Historic Alleys

Why did the Kolathiri’s of Cannanore welcome the Portuguese with open arms? Was it because of the rivalry between the Kolathiri’s and the Zamorin? Or was it something else? This is yet another interesting story. Read on my friends. How an astrologer or an Arab may have been the cause of the change of fortunes of an entire region and later the country of India.

I got intrigued reading this account which said, ‘300 years before the arrival of the Portuguese, there lived a Kanian in Cannanore who was so famous that many of his predictions were documented for posterity. One of these related to the arrival of the Europeans from the West and their supremacy thereafter.’ (Padmanabhan Thampi narrates thus in an article - Calcutta Review 1901). Thampi actually derives this information from the Lendas da India written by Correa. This Kanian predicted that Europeans would arrive at the shores of Malabar and would reign supreme. According to Thampi, this was the reason why Gama and later captains received a favorable reception from the Kolathiri’s of Cannanore and this was probably the reason why the Portuguese got a strong base to continue their trade in Malabar even though Calicut was hostile. Now all this sounded somewhat vague, so I decided to check this out further. As I read the Correa rendition, I found the connections dubious & circumstantial, to state the least.

But then I found this corroborated somewhat by Nagam Aiya in his Travancore State Manual, Vol 1, Page 270. He says – Gaspar Correa the historian of Portuguese India, gives the story of a kanian or astrologer living at Cannanore three hundred or four hundred years before the arrival of the Portuguese, who had a great reputation for astrology that his predictions were committed to writing, one of which related to the arrival of Europeans from the West, who would attain superiority of India. Now, many historians debate the credibility of Gaspar, so what did he actually have to say?

I decided to check out the Book of three voyages (Correas book translated by Henry Stanley –Hakluyt Society) which indeed confirms that soothsayers have been trying to convince the King of Cannanore to accept Gama and they should be friendly with the Franks unlike the Zamorin of Calicut. At the bottom of the subject chapter, the book also refers to a possible reason for the input

Here is what Correa had to say, in Chapter XVIII

How the Portuguese went to the port of Cananor, and saw the King, and of what happened with him, and what they settled.

While the Portuguese were at Calecut, the King of Cananor always knew all that happened to them, because he had sent people for that purpose to write to him everything.

The Moors of Cananor, who received information from those of Calecut, in order to indispose the inclination of the King, used to tell him many lies about the Portuguese, that they used violence and arrogance in Calecut, and many other false tales with respect to which the King knew the truth.

For which reason, one day that the Moors were thus relating these things to him, he said that no one should tell him lies, because he would order his head to be cut off for it. The King said this because he had already settled in his heart that he would establish as much peace with the Portuguese as they might be willing, because he was always talking to his soothsayers, who continually repeated what they had said to the King, and they said to him that the evils done in Calecut caused by the Moors would doubtless grow, and that the Portuguese would always do much harm to Calecut, and would destroy the Moors throughout India, and would turn them out of India, and they would never again possess the navigation which they now had. The King said that if that came to pass, that he also would receive great losses to his kingdom. The soothsayers said to him and gave great assurances that so it would be, because the Portuguese would be masters of the sea, and that no one would be able to navigate upon it unless they were friends of the Portuguese, and that whoever were their enemies would be destroyed at sea and on the land, and that they were telling him the truth, and he should take counsel and do what appeared to him to be for the best. (Footnote)

The Portuguese, then, running along the coast with land and sea breezes, Avhich was in November of 1498, found themselves one morning in sight of Cananor, far out at sea, and the King had kept boats out at sea lest they should pass by night; the land breeze began to fall and the ships became becalmed until there sprung up a change of wind from the sea which brought them to land, and they came before the port of Cananor." When the ships were sighted, the King at once sent to them a large boat, which they call a parao, with a good crew, in which he sent a Nair of his with a message to the captains, begging them much and supplicating them by the life of the King their sovereign, not to pass by without going to his port to see him, because it was very necessary for a great good, and also for them to refit themselves, for he already knew the evil which had been done them in Calecut, which he regretted very much.

