Historic Alleys

And the Abakka Rani

To the north of Kasaragod, where the historical borders of Malabar ends, is Manjeshwar and a little north of it, but south of Mangalore, bordering the Netravati River and facing the Arabian Sea is the small municipality called Ullal (Ullala or Olala). At one point in Malabar’s history, it had a connection to the Zamorin’s of Calicut and with the Portuguese. It is the story of Ullala which we will fish out today, but with some detail and background, for most books just pass it off as a couple of sentences mentioning a minor queen named Abakka Devi or Tirumala Rani. There was more than that, as you can imagine.

We will start with the history of the region when the regional was centered at Puttige. The family which ruled the region was called the Chauta’s and we understand that the first recorded among the rulers was one Vikru Chauta ruling in the 14^th century. They were connected with the Vijayanagara kings for a while and under the rule of the Chauta’s, Mudabhidre became a Jainist center (perhaps the Jain connections had started to the earliest of rumors that the Chauta lineage started when a Vijayanagara king had a Jain consort. There is also a purported connection between the Chautas and the Jain Chawdas of Gujarat who migrated after the Solanki clashes) and a few Basadis were built. Sanjay Subrahmanyam states - By all accounts, the control of Vijayanagar over the petty principalities along the west coast, such as Bangher, Ullal, Gangolli, Bhatkal and Gersoppa, was rather limited. These principalities were controlled by local rulers, who had hereditary claims over the local overlordship and paid tribute to Vijayanagar.

Somewhere in the 16^th century, following Tirumalarasa Chauta’s rule, a parallel rule started at Southerly Ullala, perhaps by a split faction of the family, following the matrilineal (aliyasanthanam) system, also as prevalent in Malabar. It is around 1571 that the first mentions of queens ruling Ullal and Puttige come to the fore, with a Lokadevi at Puttige and Abakkadevi 1 at Ullala. Recall now that starting from the conquest in 1510, for the Portuguese had settled in Goa and were ruling the seas.

Mangalore Fort

From this point a number of problems arose between Ullal, Malabar and the Portuguese. Much of the rice export to Malabar took place at the Ullal and from nearby ports using Malabar boats. These were stifled by the Portuguese, setting off intense rivalry and skirmishes. We see events reported as early as 1513 and 1525 when Moplah freight ships were captured and destroyed by the Portuguese.

In 1530 the Portuguese under the command of Nuno da Cunha had crossed the river of Mangalore, which flowed through the Ullal territory, and destroyed the stockade and the fortified positions with the purpose of punishing a rich merchant Shetty, who was in league with the King of Calicut, against them. In fact the Muslim merchants of Malabar had actually been attempting to subvert the blockade of Calicut by sending out the spices to Red sea port buyers using Mangalore ports such as Ullal. Until 1530 the Portuguese had not detected this method!

As the Portuguese became more and more powerful in Kanara, they started to subjugate the local chieftains and it appears that the first major brush the rulers of Ullala had with the Franks took place around 1555-58 when Dom Alvares sacked Ullala, as the Queen was found harboring Calicut vessels in her port. Not much more is known except that the Zamorin of Calicut intervened and helped her out of the trouble, but a latter event is much talked about, something that started with an argument between the neighboring principalities around 1568 as the Northern neighbor the Banghars established a treaty with the Portuguese which the Ullalas could not come to terms with. In the meanwhile, the Portuguese had other plans with Ullala. They planned to build a fort on the south bank to control the access through the river and the border with the Queen’s domain.

The Viceroy Antao De Noronha decided on cornering the location to commence the building of the

Mangalore

fort, in 1568, but the queen was waiting with a large force in her own ramshackle fort, while the undisciplined Portuguese ended up torching their own tents in a night of revelry preceding the war. In the melee, the Queens forces attacked and a large number of Portuguese were killed. The following days of retaliation resulted in Ullala getting sacked. But after all this, the Portuguese decided against building a fort on the south bank and built their fort on the North bank, in the place allocated to them by the Bangar King Virasimha III.

The queen was named Abakka Devi and this famous attack of 1568 did not go unnoticed. Her courageous stance against the Portuguese was mentioned far and wide and it was at this point that the queen forged a formal relationship with the Calicut Zamorin, to work against the Portuguese in the future. The Portuguese on the other hand had different ideas as the Viceroy Luis de Ataide intervened personally and due to intense mediation, managed to get the queen of Ullala married to the King of Bangar.

An event in 1571 merits mention. The Queen who was friendly with the Zamorin and the Marakkars mentioned to her friends that the Mangalore fort could be taken easily. Kutti Poker, the Zamroin’s representative attacked the fortress following this tip and was clambering it but the servant in the fort threw out a silver chest in defense, knocking down the men scaling the fort using a ladder. Poker and his men ran with the silver but were tracked down by the Portuguese all the way to Cannanore and captured.

The queen also took advantage of the Adil Shah confederacy against the Portuguese in the 1570-74 period. It is also stated that like the Zamorin, she had many thousand Muslims in her fighting forces.The intervening years witnessed the death of the first heroic queen during a battle with the karkala’s, followed by the rule over Ullala by her brother and eventually succession by the second Abakka Devi or Tirumala Devi, her daughter, in the last decade of the sixteenth century, perhaps 1594.

During the last years of the Ullala kings reign, he built a fort in 1589 not far from the Portuguese fort, on the same bank across the river from Ullala. The Portuguese had no choice but to watch it being built by a huge team of over 30,000 men, during its construction, owing to the heavy rains and lack of fighting power. This fort became a huge bone of contention between the Bangas, the Ullala and the Portuguese. Coutinho was deputed later with three galleys and 30 ships to destroy it, late in Dec 1589. After fruitless negotiations, the Portuguese attacked and destroyed much of Ullala, once again.

The fort however remained intact and the King of Portugal was furious that it had not been destroyed.

Abbakkadevi II renewed the hostile attitude with the Bangas. The fort on the opposite banks, under by the queen was always a threat to the Portuguese who remembered that fateful night of 1568 often and the new queen refused to destroy it. According to an instruction of the king, the viceroy of Goa sent Dorn A Azeveda to Ullala to raze the fortress to the ground and it was finally destroyed by Azeveda, in 1595 or thereafter.

A modern depicition
Abakka Devi

We also hear of her relations with the Kotakkal Marakkars late in 1599 and of support when Kunjali was blockaded, but I could not get too many details about it as yet. In her wars with Banga Raja of Managalore and against the Portuguese, Kunjali had assisted her with captains, ships and soldiers on many occasions. In 1600 however she signed a treaty with the Portuguese and eventually desisted from assisting Kunjali during his final days.

Abakka Devi a.k.a Thirumala devi continued with intrigues against the Portuguese, by siding with the Serra kingdom against the Bangas and by working with the Zamorin in Calicut as well as the Marakkars of Kotakkal. Their intense rivalry with the Bangas continued and it was in 1616 that the Bangars retaliated by attacking Ullala. The queen had no choice but to seek help from the Keladi Nayaks against the Bangas as the Bangas approached the Portuguese for help. Also to be noted here is that the Bangars but naturally, were supported by the Kolathiris of Cannanore. Historians have brought in much confusion between the two Abakka Devis and it is a bit difficult to figure out who is who at times. For example, we see from Vasantha Madhava’s comment - The common boundary between these two chiefs (the Bangar and the Chautas of Ullala) the mutual jealousy, and unhappy marriage of Vira Lakshmappa Banga IV and Abbakkadevi II of Ullala were probably the causes of the wars. At the same time, we have already seen earlier mentions that her mother was married to the Banga King. The Ullalas entered into an uneasy but relatively calm relationship with the Portuguese.

Dharma Raja and Dr Hebbar explain the intrigues and plotting by the Portuguese to work on the queen - The stunned Portuguese decided to bide for time. What could not be won on the battlefield, they knew could be won by treachery and larceny. Lakshmappa Arasa, the Banga king of Mangalore, Abbakka’s husband, was warned not to send any reinforcement to Ullal under the threat of burning his capital of Mangalore. His nephew, Kamaraya was secretly recruited to plot against his uncle, and usurp the throne at Mangalore. The conspiracy by his own nephew and the threat of a Portuguese invasion left Lakshmappa Banga-raja helpless and unable to aid his wife during the next offensive by the Portuguese. In 1567, when Abbakka Devi stopped paying tribute, there was another encounter with the rani, in which she was defeated and sued for peace. Yet, Abbakka remained a non-conformist and a rebel, which irritated the Portuguese to no end.The local legend also says that Rani Abbakka Devi was estranged from her husband, Lakshmappa Banga, who was said to have colluded with the Portuguese and fought against his wife. It is more probable that it was the nephew of her husband, Kamaraya III, who had fought against the queen. The sedition of Kamaraya III against his uncle had been supported by the Portuguese. Consequently he was able to supplant the king and rule Mangalore during the period when Abbakka Devi was opposing the Portuguese advances.

The last phase of her rule is marked by the entry of the powerful Venkatappa Nayaka into the quarrels between the Bangars and Ullalas and the role of the Portuguese in these intrigues. The Portuguese were being supplied with pepper by the powerful Ikkeri Nayak and so they had no plans to go against Venkatappa. But the Bangars had always been their friends and they could not let them down. The Banga king by now separated from Abakka, sulked at the lack of overt support from the Portuguese in going against the Ullalas and the Nayak, retreating often to Kasargod. These events have been narrated in some detail in Sastry’s book and it is clear that the outright winner in all this was the powerful Ikkeri Nayak, for the Portuguese fortunes were by now, on the wane.

Following this, according to the Italian traveler Della Valle who visited Olala, the Banga king kidnapped his wife and later released her, but the furious queen decided to wage war against him with the help of Venakatappa. He also explains that the Portuguese fort in Mangalore was not really one, but just a house (this explains how many of these scribes spun great stories and tall tales in their memoirs making you conjure up fantastic visions). The Banga war which followed went in favor of the Nayaks and Ullala, but of course she had to pay huge tributes thenceforth to the Nayak. The queen was powerful and was rumored to have finished off her own son when he chose to plot against her, while Delle Valle insists that this is falsehood propagated by the Franks.

This was the situation as Della Valle arrived in the region and proceeded to Ullala. He had heard about the queens and wanted to see the reigning Abakka in person, and his descriptions of the region, Ullal and Abakka Devi, are invaluable visit reports.

Let’s see what he had to say….The Matrimony and good Friendship having lasted many years between the King of Banghel and the Queen, I know not upon what occasion discord arose between them, and such discord that the Queen divorced him, sending back to him, (as the custom is in such case) all the Jewels which he had given her as his Wife.

He reaches olala - The Bazar is fairly good, and, besides necessaries for provisions, affords abundance of white and striped linen cloth, which is made in Olala, but coarse, such as the people of that Country use. At the Town's end is a very pleasant Grove, and at the end thereof a great Temple, handsomely built for this Country and much esteemed. Olala is inhabited confusedly, both by Gentiles who burn themselves and also by Malabar Moors. About a mile off, Southwards, stands the Royal House, or Palace, amongst the aforesaid Groves, where the Queen resides when she comes hither sometimes. It is large, enclosed with a wall and trench, but of little moment.

Having landed, and going towards the Bazar to get a Lodging in some House, we beheld the Queen coming alone in the same way without any other Woman, on foot, accompanied only with four, or six, foot soldiers before her, who all were naked after their manner, saving that they had a cloth over their shame, and another like a sheet, worn across the shoulders like a belt; each of them had a Sword in his hand, or at most a Sword and Buckler; there were also as many behind her of the same sort, one of whom carried over her a very ordinary Umbrella made of Palm-leaves. Her Complexion was as black as that of a natural Ethiopian; she was corpulent and gross, but not heavy, for she seemed to walk nimbly enough; her Age may be about forty years, although the Portugals had described her to me as much older. She was clothed, or rather girded at the waist, with a plain piece of thick white Cotton, and bare-foot, which is the custom of the Indian Gentile Women, both high and low, in the house and abroad; and of Men too the most, and all the most ordinary, go unshod; some of the more grand wear Sandals, or Slippers; very few use whole Shoes covering all the Foot. From the waist upwards the Queen was naked, saving that she had a cloth tied round about her Head, and hanging a little down upon her Breast and Shoulders. In brief, her aspect and habit represented rather a dirty Kitchen-wench, or Laundress, than a delicate and noble Queen; whereupon I said within myself, Behold by whom are routed in India the Armies of the King of Spain, which in Europe is so great a matter! Yet the Queen showed her quality much more in speaking than by her presence; for her voice was very graceful in comparison with her Person, and she spoke like a prudent and judicious Woman. They had told me that she had no teeth, and therefore was wont to go with half her Face covered; yet I could not discover any such defect in her, either by my Eye, or by my Ear; and I rather believe that this covering of the Mouth, or half the Face, as she sometimes doth, is agreeable to the modest custom which I know to be common to almost all Women in the East. I will not omit to state that though she was so corpulent, as I have mentioned, yet she seems not deformed, but I imagine she was handsome in her Youth; and, indeed, the Report is that she hath been much of a Lady, of majestic beauty, though stern rather than gentle.

Her second son Saluva Rairu was living with her when Delle Valle visited her. He continues on explaining how the palace/house is built and furnished, stopping to explain the position held by the Ullala king, and the difficulties he had eating food, served ceremoniously to him. He then moves on to Manel where the queen had gone, to see the brave lady a second time. Their brief audience was again, conducted outdoors.

Accordingly I went and, drawing near, saw her standing in the field, with a few Servants about her, clad as at the other time, and talking to the Laborers that were digging the Trenches. When she saw us she sent to know wherefore I came, whether it were about any business? And the Messenger, being answered that it was only to visit her, brought me word again that it was late and time to go home, and therefore I should do so, and when she came home she would send for me.

But she never did and Delle Valle continued with other pursuits, disappointed. Later he goes to a Krishna temple and documents the visit in great detail. All very interesting original first person reports and invaluable to a Kanara historian.

And of course there are many legends and myths surrounding these queens, multiplying many fold these days with creative writers entering the fray. A comic book by Amar Chitra Katha also provides fodder. She is described as the fearless Abahaya rani, agile and dressed in a sari (we know that is not true), we can read of her relations with her husband who chose to support the Franks, of her ability to fire flaming arrows, of her taking refuge in a mosque and dying in the battlefield muttering – drive the firangis back and so on, but much of all that are just that, legends and myths. Nevertheless, she was a brave queen and revered by her subjects, and she collaborated, schemed and fought for them.

Queen Abakka (Buuka Devi Chauta) passed away around 1640, but it is not clear if she died in a battlefield as legends portray. Ullal once famous for its Jain temple, cotton, rice and cane cultivation, quietened down in history books and vanished leaving behind only the memory of a Jain queen who resisted the Portuguese. A few kings followed, but were not distinguishable in any way.

References

Political History of Kanara - Vasantha Madhava

Goa Kanara Portuguese relations 1498-1763 – BS Shastry

The Travels of Pietro Delle Valle in India, Vol 2- – Hakluyt society

Portuguese hegemony over Mangalore - Mohan Krishna Rai K.

Muslims in Dakshina Kannada – A Wahab Doddamane

The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara – Henry Heras

The Portuguese in South Kanara. By J. Gerson da Cunha, Journal of Asiatic society

Queen Abbakka Chowta of Ullal and Moodadbidri – Bipin Shah

The Intrepid Queen Rani Abbakka Devi of Ullal - Dr. Neria H. Hebbar

Pics – Della Valle’sAbakka, RS Naidu - Amar Chitra Katha for the modern depiction, Mangalore fort 1783 - Wikimedia

Those turbulent years, Calicut (1920-34)

Calicut under British governance was a different place than you see it today. My own memories of childhood in Calicut take me to the days I spent with my aunt at Ambalakkat house, Chalappuram. I still remember the walk down the road from Ambalakkat towards Tali, turning right and going past the Chalappuram post office, past the gates of the Achutan Girls school and drifting to the Ganapati School, during my younger days in Calicut. And I recall the temple behind N Ambalakkat, the house of Karunakara Menon my grand uncle, Keshava Menon, Normal Achutan nair, the Anakara Vadakath people, and the homes of so many others who are going to be mentioned in this article, though they belonged to a bygone era. As I wrote in a previous article, it was a time when there were horse driven jutkas, cycle rickshaws and hand pulled rickshaws on the road. On those serene mornings, an odd Ex-servicemen bus roared by, scattering the people on the road hither and thither, and people were sometimes witness to a man (people held their noses as the wheelbarrow like cart with the galvanized iron pots passed by) held in much disgust, the ‘thotti’ who would trundle by, head hung low, pushing his night soil cart. Horns were hardly heard, the rickshaw drivers yelled ‘kooyi’ or rang a bell to get a right of way. The 30’s was still different, there was no electricity and the one person who gave a personal account and provided a vivid description of life in Calicut in the 1930’s is ARS Iyer.

Some miles away down the Chalappuram road was the Zamorin’s Padinjare Kovilakom in Mankavu, a place I heard about now and then when the elders talked. Across the road from our South Ambalakkat house was the residence and office of the ageing Advocate and freedom fighter Karaunakara Menon. It was said that he had been jailed often as a freedom fighter. My grandfather Gopala Menon, Karunakaramama’s brother, who used to be the sub registrar of Calicut had passed away before my birth.

KP Keshava Menon

But well, we are not going to talk about such mundane matters, we are instead going to talk about the people who got involved in governance, noncooperation, the independence movement, satyagraha’s, Quit India moves, regional politics and the nasty business of religious and caste divides. All of this came to the fore in a decade commencing in 1920 and ended with a muted crash in 1934 or thereabouts after which the political scene of the region and thence the state changed forever. In the process of generalizing the story, I will introduce to you the members of the Chalappuram gang and the Ameen Lodge, the very people whose dithering and bickering ways, which in reality had started after the 1921 Moplah revolt, culminated in a divide in the Congress organization of Malabar. Their acrimonious relationship held taut during the time when Muslim group called the Hindu Congressmen as Sunday Congress or the Chalappuram Gang, while the Hindu’s called the Muslim faction, the Ameen Lodge.

To get to these turbulent years, we have to touch upon the Khilafat days preceding the 1921 Moplah rebellion and I promise to be brief, as it has previously been covered in other articles. Indian nationalism was on the rise following the Jalianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 and the imposition of the Rowlett act. Emotions were running high and the desire to kick the butt of the British was omnipresent. In summary, the Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched by the Muslims in British India to influence the British and to protect the Ottoman Khalifa or Caliph following the aftermath of World War I. The effort won the support of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress and was quickly embraced in Malabar.

1920 was a critical year in Calicut. Annie Besant, Gandhiji and Shaukat Ali came by, exhorting the masses against the British and to support the Khilafat movement. Of Gandhi’s visit to Calicut, the Moplah revolts and the Khilafat days, I had written articles referenced, which may be perused if interested.

Annie Besant chaired the Malabar District Political Conference held at Manjeri on April 28, 1920. Various prominent leaders of Calicut such as K.P. Kesava Menon, Manjeri Ramayyar, M.P. Narayana Menon, K Madhavan Nair, Abdul Khader, P Moideen Koya, took part. A non-cooperation resolution was adopted. The meeting passed a resolution protecting the rights of the tenants of Malabar, which of course raised the ire of landlords and as a result of which they dissented and left the Congress. The Moplah outrage act was also discussed. The District Congress Committee was now reorganized as the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee. Keep in mind that while a District Congress Committee had already been formed in 1908 it was not until 1916 Palghat conference with the founding of the All India Home Rule League that Malabar began to awaken politically.

Various matters occupied the minds of our elders and activists in Malabar. On one hand the desire to oust the British was foremost, on the other hand, the local issues relating to the tenancy act, the urge to get out of the matrilineal society norms was on the other. Pressures were building from both the lower castes as well as the Moplahs regarding the tenancy aspects. The middle class Nair community was at gearing up for a formalization of inheritance norms, away from the matrilineal principles. The wealthy landlords were getting increasingly nervous and then there was the looming issue regarding the concept of marriage in the community. In all, it was a heady mix of local issues specific to Malabar and the pressures to support a larger national cause.

