Historic Alleys

Those of you who have lived in Calicut will always remember a Guajarati or two from their days in school or college or daily life. It is simply so, that they have always been around, though they have kept somewhat to themselves and the Gujarati area of Calicut (or lately Mavoor) since so many centuries. We will always remember them fondly and they have always made our lives easier and colorful. In the old days their shops were the ones that brought in fashion from Bombay and it was their attire that people looked at when a fashion change was planned. There was a time when mimics mimed their funny Malayalam accents and many a Malayali lad pined after a comely Gujju lass with no results. Anyway let’s take a look at that community which enriched Malabar.

In the very early times, Brahmins from the North had embarked on a southerly sojourn for some reason or the other, and some perhaps even settled at Cellur near Taliparamba. It is even said that Parasurama himself was born in Anarta in Gujarat (though others say he was from MP Maheswar) and his legend or myth were supposedly propagated by the migrants from Gujarat. Nevertheless, as to when they came in large numbers is not exactly clear though there are some indications that it happened after the Afghan lord Mahmud of Ghazni attacked Gujarat (1025- 11^th century) and quite a few Vanias or Banias (Lohanas, Bhatias and Patels) and Brahmins moved southwards to the land Parasurama had established (I will not use the term created – and all that axe throwing bunkum) for the Brahmins between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. As time went by the Muslim traders (Memons, Bohras and Khojas) also moved to Malabar when it acquired importance in the Indian Ocean trade. One must also keep in mind that these Guajarati traders had already been trading with the Red Sea and Gulf traders for a very long time. Recent Geniza fragments with Gujarati text in those scrolls testify to the vibrant trade relationships, and in a recently uncovered scrap, it is clear that the parchment is addressed to one of the earlier nonresident Gujaratis living across the oceans, perhaps Aden where they always had a vibrant community. But we will talk about the Geniza Gujarati scraps some another day and for now concentrate on their presence in Calicut.

According to another source - It is also said that 'Akananuru', a collection of records, refers to people from the North West having settled in Malabar during 4th century AD. The collection speaks a lot about earlier relationship between Kerala and Gujarat. Migration of Gujarati community to Kerala and other places occurred at different stages in different centuries (PS Zaid – rediff article).

Gujaratis of course kept their account books till they were closed and eventually destroyed them in flames, but never made an account of their times or their history, so quite a bit of their hoary past is gleaned from oral accounts and of course, the one and only book of their past in Kerala, written by Dr Jamal Mohammed, which I was thankful to lay my hands on recently. So with many thanks to Dr Mohammed, let me carry on.

It is not that Gujarati’s were only involved in trade of Malabar goods, but one must note that they were also conduits to many other commodities sourced from the Gujarati interiors like cotton, poppy, opium, honey, wax, sugarcane, betelnut, woods and bamboo. Finished textiles and indigo were also staple in addition to leather and tanned goods.

As time went by, it was also a Gujarati who guided Vasco da Gama to Calicut, for more details see my article on the subject. But one of their main reasons for frequent visits to the South was because Malabar in the 6^th and 7^th centuries was a center for Jainism. In fact it is said that the Calicut Jain temple, supposedly 2,500 years old was an abode for Kalikunt Parasunath, and that is how Calicut gets its name (we will get to some more details in a separate article about how Calicut got its name). During the early Portuguese times, the Zamorin deputed a few Gujaratis to help get the Portuguese settled. According to Pearson, the house where the first Portuguese factory of Calicut was started belonged to a Gujarati. While they were very much in support of the Portuguese in furthering their trade relations, once the Portuguese started restrictions with Cartazes, the Gujaratis went on the offensive with the Moplahs and even joined hands in attacking Portuguese ships. Their (Gujarati merchants – not the ones in Malabar though) fortunes are well documented by Pearson in his book for those interested. In fact many of the Gujaratis then moved to the SE Asian ports like Malacca and that was how the famous though ancient saying came about – Je java jaye pariya pariya khaye…those who visit java would become commercially successful for many generations.

The later day trading Gujarati community of Calicut were primarily comprised of Banias and Muslims and the Banias were mainly Kaira Patels, Bhatias and Jains. Sometimes I wonder how strangely these matters turn out. The Kaira Patels came to Calicut and Cochin in Kerala seeking prosperity. A Malayali named V Kurien from Calicut went to Anand in Kaira district of Gujarat and created Amul and later prosperity for the same lot!! See how fate works. The Patels quickly cornered and monopolized the tobacco business in Malabar. The Bhatia’s on the other hand, established trade with far off lands such as Arabia and Persia and one of the pioneers in Calicut was the Kutchi Hitenda Bhatia. He created the first shipping agency in Calicut around the turn of the 19^thcentury, living near the Beach road. He was the main British port agent in Calicut and monopolized later day spice business. The fashionable Hathis and Bhimji’s of Calicut were also Bhatia’s. Another group of 52 Kutchi Lohana’s came to Calicut in 1865 and soon cornered the money lending business of Calicut and Cochin. Famous among them are Jamnadas and Mathurdas. The later day Jains headed by Rameshlal on the other hand were officially granted a plot of land by the Zamorin in 1872 and they established 5 Jain temples in the beach area Jain colony, the most famous being the Kalikund Parasnath temple in the Trikovil lane. Perhaps this was in the general area I mentioned in an earlier comment, about a mosque in Kuttichira.

Let us now look at the Muslim Gujaratis of Calicut. While the Cutchi memons or mumins, an offshoot of the Hindu Lohanas flourished in Travancore (kayamkulam) and Ismail Sait even went on to produce the famous film Chemmeen, Abbas Sait was a famous shop keeper in Calicut dealing in imported goods and among them they had as many as 120 shops in Calicut. But most of them closed down when exchange rates fell after the world war. Many went to Pakistan after the partition. Then there were the Dawoodi Bohras, of which some 25 families lived in Calicut. Among them Ibrahimji was well connected with the Zamorin’s family during his time and helped the declining family tide over many a bad situation.

But they came into much infamy when a Bohra boy named Powderwallah Bohra married Mappila girl Suhra in Calicut. The Bohra community excommunicated Powderwallah who then settled down in the house of Suhra. The powderwallh bohra then became known as Mappila Bohra. Finally to arrive were the Khojas (not to be confused with the Koyas though many still do) and we see Mohiuddin Khoja, another Zamorin associate. These Sufi Chisti khojas came during the reign of Tipu Sultan and started off in Kondotty and continued to produce a number of Thangals of Kondotty according to Jamal Mohammed. In fact there were instances where Manjukutty and Inayat represented the Zamorin at the Madras presidency meetings.

Interestingly, looking at history books, they were termed the betrosians (Portuguese terms for Gujarati) or bedrosians of Calicut, and considered to have moved into the area some 400 years ago. Trisha in her paper however believes it started much earlier in the 6th – 7th century.  Trisha explains – The Gujarati Street is in the vicinity of other commercial streets like Halwa Bazaar, Valiyangadi, Gunny Street, Copra Bazaar, etc. which were olden day Arab Bazaars and Dutch markets. In the 1800s and 1900s, the port city and the Zamorin’s welcoming nature provided several opportunities to agro- based merchants who readily invested in the infrastructure required to carry out their business. - The settlement grew around the already existing Arab Bazaars and Dutch markets, 50-100m from the sea. The Gujarati businessmen lived in Pandikasalas which are typical warehouse– cum- office– cum residential buildings having its own form of architecture, social relations and culture. She concludes - With the closing of the port and the monopoly of government in agro based industry, and because of the supermarket and brand culture, both wholesale and retail options have been closed for many of these small merchants. The very large infrastructure required to carry out those activities have become obsolete spaces.

The opportunity which the Gujaratis seized with open hands came when the American civil war broke out and cotton exports to England ceased. The Gujaratis using their contacts with the British in Calicut and Cochin provided large amounts of raw and finished material. One such firm which rose to the front was the Asghar group dealing with silver, gold and spices. And of course we know from the various historic sources that they were brokers of great skill. With their command over Arabic, Gujarati and local languages as well as a smattering of western languages like Portuguese and English, they managed to be great port agents certifying the delivery quality and quantities as per any given agreement. The ability to credit sales for 6 months allowed them to play decisive roles in the business of Malabar. Manekji, Indulal, Sunderji, Velji and Haribhai were well known names in Calicut. Nagalbhai from Navasari and his son Nagal Parekh were prominent brokers representing Harrison and Crossfield. Ratansai was also a well-known broker representing H and C.