(Footnote) The following lines from a Persian Kasidah, or ode of Niamet Ullah Wely, written in the year 570 a.h. or 1174 A.D., may be given as an instance of the sayings of the soothsayers referred to in the text. The nation of the Christians shall seize upon the whole of Hindostan. Then, when tyranny and innovation shall have become a custom among them, The King of the West shall fight against them victoriously, Between them there shall be great wars, …………..

Now how did one become the other? Correa talks of soothsayers and astrologers advising the King. Thampi and later Nagam Aiya talk about the prophecy of a famous Kanain in the 1100 A.D. period. However, the Correa book’s translation by Stanley attributes all this to the prophecies of a Sufi saint. There was definitely no mention of a Kanain who said something 300-400 years ago. Where did Aiya and Thampi get this idea in the first place?

To get to their conclusions, one must check another source, the writings of Fr Jordanus, quoted by Thampi. Jordanus says in a letter written in 1323 ‘the people (of Malabar) are in continuous expectation of Latins here, which they say is clearly predicted in their books’. Naimatulla Shah Wali Bukhari incidentally is considered the Muslim Nostradamus, he was a Sufi saint who lived in the Kashmir Valley around 900 years ago and provided many such prophecies in his Qaseeda. However the question of whether the input was from Malabar astrologers or the pilot of Gama’s ship Ahmad Ibn Majid (based on the Sufi saint’s teachings perhaps), is not yet clear, for Fr Jordanus account is relatively independent of all this. Camoens says in his Luisids that the Gama was told by his escort (Ibn Majid, I assume) that the sages of Malabar had predicted a conquest against which ‘no human resistance shall prevail’.

KM Panikkar in his ‘Malabar & the Portuguese’ mentions that it was purely rivalry with the Zamorin that made the Kolathiri’s decide to shake hands with the Portuguese – ‘my enemy’s enemy is naturally my friend’ kind of situation. Logan provides a bit of mystery as he explains the event. The Kolathiri king decided to meet the Gama face to face and had a long wooden bridge constructed and clambered on to the ship Sao Gabriel. The Gama’s greeted him and gave him many gifts (he details the various gifts in Page 301). Now how is it that the Gama had so many gifts for the Kolathiri but had pleaded that he had none for the Zamorin? History tells us that he did not really have anything of importance to offer the Zamorin. Anyway the visit ended with the Kolathiri providing the Gama a golden leaf with a trade agreement.

Correa continues ‘Thus it was because the King of Cannanore thought that these pale-faced strangers were the people spoken of by the soothsayer, that he welcomed them so kindly’. But he was wrong for they would be succeeded later by the Dutch and later the English as real rulers, as history was to prove.

Anyway the real reasoning of the Cannanore king was probably self preservation & trade and his enmity with the Zamorin. It was to be emulated again by the Cochin king who did exactly the same to get his revenge on the Zamorin.

Nevertheless, in fairness to the repute of the Kanian, it is also true that in medieval times, astrological inputs were very important in Kerala (as it is now) when it comes to decision making, while it’s connection to the Gama event is at best tenuous.

As one reads books on Malabar history, especially focusing on Calicut and the Zamorin lineage, one come across mentions of a sword that was gifted to the Puntura brothers Manavedan and Manavikraman, by the erstwhile ruler Cheraman Peruymal with a violent blessing.



The picture of the sword and its sheath is attached as well as the inscription on the sheath – which stated ‘Ningal chattum konnum atakki kolka’ - loosely translated as 'die, kill and annex (seize)'. It obviously makes that piece of weaponry very symbolic and important, if it still exists. Let’s take a look at the sword, its implications, importance and present whereabouts. It was after all a symbolic sword that provided the Zamorin’s of the yesteryears the legal right to do what they did and the license to annex and conquer vast portions of Malabar and assert their claims to them.

