 and 1774 the Moplah chief of Kannur, 'Ali Raja, struck double silver and gold fanams with Persian inscriptions, recording his name and the date. During the Mysore rule, the Tipu fanam versions started around 1801.Silver double rupees & Paisas were also stuck. These paisas had the picture of an elephant (Those interested may please refer the book - The coins of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan By J. R. (John Robertson) Henderson for details)

The Malabar Panam is mentioned often by many travelers such as Ibn batuta, Ma Huan, AbduRazak and later Western travelers during the Portuguese, Dutch and English times.

Ibn Batuta said that 6 golden Dinars were equivalent to 100 fanams whereas Ma Huan explains – The king uses a 60% purity gold to cast coins, it is named Panam. He also makes a silver coin tareh and this is used for petty transactions. The various mentions are dutifully compiled and recorded in Hobson-Jobson dictionary under Fanam.

The smallest coin, the tare or taram was reminiscent of a star, was cast in pure silver at Vijayanagar and Calicut which purchased in the 16th century 5-6 eggs, enough fish to fill two people’s bellies or rice for a whole day. 16 tare was one fanam.

The tare had an even lower denomination which was the copper kashu or the origin of the English word ‘cash’. 16 copper kashu fetched the minute silver tare. You could buy a monkey for 4 kashu. Some versions had a hole in the middle.

The Calicut mint was destroyed in 1766 together with the palace when the Zamorin immolated himself. Then after exile in Travancore, the mint was reopened in 1792 by the Zamorin and finally handed over to the British in 1798 (During this time the fanam quality dropped and the value was 25% lower). The fanam minting was a great sign of his imperial authority and fetched the Zamorin income as well, even during the early British times (1792 -1798), he received a half of the mint receipts. The mint was always closed for 13 days mourning (and probably stock taking) upon the death of a Zamorin.

The tareh or taram was also called Viz and weighed one to two grains and 16 tareh = I panam wheras the panam dropped in value to the Rupee later going from 5 to 4 and finally 3.5.

The picture on the Zamorin’s Viraraya panam has never been fully explained. Some say that the picture is part of a conch shell, some say a standing figure, and some have concluded that the double lines signify a plough or double plough. Below these lines are a number of dots, never really well understood though attributed to the 12 rasi (from the Rasi fanam) or signs of the Zodiac.

Dr Nampoothiri provides the following information in his fine book – Malabar studies - Typically the ceremonious start to minting coins started after the ‘ariyittu vazcha’ or enthroning ceremonies of the Zamorin. During this event, the various titles and position holders are allotted their budgeted or ordained amounts. As stated previously the permission to mint money in Malabar was granted to the Zamorin by the Cheraman Perumal. By 1543, the Virarayan was called new money or Puthu Panam. It was also called New fanam, Calicut new fanam etc. The goldsmiths at the mint were from Madurai. They were titled veraraiya thattan (Veerayaran goldsmith or sometimes as KVK Iyer states Manavikraman Asari) and they lived at Verittan kandi (veera rayira thatan kandi). Whether the name Veera rayan panam came from a Zamorin called Virararyan is not established, but highly likely. Every title holder including the traders, Bandar koyas and Tharakan’s obtained a certain amount of decreed money from the mint. As explained earlier the new panam started in 1791. It was valued slightly lower at 3.5 per rupee as against 4 the old panam fetched. The old mint burnt to ground in 1766 and is around the area where Coutinho was killed and Albuquerque wounded during the 1510 raid.

During Vissicher’s times, a fanam was equal to a British shilling. He also explains exactly how the fanam is pressed in the Cochin mint after they started minting money in the 17th century. Francis day in ‘Perumals of Cochin; mentions that the concept of using dies to punch coins came from the west toward the 5th -6th century. He believes that the picture on the coins is Parasu rama’s battle axe. Pyrard visitng Calicut in 1607 mentions about the large mint at Calicut is situated next to the bazaar and palace. He also mentions that the coins have the Zamorins effigy on one side, and a pagoda or idol on the other, which may not be quite right.While Travancore had its own coinage, the original panam or pazhaya panam was minted by the Kolathiri rulers. The Zamorin version which became popular was the puthiya panam or new fanam. According to Shungunny menon (History of Travancore) this Zamorin fanam was not legal tender in Travancore. For details of Travancore currency, refer the book by Menon, pages 83-85. Travancore silver charkram was equal to the wieght of a Calicut gold fanam. The earliest fanams were globuoles of gold. The Travancore kings also issued chinna fanams weighing 2.8 grains. Buchanan and Hamilton mention that copper money was minted by Brahmans! Strangely the panam was also struck at France and Denmaruk ( Tranquebar) for their respective territories.

The panam had a number of other uses too (other than being used with all good luck offerings and gifts), let us take a look. For example, it was tradition to give it at weddings

In the Badaga community the man about to die is made to ask for a viraraya fanam - When death is drawing near, a gold coin, called Viraraya hana or fanam, dipped in butter or ghee, is given to the dying man to swallow. If he is too far gone to be capable of swallowing, the coin is, tied round the arm.
The Malabar system quoting Thurston was - "When the dying person is about to embark for that journey from which no traveller returns, and the breath is about to leave his body, the members of the household, and all friends who may be present, one by one, pour a little water, a few drops from a tiny cup made of a leaf or two of the tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), into his mouth, while they are holding in the hand a piece of gold or a gold ring, the idea being that water should touch gold before it enters the mouth of the person who is dying. If the taravād is rich enough to afford it, a small gold coin (a rasi pon-panam, if one can be procured) is placed in the mouth, and the lips are closed.
During Vidyarambham - The ceremony at the house is opened by Ganapathi pūja performed by an Ezhuttacchan, or by a Nambūdri, or another Nāyar. The Ezhuttacchan writes on the child's tongue with a gold fanam (coin) the invocation to Ganapathi (Hari Sri Ganapathāyi nama), or sometimes the fifty-one letters of the Malayālam alphabet, and then grasps the middle finger of the child's right hand, and with it traces the same letters in parched rice.