Nagji Saitji rose to fame with cloth sales to Japan and his umbrella assembly company in Calicut, and of course there was Ibrahim Currim.. Most of the saw mills were Gujarati owned, like Devesh’s. But in the years after Independence, when communism took hold of Kerala and labor unrests became commonplace, the Gujarati industrialists moved on to other states.

Sundardas Shamji of Calicut was for example the host of Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Calicut in 1921. He later went on to create the Charka Sangh of Calicut. The creator of the Indian Muslim league of Kerala was Calicut’s Abdul Sattar Sait, who then rose to high levels in that organization. Sattar Sait later moved on to Pakistan after the partition and became the Pakistan ambassador in Egypt. And of course do not forget Mandakini from Bhavnagar who went on to became an activist in Kerala. Moving to Calicut with Kunnickal Narayanan, she became a teacher at the Gujarati school, but again veered away into activism. Ajitha her daughter followed her footsteps in activism.

 There was a time when the Azakodi kavu was also called the Bhavani temple since the Bali pooja was performed there by Gujarati’s during the dasara festivals. Eventually the Gujarati school and the Haveli temple were established.

Today we still have the Pankaj variety hall of Calicut, and the small community continues to do well, though the families are scattered. Their festivals especially during Navarathri and merry lives go on as usual, the school does well, and in fact it has gone ultra-modern with AV facilities in classrooms, according to a recent newspaper report. They still keep to themselves, with hardly any case of inter community marriages reported and otherwise live a harmonious existence with other communities, though the younger generation quickly moves to other metropolises in search of fame, fortune and other luxuries...

References

The Gujaratis, a study of socio-economic interactions, 1850-1950 – T Jamal Mohammed

The Study of a hundred year old Gujarati settlement in Calicut – Trisha Parekh

Calicut city centenary celebration – 1966 souvenir – article by Ramaniklal Jamnadas

Two things triggered this article. One was a recipe for picked eggs from Sharaboji 2’s Tanjore kitchen, dating back to the 18^th century which I tried recently. A very interesting but alien tasting dish made of ingredients which we still use regularly, but in differing proportions. As I was munching the eggs, I wondered how this really spicy dish was a favorite of that king with 3 wives and 24 concubines (as you can imagine another article is on the way). Then again, the other day Ramu Ramakesavan, a history enthusiast and blogger asked a question about the commercial aspects of the trade between the Portuguese and Malabar and posed a question about the fairness of it, i.e. if not the people of Malabar had been amply compensated and if so how. He was also wondering why I had stated that the Portuguese had plundered Malabar for over 250 years. As it was a very interesting question (Unfortunately a number of anglicized school text books emphasize the glory of Vasco Da Gama’s landing at Kappad) I thought that I should provide an elaborate answer. As I do so, let me also refer the reader to my article in Pragati on globalization which will provide a better perspective. The paragraphs which follow provide a general overview of a couple of hundred years in a few pages, so it was quite challenging. So here goes…

In the years that followed the age of discovery, the Portuguese amassed fortunes with the sales of the produce from Malabar and enriched Lisbon and the royalty as well as the Fidalgos of Portugual (Of course others also profited, be they the Danes, the early English and Fuggers of Germany). The peaceful coexistence in Calicut was not a given anymore and the prospect of justice even more difficult to enforce. While we will come to the specifics later, one must note that the purchases were made at a price which in theory was unacceptable, not in practice enough to cover the large expenses by the Zamorin in holding fort and keeping a military balance with the Portuguese as well as the rivals in the South and the North. Also it must be borne in mind that the many wars meant forceful removal of a lot of wealth, personnel, costs of reparation as well as destruction of infrastructure and cultivation. After a while when things became difficult, the traders simply moved out of Calicut and moved up north to Mangalore and Goa, where the masters were. (Many of those aspects are covered in the large number of articles in Historic alleys, tabulated under the Category – Malabar Portuguese).

Let us go back to the early days, the period April – August is when the monsoon winds brought sailing ships to Malabar. That was when the markets of Calicut bustled with wares, be they spices or textiles, be they copper or iron ingots. The ships would dock and the traders speaking many a language came in to discuss and finalize (or pick up pre-agreed quantities) deals to fill their dhows and ships. Some were bound (later in the year actually) eastwards; some westwards to the Gulf ports or the Red sea ports. Those would disgorge their contents in the Arab ports where much of the produce would make their way overland on camels to Alexandria to be again laden into ships bound for the European ports. Each step meant multiplication of the cost and eventually the lowly pepper corn, cultivated as a parasite plant on Malabar trees would be equivalent to its weight in Gold – thus getting the name black Gold. When the Portuguese saw the difference between the cost and the Venetian price and later discovered the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope, they saw the easy pickings. Initially Gama expected that the Zamorin would side with them (because they believed initially that he was a Christian) and expel the Arabs from the lucrative trade, but as we know he did not. They also actively encouraged and developed Cochin as a rival to Calicut. Here you must keep in mind that Calicut by itself was not the producer of the articles for trade (except perhaps pepper from the interior, coconuts, coir & arecanuts); it was a major port where fair trade was promoted and a place where security was assured by the Zamorin’s forces. The port was well connected overland and water to the interior parts of Kongnadu and other parts of Vijayanagara. What was exported out in the 15^th century? Pepper of course, but also ginger, coconuts, cloth, arecanut, coir, cardamom, sandalwood, rice (from Orissa) and in return imported or bartered Gold, silver, copper, silk, horses, aromatics and so on. To get an idea, the most expensive import was a horse which cost as much as 800 cruzado, i.e 9,000 Calicut panams, a lot of money.

But by 1600 the fortunes of Cochin also declined and Kanara pepper exports had doubled those of Malabar pepper. The compensation of being to send a ship of their own to Lisbon also did not quite work out for Cochin, for their link with Bengal (Cotton and other goods) had also been broken by then. Many of the Casados and mesticos started to move out and back to places like Bombay and Goa. The trade centers had thus moved from Calicut to Cochin to Goa and Bombay.

The economics - To put it simply, pepper was purchased at 2.5 cruzados per quintal. This same quintal of pepper in Europe fetched 50-80 cruzados or more at times, which meant a great profit even after considering shipping and infrastructure costs. In 1500 the Calicut price per bahar was 360 panams and so the sale at the new fixed cost meant a loss of 200 panams per bahar to the local traders. This was obviously the reason why the local rulers and the Arab traders retaliated fiercely, for their livelihood was at stake.

Nevertheless, it was called the spice alchemy whether they acquired the spices by force (initial forays) or as in later days by a monopolistic purchase at fixed prices, unaffected by demand and sold it at gold prices. Later when the trade became more private run, the financiers had to pay 30% of the sales price to the Casa Da India.

But as we saw in previous discussions, Antwerp cartels came into play, the royal house of Lisbon racked up large debts and by 1543 the debt rose to the tune of 2 million cruzados. They got around it by changing the rules. Also the budgeting system was set up in such a way that the expenses were to be offset by the income from duties, cartazes and so on in India while the trade profits were booked by the Lisbon royalty. This system failed mainly because of the rising costs of maintaining their presence in India and extreme corruption in Cochin and Goa. By 1570 the royal monopoly was disbanded and it was redrafted in such a way that all ships had to stop at Lisbon and pay an 18-50 cruzados duty per quintal of spices.

The toiler who tended to the pepper vines in Malabar did not prosper in the succeeding years, decades and centuries, nor did the Nair and Namboothiri land holders. The Moplahs were affected severely as their livelihood was under threat and after their relationship with the Zamorin and the Hindus were affected following the Kunjali debacle, their turmoil increased further. The Zamorin’s owing to his continued warring with Cochin racked up large debts and his power in this fragmented city declined steadily till he was virtually bankrupt and eventually his domains were gobbled up by the marauding Mysore sultans. Malabar never prospered after the 16^th century whereas the Portuguese as we saw improved their per capita incomes.

Now we can go back to the starting para of my article on the Casa da India and understand my vexation.

