Historic Alleys

While we have a number of first person reports of medieval Malabar from European writers such as Castaneda, Correa, Barbosa, Jordanus, Pietro Della Valle, Varthema and so on, they are relatively circumspect in that those accounts are tainted by religious fervor or tilt to glorify the greatness of the European king and his minions the admirals or viceroys such as Vasco De Gama, Cabral and so on and the barbarism of the natives of Malabar (viewed using a European Christian standard). Nevertheless, they provide an account of the times which are sometimes amusing but at the same time providing a historic setting, accounting the valor and courage of the European traders who believed in wresting away the riches of Malabar by might, all because of the fickle European palate which could not stand rotting meat and needed pepper to preserve it a little longer.

Alas! If only refrigeration had been invented earlier!

In the middle of them all, we have a few others who put pen to paper. We do have Jewish traders who wrote about their trade from even earlier times, like those found in the Genizah scrolls, we have accounts of Pliny from ancient times, we have Chinese travelers like Ma Huan and we have other travelers like Ibn Batuta and Marco Polo.

From the Malabar side though the scribes were busy writing palace chronicles and financial accounts or ‘Granthavaris’, they hardly made a mention about the politics of the time. During the late medieval, we even had Vella Namuthiri writing in highly original Malayalam style about the brief Hyder Ali interlude. Much of those except the Vella chronicles are still not available in the public domain for a student or history buff. But there was one other who lived and wrote in the early medieval; and that was Sheikh Zainuddin 2 (Zainuddin 1's writings are unfortunately rare). The Tuhfat al Mujahideen is a valuable piece of writing though exhorting religious action in the end, but only against the Portuguese invader. So let us now see what this is all about. To get to Zainuddin though, you have to read through two translations of his work, one made by Indian experts in Arabic, while the other was the old English translation by Lt Rowlandson.

Zainuddin 2' s 'Tuhfat al-Mujahidin' or 'Tribute to the strugglers' (gift to the holy warriors) was perhaps one of the two documents that provided the Moplah perspective during those turbulent times, a time when the age old peaceful trade equations were threatened. It was a period where the Moplah or Arab or Jewish trader in Malabar or even their very existence was threatened by the marauding Portuguese in big ships with the might of their guns and the use of deceit, bribery & treachery. The equation of balance where the traders traded and the rulers maintained peace and prosperity for a commission from the trade, was threatened by these men who came to conquer, pillage and perhaps continue their European wars against Islam which was until then of no consequence to the Moplas of Malabar. It was this spillover from Europe of resistance and outrages against the Ottoman hold over the Indian oceans that upset this equilibrium.

It was the time when crusades were waged to liberate Europe from the Ottomans, not any longer to take over the holy land at Jerusalem as the earlier crusades were meant to do. This was when in an ironic series of events, during the middle of the 15th century, the Latin Church (Roman Catholic Church) tried to organize a new crusade aimed at the restoration of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire which was gradually being torn down by the advancing Ottoman Turks.One important reason was the need to overcome the expensive eastern trade routes, dominated first by the republics of Venice and Genoa in the Mediterranean, and then controlled by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of  Constantinople in 1453, barring European access, and going through North Africa and the historically important combined land-sea routes via the Red Sea. Both spice and silk were big businesses of the day, and arguably, spices which were used as medicine drugs and preservatives was something of a necessity—at least to those Europeans of better than modest means.
 
So we come to Malabar, the land of pepper and ports where all the goods from the orient were made available by traders of many nations for transshipment via the Red Sea to Alexandria and ports of the Mediterranean. Here in Malabar situated the kingdom of the Zamorin where the Arabs, Jews, Chettys, Syrian Catholics and Moplah’s traded in peace, eking out their means to peaceful livelihood, broken occasionally by quarrels between the Zamorin and the Cochin king. Here lived the Makhdums of Ponnani, notably the two Zainuddin Makdum’s.

But before we get to Zainuddin Makhdum 2, we have to learn about the learned Zainuddin Thangal 1 and other members of the illustrious family.

The family traces their earliest origins to a place very similar in name to Malabar called M'abar in Yemen, some 30 km north of today's Dhamar. But I am not convinced that the Mabar used in this context is really the same as Ma’bar in Yemen, for around that time, there existed a Sultanate of Ma’bar covering the South Indian Coromandel region(M'abar means crossing point – perhaps signifying the crossing point to Ceylon or to the Eastern oceans).. Originally the Coromandel Coast (Kayal, Kilkara, Madura, Trichy, Nagore etc – creating the Cholamandalam) was termed Ma’bar according to historians with the name going back to the 12th century. For the moment I will leave this piece of information in the backburner and get back to the Sultanate of Ma’bar separately in another blog. Let us just conclude that Sheikh Zanudin1 was from the Coromandel Ma’bar, possibly Kayal. Zainuddin's ancestors chose themselves to add the Al M'abari themselves denoting they were from Ma’bar in the Kayalpatanam area (later the Marakkars came from that region as well - refer my earlier article on this subject).
 
Zainuddin 1

The amicable relations between the Hindu and Muslim communities at that time is exemplified by this interesting observation. The mosque at Ponnani was built for Zainuddin 1 (the big Juma Masjid or Juma Ath mosque) by a Hindu carpenter or Ashari fondly known as Ashari Thangal. Even today you can see his signature on the mosque beam (see picture). The mosque was constructed around 1519-20, and renovated in AD 1753-54. Until the arrival of the Mamburam Thangals (of Sayyed origin) in the 17th century, the Makhdums were the religious leaders of the Moplahs in Malabar. Parallel to the 'wilayat' concept of the Chistis, the Zamorin used to send a ceremonial robe to the Ponnani leaders during the Ariyittuvazhcha or accession ceremony

After Zainuddin, his son Sheikh Abdul Aziz became the Makhdum of Ponnani. This Abdul Aziz was the one who led an attack against the Portuguese at the Chaliyam fort in 1571. His second son Sheikh Ammed Zainuddin ibn Mohammed Al Ghazali was the Quadi in North Malabar – located in the Chombal Mahi area and to him was born Zanuddin 2. As the Zainuddin 2 was from Chombal in Kanchirapalli near Mahe, the Chombal sheikhs or Soubals as Arabs called them are next in importance to Ponnani sheikhs.

Zainuddin 2

Zainuddin 1’s son Muhammad al Ghazali bore Zainuddin 2 into the 16th century, in 1531 to be precise, and the boy quickly followed the footsteps of the illustrious grandfather. His father died when he was young and soon the boy found himself in the care of uncle Abdul Aziz Mukhdam at Ponnani. After primary and Islamic education at Ponnani, he traveled to Mecca where he spent some ten years mastering the religious texts. Coming back to Ponnani he became a revered teacher at the Madrassa, where he taught for another 36 years. He was a skilled orator who always despaired in the fact that the Moplahs never had an Emir to follow, though always working hard with the Zamorin as an emissary in building alliances with the rulers of Turkey, Egypt and neighboring lands such as Bijapur. It was tragic that all these allies were faced with bigger problems of their own around the time Malabar had the Portuguese as foes and could not thus forcefully support the Zamorin against them. But as a historian he was reasonably fair in documenting the times. Let us now take a look at the book. Zainuddin wrote the book sometime before 1583. The text was first translated in 1833 by Lt Rowlandson after a Portuguese translation was made by David lopes. Many other translations followed and today we have the authoritative version by SMH Nainar.

The book details some of the background of the Moplah origins in Malabar, the story of Cheraman Perumal, the arrival of the De Gama and the later fights by the people of Malabar against the Al Afrunj or the franks. (The English were termed Al Inkitar and the Spaniards Al Andaloos, whereas the French were Al Fransawee). In the middle chapters he details the Nair society and the various differences with the Moplah culture.

The Tuhfat is one of Shaikh Zainuddin’s several works, and is the best known among them. A chronicle of the resistance put up by the Muslims of Malabar against the Portuguese colonialists from 1498, when Vasco Da Gama arrived in Calicut, until 1583 when the author died, it describes in considerable detail events, many of which Zainuddin 2 had witnessed and lived through. It was intended, as Shaikh Zainduddin says, as a means to exhort the Malabar Muslims to launch a struggle or jihad against the Portuguese invaders.