The fanam is 8-10mm in diameter. The taram is 4 mm in diameter and is the smallest coin in the world. The arguments over which coin is smallest – Travancore or Malabar has erupted recently, though the Travancore version weighs more and is wider by a mm. The Archeology director (a namesake) has stated that the Calicut taram was not considered legal tender (I hope he can read all the references in this article if he wants).

The rasi palaka was used to count coins as they were too small. The Palaka is (the coin board) a wooden board with small niches used to count small coins (counting up to 100 to 200 at a time). Strangely, books such as Elliot’s reference manual on South Indian Coins talk about Ceylon, Travancore and Cochin coin issues but do not have much information on Malabar coinage other than a brief mention of the Vira raya fanam.
The origin of the Panam – P Gopakumar states in his Hindu article - The Panam monetary system was closely correlated with ( kaudi shell) cowry. The inference is that a handful of cowries is equal to one panam. The earliest pana coin, recorded in history, was Kaarshapana having been available even prior to the reign of the Magadhan emperor Bimbisara. It was known as dharana or purana and later christened as the punch-marked coin. Karsha ascribes to the act of ploughing and agriculture, indicating that the hub of weight standard, monetary system and coinage of India has been agriculture. Coin heritage of Kerala is no exception. The first non-Kerala coin which the early Keralite met with was the Kaarshapana brought to the region by the Buddhist mendicants.

Joseph was perhaps the first Malayali Syrian Christian, a Nestorian Friar to visit Europe in the 16th Century. Even though he had travelled to Aramea & Syria in the previous years, it was with Alvares Cabral that he embarked to the European cities. Some months ago, I had explained the circumstances under which Joseph and his brother boarded Cabral’s ship bound for Europe.

In Europe he was viewed with much fascination and admiration – He was after all, in their eyes, their brother from the East. He was the first Malabari Christian in their midst and an ordained person at that, so one who could be trusted and taken seriously, at face value. The Italians, Spaniards, Venetians, the Portuguese, and all others viewed him with much curiosity and he even spent a while with the Pope. Joseph’s narrative was recorded and published in many versions & editions (17 at last count) from 1507. The various interviews he gave at Venice, Lisbon and Rome became known as the ‘Narratives of Joseph the India’, the very first accounts of India by an Indian. Strangely the identity of the person who recorded the interviews is unknown to history. We have none of these first editions in India save a comprehensive book written by Fr Antony Vallavanthara titled ‘India in 1500AD’ which I now possess. The analysis provided by Fr Anthony on the various versions & works is brilliant and exhaustive, but let us now try to find out what Joseph has to recount, first hand about Malabar. One must note that the account has been transliterated and reached the English form after many changes. For many years his words were taken very seriously but of recent, some like Stephen Neil, the author of ‘A History of Christianity in India’ considers his statements as romanticism. From a history point of view it is invaluable, for it is a record of the times from a Malayali point of view.

The two travelers Joseph & elder brother Mathias planned to go to Portugal, Rome, Venice, return via Armeinia and finally Babylon to meet the Patriarch of Mosul. Mathias died enroute or at Lisbon. Joseph is stated to have been born in 1461, was around 40 years of age when he started off with Cabral, of dark complexion, a benevolent disposition and belonged to the ancient St Thomas Christian community of Cranganore. The ships and Joseph reached Lisbon in 1501, and Joseph was considered by people who talked to him as highly truthful, sober and serious person, high in integrity and remarkably friendly. People of high standing stated him to be unimpaired and unwavering in faith. He had been originally ordained in Mesopotamia by the Church of Babylon. This adventurous and courageous man had gone there in 1490 via the island of Ormuz (traveling on a ship with Arab traders). One who liked travel, he went again with Bishop Thomas in 1492. Until it came to their notice that Cabral was visiting and starting his journey back to Europe. The brothers decided to accompany him to Lisbon on a pilgrimage to Sao Thome (This confuses me for Sao Thome is around the Ivory coast in West Africa and these days it is actually the term for St Thomas Mount in Chennai).

Faced with the news that the Zamorin’s navy was after him, Cabral beat a hasty retreat with his fully loaded ship from Cochin with the two brothers from Cranganore and other hostages. They reached Cannanore on 15th, loaded up more spices, stopped over at the Cape of Good Hope on 4th April and Lisbon towards the end of June. Joseph was by then known as Jospehus Indius. After reaching Lisbon in June 1501, and meeting King Manuel, he stayed in Lisbon for 6 months as a royal guest (as the first Indian Christian to visit Europe) before proceeding to meet Pope Alexander VI in Rome. Then he left for Venice in 1502 and remained a guest of the Signoria of Venice and from there went on ‘probably’ to Jerusalem and Persia (Aramea and Babylon), discussing the socio economic conditions of Malabar. Some say he came back to Lisbon from Venice.

Some may question why he was of such interest. The reasons were notes by many other travelers of the mysterious Prestor John and the other Christian communities of the East who were willing to take up the fight against the moors & heathen. While some held his statements under high authority, It is also obvious that his language (What did he speak while at Lisbon – Malayalam, Arabic, Latin, Syriac or Portuguese) was not well understood by the people who documented his short commentary of 12 chapters. One writer Thomas Astley notes – His account mainly covers Cranganore and its inhabitants, is very short and not satisfactory. Nor is this any wonder for Grynaeus or whoever took the relation from Joseph’s mouth tells us he could scarce understand him.

In 1518 or sometime later, the rector (apparently) returned to Cranganore after his visit, and was incensed when asked by Pentaedo to conform to Roman Catholicism.

Let us now get briefly to some of the important observations documented from the interviews with Fr Joseph.