But that was another era. The cultivators if there are any left, and traders of Malabar never learnt the economics of trade if you look at the situation today. According to Indian Spices Board, as the country shipped 26,700 tons of pepper in 2011-12, exports fell to 16,000 tons in 2012-13 with pepper selling at a rough cost per kilogram of 4US $ in the world market. Global pepper production peaked in 2003 with over 355,000 tons and Vietnam today is the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world's pepper. Other major producers include India (19%), Brazil (13%), Indonesia (9%), Malaysia (8%), Sri Lanka (6%), China (6%), and Thailand (4%). Even that second place is under threat. But then again, everything has changed, like the taste of food. Today in developed countries, taste is dictated by large companies like America’s McCormick. Their spice chambers and technological innovation centers decide how much of spices go into flavor mixes used in the food industry. The easy to cook, easy to eat and easy to buy dishes or mixes eventually decide the taste of food you eat. And in this humdrum world, the spicy pepper is no longer king; I read that dried Capsicum has finally taken over the perch in that 600 year race and so, one day, not so far in the future, my friend, Malabar pepper chicken may end up as a memory from the past..

Pragati Article – Hubs of medieval trade

Note: this is a superficial study and I have deliberately skimmed the surface to keep the lay reader’s interest. If I got into the price fluctuations and so many other cost factors, the reader would be induced into a deep slumber.

For more details on that interesting world chart, read this three part article

Some Currency rates for better understanding

That crafty minister

If you were to study the successful reign of Marthanda Varma, you will quickly notice that there was one person who faithfully tended to him and guided him through those hectic days. In fact that person had been around even before MV took the throne, rightly or wrongly, from his uncle Rama Varma. The shrewd man was not only a Shakuni and Chanakya rolled in one, but also a very able administrator. Krishnan Raman or Ramayyan, that was his name, of Tamil Brahmin stock, was a good cook and a person of stern behavior, great logical outlook and acute intellect. Well, if you were to look at his story, you would be surprised at the involvement he had with the illustrious king, and not only that but you will also come across a large number of anecdotes attributed to him and retold even today. He is also considered to be the inventor of the Malayali dish Aviyal or what is sometimes termed as Ramayyar kootu in Travancore.

For a Sanketi Brahmin, travel and resettlement is nothing new, as they were Smarta Brahmins who originated from Tirunelveli and moved to all the nearby regions in search for work and patronage. One such person was Rama Iyen or Ramayyan who came to Travancore from Irunkanti, near Rajamannarkoil in Tirunelveli. He was born in 1713 in nearby Valliyur which was part of the Venad kingdom. From there the family moved to Aruvikkara closer to Kalkulam where prospects of employment with the royal palace was bright. Rama Varma, whom we talked about earlier was the king and the young boy was introduced to the palace by his uncle’s father in law Rama Sastrikal who incidentally was a court Pundit.

Many stories abound about the manner in which the young man or kuttipattar was introduced to royalty. The first is about his using care in trimming a flickering lamp wick after ensuring that a second wick was first lit and held as standby.  The king who was observing all this noted the careful method adopted and asked Sastri to leave the boy in the palace and thereafter appointed him into royal service as a petty clerk (pakatasala rayasam). A second version states that he was employed as a boy servant at the Vanchiyoor Attiyara Potti’s (one of the ettara yogam) house where the king once went for dinner. The flickering wick story comes into play again and as there was no brass wick trimmer at hand, and since it is a sin to trim a wick with one’s hand, Ramayyan pulled out his gold ring and did the needful. The king noticing this had the boy transferred to the palace. A third version is related to a clerk writing a nittu (writ). The clerk after finishing his nittu read it to the king and obtained his signature. Ramayyan who had been observing the clerk told his uncle that what the scribe wrote & subsequently read out were not the same and that some falsification had been done. The writ was reexamined and the king seeing the error dismissed the clerk and questioned Ramayyan how he knew as the boy himself had not the occasion to read or study the finished writ. Ramayyan explained that he was following the movement of the clerks hand and figured out the text in his mind. Following this exhibition of mental clarity, he was absorbed into palace service.

Ramayyan proved himself to be a great asset to the palace. There is a mention of his brilliant redrafting of a reply to the Nawab of Carnatic and subsequent promotion to the post of Samprati and the gift of a house at Kalkulam in 1726. During this period he cemented his friendship with the young Marthanda Varma and curiously distanced himself from his family, ensuring singular attention to the young Yuvaraj. His family (wife and brother) continued living at Aruvikkara and it appears that he was miffed with his brother as he had refused to give one of his two sons to Ramayyan for adoption. That was reason enough to cut himself off from his family or so it is stated. But this was good for the royals, for his unstinted support and brilliance ensured victories for MV. He rose through the ranks, to Kottaram Rayasam and after Tanu Pillai’s death in 1737, to the post of Dalava (Dewan in later days) or Sarvadhikar. Not only was he the prime minister, but he also held the defense portfolio. The 19 years he spent in this position were full of problems, not only with respect to the accession of MV to the throne, but also with respect to negotiations with the European powers, wars with neighboring states, expansion of the Travancore kingdom and continuous threat to his own life from the Ettara yogam members, the Ettuveetar and many other petty chiefs of the locality.

He was certainly different, for in his steadfast support for his patron king, he employed every bit of trickery, treachery, cruelty and guile and when it came to scheming, planning and execution, he was supreme. Many of the acts he carried out can be questioned now, but at that point of time, he had just one aim, to keep his king’s needs and desire above all, not even bothering about his own caste or its strict Smartan requirements as well as what is termed as local tradition or nattunadappu.

One of the accounts details how he hit back at the Suchindram (recall our Abhirami and the Ilaya Thampi story) Brahmin trustees who were supportive of the Abhirami family. He had no qualms in destroying their houses and driving them away and ensured that a large amount of land controlled by the Suchindram trustees was reallocated to Marthanda Varma.

In those troubled days when MV was on the run, he was always accompanied by Ramayyan. Ramayyan helped organize the irregular army comprising the maravers and pathans, as well as a group of Nairs who supported the yuvaraja. He was instrumental in forcing many of the recalcitrant chiefs (madampies, temple trustees and pillas) to pay up any tax arrears due to the new king. Later when the treasury had a surplus he ensured in return, a number of development projects in Nanjenad. He was also very much involved in the struggle with the ettuveetar and the various intrigues which we talked about in earlier articles. Careful planning and scheming by Ramayyan ensured victory and solidification of MV’s seat at the palace. His role as military chief between 1730 and 1755 is much talked about, and that was the period when the Travancore kingdom expanded.

In 1731, the Quilon rajah allied himself with the Kayamkulam raja, in opposition to the wishes of Marthanda

As a Dalawa, he did much in the renovation of the Padmanabha temple and Padmatheertham as well as many other improvements and the architecture of the Trivandrum as we know today. He also ensured that the Travancore king was vested with supreme powers and all kinds of monopolies.

In fact, the Kerala state records mentions that the first land survey was carried out by Ramayyan. He was instrumental in levying taxes, though one might say that much of it was excessive and only meant to fund the wars fought by MV. The expenses were huge as MV had to bring in a lot of mercenary soldiers with promises of good compensation as well as elevation to Nair status. As we saw, even traditional marava robbers were brought in to staff the new army. He was instrumental in developing mavelikkara and kayamkulam and today you can see the Krishnapuram palace built by him. Also the concept of state monopoly of trade was brought in by him, but we will get to the details later.

Next came the standoff with the Dutch who feared that the combination of the British and the Travancore sovereign would threaten their commercial activities. Van Imhoff tried threatening the king with an invasion, but it had no effect(Interestingly according to Shungoony Menon, Marthanda Varma made a counter threat that he would then be forced invade Europe with his vanchis (country boats) and fishermen!). A war resulted and while the Travancore forces were initially successful in routing the Dutch, Dutch reinforcements from Ceylon wreathed havoc when they landed. They then proceeded to Kalkulam to take over the palace. Marthanda Varma quickly contacted the French in Pondicherry and signed a treaty with them for support. The full-fledged confrontation with the Dutch happened soon after, headed by the king and Ramayyan and success followed at Colachel. That was how and when the king met De Lannoy who was to become one of his trusted lieutenants and get known as the Valiya kapitan. I had provided more details of the affair in the article Tipu’s waterloo and will in the culminating article cover De Lannoy in more detail.