The original Malabar Congress was in reality a Hindu organization, dominated largely by Nair vakils

AV Kuttimalu Amma

(attorneys) from the kanamdar class. The Janmis were the Namboodiris, and the serfs or the Verumpattom holders mainly Moplahs, Tiyyas and Cherumans. With the arrival of the Khilafat, and its forged relations with the Gandhians, the social status of the educated Moplah lot were quickly elevated to the same category as the Nairs and many of them found seats and cemented relationships in various congress committees and working groups. Thus the non-cooperation activities in Calicut were taken forward in relative amity, hand in hand by the Hindus and Muslims. The Muslim activists and leaders who made their presence felt were Moidu Moulavi, Mohammed Aburahman, Hassan Koya Mulla, NP Abu, Nurudheen. It also had other supporters such as AC Raman, Keraleeyan (Kunhappa Nambiar), PC Koran etc.

In 1920 after Gandhiji had come and left, the Malabar DCC became the KPCC and was headquartered in Calicut. Madhavan Nair, Gopala Menon and Moideen Koya were soon arrested for dissent and with that the noncooperation movement started in Malabar. But it was quickly shadowed by the 1921 Moplah revolt.

The 1921 conflict is a very complex subject which I will not get into here, but suffice to say that for various reasons the Moplahs revolted and refused to pay taxes to the British. This snowballed into a violent conflict (starting at Tirurangadi) where religion was used to foment anger and retaliation by the British and some leaders, resulting in the Military being brought in and vicious repression which followed. The horrid tragedy continued for months. Thousands of Moplahs were killed, and wounded by troops, thousands of Hindus were butchered by the rebels, women subjected to shameful indignities, thousands forcibly converted and entire families burnt alive. It was a massive tragedy, the results of which we will now see.

The Congress-Khilafat movement formed by ‘interlocking the discontent of the Moplahs and the common interest of the people of Malabar’ (as EMS put it) ended up in the traumatic events of 1921. The Moplah leader’s cries to leave Hindus alone were not listened to as the bands became undisciplined and uncontrollably violent while the panic-stricken Hindus quickly withdrew their support to the Moplah’s and some even supported the British authorities. A wedge had been firmly and deeply driven between the two communities as amity degenerated into animosity and eventually enmity.

AbduRahman Saheb

The eventual visible result in the Nair and upper Hindu classes was the edict ‘the Moplahs cannot be relied upon’. Thus there was a lot of nervousness post 1921 in Hindu minds, when it came to working with Moplahs, while at the same time, the Moplah leaders felt the same having seen some Hindus work with the British to protect themselves only during the riots and decry the Moplah leaders.

Another complaint of the Moplah was that they observed many of the Hindu Congressmen appointed as members of the Hindu Mahasabha, supporting the Aryasabha in reconversions or working as members of the Nair Service society. The gulf between the two groups became so wide that though each claimed to be a group of congressmen, one could not cooperate with the other even in organizing the Congress day to day matters. KPK Menon concluded - Enmity towards the Congress was evident everywhere.... Some Hindu leaders accused the Congressmen of treason for not joining the Khilafatists.... The Muslims complained that those who had induced them to join the Congress, abandoned them when police oppression and firing by the troops started".

The Hindu congressmen who were vociferous in supporting the Khilafat Moplahs and who had lost their faces and voices, now went into a shell and the congress machine of Malabar ground to a complete halt. Who incidentally were these Hindu congressmen? Keshava Menon, U Gopala Menon, Madhavan Nair, MP Narayana Menon, Ambalakkat Karunakara Menon, AV Kuttimalu Amma and so on. Almost all these gentlemen and ladies resided in the aristocratic area of Chalappuram. As a result, their organization, working sometimes from the home of Madhavan Nair, was termed the Chalappuram congress or the Chalappuram Gang. Many of them were lawyers who had once left the service of the courts and worked fulltime with the noncooperation movement. Now with the turbulent situation, they had gone back to working in the cutcheri, working as lawyers on weekdays.

The British had succeeded in one aspect, planned or unplanned, they had by now managed to split the congress along communal lines in Malabar and arrested its workings, one that was now being touted as Khadi against Khaki. On top of that they had classified the Moplah as a troublesome character and the situation was such that if a Moplah donned khadi he would be jailed.

It was at this juncture that two newspapers arrived on the scene, each to voice the concerns and objectives of these two leading religious communities, they were the Mathurbhumi started by the above group of lawyers and the Al Ameen (The voice of honesty) by the Moplah leaders. Papers like Malayala Manorama, Mithavadi and the Kerala Patrika were present at that time, but not considered nationalistic enough.

The Mathrubhumi was started by Keshava Menon and Madhavan Nair and had as directors Madhava Menon, Sundaram Iyer, A Karunakara Menon, AR Menon, P Achutan, AV Kuttimalu Amma etc. It commenced publishing thrice weekly from 1923. The paper was conceived as a tool to serve national movement for the attainment of freedom and not as a business for profit. Ramunni Menon and Karoor Neelakandhan Namboothiripad also worked for its promotion.

The Al Ameen was the brain child of Mohammed Abdurahman (Kunju Mohammed) from Kodungallur who had settled down at Calicut. Initially educated at the BEM (now MCC) college in Calicut, continuing his studies in Madras at the Muhammaden College and later the Presidency College. He left Presidency in 1920 following the boycott appeal of Gandhiji and joined the Aligarh University for his Honors degree. He arrived in Malabar in time for the Ottapalam conference, and was quickly thrust into the Congress-Khilafat movement, moving to Calicut, and later into the Moplah revolt at Eranad which he tried bring about some control, but could not. After the revolt, he was punished with a 2 year jail sentence at Bellary and Madras for disseminating false information about the government. When he arrived in Calicut after a rigorous sentence in 1923, he found the apathetic Hindu congressmen and the withdrawn Moplah congressmen doing nothing much for the cause of Indian freedom.

The Al Ameen ironically was started with the help of an appeal by Mathrubhumi to support Abdurahman’s effort. The founders and supporters lived at the Al Ameen lodge owned by Moidu Maulavi and that is the reason why they were called the Ameen lodge gang. The first issue came out in Oct 1924 and Mathrubhumi officially welcomed it with an article. In June 1930 it became a daily and was perpetually in debt. It is stated that the British dreaded many a provocative article published by it (e.g. the communist manifesto in Malayalam) and its support for the Muslim voice.

The 1927 provincial congress conference brought about a small amount of reconciliation. The Simon commission recommendations had to be protested against, boycotted and Swaraj had to be declared.The Malabar Tenancy act of 1929 was released and came in support of the kanamdars to provide them the required protections against eviction. But it also resulted in creating a new substrata of mini landlords. The divide now reduced from three to two and a semblance of haves and have-nots (the verum pattakars) an unbalanced situation which a younger groups of socialists led by Kelappan and EMS in the congress were soon to target. The lower classes were observing all this, lukewarm in supporting the congress which they believed were only favoring the landlords as mentioned earlier. A concept that there would be a congress for the rich and a congress for the poor was being bandied about by leaders like Krishna Pillai and the younger leaders.

The plan to start the next phase civil disobedience movement was debated for a while, and it was finally under the leadership of K Kelappan that the youth started their march for the Salt Satyagraha at Payannur joined by Abdurahman. Slowly Calicut caught on and a salt Satyagraha was organized in Calicut in May 1930 by Abdurahman, Krishnaswamy and Kelappan. Abdu Rahman was jailed again.

Meanwhile the two papers coexisted but were different in character. The Al Ameen paid no heed to authority, while the Mathrubhumi was cautious, desiring longevity. Al Ameen frequently decried Mathrubhumi’s silence on certain topics as a sign of its servitude to the British. But they were not too acrimonious and settled up usually, at the end of the day. It was on one such occasion that Abdurahman called the cautious Chalappuram members as the Chalappuram gang of Sunday Congressmen. The lawyers worked for the courts on weekdays and halfheartedly for the congress on Sundays, so said Al Ameen and the socialist cadre youngsters. It was in those days that the Hindu part of the KPCC exhibited the two stark factions, the upper caste Chalappuram gang and the so called Kelappan or Gandhian group.

The Guruvayoor Satyagraha was another event which made the upper caste Chalappuram gang stand apart. The fight to get entry for all Hindus into the temple heated up, with even Gandhiji involved and during this event, most of the Chalappuram congressmen sided with the trustees and the Zamorin in opposing it or by not protesting. This was something that further alienated it from some of the younger working class members of the congress led by Kelappan, EMS, Manjeri Ramayyar etc.

The Calicut Municipal Election in 1931 and the consequent developments which caused a loss of homogeneity and unity among Congressmen of Malabar is something to be briefly looked into, next. Abdurahaman was allotted the VI ward, where he had little chance of winning. Protesting, he got the VII ward from where he won handsomely. Regrettably, he did not get the nod due to a communal divide and Abdurahman stayed away from Congress activities for a while. The writings in the newspapers became acrimonious and Abdurahman did not lose the opportunity to attack the Chalappuram gang as often as he could. The rivalry continued into the 1934 elections where again Abdurahman was allotted Kelappan’s ward and got defeated, protested and left. Then came the CLA elections, where again Abdurahman lost to Sattar sait.

As squabbling was going on between the seniors, the younger group with socialist leftist views

supporting the working classes strengthened with AKG, Krishna Pillai and EMS Namboothiripad. Very soon, they had occupied a position of popularity and control. The CSP and subsequently the Muslim league formation is yet another story, and we will get into that in the course of time. That was eventually to deal a death blow to the ageing rightist group, though anti British activities continued their course, though slightly dampened as Nehru was heard to remark once.

During and after the Salt Satyagraha, women increasingly enrolled themselves as volunteers. Many went to jail braving police harassment. Kuttimalu Amma was a classic character and was associated with the Chalappuram gang not only as the wife of K Madhava Menon, but as an activist in her own right. Many others can be listed, like Karthiyayani Amma, Narayanikutty Amma, Gracy Aron and Meena Ammaal.

As it is time to wind up, let us check what happened to all these people as time passed by. Abdurahman continued with the CSP faction, his Al Ameen folded in 1939 and Abdurahman soon drifted towards NSC Bose and the INA, getting jailed again. The Mathrubhumi thrived, but the Chalappuram gang aged and struggled with the internal left right rivalry and the rising young Turks of the CSP. Keshava Menon as you will recall went to Malaysia and Singapore, got involved with the IIL and INA. U Gopala Menon continued with his legal work and the bar association. Madhavan Nair passed away in 1933. Madhava Menon was imprisoned often but continued with Congress and Mathrubhumi administration at Calicut. Ambalakkat Karunakara Menon was also involved with administrative capacities and was arrested in the Satyagraha movement and Quit India movement, and eventually got to working for the Harijan Sevak Sangh. Kuttimalu Amma also went to jail fighting the British and continued with the KPCC for a long time. Many of those old aristocratic houses are not to be seen in Calicut anymore. I heard recently that Karunakara mamas North Ambalakkat house had been sold off. The South Ambalakkat house where I grew up is still there and I had seen it a couple of years ago, but I guess it is all a matter of time when these things will be just history.

It was in the course of these studies that I came across an interesting tidbit. During these troubling 20’s, we knew of course that covering the upper half of their bodies was neither the norm nor permitted for women of the lower classes. In fact men were also supposed to be bare bodied, as serfs. Only Nair’s and upper classes could wear shirts. As these freedom movements strengthened and took hold, all men took to wearing shirts and of course, the women too were clad in blouses. But there was another matter of interest. I read that only Nairs could sport a mustache in old Malabar and that it was during the freedom movement when many other classes took the opportunity and started sporting mustaches. It was a big thing, and to this day you will see most Malayalee’s continuing to sport mustaches, for it was not just something manly, it was perhaps a little act of protest and equality!

Well, those were different days when egos, ideology, religions, classes, castes and communities clashed. For a while the singular desire to be free from the British united everybody, and in that path to freedom, true character and grit was exposed. But as we all saw, those undercurrents continued to direct or misdirect many of the characters as days passed by, and as we know, they still do. It is true that each party had justifications for their actions, and the debates will continue on for ever. Maybe it will all change one day, when such petty aspects don’t matter anymore, maybe it won’t. Who knows???

References

Stealing Congresses’ thunder – Ronald J Herring, (When parties fail – ed. Kay Lawson, Peter H Merkl)

Congress and Kerala Politics – KS Nayar

History of the Communist movement in Kerala – Dr E Balakrishnan

Kerala society and politics – EMS Namboothirpad

Mohammed AbduRahman- NP Chekutty

How I became a communist - EMS Namboothirpad

Who’s who of Freedom fighters in Kerala – K Karunakaran Nair

Peasant Protest and Revolts in Malabar during the 19th and 20th Century - Dr. K. N. Panikkar

Political journalism and national movement in Malabar (Thesis) –Thilleri Vasu

Mobilisation against the State and not against the landlords: The Civil Disobedience Movement in Malabar – K Gopalankutty

The Task of Transforming the Congress: Malabar, 1934-40 – K Gopalankutty

ARS Iyerautobiography

Muhammed Abdurahiman: Pursuits and Perspectives of a Nationalist Muslim Thesis - Muhammed Poozhikuth

Electrifyingthe Calicut City

Gandhiji atCalicut

The KhilafatMovement, Turkey and Ataturk

The Malabarrebellion and some Hindu leaders

The Tragedyin Wagon 1711 - A complete picture

And his role in the Amritsar Massacre

I spent a considerable amount of time reading various published accounts of the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre. A summary of the events that transpired and an accounting of some of the persons who attained notoriety from it was posted the other day. But there was one thread that I did not unravel in that article, for I thought it deserved a more studious effort. That related to the murky role played by a person of some consequence and mentioned in the various records of the event. Many Indians refused to agree that it was a minor role and some even went on to characterize his role as a part of a large conspiracy. Who was that person and was there a conspiracy? Let’s check out the involvement of the infamous local lad Hans Raj, in the Amritsar massacre of 13^th April 1919.

Now Jallianwalla was once upon a time a home site belonging to the Jalhewalas who hailed from the Jalla village. You may not recall Pandit Jalla, the unpopular Brahmin deputy in Hira Singh’s court, the one who used to be remembered once upon a time by this couplet ‘Ooper alla, Talley Jalla, Jalla de sir tey khalla’ (in heaven lived Allah, in earth lived Jalla…may Allah give Jalla a shoe beating), well his name became immortalized with the events of 1919 when Col Dyer ordered the shooting of some 20,000-25,000 assembled in this 24,000 sqmts space, without any provocation.

Who exhorted the unfortunate masses to attend a meeting in this compound? It was largely due to the exertions of an energetic young man named Hans Raj. As records put it, Hans Raj, an aide to Dr. Kitchlew, announced on the 11^th that a public protest meeting would be held at 16:30 the following day in the Jallianwala. People flocked to hear these speeches instead, as festivities (the cattle market fair was closed) had been banned by specific proclamations at the usual meeting places, by Col Dyer. Was Hans Raj such a popular figure to be heeded to, was he a real activist? Why did people follow him like pied piper to the Bagh? What happened to him at the ground? What was his relationship with Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew the leaders who had been exiled a few days earlier? And who was the mysterious Bashir who was involved in the two days preceding the massacre, the one who was to speak and the one who never turned up? Let’s take a deeper look.

The first writer to provide some details of the character was Pt Peary Mohan, a vakil of the Lahore high court, writing his account in Dec 1919, just 8 months after the incident. The book’s opening page shows a man in the buff being whipped, setting store for the gory details of the massacre in the pages that follow. The Hunter commission had been convened in October and Dyer had given his evidence in Nov. The British report was published in March 1920 and Mohan’s book itself was published in May 1920.

According to Mohan, HansRaj, son of a local prostitute Devi Ditta Mal Bedi aged 23, had passed his matriculation in 1911. His less than stellar background traversed many jobs until the 1919 event, and we see that his services had been terminated on many occasions, due to his dubious and shifty character. First he was a ticket examiner in the NWR where he had been dismissed for embezzlement, then he clerked for the municipal commissioner LH Shah, next as a clerk at the Union club, then with a banker Seva Singh and so on. During this period he tried to obtain employment in the police department and was on a waiting list, but was apparently allowed to act as a CID (more correctly as an informer, perhaps). During the events that transpired in 1919, he was a commission agent for printing and stationery. Until Feb 1919, he kept a low profile and suddenly began to appear at all kinds of public political meetings. Mohan argues that it was not fervent nationalism which made him do this, but the responsibility to report inside information to his police superiors. He also cultivated acquaintances with important public figures, expressing his ability and willingness to organize meetings, record and copy meeting minutes, print notices and so on.

By 8^th April he was accorded a formal title, the Secretary of the Satyagraha Sabha. Thus he got closer to Dr Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, the two leaders who had been banished days before the Amritsar event. In fact he was present as the two were deported and carried back copies of the deportation notices to inform their relatives (why did the police entrust him with this duty?). He then bound himself to the next in line Dr Bashir and many other activists who continued to rebel. Before we cast doubts on his character, let us see what he did next, for he certainly went on to stir the hornets’ nest. After leaving Satyapal and Horniman who were being carted off to Dharmasala in high secrecy, Hans Raj reported the deportations to the friendly press and snapped of a telegram to Gandhiji. He then went around town and informed the public of the happenings. It was following this that a crowd collected demanding details on their leaders and the mob violence as well as the event involving Sherwood of 10^th April took place. For all practical purposes, Hans Raj was the instigator of the 10^th April violence, though Hans Raj later implicated Dr Bashir for these events.

It was on the 12^th evening that Hans Raj was involved again, in a meeting at Bashir’s house where Bashir was exhorting the people gathered to call off the agitation if the British promised no reprisals on the mob participants, but Has Raj would not agree stating that each and every one had to be aware that their leaders had been spirited away and that they should all take up individual leadership to continue the agitation. He then called for a meeting at Jallianwala Bagh the next day under the leadership of an elderly resident Lala Kanhiya Lal (who had no idea of all this!). The plan was to announce a hartal on 13^th and suspend all businesses until their leaders were released. Gandhiji who had been released in the meantime addressed a meeting in Bombay stating there should be no demonstrations against any leader’s arrest, but that message never reached anybody in Amritsar.

From Draper’s accounts, we note the sequence of events as follows - On the 13^th Hans Raj was busy preparing for the meeting at the Bagh. He arranged for a platform to be erected for the speakers and a batch of sweepers to clean up the area as much as possible, and organized for water carriers to carry water through any crowd that assembled. Meanwhile somebody noticed that Has Raj was in conversation on two occasions, with some undercover CID officers in the area. It appears that some people already knew of potential violence even before the event and stayed away from the Bagh or decided to go back. The meeting started and speakers talked about Kitchlew and Satyapal, later some poets recited poems. A plane flew overhead and some witnesses saw Hans Raj wave a handkerchief at it and while at the same time a few policeman in the crowd left the locale. As the sight of the plane triggered some panic, Hans Raj asked the people not to worry and the plane was quickly gone. The speakers continued and just about then, at 5:15 PM, the boots of Dyer’s troops could be heard pounding the entrance path. Again, witnesses noticed Hans Raj wave a handkerchief and the crowd chanted ‘they have come’. Hans Raj exhorted the speakers to sit down assuring them that the Sarkar would not fire. At that instant, Dyer shouted out his orders ‘Gurkhas right, 59^th left fire’. Hans Raj shouted – they are only blanks – and it seems, he bolted. The soldiers knelt, loaded and fired, and fired and fired…all of 1650 of .303 Mark VI ammunition into the crowd, methodically, with Dyer directing the aim to the most crowded spots. Dyer and his troops then retreated as collective wails floated up from the walls of the Bagh.

Hans Raj by some accounts had vanished, but that part as well as his kerchief waving were perhaps exaggerations. Let’s now go on to see what Hans Raj did next, for he would reappear soon in the so called Amritsar leader’s case, which took place in June 1919.

The Jalianwala Bagh massacre (courtesy Indian Express)

Lala Jowahar Lal, a CID inspector who had been observed speaking to Hans Raj at the meeting and had left before Dyer arrived, was the first to pick up Hans Raj on the 21^st, 8 days after the horrible event, and stated that Hans Raj wanted to confess and help the government, but that he did not have in possession the statements or notes made during pervious interrogation meetings as he had destroyed them. All other police officers speaking for the crown, had interestingly done the same thing. Fellow prisoners had noticed that Has Raj was being treated preferentially and seemed to be leading a jolly life in detention. Lal then took Hans Raj to A. Symour, the magistrate where he admitted that his confession was not being made under duress (though he was held in the British fort for 4 days preceding the confession), but curiously declined to make it under an oath. Thus Hans raj became the key witness for the prosecution, he had turned approver in exchange for full pardon, since he had also been charge sheeted.