Sheikh Zainuddin explains the curious customs of Hindu Malabar to the uninitiated, such as the concept of Koodipaka, where entire generations fight against what they feel is injustice, until death. He also mentions the complete absence of treachery and deceit in Malabar wars, a situation that was used by the Portuguese and the Dutch to their advantage. They brought into the fray the new moral – that nothing is unfair in war. He mentions how the Hindu customs of inheritance and other matters are followed by some Muslim families especially in North Malabar. He mentions how the rule of seniority is strictly followed in ascension to the throne, be the person be an aged person, invalid or mute (Note this is actually jut a figure of speech as I am aware of such a happening only in the case of Mookarasu in nearby Karnataka & not in Malabar. But there have been many aged Zamorins).

The Tuhfat describes how the Zamorins turned down bribes offered by the Portuguese to expel the Muslims, and of how they, along with Nair Hindu and Muslim forces, engaged in numerous battles with the Portuguese, who are said to have singled out the Muslims for attack and persecution.

Shaikh Zainuddin’s observations about the Hindus of Malabar are remarkable for their sense of balance and sympathy. Of the Hindu rulers, he says, ‘There are some who are powerful and some comparatively weak. But the strong, as a matter of fact, will not attack or occupy the territory of the weak’. He continues to show amazement about how nobody usurps the throne by breaking this rule. Zainuddin confirms that the Nairs were a warrior caste and were always involved with such activity. As he writes all this, he clarifies that he is only explaining the communities & their culture and that they have no bearing whatsoever on what is to come or what he has to say, but mainly providing perspective.

Zainuddin 2 also despaired about the lack of coordinated support by the various Muslim leaders in the plight of Malabar - He says as follows on the contrast between the response of the Zamorins to the plight of the Malabar Muslims with that of several Muslim Sultans in other parts of India, who were approached for help in expelling the Portuguese. ‘The Muslim-friendly Zamorin’, he writes, ‘has been spending his wealth from the beginning’ for the protection of the Malabari Muslims from the depredations of the Portuguese. On the other hand, he rues, ‘The Muslim Sultans and Amirs—may Allah heighten the glory of the helpful among them—did not take any interest in the Muslims of Malabar’.
Interestingly Zainuddin chose Adil Ali Shah as his patron for some special reason. Whether it was due to increased monetary support is not clear and it is even more strange that Zainuddin, obviously a Sunni found support from a Shiah ruler in this cause.

As the book blurb puts it - In appealing to the Malabari Muslims to launch jihad against the Portuguese, Shaikh Zainuddin makes clear that this struggle is purely a defensive one, directed at only the Portuguese interlopers and not the local Hindus or the Hindu Zamorins, for whom he expresses considerable respect. Nor is it, he suggests, a call to establish Muslim political supremacy and control. Jihad, then, for Shaikh Zaiuddin, was a morally just struggle to restore peace in Malabar and expel foreign occupiers, to return to a period when Muslims and Hindus in the region lived together in harmony.

He died in 1583 AD and lies buried in Chombal. The death at a critical juncture robs historians of a perspective of the times when the Zamorin established a treaty with the Portuguese and the period of his estrangement with the Kunjali marakkar.

Even though small in size, the text provides much information of the medieval period in Malabar history, when the Zamorins grip on Malabar weakened and when the age old culture was overrun by the Portuguese, hastening the curtain drop on the 500 odd years period during which the Zamorins had nurtured Malabar. But the Portuguese were to be overrun soon by the Dutch, followed by the Mysore forces who rode down to wreak havoc and finally the English would rang the death knell to that period of Malabar’s glory.

References
Tufat al Mujahideen - Nainar
Tufat al Mujahideen - Rowlandson
Historiography of the Muslim world - Vol 1A Samiuddin & NK Singh
Kerala Muslims - KT Hussein
Kerala Muslim history - P SyedMohammed

Pics
Courtesy Twocircles

Part 1 – The Kavalappara family in history


While Malabar history books never fail to mention the usual suspects like the Zamorin’s and the Nediyirippu swaroopam, the Moplahs, the Marakars, the Perumbadappu Swaroopam Cochin royal family, the Kolathunadu rulers, the Palakkad Achans, the Ali raja’s, the Valluva Konathiris and so on, smaller but very influential families such as the Kavalppara are usually sidelined or barely mentioned in passing. If one were to cast a critical eye on the role of the Kavalappara Nair’s he or she would see that they had an important role in the final tabulations. Like for example the role of the Kavalapaara nairs in establishing the ascendancy of the Travancore raja’s such as the Marthanda Varma over Malabar during a critical phase, or various aspects of trade. Now to understand that to some extent, one must go back and study the details of the family and their role.

Many readers of Malabar history would have gleaned by now that much of the prosperity of the area was decided by the need of the people of the West who wanted to better their lifestyle and thence aided by the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the monsoon winds came to the source. The money came from across the seas…the goods and satisfaction came from the east. It may also be noted that whether it was rice from Bengal or Orissa, cotton from the Coromandel farmers, the pearls and gemstones from Tamil lands, or the spice from the Ghats and the hills, the Malabar nobility did little to further local production. They were the aristocracy ruling the trade and the traders and realizing the full advantage they had in controlling the ‘location’.

To understand this even better, one must look at a very popular word used in trade, communication and economy. The word is ‘hub’. Today importers have a hub, airlines have a hub, and multinationals have a manufacturing hub. Well, then again history students always knew about hubs. A hub is in simple terms a transfer point or the central part of a hub and spoke model. Thus Calicut was a hub for trade. Material, be it raw or finished goods reached here. Buyers and sellers congregated in the peaceful environment and conducted honest trade. Both made money and the aristocracy by mediating and providing the infrastructure, collected the cream which was roughly 20% of the proceeds of the final sale plus the ad hoc protection money (the nair pada’s kaval panam) levied on the easterly suppliers and some landowners. The go betweens were of a number of castes and nationalities, providing insurance and comfort for the far flung big wigs and lynch pins. For example the Chetty’s helped maintain a relationship with the major Tamil suppliers, the Chaliyas helped maintain a relationship with the cotton suppliers of the Coromandel and the Jews and Arabs stationed locally with the master traders of the Red Sea. As we see today, the hubs moved along from time to time for various political and weather related reasons (e.g. the Periyar floods ruining the Muziris port or the Moplah traders moving from Quilon to Cochin to Pantalayani due to harrasment). Quilon was a pre medieval hub, and then it was the Calicut region which in the 19th century shifted again to Cochin. For recent international hubs, one only needs to look at Dubai, Singapore as examples….

During all this activity between the early times and today, there is one location which was the main conduit for the passage of goods and people from the lands around South India to Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. It was the Palakkad region. It proved to be very important due to the topography of Kerala, protected from the East by the uninterrupted & heavily forested Western Ghats opening up just one ‘major’ pass around Palakkad. And for this very reason the rulers of the area profited. They controlled and protected the people and trade material that went back & forth through the inhospitable terrain over many centuries. As time and tide went by, these local rulers and chieftains held their own, using treaties and relationships with the rulers on either side, the Cochin Rajas to the South and the Zamorins to the North. The Valluvakonathiri’s, the Palakkad raja’s and the Kavalappara Nairs are these regional rulers. While the other two claimed royal lineage, how did the Kavalappara’s stand neck to neck? How powerful where they? So to find that out, we will cover the Kavalappara family in this essay.

The Kavalappara family

The Kavalappara Moopil Nayar or Karekkat Moothar lays claim to the area as a grant from the inimitable Cheraman perumal. The legend goes very much like the Zamorin’s, the departing Permual gives a sword and told the Nayar that the land he clears is his. The strong lad finally cleared the space between Ongallur hill and Kaniapuram canal and became the ‘adhipan’ of 18 desams, with the title karekkad moopil nayar. Thus the Kavalappara Swaroopam’s geographical limit stretched from Kaniyamburam canal in the east to Ongalloor in the west, Bharatappuzha in the south and Mundakkottukurussi in the north.

But the gift of approximate15 square miles of land around Shornur was not prime property. It was somewhat rocky, and the Nayar named it Kavalappara or false rock (I feel it could be Kavala ppara or rocky region at the cross roads). The kavalappara moopan had initially some 1000 nayar warriors (which later grew to 5000 at the height of his powers) aligned to him. This was I believe the main reason why the leaders of Travancore, Cochin and Calicut needed him, so also his control over the Palakkad gap and the main retail and wholesale open markets at Alathur and Vaniamkulam.