The Cochin raja was now in a quandary for he was sandwiched between two aspiring chieftains, Marthanda Varma in the south and the Zamorin to the north. The Paliyath Menon now conspired with all the petty kings who were against the Travancore king and planned to wage a final battle, again this was foiled by Ramayyan and De lannoy. Ramayyan was now camped in Cochin and as he was planning to make his final surge, the Cochin king sent his abject apology to Marthanda Varma which was formally accepted. Nevertheless as accounts show the people in the Kayamkulam area had no plans to accept the sovereignty of the Travancore king. Both Marthanda Varma and Ramayyan were now a bit troubled as it appears that the resurgent Zamorin had entered the fray in support of those kings. And here is where Marthanda Varma makes the terminal mistake of writing to Hyder Ali for help. Hyder agreed and deputed forces down south, but soon after the Travancore king wrote to him stating that help was no longer needed, as the situation had been sorted out, thus irritating the Mysore Sultan.

There were many other incidents following that, like the Tinnavelly affair, the fight against the Zamorin at Cochin, but during a period of peaceful sojourn, Ramayyan together with De Lannoy proceeded to fortify the Travancore border. In addition, Ramayyan started to build up the commercial infrastructure following a land survey and establishment of godowns as well as a royal monopoly on pepper and such spices for trade. Chowkies for levying duties on transport of material for trade were established along the way. Pandakasalas for salt manufacture were constructed, and finally a system of budgets and balances instituted. For the first time in the history of Travancore, a decision was made to control expenditure in proportion to income and a budgeting system called Pathivu Kanakku was established. The fort at Trivandrum, the sheevelipura as well as the royal palace within the fort were constructed under his supervision. As we see today, many of his edicts (termed Ramayya sattams) related with commerce, excise, budgets and taxes later became so woven into the fabric of the history of Travancore, but there were also many a decision that could be called wrong such as imposition of taxes on lower castes such as the poll tax.

Since the end of 1745, Martanda Varma was apparently suffering from some illness, which made him more and more reliant on Ramayyan Dalawa, who as explained previously reformed taxation and successfully introduced several monopolies. With all the needed completed, Marthanda Varma dedicated the kingdom to the lord and Ramayyan moved to the commercial headquarters, that being Mavelikkara where all the natural produce was concentrated. By now it was 1750 and the king had become more of a religious person for presumably the past actions had caught up with him. Another six years passed, and we find that the able Dalawa Ramayyan has taken ill and is sinking with death looming close. Marthanda Varma is devastated and deputes his nephew Rama Varma to check what he could do, but Ramayyan only expresses his one lasting regret, asking for nothing else.

When the Prince Rama Varma reached Mavelikara, he found the Dalawa sinking and on being informed of the Maharajah's wishes to perpetuate his name, Rama lyen said with his characteristic modesty: "I disclaim any personal right to the proposed honour. I was merely the instrument in my Royal master's hands. Although I have accomplished all my aims I am only sorry that I was not permitted to conquer and annex Cochin."

Ramayyan passed away at the comparatively young age of 43. The Anjengo Factors recorded in their Diary that Ramayyan breathed his last at Mavelikkara on 1st January, 1756. After the death of his wife, it appears that Ramayyan consorted with a Nair lady. Upon his death people found that he has amassed no wealth and had expressed no death wishes. The only departing request he made to the king was to take care of this Nair lady’s wellbeing. Ramayyan Dalawa's family of 2 sons and 1 daughter moved back to Pudukotta after his death. Author Sethu Ramaswamy incidentally claims some ancestral connections.

The Maharajah Marthanda Varma and Ramayyan Dalawa were more than just King and minister to each other. King Marthanda Varma, his Diwan Ramayya Pillai Dalawa, along with De Lannoy's military skill, together were a force to reckon with in the South. Tara Sankar banarjee hints that the so-called greatness attributed to Martanda Varma by other historians, who always depicted the king as invincible, is silently challenged by Madhava Rao who hints that it was the Machiavellian strategy of Ramayyan, the General of Marthanda Varma, who saved the honor and greatness of the master in his wars with Kayamkulam. As is reported, they were intimate friends (like Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya), so much that after the death of Ramayyan the Maharajah went into a deep depression and started losing health himself. It is recorded that he pined for his minister, friend and companion and died within two years after Ramayyan’s death, in 1758.

The Ramayyan curry that he is credited with was apparently made for MV when he was suffering from a stomach upset. It comprised ground coconut, curry leaves, curds, some jaggery (normally not a part of Avial), green chillies, other vegetables and yam. Today it is known as the avail which is almost a state dish.

Many legends are attributed to Ramayyan, it is rumored that the king once offered half of his kingdom to this trusted deputy, making him a king of that part. Ramayyan refused stating that he was a Brahmin and it’s the duty of Kshatriyas to rule (a little clarification is needed here – even Marthanda Varma was a Samanthan Kshatriya and did a Hiranya Garbha ceremony to attain the Kshatriya caste position towards the end of his career). He is also credited to providing shelter to poor Brahmins in the fort area where the temple provided them with means of livelihood. But his enmity with the local Nampoothiris is also well known, especially those in Kayamkulam, who were replaced later with Kolathunad potties. Ramayyan is also credited with the removal of the Sree chakkara bhagavathy idol from Kayamkulam and reinstation at Trivandrum (This was done to remove the powers that protected Kayamkulam kings).

For two years following his death, Travancore had no Dalawa. Ayappan Pillai acted in that position and received the appointment only after the death of Marthanda Varma. Ramayyan’s younger brother Goplayyan did become a dalawa though, some years later.

The simple but crafty self-cooking Brahmin had done enough for the kingdom of Travancore and it was many years later that another decided to emulate him, Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer…

References

A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times - P. Shungoonny Menon

Rise of Travancore: a study of the life and times of Marthanda Varma - A. P. Ibrahim Kunju.

The eight barons or the Ettuveetar

In the previous article, we talked about Abhirami and her children. We read very briefly about the succession struggles between her sons and Marthanda Varma. This one will hover above the succession struggle and cover the role of the Madampies and the baronial Pillas and the usage Ettuveetil Pillamar. Reading through various sources and accounts, one could assume that there were two opinions about the matter regarding the Pillamar - that they became a legend starting with the fictional story about Marthanda Varma by CV Raman Pillai and the second being that they were real and existed even before CV Raman Pillai alluded to them in his novel.

It was particularly interesting for me because I lived in Kazhakootam, an area supposedly controlled by one of these 8 barons, for over a decade but at that time I had little interest in such matters. And since I get involved with Travancore history only rarely, I had quite a bit of reading to do before I could make some conclusions. Thus, armed with the two versions of Travancore history, by Aiyya and Shungoony Menon (I could not access Velu Pillai’s version), KVK Iyer’s history of Kerala, Shreedhara Menon’s Survey, KM Panikkar’s and Alexander’s accounts of the Dutch and so on, I got down to the task. I then read Marthanda Varma, the novel by Pillai, Leena More’s studies around Attingal & Travancore and Ibrahim Kunju’s detailed study on Varma. All this could be dizzying for the uninitiated, but it was incredible fun for me.

At the outset I have a suggestion to make, if you have not read Raman Pillai’s book, read it, and if you cannot get the Malayalam version or do not read Malayalam, then check for the translation by BK Menon. BKM’s translation is fantastic and I could only marvel at his choice of words (his daughter Prema is a well know translator these days and the great grandniece of K Karaunakara Menon, whom we talked about during our Pazhassi Raja accounts). So with that bit of acknowledgment and with the background explained, let us now head down south to Travancore, not the Trivandrum we know today, but Kalkulam (Padmanabhapuram) and the Nagercoil areas, to begin the story.

As we saw in the previous article, King Rama Varma died and according to the matrilineal succession in vogue, Marthanda Varma, his nephew rose to the throne. We also saw that the Ilaya Thampi’s Pappu and Raman Thampi were not amused by the turn of events since their father had promised Abhirami, their mother that one of them would get the title. Marthanda Varma would not budge and the dispute started to ratchet up to higher levels. 

However, an anarchical situation in the region had started even before Rama Varma allied with the Madura ruler but was not able to find resources to pay the annual tribute. But as Nagam Aiyya put it,

At the time of his accession the state of the country was far from happy. There were no organized departments for the transaction of State business. The finances were in an extremely unsatisfactory condition. The country was honeycombed with petty chieftains, who collecting around themselves bands of brigands, subsisted on pillage and plunder and harassed the Rajah and his people by frustrating all attempts to establish order or any settled form of government. The Rajah's following was small and his authority so nominal that the Ettuvittil Pillamars and the Madampimars were more or less independent rulers of their own estates. Anarchy prevailed in South Travancore to a sad extent which was further intensified by the regicidal proclivities of these petty chieftains and the Yogakkars — a body of managers of the temple of Sri Padmanabhaswamy owning enormous landed wealth and commanding the influence and power which go with it.