The case was held ‘in camera’ though news of JP Ellis’s adhocism trickled out of the chambers. He went on to name each and everyone involved with a remarkably lucid memory and accuracy, and summarized the meetings before 13th to being not related to Satyagraha but as meetings cloaking a plan to agitate violently. He also told the court that Satyapal and Kitchlew had before leaving, asked him to incite the crowds in Amritsar in revenge. With this one statement, Hans Raj nailed the leaders to the board. During his examination, he also provided the court with hundreds of names, their exact statements, in other words, everything that was required by the court, in a way they wanted it, to make a judgment just as they wanted to. He confidently assured the people of the court that he was not committing perjury in exchange for pardon. Many of the onlookers were convinced that Hans Raj had been carefully coached for the narration. Everything he said was taken note of without corroboration or cross-examination and accepted as evidence even though he was the main culprit, the person who had organized and conducted the so called rebellious meeting. Instead all the others leaders who were absent, were convicted.

As the defense counsels were not provided any of the evidence beforehand, they could not take apart Hans Raj other than cast aspersions on his character and this obviously was not sufficient to dent the prosecution’s case. Another crown witness Brij Lal however mentioned that while in detention, Hans Raj worked with the police in forcing Lal to make a confession as they wanted. Lal was also forced to memorize the content of his statement so that he could stick to it faithfully while in court. In addition, all the accused refuted the evidence given by Hans Raj, with Satyapal even going onto say that he would never have been involved with Hans Raj as the latter was on a much lower social scale! Bashir emphatically stated that he had not asked Hans Raj to organize the 13^thmeeting at the Bagh. But they were all of no avail.

The court as expected decided that that Punjab had been on the brink of a revolt, that a criminal conspiracy existed and that war had been waged on the 10^th of April against the crown. They also mentioned that Has Raj, a person of little standing was ‘worthy of credence’ a statement made strangely without even a bit of corroboration! The record states - We have arrived at the conclusion that Hans Raj had endeavored to tell his story as fully as he was capable of doing and has not deliberately made any false statements. That he has been occasionally confused is apparent, but that is not surprising considering the numbers of persons he had to deal with (a good deal more than the accused in this case and we have given the accused concerned the fullest benefit of any such confusion of ideas, dates and names.

Kitchlew and Satyapal were to be transported and had all their property forfeited. Dr Bashir who was not even involved and who had actually treated some of the injured, was sentenced to death, for his involvement in the 10^th April mob violence. Hans Raj was also used in another case to deliver identical results and even more people were sentenced to death on the weight of his evidence. However some of them including Dr Bashir were later acquitted on appeal.

Whatever happened to Hans Raj following the case? As some Indian leaders fumed and planned a retort, or wrote letters to the press, Hans Raj vanished. If he had been let go after the case, he would have been torn to pieces by the angry people of Amritsar. The British apparently rewarded him with a large sum of money and spirited him away to Mesopotamia. It is not clear if his hapless mother or sister accompanied him, perhaps not. The British, interestingly paid out about Rs 18 lakhs as compensation, a couple of years after the event, to families of many of the victims.

Many contemporaries such as Lala Hans Raj (a senior advocate) felt that Hans Raj was actually part of a larger conspiracy, in which Dyer planned in order to make an example of the British iron hand. Jalianwala Bagh, was carefully chosen location to inflict maximum damage due to its being walled. They were also of the opinion that the Bagh firing was a retaliation for the mob actions of the 10^thand that it was deliberately planned and executed by Dyer, not something that happened on the spur of the moment, as recounted by Dyer. But to date no proof exists or whatever existed have been carefully erased or vanished, like Hans Raj himself.

Dyer of course was confident all along that under no circumstance would the crown fail to support him, O’Dwyer certainly did support him to the end, but as events transpired, Dyer got castigated by the crown in the process, whereas O’Dwyer did not. VN Datta believes that both Kitchlew and Gandhiji preferred to remain silent on the Hans Raj issue and let the matter lie, for this was more on the side of national interest and presented a poor image of the crown’s handling of the law and India’s innocent.

Raja Ram in his analysis brings out a point that it was clear from records that O’Dwyer had all the time been gearing up for a major event on the 13^th due to the Baisakhi celebrations, the influx of people into Amritsar, and that the event of the 10^th happened by chance. The 10^th events provided an even more convenient excuse to announce that a rebellion was being staged, which is defined as ‘waging war’ under martial law. He also mentions of plans to carry out an aerial bombardment of Amritsar which was however called off to prevent damage to the Golden Temple.

Without doubt, what precipitated the disturbances was the unnecessary arrest of Kitchlew and Satyapal. They were the only two leaders who could have controlled the events of 10^th April. Gandhiji stated - The police expected that the demonstrators would try to liberate the two leaders and precautions were taken, but 'there was no attempt at rescue'. The banishing of the leaders removed from Amritsar the two men who might have restrained the populace. 'Starting in anger at the action of the government in deporting the two local politicians,' reads the Hunter Report, a mob raged through the streets. That reckless decision by O’Dwyer was what led to Chettur Sankaran Nair’s statement and the court case we discussed in the previous article. In fact Gandhiji said later - The truth of the matter is that the wrong man was in the wrong box; the right man to have been in the box of the accused should certainly have been Sir Michael O'Dwyer. Had he not made inflammatory and irritating speeches, had he not belittled leaders, had he not in a most cruel manner flouted public opinion and had he not arrested Drs. Kitchlew and Satyapal, the history of the last two months would have been differently written.

Nick Lloyd’s book however presents Hans Raj’s relationship with Bashir in a different light based mostly on Hans Raj’s testimony and conflicts those provided by Draper, Mohan and Datta. Quoting Lloyd – ‘According to Hans Raj, Bashir was the man who pushed for the meeting and never turned up (Bashir was according to another account, watching the events as they transpired, from a nearby shop). He narrates that it was Bashir who ordered Hans Raj to organize a meeting at the Bagh. Conflicting Mohan’s notes, Lloyd mentions - When Hans Raj suggested that they should end the hartal, Bashir told him that he was ‘a child’ who did not understand ‘such matters’. He does not believe that Dyer was a premeditated murderer, but he did so due to the size and nature of the crowd he faced and since he had few troops had no option but to keep firing. Nigel Collett reviews Lloyd’s book and rebuts many of these comments in his article linked here.

It is also interesting to see how the judgement was reviewed at a later date in the House of Commons, especially the case of Dr Bashir. When asked by Col Yate why Bashir was released subsequently, Edwin Montagu, secretary of state for India replied “Dr. Muhammed Bashir was sentenced to death by a martial law commission in the Amritsar Leaders' case, which included the charge against him of inciting the mob in the attack on the National Bank. The sentence was reduced by Sir Edward Maclagan, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, to one of six years' rigorous imprisonment. The two High Court Judges appointed to examine cases tried by Martial Law Courts agreed that the part of the case against the doctor relating to the events at the National Bank rested on the, uncorroborated testimony of an approver; one judge was of the opinion that there was sufficient evidence to justify a conviction for waging war only, but the other judge would not admit the sufficiency of the evidence to justify a conviction at all. The Punjab Government, in the circumstances, recommended the release of Dr. Muhammed Bashir on certain conditions, and the Government of India accepted these recommendations.” This goes on to prove that much of what Hans Raj provided as testimony was upon detailed analysis, considered dubious and unworthy of merit or action.

It is now time to glance at a peculiar event that transpired after the massacre. Col Dyer and Maj Briggs were made honorary Sikhs by the elders of the Golden Temple. They thanked him for protecting the temple, not bombing it and for saving Amritsar from plunder by the mobs. Excused from growing a beard, Dyer did promise to cut his smoking at the rate of one cigarette a year. The Mahants then offered the services of 10,000 men to Dyer in order to fight the Afghans, which was declined. Anyway two years from then, the Akali Gurudwara reform movement would wrest power away from those powerful Mahants and turn it over to the SGPC.

Collett’s paper provides an aside that Dyer was perhaps fed with a good amount of misinformation by various vested interest groups when he landed up in Amritsar and this clouded his judgement and made him very nervous indeed. Kitchin told him that 200 armed Sikhs from the manja were about to raid Amritsar. The Superintendent of Police, Ashraf Khan had informed Dyer that the rebellion was being spread into the surrounding districts by agents from Amritsar and that large numbers were coming into the city to form a dandafauj (armed with sticks) and drive the British out. Thus Dyer formed a belief that an army of the Punjabi insurgents would face him the next day and that he should stop it at any cost.

Collett concludes - Who were these Indian informants who had dripped such poison into the administration ears, why had they done so and why had the administration taken any notice of them? All around these villages clustered the large houses of wealthy and locally powerful Sikh families, supporters, in the main, of the status quo. All were families whose stakes in land and property were threatened by the disorder in nearby Amritsar and who in all likelihood would have desired the British to act decisively before events got further out of hand. It is perhaps from such sources that Kitchin and Donald received the information which they passed on to Dyer. So, by default, the administration consulted its old sources and received advice that was less and less useful as time passed.

An unintended effect of all this was the overhearing of Dyer’s bombast by Jawaharlal Nehru who was lying down on an upper berth in a train compartment which had Dyer and his friends. The infuriated Nehru who was until then ambivalent about Satyagraha, decided to throw his weight into in the lead.

Years later, another Hans Raj, also a state approver, became prominent in the Bhagat Singh case. That is another story, for another day…..

References

An Imaginary rebellion and how it was suppressed – Pt Peary Mohan

The historiography of the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre - Savita Narain

The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer - Nigel Collett

Imperial Crime & Punishment – Helen Fein

Jalianwala Bagh Massacre - VN Datta, S Settar

The Jalianwala Bagh Massacre - Raja Ram

A Muse Abused: The Politicizing of the Amritsar Massacre - Nigel Collett

The O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case of 1924: New Evidence Concerning Indian Attitudes and British Intelligence During the 1919 Punjab Disturbances: Nigel Collett

British administration and the Amritsar Massacre – Horniman

The Amritsar Massacre – Nick Lloyd

Armies of the Raj: From the Mutiny to Independence, 1858-1947 - Byron Farwell

Jallianwala Bagh Commemoration volume – VN Datta

Amritsar – Alfred Draper

Abbot L Dow 1880, and the story of Alleppey

Difficult to believe, right? But that was indeed the case. An early US representation in India did exist for a while at Alleppey, and this started first with the appointment of a commercial agent stationed there and his office was later upgraded to a consulate. The consular officer was one Mr Abbot L. Dow.

Why Alleppey? For that you have to check out the details in my article on Darragh in Kerala and his pioneering efforts with establishing coir weaving establishments in Kerala. To recap, James Darragh, a Brooklyn man left New York in 1855, to seek his fortunes in India, like so many others. He sailed to India, destined for Calcutta with an intent to start a coir industry but was unsuccessful in making mats with Bengali labor and English supervision (Remember now that coir matting was unknown in India but already well established in Britain and America). As it appears, he took a couple of his trained laborers together with the English supervisor to a place he had heard of, rich in coconuts and teeming with people willing to work their butts off, but had no idea of their commercial potential. The man had big business in mind, nothing short of setting up a world class factory and to become the biggest manufacturer of coir products in the world! That my friends, was the coir pioneer James Darragh.

He was a pioneer, in cocoa mats (The US name for coir), but he also went on to try his hand in a few other businesses before stabilizing his fortunes on coir and propelling Kerala to the forefront of the industry, worldwide. Darragh, Smail and Co., thus became the first American firm in these parts, soon employing some 1,081 hands and shipping coir matting to many parts of the world. Others like Aspinwall, Pierce Leslie and William Goodacre (to name a few) followed in quick succession.

We also note that after about 25 years in Alleppey, Darragh became a bigwig and was hobnobbing with the royalty of Travancore and even minting his own coins. He quickly diversified into coconut oil, tea, coffee, rubber and so on….and become a very rich man. In 1889 he decided to head back to New York and during a stopover at Cairo, he fell ill and died.

But while Alleppey, an English term derived from Allepilly or Alapuzha, a port developed by the sovereign Dharmaraja of Travancore within his domains to reduce their dependence and perhaps even rival Cochin and Calicut (which was already trending to decadency by then), was synonymous with coir, the purpose was originally to create an all-weather harbor to export all of Travancore’s products including spices, duly serviced from inland procurement centers through an inland network of canals and using cheap boat transportation. How did this plan come into being and how was it put into effect? Let’s go back in time to the rule of the Dharmaraja of Travancore to find out.

Dewan Keshava Pillai, the architect of the whole idea, is a character who deserves a separate article, in fact a book, for such is the power of his character. With a promise that I will definitely do a separate article on his times, let me pull away from the urge to write a few paras about him and instead stick to a simple introduction. Starting as a lowly visitor to the palace, the boy worked his way up as a scribe, and later became a brilliant military strategist trained by none other than Capt D’Lannoy. His commercial skills were unmatched in those times for a native and the man soon found himself heading the commerce department going on to become the Sarvadhikarai and eventually the (Dalawa) Dewan of state by 1788. He was also the biggest pillar of support for Dharmaraja, at a crucial time when Tipu Sultan sought to wage a war against Travancore. The purchase of the Cranganore forts from the Dutch and the battle of Nedumkotta followed, Keshava Pillay led from the front and ensured a timely repulse of the Mysore army (See my article Tipu’s waterloo for details). He did so much more, such as moving the capital from Padmanabhapuram to Trivandrum, building the MC road (the origin at Trivandrum is named Keshavadasapuram in his honor), the Chalai market and so on…

But Keshava Pillay’s everlasting achievement was the development of the port of Alleppey following the decline of the Dutch monopoly of the Pepper trade, after the Dutch defeat by Marthanda Varma at Kulachel. Now that the pepper business was directly conducted by the sovereign of Travancore (note that the Zamorin and family were in exile in Travancore during this period), the British were dependent on Travancore for pepper. Pillay decided to open two ports, one at Alleppey close to Cochin and a smaller one at Vizhinjam.

A port town was thus established in this sleepy village, warehouses were opened, traders were invited from Bombay (Kutchi Memons and Gujaratis), also Chettiars and Ravuthars from Tamilakam, to conduct trade. Transport of spices and raw materials were guaranteed by the royal army and new canals were built to link the waterways to the new seaport at Alleppey. Anjengo, Quilon and Vizhinjam were converted as feeder units to the main Alleppey port. Shaktan Thampuran of Cochin in the meanwhile was keener on establishing Trichur as his main base and thus the Cochin port largely run by the declining Dutch VOC, slowly took a back seat in maritime activities. The Dutch VOC’s pepper monopoly had ended. Alleppey was now the chief commercial town of Travancore. Spices, Coir and everything else sourced from Malabar and other coastal ports of Western India were headed to Alleppey for export, to the eager buyers in the west.

Alleppey’s mud banks practically speaking, afforded a safe anchorage in the open roadstead (See explanation of ‘mud bank’ in notes). Its natural port was unaffected during the ravages of the Malabar monsoons and remained open even when Cochin was closed, while at the same time, inland waterways afforded a route to get the goods across to and from Cochin and other producing locales.

As it became a busy and popular port by 1762 as the Dewan stationed himself to oversee the port’s development phase. The Travancore Raja built a palace there raising the esteem of the locale, also a Huzur Kutchery, and a temple. Mathu Tharakan oversaw all the timber business, Vicharippukarsanmar delivered hill produce and spices and the state commissioned (to avoid dependence on the EIC and the VOC) three ships to transport goods to major North Indian ports like Bombay and Calcutta.

By 1798, Dharmaraja passed away and the loss of his patron also decided Kashava Pillay’s fate. The new king was unduly influenced by his Samprati Jayantan Sankaran Nambudiri, who convinced the king that Pillay was colluding with the British. By the next year Pillay was found dead (murdered by poison). A few years later, the Church Missionary Society set up its local headquarters in Alleppey and three years later the first Anglican Church was built in 1819.

The 19^th century was an all-important period for the fortunes of Alleppey. It continued to be a safe port and Markham surveying it stated so in 1867 - The mud-bank of Alipee, the Port of Travancore, is a curious phenomenon. The safety of the roadstead arises from its possessing a remarkably soft muddy bottom, and the fluidity of the water being diminished by the intermixture of mud the anchorage is very smooth in four fathoms, even while the swell of the monsoon is at its height in the offing.

Goods came down the canals and to the warehouses in Alleppey. Seafaring barges then carried them to oceangoing ships anchored at the mudbank. It was still not a thriving or bustling port until the mid-19^thcentury but Travancore had by now come under British suzerainty. A British commercial agent was placed at Alleppey. It was in the first half of the 19^thcentury that the Vadai canal was built, parallel to the commercial canal, indicating that commerce was heating up and congestion had to be relieved on the main commerce canal.

A report Voyage from Bombay to Madras and Calcutta 1829 narrates -

The trade of Cochin has so declined that there are at present neither political or commercial agents there on the part of the East India Company, this port being subject to the collector of Travancore, who resides at Alipee. The articles which were formerly exported and imported, now go from Calicut, except a small annual export of cocoa-nuts, coin, elephants' teeth, sandal wood, tamarinds, teak wood, and wax, which are carried in coasting vessels; the cassia, cardamums, ginger, pepper, &c., being now mostly collected at Calicut for the northern part of the country, and at Alipee for the southern.

There is some confusion in the books and charts regarding the situation of Alipee. Mr. Milburn places it in lat. 9° 42' N. near a river; calls it a town of considerable size, very populous, having many good houses, and wearing the flag of the Rajah of Travancore, to whom it belongs. Mr. Horshurgh says that Porea, which he places in lat. 9° 30' N. and long. 7C° 34' E. is sometimes called Alipee; but he adds, that the village properly called Alipee, is three leagues more to the northward, where the Company's ships load pepper, and confirms this, by saying that the Earl Camden, in five fathoms and three quarters, the village bearing E.N.E. 1/2 E., when at anchor, made it in lat. 9° 42' N. by observation. The Lord Cathcart and the Bombay, the two vessels loading pepper here, were lying in four fathoms, about two miles from the town, with a large and handsome brick building like a factory, having an arched entrance in the centre of its front, and a flag-staff, bearing the British flag, rising from its summit, bearing about E.N.E. This is a place belonging to the English, and subject to the collector of Travancore. We inquired its name from the natives, who came off to us in boats, and was told by several that it was called by them Alipelly, but by the English, Alipee. The latitude of this place, by a good meridian observation, was 9° 34' N., which is nearer to the situation of Porea; but of this name, or of any other Alipee than the present, these natives said they knew nothing.

By 1858, the EIC had relinquished their powers to the British crown and the colonial administration took its place. All royal monopolies were abolished, free trade was established and only a commission/duty needed to be paid to the Travancore royalty.

This was the stage when foreign investment and organizations came in droves to Alleppey and Cochin. Darragh was one of the first arriving in 1859. The British modernized the port, building a lighthouse by 1860 and a post and telegraph office by 1863, the first in Travancore, just 10 years after the one in Madras. Imagine the relief for traders who needed good and quick communications, so also safety for the ships and their produce. A pier was constructed in 1870, steam driven cranes were established and a small coolie operated tramway was established to move goods from the warehouses to the pier. The number of ships plying the port reached about 400 annually while at the same token, the total tonnage went up from 58,000 to 350,000 by the end of the 19^th century. In fact Alleppey was modernized just 10 years after Bombay and Madras and was characterized as a fine harbor.

The industrialization of Travancore started by American James Darragh was extraordinary and as he promised, it was soon to become the center of all coir industry in the world. Everything was done in-situ and not in Europe as other companies had modeled their businesses. This was to continue for a full century, until 1970, and it was only in the last decades, when labor unrest ensued, that the business declined. But there were other reasons too as we will soon see.

Alleppey circa.1900

Aspinwall, Pierce Leslie and William Goodacre followed to establish their coir factories in Alleppey. The next were the Swiss Volkart brothers. All in all the coir business was very profitable and labor was dirt cheap (Darragh’s factory paid their laborers just 4 annas per day). Many tens of thousands of people were employed both in the factory aspects of the coir industry as well as the cottage based parts of de-husking coconuts and raw yarn bundling stages. Alleppey grew and grew for a century. The port became even more congested, the place reeked from decaying coconut fiber dumped in the canals for soaking and illnesses increased. Mosquito borne Filariasis was common place. Easy commuting over canal boats attracted even more and more job seekers and with the coir industry also amenable to women workers, the numbers swelled. All in all things were looking good but somewhat unstructured and unregulated.