Interestingly, historian NM Nampoothiri points out - Circumstances clearly prove that the ruling family of Kavalappara belonged to a group of Migratory Saivites, their family deity is Siva, worshipped in Eruppa temple, west of Aryankaavu.

And so we go to Kavalppara (Historians have termed it Kavilppara, Caulparra or Cowlpara) a desam in the Karekkat Amsom of the Valluvanad taluk. The origins are said to be from the kulam (not pond but lineage) formed by Karalla atta or amma who was one of the 12 born to the Pulayai/parayi caste beauty and the Brahmin saint Varuchi (Refer Parayi petta pandirukulam – Aithihyamala). The family rose to fame in the area and held on to their reigns allied to either the Rajah of Palakkad or the Rajah of Cochin until the hostilities with the Zamorin starting around 1748. They have variously been mentioned as the naduvazhi’s under the suzerainty of the Palakkad Achan or the Cochin raja at different times and indirectly under the Zamorin at other times. Until they became enemies, the Kavalappara Nair stood to one side of the Zamorin in the ceremonial Mamankham festival. The complex relationship with the Zamorin’s rule is interesting, and to understand it a quick explanation is needed. The Kavalappara was earlier under the Valluva Konathiri whom he had defeated. Then the Zamorin used a policy of appeasing the feudatories of Vellaattiri and conferring upon them the areas they originally held under Vellaattiri. He was thus able to win over Dharmoth Panicker, Pulappatta Nair and Kavalappara Nair. That is how the Samoothiri became the master of Malappuram, Nilambur, Vallappanattukara and Manjeri as well as the Palakkad regions, which were under these feudal lords. The Eralpad (Samoothiri’s second in command) had the responsibility to rule over these lords as supreme commander over them, with Karimpuzha as his base.


At the peak of his glory, the Moopil Nair of Kavalappara lorded 96 villages from Muttangal to Thottungal and from Bharathappuzha River to Mandakkottukurasi near Shoranur (Chiramannur). The junior members in the Kavalappara family were known as Unni Elaya Nair and the female members were known as Nethiyar. The Palace of ‘Kavalapara Mooppil Nair’ is some 5 miles off Cheruthuruthy, in Kolapulli..

The Decline

Things changed after the Zamorin decided to wage war against the Palakkad achan and as we know, the Achan resorted to protection from the Hyder Ali of Mysore. As the Zamorins were besieged by the Mysore ruler, the Zamorin family as well as the Kavalappara family fled to Travancore. The wars and struggles went on and on till about 1760-61 when the Kavalppara family got back their independence with the support of the Travancore rulers who wanted access to the pepper & other resources in the region (for supply to the Dutch VOC). In 1762 they attacked the Zamorn’s army at Trichur allied with the Marthanda Varma. This was about the time, the Kavalppara family established a Kottaram in the lines of Travancore custom (and not as a kovilakom as the chief’s of Malabar did) in Kolapulli.

The Nayar then joined hands with the British in the war against the Mysore kings and following their victory was reinstated by the Dewan Kichu Pillai of Travancore as the lord of Kavalappara. Nevertheless, life was not to prove easy for them for the Cochin king claimed the Kavalappara territory. Finally in 1792, like many others he too signed an agreement with the English after getting his property assessed at around Rs 18000. The bickering continued with the Palakkad raja & Cochin kings till 1804 when finally a treaty was signed and a Malikhana was provided (Rs 1,000 per annum) if they all exhibited good & dutiful behavior to the British superiors.

For a long period of time the Moopil did not allow Muslims to settle in his area. It was only in the early 20th century that this changed and in 1950’s land was first allotted to one.

So as you can see, during various periods of history this family was either aligned to the Zamorin or the Cochin king, but finally figured that the Travancore kings were better allies, till of course the British established an agreement with him in exchange for Malikhana. Soon enough they, like the other lords landed in further arrears and by the end of the 19th century had gone under a court of wards. After the death of the head of the royal family, Karakkat Kumaran Raman Kochunni Mooppil Nair in 1964, the family estates were caught in dispute among the family members. The temple and the palace properties were thence managed by the receiver.

The Kavalppara Mooppil Nair has many feudal rights and also rights in conducting certain customs like “Smarthavicharam” and ‘Yagaraksha” of Brahmin communities. But they also produced well known artistes such as Kavalappara Narayanan Nair Asan who became a Kathakali exponent. Under the special powers accorded to him by the Zamorin of Calicut the, Kavalappara Nayar was entitled to sit and eat with the Brahmins.

The Kavalappara Elaya Nair was involved in trying to mediate between Mahatma Gandhi and the Zamorin over the entry of harijans into Hindu temples. He wrote a letter to the Zamorin in 1933, beseeching him to take notice of the changed times, people's mentality, and fast instances, and to find out some way to solve the problem of allowing temple entry to Harijans, at least for the sake of saving life of the greatest man of the world.

Some fanciful legends

As with all these big families, legends abound.

One goes thus - The origin of Kavalappara Swaroopam was at the Pallickal or Pallithodi near Shoranur. A courageous Nair youth who was an expert in martial arts established his rule within the earlier mentioned geographical limits using his intelligence and capabilities and with the help of 999 (Aayirathilonnukuravu) Nair army became the feudal ruler. In the beginning Mooppil Nair was loyal to Valluvakkonathiri but afterwards he shifted his loyalty to the Samoothiri. Due to some misunderstanding Samoothiri turned against Mooppil Nair. He defeated Kavalappara Nair and took away the badges of sword and buckles, the symbol of feudal rulers. It is said that a cunning young Nair went to Samoothiri’s Kovilakam in Calicut and cleverly took back the symbol of authority and took asylum of Venadu Raja. Afterwards he took the post of Ayyazhippada Nair and with the backing of Nair army maintained his power.

The forest area in the name of Anthimahakalan kotta was used for the stay and practice of Nair army of Kavalappara Mooppil Nair. It was for their use Anthimahakalan temple and a 3 ½ acre wide Anthimahakalan kulam (pond) was constructed. For the use of low castes the Moopil constructed Kollanchery pond. Aryan kavu, Anthimahakalan kavu, Kayiliad kavu are also temples related to Kavalappara.

It is said that at one time the Karekkad house was possessed by a ghost. This was the reason why the family established a Kottaram in Kolapulli and moved to the new location.

Another legend goes thus - It appears that the Cheraman perumal has a minister who was from the Tamil lands. His supporters were the Vellala chetties. All of them settled in Kavalappara. They conducted and coordinated the trade in the Alathur & Vaniyamkulam markets and were held in high esteem, the only people who wore their turbans, and retained them even when sitting in front of the Moopil nayar.

Some Rituals

The Aryankavu pooram is an annual event in the area. The vela at the Arayankavu lasts for 21 days, starting on Meenam 1.The first days are the trade fair, followed by the puppet play called Tholppavakkoothu (leather puppet play), which is a ritual art performed during the annual festivals in the Kaali temples of Palakkad district.

The theme of the play is based on the Kamba Ramayana, narrated in a diction that is a mixture of Malayalam and Tamil dialectical variations. The play covers the whole gamut of events from Lord Sree Rama's birth to his coronation as the King of Ayodhya. The shadow play is presented in the 'Koothumadam', a specially constructed oblong play house on the temple premises.


On the 21st day, they have the Nayaru pooram, when the Kavalappara Moopil nayar (in old times) arrives, wearing his ceremonial outfit, holding a sword and wearing the diamond bracelets. Thus he arrives for the nilapadu nilakkal on the specially made Thara or platform. Here he meets the small chiefs of the 18 desams and provides instructions and orders


The Kavalappara family conducted the ritual cornation of a sucessor, much like the Zamorin, titled the Aritittuvazhcha.
The family today

Some members of the family moved to Trichur. The Kavalappara lands are no longer lorded by them, and as the case files gather dust, their history continues to be a collection of vocal legends and stories, much like the rest of Malabar.

In summary, they were a very important family lording over a strategic location and lived by regulating and conduct of trade and transport of goods through the Palghat gap. As a smaller principality they aligned often with differing powers to maintain their status and position and held their sway until the 19th century after which, like the rest of feudal Malabar, disintegrated, leaving only temple rituals, memories, legends and a desolate and unused palace in their wake. Nevertheless, their historical remains are vast, critical, and paramount in understanding Malabar & its history.