We also see from the Travancore manuals that Varma even while serving as a deputy to his uncle had a number of issues with the barons on varying occasions resulting in his being on the run and even sleeping on tree tops (I see a bit of CV Raman Pillai’s novel here). Nagam Aiyya continues

Even as First Prince and Elaya Rajah of tender years, he set himself to put down with a strong hand the lawlessness of these disloyal chiefs. In consequence, he had earned their undying hatred and his life was more than once attempted. He sought the aid of the English and the Dutch and would have completely quelled the rebels but for the timidity and weakness of his uncle the King who compelled him to desist. He had fled from place to place and on several occasions slept on the tops of trees in far off jungles.

Now that we have established some background, let us try to get to the specifics. Shungoonny Menon mentions them as being a problem as early as 1594 when Eravi Varma himself had issues collecting dues from the Pillamar. He describes them thus

A society was formed consisting of eight and a "half members" of whom eight were Potty Brahmans, each of whom pretended to have the privilege of a casting vote, and the sovereign who was considered half member, had no vote in the transactions of the Devaswam affairs. By such an arrangement, the affairs of the Devaswam , became virtually vested in the hands of the eight Potty Brahmans, and they began to work the institution through their attaché’s the Ettu Veetil Pillamar, who were the representatives of eight noble families. The sovereign had little or no influence over the Devaswam, and was simply required to be present at the usual periodical ceremonies. The power of this Yogakkar and the association become so great, that records show that they even imposed heavy fines upon the sovereign for wrongs done to the Devaswam institution.

This Devaswam possessed extensive landed property, which was then called Sree Pundara Vaka (belonging to the holy treasury). Its sole managers were the Yogakkar, who had all the powers of despotic rulers over the Devaswam property, and over every one of the tenants and holders of the Devaswam lands. The Ettu Veetil Pillamar were entrusted with the collection of the Devaswam revenue, and the villages, where the Devaswam lands lay, were divided into eight Adhikarems. Each of the Ettu Veetil Pillamar was appointed a collector over the Adhikarem, with the powers of a petty chief.

The king having little or no authority over these men, they rose in power and importance, and gradually became supreme lords in their villages, and in time the Madampimar (nobles and petty chiefs,) who were not loyally attached to the crown, were also influenced by the Ettu Veetil Pillamar and the combination became a powerful one.

Shungoony Menon continues to explain the atrocities carried out by the confederates against the king, especially the burning of the royal palace and the poisoning of the mild mannered Aditya Varma, the killing (kalippaan kulam drowning) of the brothers of Ummayamma Rani, and how during her reign, the eight Pillamar dissented and how each of them became a sole master of his possessions, thus signaling a situation of anarchy. Around this time, a Moghul soldier attacks and subdues Travancore following which the Rani brings in the Kerala Varma raja from Malabar (Kottayam)to help, which he does and soon the Rani is in absolute power. But the Pillamar and the Yogakkar conspire and kill the rescuer from Malabar. Eventually the previously mentioned Rama Varma becomes king and Marthanda Varma (son of a Kolathunad princess & Rama Varma’s nephew) enters the scene to continue the royal tussle against the confederates.

According to Alexander the Pillamar belonged to the eight Nair houses of Marthandam, Ramanamatam, Kulathoor, Kazhakootam, Venganoor, Chempazhanthil, Kodamana and Pallichal (CVRPillai introduces one other named Thirumadhom). He concludes that their ambition was to extirpate the royal family and establish a republic of their own. According to him, maintaining the Pandyan forces which his father had brought in in order to control the confederates was too expensive and so he sent them back. But this encouraged the Pillamar who rose in rebellion against the new king Marthanda Varma. This is the situation that prompted the Ilaya thampi’s, who were also upset with the king over succession aspects, to join the confederates, and then to go to the Trichy Nayak for support.

KM Panikkar opines that it was a settlement in 1050 that accorded the land around Padmanabha temple to the Yogakkar. He goes along with the accounts of Shungoony Menon and Alexander. He narrates the story of the fugitive Yuvaraja and how he realizes that the common man always supported his feudal lord and not a monarch. So if a monarchy had to prevail, he had to get the barons out of power. With that in mind, he seeks the Trichy Nayaks’ support in return for an annual tribute of Rs 3000/-. In return he gets an army of 2000 under the Tripathay Naiker and a cavalry of 1000 under Vankatapathy Naiker. But when he tried to use them against the nobles, these forces refused to take his orders and thus he starts to create his own imported army comprising Maravas, Pathans and so on. That is when Pappu Thampi goes to the Nawab of Arcot with his complaints.

Marthanda Varma according to Panikkar is found to be lacking scruples and virtues such as clemency, once he had entered the fray. He was the first to strike down the age old systems in Malabar politics where a Nair noble could never be punished, even in case of treason. With MV’s annihilation of the 42 nobles and their families, he destroyed the feudal system of Travancore. His use of Marava mercenaries, his wish to create an autocratic state in the lines of those at Trichy and Tanjore, was alien to the people of the region. PKS Raja also concurs in concluding that Varma was as ruthless and unscrupulous as the recalcitrant Ettuvetill Pillamar.

Let us now get back to the Ilaya thampimaar. They went to the Nayak and requested support complaining that they were following natural succession methods and that he should help them reach their just position. The Nayak deputed the powerful Alagappa Mudaliar to check. Mudaliar went to Travancore and was met by the able Dalawa Ramayya, who explained to him the principles of matrilineal practices in Malabar and Travancore and as is mentioned in a number of other accounts, Mudaliar was well taken care of (well bribed). The Mudaliar then calls the Ilaya Thampis and reprimands them, following which he returns home. Thus the Thampimaar ended up having no external support. The rebellion now became an open one and the skirmishes more regular. In the meantime, the Padmanabha temple renovation work was completed.

This unstable situation continued on till 1733, when on a fateful day the two Thampis were killed by or on the orders of Marthanda Varma, having decided that there was no other course open to him. Books mention that the younger Raman Thampi was first killed by the guards at the Nagercoil palace following an altercation and later the elder Pappu Thampi got hacked down by Varma himself. Manickavasagom Pillai concludes in his paper after due analysis, that all this was pre planned, so also the fate of the eight Pillais. Kochukumaran Pillai was also taken care of in the same manner, according to Velu Pillai’s TSM.

After this was done, the 42 chiefs (Pillais and Madampies) were rounded up, and hung at a place called Mukhamandapam near Kalkulam. They properties were seized and the women and children sold off to fishermen. The Brahmin potties (as they could not be killed according to the Manusmriti) were apparently excommunicated with a dog picture branded on their foreheads.

Now we come to the central question. Did these Pillais, Madapmies and Yogakkar exist? Yes, most definitely, and this is borne in other works such as Sreedhara Menon’s Survey of KH. But we can perhaps get corroboration from the accounts of neighboring kingdom of Attingal and English records, so let us check there.

In the case of Attingal, it is recorded that there were four great Pillas, namely Vanjamutta, Cuddamon, Barreba and Mandacca. This is well documented in Leena More’s book and even established as the Nattunadappu, so it is likely that such a system did exist in the case of neighboring Travancore. Continuing on, we also note that there were twelve madampis and two pottis. The Pillas were a level higher than the madampi and the Attingal queen would take one of her two husbands from among the Pillas.

We note that the first tussle between Ravi Varma (the king before Rama Varma) and the 8 Veetil pillar took

Marthanda Varma seeing what was happening with his relatives in Attingal, ensured that whatever counsel he gave to his uncle Rama Varma (and previously to Ravi Varma) were against the pillamar of Travancore, the said ettuveettar. Perhaps he was goaded to do this by his new friends the English headed by Alexander Orme and that was how a treaty was concluded between the English and MV, then the prince of Neyyatinkara. The Travancoreans in return, promised support to punish those behind the Attingal revolt. By 1724, the English had even obtained permission to mint coins and a monopoly to establish settlements in Travancore. With that concluded, their intention to profit was made clear, and that they would support a certain amount of despotism by providing superior military equipment & technology, just what MV wanted. The sakuni Orme had arrived, and the English thus went about laying the foundation towards the rise of Travancore & VMV. Varma forced Cudammon Pillai to tender a written apology.