Recently at the Calicut Heritage forum meeting, Advocate Suresh questioned – How could that blessing sound right? Can you die and still continue the conquest? Well, that was an interesting question indeed.

While some historian’s have stated that the original itself was handed over by the Perumal in a broken condition, other historians state that it was a proper sword until the Dutch attack of the Zamorin’s rest house in Tiruvanchikulam - Kodungallur in 1670, which they set fire to, in dastardly fashion.

The sword itself has been called ‘Udaval’ and Otimaval (Otinjaval?) by historians. The former means ‘A curved sword carried with the body along the waist’ whereas the latter means a broken sword. The present Zamorin mentioned in a discussion with the author that it was indeed in one piece, and had been remade from the broken part, after having been destroyed in a fire during a war with the Dutch. He also mentioned that the sword is now kept in the Tali temple and taken out only for ceremonious occasions.

The destruction of the sword
The time of the Zamorin 1668-71, who was the Thamburan assisted by the Portuguese Pacheo – The story is set during the time the Nayars had been defeated and the Dutch had destroyed the round fort erected their bastion in Tiruvanchikulam in 1669.

KV Krishna Iyer describes the event thus- In the following year, the Zamorin though sickly, was persuaded by the Eralpad to go to Cranganore to encourage the Nayars. The Dutch surprised the Zamorin camp on March 27th. By an inexplicable oversight, the Eralpad had allowed the bulk of the Nairs to go to the Cherpu for the Ashvathi festrival. The Dutch broke into the temple, smashed the idols, killed the priest and set fire to the house. In the confusion of the night, the nairs forgot to remove the Cheraman sword and it was burnt to cinders. The Zamorin retired to Papinivattom and the Eralpad recaptured the bastion.

Historian NM Nampoothiri opines as follows -When the Zamorin was a ruling chief, all public activities were suspended for fourteen days after the previous Zamorin’s death, and resumed only after the Ariyittu valcha, which immediately followed by Tiruvantali. The last ritualistic procedure conducted in this period is the Tirubali. The coronation function starts after Tirubali. The Zamorins proceeds to his private chapel to worship the Goddess and the Cheraman Sword. The original sword was reduced into splinters in AD. 1670, at Cranganore, where the Zamorins were camping, in the course of a surprise attack by the Dutch. The document, which describes this incident, has now been rediscovered.

Herman Gundert - Explains the dastardly night attack on March 23rd, 1670 when the Zamorin lost his wife and his son was injured while they came to attend the Bharani festival (see the difference between the Iyer & Gundert explanations). It was also the day when the original Perumal sword was destroyed. He also mentions in his Keralolpathi version thus - The traditions proudly recounted that they got only a broken sword (from the Perumal), to confuse the issue

In the Duarte Barbosa book by ML Dames, JA Thorne gives an account of the Val Puja done during the Ariyittuvazcha. He explains that the sword is worshipped daily by the Zamorin, and that the sword is lain at the feet of the Bhagavati when he dies. Until a new Zamorin is appointed, the priest does the daily chores of worship to the sword. The val puja is again carried out by the new Zamorin on his first day’. M A Thorne, who annotated the Longworth Dames version of Barbos;as book states that he had seen the sword, and that it is a quasi sacred relic to the Zamorin. It was brought out in a salvar decked with ‘jamanthi’ flowers. By the late 19th century it had already rusted to pieces, according to him.

J Heniger in his book (Pg 35) Hendrik Adriaan van Reede tot Drakenstein (1636-1691) and Hortus Malabaricus ... confirms the event stating that the Zamorin’s wife was mortally wounded and son shot in the leg that fateful night. The rains came soon after and van Rheede retreated to their base in Ceylon. Ironically, it was Henrich van Rheede’s first success as commander, marching in with 900 soldiers sent to him by Van Goens, but it was a cheap method adopted i.e. setting fire to a private house occupied by women & children, at night, well against the norms of war in those days.