Part two will deal with the related history of Vaniamkulam and effect of the higher castes on the traders and the indigenous people. It will for example show how a trading Jainist culture changed with time and invasion.

References

Kovilagankalum Kottarangalum – Murali
Modern Kerala: Studies in social and agrarian relations - K. K. N. Kurup
A comparative study of the tolpavakoothu and the wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre – Nyoman Sedana

Pics

Kavalappara Kottaram – CPUK Krishnan
To see clips of the Aryankavu pooram click here

Some of you would remember weaving units north of Calicut in the Badagara area and Beypore, others may remember the textile trade mentioned in the 12th century Payyanur Pattu in North Malabar. These days you do find coarse crepe material from some remaining handloom units in Malabar but what is the real story of Calico? Did all the Calico exported to Europe get woven in Calicut? Or was it just an exporting center from historic times through its famous ports? Some of you may even believe that British renamed Kozhikode to Calicut due to the textile Calico.


And let us take a deeper look at the name Calico, was the place named after the cloth? Actually it was the other way around - Kozhikode became ‘colicoda’ to the Portuguese tongue and thence Calicut to the British lips. The cloth got its name from the place, not the other way around.

Greeks termed cotton ‘sindon’ from India – Sind. Indian cotton has been mentioned by Heordotus in 445BC, and later by Arraian in 2nd century AD as an article of commerce. It has also been established that the early weaving industry was concentrated in the Coromandel regions. So the route from those weaving units to Malabar would have been through the Malabar gap and any boats that circumvented the southern cape. I would assume that the various guilds were involved in these activities but more about all that later. Anyway the distances and terrain being long and difficult, it became necessary for relocation closer to the exporting ports and then again other reasons which we shall read about forced the weavers westwards.

So, in those early days, Arab traders took the material from Calicut to Red sea ports, where the cloth went by the usual routes to Alexandria and then to the European and Mediterranean shores. Europe used wool, leather and silk for dressing, cotton was not well known. But once it became popular with the ladies, there was no stopping the demand. After the EIC got entrenched in India the EIC had started Calico import from Calicut by1631 and this import went on to create the large mills in Manchester. Later the cheap factory manufactured cloth came back to Indian shores and virtually killed the handloom industry. By the 20th century fine Calico or muslin weaving had petered out though textile weaving was still practiced in villages for domestic consumption. Resurrected somewhat by the Basel Mission, the handloom industry as such continues at a less than steady pace these days, though the practice of children not following the traditional weaving practice meant diversification of the weaving community into other avenues and further decline of the industry.

How about the textile itself? What incidentally is calico cloth? Well, the unbleached coarse ‘Kora’ cotton exported from Calicut got termed as calico cloth. Where did the cotton come from? Presumably from the hot and dry Tamil areas through the Palakkad gap to the Northern Malabar villages. (Looking at some place names and you can probably come up with another hypothesis behind the names. Near Beypore, there existed a Chaliyar weaver’s colony. The river is now called Chaliyam River. Then there is the Kora Puzha near Elathur. Either the river got its name due to its vicinity to the weaver’s colony or vice versa. Kora cloth is Calico. Chaliyam puzha and chaliyar – kora puzha – kora cloth …)

The name Muslin comes from Masulipatanam and the material is same as Calico though sometimes considered a finer or sheerer variety. Muslin clothes were picked up by ancient Greeks from the East Indian port town Masulipatam, known as Maisolos and Masalia in ancient times and the name 'Muslin' originated from the name Maisolos. Muslin in US is Calico in Europe.

So it finally comes down to the weavers. Who were the weavers? They were migrants belonging to the Chaliya or Saliya communities from Tamil Nadu, Andhra or Kanara regions. Who brought them into Malabar? Was it persecution, trade & economy or choice? The first legend is that the Zamorin of Calicut invited the weavers. The second legend states that the Kolathiri Chirakkal Rajas of Kannur brought weaver families from the traditional weaving communities of Saliya from other regions and settled them in colonies. The third states that the weavers of Calicut migrated to the Kolathiri kingdom after being ousted from Calicut by the Mangat Achan. Why were they needed in Malabar? Did they stray in? While legend states that they strayed in during the 13th century after the left hand and right hand caste (read my blog on this subject to understand the details) agitations in Tamil Nadu (Then again it is stated that the Chaliyas of Malabar were either from Karnataka, Andhra or Tamil Nadu – real origins unknown), It could have been due to the desire of these rich families to wear fine cloth that they had seen immigrant Brahmins or visitors wearing at temple occasions and their subsequent monetary proposals.


Nevertheless any settlement of foreign people in Malabar required the supported of the ruling class. So it is safe to assume that the Zamorin of Calicut (Much later the raja of Travancore followed suit and settled a number of families in Balaramapuram) and the Kolathiri’s invited them to stay and follow their trade. Interestingly the immigrant Saliyas adopted the customs of the chosen land and stayed for good. With that started the advent of weaving in Malabar.


The Saliyas or Chaliyas - Quoting Thruston’s castes & Tribes (and F Fawcett)

In dress and manners they resemble the artisan castes of Malabar, but, like the Pattar Brahmins, they live in streets, which fact probably points to their being comparatively recent settlers from the east coast. They do not wear the sacred thread, as the Sale weavers of the east coast do. This is the only Malabar caste which has anything to do with the right and left-hand faction disputes, and both divisions are represented in it, the left hand being considered the superior. Apparently, therefore, it settled in Malabar some time after the beginnings of this dispute on the east coast, that is, after the eleventh century A. D. Some of them follow the marumakkatayam and others the makkatayam law of inheritance, which looks as if the former were earlier settlers than the latter."


It is said that they were originally of a high caste, and were imported by one of the Zamorins, who wished to introduce the worship of Ganapathi, to which they are much addicted. The latter's minister, the Mangatt acchan, who was entrusted with the entertainment of the new arrivals, and was nettled by their fastidiousness and constant complaints about his catering, managed to degrade them in a body by trick of secretly mixing fish with their food.

They do not, like their counterparts on the east coast, wear the thread; but it is noticeable that their priests, who belong to their own caste, wear it over the right shoulder instead of over the left like the Brahman's punul, when performing certain pujas (worship). In some parts, the place of the regular punul is taken by a red scarf or sash worn in the same manner. They are remarkable for being the only caste in Malabar amongst whom any trace of the familiar east coast division into right-hand and left-hand factions is to be found. They are so divided; and those belonging to the right-hand faction deem themselves polluted by the touch of those belonging to the left-hand sect, which is numerically very weak.

Chaliya legends

According to Saliya folklore the community members had a privileged place at the Samuthiri's palace owing to their Brahminhood. But this was not appreciated by Mangnatachhan (a title of minister in Kozhikode region, generally, a Menon). He plotted a plan to degrade Saliyas in the eyes of king. He mixed fish in their food. Saliyas unaware of this duplicity ate the food. The king came to know that Saliyas had non-vegetarian food and in anger he removed their sacred thread and expelled them from the kingdom. It should be noted here that another myth for being barred from Sastha temple entry in Kasargoad also alludes to an event with one of them being caught eating fish unknowingly. Note here that in Malabar we have mostly the Balanga or Valagai (right handed) saliyas. Ganapathi worship also came to Malabar with the Chaliyas

After being expelled from the kingdom of Zamorin, Saliyas took refuge with Kolathiri kings. One day some of the community members killed the king's favorite dog which had interfered with their work. The angry king ordered them to create a golden dog that would eat rice balls from his hand, or else he would destroy all their Teruvus. By invoking their community god, the Saliyas created a golden dog. When king tried to feed it, the dog bit his hand. As it goes, the king got further agitated and expelled the whole community from his palace.

But the legend is silent on where they went, for they did not and stayed on in different parts of Malabar. If one were to look for an explanation, it could be related to the Edanga Saliyars. In the beginning both communities were present in Malabar. The Right-Hand castes and Left-Hand Castes were two opposing groups. In one such fight between Edangas and Balangas, Edanga Saliyas were beaten and driven out of Kannur. The beaten Edangas were forced to live in the areas of Kasaragod and Mangalore while the Balanga’s remained in Cannanore Chirakkal and Calicut.