Vanjamutta according to English records was apparently the brain behind the pillas getting together and throwing off their allegiance to the king of Travancore. In fact he was the one who wanted to take the Yuvaraja’s life resulting in his being on the run for quite some time (CVR Pillai mentions the kazhakootam Pillai being the ring leader in his novel, but it was actually the Vanjamuttil). It was Orme who brought MV to Attingal to fight the pillas, by personally lending him large sums of money without authorization from his superiors. The queen of Attingal joined MV in his efforts resulting in a retaliatory attack on herself, which she survived. After this a formal war was declared on the pillas by the queen of Attingal and the king of Travancore. The Cudamonpilla chose to side with the queen. MV apparently burnt Vanjamutta’s palace and burned his fort at Pallichal, together with 500 houses. MV who was still on the run now sought refuge in Attaingal, close to his English friends. Vanjamutta retaliated by burning the queens palace in Capi. The English stayed away from the fracas as they were afraid that the powerful Vanjamutta might attack and destroy Anjengo next.

Meanwhile Vanjamutta had defeated MV in a skirmish and his enemy Cuddamon now chose to take the side of the pillamar. MV retreated to Travancore, fleeing from Attingal. This was the period when Ravi Varma died and Rama Varma took over with MV now guiding him to seek support from the nayak of Madurai. With the help of the two naickers, their infantry and cavalry, MV attacked the Pilla bastions and made them flee Travancore. He wrote to Orme that he himself had killed 15 of the pillas. But Vanjamutta did not die. Many of the remaining madampis paid money to MV and sued for peace. Soon after this, MV visited the Anjengo fort and was welcomed by the English with a 7 gun salute. The French and the Dutch rushed to meet Rama Varma and establish forts in Travancore, whose fortunes were now on the rise. MV refused all these overtures and ensured that the British alone prevailed.

The English now pushed MV for a reparation for the Attingal revolt. MV’s dalawa Ramayya and the queen refused stating that the war with the pillas was fought only on this count i.e. to help the English after the Attingal revolt and that they themselves had incurred huge expenses. Perhaps that is when Orme learned that his personal investment had gone sour. Soon he was replaced by John Wallis. However, the queen and MV conferred and eventually decided to gift the Cotadalli and Palatady gardens to the English as compensation for the Attingal revolt.

Soon Rama Varma died and MV took over. He set up a new system of administration and bypassed the old feudal system consisting of the madampies and the pillas. Now he had to take care of the remaining pillas who had in the meantime found support from the ilaya thampies, who in turn felt they had been shortchanged after the death of their father. They then went to Trichy to seek assistance and Alagappa Mudaliar was dispatched. Ramayya and Narayanayya convinced Alagappa (or bribed him) to go back. After this MV reorganized his forces to include Maravars, Pathans and Channars and created a network of spies around the country to report on the pillas. This paid off and a report is received that the pillas are ganging together (secret meeting at Vennanur temple) to kill MV.

In one swoop they are rounded up during the arattu procession of 1736 by MV and MV going against all tradition that a Nair noble is never held accountable for such matters, tries and hangs them all, over 42 pillas and madampies, after which their families are sold to fisher folk and the others excommunicated. Golleness the Dutch commander also records these actions stating emphatically that MV did all this with English support, who had provided arms and ammunition and other kinds of indirect support.

The ring leader Vanjumutta pilla seems to have escaped and was waiting for his revenge from Quilon, after allying himself with the Dutch who brought in forces from Ceylon. But this attempt failed. After this, MV went on to annex Quilon and remaining areas to create an enlarged Travancore. As time went by, the cruelty that he had practiced took its toll. The priests told him that he must repent and that is how he celebrated the Trippadam, Murajapam and Hiranyagarbhadanam ceremonies (to go from samanthan to Kshatriya status) and finally dedicated his kingdom to Lord Padmanabha. Interestingly, MV who acceded to the throne claiming nattunadappu was the one who went against all of it eventually by destroying the feudal system for his own benefit…

According to English records this Vanjamutta (Vanchimuttam) pillai was the ring leader in the insurrection against MV. Who was he? We read that his Pallichal fort was destroyed by MV, so it was obviously the Pallichal pilla. Pallichal Pillai and Kodumon Pillai were the most powerful domains among the eight in Travancore. In the 17th century the Karanavar of the family of Pallichal Pillai moved from Pallichal to Vanchimuttam near Attingal, though his family members remained in Pallichal. A part of his holdings fell under Travancore and so this relocation to Vanchimuttam was actually to avoid allegations of sedition on him, by the Travancore royal family.

Krishna Iyer states that prominent among the Travancore nobles were the Pillamars of Marthandathu Madom, Ramana Madom, Kulathur, Kazhakuttam, Kudamon, Venganur, Chempazanthy and Pallichal, collectively known as the Ettuveettil Pillamars.

But was CV Raman Pilla who wrote the book MV in 1891, the first to coin the usage ettu veettar? Not really. You can find mentions in English dispatches and more formally, Samuel Mateer writing his land of charity in 1870 writes - Veera Rama Martanda Vurmah was the first of this line, and commenced his reign in 1335. He founded the Trevandrum fort and palace, which he made his principal residence. He was succeeded by twenty-two princes, of whom little besides the names and dates is recorded. Their rule occupied a period of 350 years. They were continually engaged in contending with the "Eight Chiefs," and had therefore little time to enter upon schemes of foreign conquest. In the early part of this reign a contention arose between the Rajah and his sons on the subject of the succession to the kingdom. According to the Malabar law, nephews were the heirs and successors to all property and honors; but the sons of the Rajah sought to alter the law of succession in their own favor. They were aided in their ambitious schemes by several of the "eight chieftains," and by other adherents. Becoming aware of the conspiracy, the Rajah watched his opportunity, and ordered the execution of his two sons, one of whom he put to death with his own hand. Several of the minor chiefs were slain at the same time, their families sold into slavery, and their estates confiscated.

Robert Caldwell writing his ‘A Political and General History of the District of Tinnevelly’ in 1890 and Shungoony Menon in 1878 provides all the details which others then used. So it is clear that the usage was commonplace even before Pillai wrote his novel.

There are other mentions as well, some say that the Kulathoor and Chempazhanthi families were not nairs but ezhavas. In some cases they are termed as ettu madampimaar, but suffices to note that it was a gang of eight. Some other mentions can be found that a few of these pillas fled to neighboring states, that some converted to Christianity and there are even rumors that a few landed up at Pantalayani Kollam near Calicut.

The Padmanabha vaults are now home to immense treasures, brought in during these MV ventures and perhaps later by the fleeing (from Hyder & Tipu) Malabar princes. Kulathoor is home to the engineering college and Kazhakootam home to both the Sainik School as well as the Technopark. The VSSC space center can be found in the vicinity. People carry on as they do in Anantapuram, with talk about the state government and the scheming politicians. As usual, the topsy turvy turn of local politics remain the main focus to people of the region. Thampi and Pillai are still common surnames in Travancore, however they are no longer major landlords.

In the concluding article, we will talk about Ramayya, the man who guided MV through all these years and was perhaps the one who formulated his actions and ideology.

References

The Dutch in Malabar – PC Alexander

Travancore state manual – Nagam Aiyya

A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times - P. Shungoonny Menon

Malabar and the Dutch – KM Panikkar

Medieval Kerala – PKS Raja

The Ilaya Thampi’s and Marthanda Varma– Part 1

I was led to this topic some months ago when Calicut heritage forum posted an interesting article on the Black hole of Attingal . In the discussions that ensued, there was some talk about the Ettuvettil Pillamar after which I read more about it at Sharat Sundar’s interesting blog and perused the comments therein. Were the eight baronial Pillamar just part of a legend created by CV Raman Pillai or did they really exist before being exterminated by the Yuvaraja during his powerful rule? The story was interesting and somewhat difficult to factualize, but still like with the Keralolpatti, one could after digging deep into some sources get a glimmer of a fact or two.

This will form the first part of a three part article covering the role of the Pillamar and Marthanda Varma (who actually connects up to the Malabar Kolattiri lineage through his mother from and his father from the Kilimanoor Kovialkom) and how perhaps a North Indian or Tanjavur lady came into play, for she was the cause of it all. The final part will cover the tale of VMV’s friend Ramayyan who became a Dalawa.