However most other history books missed van Rheede’s presence in 1670, while many of them do account for his formal arrival to Cochin in 1676. J Heninger’s has to be right here, so it was indeed the revered van Rheede who was instrumental in destruction of the treasured Cheraman Sword. Nevertheless, many historians have since then mentioned that the rusted blade of the sword was covered with a protective covering of copper.

Picture below shows the present Zamorin PKS Raja holding the remains of the famous sword.

During the Mamankham too, the sword was used symbolically, as quoted below from Nayars of Malabar- F Fawcett

It was on this spot, on a smooth plateau of hard laterite rock, raised some 3oto4o feet above the plain, that the Zamorin used several times in the course of the festival to take his stand with the sword of Cheraman Perumal, the last emperor, in his hand.

" The sword is and has been for centuries, slowly rusting away in its scabbard, but it is not alone on it that the Zamorin depends for his safety, for the plain below him is covered with the 30,000 Nayars of Ernad, the 10,000 of Polanad and numberless petty dependent chieftains, each counting his fighting men by the hundred or the thousand or by thousands. Away on the right across the river are the camps of the second prince of the Zamorin's family and of the dependent Punnattur Raja ; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth princes' camps too are close at hand in the left front behind the temple, and behind the terrace itself is the Zamorin's camp.

The Ullanat family website provides this interesting - According to the ancient history of Kerala narrated in the poetic work called “Keralam” by Kunhikuttan Thampuran, Cheraman Perumal, the last Chera king of Kerala, relinquished his kingdom and divided the land amongst the various smaller chieftains and gave them independence. This event is said to have given rise to various new kingdoms being formed within Kerala. The Zamorin (Samuthiri) who was absent during this event of partition later met Cheraman Perumal. Cheraman Perumal gave his last four possessions to the Samuthiri namely

1) his sword, which was bent inward,
2) a broken conch,
3) the last remaining portion of land (which was to evolve later as the city called Kozhikode)

and

4) his faithful servant - the Ullanat Panicker (who was known as the Palliyara Panicker of Cheraman Perumal). Perumal gave Samuthiri permission to conquer and keep all the land he could by his might.

The site also has a picture of a bent sword, and the Cherman sword could very well have looked like that in old times. The Malayalam poetry extract testifies to the above.

Another interesting observation turns up at the Ponmileri house website This sword, apparently had an inauspicious story attached to it, or auspicious depending on which religion analyses the story. Naveen posts a short account of Ponmileri Koroth House in North Malabar.

At the time of the famous Cheraman Perumal, a member of this family was serving them as a faithful karyasthan. One day when Cheruman Perumal was out for a walk, he forgot to take his sword, which was kept in his bedchamber. The young Nayar gentlemen when he entered the bedroom found that the wife of the Perumal occupied it. He asked this lady for the sword, and she, who was enamored of him, requested him to satisfy her longings. As he was very faithful to his lord he stoutly refused her request, whereupon she became angry made wounds on her person herself and began to raise a hue and cry. Cheruman Perumal on finding that his karyasthan had not returned even after a long time, returned to his house when he was told by his wife that this karyasthan had approached her with evil requests and that when he refused to comply with his desires he had made wounds on her person. Perumal on finding the marks on her body was satisfied with the story and without taking the trouble of knowing the truth of the affair sentenced this Nayar to death by the sword. As his head was being severed from the body by the sword a voice was heard to exclaim "the Perumal who easily believes a women's story go to Mecca and be a Mohemmadan" (Penncholu ketta perumaale makkathu poyi thopiyitto). The family of this Nayar was thereafter known as the family of Vaduvilla Nayar(Nayar without stain), which by corruption became Paduvillan Nayar.

The Cherman Perumal’s story which follows is covered in the blog…

And that my friends, is the known history of the sword that started the reign of the Zamorin’s of Calicut and the involvement of Van Rheede who gave us the famed Hortus malabaricus with it.