Nestorians of Cranganore (Kodungallur area near Cochin)
The priests shaved their heads (or just the upper part). They summoned the faithful for prayers by voice, in Greek fashion, not the bell (disputed – some say it was actually by the sounding of the board). Easter is their greatest festival. Baptism & Confessions were administered. At that time there was a supreme head Summus antistes who had under him 12 cardinals, 2 patriarchs, many archbishops and bishops. Under them priests, deacons and sub deacons. They had churches like in Rome (disputed). They did not drink wine, but used raisins soaked in water, the raisins came from China. Widows went back to their father’s house, taking back the dowry. Widows did not remarry within the first year of widowhood. Priest led celibate lives and were barred from mass if found guilty of incontinency. The day had 60 hours and the year had 12 months. They had a few male only monasteries in the region, no nunneries. Learning very much thrived among them, there were many experts on the old & new testament

Cranganore
The city is 90 miles from Calicut, and the town is some 15 miles away from the sea. The city is long, 30 mile sin length. Many rivers flow through the city and houses appear to be built on water. Christians, Jews, Arabs & Hindus lived there. The Hindus were of three categories, Nairs, dogs (pulayas) and Nuirinam (Fishermen-Mukkuvar). The lower classes had to flee when gentlemen approached. Women has separate temples from men.
The ‘velichapad’ is dutifully described. The King of Cochin has many wives. Sati was practiced. Marumakkatayam was in vogue. Writing was with an iron nail on palm leaves.

The houses are made with wooden walls in different floors. A conflict can be seen here that the longest day was stated to be 13.5 hrs and the shortest as 10 hrs (note that it said 60 hrs as the length of the day earlier – that must be the Malayalam 60 nazhika). Ships traversed the waters to Persia, Arabian red sea, China, Sumatra and Ceylon. Ships have matted palm leaf sails and big ships have canvas sails. The large ships have 12 sails and an infinite number of sailors. The small ones come from the Laccadive islands. The boats apparently were constructed of wood, caulking and used iron or wooden nails.

The three types of money used were Sarapho (gold), parante (Silver) and Tare (Silver). All the gold comes from the mountains (250-300 miles away – was it Wynad hills, then it was only 100 miles away – Perhaps Kolar - Mysore) where fair skinned holy men lived. Swords were made of iron and some weapons were made from hard fish (shark?) skin. Hens and other domesticated animals existed. Rice and sugar other than spices were the main produce. Wheat came from the islands. Most of the spices produced such as pepper went to Arabia & China.

Calicut
Countless Moorish merchants engage in trade, dealing with corals, zanbeloti, carpets and other merchandise. The other traders were Gujarati’s. In this city all of India comes together as well as Chinese, to trade. Around 1450 of so, the Chinese (also Christians like the Nestorians) had a factory in Calicut. They had a fall out with the Zamorin and left after destroying the city. They went to mailapatanam (Masulipatanam, Melacca or Mulapore). The Chinese traded Silk, 5 kinds of cloth, led tin porcelain and musk. They wore caps on their head. The Zamorin had a huge palace which housed 7000 men. 300 of them guarded the palace at night by taking rounds as it was not fortified. In the Zamorin’s palace there are four halls, one each for Hindus, Mohammedans, Jews & Christians. If a Hindu has to travel by sea he is not allowed to eat or else he loses caste. Men also practiced Sati, but I think from the wordings and references to Starbo that it was a feeling of the writer, not fact uttered by Joseph. Finally he mentions the great annual fair (mamankham) which is attended by Chinese, Syrians, Arabs etc


ReferencesIndia in 1500 AD- Antony Vallavanthara
Christianity in Travancore - Gordon Thomson MacKenzie
The accounts of Priest Joseph (Cabral’s voyages – WB Greenlee)
Lingerings of light in a dark land - Thomas Whitehouse
Travancore manual – Nagam Aiya

Notes
The Syrian Nestorians have been in Cochin & Travancore for a very long time. St Thomas arrived in the year 52 AD. The earliest records indicate that a merchant named Sabareso and two Syrian bishops Mar Chaboor and Mar Apprott came to Malabar in 825 AD & dwelt at Quilon. At that time the Jews and Arabs of that country were at war. The Jews and Nestorians were friends and the Arabs had commenced the war. They destroyed the city, slew two kings raja Vilyanvattale and burnt their bodies (lingerings of light –p75).


Pics
Europe 1500 – FIU
India 1500 – Columbia, Ptloemy
Mosul monastry - Wallis Budge paper, Monks of Kublai Khan

One of the earliest written documents referring to the details of Chinese and Arab trade with Malabar and the Malabar ports is the Chu fan Chi written by Chau Ju Kua. Though there is one other document, which is the reference provided by Suleyman the merchant, revised by Zayid Hasan of Siraf and Masaudi between the 9th and 10th centuries respectively, the Chau ju-kua (pronounced Zhao Rugua) book has special importance as this touches on the Chinese trade with Malabar.

The phrase Chu Fan chi means ‘Description of the barbaric (could also mean foreign) people’ and covers the Chinese Arab trade of the 12th and 13th centuries. I have referred to the English translation provided by Friedrich Hirth and WW Rockhill.

First some background - The first mentions of Chinese traders comes from Ceylon which was also a focal point of Arabic Red sea traders. Early mentions of far eastern sailors can also be found in ‘Cosmas Indicopleustes’ which was written around the 6th century and mentions goods from China. It is also known that Canton had Arab & Indian colonies at the port as early as 200AD. Trade existed between India and China as early as 2nd century AD, over Northern Pegu (Burma) but this was mainly overland. Maritime trade with Chinese ships started in the early decades of the 7th century first via Siam (Thailand). Nevertheless there are allusions to extensive trade which Coriander mariners conducted between the shores of Malabar, Coromandel ports, Ceylon, Indonesia and even Indo-China even before that. Documentation though is very difficult to come by.