Other legends abound - Edanga Saliyas do not have surnames. Like many of the declared lower castes in India, they too have their myth of origin ascribing them to higher caste roots. According to this myth Saliyas were of Brahmin origin. At some point of time, they struggled to survive performing only Brahmanical rituals. Since manual labor was forbidden for Brahmins, the only way left was becoming shudras. They removed their sacred thread and tied it onto the spinning wheel thus symbolically ending their Brahmanism and commencing their life as weavers.

Another states - As they were excommunicated from the Coromandel, they started mass suicide. Shiva prevented the last Chaliyan from committing suicide and gave the life-breath back to those who committed suicide. Then ‘Siva’ asked “Haven’t you seen spider weaving its web? Weave fabrics like that and thus started the origin of the fabrics that we are talking about.


In Kerala, Salis or Chaliyans belonging to Balanga (Right Hand caste) division worship Vinayaka as their main deity whereas Chaliyans belonging to Edanga (Left hand caste) are primarily goddess worshippers. The spider story mentioned above lends credence to the etymology of the name - The common derivations in the literature is from Sanskrit word Jalika meaning spider or weaver or Prakrit/Tadbhava word Saliga meaning the same.

The early days of the weaving industry
The chaliyas primarily wove for their community and for the rich folk in the areas they inhabited. It can be assumed that they sourced their cotton from the neighboring areas in Tamilnadu & Andhra. Nevertheless they wove the white cloth used for the vastra worn by the noble classes of Malabar. It was uncommon to find colored cloth in Malabar as everybody men and women alike wore only white, the women possibly having borders on their clothes of color. However it is likely that the Brahmin and chetty women demanded colored cloth with prints. This was all woven and printed by the wonted Calico printing technique

With the advent of the Europeans, plain and colored cloth was exported in larger quantities and the knowledge of calico printing the Chaliyars possessed was quickly learnt and passed on to factories in Europe.
It is reported that, in former days, the original Saliyans (of Tamil Nadu) were not allowed to sell their goods except in a fixed spot called ‘mamarathumedu’, where they set out their cloths on bamboos. During this 11th century migration, many of them also moved further to the kingdom in Ceylon and became known as Salgama’s.In Kannancherry we have the "Chaliya Therivu", located near the town's famous Vinayaka temple. The temple's patrons are the Chaliyas of Kannancherry.Methods of whitening of Calico and muslin with lemon water for example was picked up from the Chaliya techniques.

KN Ganesh in his study suggests another reason for the decline - Calicut was becoming famous for its export of calico and we have seen the establishment of the Saliya therus in Neduva, but the British were no longer interested in clothes being brought to Calicut as they could be procured directly from Tamil Nadu, and the saliya therus began to decline. The Chettiars who traded in cloth became petty traders who met the needs of local consumption

As cotton consumption in Europe and particularly Britain started to increase, the Portuguese had started cotton farming in Brazil. It then resulted in the transfer of a number of slaves from India to Brazil where cotton was cultivated by the Portuguese (Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Volume 45 - By Pan American Union, Union of American Republics)


By the early eighteenth century, worried by the popularity of Indian textiles, wool and silk makers in England began protesting against the import of Indian cotton textiles. In 1720, the British government enacted a legislation banning the use of printed cotton textiles ‘chintz’ in England. Interestingly, this Act was known as the Calico Act. Chintz incidentally was a name for Calico by the Dutch VOC.

Mechanization came, and the Basel mission soon started a steam weaving mill 1883 with a capacity of 500-600 tones of cotton yarn. The Augsberg printers that we mentioned in an earlier blog Savages of Calicut became experts at calico printing. The Manchester mills perfected it. The famed Malabar pit loom was at its last legs by now. The industry that shot to fame from the pits in the small houses on the street had outlived its purpose. Large machines took over.

So we see how trade related migration stemming from persecution moved the saliyas who were born close to cotton cultivation moved first from Andhra to Tamil lands, and then probably to Malabar. It could have been a direct transition from Andhra to Kanara and thence to Malabar, but the origins are a bit murky. The causes and reasons are clouded by legends and religion, but then such is the tale of most communities of India. Eventually, the weavers migrated again, not in location, but to other professions. The name ‘Calico’ however remains, probably trademarked by some multinational, proudly connecting for time immemorial, at least the textile to the Chaliya weavers of Malabar and the place that shot it to fame, Calicut.
 
References

Traditional handloom industry in Kerala – KKN Kurup
Padmashali weavers
The story of textiles: a bird's-eye view - Perry Walton
Mercantilism and the East India trade - Parakunnel Joseph Thomas
The Great industries of the United States - Horace Greeley
Castes and tribes of Southern India, Volume 1 - Edgar Thurston, K. Rangachari
Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi- KN Ganesh

Pics
Saliya weaver from Padmashali’s notes

It was many months ago, while trawling the internet that I came across the mention (in a search result) of a young drummer from my hometown of Pallavur. The Chenda drummer’s name is Pallavur Sreedharan. I saw his name mentioned together with a popular IMAX movie and an audio CD. Later I met him at the temple the other day and mentioned it in passing, only to see him flummoxed. He recalled the visit of an American Sayip to Trichur and talked about the two days spent getting a lot of drumming filmed, but had not heard from him ever since. After I mentioned about the movie and the CD, he tried again to contact the producer, but has not succeeded to date. I tried to help him, but the tracks had faded out by then. But naturally, I thought, this is typically what happens to the humble enthusiastic toiler from a village.

This fortunately did not happen to Itty Achutan. Not only did this Ezhava Vaidhyer (doctor) collaborate with higher caste Brahmins in the two year effort, he rose to become the lead doctor and certifier in the team led by Van Rheeede when he set out to compile the legendary Hortus Malabaricus during the 17th century. Nevertheless, one must add, without the sponsorship of Van Rheede, and his formal certification and acknowledgement of Itty Achutan’s efforts, we would never have known about this master Vaidyar. Even after all this, the results of these stupendous efforts were unknown to India for many hundreds of years after Van Rheede left, and it was only a few years back that Dr Manilal completed the English and Malayalam translations of the magnum opus after a 35 year effort, working at the Calicut university.

This blog had been pending for a long time, and though I had been communicating with Dr Manilal on other matters, I had no access to numerous articles on this specific subject and related papers authored by him. I was also not aware that Dr Manilal had written a book about Itty Achutan’s role in creating much of the text and inputs for the Hortus Malabaricus, but alas that is also not available here for reference. Anyway, I had some time today and got into the research mode, trying to dredge out at least sufficient information for a blog post. The additional stimulus came while talking to my brother in India who is suffering from Kidney stones and who complained of the resulting renal colic. I recalled my own affliction some years back and my introduction to a popular capsule that not only reduced the possibility of infection, but also aided in the flushing out of the stone. It was made entirely of herbal oils, camphor & stuff like that, in Germany and the concoction must have been prepared ages ago. I recommended it to my brother and after I hung up, got thinking about the history of spices and their introduction in Europe, which as you may recall was primarily for medicinal purposes & preservation of meat. And all this reminded me once again of Itty Acuthan, the person behind the Hortus Malabaricus.

First let us read the chastising reminder from Al Beruni many years ago – The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, and no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited, and stolid. They are by nature niggardly in communicating that which they know, and they take the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of another caste among their own people, still much more, of course, from any foreigner.
 
But then, looking at the relationship between Rheede, Achutan and their team, it was not so, they formed a group of like minded individuals who were compelled to document their knowledge for posterity. Yes, one could debate if the Dutch planned to steal the knowledge for themselves in pursuit of profit, but at least from the Indian part it was a very co-operative effort. Or if you think back to those days when the caste system rigors were at their extreme, it could have been an act of rebellion, the Ezhava Vaidyer working with the foreigner who trusted him more than the upper castes who kept him and his clan apart, never respecting his knowledge. But it must also be remembered that the Cochin king was in full support of the project and must have goaded Itty Achutan into joining the team. Van Rheede’s acknowledgment and thanks to the king (I think it was in Vol3) is testament to this.


It also resulted in another first –Malayalam text was printed (note here that a facsimile was produced on copper plates and not printed as is done today using movable type) on paper for the first time. Incidentally, Itty Achutan not only spoke Malayalam, but also a bit of Portuguese, which he used to converse with the Dutch team (and an Italian missionary Fr Matthew) while preparing the book.

So what is Hortus Malabaricus?
 