But first some background on Venad (Vel-nad) and the South eastern area of Nancinad in those days, to lend a proper perspective and here I take the help of narrative by KV Krishna Iyer, referring to his History of Kerala covering the so called Venatiri’s (whom he couples with Kolatiri’s as birds of the same feather). The days of the last part of the 17^th century and the early parts of the 18^th were beset by all kinds of feuds related to succession, Vanad – Madurai rivalry, temple related demands, settlement of dues, embezzlement and so on. For a period the famous Umayamma Rani brought order to the region, but with her passing in the early part of the 18th century, the problem from the past began to reassert themselves and the feudal barons started to get belligerent. Marthanada Varma as it turned out, was the rani’s grandson, even though by adoption and in the end proved to be efficient, ruthless and was able to tighten the reins of the Trippappur swaroopam at Trivuvitamkode (Trivandrum).

In 1697, Mangammal Rani of Madurai sent an expedition to Travancore to punish its ruler, Ravi Varma, who had attacked and destroyed an army sent from Madurai to Travancore to collect an overdue annual tribute. Defeated in this Nayak raid the king was compelled to submit and remit taxes and in order to do that he subjected Najinad to heavy taxes with more than an iron hand. The subjects were not too happy, nor were their village and Desam heads and a sort of anarchy prevailed. To subdue them this king used mercenaries and armies as well as support from Madurai and much of this activity was spearheaded and / or supported by his nephew, the young lad in his late teens (born 1705-1706), Marthanda Varma. Around this period the1721 Attingal revolt took place against the English, a story which CHF had written about, and this resulted in the English factory getting a monopoly on pepper and giving a secret promise to support Marthanda Varma in his future endeavors.

In 1726, Rama Varma who succeeded Ravi Varma, offered his allegiance to the Nayak of Madurai and requested his help in subduing the anarchy that prevailed. Various mercenaries and English support were drummed up, including English weapons and a battle was fought with the rebelling Pillamar. The situation went on in an unsatisfactory manner until the king Rama Varma passed away in 1729. As matriarchal tradition decreed, the young Marthanda Varma who had all the qualities required to rule the region with an iron hand was to take over from his uncle. But a problem cropped up, when two of his cousins claimed the throne under the earlier patriarchal succession system (which had been followed in Venad through the end of the 13^th century - the matriarchal system came into being later). They were the two sons (Ilaya thampis) of Rama Varma, named Raman (Valiya Thampi a.k.a Padmanabhan or Pappu Thami) and Adityan (Kunju) Tampi.

Those who have read the CV Raman Pilla’s novel would recognize the brothers mainly from the drug infused villainous character of Padmanabhan Thampi, but who were they and how did they come to the fore? For that you gave to look at the family of Rama Varma, especially Abhirami and her brother Kochukumaran Pilla. As we know from many other cases, the identities of these people have been shrouded in derogatory legends especially when they have been on the losing side. Writers supporting the winner usually cast them off quickly in their accounts or make negative remarks about them while hovering long around the incumbent’s glory. Such is the case of these two people. To bring them and their characters out to light proved to be quite difficult, but let me present to you what I obtained.

Christopher Buyers supported by a few of his Travancore contributor’s record the following in his website on Indian rulers. 

He introduces Abhirami as the consort of King Rama Varma and lists her three children in the following words

Ammachi Panapillai Amma Srimathi Abiramapilla Kochamma, née Abhirami, a former devadasi or temple dancer ennobled just prior to her marriage, daughter (I think sister) of Krishnan Kochu Kumara Pillai, a Bengali or Tamil gentleman from outside Travancore. He (I think the smallpox death relates to Rama Varma) died from smallpox, at Kalkulam, 30th August 1729, having had issue, two sons and a daughter:

1) Sri Padmanabhan Tampi [Pappu Tampi] [Valiya Tampi] [Raman Raman]. Conspired with his brother and the eight Nair chiefs to oust the Heir Apparent and later Maharaja Martanda Varma. He was killed by his uncle, Maharaja Martanda Varma at the Kalkulam Palace, 28th October 1730.

2) Sri Raman Tampi [Kunju Tampi] [Raman Adichen]. Conspired with his elder brother and the eight Nair chiefs to oust the Heir Apparent and later Maharaja Martanda Varma. He was killed by his uncle, Maharaja Martanda Varma at the Kalkulam Palace, 28th October 1730.

3) Kittinathal Ammaveetil Srimathi Ummini Thankachi [Kochumadathamma]. Courted by Martanda Varma, but her refusal of him, providing the stem cause of enmity between Martanda and her brothers. She died (by suicide) after the death of her brothers, at Padmanabhapuram Palace, 28th October 1730.

The story concerning the two sons of Rama Varma, is covered in the ballad called Tampi Katha (another ballad called Tampunarkata covers the same story with slight differences) and I will get to the details shortly. Manu writing at inorite adds that Tampimar Katai mentions that Abhirami and her brother were given titles and estates and she was called “Kittanathil Ammachi”

Another version comes to light from S Sundars blog, where Abhiramai turns out to have a royal link - Rama Varma was married to a Rajput Princess Abhirami of the Kosala Royal House (present day Ayodhya). He had two sons (Sri Padmanabhan Thampi and Sri Raman Thampi) and one daughter. The princess held the Royal title of Vempadi Valiammachi. Princess Abhirami had problems in her horoscope and therefore the Royal astrologers of Ayodhya sent her on a pilgrimage for 14 years to various holy places. A number of her relatives and bodyguards accompanied her during her journey. King Rama Varma met her in Suchindram and married her. He promised the Royal family of Kosala that Abhirami's children would succeed the throne, although as per the Travancore custom, it was Prince Marthanda Varma (Rama Varma's nephew), who held the right to succeed him.

Sharat in his blog on Travancore  ( One and Two ) states that the late Krishna Singh (of Rajput extract himself) told him the tale of Princess Sandhya (a.k.a Abhirami) and pointed out her Rajput lineage. As the story goes, Sandhya left Ayodya and travelled southwards to end up at Suchindram. Raja Rama Varma hears her singing there, and proposes to her. In my mind the Rajput connection seemed a little tenuous, but before we decide let us look at a few semi historical resources, as well as the conclusions made by Prof Ibrahim Kunju in his study of Marthanda Varma.

In the Sri Marthanda Mahatmyam by an anonymous author, a contemporary, it is said that an astrologer had predicted the rise of Marthanda Varma and that even in his childhood, Pappu Thampi had attempted to murder him. This cause for the feud which ensued for the rest of their lives can perhaps be quickly dismissed as both children were of the same age.

We start by referring to Manickavasagom Pillai’s paper based on the Thampimaar Kathai by R Natarajan and P Sarveswaran- Accordingly, Rama Varma sees a dancing girl during the car festival at Suchindram. While Pillai agrees that the poem mentions her native place as Ayodhya, he goes by other accounts which mention her hometown as Tanjore. Abhirami bore three children, Pappu, Raman and Mani and the king had promised her that one of her sons would be the future king. Right from childhood, the two tampis were not on friendly terms with Marthanda Varma. As they grew up, Martanda fell in love with their sister. The feud continues on, more ferociously after Varma takes over the throne and eventually the two brothers are killed by him or upon his instructions. The girl commits suicide and becomes a yakshi.

The Travancore Matilakom records which I have not seen, apparently remain silent and pass off the entire account in just one cryptic sentence according to Ibrahim Kunju. It is concluded by him that the poem is perhaps right because the records were in this instance, suppressing a truth unpleasant to the incumbent royalty. While I will get to the details in the forthcoming article on the feud that followed and the pillamar, let us stick to Avirami for now.

Abhirami would certainly have demanded patrilineal inheritance, in line with the custom in her native N Indian lands. But then again was she a Rajput? Or was she a Tamil noble, a Tamil devadasi or a Bengali lady, perhaps a singer or dancer at Suchindram?

To continue with the analysis, one has to check out the work published later named ‘Vasulakshmi Kalyanam’ detailing the marriage of King Rama Varma with a Rajput princess called Sandhya. When you analyze the dateline, you will find that this Rama Varma was not the predecessor, but the successor of Marthanda Varma.

There are two versions, the first by a poet Sadasiva and the second by a later author named Venkata.