However Chinese accounts do mention sea trade with India as early as 120BC. Herein lay a strange anomaly. Probably due to errors or confusion with translation, many historic books talk about tribute being paid to Chinese kings. Dr G Banerjee in his book ‘India as known to the ancient world’ is emphatic in pointing out that tribute was actually confused with the word trade and it involved bilateral exchange of produce. So while many books talk of the mighty Chinese empire being paid tribute, the actual situation was a conduct of normal trade without any might attached to it. The main tributary countries to China were India, Arabia and Persia. Prof Hirth believes that port of Canton was in existence since 3 BC. India was known as Tien chu ( from Sanskrit Sindhu – Shindu) in Chinese writing.

Though one of the first Chinese to undertake a sea voyage and write about it was Fa Hien who went from Hoogly in Calcutta to China in the early part of the 5th century, (He went from Hoogly to Ceylon, then to Java and finally Chinese shores, in a wind sailing ship) Documented Arab trade routes came up first in the 8th century from the port of Kia Tan and here one can see that the port of Kulam Mali or Quilon is the main stopping point in Malabar for Arab ships (However these were heresy information and the Chinese still did not have first hand trade with India. The route beyond Quilon, to the Red sea ports is missing or sketchy). At the same time earlier mentions that very large ships (Arab or Indian) were entering Canton harbor and that ladders many tens of feet high were needed to scale those ships for unloading have been found. As trade progressed, the colony in Canton had become Muslim and had numerous Persians and Arabs. Around the 9th century another port became popular, named Zeytoun. But by then the revolt in the area resulted in many of these foreigners fleeing China and settling down in West Malaysia.

Chinese shipping started roughly between the 9th and 12th centuries and touched the Malay, Indonesian and other Far Eastern ports. The lucrative trade was run directly by the Chinese monarchies. By the 12th century Chinese junks (square in shape and built like grain measures) seem to have started calling at Quilon. By the 12th century the Chinese compare themselves to Arab ships stating that while their ships housed several hundred men, the ones from the Arab side were much bigger and housed a thousand.

Chau Jhu-kua, an inspector of foreign trade at the customs department in Quanzhou (Fukien – Fujian) a.k.a Zeytoun, then (Information collected from around 1211 and completed by 1225) documents (together with another man called Chou Ku Fei) for the first time whatever knowledge he has heard in the ports about the seas, the ports of call, the ships and the material traded. The second volume lists all the traded goods and their characteristics.

He states in the second book that Malabar exports cotton and spices in return for silk and Porcelain. While the cotton and other produce was of smaller quantities, pepper was sizeable (if you recall Marco Polo mentions that the amount of pepper that goes to China is 100 times more than what goes to Europe). So the trade with Malabar was robust and continues so until it reached an abrupt end in the 13th century was briefly reignited when Cheng Ho came in the 15th century and stopped again after the Portuguese came. It would be interesting how the pepper reached China after the 15th, it probably got re routed via Far East Asia, but that will be discussed in some later article.

Let us see what he has heard of and how he describes Malabar

Malabar (Nan-pi)

The Nan pi country is in the extreme south west. From San fo tsi, one may reach it with the monsoon in a little more than a month. The capital of the kingdom is styles Mie-a-mo (Malabar) which has the same expression as the Chinese expression Lissi.

The ruler of the country has his body draped, but goes barefooted. He wears a turban and loin cloth, both of white cotton cloth. Sometimes he wears a white cotton shirt with narrow sleeves. When going out he rides an elephant and wears a golden hat ornamented with pearls and gems. On his arm is fastened a band of gold, and around his leg is a golden chain.

Among his regalia is a standard of peacock feathers on a staff of vermillion color, over twenty men guard it round. He is attended by a guard of some five hundred picked foreign women chosen for their fine physiques. Those in front lead the way with dancing, their bodies draped, bare footed and with a cotton loin cloth. Those behind ride horses barebacked, they have a loincloth, their hair is done up and they wear necklaces of pearls and anklets of gold, their bodies are perfumed with camphor and mush and other drugs, and umbrellas of peacock feathers shield them from the sun.

In front of the dancing woman are carried the officers of the king’s train, seated in litters (bags) of white foreign cotton and which are called pu-toi-kiou and are borne on poles plated with gold and silver.

In this kingdom there is much sandy soil, so when the king goes forth, they first send an officer with an hundred soldiers and more to sprinkle the ground so that the gusts of wind may not whirl up the dust.

The people are very dainty in their diet; they have a hundred ways of cooking their food, which varies every day.

There is an officer called Han-Lin who lays the viands and drinks before the king, and sees how much food he eats, regulating his diet so that he may not exceed the proper measure. Should the king fall sick, through excess of eating, then (this officer) must taste his faeces and treat him according as he finds them sweet or bitter.

The people of this country are of a dark brown complexion, the lobes of their ears reach down to their shoulders. They are skilled in archery and dexterous with their swords and lances; they love fighting and ride elephants to battle, when they also wear turbans of colored silks.

They are extremely devout Buddhists.

The climate is warm, there is no cold season, Rice hemp, beans, wheat, millet, tubers and green vegetables supply their food, they are abundant and cheap. They cut an alloyed silver into coins, on these they stamp an official seal. The people use it in trading. The native products include pearls, foreign cotton stuff of all colors (i.e. colored chintzes) and tou-lo mien (cotton cloth).

There is in this country a river called the Tan shui kiang which at a certain point where its different channels meet becomes very broad. At this point its banks are bold cliffs in the face of which sparks (lit stars) can constantly be seen and these by their vital powers fructify and produce small stones like cat’s eyes clear and translucid. These lie buried in holes in these hills until some day they are washed out by the rush of a flood when the officials send men in little boats to pick them up. They are prized by the natives.