 
As part of the project, all the country around was diligently searched and fresh specimens brought to Cochin by Achutan and his team, where the Carmelite Fr Matthews and others sketched them, with striking accuracy. A description of each plant was written in Malayalam and thence translated into Portuguese, by a resident at Cochin, named Emmanuel Carneiro. The Secretary to the Government, Herman Van Douep, translated it into Latin. The whole seems then to have passed under the supervision of another learned individual named Casearius, a personal friend of Van Rheede.


I must also add here that the book was actually a collective effort of a number of Viadyar’s of the area, North & South Malabar and some Dutch, Portuguese and Italians. To get to the work itself and how van Rheede came about planning it, please check out an earlier blog.

Quoting historian Richard Grove - Van Reede's father had been a Chief Forester in the Netherlands and the emotional and aesthetic impact of the Malabar forest environment played a vital role, according to Van Reede himself, in encouraging him to embark on a project on the enormous scale of Hortus Malabaricus. He was astonished to find out that the medicines coming from Europe for the Company were made from the plants sent from Malabar to Europe through Persia and Arabia. These involved high expenses which he felt were a mere waste. Van Rheede was fascinated about Malabar and went on to extend the metaphor of the palace out into the garden. Indeed, he actually conceptualized Malabar as a garden. 'Every land and field' he recalls, extending into the plains abounded so much with plants and trees of every kind, and radiated such fertility, that indeed every piece seemed to have been cultivated by the careful hand of some gardener and planted in a very elegant order. Indeed even the pools, and one may wonder about this, the marshes, nay the very borders of the rivers which carried salt water displayed several plants with which they were almost completely covered. There was no place, not even the smallest, which did not display some plants. Malabar, then, was a garden for Van Rheede and, more than just that, a 'garden of the world'.


Van Rheede now looked for a man who could provide information on and help make precise drawings of these plants, describe them, including their medicinal use, since this could reduce the medical expenses of the Company. Thus he found the local expert Itty Achutan and then went on to form a team for the task.


Strangely some original western viewpoint inputs (Viridarium orientale) had come from Fr Matthews which Rheede rejected just like he had rejected Arabic classification of plants. He decided to rely instead on the local Ezhava classification as outlined by Itty Achutan. It is also quite interesting to note that Fr Matthews accepted the decision and continued on in the new team as illustrator. Rheede had also decided that the Brahmin classification was unreliable, more academic and based on re-stated and weak foundations, passed on through ancient texts (Richard Grove). When questioned, the Brahmin ‘scholars’ always depended on the vaidyars or field workers for precise answers, so Rheede decided to take the lead from Itty Achutan. You can only imagine the consternation created by this decision, but it is also interesting to note that full co-operation continued to be extended by the King of Cochin and the Zamorin of Calicut for this enterprise.

Karappuram Kadakkarappally Kollattu Veettil Itty Achuthan
The Hortus Indicus Malabaricus speaks in its preface about Vaidyar (doctor) Itty Achuthan, a reputed vaidyar of the Ezhava Chekavar community as the main force behind the book.


Richard Grove introduces Itty Achutan aptly - among them were families of Vaidyar traditional doctors, highly esteemed Ayurvedic medical practitioners, whose occupation was passed down in a lineage from father to son, along with bulky collections of books and papers (in palm leaf format) containing hundreds of years of accumulated medico-botanical knowledge. Itti Achuden was probably the best known of these low-caste Vaidyar physicians.

After having selected his field staff led by Itty Achutan, Rheede split the team (varying widely according to historians as constituting 25-100 in all) into many groups of three who were sent into the forests. Three or four illustrators (not Fr Matthews as I originally thought) stationed with Rheede made a sketch of the plant as soon as the specimen was brought to them and Van Rheede personally certified the accuracy of each of them.

Now we come to the interesting part of the team effort carried out in the two tumultuous years between 1674-1676. Rheede was under pressure to leave and Van Goens and team were ramping up the political pressure from Ceylon. The work moved at a rapid pace, as the inputs were tabulated, sketched and collated, editorial analysis was done by a board of 15 scholars, physicians and botanists. Donep who translated to Latin was also a product of the Kottayam school of 1674 that I mentioned in a previous blog (Hasencamp’s school in Kottayam where Dutch, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Latin were taught). Carnerio incidentally was a Parangi Tupas of mixed race. Rheede was very happy with his motley group which collaborated with a single purpose, Brahmins (Ranga Bhatt, Vinayaka Pandit & Apu Bhatt) and non Brahmins, each were trying to win favor with their results. They did their best to ensure that they did not disgrace themselves and the competition between them was fierce. The debates were vehement, with the Brahmins referring to old texts and quoting sages and medical works, but with the team eventually arriving at acceptable conclusions.

Mohan Ram in his paper provides the following additional information about Itty Achuden as he understood from Dr Manilal.


Itty Achudem was born in the Collada family, famous for hereditary physicians in a place called Codakkarapalli of Carappuram, situated about 25 km south of Cochin. He belonged to the Ezhava caste, who were then treated as untouchables by the Malabar Hindu community. The head of the family who practiced medicine was known as Collatt Vaidyan. When a Collatt Vaidyan died, his practice and title went to his (eldest) son. The Collatt Vaidyans maintained a family book consisting of several volumes of palm leaf manuscripts in Kolezhuthu Malayalam, in which were recorded names of medicinal plants, methods of preparation and application of drugs and the illnesses for which they were used. The family book not only served as a guide, but was in turn constantly enriched by recording the experiences of the individual physician of a new generation.

Looking at the published certifications, one may wonder …Why did Itty Achutan write in Vattezhuthu while Carneiro used the Ariezhuthu script during the same period? It appears that the Ezhava caste used traditional old script as they were not formally lettered (in those cruel days only upper castes had traditional schooling) whereas the Tupas Carneiro used the formally taught and modern Ariezhuthu. Emmanuel Carneiro, the interpreter of the VOC, was born, married and residing at Cochin, educated at the Kottayam School. The Carneiro certificate in the original book also states that the original text was dictated in both Portuguese and Malayalam by the team.


Grove opines that the selection of the plants and shrubs were made by Itty though his modest certification does not say so. This is also confirmed in Carneiro’s certificate which refers to the book in Itty Achutan’s possession. Grove points out - In practice Achuden and his team actually selected the plants that were to be drawn and so included in the book, disclosed their names for the plants, and so contributed their knowledge about the virtues and uses of the plants. The plant names also give us a considerable amount of incidental sociological material. In Onapu 'Onam' is the harvest festival in which this particular flower would be used. More importantly according to Grove The names thus preserve the true social affinities of the plant name, instead of isolating them in a context-less arbitrary category, as well as allowing, probably, a truer affinity in terms of pharmacological properties.

The plants were arranged at the University of Leiden garden exactly as prescribed by Achuden and his fellow Ezhavas in the Hortus (This recreation of the arrangement lends some credence to the rumor that Achutan went to Amsterdam). Linnaeus subsequently adopted the same Ehzava method of classification in 1740, as did many other scientists who followed.


The Itty Certificate can be translated as follows

As intended by the hereditary Malayalam physician born in Kollada house in Kodakarapalli village of Karappurma and residing therein. Having come to Cochin fort on the orders of Coomodore Van Rheede and having examined the trees and seed varieties described in this book, the descriptions of and the treatment with each of them known from our books and classified as in the illustrations and notes and explained in detail to Manuel Carnerio, the interpreter of the Hon company, clearing doubts thus supplied the information as accepted without any doubt by this gentlemen of Malabar (attested 20th April 1675)

 
Carneiro states in his certification as follows

As intended by Emmanuel Carneiro, the interpreter of the Honourable Company, born, married and residing at Cochin. According to the Command of Commodore Henrik van Rheede, the trees, shrubs, twines and herbs and their flowers, fruits, seeds, juices and roots and their powers and properties described in the famed book of the Malayalee physician born at Carrapurram, of the Ezhava caste and of the name Colladan, have been dictated separately in Portuguese language and Malayalam language. Thus, for writing this truthfully, without any doubt, my signature ... (attested 19th April I675)

Note: many translations provide the date of 20th for Carnerio's certificate but it is actually the 19th as confirmed by Dr Manilal.

However a detailed analysis of the Malayalam names from the book by Dr Manilal and Govindan Kutty actually reveal that the names came from various parts of Malabar and various Malayalam dialects, not just the understanding of Itti Achutan from the Chertalai region. Note here that a third certificate by the Bhat’s can also be found in the book.