Pic - Extracted from Logan's Malabar Manual

The Americans celebrate Columbus Day on the second Monday of every October, not every Oct 12th as it should be…but well, it was around Oct 12th, that he landed in San Salvador, thinking he was close to Japan…I was mulling over all this and my mind kept straying - I kept hearing AR Rahman singing ‘Columbus Columbus’ (song from the Tamil movie Jeans).. wondering why he was singing about Columbus.

Columbus (1451-1506) the great Spanish seafarer-Looking back, he sure was an interesting guy. Well, he was actually born in Genoa Italy, but spent quite a while in Portugal (wife was Portuguese) and it was only after the Portuguese refused to fund his voyages that he relocated to Spain at age 34. Seven years later in 1492 - he reached Cuba.

I have been to Genoa, a couple of times – a coastal port city, with many narrow winding roads where Columbus toiled many a year back, it was here that my friend KP ate an Octupus delicacy served at the fine seafood restaurant and pronounced it a good rival to our Desi Hawaii Chappal in texture & taste!! It was also here that our Italian friend Bisordi introduced us to his Maseratti car and the art of Italian driving of 0-90mph in seconds, gas pedal fully down, then off and braking at cross roads, squealing off again to 90, people & other vehicles around scattering away terrified – Well, if not anything else, that drive sure was nerve racking, and remains a great memory.

Look at Europe in the 15th century. The Renaissance periods - Ottoman Turks take Constantinople and end Byzantine civilization. Losing colonies, hence markets, in the eastern Mediterranean was a major calamity to a seafaring nation like Genoa. The Spanish crusades begin. The determined policies of the two monarchs Ferdinand & Isabella freed Spain of Moorish domination and helped build their country into a stronghold of Christianity. During the time the Moors took over Italy the lucrative eastward trade routes to the Orient were difficult with the Moors in control of the key cities and ports. So a westward route was to be charted and Columbus who got interested in oceanic sailing thanks to his Portuguese wife & father in law (who had sailed with Henry) volunteered. This article does not really detail his voyages or his discovery of the Americas, but dwells on how & why Columbus blundered, considering that his main aim was to find a trade route to India. But he blundered, and how!!

Columbus started sailing at the age of 14 after learning map making, & reading at Portugal & Greece. He sailed south to Africa and north up to Iceland. In 1481 he put together a plan to sail westwards to India and presented the plan to the leaders of England, Portugal France and Spain. Most thought it ridiculous. The Portuguese sailor Bartholomew Diaz had already found a possible route via the southerly tip of Africa to the Arabian seas. The only person who eventually believed in this was Queen Isabella of Spain, but she took seven years and the fight with the Moors for her to accept & fund it. Some say Ferdinand wanted to get rid of Columbus by sending him off on his impossible quest, into the high seas…

The first thing you must realize is that Columbus was not formally educated. The second being the fact that his knowledge of Geography was based on his voyages and the writings of Ptolemy, Aristotle & so on, but later it was from the books at Prince Henry’s observatory in Portugal and those of his father in law. So Columbus decided that he should experiment with the knowledge that the world was round (or as he concluded later, pear shaped) and he went on to chart a course through the underside of the earth to Malabar - the ‘place of spices’.

Columbus based his plan & distance estimates on Toscanelli’s calculations that the East coast of Asia was only 2,500 miles off the Canary Islands, thus discounting the entire Pacific Ocean!! Simply put, the Greeks had determined that the Spherical earth has 360 degrees. Eratosthenes had determined that each degree was 60 nautical miles (the actual measurement today is 60 nautical miles or 110KM) at the equator whereas the more popular Ptolemy had determined a figure of 50 miles. Well Columbus (It appears he wanted to show it as short as possible to get approval – of course) used the figure of 45 nautical miles (his calculation purportedly used Italian miles as against nautical miles – but I don’t think he was that stupid, he just fudged his calculations) his calculation thus reducing the actual distance by a fourth!! Using maps and the calculations of Toscanelli, he believed he could reach China after no more than a 4000 mile voyage. If Columbus had known (he probably knew all along) that the distance to the East coast of Asia was 12,000 miles, he may never have started off or even received a final sailing approval.