The following states are dependent on this country of Nan pi. (City names in brackets provided by Rockhill, and are assumptions)

Ku-Lin (Quilon)
Fong ya Lo (Mangalore)
Hu Cha La (Gujarat)
Ma li mo (Malabar)
Kan Pa i (Cambay)
Tu nu ho (Salsette island - Bombay)
Pi li sha ( Broach)
A li jo ( Eli mala – Cannanore)
Ma lo hua (malwa)
Au lo lo li (Cannanore or Nellore)

The country of Na Pi is very far away and foreign vessels rarely visit it. Shi lo pa chi li kan father and son, belong to this race of people, they are now living in the Southern suburb of the city of tsuan (chou fu)

Its products are taken thence to ki lo tu sung and San fo tai abd the following goods are exchanged in bartering for them: Ho-chi silks, porcelain ware, camphor, rhubarb, cloves, sandalwood, cardamoms and gharu-wood.

Ku-lin may be reached in five days from the monsoon from Nan Pi. It takes a tsuan chou ship over forty days to reach lang Li (Lan wuli) there the winter is spent and the following year, a further voyage of a month will take it to this country.

The customs of the people on the whole are not different from those of the Nan Pi people. The native products comprise cocoanuts and sandalwood, for wine they use a mixture of honey with coconuts and the juice of a flower which they ferment.

They are fond of archery; in battle they wrap their hair in silken turbans.

For the purpose of trade they use coins of gold and silver, twelve silver coins are worth one gold coin. The country is warm and has no cold season.

Every year ships come to this country from San fo Tsi, Kien-pi and Ki-to and the articles they trade are the same as in Nan pi.

Great numbers of Ta-shi live in this country. Whenever they have taken a bath they anoint their bodies with yu-kin as they like to have their bodies gilt like that of the Buddha.

Preliminary comments

Strangely little is written about Ku Lin (just the last two paragraphs), the place where they docked, but much is written about Ku Li or Calicut. This probably signifies the might of Calicut and the Zamorin’s control in the pre 12th century period.

The Nair family that settled in China is very interesting – Shi lo pa and Chi li kan. Though many historians refer to them as Nair’s it is very difficult to infer so from the sounds of the names. I do recall an ambassador Narayana from the Zamorin in the 15th century. It is noted from the translator’s comments that after the arrival of the two Malabar people in China, the trade increased drastically.

Tanshuikiang River – Which could that be with the mountains and hills behind it? Was it the Chaliyam River, Korappuzha or perhaps something bigger from the past? It could very well be. Maybe it is the river mentioned by CKR in his comments as flowing through the middle of today’s Calicut.

The golden amulet is noticed by many visitors. Vasco DeGama (Correa) mentioned that it was so heavy that it needed a person to support his arm.

It is unlikely that the Zamorin had a retinue of female guards. So were the women guards some sort of fanciful thinking? The first woman warrior mentioned in Malabar history was Unniarcha, to my understanding, but of course there were others before that.

The mention of silver coinage is a little strange. I do recall from Ma Huan’s book that 12 silver coins is equal to one gold coin in the 15th century. But until then Silver seems to have held up as main monetary token. This somehow contradicts mentions of that period that barter was the main method used by Coromandel traders. Probably large volume trade was bartered, and coins were used for smaller trade.

Officers carried in palanquins or riding on horses? That is indeed strange for there are hardly any other mentions of Malabar kings and officers on horses which were only popular and suitable in hard soil as found in neighboring Vijayanagar and Chola regions. Elephants of course are quite often mentioned in other accounts.

Cats eyes from the waterfall? Waterfalls were not unique to Malabar for such an impression to be made and documented. As Rockhill states, much of what Chau Ju Kua heard was from Arab traders who mentioned only what they wanted the Chinese to know, not necessarily the whole truth.

Han lian – officer seems to be some kind of Moosad vaidyar who was the personal physician. They existed well until the 19th century as personal Ayurvedic physicians. However the sampling of faeces is pretty new and totally unlikely (the rules of pollution would never allow that), it must have been imagination. The Zamorin wearing a white turban is also a new observation.

The great numbers of Ta-shi living in Quilon is again a very interesting observation for Ta-shi are Arabs. But Arabs anointing their bodies with oil is pretty rare but quite possible.

In another part of the book, it is mentioned that the Quilon people did not tie their hair up on top, wearing them loose compared to Malabar people and wore red leather slippers.

Salsette Island incidentally is today’s Greater Bombay. See the wikipedia article for details.

Nan pi is Nampi (as testified by Ma Huan in his book about Cheng Ho’s visit) – or land of the Nampoothiris? It is interestingly stated here in this book that the supremacy of the Nair country extended to Sri Lanka (Si Lan) and the other places listed thouygh it is very doubtful from a factual viewpoint.

About the people being Buddhists one should note that Chinese writers according to Rockhill use the word Fo which is transliterated to Buddha, but may just mean ‘God’.

A clarification about Zeytoun and Canton is needed here. Some historians mentioned that they are the same place, i.e. Quanzhou or Guangzhou, but others confirm that Zeytoun (Xiamen or Amoy now) came about only in the 10th century. Note that they had other names too, Canton was Chin or Sin-kalan or Khanfu and Zaytoun was Ts'iian-chow or Chinchu in Fukien. Hangchow or Hangzhou was a third port, close to Shanghai. Canton is to the south, Hangzhou up North and Xiamen between them.

The word Satin comes apparently from Zaytoun as it originated there.

References

India as known to the ancient world – Dr Gauranganath Banerjee
Chu Fan Chi - Chau Ju Kua - F Hirth and WW Rockhill
China in Word history – S A M Adshead

Pics - from the net, google images - thanks to the uploaders

Most Malayalees today would naturally assume that the word Changatham is the base for the term Changathi or friend. One thing I am not too sure is if the word Changathi evolved from Changatham though it may very well have. While the natives of Travancore usually stick to words like Snehithan or loved one, the term loosely used for friend in Malabar is Changathi or its Moplah version Changayee. In reality, the word Changatham has meanings far beyond friendship. Let us take a look, and this will takes you many centuries back, to the martial days of Nairs, the fighting clan of Malabar (I must also mention here that there are some historians who believe that there were even Changathams comprising Thiyya caste warriors in North Malabar).