As we said before almost all of Darragh’s coir was going to America. That was the business volume which made the American government decide to appoint a commercial agent in 1880 to take care of related issues, especially to liaise with the British, who controlled the seas, the ships and the ocean routes between India and America. The person appointed for to the position was one Abbot Low Dow.

Abbot Low Dow, born in 1845 was like Darragh, a native of Brooklyn - New York and came from an old and respected shipping family. He was the son of George Worthington Dow, a respected East India trader and Anna De Bevoise Prince. He was first married to Cornelia Suydam Herriman and his three daughters found mention in New York’s society news, most of the time. Dow also happened to be the first cousin of Seth Low, the president of Columbia University and the first mayor of the consolidated city of New York. He was a wealthy man indeed and became the trustee of the estate of his children in 1876, upon the death of his wife, who left $400,000 in trust for them.

In 1880 he moved to Alleppey as consular agent, perhaps after persuasion by his Brooklyn compatriot James Darragh. The importance of the locale and the bilateral business which was very much in favor of Travancore in terms of balance of payments, resulted in an upgrade of his office to a consulate quickly. The Congressional Series of United States Public Documents, Volume 2028, states that Abbot Dow was promoted as American counsel in 1881, so recommended by President RB Hayes and industrialist Samuel Sloan.

But the consulate was short-lived. We do not know how long it functioned because Abbot L. Dow, himself stated that it was difficult for him as the British Government 'permits no direct intercourse of Indians with other countries'. It existed perhaps (I could not find any further details of the consulate myself) for some 10 years and Dow’s comment above roughly dates to the 1890’s reflecting that all did not bode well between the Americans and British, with respect to trade at Alleppey. Nevertheless he continued on at Travancore for a while before moving back to America. We note that by 1899 he had become the director of the Craig colony for epileptics at Sonyea NY. In 1905, Abbot Low Dow married Helene Carola Nancy Sanford, a wealthy socialite (The city of Sanford in Florida gets its name from the Sanford family). Dow settled down in New Hampshire, in his Wakefield home and passed away in May 1914. His daughters Margaret married Ernest Greene in 1896, Caroline married Mr Hiss in 1906 and Cornelia to Charles Bancroft in 1905. One could guess that Abbot Dow’s high connections, and standing in New York society and his family background as East India traders must have got him the position in British India. So that was a bit about the consulate and the Consul.

Abbot Dow and Nancy Sanford

By 1890 the American consular agent one Mr John Grieve located in Cochin reported as below to Mr Comfort, Vice Consul at Bombay on the state of the Alleppey port, dated July 23 1890:

"Our season having now ended, I have pleasure in sending you the following short account of the trade done during the year ending June 30, as promised when I saw you in Bombay. Six American vessels, two British steamers, and four other vessels loaded cargo here for New York of the approximate value of 25 lakhs. Of the six American ships, three of them loaded part cargoes in Alleppey (about 30 miles from here) of the value of 82,000 rupees, while another American vessel loaded entirely in Alleppey, cargo to the value of about 106,000 rupees. The above is exclusive of cargo that may have been sent to London for transshipment there to New York, of which there is no trace in the customs returns."

The attention that Alleppey was getting from Trivandrum was perhaps lackluster and investment had reduced. Perhaps the British also neglected maintenance in the port and it was in a state of decline with diseases and crowding on the up. A reason for the decline of the port was sadly the development of a road network between Travancore and Cochin. The KH 1 or MC road (again conceived by Keshava Pillay) and the advent of trucking transport resulted in goods taking the safer land route to Cochin where bigger ships could dock in safety nearer the port, whereas in Alleppey they had to be transported further into the sea on barges. The factories in Cochin decided to truck or boat the village produce directly to their Cochin factories. The world wars resulted in Cochin getting promoted as a naval port with crown funds for further development and then again there was a mega port at Bombay which got a bulk of the funding.

But there was another reason at the turn of the 20^thCentury (Krishna Poduval - Calcutta review) - It was again nature which moved the mudbanks out from Alleppey to Puracad. Recently, however, the mud-bank which hitherto held out all the advantages of an excellent harbour and made this port so very attractive to shipping and thus helped in building it up into an emporium, one of the oldest in this part of the world, appears to have, partially, at all events, shifted to about twelve miles south near a village called Puracand, Thus nature has snatched off one of the best advantages with which she had endowed Alleppey, with the inevitable result that the town is now face to face with a south-ward diversion of its trade, and its time-honored commercial eminence stands doomed, at least for the time being. I take care to add the qualifying phrase, seeing that quite possibly the operation of natural forces similar to those which have now carried off the mudbank may, at some future time, move it back to its original site and leave Alleppey in statu quo ante. Speculation apart, the occurrence in question is certainly a serious economic disaster to this unfortunate town and indirectly to Travancore.

Nevertheless, that did not seem to be a major issue at the time, only the barges had to move a little further. The primary reason for the decline in Alleppey after all was increasing labor costs and militancy amongst the labor ranks. The coir industry had required little capital investment as all initial work was done in the countryside, near homes and the yarn was moved by boats plying canals, to Alleppey. Freight costs were also thus minimal. Handlooms and power looms in the sheds producing the end product were also not too expensive. Port duties were quite low. The highest cost thus was the labor cost at Alleppey’s factories or work sheds. This was quite low until the 1950’s but at the same time, the mat so produced was not a glamorous item, even at its final destination, America (so it’s selling price could not go up very much). Starting from the 1920’s trade unions started to emerge in order to counter bad working conditions. This was coupled with the emergence of class consciousness in Travancore and the slow disintegration of the century old caste system. A number of labor movements and strikes ensued while at the same time, the demand for coir products reduced. Wages had to be increased and the bigger organizations decided to move away to less militant locations in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and other places. The factories in Alleppey split into unorganized smaller units and lost their economics of scale. Exports declined from a 25,000 ton level in 1962 to 7,000 tons in 1973. A port which once commanded 40% of Kerala’s exports in the mid 50’s was now exporting less than 10% of its total. That my friends was the story of the spectacular surge and decline of a modern port Alleppey, the Venice of Travancore, a story unlike the stories of many of the medieval coastal ports of Malabar which died more natural deaths.

Today Alleppey forms part of the tourist belt, as the gateway to the backwaters and many a person passes or visits the locale while boating through the waters on houseboats. These tourists will never hear about the coir industries which had once set the shores buzzing nor of the ships that were anchored out yonder waiting to carry coir mats to America. They will also not know about the turbulent 1920-1950 period when the very same shores witnessed the first of Kerala’s labor unrests. But they will take in the serene waters, the still lagoons, the picture-book lakeside views, palm fringed canals, the bustling day to day routines of the canal-side dwellers, simple homes and many other small marvels. No boatman or tour guide will tell them about Dewan Keshava Pillay or James Darragh, the American Sayip, for they had served their respective purposes and moved on, now only reduced to flashing memories and ashes in the ground. Nor will they know that an American consulate once existed, in Alleppey.

But from the ashes of one, rises another, in this case, Cochin. The reemergence of Cochin as a premier inner harbor port is owed to one person, Sir Robert Bristow. His of course has to be another story, for another day….

References

Alleppey – From a port without a city to a city without a port (Gateways of Asia, ed Frank Broeze) – Hans Schenk

The Oriental Herald, Volume 23

Travancore state manual – T K Velu Pillai

Trade Union movement, a social history – N Raveendran

The mud banks off the Malabar Coast - Krishna Poduval, Calcutta Review, Volumes 116-117

James Darragh in Alleppey

Tipu’s waterloo

Notes

Mudbank – They are temporary formations, occurring annually and naturally on the west coast of India, normally near Alleppey, Cochin and Calicut. Almost all the old ports of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore were actually due to mudbanks. Mud banks are typically described as “calm, turbid waters having high loads of suspended sediments occurring in the coastal regions during monsoon season.” They appear “in a semi-circular shape with average distances of 4-5 km along shore and 5-6 km offshore, and are characterized by a heavy suspension of dark, greyish green fine clay.” Although mud banks are known to occur along the southwest coast of India for at least three centuries, the cause of their appearance, disappearance and their shifting is still an enigma for the local and the scientific community.

Pics

Aleppey stone bridge – courtesy D'Cruz, Zachariah, British online gallery

Dow couple – courtesy Sanford family

A study of the Fathul Mubyin, a war poem – Calicut 1550-1590

In a clamor to analyze and study the Tuhfat Al Mujahideen by Sheikh Zainuddin, most historians forgot a very interesting companion text which was perhaps a contemporary to the Tuhfat or even a forerunner. It is an urjuza short titled Fatḥul-mubyin and scripted by a Qadi Muḥammad al-Kālikūtī. To get to the details, we have to go to the Malabar of the 16^th century, a place where many communities resided and traded amicably, until the Portuguese sailed in and demanded a monopoly. The resulting resistance, intrigues, skirmishes, wars and confusion left the entire region in a state of turmoil, what with neighboring Cochin and Kolathunad working with or even siding with the Portuguese. The bordering principalities of Tanur and Vettom sat on the fringes swaying either way depending on the situation. Those mainly affected were the trading communities comprising the Pardesi Muslims and some local Moplahs. The Pardesi community was a complex mix of Yemenis, Hanafi Arabs, Egyptians, Turks and so on. The biggest were the Yemenis who centered on Ponnani & Mambram and some Yemenis and Hanafis who settled in Calicut. Their leaders generally led the Muslim populace.

As I get into this discussion, you will realize how important this work was and it is my contention that one potential reason why Islamic scholars talked less about it was simply because it extolled Hindu Muslim amity, a subject which usually rests on the fence, these days. I for one believe that the two communities have to, need to and should coexist peacefully and that it is, was and should always be possible in a place such as Calicut. Anyway let’s get to the topic.

We discussed the Zainuddin Makdum’s of Malabar some years ago. The Zainuddin Makdums were the religious leaders in Ponnani and differed at times on approach compared to the Calicut Qazis (or Qadis), but worked together. I had introduced to you an obscure work named the Vencatakota Ola, which has more recently been reintroduced to the public by Stephen Prange. If you recall, Lt Rowlandsen had concluded that both Tuhfat and the Vencatikota Ola were derived from an earlier work. My assumption is that the Fathul Mubiyn is that work.

As we know, Vasco Da Gama came, created a good amount of furor and departed, to come again and eventually die in Cochin. Others like Cabral and Alfonzo Albuquerque followed, to continue with despotic acts in Malabar, warring often with the Zamorin and trying to wrest away the spice trade from the Paradesi Muslims (Arab traders) who had thus far been firmly entrenched. Four or five Zamorin’s from the first dynasty ruled during the 1500-1600 period (two or three were named Manavikraman’s and there was one Virarayan). We also note from various records that while some of the early Zamorin’s were accommodative of the Portuguese, others were distinctly against, after having understood their deceitful behavior. We do not know which Zamorin is the individual described, but one of the Zamorin’s of the middle years (of the 16^th century) was perhaps the person mentioned in the Futhul Mubyin, by Qadi Muhammad.

What did the Qadi Muhammad have to say and who incidentally, was Qadi Muhammad? He was a Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz hailing from Calicut and it is concluded thus far that he was a judge and a poet writing in Arabic or Arabi-Malayalam (Malayalam written in Arabic script), the one who authored poetry such as the Fathul Mubiyn and the well-known Mubiyn Mala (the earliest and in Arabi-Malayalam). He belonged to the Qadiriyyah order of Sufis. But there is some confusion in his identity and the period of his life. Muid Khan in his preamble to the translation had wrongly opined that Zainuddin Makhdum was perhaps Qadi Abdul Aziz Muhammad’s younger brother and that the Fathul Mubyin could very well have been written before the Tuhfat. The Fathul was actually written by a Qadi Muhammad of Calicut and the time setting of the poem seems to be prior to that of the Tuhfat, as it mentions a living Adil Shah.

The complete title of the text we are going to analyze is ‘Al Fathul-mubiyn lis Samerial ladhi Yuhibbul Muslimiyn’. It is usually translated as ‘The victory of the Zamorin of Calicut, lover of Muslims’. Woven around the victory of the Calicut forces fighting the Portuguese to wrest control of the fort in Chaliyum in 1571, the epic poem traverses a long period roughly 1497 - 1578. In all the poem has 534 (actually 537) lines and is written in Arabic. There are a couple of Malayalam translations and 2 or 3 in English but they are not available in wide circulation or much discussed. Even a Malayalam book I referred skims over the subject, not including a translation of the poem as such.

The urjuza was first discovered embedded between chapters 3 & 4 the original manuscript of Tuhfatul Mujahidiyn in the India office library at London. Both were written in the same hand and formed one folio, but a closer scrutiny divulged that the Fathul was a poem while the Tuhfat was prose and had different authors. The Fathul author’s name is stated at its end as Muhammad-ibn Quazi Abdul Aziz (i.e. Muhammad son of Qadi Abdul Aziz), so its authorship was a Muhammad, both were Qadi’s of Calicut and my contention is that either the father was the original author or that the son was a contemporary of Zainuddin and Abdul Aziz Makhdum of Ponnani (Quadi Muhammad is elder to Zainuddin Junior (the Fathul mentions a Calicut conference which was attended by the Calicut Qadi Abdul Aziz Kalikoti and Zainuddin’s uncle Abd-al Aziz of Ponnani).

Another reason exists to prove that the poem was set in the late 1570’s (As present day Muslim historians believe this was written in 1607). Qadi Muhammad states in the poem that he composed it in the hope that kings the world over, especially in Syria and Iraq, would learn of the bravery of the Zamorin’s and be inspired to join the fight against the Portuguese. He explains that the modus of retelling of the glorious victory of the Zamorin will be carried out by rendering prose (nas̤ir) into verse (naz̤im), a process that he compares to changing silver (fiẓa) into gold (naẓir). By the end of the 16^th century the Egyptians and Syrians were long gone and were not present at the Malabar scene, so Qadi’s writing this to exhort friends in Egypt & Syria would make no sense, and thus it does date to a previous period, closer to the death of Adil Shah. Also a document dated to 1607 would not miss the death of the Kunjali Marakkar (Kunju Ali is mentioned in line 400 as a living Muslim leader). It would also not miss the support given to the Portuguese by the Zamorin in capturing Kunjali. Such a Zamorin would not be extolled by a person of eminence, i.e. a Qadi who delivers judgements.

Now let us try and jot out a precis of the entire poem, working mainly with Muid Khan’s translations. As you will read on, you will notice a bit of exaggeration and some incorrect assertions. Also we can conclude that the accounts of Zainuddin and the Qadi are conflicting with respect to overt support for the glorious deeds of the Zamorin.

The Fathul Mubyin of Qadi Muhammad ( a rough summary)

Verses 1-6 Supplications to the Prophet Muhammad.

Versus 6-22 The Quadi states that he is going to narrate a wondrous tale, which happened in Malabar with the hope that those who hear it, especially in Syria and Iraq, will take heed and consider a war against the accursed Portuguese. The tale he will go on to narrate is about a war which took place between the soldiers of the Zamorin of Calicut and the infidels, the Portuguese. The Zamorin, he states, is a brave and well known ruler of Calicut who loves his Muslim subjects, who does not hinder their religion or beliefs and fights for their cause even, if so required. He is a ruler who allows a Muslim to stand on his right side during important festivals (Mamankham). In fact the al-Shah Bandar and other Muslims stand to his right (as right hand strong men). He is the lord of the mountains and lord of the seas of Malabar.

Vesus 23-48 The Zamorin was given the sword of Malabar by his predecessor and asked to reign over the land with the sword, the unsheathing of which ensures his next victory. He has four heirs who have their own troops and territory (Eralpad, Moonalpad, Ittattornad nambiyathiri, Naturalpad) and an agreed method of accession when one dies, with the younger after the older. His (nair) soldiers can fight horsemen and wolves, and fight unto death. He has the power to get wind on the sails of a ship at sea to get them going like Persian horses over land, he can turn the seas waters red with the blood of his enemies and get sea fish to eat their flesh. He never seizes another’s property (unless it is a criminal issue) nor is he unjust. He does not invade lesser countries without reason and forgives them after. But if any other king disobeys, big or small, he fights them and takes over their land. And so continues their time honored and age-old traditions. His Nair soldiers are feared, and are totally faithful to the Zamorin, never changing sides. He wages wars honorably, always providing due notice, taking nobody by surprise or deceit and is respected by his many suzerain lords and petty kings. All taxes and penalties are spent on the poor, he is a statesman, is patient, tolerant and a forgiver for those who seek his support. Like the Sameri who existed during the time of Moses, the Zamorin was the one who instituted the worship of the cow and carries charms to help him during battles.

Versus 48-61 Let Allah grant him eternal guidance and let us pray for him even though the Zamorin, a non-believer is fighting for the Muslim, whereas the Muslim kings of the region are not and have even made peace with the infidel Franks. So listen to the Zamorin’s war story with an open heart. Those accursed Franks came to Malabar in the guise of traders just to take over the pepper ginger and coconut trade.

Verses 62-79 Details many misdeeds of the Portuguese since their arrivals, their deceit, dishonesty, changing of character, deeds of invasion of other lands and territories and subjugation of their peoples, enslaving of Muslims, desecration of mosques, oppression, attempt to usurp the Zamorin’s position and so on…

Verses 80-84 A war ensued for three years between the Zamorin, Muslims and the Franks after which the Franks came begging for a treaty, asking for shelter in Malabar and agreeing to abide by the Zamorin’s rules.

Verses 84-111 The Zamorin (the Eralpad who apparently poisoned his predecessor to go up and the one who appointed Da Cruz) permitted the Portuguese to build a fort in the middle of the city (by all accounts it was near the beach and is now submerged) and obtained an agreement permitting free navigation of his own subjects. Once the fort once completed, the Franks changed colors and started their oppressive tactics and demanded additional commissions from suppliers and tried to offer more commissions to the Zamorin to get the Muslim traders out. They disallowed pilgrim travel to Mecca, and this was the worst tactic. They tried to get the Zamorin into the fort in ambush, but he was saved by God’s grace and with that the Zamorin prepared for war, spending a lot of money to build a fleet of galleys (Ghurabs), to buy cannons. Digging trenches on either side of the fort, they next besieged the Portuguese. The Zamorin’s forces used mangonel (a type of catapult to throw projectiles at a castle's walls) and guns (tufek) in this attack till the fort was leveled to the ground. A thousand Franks were killed in one nights fighting and the rest of them fled. Thus they were evicted in 930AH (1523).

Calicut Fort

Verses 112- 320 The Portuguese also encouraged the Cochin king to fight the Zamorin after the Portuguese had built a fort at Cochin. Bijapur’s Adil Shah in the meantime wrote to the Zamorin asking him to hasten the war and drive away the infidel Frank who was incidentally creating problems for him from Goa. The Zamorin deputed his galleys captained by his (marakars). The explanation of the sea battle continue for many verses, what with the (a new one who was fully against the Franks) Zamorin himself leading the fight and promising not to eat himself (when the Franks starved the town by cutting off supplies). The fortunes of the war tilted either way, the Cochin, Cannanore and Tanore Kings supported the Portuguese in return for cartaz’s. The Egyptian and Turkish captains finally came to support the Zamorin, and he personally sailed to Cambay in Gujarat to meet them, but as the wars continued, the Muslims disagreed with each other and were not united. Finally a peace treaty was effected and the Portuguese built a lofty fort at Chalium (Santa Maria do Castello), situated on an island. Many a verse describes the fortifications of this Shaleat fort.

Verses 321-368 Numerous verses detail the inhuman and tyrannical behavior of the Portuguese dealing with the Muslims of Malabar and the heroic retaliation by the Zamorin and his forces.

Verses 368-397 Yet another Zamorin had started his reign and this was the time when the Sultan Adil Shah together with Nizam Shah of Chaul contacted the Zamorin requesting him to capture the Chalium fort. He sent out two of his ministers and their armies to attack the fort. The Tanur king joined the Zamorin while the Cochin raja informed the Portuguese about the plans. A fierce fight ensured at Chalium and sometimes the Zamorin traveled there himself to supervise the affairs.