The learned men in Spain however were against all this ‘bunkum’ stating that the other side of the earth had no humans and that Adam himself never went in those directions!! Some reasoned that if Columbus went that way, he would slip down the slope and would never be able to CLIMB back over the curve!! Also others had calculated based on earlier Roman studies (rightly so) that the distance was too great and that water cannot be carried for the ships crew for that many miles! Columbus was a tough fighter – He apparently asked the learned men to stand an egg on its end, which they could not. He simply cracked one end & stood it up saying that everything looks impossible till you find a solution. The master salesman won.

1492- Ferdinand and Isabella annex Granada, Queen Isabella decided to support Columbus (She did not sell her jewels as rumored, but got a couple of rich Jews to finance the trip). The agreement was that at the end of the voyages, Columbus would be made Viceroy & that he would get 10% of the spoils (revenues).Columbus even carried a letter of introduction from Isabella addressed to Emperor Khan of India (Presumably Sikandar Shah the Lodhi King).

They set sail on Aug 3rd 1492 armed with only a mariner's compass and dividers, a quadrant and lead line, an ampolleta or half-hour glass, a ruler, and charts, all put, for the navigation. It is amazing that Columbus did all his navigation by the dead reckoning method (using a compass and simple distance measurements) and not the Celestial navigation method (which uses sextants to line up stars & determine your location). Actually he had tried to work out some charts using Celestial objects, but his quadrant appeared defective and did not provide good results. He finally used the prevalent & successful Mediterranean methods and later studies proved that his heading was 99.7% correct.

Spending awhile at the Canary Islands, they waited for the sailing winds before continuing on. After 35 days sailing, the three puny ships landed at a place he called Guanahani - today’s San Salvador or Watling island (Can you believe this - Nobody is still sure where exactly he landed, San Salvador or other islands around - it continues to be much argued amongst nine candidates). The first sighting of land was actually made in the wee hours of the morning by a sailor called Rodrigo de Triana (Juan Rodriguez Bermejo), but Columbus reported it (stating he had seen it the night before) and later collected the award from the Queen (did you know that Triana was so upset that he renounced Christianity, went to Morocco and became a Moslem!!). And thus it turned out that we now celebrate Columbus day and not Bermejo/Triana day!!

Columbus then sailed on to Cuba and thought he landed in Japan, but seeing no gold or rich cities, he turned back and landed in Haiti (Hispanola). When Columbus discovered Cuba; he was convinced that he had found Marco Polo's Cinpangu (Japan). The "admiral", however, was puzzled that there were no silk clad sages, or palaces tiled with gold to be seen anywhere. Accordingly, he decided to dispatch an embassy into the interior of the island, where he believed the cities were located. The mission into the island's interior proved disappointing to Columbus, for the group found nothing resembling an imperial city, spices or gold.
Columbus wrote to Lord Sanchez- Thirty-three days after my departure from Cadiz I reached the Indian sea, where I discovered many islands, thickly peopled, of which I took possession without resistance in the name of our most illustrious Monarch, by public proclamation and with unfurled banners. To the first of these islands, which is called by the Indians Guanahani, I gave the name of the blessed Saviour (San Salvador). In 1493, Columbus wrote a brief report concerning his discoveries of "Islands of India beyond the Ganges." If you can read Latin, check this out.
Admiral Colon - Columbus, who never abandoned the belief that he had reached Asia, thought that these islands were off the eastern coast of Asia, not far from the Japan or China’s Zaiton as described by Marco Polo. That was his historical blunder. As we know now, Columbus’s own journals were destroyed and the first of the records indicate that Columbus, probably aware of the actual fact, always concealed the distances traveled from his sailors. Columbus fortunately found there at least enough gold to take back and to save him from ridicule on his return to Spain. The gold, parrots, and human captives Columbus displayed for his sovereigns at Barcelona convinced all of the need for a rapid second voyage. He also took back about 300 slaves for auction, but not the pepper that Queen Isabella desired.

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