Experts opine that the word Changatham itself came from the Sanskrit word Sanghatta. The term in Malayalam means a moral binding or union between persons, to start with. So as you can see, there is sense in assuming that the word Changathi evolved from Changatham. However the term Changatham signified a special martial group of Nair’s (hopefully you recall my article on Chavers) well before the 13th century. I state this upon the basis that the terms Changatham and Chaver can be seen in the Payyannur pattu (that will follow in another blog) and hence existed in those ancient days. Now what did they do? Various writers and historians account for the fact that Changathams took the roles of body guards, guides and mercenaries.

Some historians account that Changathams actually provided protection for money; otherwise termed kaval panam (Logan calls it Kaval Phalam – associated with Convoy guarding). This ‘kaval panam’ was provided by wealthy individuals, traders & caravans, and curiously even single women (such as wealthy but excommunicated Namboothiri women – I was a bit mystified by this, but the Malappuarm gazetteer documents so). According to historians Raghava Warrier & Rajan Gurukkal, the systems of hundreds and thousands that supported each chieftain gave way to Changathams after the Cheraman Perumal’s time.

Now a general explanation on various militias around Calicut - Each Swarupam had its own fighting force and Kalari. The Venad force was known as Janam or a risippiti Janam. The Sammotiri or zamorin, the ruler of Kozhikode, had constituted the fighting forces under different categories- Grama Janam, Lokar, Chaver, Akampati and Changatham. The Grama Janam could have been the militia of Desavazhies and there are references to a number of 'Grama Janams' in the list of invitees to the investiture ceremony of the Samootiri. The Lokar seems to be the military or paramilitary force in and around the capital, available to the ruler at short notice. The regulars of the Samootiri were constituted into Chaver and Changatham. The 'Changatham' served as the 'Akampati Janam' or retinue of Samootiri. The special force of Chaver served as the suicide squad or 'companions of honour'. These soldiers were always ready to lay their lives for the sake of the king.
The term Changatham apparently originated from Sanghatta in Sanskrit and this was used by the Portuguese in their chronicles – Jangada, Sanguada or Jancada as used by the Franks was a traditional arrangement in Kerala concerning the terms of service of certain persons. Readers would be surprised to note that the Portuguese also started employing the Jangada and they had similar Jangada mercenaries in their forts. Whiteway (The rise of Portuguese power in India, 1497-1550 - By Richard Stephen Whiteway Pg 12) confirms that the Portuguese had a Jangada for each of their Malabar forts and it was their duty to defend anything entrusted to their with their life and that it was a serious matter to kill them as it involved in a blood feud with all their relatives (Koodi paka). Once the Koodipaka situation erupted, the affected Nair males shaved their heads and entered into a revenge fight unto death. Whiteway also writes about De Souza’s attack on the Telicherry temple (Pg 284) where the two Jangada groups that were guarding the temple were drawn away by another fight and how one of these groups returns the next day, with the chief dressed ornamentally and accompanied buy 10-12 Jangada Nair’s.

Hobson Jobson & Yule’s dictionaries state –

JANCADA, s. This name was given to certain responsible guides in the Nair country who escorted travellers from one inhabited place to another, guaranteeing their security with their own lives, like the Bhats of Guzerat. The word is Malayal. channddam (i.e. changngddam, [the Madras Gloss, writes channdtam, and derives it from Skt. sanghdta, ' union ']), with the same spelling as that of the word given as the origin of jangar or jangada, ' a raft.' These jancadas or jangadas seem also to have been placed in other confidential and dangerous charges.

Thus :

1543. — " This man who so resolutely died was one of the jangadas of the Pagode. They are called jangades because the kings and lords of those lands, according to a custom of theirs, send as guardians of the houses of the Pagodes in their territories, two men as captains, who are men of honour and good cavaliers. Such guardians are called jangadas, and have soldiers of guard under them, and are as it were the Counsellors and Ministers of the affairs of the pagodes, and they receive their maintenance from the establishment and its revenues. And sometimes the king changes them and appoints others." — Correa, iv. 328.

c. 1610. — "I travelled with another Captain . . . who had with him these Jangai. who are the Nair guides, and who are found at the gates of towns to act as escort to those who require them. . . . Every one takes them, the weak for safety and protection, those who are stronger, and travel in great companies and well armed, take them only as witnesses that they are not aggressors in case of any dispute with the Nairs." — Pyrard de Laval, ch. xxv. ; [Hak. Soc. i. 339,and see Mr. Gray's note in loco].

1672. — "The safest of all journeyings in India are those through the Kingdom of the Nairs and the Samorin, if you travel with Giancadas, the most perilous if you go alone. These Giancadas are certain heathen men, who venture their own life and the lives of their kinsfolk for small remuneration, to guarantee the safety of travellers." — P. Vincenzo Maria, 127.
If you have read my blog on the Kuri systems of Kerala., you would have come across Changathi Kuris’ obviously this was meant for a group of Changathis from an erstwhile Changatham.

The Kerala government text book says - The Yogams (councils) of the Namboothiri trustees of temples and temple lands and their privileges were together called Sanketam. In the absence of sovereign authority of the government the Sanketams became real rulers. They administered law and justice in their jurisdiction. The Changatham was a group of warriors who ensured protection and safety to a Desam and to the Sanketam property. Like the Chavers, Changathams were also suicide squads. They were rewarded with a share from the offerings that were received at the temple. The share was called "Kaaval Panam" (remuneration for guarding) or Rakshabhogam. It was with the military backing of these Changathams that the Brahmins established social and political hegemony.
In the 13th century ballad “Payyannur pattu”, you see a mention of these groups, Chavalari pole Niyakaippuram, Changatham venam Perikayippol. More on this and the ballad later. So these local militia with some of their old features continued to exist in the subsequent medieval period of the principalities in the name of 'Changatham', 'Chaver', 'Lokar' and 'Akampati Janam'. It is believed that these bands of soldiers belonging to different communities in the middle ages must have risen out of such companions of honour, originally conceived as body guards of the rulers and local authorities and developed into a landed aristocracy supporting the established order with military power.