Chale fort

Verses 398- 410 This was the time when the Zamorin’s Queen mother got involved and exhorted the Muslims to think of the issues and consequences and unite. Kunji Ali the leader of the Muslims, Ahmad’l Qamaqim, the sheikh with mysterious powers Abu’l wafa Muhammad al-Shattar, Shahabandar Umar Al Ghassani, scholar Abdul Aziz al-Malabari al Funani (Zainuddin’s brother) and Qadi Muhammad together with many Muslim chiefs met at the Calicut Mosque. The queen mother summoned the Zamorin back to Calicut to attend the conference.

An important event that is mentioned in the Fathul in these verses is the above conference organized at Calicut under the direction of the Zamorin’s queen mother where not only the Qadi but also Abdul Aziz Makhdum of Ponnani participated to exhort their brethren to participate in a jihad against the Portuguese. It shows the importance of the queen mother in those days.

Verses 410 – 500 Deal with the Zamorin leading the fight to demolish the Chalium fort in 1571, the valor and strategies of war, and its execution, the just way in which he dealt with the prisoners and any Muslim or Hindu who had been converted to Christianity, the handling of booty, the usage of the fort’s stones to rebuild the mosque from which they were originally taken. It took a year to dismantle the fort completely.

Verses 500- 516 The Qadi now concludes, stating that Adil Shah and Nizam Shah forgot their promises, as the former made peace with the Portuguese while the latter forgot his pact with the Zamorin even though he had been gifted the Chalium fort’s bell captured after the attack! He despairs that none of these Muslim kings joined the attacks against the Portuguese and the non-Muslim Zamorin was all alone in his efforts to support the Muslims in their cause.

Verses 517-534 The virtues of the Zamorin outlined in the above versus is but a tenth of a tenth of a tenth of his merits. He then gets to the Perumal story, the king who was his uncle and who witnessed the splitting of the moon and who became a follower of the prophet, who died at Zufar while returning to preach Islam, and asks for forgiveness lest his words and narrative be blamed for excessive poetic licenses taken and ends asking for blood on the swords of his followers (in the continuing fights with their enemies).

That was actually the end game for the Portuguese when it came to Malabar. They trading after that was confined to Cochin and Goa, mainly. Though forays into Malabar continued, but with less vigor and intensity.

Zainuddin incidentally mentioned as follows in Tuhfat - It is well-known that the Muslims of Malabar have no Amir who possesses power and can exercise authority over them and be mindful of their welfare. On the contrary, all of them are subjects of rulers who are unbelievers (H.Nainar)

In conclusion, Qadi Muhammad in his poem, is not keen about detailing or telling the story of the advent of Islam in Malabar mainly because he believes that the war in Malabar was a concern of both Muslims and Hindus. He also explains that the Zamorin is their overlord and having an equal status with any other powerful Muslim Sultan. On the other hand, Zainuddin’s prose is inherently Islamic in its orientation, depicting the long history of Muslims in Kerala and the central role they played in the struggle against the Portuguese (Ayal Amer)

When and why did this changed attitude creep into Zainuddin (b 1532 d 1583) junior’s thinking and why did he drift in his loyalty to the Zamorin? The Portuguese continued attacking Parappanangadi and Ponnani, and in 1577 captured many Moplah vessels. The Kunjali 1V was becoming powerful and strident in his stature and was nearing a potential fallout with the Zamorin. Adil Shah sent his envoy to felicitate the new Zamorin who incidentally was planning to allow the Portuguese to erect a factory (not a fort) at Ponnani in return for permission to sail the seas unhindered. And so, Zainuddin perhaps chose a new patron, for the Tuhfat is not dedicated to the Zamorin but is instead dedicated to the Adil Shah of Bijapur, the very same Sultan who was belittled by the Fathul’s author. Zainuddin now goes on to call him - most glorious of sultans, and the most beneficent of monarchs, who has made war against infidels the chief act of his life, having himself glorified God, and made his name to be upheld with reverence by all; having ever devoted himself to the service and protection of the servants of God.

Two of the reference dpapers provide differing reasons for this. One believes that the Shah was wrongly named, it should have been Ibrahim Adil Shah who was a Sunni. Kooria explains - while ʿAli Adil Shah alternated between enmity and friendship with the Portuguese, Ibrāhīm II was initially reluctant to forge any relationship with them, which nurtured Zayn al-Dīn’s hope that the king might adopt an anti-Portuguese stance. Nevertheless, even Ibrahim changed his stance later and became pro–European. The second writer Ayal infers that Zainuddin’s choice of ‘Ali ‘Adil Shah was politically motivated, and that his real ambition was to encourage Muslim rulers of the Deccan Sultanate to annex Kerala. Or perhaps Zainuddin was in Bijapur and canvassing the support of Adil Khan during the 1580’s (and had to praise him).

I think otherwise. Assuming that the Fathul was written before the Tuhfat, I would believe that the political equations in Ponnnai (where Zainuddin preached) were becoming complex what with the Kunjali IV rising in status and planning a potential challenge to the Zamorin, as some historians aver. Zainuddin’s work was perhaps to obtain support for Kunjali IV’s overtures (from Ibrahim Adil Shah) which we know was eventually snuffed out by the next Zamorin in 1600.

A huge difference between the two texts is the fact that while Zainuddin expresses despair over the lack of direct Islamic rule over the Muslim subjects of Malabar (Zainuddin also leans towards the changed attitude of the Zamorin and his doubt on the Zamorin’s ability to defend the Muslims of Malabar), the author of Fathul extolls the relationship between the religions and the leadership of the Zamorin, and his firm belief in him. This leads to my feeling that Zainuddin’s work could have been heavily influenced by the Kunhali IV epoch and thus provides an indication of the changing situations in the power games involving the native Zamorin rulers, the Marakkar chieftains and the Portuguese interlopers.

References

Studies in the Foreign Relations of India (from Earliest Times to 1947): Prof. H.K. Sherwani Felicitation Volume, ed. P.M. Joshi and M.A.Nayeem - Fatḥ al-mubīn of Muḥammad al-Kālikūtī: Khan, M.A. Muid. 1975. “Indo-Portuguese Struggle for Maritime Supremacy (as Gleaned from an Unpublished Arabic Urjuza: Fathul Mubiyn).” Dr M A Muid Khan was the Prof and HOD for Arabic at Osmania university, Director Da’iratu’l-Ma’arif and Secretary Islamic culture – Hyderabad.

Spiritual leadership in Anti-colonial struggle – G P Mudawi

The rise of jihadicsentiments and the writing of history in sixteenth-century Kerala - Ayal Amer

An Abode of Islam under a Hindu King: Circuitous Imagination of Kingdoms among Muslims of Sixteenth-Century Malabar - Mahmood Kooria

Samoothirkku vendi oru samarahwanam – Qadi Muhammad – Trans EM Zakir Hussain

Zainuddin Makhdums of Malabar

Introducing the Vencaticota Ola Parts 1 and 2

The story of Dom Joao-de-Tanur

Notes

Urjuza is a genre of poetry with the clear intention to instruct and where the verse focuses more on the details of content leaving the poem "devoid of stylistic elegance and poetic beauty. For more details refer this link

A Qadi (Cadi, Qazi, kadi or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of the Shariʿa court. The word "qadi" comes from a verb meaning to "judge" or to "decide". I contend here that Qadi and Qazi as relevant to Malabar, to mean the same.

Intervening years - time line

1498-1500	Initial forays vasco Da Gama, Cabral
1500-1513	Establishment of Portuguese at Cochin, Calicut Cochin wars
1513-1522	Treaty with Portuguese, erection of fort at Calicut
1522-1529	Eviction of Portuguese from Calicut, demolition of Calicut fort
1529-1531	Building of Portuguese fort at Chalium
1531-1540	Portuguese Calicut wars
1540-1548	Peace treaty
1548-1560	Portuguese Calicut wars
1571-1574	Portuguese defeat at Chalium, destruction of fort, writing of Faithul Mubiyn?
1574-1578	Portuguese Calicut wars
1578-1588	Portuguese factory at Ponnani. Writing of Tuhfat Al Mujahedeen
1588-1597	Portuguese settlement at Calicut
1597-1600	War with Kunjali IV, capture of his stronghold and fort
1604-1617	Siege of Cranganore, treaties with the Dutch and English writing of Faithul Mubiyn?

Donald Sinderby in Malabar

There are so many books with deal with the revolt in Malabar, or what the British Raj termed a rebellion (i.e. waging war against the crown) with a purpose to clamp down the area under martial law. Some of these were written by Malayali congressmen and survivors, some others by the British administrators who were in the thick of things. There are very few firsthand accounts from the British side perhaps because such reporting was not encouraged. There is one, a work of historical fiction which gained a certain amount of popularity but vanished from the shelves after a while. Having obtained a dog eared 1927 copy of that book, I decide to peruse it carefully without tearing those ancient pages, with an intention of finding out what a common soldier thought about the whole thing. What you will read on is not a review but a summary of Sinderby’s opinion of Malabar, the Nairs, the administrators and the revolting Moplah, not about the love story which he wrote. In a way this book is unique since it is one of its kind, though the contents are not summarily of great value.

Steve at bearalley provides biographical material on Sinderby as follows. Donald Ryder Stephens was born in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, on 11 September 1898, the son of Martin Frank Stephens, a publisher's manager, and his wife Mary Ann (Annie) Beney. Stephens grew up in St Albans and Wimbledon. His parents subsequently moved to 2 Nevill Park, Tonbridge Wells, and, later still, to Bexhill. Stephens was an Old Tonbridgian, having attended Tonbridge School, and was a well-known member of the Tonbridge Rugby F.C. After attending R. M. C. Sandhurst, he served in the Dorsetshire Regiment during the Great War achieving the rank of Lieutenant and, after the Armistice, is believed to have served in India. After five years in the Army he began working in the Central Editorial Department of the Amalgamated Press in 1923-26. He also began writing for their children's papers, producing serials and short stories and was a staff writer on the Children's Newspaper. He also began publishing stories in Hutchinson's Magazine and The Regent Magazine in 1924 using the pen-name Donald Sinderby, derived from a family name which was borne by his great-grandmother, who died in 1861.His occupation was given as author when, in 1927, he married Audrey Margaret Elmslie (1901-1991), only daughter of Major and Mrs. Stuart Elmslie. Stephens served for four years in Malta during World War Two. He died in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on 30 November 1983. He used an alias of Donald Ryder Stephens in his early works, choosing to remain behind the curtain.

The Jewel of Malabar was described as "An exciting love story of unusual interest" as it portrayed the love, devotion and self-sacrifice of a beautiful native girl and her lover, British officer Sir John Bennville, who is infatuated with her. Its background is the Moplah Rebellion of 1921 in South-West India. The book was well-reviewed as a convincing and vivid account of the fierce fighting with many hair-breadth escapes which characterized the campaign in which the author was personally engaged from first to last.

The heroine of this story is Kamayla, a beautiful Hindu girl with whom Sir John Bennville, a young English officer, involved in fighting in South-West India, falls desperately in love. Kamayla is so devoted to him that she becomes a Christian. After her conversion, however, she comes under Roman Catholic influence, and, being told that her marrying Sir John would ruin his prestige and prospects, she proves her love by renunciation and enters a convent. In its simple way the story is pleasing enough. But the romantic element in it is the thread upon which the author has strung his own vivid and stirring memories of the Moplah Rebellion of 1921; and it is these first-hand scenes that give special interest to his book.

Before taking Sinderby to Malabar, I should set the scene, which I will now proceed to do. In writing this, you the reader should humor me, for I may seem to be looking at the sordid period from a slanted British viewpoint, it is on purpose, for this is Sinderby’s tale.

1919 proved to be a disaster for the British what with the aftermath of the massacre at Jalianwala. The Simla administration was careful in employing any kind of military involvement to suppress rebellions and revolts. It took a lot of debating before a decision was taken, and as it turned out in the case of Malabar, decisions were late and taken after matters had crossed the boiling point. Local administrations struggled to get their voices heard, especially requests for armed forces. Down south in Malabar, the Khilafat movement was heating up and it was not clear how Turkey would rise in support. Gandhiji had thrown his weight behind it and the wary British were watching developments very carefully and were quite worried that Hindu Muslim rapport would become a huge problem for the crown.

It was in 1921 July that the British Army first got involved in these matters starting with a case of a stolen pistol in an area called Pookottur in the Ernad Taluk. The police attempted to arrest Vadakkeveettil Muhammad (an ex-employee of the Thirumalpad), the Secretary of the local Khilaphat Committee, on the pretext that he had stolen a gun from the palace of the Nilambur Tirumalpad. They searched the house of Muhammad but found nothing. Later, thousands of enraged Mappilas of the locality, who were summoned by the beat of drums in the mosques of the neighborhood went up in arms and the mob marched to the kovilakom. The family members in the palace fled and the mob plundered the palace and distributed the booty.

The events at Pukkottur, Hitchcock wrote, 'have created an entirely new situation in Malabar; Khilafat was completely swallowed up by the old fanatical spirit on this occasion’. EF Thomas the collector was understandably very nervous as his summons to those who were implicated at Pookottor went unheeded. His superiors in Madras finally decided to allow a deputation of military to support the beleaguered police in Eranad and to take action at Tirurangadi where in their opinion Ali Musaliar was fomenting a rebellion and igniting fanaticism. Led to believe that the Khilafat movement would lead to the downfall of the British the Eranad Moplahs had decided to take law into their own hands and gathered at Tirur on 20^th August.

A force comprising 79 from the Leinster regiment of Gurkhas headed by PC McEnroy in the company of some 170 Malabar police arrived in Tirurangadi just before dawn on the morning of August 20, and immediately set out to arrest 24 persons, 6 of whom had been involved in the Pukkottur incident and to search suspected houses in Tirurangadi, Chembrasseri, and Pukkottur. It did not go very well and only three were arrested. Rumors went around that the Mambram (Tirurangadi Kizhakkepalli) mosque had been desecrated by the British and the mobs gathered and started wanton destruction of public property, and went on to sabotage and remove railway lines and cut the telegraph lines. Firing was resorted to and in addition to a number of rioters, Second Lieutenant W. R. M. Johnson and the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr Rowley were killed. Within days widespread revolt spread across Malabar, particularly Ernad and Valluvanad in south Malabar, which had the highest concentration of Moplas. The treasury at Manjeri was looted and torched.

This was when reinforcements in the form of the Dorsetshire regiment were rushed out in the HMS Camus to Calicut, from Bangalore under John Burnett-Stuart (GOC Madras District) who was appointed Military Commander of the troubled areas. Before they were formally deployed, the marching Leinsters were ambushed by a large band of rebels and in the attack a large number of Moplas were killed, many wildly rushing onto machine gun fire. Seeing that this did not work, the Moplah rebels decided to change tactics and from then on it was mainly guerrilla style warfare in the dense jungles of the area. The marching Dorsets (as railway lines were cut) took a few days to reach the area, and were later split out as two columns and then sending small detachments to affected villages. They found the going very difficult, with heavy monsoon rains, mud and difficult jungle terrains, all eminently suited for the local Moplah rebel gangs. In simple words, they were bogged for a while, but were gaining an upper hand slowly, since they possessed good firearms and howitzers compared to the Moplahs who had sticks swords and antiquated rifles (Martini-Henry breech loading rifles stolen from the police, shotguns and even muzzle-loading smoothbore guns). Some of the Moplahs did have military training for they had returned after serving in the First World War, but they were too few to hurt. In September, some of the affected areas (Ernad, Walluvanad and Ponnani) were put under Martial law but with functioning civil courts. They were now on unsound terrain, they could kill a rebel in an encounter, but if they captured some, they had to be handed over to a civil court. The so called effective methods used in Punjab (Dwyer’s and Dyer’s tough methods) were not to be used. Through the month of September, Stuart’s forces conducted many operations to capture rebel leaders and restore order, but was unable to make real headway.

Later Stuart requested Gurkhas and Burmese reinforcements to conduct proper jungle warfare as the insurrection continued to spread, now alarmingly towards Calicut where British planters also started raising a hue and cry. Large scale sweeps took place in November and by December, the situation was under better control. Stuart commented that surrenders were beginning to increase rapidly, and intelligence became much easier to get. On 19 December, the Chembrasseri Thangal, a key Moplah leader, surrendered. It was also becoming clear that no support was coming from anywhere, that Turkey was not interested in any Khalifa (see my article)

Stuart stated - The surrendered Moplah’s are outwardly cheerful and respectful, and I could detect few signs of resentment or sulkiness. The Moplah is a simple minded stout-hearted ruffian, and embarked on rebellion in the genuine belief that the British Empire was retiring from business, having now discovered that he has been misinformed; I think that he is quite prepared to admit his error and accept things as they are. The revolt petered out in 1922 and martial law was withdrawn. An unfortunate event which occurred was the Train tragedy (see article) and another at Melmuri where the Dorsets dropped grenades down chimneys.

Donald Sinderby served with the Dorsets and his book covers many of the events during the months of September to November 1921, in Ernad. Let’s now get to the book and see what he had to say. In some ways it is interesting to note that Sinderby foresaw a split of the country into two, a Muslim and a Hindu India even in those early days. But all that is distilled out in his last book Mother in Law, which is another topic by itself (dealing with a Muslim half ruled by the Nizam with Malabar, Cochin and Travancore under him), the development of an atom bomb, the arrival of Americans and finally India getting divided amongst other world powers!

Sinderby enters the book in the character of John Bennville, a rich Baronet in the military service and a Lieutenant in the regiment of the Royal Musketeers. His first impressions of Malabar are eloquent – This country, which is so like and yet so strangely unlike England! Malabar that emerald gem of sad beauty in the south west of India! Small brown houses again fantastically reminiscent of England, nestled in the shade of coconut palms. He observes the first Moplahs clad in their best waist clothes (dhoti) the stately moplahs their peculiar caps perched on the back of their heads, strode silently along on their way from the Friday mosques.

At a locale named Calipuram, we are introduced to a beautiful high caste Nair girl Kamalya (Kamala?), and her betrothed – Nahran a Nair police officer on a motorcycle. They are talking about the Moplah rebels on the move and the arch villain of the tale, the old Abdul Ahmed Hajee (perhaps V K Haji) who desires the girl, the destruction of the treasury at Manjeri (magahdee) and the arrival of Shaukat Ali (Shankat Ali). He mentions how the British raj is powerless and just going about the motions, not doing much to suppress the rebels. Kamalya’s house is a standard two storied nalukettu with wooden parquet flooring (??) and teak paneled walls (!!), a pooja room and a grandfather clock, but no chairs and tables. They are a relatively well-off family but somewhat isolated in the jungle area and the mother is named Lukshmi. The family is scared and worried about potential trouble and violence. Nahran the police officer states that the telegraph lines have been cut and the reserves have been given arms, but is worried that their outpost has just 6 officers who are doomed unless the British army arrives quickly. They believe that the forces will take another month to come, so this is obviously August.

Pandikkad 1921

As expected Abdul Hajee storms the police station, kills the Adhikari and Kamalya and her family flee to the forests abandoning their home. After a while they return to see that their home is untouched, but notice a letter from Abdul Hajee who has proclaimed himself governor of the country (Ali Musaliyar proclaiming himself Khilafat king) stating that he will spare them if Kamalya becomes his wife. The next morning, a single column of the Royal musketeers with Capt West in command, redeployed from Chahnipet arrive in Calipuarm. His men are looking forward to some action after boring barracks life. Benneville a young officer in the marching column, rightly observes that the rice in the paddy fields are ready for harvest, and wonders where all the people have gone for the road is deserted. Soon they team up with Naharan the police officer who is their main informant, and get ambushed by Moplahs on the trees above firing their antique firearms. Many die in the battle that ensues and Benneville is saved from death by Nahran who explains that the rebel Moplah is worked up to such a pitch of madness that they feel no pain, and simply want to kill or be killed. Victorious, they reach Calipuram where they drink tea at a couple of tea shops run by local non rebel Moplahs. Benneville comes up with an interesting observation, all the Moplahs wear a Dhoti which has a dark blue border and he mentions now and then of picking up the smell associated with the Moplahs compared to the cleanliness of the Nairs.

The story picks up speed as Abdul Hajee abducts Kamalya, and Nahran explains why the Moplah is rebelling. He explains – The Moplahs are nearly all poor people sir, and that is because of a law in their religion which orders that a man’s property, when he dies, be divided up amongst his relations and not left to any one or two people. So they never accumulate property, but are mostly small holders. They become discontented with this state of affairs, but blame their Hindu landlords instead of their own religious custom, and state that they are charged too much rent. ..They are fanatical and do what their religious teachers tell them…Then Gandhi’s agents have been here for many months preaching rebellion against the government and this caused the outbreak. Many Moplahs think that the British were defeated in the Great War….