Another famous Botanist of the past who acknowledges Achutan’s contributions is Johan Jacob Scheuchzer who lists in his book Bibliotheca Natural history an entry which starts thus - Dr Itty Achudem who in 1670 put in efforts to produce the Hortus Malabaricus.............

And as it turned out, Rheede who had also planned a Hortus Africus died in 1691 without starting this next project. The last volume of Hortus Malabaricus was published in 1693.

A few words about the illustrators - Many articles mention Fr Matthews as the illustrator or as a member of the team.While the first draft of the HM had a few pen sketches provided by Fr Mathews, they were found to be innacurate and substandard by Van Rheede and others. As Rheede himself explained, the old father provided much input and association to the work, but the pen sketches provided were woefully inadequate. The final illustrations were made by a team of artists most notably Antoni Jacobs Goedkint and Marciles Splintjer.

But whatever happened to Achutan?

Mohan Ram states in his paper – Nothing is known about the date or year of Itty Achuden’s birth or about his descendants. All efforts by Manilal to trace Itty Achuden’s life after the compilation of Hortus Malabaricus have failed. It is said that Itty Achuden put the family book in a cane (rattan) basket and passed it on to a Konkani Brahmin neighbor for safe keeping, as he was leaving his home for a long time. There is a story in his village that he was taken to the Netherlands by the Dutch. This has yet to be verified, as the Dutch kept accurate records of all passengers arriving or leaving their ports by boat. It is also believed that the Konkani family returned the cane basket and its contents to the head of the Collatt family. There were no more physicians left in the family and the priceless treasure of the documentary record of medicinal knowledge (Some say the book is titled Keralaramam) got destroyed some time in 1963 or thereabouts. Curiously the basket still survives! Manilal informs me that members of Itty Achuden’s family had maintained a small thatched hut called Vilakku Maadam for several generations, to worship their ancestors by lighting an oil lamp every evening. As Itty Achuden was probably the last of the ancestral vaidyans, a lamp continues to be lit even today in his memory.

Today Linnaeus and Burman are extolled as fathers of modern botany whereas the man behind much of it, the Vaidyer Itty Achutan has passed into oblivion. Or, maybe not since Karl Ludwig Blume, a botanist of renown decided that Achuthan should be honored and thus named an entire plant family in his name during the 19th century. The Achudemia family is named after Itty, and seems native to China and Japan, though found worldwide.
 
In Kerala, not many know of Achutan or his inputs, though the practice of Ayurveda continues with increasing awareness. There are many Ayurvedic institutions and colleges formed to pass on the knowledge to the future generations. Even so, you can find Ayurvedic herbal medicines like Dashamoolarishtam promoted by contemporary medicine houses like Dabur and advertised with popular film actresses.

So when you see Juhi Chawala chirp on TV about this medicine or when some global drug company patent a ‘kashayam’, give forgotten stalwarts like Itty Achutan a thought…..

References


Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins - Richard H. Grove
Hendrik Adriaan van Reede tot Drakenstein (1636-1691) and Hortus Malabaricus -J. Heniger
Asia in the making of Europe, Volume 3 - Donald F. Lach ((), Edwin J.Van Levy
The Dutch power in Kerala, 1729-1758 - M. O. Koshy
Asia in the making of Europe, Volume 3, Book 2 - Donald F. Lach
Indigenous Knowledge and the Significance of South-West India for Portuguese and Dutch Constructions of Tropical Nature: Richard Grove
On the English edition of Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus by K. S. Manilal (2003) - H. Y. Mohan Ram

Pics

Dhatura pic – tribune
Wikipedia
Hub pages

Miscellany
Those interested can visit the Hortus Malabaricus Art Gallery designed at the Hill Palace Museum. Readers may also recall that the governor van Rheede had a laboratory in the palace during his time, which I believe is the location detailed below, by Sivadas Verma reporting for Indian Express

And of course there is the Malabar botanical garden in Calicut- The garden has a herbal garden, Hortus Malabaricus garden and `star forest’ apart from water plants. It has a total area of 40 acres and has been dedicated to the memory of Itty Achuthan Vaidyar, who helped in the compilation of Hortus Malabaricus.

Interestingly, the first volume of HM bears an engraving of a large garden and a summerhouse bearing a tablet reading `HORTUS INDICUS MALABARICUS', so much so that, the area in Fort Kochi where the garden was cultivated is still referred to as `Odatha' (Malayalam version for the word Hortha) and vestiges of the wall still remain

Many years ago when the Francisco De Almeida came to Malabar as the new Portuguese Viceroy, his fleet and people also had two Germans (history books call them super cargoes), namely Balthazar Sprenger and Hans Mayer. They were from Augsburg, a place in Germany well known for the trading Fugger banking family, numerous artists and publishers like Guttenberg. Sprenger was supposedly a gunner (or clerk) in the fleet. How did his voyage have any effect on history? It so happened that Sprenger documented his travails in a diary which was later attributed to none other than Amerigo Vespucci, the man who supposedly discovered America and who claimed through these papers to have visited Calicut as well, in his fourth voyage.

As you saw the story took a strange turn since Sprenger’s account turned up in the press as Amerigo Vespuci’s voyage to India. This was of course not possible (for Vespuci apparently never left Spain between 1505 and 1512 or accompanied Almeida), but I will not get into the story of how all this happened; I can however list in the reference section a book that explains the piracy of authorship. Let us thus conclude that the contents of Vespucci’s diary were doubtful to say the least and that he never visited Malabar. Sprenger was one of the first to document a visit to Malabar, but one of the last to get published, years after Camoens and Correa.

And so the story takes us back to 1503 when a company called ‘Der Teutschen Societat’ was created in Augsberg to handle trade in the new Portuguese possessions in Malabar & Africa. The company and the traders reached a deal with the King of Portugal in 1504 to finance the trip to India, by providing three merchant ships (I will cover the Fuggers and Malabar in a later blog). The Fuggers and other traders who financed it placed their representatives on the fleet, namely Sprenger and Meyer. One of the ships of the fleet was the San Rafael where Hans Mayer served as the factory clerk. The ship on which Sprenger traveled was the Saint Leonard. It was a very profitable trip for the Germans, resulting in a profit margin of 175% after all royalties were paid to the Portuguese king.

And how did the Fuggers and other Germans get into the picture? Johann Fugger, a weaver of Augsburg, entered into overseas trade about 1380 on a very modest scale. In less than one century his successor, Jacob Fugger II (Jacob the Rich) (1459-1525), controlled vast real estate holdings, fleets of merchant ships, rich gold and copper mining interests, and the largest and richest banking business in Europe. He was able to lend huge sums of money to Emperor Maximilian I (1499-1519) in exchange for certain commercial favors. By using this money to bribe the Electors, Maximilian was able to assure for himself the election to the Imperial throne. In return, he ennobled the Fugger family.

Balthazar Sprenger, or Springer, the author of the narrative, was a Tyrolese, from Vils, in the employ of Anton Welser, and who joined the expedition of Francisco d'Almeida as supercargo, or factor, on board the St. Leonard, one of the three ships fitted out at the expense, as we have said, of the Welsers, Fuggers, Hochstetter, Imhof, and other rich merchants of Augsburg and Nuremberg. Sprenger returned to Portugal with the second home-bound squadron, again on the St. Leonard, arriving at Lisbon on the I5th of November, 1506, six months after the first ships sent by Almeida. Sprenger kept a daily journal of all the events of which he was an eye-witness in the course of that memorable voyage. Being a German by birth, and writing evidently for ready reference, we assume that this diary was written originally in his mother tongue. Sprenger, upon his return to Germany, embodied those two accounts in a sort of memoir addressed, at their request, to personages whose names have not reached us. These were very probably the wealthy merchants of Augsburg who had employed him, particularly the Welsers.
 
The Sprenger story was quickly pirated in Amsterdam. To place his account within the reach of the reading public in Germany, goaded on perhaps by the Antwerp piratical version, Sprenger prepared, himself, for the press, apparently at Augsburg, an edition of his own original narrative, and in the German language. But a Hindu article says Sprenger’s book was published in 1609, which places the publication after his death.
 
As we read on, in the book, the accounts themselves did not arouse the same fascination as the illustrations that were added. Sprenger got in touch with Hans Burgkmair the celebrated Augsburg artist, a woodcut specialist who created pictures of the new world on wood. The most famous of these pictures are the King of Cochin series (Christening of the King in1509) and the Savages (warriors) of Calicut. The former accompany Sprenger’s book and the latter the Maximillian triumph series.