Sadasiva’s version goes thus - The king of distant Sindhu had a daughter named Vasulakshmi and had set his heart on marrying her to the king of Travancore, Ramavarma-Kulasekhara, whose accomplishments were much noised abroad. But the queen who had another bridegroom in view in the person of her nephew, the prince of Simhala, started her daughter on a voyage ostensibly with the intention of visiting a famous temple while the proposed destination was in reality Ceylon. Providence however upset the queen’s calculations and the royal barge was stranded on that part of the Travancore shore which was in the jurisdiction of the frontier-captain (antardurya pala) Vasumadraja, the brother of the Travancore kings consort Vasumati. The shipwrecked princess was then sent by this captain to his sister at the capital where her beauty at once captivated the pliable heart of king Ramavarman, the hero of the drama.  The usual love intrigue culminates in a ‘clandestine’ meeting of the lover’s in the palace garden and the jealous senior rani then attempts to dispose her rival by marriage to her cousin, the Pandya king.  But this scheme is frustrated by the king and his accomplice, the inevitable Vidushaka, who in the disguise of the Pandya king and his friend receive the bride. In the meantime, the Sindhu raja learns of the whereabouts of his missing daughter through Nitisagara, the Travancore minister, and coming to Travancore with a large escort confirms the betrothal of king Ramavarman with Vasulakshmi, which happily coincides with his own inclinations.

Vasulakshmi Kalyanam is also the subject of a play by Venkata Subramanya, a descendant of Appayya Dikshit. This work also deals with the same marriage of his patron king Rama Varma of Travancore (1758-1798) with Vasulakshmi, the Sindhu princess, but for securing a political alliance. Let us take a look at that, quoting from Travancore Archeological series I. Venkata’s version is pretty much the same as Sadasiva’s. However it clarifies that the alliance was for diplomatic reasons, calculated to raise his status to Sarvabhauma (emperor), in order to obtain a better relationship with the Hunaraja (East India Company or perhaps the Dutch?)

The minister Buddhisagara who has seen the portrait of Vasulakshmi, the princess, is anxious that the king of Travancore should marry her, so that the latter's political influence may extend northwards and his friendship with the Hunaraja may also be strengthened. When news is received that the Sindhu princes is voyaging to Ceylon, the minister manages to waylay this ship in the Travancore waters with the active cooperation of the Huna fleet, and Vasuman, the officer in command of the sea-coast- who was also the brother of the Travancore king’s consort, sends the captive-princess to the royal Palace. There the king falls in love with her and manages to meet her in the royal pleasure gardens to the intense chagrin of Vasumati who tries to marry her rival to the Chera prince Vasuvarman and thus remove the unwelcome competitor out of the way. This plot fails, as in the other drama, by the counter machinations of the king and his Vidushaka who successfully personate the Chera prince and his boon-companion. By the artful scheming of the minister coupled with the influence of her brother, Vasumati is however, finally won over to consent to the marriage of Vasulakshmi with her own husband and the Sindhu prince Vasurasi, instructed by Buddhisagara comes posthaste from his country to celebrate his sister's marriage with the Travancore king. By this alliance, it is stated, the friendship of both the parties with the Hunaraja was strengthened and the influence of the Travancore was visibly enhanced.

Let us study this second King Rama Varma and his consorts in order to check if he indeed married a Sindhu princess. Buyer’s page states - m. (first) a lady from the Arumana House. m. (second) Vadasseri Ammachi Panapilla Srimathi Kali Amma Nagamani Amma. m. (third) a lady from the Nagercoil House. m. (fourth) a lady from the Thiruvattar House. You see no mention of a Vasulakshmi from Sindh.

So, I might not be wrong in concluding that the Sindhu (place or name) angle came about from the successor of Marthanda Varma and not the predecessor. Nevertheless, we should take note that the former supposedly married a princess from Ayodhya according to the Thampimar kathai. The only links are Krishna Singh’s testimony and the presence of the Meenachil village near Palai in Kottayam.

The Meenachil Karthas were supposedly Rajputs belonging to royal lineage who migrated to Madurai in the 14th century. As is said, they later migrated to Kerala and settled in "Meenachil" near Palai. Their capital was named Mevada (after Mewar). Perhaps Abhirami was from this village, but it is just a guess. (See inorite blogs one and two)

According to Krishna Singh, the Rajput relatives and attendants of Princess Abhirami initially settled down near Nagarcoil. After the revolt by the Kunju Thampis, the surviving Rajputs were brought to Trivandrum. Many of them were recruited into the Travancore Armed Forces, mainly in the cavalry division. Although their population was quite significant during the 18th century, this declined and many were assimilated into the Royal Nair clans of Travancore.

After ascending to the throne, King Rama Varma apportioned the southern portion of Venad (Northern portion was governed by the Attingal Rani) into three parts. The areas surrounding Kalkulam and Nagercoil palaces were given to his two sons - Pappu and Raman Tampi (Ilaya Thampi’s) and the Neyyattinkara area was given to his nephew Marthanda Varma.

Now that we have looked at it from a few angles, there is only one left, that pertaining to the legend of the girl Marthanda Varma was besotted with, i.e. the sister of the two thampi’s and the daughter of Abirami. As one account goes, when the Thampis rose against their cousin for the throne with the support of the eight lords, Marthanda Varma imprisoned their mother and sister, Ummini Thanka, in the Nagercoil palace. As the Thampis were rallying troops around themselves, Abhirami died and Ummini Thanka zealously guarded her body for five days. The story of this wronged and vengeful Ummini Thanka or Kochu Manithanka has a continued presence in popular memory.

As we continue to search for clues, we come across yet another story, this one being the story of the Kochu Manithankai recounted by Ramesan Nair. The few additional additions to the legend can be seen below.

He describes the Kalkulam (Padmanabhapuram) palace, the Charottu palace, the tunnel between them, and of the previously narrated meeting between the king and Abhirami at Suchindram. Howver he goes on to explain that he started living with her at the Nagercoil palace. The locals not happy with the  confinement, request the king to legalize the union, which he does and promises the new queen as well as the locals that one of her sons would be king. He then moves her to his Iraniyal palace and renames her as Krishnathalamma. When Pappu was 20 years old, Rama Varma died of Small pox following which Marthanda Varma took the throne after promising the dying king that he would take care of them. Abhirami and her children then move to the Charottu palace. The king then gets besotted with the sister Thanka and his feeling is soon reciprocated. But then the quarrels with her brothers intensified and resulted in their deaths, and soon Thanka in painful retaliation commits suicide in front of M Varma by stabbing herself with a dagger (in other stories she pulled her tongue out and died). She then wanders around for a few years as a Yakshi till she is finally consecrated in a small shrine at Chembakavalli near Melankode (hence the name Melankode Yakshi).

So Abhirami was erased from the annals of history by the Marthanda Varma factions though she remains in the minds of the people of Venad, as a mysterious wronged mother, who lost all her children to the violent retaliation of the new Yuvaraja. Perhaps she was indeed a princess from an area between Kutch and Sindh or Ayodhya, and was later degraded to a Devadasi in the legends to legitimize the actions of Marthanda Varma. Perhaps she was a person from the village of Meenachil who went to pray at Suchindram when the king met her, or even a Tamil dancer from Madurai, but in almost all tales, she was the wronged one.

As the analyst in the TAR 1 states, the stories in Vasulakshmi kalyanam do not connect up with any real people expect for the king Rama Varma. As was a practice in those days, this kind of poetry pleasing the king and connecting him up to imaginary stories was common. Maybe there was no fact behind Thambi katha as well, though Ibrahim Kunju does not believe so. In fact there are even opinions that Varma was originally married to Ummithanka, and that she killed herself after her husband killed her own brothers. But the legend still lives on, and Marthanda Varma remained celibate for the rest of her life, finding solace and friendship with his man Friday and friend Ramayyah, about whom we will talk about in the concluding article.

In the next article we cover the scheming between Marthanda Varma, the madampis and the pillamar, the death of the thampis and the settlement of VMV on the throne. We will not cover the rule of Marthanda Varma, for that is well documented and it suffices to conclude that his rule took Travancore to new heights, the size of his empire multiplied and finally the king in a surprising and magnanimous act laid all his gains at the feet of Lord Padmanabha.

References

Rise of Travancore: a study of the life and times of Marthanda Varma / A. P. Ibrahim Kunju.

Travancore at the accession of Marthanda Varma – ME Manickavasagom Pillai

Eighteenth century India: papers in honor of Prof. A.P. Ibrahim Kunju

History of Kerala – KV Krishna Iyer

Travancore Archeological series Part 1

Venad Yakshigal – K Ramesan Nair

Travancore state manual- Nagam Aiya

History of Travancore. P. Shungoony Menon

Marthanda Varma – CV Raman Pillay

Photos – Painting covering all the named people thanks to Debpratim De