What is interesting in this is the fact that the British officer does not believe the outbreak had anything to do with religion, but is due to agrarian causes and goading by politicians and revolutionaries. In fact there is quite a bit of firsthand information that will be useful for those interested, if you do not focus on the love story that unfolds and stick to the story behind the story. A person who has lived in a Malabar village can easily get immersed into the scenes and visualize it as it all unfolds, but for others it would be drab fiction.

We can see that the entire operation proceeds on, based on information gathered from trusted informers, as skirmish after skirmish takes place. As we saw, Kamalya is abducted and in an attempt to rescue her Nahran is injured and dies soon after. Benneville but naturally falls head over heels in love with the distressed maiden, and stops one of his men from stealing a brooch off a Moplah kid stating that their objective is to protect the natives, not to rob them. Benneville wrestles with thoughts of marrying Kamalya, and worries of practical issues in having a native wife and losing his army job, if that were to happen. In between he hears that the Krembassery (Chembrassery Thangal) has now been proclaimed chief and has started issuing edicts and also that Abdul Hajee is in consultations with him.

During a lull in fighting, he starts to learn some Malayalam, and digs up information on the Nairs of Malabar, and plans to go ahead and profess his love to Kamalaya. We also note that old copies of Madras Mail are the only ways a Brit could get some news. Kamalya rejects Benny’s advances, stating that white does not mix well with brown and only unhappiness results. Another abduction attempt follows, Kamalya is kidnapped again and Benny rescues her a second time. During a third attack, Benny is injured and he is repatriated to the HQ on a little hill overlooking Tammanorum (perhaps Malappuram barracks). We also note that he spends some time in Bannore (maybe Tanur).

He now notifies his superiors of his plans to marry the Nair girl and they are aghast, and soon enough Benny takes matters into his own hands and decides to challenge Abdul Hajee. He is captured by the warlord who offers to spare his life if he would spit on the cross, which he refuses to do in a sudden surge of religiousness. Kamalya now rescues him and upon his return to the barracks is arrested by his superiors for taking matters into his own hands. Fortuitously an attack by the Moplahs allows him to show his excellent skills in fighting with the enemy and in this encounter bayonets Abdul Hajee to death, thus finishing off his beloved’s nemesis, once and for all.

After the event Benny is packed off to Belladroog (Bangalore?) where he slowly settles down to barrack life and a prospective match up with one Miss Catesby Jones, when he receives a letter stating that Kamalya is being victimized and is in a bad shape at Calipuaram, now branded as Benny’s ex-mistress. He takes the train bound for Tarantore (station close to Calipuram), then gets a hold of a car and speeds off to Calipuram, where he is reunited with Kamalya again. They then proceed to Manningtown (Some suburb of Bangalore- probably Cook’s town or Fraser town) where Benny has rented a house. In the meanwhile Kamalya has decided to convert and Benny is glad that this would reduce his problems somewhat. Now he decides to resign from his position and the couple decide to move on to Adayar in Madras. Meanwhile Kamalya meets an old friend who is now a sister in the Church. Upon hearing Kamalya’s story, the nun asks if she wants to convert because she is marrying a Christian. Kamlya answers that she wanted to convert no matter, after which the nun asks if Kamalya wants to see Benny happy or sad. She explains that a marriage between them will be no good and that Benny would be ridiculed by his people, because of their mixed marriage. A lot of discussions take place between them and Kamlaya decides to become a nun and drift away. In the last paragraph of the book, Benny is seen desperately searching for his love, while Kamalya is starting her new life of religion, mercy and self-sacrifice…..

Even though the tale itself is quite contrived, it brings to the fore the problems faced by the mixing of races, but deviates towards evangelization towards the end (perhaps due to influence of Sinderby’s mother). The marches, the attacks, the assessments of the rebels and so on are quite interesting when looked at as first hand opinions and provide a basis for somebody who would want to make a movie, perhaps.

The book ‘Guns and its development’ by Greener narrates an earlier event, which I am quoting below to illustrate typical attacks - The enormous consumption of ammunition with even a comparatively slow-firing arm, as the Lee-Speed-Metford, may be appreciated from the following fact. In the Mopla rising in Malabar, in 1894, fewer than thirty fanatics charged a force of fifty men of the Dorset regiment, armed with the Lee-Metford magazine rifle, and about a hundred native police with Sniders. They had less than fifty yards to run, yet a few of them actually reached the line and fell upon the bayonets, although there were fired at them over seven hundred shots from the Metford rifles and three hundred from the Sniders.

Baillie Ki Paltan by Lt Col Murland is another book which provides limited graphic records of the actual field situation in Eranad and you can easily see that these are quite believable and matter of fact, devoid of politics and any kind of spin. Interestingly this account an officer calls it a Khilafatist agitation. The 64^th Pioneers (later renamed as Madras Pioneers) took a while to reach the location since rebels had removed rail keys and damaged bridges enroute. By 27^thaugust, the rail line until Tirur had been repaired and the arriving party found looting of houses underway. It also states that the 9 rebels arrested in Tanur were taken without incident and the mob had already dispersed by the time troops reinforced by the Leinsters, got there. During the first week of Sept, they rounded up many rioters in the area. During the second week a group a rumor was heard that 1000 Moplahs had proceeded south to sack Palghat, but no such thing took place, in fact they were marching to Angadipuram.

Since then three platoons (actually A, B & C) were formed, #1 located at Manjeri, assisted by the Dorsets which reported nothing of great consequence. #2 was located at Wandur and Mambad, and here it is recorded that Hindu agitators supported the Moplah rebels, in some cases. A serious ambush occurred (and detailed by Sinderby). By Oct the Chin Kachin battalion arrived to support this platoon and small skirmishes occurred. This group covered Kottakkal and Malappuram areas and were involved in many attacks and ambushes. #3 platoon was based at Pandikkad and was involved in a few skirmishes. What is clear is that the many books we read out there deal mainly with the politics, the mind of the politicians involved and the general fallout, but hardly mention the day to day events during the rebellion. John T Burnett-Stuart the GOC of Madras who masterminded the British counter insurgency measures at Malabar, went back to England to direct many an operation during the WWII and masterminded many military strategies and reforms in place today. Various records mention that about 10,000 guerrillas were involved and the counter attacks led to some 2,300 executions, 1,650 injured, 5,700 captured and 39,000 surrenders. 137 soldiers died in the campaign

A quick study shows that Sinderby was perhaps serving under Lt Col Herbert of Platoon 3(C) above and was camped at Wandur. Stephen Dale explains the background - Thus, while V. K. Haji might say after his capture that Khilafat was a Turkish matter, he met with the Chembrasseri Tangal at Pandikkad on the 21^st to form a Khilafat government and took charge of the area between Pandikkad and Manjeri, while the Tangal was to administer the eastern section between Karavarakundu and Mellatur. The attacks which followed and masterminded by V K Haji and Chembrasseri Thangal.

During this posting, Sinderby was a subaltern, a 2^nd Lieutenant posted in Malabar and narrowly missed death after “one of the Moplars fired point blank at him, and missed.” Sinderby's next novel ‘Mother in law’, set twenty years into the future, depicts various states falling under the control of two factions; in the north control is held by the Confederation of Princes and Landowners; and the south is seized by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Trouble develops between north and south threatening the country with a civil war which turns into an inter-caste conflict between Hindus and Mohammedans. The desolate and ravaged country is restored to order by the intervention of America, France and Portugal.

What all this tells us was succinctly expressed by Calicut heritage Forum’s CK Ramachandran when we met in Calicut a couple of months ago, that a factual work devoid of spin, covering the Moplah Revolt in its entirety, is yet to be written.

References

The British Empire as a Superpower - Anthony Clayton

Colonial Counter-insurgency in Southern India: The Malabar Rebellion, 1921–1922 - Nick Lloyd

Peasant revolt in Malabar – RH Hitchcock

Islam and Nationalism in India, South Indian Contexts – MT Ansari

Baillie-Ki-Paltan: Being a History of the 2nd Battalion, Madras Pioneers 1759-1930 -Lieutenant-Colonel H. F. Murland

Press article

Pandikkad pic Courtesy- E.Chambre Hardman Collection, Military on the move (The educationist)

The Nedumkotta fortifications - A discussion

The Travancore lines were according to some historians, first planned by Marthanda Varma duly assisted by his general De Lannoy and built by the Travancore troops in order to protect Travancore and Cochin from the Zamorin’s attacks. Others mention that it was built by the succeeding Dharmaraja for the same purpose, with De Lannoy’s supervision and that they were further strengthened by Travancore to prevent any potential incursions by Hyder and later, by Tipu Sultan. It became a bone of contention between the Mysore Sultans and Travancore as well as the European powers, the Dutch and the English. I had also written about the battle which took place later, but the question in front of us is, who actually built these walls or lines? Was it built from scratch by De Lannoy, as reported by Travancore historians such as Nagam Aiya, Velu Pillai, Ulloor and many others? Or was history fudged a wee bit?

I certainly believed it was built from scratch by the Travancore troops, until I read a detailed account by eminent Newspaper editor and writer VT Induchudan. That source was what made me ponder over the matter. So let’s proceed to verify if Marthanda Varma, Dharma Raja and De Lannoy were rightly credited with the building of the Northern fortifications i.e. the so termed ‘impregnable’ Travancore Lines (Nedumkotta).

You know, most people are under the impression that the Japanese were forced to surrender, after the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It suited the US stance and curiously the Japanese stance even though the reality was that the surrender was forced when the Japanese noted that they had lost an ally Russia, once and for all, and were isolated. Everybody accepted the A bomb theory and the matter rested, save for the nice report published in 2013 refuting this. Similar is the case of the Travancore lines, for it briefly served its purposes of both the Mysore Sultans and a rising Travancore.

So what did conventional wisdom state? In 1760 The Zamorin invaded Cochin and overran Karurpada near Shornur. The Paliyath Achan was sent to Travancore by the Cochin Raja to seek support after which a treaty was signed in 1761 between Cochin and Travancore. Travancore troops were now sent to aid Cochin and the first thing they undertook was the construction of the famous Travancore lines, stretching in an almost straight line from the shore of the backwaters opposite the town of Kodungallur to Pushpagiri at the edge of the Western Ghauts. They consisted of an imposing earthen rampart, not very high, extending over thirty miles in length from Palliport along a strip of land which had been ceded by the Cochin Rajah. Just flanking their western extremity were the Dutch forts of Cranganore and Ayacotta. The lines were fronted by a ditch on the north. Flanking towers were placed at intervals, and a fort was constructed at the western extremity. The construction of the fortifications was entrusted to the Dalawa and General De Lannoy.

The lines resisted further advance of the Zamorin's troops. In 1762 the Travancoreans under the command of General De Lannoy formed into three divisions and attacked the Zamorin's garrisons at Cranganore, Parur, and Verapoly, with their right flank protected by their fortifications. The Zamorin was defeated in a short time, and his troops were completely driven back from Cochin territory. This event made Travancore according to Logan "master of the whole country from Cranganore to Cape Comorin, a small isolated portion of territory lying round the Cochin Raja's Palace at Tripunittura on the east of the backwater, and another portion to the north and south of Cochin on the west of it, being all that was left to the Cochin Raja of his dominions to the south of the Travancore lines"

Later events took place when the Mysore Sultans were ravaging Malabar and were expected to continue their incursions down south, alarming the Travancore Raja. Cochin quickly signed a treaty with Tipu and became his vassal. Travancore decided to fortify the so called Travancore lines, extend it and went on to purchase two forts from the Dutch, the very actions which infuriated the Mysore Sultans. I had written about the events which followed, in this linked article.

In 1758, Marthanda Varma died; his successor was his nephew Rama Varma, whose principal councilor was de Lannoy. Meanwhile, the Zamorin of Calicut had also died and Travancore had concluded a peace treaty with them. After the peace treaty, de Lannoy was commissioned to build a permanent defense line to guard against all possible future invasions from Calicut. It was called the Nedumkotta or the Travancore lines and was finished in 1775.

An unbiased survey report on the fortifications comes from Connor’s and Ward’s survey of 1820 and I will publish it here so that it is useful to researchers in future, rather than depending on various fanciful descriptions.

The Military frontier of Travancore may be considered as marked by the fortified lines passing through the Southern part of the Codachayree (Kodasseri) District, the space they occupy having been purchased by that state for the purpose of their erection. It is not easy now to say what motives dictated the choice, for an inspection of their position and the ground in its immediate vicinity will not solve the difficulty. The lines occupying for the greater part the crests of a series of slopes comparatively open and not remarkable for either elevation or steepness. Commencing at Yellunjayree (Elavancheri), East of which the Hills (frequently precipitous always high and woody) are supposed to afford a sufficient defense, they run in an irregular course, their sinuosity arising from the necessity of conforming to the ground over which they pass, though the wall alike pursues its course over eminence and Valley for the wide extent of twenty-four Miles, terminating at Jacotay, a name sometimes given to the whole work, to which however the designation of Wettycotay more properly belongs, independent of its extreme length which would require an army to defend, the weakness of its profile and inequality of its construction is such as to offer no barrier that could prevent or scarcely retard invasion. The Fortification consists of a rather strong embankment and Parapet of Earth, the whole height not measuring on the average (for the elevation is not always the same) above fifteen feet at most ; the Ditch may generally be about half that depth, nor does its breadth exceed more than two or three feet at the utmost beyond that measurement; the berm has considerable breadth and on it was originally planted an Abbatis or Bamboo hedge, which preserved with care has flourished with great luxuriance, in some places nearly filling the Ditch, in others spreading beyond its counterscarp. A fine Avenue, having a broad and level road between it and the Rampart, follows on the inside the whole course of those Lines which its lofty exuberance now partly overshadows; the Bastion and numerous small works, amounting in all to Forty-two, that are seen at irregular intervals along this Fortification, differ not in materials from its other parts, the former generally are little more than mere protuberances of an oblong form, the latter closed behind (all other parts are open) are occasionally somewhat more elevated than the Walls, but do not generally possess much more intrinsic strength; the whole extent does not appear to have been constructed with equal care, particularly from Krishnacotta (Kodungaloor), Westward, where the embankment is now with difficulty to be traced, nor does it ever appear to have had the same elevation as the more Eastern share, arising perhaps from the belief that the River afforded some protection. The effects of time are visible on the works, which appear to have been demolished in a few places and that partially, during the period of the invasion. They are, particularly towards the Eastward, covered with Forest of a very large growth, and the mound is then seen consider ably rounded off, in the more central space (indeed the symptoms of decay are perhaps confined to the extremities) they have preserved their Ancient form and are still very perfect, but almost everywhere overrun with a thick Vegetation of Shrubby plants and Brambles. It has not been found easy to learn with certainty the point at which Tippoo in his attempt to carry those lines was foiled, there must always have been abundant of assailable places, but it is probable his Engineers did not make the most judicious choice, his defeat however would bespeak the bad arrangement of the attack or the vigor of the defense rather than the strength of the Fortification opposed to him, (which though an immense, almost stupendous, certainly useless work) presenting no difficulties the most ordinary enterprise would not easily surmount. The idea of thus fortifying a large extent of frontier is in itself preposterous, and it is only to be regretted that the immense expense of treasure and labor wasted in the futile attempt had not been more beneficially employed.

The 1800 Faden Rennell Map provides good detail of the Travancore lines, as seen below

Now that accepted descriptions and theories of origin have been laid out, let us peruse Induchudan’s original but extremely complex and rambling thought process, related to this topic. In fact he starts out with a clear focus, but loses it midway after having come to a conclusion and later goes on into the stories of Marthanda Varma’s reign, before finally getting back to a continuing hypothesis about its antiquity. One thing needs to be mentioned, Induchudan asks incisive questions to researchers who missed many clear pointer and demolishes their claims that De lannoy and Marthanda Varma had anything to do with these lines. But let me not spoil the fun and get to it, step by step. In this process, I have also referred to Valath’s topographical studies on Trichur and Nedumkotta (which is actually a translation of sort of Cochins chief archeologist P Anujan Achan’s survey in 1925-26, walking for 5 days on foot, surveying the bastion and recording his views).

According to the survey report, the lines originated at one time at Azhikode, connecting upto Kottamukku in Kodungallur, all now submerged (that itself gives you a clue about its antiquity!). From there it goes in a slight zig zag formation until broken by the Chalakkudi River, continuing on Northeast to foot of the Anamali hills. A wide trench (16’ wide and 20’ deep) with a bamboo hedge existed to the North of the mud wall (the wall was 30’ wide) and every 3-4 furlongs, resting places were constructed for troops. Armories were also spread out regularly, so also wells for drinking water. Spaced every 1 ½ mile were citadels or vattakottas. Sixty camping places were spread through the length for troops. The Eastern end was at Konur Kotta vathil, near Chalakkudi. The Western end was at Krishnan Kotta or Icharaparappu. What the English called Travancore lines was termed Nedum Kotta (long fort) by the people of the region. It was also known as Jayakotta.

The first pertinent question was how De Lannoy could have built such a crude and rudimentary structure, with mud, bamboo and so on when walls and fortifications dating back to 16^th century Portuguese work around Cochin were done with a more modern approach, in stone. In fact Lannoy had just completed upgrading the mud fort at Udayagiri to one in stone. His work at the Southern Travancore lines at Arumboly is described by Ward thus - the famous line of fortification called the Travancore lines is quite demolished, but from its remains it appears to be on the European plan and was strongly built with stone and lime…

Secondly Dutch VOC engineers such as Von Krause and Cochin men were also supposedly involved in later extension works, around 1778. Cochin’s involvement and support in this matter looks suspect as it had already become the vassal of Haider by then. Then again, the wall would not have helped Cochin’s defense in any way as it cut through her territory. Attacks from either the south or the North would have resulted in capitulation for Cochin, so it was not at any time, benefiting Cochin.

Thirdly, the most pertinent question - why would Travancore build its lines outside its border, when it was built? According to later studies, the Lines were north of the Travancore possessions which was a strip of land (Mukundapuram) in the middle of Cochin’s possessions. In reality the lines lay in Cochin, during the 18^th century. So the simple question is why somebody would spend a fortune building a fortification in territory belonging to a third party, who was also a vassal of his enemy? One answer to this question could be that this was the shortest span for a fortification between the hills and the sea, looking at the map. So I believe it was just strategically located, with permission from Cochin, by way of grant of the villages in which it was situated then, to Travancore, the apparent builders.

According to Velu Pillai, the whole concept of building a wall came from Marthanda Varma. But according to Mark Lannoy - In 1940, Velu Pillai openly doubted in the Travancore State Manual whether De Lannoy and other Europeans had played a major role in the construction of fortifications and reorganisation of the army. He pointed out that before De Lannoy's arrival many battles were already won by Martanda Varma. Besides, Velu Pillai argued that the building of fortresses was not indicated on De Lannoy's tombstone.

Now MV’s involvement is improbable since MV was always beset with debt after debt, borrowing money from financiers (Balakrishna Das, Kasinatha Thakathar and Mathu Tharakan) to clear arrears. It is also well known that he even delayed payments to his soldiers. He had additional issues having to find money to pay off Chanda Saheb, for which had to borrow from the British. Later, he had to borrow money to buy the VOC forts on an instalment and barter basis. All said, there was no way he could have built the wall from scratch, Travancore never had sufficient funds to build a new wall.

In addition to the above, Travancore state orders show that as early as 1757, MV had sanctioned an amount of 15,432 panams for clearing wild growth around the Nedum Kotta signifying that MV saw some purpose in putting an old wall covered by vegetation to defensive use. He also authorized the employment of temporary labor to plant thorny bushes near the wall. So it is clear that the wall was not first built after the Zamorin’s attack of 1761, or in 1775, but well before that. Here again history shows us that MV (1729-1758) was busy running North and South fighting wars and tightening his reign. During that period no Travancore king had sufficient purpose for spending time and money to build such a long wall, nor did they have any enemies in the North. The Zamorin’s enmity was only with Cochin, never Venad or Desinganad.