Here is where the famous artist Hans Burgkmair and the German Monarch Maximillian step in. Maximillian (1459-1519) was an ardent supporter of printing in Germany. In order to glorify his achievements, he sanctioned great artists and writers in the region to produce a series of woodcuts and verse glorifying his reign, for posterity. Burgkmair, who had just returned from Venice, was one of them, a master in woodcut artistry. The triumph of Maxmillian, a huge series of 137 woodcuts was still unfinished when the emperor died in 1519. This collection included two pictures of Calicut and five from Cochin which are detailed below. The ‘Triumph of Maximillian’ has been described as one of the world’s richest and most unusual monuments of art. Over half of the woodcuts were made by leading painter and draughtsman Hans Burgkmair of Augsburg (1473-1531). Burgkmair spent much of his time working on commissions for Maximilian until the Emperor’s death in 1519. This was first executed in miniature, on 109 pieces of parchment, and then engraved in wood.

Although Sprenger's account circulated at an early date in manuscript, it was in the form of engravings that he may be said to have first called the attention of the public to his adventures in Africa and the East Indies. He furnished data to Hans Burgkmair, the celebrated Augsburg artist, who designed and published, in 1508, a large plate composed of four or five sheets, pasted together, and forming a whole, which measured in breadth one metre ninety centimetres, in height twenty-six centimetres. That fine engraving represents groups of natives in various attitudes, such as they had been seen by Balthazar Sprenger in those distant regions.

Imagine for a moment the police illustrator who bases a picture on words uttered by the informer. He listens and imagines, extending the imagination to a portrait using pencil or computer applications. But he knows it is a man, for example, Caucasian, with black hair, blue eyes and so on, thus creating an output between certain defined extremes. This is therefore much easier compared to creating pictures of the unknown. How did Burgkmair create pictures of people and animals he had never seen, just by listening to Sprenger? Once you imagine this you can come to terms with relative inaccuracies in the picture when viewed today. Some say that there was a water color painter in the Almeida entourage who did pictures which Burgkmair then as his base sketch. The more accurate parts of Burgkmairs paintings are the elephant and the umbrella used by the King of Cochin which cannot really be imagined from verbal mutterings made after many years of the voyage. So it does appear that watercolors were made by an artist and others hasten to mention that they could perhaps be found at the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome. Anyway the woodcuts proved immensely popular and German published works with woodcuts became very popular in Europe.

Burgkmair probably had additional visual access to at least some of the artifacts and ethnic groups (some Africans & Asians, perhaps Indians) portrayed in the frieze through his trip to Italy and the extensive merchant networks of his native Augsburg, but art critics stress that Burgkmair did not merely duplicate Sprenger's report, but instead disciplined it to make Sprenger an eyewitness worth believing.

The Savages of Calicut


The emperor in his warlike pride, conquering nations far and wide, has brought beneath our empire’s yoke, the far off Calicuttish folk, therefore we pledge him with our oath lasting obedience and truth..Then shall come the people of Calicut…dressed in moorish fashion.


Following are the savages of Calicut. A rank armed with targets and swords. A rank armed with pikes. Two ranks with English bows and arrows. They are all naked, or dressed in the Indian or Moorish fashion, and decorated with the crown of honour.

The King of Cochin





Sprenger’s comments about the people of Malabar coast (he stayed there between Aug 1505 and Jan 21st, 1506, of which two months were in Cochin but reached Lisbon only in Fall 1506 after enduring storms) – He says - while it is winter in Europe, it is summer in Malabar, and it is hottest around Christmas (!!). He is impressed with the use of Elephants as draft animals. The people are brownish black in color and both the sexes have long black hair. He contrasts the relative nudity of the native population with the flowing robes & turbans of the Arab merchants. He calls each city the residency of a king and describes the ceremonial procession of the king of Cochin. He comments on the king’s despotism and notes that the common farmer has to pay a portion of his produce to the king. He is also taken aback by the rings he saw on men’s arms and feet in Malabar. For Sprenger, it was the "burning heat of the sun which makes the moors as black as coal." In the woodcut a black man is throwing a wooden spear with his left hand and is holding two more spears in his right. He is totally naked & they are without shame, according to Springer, but wears five gold rings on each arm. The woman, an infant, and a dancing boy have rings in their ears and wear necklaces. Springer also mentions trade beads exchanged by the Portuguese, where he lists mirrors, brass rings, and beads, which are bartered for goods. Pepper grows on the vine like wine grapes. Arriving in Cochin with the fleet of d'Almeida in October 1506 and staying two months in Cochin, he noticed the presence of Jews in Cochin, to whom he referred as "a foreign element among the pagan population of the city of Cochin," an observation which also substantiated the evidence concerning the Jewish wife of Gaspar da Gama.

In Calicut, four Portuguese ships were loaded with pepper, and the ships began the return voyage. Storms struck the ships which became separated from one another. The ship carrying Springer reached and anchored in what was later called Mossel Bay on the South African south-east coast where fresh water was taken aboard and then they sailed on to Lisbon.

Meyer also wrote a book, but it was never published. A final clarification, was Balthazar Sprenger German? It appears not, though he is considered one. He is Austrian by definition.

Sprenger and Magellan

Why did Magellan enter the fray? Magellan’s visit to Malabar was covered earlier by me, but the story is as follows quoting from Paul Hermaan’s book

When Magellan got back to Lisbon, he met the two Germans who had by then made a fortune selling the spices they brought on the three German ships. When Magalhaes landed in Lisbon he saw three well-known ships moored to the quays: the Rafael, the Leonhardo and the Hieronymus. These three ships, all traders, had gone out with the fleet of Francisco d' Almeida, but although they had been under his command, they did not belong to the Crown of Portugal; they were owned by the mighty German Welser family, who had equipped the ships and also undertaken to maintain the crew for eighteen months. Of course, Magalhaes knew the two German merchants who had gone along to India with these ships: Balthasar Sprenger from Vils on the Lech, who was later to write a faithful little book about his sea-voyage on the Leonhard, and the scriva dafeytoria, the clerk Hans Mayr from Augsburg, who had sailed on the Rafael. A few days later he met the two Germans, bursting with rage. Balthasar Sprenger told him that he and the cargo of his ships were being detained in Lisbon. After the terrible slump in the pepper and spice market following the return of Vasco da Gama's fleet, the Crown had held up the two German trading ships to prevent them selling their cargo of spices either in Portugal or in Antwerp or Frankfurt, thus allowing the Portuguese to make the best of a bad situation. Had he, Balthasar Sprenger, loaded much spice? Well of course he had! The well-fed German, whose face was becoming more and more contorted with fury, told Magalhaes of his successes. He had twelve thousand quintals of pepper on board. Of this the Crown was to have an agreed 30 per cent, leaving eight thousand four hundred quintals. Since the price of pepper was twenty crusados per quintal, the eight thousand four hundred quintals which were his by right would have sold for 168,000 crusados. Furthermore he had been thinking of buying direct from the Moluccas! Naturally he would deal in cloves, and he exhorted his new Portuguese friend to listen. On the Ilhas das Especierias one hundredweight of cloves cost two ducats, in Calicut as much as fifty and in London more than two hundred ducats. This was real business, against which everything else was insignificant.


Magalhaes was breathless with excitement. Quickly he calculated what profit the German merchants would make on selling their pepper. Almeida's fleet had not touched on the Moluccas, and had bought its cargo from middlemen. What profits could be made by buying directly from the Moluccas themselves! And since Magalhaes came from Oporto and was as poor as a church mouse, he was to remember these things, just as he was to remember Lodovico Varthema's colourful tales.

References

Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume 1& II: Donald F. Lach
The Discovery of Ceylon by the Portuguese in 1506 (1908) DW Fergusson
Americus Vespuccius; a critical and documentary review of two recent English books concerning that navigator: Henry Harrisse
The Renaissance Print: 1470-1550 - David Landau, Peter W. Parshall
Innocence abroad: the Dutch imagination and the New World, 1570-1670 - Benjamin Schmidt
Triumph of the Emperor Maximilian I - By Hans Burgkmair
The great age of discovery – Paul Hermann

What is a woodcut
Hindu Article
 
Pics
Low Res images extracted from the web