Herman Gundert in his Malayalam English dictionary from 1872, defines Sangatham as – Responsible Nayar guide through foreign territories. He lists Changathi as an unrelated entry to Changatham and explains it as companion with a feminine gender as well - Changayichi. Interestingly when used as Changathamakuvan (Gundert gives an example Kamsane konna Goplane kamsanu Changathamakkuvan) it means to ‘send one along, to kill likewise’.

So that is the Nair definition – Companion of honour, closely bonded with a dissoluble bond. Typically this companionship was between males. So when somebody says or sings ‘Changatham koodan vaa’ it means much more than passing friendship…As I explained earlier, ‘koodipaka’ goes past many generations..

Changadam – These famous Malabar rafts (paired longboats) called Changadam are different from Cangatham, but here again, looking at Barbosa’s account translated in English by ML Dames provides an interesting aside. It states that Changadam is two boats joined or lashed together and this bond is synonymous with the moral bond between two Changatham members (Pgs 48, 49). Dalgado’s Glossario ( pg 181) further gives examples of Vasco Da Gama’s sailing on Changatham’s to the Calicut shores, and states that Yule considers this one of the rare preserved Dravidian words, preserved from classical antiquity even though it is admitted that it may have evolved from the Sanskrit Sanghatta. The Portuguese introduced the Jangada boats later in Brazil, though they used the same term for the Malayali Kattamaram or roped up log rafts.

References

Herman Gundert – English Malayalam Dictionary
Hobson – Jobson Dictionary
Malabar – William Logan
The rise of Portuguese power in India, 1497-1550 - By Richard Stephen Whiteway
Glossario - Dalgado’s
Duarte Barbosa Chronicles – ML Dames translation
Kerala history – Raghava Warrier, Rajan Gurukkal

Pics - Thanks to

Mammotty & his warriors – Pazhassi Raja an upcoming film
Boats of the World - By Sean McGrail Pg 268

A number of historians have written over the years about the trade systems that flourished in the Indian Ocean. These days I am happily immersed in the perusal of some fascinating books covering this subject in much detail.

But then, so many hours and days studying traders and reading about ships in the Indian Ocean was making me seasick, so I decided to spend a little time researching another interesting part of the Malabar world that made it all possible. All this trade or at least a major part outside the spice business happened only because of a natural formation in the Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountain range called the Palghat gap, which was the pass permitting the land route for trade. Some eminent historians have focused on the role the gap played in enhancing the trade in the past, but there were hardly any documentation in the public domain, and all this made me curious enough to divert my thoughts for a while to my mater land – Palakkad (Palghat).

Many of you would have driven through the Kuthiran Churam between Palakkad and Trichur, It was quite adventurous in old days, not anymore. As child I still remember how the transport buses labored climbing the steep slopes and stopped to change the water in the radiator. I remember how cars also stopped at the cool summit and drivers scurried up to break a coconut for luck at the Ayappan temple. And I remembered the famous story of how a man escaped robbers by making them get off the car to push it at the steep Kuthiran slope.

The Western ghats stretches between north of Kerala and the very south. These ghats isolated and protected Kerala over the years. While the Tamil Kongu regions were conquered by many dynasties and kings from the north, Kerala remained aloof and was not inaccessible from the North and the East; in fact the first and only major invasion of Malabar occurred when the Mysore Sultans came in through the pass.

The gap is the lowest pass through the Western Ghats. It is also the only break in that stretch of the Ghats that otherwise runs along the entire western edge of Kerala isolating the State from neighbouring Tamil Nadu. It acts as a corridor between the two States by linking Palakkad District of Kerala with Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu and has served as the vital part of the important trade route between the east and west coasts of peninsular India since ancient times. The Palakkad Fort, stands as a reminder of the strategic importance the gap once had as a gateway to Kerala for would be invaders from the other side of the Ghats. North side of the gap is hills with a height of 1100m and south side the same with 2000m height. The average height of the gap is 144m. There are various theories about the origin of Palakkad gap. One among them is that it is caused by the landslide due to rivers flowing in opposite directions. The Bharatha Puzha river originates in the Palakkad Gap from rivulets and tributaries feeding from steep escarpment slopes along the flanks of the Ghats.

Modern day geologists call the present Palghat Gap topography as the product of shearing and erosion over times. Some scientists like TNC Vaidya believe that a huge lake existed in the Palghat gap and came to this conclusion studying elephant herds and their genetic constituency. It appears that while the Anamalai elephants south of the gap shared genetic traits with African elephants whose forbearers came over some 200,000 years ago, the Nilgiris elephants were local!!

Having looked at some geography, let us get back to the historic trade aspects. Roughly between 3000BC to about 40AD, Arab traders monopolized the Indian Ocean trade zone together with their Indian counterparts. It was finally Hippalus that helped Romans break the iron grip (though according to some Indo Roman trade existed many hundreds of years before that). The Romans continued independent trade until the 4th century, after which the Arabs wrested back the ascendancy. The first recorded use of Palakkad gap as a conduit for trade takes us to these periods, the turn of the century to the 4th.