Another clue can be obtained from the correspondence between Tipu and Dharma Raja in 1789. Tipu wrote to Dharma Raja – “After I possessed the Calicut country, you erected the lines on part of the Cochin country. This conduct is not proper, you should erase the lines”. Dharma Raja replied “You say I have erected lines on a part of the Cochin country and that the Raja of Cochin has been your tributary fifty or sixty years and you desire me to demolish the lines which are in the Cochin country. That part of the country where on the lines are erected, was given to me for that purpose before the Cochin Raja ever paid tribute to you (i.e. before 1766). I assisted the Cochin Raja many years ago with troops, who was at war with the Zamorin by which he was driven out of the country which the Zamorin had invaded and in return for this assistance he gave me that part of the country and other portions of land, which I occupy. These lines have been erected 25 years, no demand all that time was ever made for that part of the country; you know I possessed it and had lines erected on it, when I was included in the Treaty of peace which the Honorable English Company made with you. If I had not a right to it, why did not you then demand it?”

That got me thinking a bit further, imagine the work involved in making a 40’ high wall, 30 feet wide extending 30 miles (or for that matter a narrower wall per BS ward’s description). It would take many thousand men, and many years of work. Neither the English, nor the Dutch, nor the Cochin and Travancore scribes have recorded this humongous effort in building it. So it has always been there from ancient times, but was in a state of disrepair.

What if parts of this wall existed for many centuries before the advent of the Perumbadappu Swaroopam, the Portuguese and the Dutch? What if it was a fortification to protect the ancient Kondungallur kingdom? This potential hypothesis by Induchudan is advanced on the basis that the eastern extremity had a fort and locale called Konur Kottavathil, which means the entrance to a kingdom. The only kingdom which it affords an entrance to is the old Kodungallur kingdom, pre 12^th century where the Sangam Cheras ruled with Vanji as its capital. The wall was perhaps made to protect the Cheras from southerly attacks, by the Pandyans coming in through the Kottayam gap. To strengthen this argument further let us now look at the eastern extremity, where the Krishnan Kotta or Icharaparappu stood. While most of the temples there were Saivite, three Vaishnavite temples were at that time present in this locale and so the fort may have got its name from Krishna, a deity in those very temples.

There is one flaw in this argument though. A number of survey accounts and maps were published before 1760, but not one of them mention or show the Travancore lines. Perhaps it is so since the wall itself was not apparent what with the dense vegetation and jungles of the area till MV or Dharama raja cleaned it all up. Nevertheless, Dharma Raja’s account and Tipu’s comments could mean an extension of the wall westwards towards Vyipin in the easternmost territories of Parur & Alangad and that the Eastern parts existed previously. In conclusion the Travancore rajas, especially Dharma Raja could have worked to extend (some sources do clearly use the word extend and not build) and strengthen the fortifications, anticipating an attack from the Mysore Sultans after the Zamorin families fled to Travancore.

The extensions could have been carried out in 1764 or thereabouts. VV Valath opines that the Cochin and Travancore kings seeing a potential enemy in the Mysore sultans commenced the work as a joint operation, after 1761. Even this would not jell easily with reality. The Palghat king Kombi Achan, a vassal of Cochin was the person who first invited Hyder to support him against the Zamorin. The Travancore king MV at around the same time also wanted mercenary support from Haider, but later turned it down (infuriating Hyder). In 1766 Cochin became a vassal of Tipu, after Malabar had succumbed.

As we have discussed already, Tipu was furious that the influential families of Malabar had escaped him and fled with their immense fortunes which he could not lay his hands on. Dharma Raja was closely associated with the Zamroin’s family in asylum and knew what they had faced in Malabar. During the extensions, he did his best in clearing the bushes, laying a ditch in front of the lines and some more, but may not have built what Tipu called ‘the contemptible wall’. Though the expenses could have been huge and we still cannot find an accounting for such a massive work, let us assume that Dharma raja did only the essential upgrades. Anyway, so much for the origins.

The first signs of Tipu’s intent to attack Travancore was seen in March 1788 when Dharma Raja reported to the English that Tipu’s people were clearing the forests at Angamali, Malayattur and Mankara so that a large army could march down south. The English warned Travancore not to give any reason to Tipu for a quarrel. By April 1788 Tipu’s forces were camped at Kunnamkulam, Palghat & Chavakkad. Tipu then sent his emissaries to Travancore with words of friendship and a prospective alliance. Dharmaraja rebuffed them. Tipu countered by stating clearly that he would not accept the fact that his enemies were provided asylum by Dharma Raja. Dharma Raja replied that he had indeed provided asylum and that many of the asylees were his relatives.

When Tipu saw that the wall was being readied up by Travancore to defend themselves, that too a wall within what he knew was his vassal’s territory, he was livid and was determined to demolish it. Tipu could have attacked the newly acquired Travancore forts at Kodungallur if he wanted, just like Hyder had taken Chetuwa and entered Cochin. He certainly had the might and the cannons, but that would have riled up the British with whom the Travancoreans had signed a treaty. Travancore intelligence reported that Tipu’s plan was to attack not only the lines at two places, but also at Kodungallur.

Note here that for a cavalry, foot soldiers, cannons, rocket launchers and elephants, you need firm land for easy advance. We do know that Tipu moved with large numbers of soldiers and equipment. They started out from Easterly Coimbatore. To climb and come through the ghauts, circle round to Crangannur, crossing two rivers and move uphill to the eastern corner of the lines, after facing onslaughts from Dutch forts etc, was definitely not a good idea. So Tipu decided to first attack the nearest outpost (while coming in from Coimbatore) on the wall, the Konur Kottavathil, and bring it down. Though I had covered Tipu’s initial attack or what we called Tipu’s waterloo when he chose to attack on Dec 29^th 1789, we did not quite look at the complete details. I will get to it in a later article.

Whatever happened to this Nedumkotta? Did it help Travancore or Cochin? Was it a strategically sound investment? How did Tipu breach it? I will detail it in the next article. For now note that it was indeed breached with relative ease by Tipu during various attacks in 1790 and was later demolished by the British. As time went by it mostly vanished with the ravages of weather and during various construction phases resulting from burgeoning development in the region. Even though it was a protected monument, not much can be seen today. What little remains is well reconstructed by Sasi Kadukkapilly in the linked video which provides you much appreciated details and his impression of the Nedumkotta as superimposed on Google maps.

References
The Golden temple – V T Induchudan

Geographical and Statistical Memoir of the Survey of Travancore and Cochin states - BS ward, PE Connor

Keralathile Sthalacharitrangal – Trissur, VV Valath

The Cochin state manual

The Malabar Manual - Logan

A history of Kerala – KM Panikkar

Kerala under Haider & Tipu Sultan – CK Kareem

Rama Varma of Travancore – Dr B Shobanan

The Kulsekhara Perumals of Travancore - Mark De lannoy

My sincere thanks to Einstein Valath for helping me with the pages from Valath’s book and Erik Odegard of Leiden University for translation assistance of Angelbeek’s report. I will cover the latter when writing about the attack, in more detail and after receiving some additional material from the British archives. Deepti Murali has covered the topic of the attack as recorded by Knox (the source links in that article are erroneous) can be seen at this linked article. Most of all thanks to the efforts of Sasi Kadukkapilly in making a video survey of what remains of this interesting fortification. It is an invaluable effort.

And Umara Charare, the convert

While we studied the stories of Kunhali IV, the conversion of the King of Tanur and so on, we came across the fact that the reigning Zamorin during those years had allowed building of churches in Calicut and other parts of Malabar, that he had a good relation with some of the Padres and even that he was somewhat influenced by them, especially so in the case of the capture of Kunhali IV. It is also mentioned that the Portuguese tried hard to ensure that this Zamorin did not get any ideas of alignment with the new entrants in the Malabar trade, the Dutch. Were their work purely missionary of was it a combination of commerce, politics and administration? A study of a couple of works throws much light on these questions and so let’s head to the Calicut during the last decades of the 16^th century. As we go on, we will come across some very interesting ministers of Christ, a Zamorin who became more inclined towards the Portuguese, perhaps seeking peace on earth, his nephew who went on to convert to Christianity and as we already saw, a Raja of Tanur who converted. So let’s hasten to that Malabar which had just witnessed much turmoil what with the likes of Furtado and the naval warlord Kunhali IV.

We dealt in detail with the Tanur Raja’s conversion and relations with the Portuguese some months ago and saw that Fr Antonio Gomes in 1545-49 was the catalyst behind it. While the fortunes of the St Thomas Christians and the Portuguese church were in disarray with the Synod of Diamper being enacted, important events were underway in Calicut up north in Malabar.

It was in 1597 that the Zamorin met a Portuguese Padre named Francis Acosta purely by chance. As the story goes, a Father who had been administering to the soldiers in a Portuguese ship which had been captured by the Kunjali’s paros, was made prisoner and turned over to the Zamorin. As Ferroli explains - The Zamorin, having oftentimes spoken with the captive Father, began to plan an alliance with the Portuguese in order to strengthen his arms with theirs, and having prepared letters of peace to the Viceroy, the Archbishop and the Fathers of the Society, gave them to the Father, whom, of course, he freed from captivity. In the letters he gave faculty to preach the Gospel, he promised that Churches would be built at his own expense, and said that the “Fathers of the Society, who eventually would be sent to him, would be treated with all the consideration which men of such faith deserved.” The Viceroy at Goa then deputed Father Roz and Acosta himself to start evangelical operations at Calicut.

He obviously made a good impression on the Zamorin and influenced him not only in seeking peace with the Portuguese, but also allowed the Portuguese to erect churches. It is also mentioned that his cousin or nephew named Umara Charare Eradi (Kumara Eradi?) was encouraged to convert and accept Christian beliefs….or so it seems, for we shall soon find out.

Roz and Acosta were well received in Calicut and as it appears the Zamorin gave them permission to convert (which even the Cochin Raja had not thus far allowed) - he gave letters to the Fathers signed by his own hand, in which freedom was granted to all to become Christians; those who should do so would not be deprived of the honours they might have, they would be free to testate, to inherit, in short they would have the same rights which Christians enjoy among Christians. He also decreed that - the Churches and houses of the Fathers to be an asylum for all, who, on account of their crimes, fearing the punishment of the law should take shelter therein; nor should anyone, in peace or war give them trouble. He ordered his cousin (the above mentioned Umara Charare Eradi), who was most intimate with him, to learn all these things more accurately; and this man, though a heathen, delighted in them so much as to keep only one wife, to abstain from flesh meat on Fridays, and to laugh at their idols and superstitions. He promised to receive baptism at the first opportunity. Subsequently a peace treaty was signed with the Portuguese at Goa with the supervision of Fr Roz. After this, it was decided that Goa would send Fr Antonio Schipani to Calicut assisting Fr Acosta and Fr Roz would go back to administer his Thomas Christians.

A field was chosen outside the city, near the sea, half a league away from the Calicut palace. On the appointed day, the Zamorin with the Crown Prince, many high officials and numerous soldiers came; and the Portuguese fleet was at anchor near the shore. In order to testify his own and the King’s satisfaction, the chief of the Officials promised that he would put up a set of lamps in the Church of the Fathers, to burn there forever. Then, on the same day, in the same field, a place was chosen to build the Church. The Zamorin first dug up some earth to lay the foundations.

It was following this that plans were hatched to get rid of the troublesome Kunhali IV though we see from these records that the Zamorin was still wary that the Portuguese might turn against him, after exterminating Kunjali. The first foray was unsuccessful and as the Zamorin was ruminating on these matters, it appears his nephew was secretly baptized. Ferroli states - Now Umare Charare had been secretly baptized by Fr. Roz and acted as a link between the Portuguese and the Zamorin.

The Zamorin, Ferroli says, knew that the Archbishop was passing, he sent to him Fr. Roz together with his cousin, by name Umare Charare (alias Erari). The main reason of his coming, however, was that Umare Charare desired to receive confirmation at the hands of the Archbishop. This, however, had to be done in secret. So when, night came the Archbishop, with great joy, took him to a small room, which had been conveniently adorned, and there, in the presence of Fr. Roz, he put on the sacred vestments, and kneeling down, for he wearing the mitre and the room being very low, he could not stand, instructed him about the virtue of the Sacrament which he then conferred on him. The young man shed so many tears, that both the Archbishop and Fr. Roz were much edified to see such devotion and faith.

The Zamorin and the Archbishop proceeded to discuss the next steps against Kunjali following which the church at Calicut was formally sanctioned and Kunjali’s food route was cordoned off. The Zamorin then hastened off to a new Mamankham at Tirunavaya while the Portuguese blockaded Kunhali’s fort. This time he had the padre Roz to his right instead of the Shabandar as was the practice. Anyway the account goes on to explain the capture of Kunhali, that the many a Nair was very unhappy with the events and even threatened the Zamorin (for having sided with the Portuguese) who had to be rescued by Fr Roz and the Portuguese admiral at hand. Eventually Kunhali was captured and it appears the Zamorin was going to help him escape upon which the admiral Furtado got into a verbal altercation with the Zamorin threatening him with dire consequences should he allow it. Soon enough he agreed that Furtado could take Kunhale and 40 other moors as prisoners, to Goa.

The Zamorin’s converted nephew also accompanied them. We now note that the name has changed somewhat to Uniales Carle. The account continues thus - With the fleet had come to Goa Uniales Carle, nephew of the Zamorin, in order to sign the peace with the Viceroy. As we know, he had been baptized by ours and confirmed by the Archbishop. During the war he had given good examples of Christian observance. Once, while walking with one of ours, he had confessed his sins, not to arouse the suspicions of others, for his conversion had been kept secret. While at Goa he was never tired of staying with ours, and was filled with joy at seeing the multitude and fervor of the new Christians of Salsete.

Once he declared he had been much grieved by his being compelled to leave the church during Mass, in order not to betray himself. One day, being in my room with Fr. Roz, he spoke at length of spiritual things and of the way of converting the Malayalees. I gave him a wax Agnus Dei, which he received on his knees, and kissed and promised he would wear it round his neck till his death. In leaving here he got alms for the Cross erected in Malabar even from his Pagan compatriots. The Archbishop gave them his blessing that they might return safe and sound to their country, for of two ships, one was sunk, and the other that was carrying our Calicut Procurator was so tossed about by the waves that the passengers were saved with difficulty.

This father Roz was born in Catalonia in 1557, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1575, went to India in 1583 where he became Professor of Syriac in 1584. He learnt Malayalam and preached in that language. In 1600 he became Latin Bishop of Angamali, in 1608 Archbishop of the diocese, to which the See of Cranganore was added in 1610. He died at Cranganore on 16-2-1624. So much for Francis Roz who had such a tremendous influence on the Zamorin, but much is not known about the Fr Acosta whose chance meeting with the Zamorin perhaps changed the course of Malabar history.

The next Padre who made a great influence on the same Zamorin and who continued his work through the converted nephew was of Italian origin named Jacob Fenicio. He is better known as the author of the multi volume treatise on Hinduism in Malabar - the Livro Da Seita Dos Indios Orientais.

Father Jacobo (or Jacome) Fenicio (or Finicio) was born at Capua in Italy about 1558. In 1580 he entered the Society and in 1583 set sail for India. Arriving in 1584, he was stationed at Cochin, was made vicar of St. Andrew in Porca in 1587 and kept in that position in the years 1594-1604 and 1619. In the year 1600 he went to the court at Calicut and must have spent some years there; for he is reported to have stayed there in the years 1605-06 and 1608-09. In the meantime he founded the missionary station at Tanur (1606) and afterwards also other missions on the Malabar Coast. He died at Cochin in 1632, aged about 75. He, we are told, used to preach in Malayalam.

Charpentier adds -Fenicio certainly was a clever and intrepid worker in a thorny and dangerous field of mission; and he had made himself well merited of his Society and his converts when at a high old age lie laid his head to rest in the land where he had spent nearly fifty years in incessant labors…

These events must be referred to the year 1600 or to the years immediately following. Du Jarric goes on to tell how Fenicio won converts amongst persons of high standing because of his knowledge of astronomy, and how he refuted the Brahmins in the presence of the Zamorin and the Rajah of Cranganore. Fenicio also seems to have indulged in a lot of political activity, the result of which was that the Zamorin became reconciled to the Portuguese. Du Jarric also mentions the travels of Fenicio to Parur in order to visit the Christians of St Thomas and to the Nilgiris in order to inspect the Christian churches — this last tour being undertaken on the requests of the Bishop of Angamale.

Let us see what Fenicio was upto, in Calicut during those years (1605-1607) a place he calls the citadel of Muslim superstition and Hindu idolatry. His impressions are also clear from a few letters he sent in 1605 and later. He was joined in his efforts by Diogo Goncalves (also a spy of sorts) who wrote the still untranslated ‘Historia do malavar’. Fenicio did not have a good start for an event occurred where a Muslim ship was plundered by the Portuguese and the Moors and Moplahs of Calicut went up in arms, threatening to decimate the Portuguese there. Fenicio managed to pacify them and brokered peace somehow. He was equally on good terms with the Viceroy at Goa, The Zamorin and the Raja of Cranganore.

Malabar map extract - Paulinus

A record from 1610 mentions - “In Calicut”—the letter continues “there are two Fathers, (I am not still very sure if the second was Acosta or Hilaire) one of whom is Fr. Fenicio, who works much both in preaching the Gospel (though very few embrace it), and in preserving peace. On the occasion of a commotion stirred up by the Gentiles against the Christians, the Zamorin protected us and punished them. It also records the Zamorin to be very much in support of them, making it clear to all that he supports them fully. He now allows them to build a church in Ponnani. But it was heavy going when it came to missionary work, they did not have much success even though Fenicio was a very active preacher who took to preaching in public places and conducting debates with Brahmin scholars, often. Fenicio also found it difficult to balance his favors between the Cochin Raja a historic friend of the Portuguese and the Zamorin a new ally, but more powerful. Anyway, he worked off and on in Calicut between 1601 and 1619 and was eventually moved out around 1613 for reasons still not quite clear.

While Fenicio and the Zamorin shared good vibes and much of the reporting above is one sided and perhaps written so and slanted heavily towards the evangelical side (to obtain good favors from Goa), Ferroli explains it aptly. He says - Some have described Fenicio’s Mission in Calicut as mainly political. The Zamorin, however, though genuinely attached to Fr. Fenicio, shaped his policy as circumstances demanded, and allowed himself to be guided by one supreme motive: self-interest.

The very same Zamorin, proving this, signed a treaty with the British Keeling (we studied this earlier) in 1615 where he states his enmity with the Portuguese and proposes alliance with the British to reconquer Cranganore and Cochin. Mullberger who studied these missions wrote - “The Mission was in this respect a failure but it was of great gain to the Portuguese from a political point of view. The Jesuits were so to say the Charges d’Affaires at the court”. Now that makes me feel that Kumaran Eradi could even have been a spy sent to get information about the Portuguese.

So what exactly did Fenicio do and record? His Livro da Seita provides much detail and conveyed the religious propensity of the Hindus for the first time to the European. We see that he worked initially with Fr Theophilio and their main task it looks like, due to the low interest in conversions, was to keep the Zamorin at bay. Fenicio could be found often at the public square (near Mananchira??) with a bunch of bewildered bystanders. He does collaborate with a learned Brahmin along the way, listening, trying to understand and recording the Hindu way of life. Meanwhile the Zamorin’s nephew it seems, is trying to have the queen mother and another son of hers converted and Fenicio writes.

Our Erari told us also that the Queen and one of her sons, twelve years of age, have advanced so far in the understanding of the things of our holy Faith that they manifest a desire of becoming Christians, but as this is an affair of great moment and risk, and is not possible to speak to the Queen but in the presence of the Brahmins, it cannot be settled easily; but the same Lord Who gave them this desire will also provide the means.” Perhaps it came after Fenicio exorcised a devil away from a man possessed with one, using the cross and the gospel.

Fenicio continues - Our Erari and a nephew of the Brahmin Lagna who were then present there related the fact to the Queen and the prince, who, astonished at it, asked how it was that the Father had cast the devil out of the body of that man. The Erari answered that he had done so by making the sign of the Cross on the forehead of the possessed. Thereupon the prince’s began to make the sign of the Cross themselves. Then there was his expedition to the Nilgiris and the meeting with the Todas which CHF had covered earlier.