Palghat gap - a great photo showing the gap - contributed by Premnath Murkoth

The trade over the Indian Ocean blossomed in the first and second century CE. The sailors made use of the monsoon to cross the ocean from the ports of Berenice, Leulos Limen and Myos Hormos on the Red Sea coast of Roman Egypt to the ports of Muziris and Nelkynda in Malabar coast. The main trading partners in southern India were the Tamil dynasties of the Pandyas, Cholas and Cheras. Many Roman artifacts have been found in India, for example at the archaeological site of Arikamedu near present day Pondicherry. Meticulous descriptions of the ports and items of trade around the Indian Ocean can be found in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The main articles of trade with India were spices such as pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, sandal wood and gems such as pearls, rubies, diamonds, emeralds and ivory. In exchange the Romans traded silver and gold with India.
So as you can see, the Palakkad gap or mountain pass is the only gap between Kerala on one side and Tamil Nadu on the other. But did the Romans and Greeks conduct direct trade with the East coast? No, and the reason was the tricky area south of Cape Comorin, a place well known to ancient mariners. The area was difficult to circumvent due to rock formations (probably the Ramn Sethu Bridge existed then), lack of wind support for sailing and possibly nuisance from the pirates and the such. Even the Arabs did not venture past Tuticorin, maybe there were some loose agreements not to or the risks outweighed the opportunities. Nevertheless, the trade existed between Malabar ports and Red sea ports. While the early mariners kept close to the land shores to reach Gujarat and Malabar, the discovery of the monsoon winds brought both Arab and Greek - Roman mariners to Malabar sailing with the winds, reaching faster and safely.

So what was going on in the Kaveri valley and how did the trade guilds of Malabar access it? To understand that one must take a look at the periplus, the ancient manual of the sea. It explains all the sea ports of Malabar upto the Arikamedu port or Padouke. Here was where they made earthen ware to Roman specifications (first examples of outsourcing - And you may also recall my notes on the Pompeii Lakshmi).While many people studying the pottery and jewelry designs conclude that there was a Roman expatriate population living there, the story is still not complete and excavations continue.

Now how did the trade partners in the East coast get their goods across to the west coast? Land caravans took the goods to Coimbatore and from there it passed over land through the Palghat gap. Ships & boats did sail between Arikamedu and Muziris, but they were indigenous, possibly Marakkayar sailors.

The Romans knew of these South Asian ports and had been trading with them for ages. To a certain extent they integrated into the minds and psyche of the Tamil communities as Yavanas, contributing rich folklore in the process. Somewhere in the past this ceased, probably due to the strengthening of the control of waters on the east side. Muziris was one of the key ports and what the Greeks and Romans wanted were beads and gemstones like garnets and diamonds from the Kaveri basin. Indians though needed the gold and silver and were happy to exchange stones for gold. This healthy trade drained all gold reserves in Rome and you may recall the famous cribbing by Ptolemy. Peter Francis a bead specialist states that Bernike and Egypt traded beads with South India, stretching between 2AD and 3BC. Garnets, Emeralds (Beryl) glass and quartz beads, handicraft work originated from Arikamedu, Kodumanal, passing through the Palakkad gap and reaching Muziris for sea transport to the West. Sangam literature was first to mention this gem industry carried out by the ‘Pandukal’ and all this basically came to light with the discovery of Arikamedu. The Pandukal were metal smiths & gem smiths. Kodumanal another manufacturing location, now being excavated, also called as Kodumanam was key. Kodumanal curiously had all the raw material for the gemstone business though Arikamedu had not.

The bead traders were called ‘manivanakkan’. The raw material according to Peter Francis apparently went to Kodumanal, were crafted and then sent through the Palakkad pass to Ponanani. From there it went by boat to Muziris and by ship to red sea ports. Some went by sea from Arikamedu to Muziris and thence to red sea ports. Many present day historians and archeologists like S Suresh are of the opinion that the actual transshipment center before the material moved to Muziris was Kovai or Coimbatore.

As Dr. Suresh says, "Evidence of trade, diplomatic and cultural relations between India and Rome are found especially in southern India. And within South India, a large percentage of this evidence has been unearthed in the Kongu region, which today forms a large portion of the district known as Coimbatore". Vast amounts of Roman coins and other artefacts have been discovered around Coimbatore. Take the coin that is engraved with an image of Julius Caesar, found near the city. A one of a kind coin, it is the only one found in all of Asia. An overwhelming majority of such artefacts have been discovered in places that include Pollachi and Vellalore. Pollachi is in fact the place where the first recorded find of a Roman coin anywhere in Asia was discovered!

The Romans were drawn to India, and not just for her spices. Gem stones, textiles, ivory, ebony, iron and steel, and even peacocks were all sought after by the Romans from the Indian sub-continent. Pepper and other Indian spices, were largely found in southern India. In exchange for her merchandise, the country chose to receive gold coins and fine Roman wine. As Dr.Suresh puts it, "There was a scarcity of gold and silver in Southern India even way back then. And these were heavily in demand by South Indians. This aspect of history has changed very little even in present times!"

Going back to those days, Kongu country had vazhi’s and peruvazhi’s. These valis or vazhi’s were part of the huge roads and highway network. The most important was the Rajakesari Peruvazhi. See here for the roads. It was this road route that brought to Malabar diverse people like the Palghat Brahmins (Scribes, cooks and scholars), Chettairs and Mudaliar traders from the Coromandel, to name a few. The Konganpada came down this route and fought the people of Palakkad and lost, even today we have the annual Kongan Pada festival at Chittur- palghat.

Now you can imagine why the very location of the Palakkad fort was of prime importance to Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan (note here that the Zamorin had cleverly used the Palakkad gap earlier to get his goods across to other ports in the East to circumvent the VOC blockade and surely Hyder saw that). The major road entry to Kerala from the East in the medieval times was through the Palakkad gap. Control of this access point to Kerala was critical and it was for this reason that a fort was needed. Remember that in the past many forts were built for sea entry protection. The Portuguese, the Dutch and the English built the first sea forts, but the later ports were all for land trade control. For a detailed story on the Palakkad fort refer my earlier article on this subject.

Notes:
While many people mention that the Palakkad gap is the only gap in the Western Ghats or Sahyadri Mountains, there is a smaller gap (1500ft) called the Shenkottai gap.

I have loosely used the words Palghat & Palakkad. Both mean the same and Palghat is the earlier English term.

References
The archeology of seafaring in ancient South Asia - Himanshu Prabha Ray
The Bead site – Peter Francis
Roman Karur – R Nagaswamy
Kodumanal today
Archeological sites Tamil Nadu
Map of the Western Ghats - Google