In the many letters we find that this Zamorin is an interesting person. His reactions when Fenicio tried to justify various things Christian is interesting to say the least. One such discussion ends thus - “the Father wishes now to attack the (Hindu) gods”. Then turning to Fenicio he said: “But don’t you say that the (Christian, word of) God died crucified?” Finally a Mohamedan old man, quite shrewd and cunning chimed in: "‘Why, Father,” he said, “do you tire yourself? It is already six months that you are turning the same stone; and to what purpose?” It is also recorded that he spent most of the time with the Zamorin, “endeavoring to promote the cause of Religion and to maintain peace with Portugal” which to me reads that he was actually a political emissary of sorts. Fenicio also intervened to broker peace between the Cranganore Raj and the Zamorin in a 1611 conflict.

During 1615-17 another war raged between the Zamorin and the Cochin Raja, and Fenicio was still at Calicut, but he is not mentioned any more after 1619. When Delle Valle visited Calicut in 1623, there were no fathers at Calicut and missionary activity gradually tapered off with the arrival of a new Zamorin after the old Zamorin who lent his ear often to the friars, passed away. By 1619, the peace with the Portuguese broke down and the fathers left Calicut, leaving behind just a vineyard at Calicut. The new Zamorin suspicious of the fathers and perhaps their spying, apparently was involved with the pillaging of a Church in Angamali. Eventually, a new period of peace commenced in 1635 and the church of Calicut was rebuilt.

Another event during a visit by Fr Roz to Bemanate (??) and Palur is significant. The inhabitants of Palur had decided to give the Bishop a grand reception. A Nair, prompted by a Moor, cried out that such reception could only be granted to a king. The Zamorin having heard of this report, was very angry, and gave order to put to death the Nair and the Moor, with their wives and children. The Nair being in a place of safety, the Zamorin had the house of the Moor razed to the ground, and sent his nephew and another principal man, to the Bishop as far as Enamaque, to apologise and offer him a Nair as a slave, with these very words: ‘The Zamorin offers you this Nair as a slave in satisfaction for certain offending words uttered by a Nair. Had the offense been greater, it is myself, his own nephew, whom he would have offered, with the Mangate Achen, the highest personage of his Kingdom’.

Anyway it appears that Fr Roz decided to concentrate on Cochin after the old Zamorin passed away, persuaded so by the Rajah of Cochin, who alluded that he and he alone was a true and lifelong friend of the Portuguese.

Starting in 1603 Fenicio worked with cataloging and understandings the intricacies of the Hindu religion. He mentions - “This winter (meaning probably the rainy season) I have occupied myself with studying the religion of the Malabars with a Hindu who has every day visited my house; and I have already written some two books of paper about the creation of the world, about their gods, and their children, three boys and a girl. Truly they are very fine fellows; one has the head and face and feet of an elephant, another has six faces and twelve hands, the third is an ape, and the lady is as black as coal and has eight faces and sixteen hands. I have written how many times one of their gods came down to earth, sometimes in the shape of fish, sometimes in that of a tortoise, or a bird, a boar, a man-lion, a woman, etc.; and I have written of the idols, the devils, the transmigration of the souls, the heavens, the earth, the oceans, the hells, the paradise, their ceremonies, omens, fasts, etc. And I am very pleased to know it, because it will serve me very well in refuting these Hindus.” That incidentally is the Livro da Seita Dos Indios Orientais, a work (8 books) which when looked at from the period it was composed, by one totally alien to this religion and concept, somewhat erotic and titillating at times, and largely superficial.

There are interspersed observations for example - This year, the Zamorin of Calicut killed with his own hand a brother-in-law of his with two slashes, for appearing in a drunken state before him. ''A prince of the royal family of Cochin used to go about in disguise, killing Nairs found drunk''. On Onam day when Maveli comes to Malabar, the feast should have five curries. And on betel leaf chewing - Arjuna happened to chew the betel-leaf when he was in heaven for a time, and enjoyed it so much that he stole a branch and showed it to Krishna who, in his turn finding that he had never eaten anything so tasteful in his life, planted it on earth. And the Pandavas - After remaining some time in Paradise and not being satisfied, Dharmaputra said. "This does not suffice for me, I will be born again in Kaliyuga; and he was born as Ceraman Perumal Emperor of Malabar. Bhima was born as Kulasekhara Perumal; Nakula as Chola Perumal and Sahadeva as Pandi Perumal. All of them lived lives of Dharma, died and reached Paradise''. No mention of Arjuna though, it appears he stayed away from Malabar! He was also aware of the works of Pakkanar and used them in his arguments.

But more on this topic, another day.

In conclusion we see that the period 1600-1619 witnessed the stay of Fenicio and his cohorts at Calicut and witnessed their attempts at creating a more permanent relationship with the Zamorin, who by all accounts tolerated them, as a good host and made sure their stay was peaceful. Regrettably for Fenicio it amounted to nothing by way of missionary success, but then again as a Portuguese emissary, he maintained a regular flow of information to his political principals at Goa on the ground situation, during a critical phase. That must have been the real purpose. Fenicio moved away as the winds changed and passed away somewhere around Cochin in 1632.

Of the converted nephew Umara Cherare or Kumara Eradi, nothing more is known.

References

Jesuits in Malabar V1 – Ferroli SJ

Livro Da Seita Dos Indios Orientais: Brit. Mus. Ms. Sloane 1820 of Fr Jacobo Fenicio SJ - Chapentier, Jarl

Missionary Topics – Innes Zupanov

An old Portuguese work on Kerala Beliefs – LV Ramaswami Iyer

My thanks to Sumathi Ramaswamy (Professor of History - Duke University, President of American Institute of Indian Studies), who during an evening’s conversation some years ago, told me about the relationship between Fenicio and this Zamorin and shared some research notes. She authored an interesting book ‘Terrestrial Lessons: The Conquest of the World as Globe’ where Fenicio’s trip to Malabar is briefly covered.

Musa Mapla, the EIC and his Bombay residence

Many decades ago, when I was working in Bombay and a bachelor, I would walk aimlessly through the Colaba, Ballard estate and Flora fountain areas often, stopping finally to munch a good meal at the Fort Ananda Bhavan. In many of the road corners you could spot youngsters from Malabar desirous of going to the Gulf, doing part time work by selling smuggled goods on the sly. Well before all that, they sold coconuts or mats i.e. nariayal walas and chatai (grass mat or pullu paya) walas of Malabar, but in my time those professions were not popular and the malayali street hawker sold Casio calculators, perfumes, cigarettes and small electronics like radios cassette players on these streets.

Little did I know that many centuries before them, Mapla’s had their own area, their chawl and shops in the fort area and that a Musa of Tellicherry owned large pieces of property, in fact he even owned the oldest building of Fort Bombay, i.e. between the 17^th and 19^thcenturies. Those researching North Malabar trade and the early British would know this Musa character quite well. But for those who do not, I will provide a brief overview. I will also go on to answer the question about his holdings in Bombay, a subject which I had briefly addressed in a previous article, but at that time did not possess details thereof. Present facades of banks and office buildings of Gunbow st hide some very interesting history of this character from Malabar who inhabited the Bohra Bazar area, an area that was well known in the 17^th and 19^th centuries as ‘Mapla Pol’, an enclosed dwelling or chawl where Malabar Mapla’s lived and traded in Bombay. Let’s now go to the intersection of what is known as Gunbow Street and Bohra Bazar Street. Gunbow incidentally has nothing to do with guns, it apparently signified the street where Ganba, a carpenter resided and it is also said that in his times, there was a well there, which people would folk to draw water from.

Let’s step back in time, when the British in Surat decided to populate Bombay, after it was awarded to the EIC in 1661 as Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza and as part of her dowry Charles received the ports of Tangier and Seven Islands of Bombay. Gerald Aungier, the British factor in Surat was entrusted with the responsibility of establishing the British presence in Bombay and he proclaimed that it will be ‘the city which by God's assistance is intended to be built’. Arriving Bombay in 1670, he set about cleaning the corrupt set up and rebuilding it step by step, a job which proved to be very difficult indeed as he had to go back to Surat often to continue wars with Chatrapati Shivaji and the Moghuls.

One of President Aungier's large-minded proposals for improving Bombay was to build a customs house which later became the Fair Common House, wherein he housed the Chambers for the Courts of Justice, warehouses and prisons. In this building, as originally designed by him, justice was dispensed until the year 1720. One side of that building was a jail and the concept then was that the convict had to worry about his upkeep if he got jailed. So the Bohra bazar facing rooms were the jails and inmates were allowed to beg from passersby (Rama Kamat himself died in those jails) through the bars. Then in 1720 the court was moved to Rama Kamat’s buildings nearby and the old building became a property of Shivaji Dharamset. In 1748 it was sold to Mohammed Safi, who then sold it to Musa’s uncle (one record mentions that just the Mapla’s home was purchased by Musa’s ancestor, as early as 1675). It is said that of the eight largest landowners in the Fort, six were Indians and one was Musa Mapla.

This building was later known by the name Mapla Por. Mapla Por was ‘the gated enclosure of the Mapla’s, or half- Arab Musalmans of the Malabar Coast, stands about 300 yards north of the north-west corner of the modern Elphinstone Circle, on the west side of Borah Bazar Street, immediately beyond its meeting with Gunbow Lane’. It had by the middle of the 18^th century morphed into a typical pol, or Gujarati-style group of buildings round a courtyard, with one defensive external gate which could be shut against their traditional enemies. The Shravak temple and the old well were round the corner and the Mapla chawl or pol housed a number of Malabari shops. Its story and links with Musa kaka or the Keyi of Telicherry is interesting to say the least.

I presume it is in order to introduce this gentleman to you all, needless to mention that he was a favorite of the EIC traders of Tellicherry (barring Murdoch Brown, whom Musa took to court for fraud and won!). An incredibly clever and opportune trader, he owned vast properties in Malabar, Travancore and many other locations. His descendants owned properties even in faraway Mecca. Mussa owned a fleet of cargo ships and transacted much trade with the Laccadives, Maldives, Bengal, Surat, Bombay and hobnobbed with the Pazhassi Raja, the Arakkal Beevi, the Malabar Rajas and the Mysore rulers. It would be good to get a general idea of his life and times. Sadly a good book has yet to be written about this character and the three books in print (Ummerkutty, Kurup+Ismail and C Vasudevan) are skimpy and leave much to be desired.

Perhaps the Borah Bazar - Gunbow corner to the left

By 1694 the British EIC had established an important trading post or factory, at Tellicherry towards the north of Malabar and with it they cemented important commercial alliances with Moplah merchants, while at the same time obtaining political guarantees from the local rulers like the Kolathiri Raja. Some like the Musa Kakas cooperated with the EIC while some like the Arakkal family did not. Musa was initially the main procurement agent for pepper and later for timber, he was also their banker at times.

The entry of the Keyi maplas into the trading scene starts with Aluppi from a place called Chowa in Chirakkal. Aluppi moved to Tellichery with his nephews Bappan and Moosa (Musa). After acquiring some land from the Kottayam Raja (then the lord), he became an influential trader and shipper of goods to Mecca and other locations. He was perhaps the person behind the original lease of the oldest buildings in Bombay later known as the Mapla Por. His nephew Musa later entered the game with the initial monetary support of the Travancore Raja. Bappan too had relations with the EEIC according to Buchnan. Aluppi’s arrival was met with skepticism by the caste koyas and he even had to construct a mosque for his family as the others would neither let them into their mosques nor did they allow inter-marriages, at first.

Chowakaran Musa or as his formal name states - Mapla Chowakaran Keloph Karakuti Kaka, was Aluppi’s nephew and he was instrumental in forming a firm relation with the EEIC. So good was it that the factory superintendent ordered the Nileswaram raja “to protect the belongings and the commodities of Moosa, who is a protégée of the Company”. The Zamorin’s Minister Shamnath Patter, once ruefully informed the English Resident at Kozhikode that Musa had threatened to bring an English army if Pattar ventured to interfere in Moosa’s timber trade (note that the Pattar was the trusted agent of the British in Calicut after the initial fall of the Zamorins and the times of the Ravi varma’s)

When the Mysore sultans raided Malabar, Musa and other merchants sought British protection in Tellicherry while the Arakkal family sided with the Sultans, even cementing the tie later by offering a daughter to Tipu in marriage. In fact Tipu threatened Musa and the others through the Arakkal Biwi with dire consequences if they did not move to their side and interestingly Musa was steadfast in his refusal. They stayed put until the end of the second Anglo Mysore wars and the annexation of Malabar by the British in 1790-92. Musa was rewarded amply and provided contracts to supply the Company with pepper. He was over time considered to be the one who ‘has manifested a steady attachment to the British interests on the coast on the most trying occasions (When Sardar Khan besieged Tellicherry during the second Anglo-Mysore war) he had supported our course by his fortune and credit and when the siege was raised accompanied our army through enemy territory to the southward of Tellicherry and by his credit and influence procured the necessary supplies of money and provisions. Without his assistance at that critical time our army would not have moved’. In other words, he was considered a collaborator par excellence and is stated to have loaned as much as 20 lakhs of Sicca Rupees to the EEIC during the Mysore wars!

As time went and the British took over, by he was found to be in control of some of the Arakkal Beevi’s properties and also took care of some of her debts during her decline. According to Gough, the Ali Rajas became so indebted to the Chovvakkaran Keyis that in 1784-94 they mortgaged the coir of the four southern Laccadives to the Keyis. Later, four islands of Laccadives seized from Tipu were leased to Musa by EIC’s Munro. The Kadathanad, Coorg and Chirakkal rajas also testify to paying off or staving off their debts by borrowing from Musa.

So powerful was he that he even took on the rich trader Murdoch Brown to court on the strength of testimony from a fellow Englishman James Rivet, and winning the case.

It will be seen that Musa was very cosmopolitan in thought, constructing a unique Malabar style copper domed Odathil mosque and adopting matrilineal family rules all the way. BS Ward mentions as follows - Moosa the Tellicherry Merchant who is, perhaps the most wealthy trader under the Government has made several applications to me for a Garden at Tellicherry called the Company's Garden, measuring above three acres as per accompanying plan. He wants it for the purpose of building a Mosque and Tomb upon it. He would either pay a sum of money for it or a high quit Rent. As this man had on many occasions stood forward in support of the public cause, and uniformly behaved himself to the approbation of the Company's Official Servants, although such conduct may be said to have proceeded from a consideration of his own interest, I submit it to your Board's notice that the garden which has been waste for the last three years, may be given up to him on any condition you may please to prescribe.

Another related aspect is how the old and infirm Musa came under fire from Wellesley who was chasing the Pazhassi Raja during 1804-05. He recorded that Musa had been found supplying rice and gun powder to the rebels. Thomas Baber had reported to the principal collector Thomas Warden that Moosa and Mucky, the Company contractors, had been involved in these illegal transactions. Baber wanted him to be transported and Wellesley wanted them tried for treason and hanged, but how Musa managed to extricate himself from the circumstances, is a story to be told another day!

Baber testified in 1806 that ‘Chowakkara Kunhy Packey, the heir of old Moosa, a man well known on the western coast, had twelve ships; that is, Moosa himself had 12. He continues - These are reduced, I think, to seven. I can mention their names and burthen and the largest of them go up to Mocha, Judda, and other places in the Red Sea; also to Muscat, Bushire, and Bussora, in the Persian Gulf; Porabunder, Cambay, Cutch, Sind, and a long way up the Indus’! He also mentions that Musa had a monopoly on timber supply to Bombay in 1806 - That the Honourable Company had occasion for teak trees for the purpose of building ships, and therefore the government had resolved to grant a monopoly to one Chowakkara Moosa, in order that it might be furnished with the trees it wanted at a low price. He also mentioned that Musa participated in slave trading – e.g. Baber in his report to the Chief Secretary to the government informed that five slaves were landed from a ship, owned by Chowakkara Cunhy Packy, which arrived from Mocha. He also explained during his testimony to the EIC board, the methods of Marumakkatayam practiced by the Bebee and the Musa families.

When Ward came by to do his surveys, he was requested by Musa for a Pallak (Palanquin) as "infirm, and owing to Indian deference, he considered himself as restricted from using a conveyance." For this reason it was requested that he should be "presented . . . with a palankeen at the Company's expense and it was granted. After Musa died in 1806/07, his family disintegrated and their powers waned and the family split into many branches, mainly the families of Keloth, Valiyapura, Puthiyapura and Orkatteri.

Let’s now get back to the Mapla Por owned by Musa, the Bombay gazetteer of 1894 mentions the following details - This old building or enclosure is generally known as Mapla Por the gated enclosure of the Maplas that is of the half- Arab Musalmans of the Malabar Coast, who, till well into the present century, held the bulk of the coasting or country trade of Bombay. The name of the present owner is Mapla Chaukaran Keloph Karakuti Kaka whose agent is a Parsi, Mr. Dinsha Sorabji. Mr. Dinsha states that in 1794 Musa of Tellicherry, an ancestor of the present owner, purchased the property from one Muhammad Safi. In many records Musa is termed as the great (rich landowner) mapla and a land tenure report shows that he was being taxed for 5,725 square yards of property.

Until then the building was known as the Safi building and later as the Mapla Pol, where a lot of Malabar Mapla’s lived in a chawl like set up. The writer mentions that it was never intended to be a private dwelling but became one somehow. Musa came and went, but he was represented in Bombay by another mapla named Mammy. It had been a barracks once, then it was called Kota (as it was within the fort) and was later termed Mapla Pol or Mapla por.

As the story goes, the great fire of February 1803 destroyed the Bazar front or prison portion of the building, the whole of which, since the transfer of the Court House to Bazar Gate Street in 1720, had been used as a warehouse by the Keyi Musa. The after-part of this house, Jonathan Duncan wrote, which has been purchased by Musa of Tellicherry, still remained standing. It was filled with rice, sugar, and other articles, and during the forenoon of the 19th February 1803 very much threatened destruction to the surrounding buildings, especially as the compound was filled with two to three hundred planks. As the Purvoe that appeared on the part of Mammy (Musa's agent) had no means of removing the planks, all who would be at the trouble of carrying them were allowed to take them away. When the greater part of this combustible had been cleared, Mammy the aforesaid agent, who had hitherto appeared to be equally without the means or will to effect anything on his part, pretended that he had got people to remove the remaining deals. This proving not to be the case, as ascertained by Captain Brookes on the spot, the yard was soon cleared of the planks. The remaining danger of the fire was overcome by the exertions of the navy, in the Admiral's presence.

After the 1803 fire, the Bohora Bazar front was repaired and until 1868 the enclosure continued full of warehouses and dwellings and the Musa’s dwelling was situated in the north-west of the square facing south. The building as again affected in the 1868 fire. The record mentions – On 23rd February 1868, a fire broke out in a dwelling in the ground floor of the buildings to the west of the main central block. From the ground floor the fire spread to the upper floor and from that passed to the main central block. Two of the godowns in the central block were filled with boxes of brandy, which, taking fire, with loud explosions spread the conflagration so rapidly as to endanger the whole neighborhood. Besides the two central ranges the west half of the south or Gunbow lane front, the whole western row of houses, and the Mapla's residence in the north-west corner were destroyed. The aggregate loss was estimated at several lakhs of rupees. After that event there is no mention of Musa in Bombay records. I presume his children or nephews did not venture northwards to Bombay.

We can see numerous mentions of the ships of Chovvakkaran Keyi of Tellicherry, which were sailing to Arabia, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and the larger Indian ports in the mid-eighteenth century: the Keyis retained some 12 sailing ships as late as 1837. Records of piracy against some of them present interesting reading. It is also important to note from a paper (Gough) that the family received the Parsee title Keyi as a dignity from authorities in Bombay in 1808.

Finally I must mention about the Saudi Rubiyat controversy, something brought about between the two prominent families of Keyi and Arakkal due to the matrilineal inheritance rules adopted by them. According to the history of the treasure, Mayan Kutty a member of the Keyi family purchased land in the holy land of Mecca, and built a resting place known as 'Keyi Rubath' for Haj pilgrims entirely at its own expense. The rest place was demolished by the Saudi authorities as a part of modernization programs and a compensation was retained with the Saudi treasury. The question now is who the heirs of Mayan Kutty Keyi are, and the Keyi’s have not been able to stake their claim properly as yet. The arakkal family also laid claim to the fortune arguing that Mayankutty Keyi, subsequent to his marriage with the then Arakkal Beevi, had accepted the title 'Ilaya' and hence the Arakkal’s too were the legal heirs. Well, the story has not been laid to rest and I don’t know any more details.

Finally an unanswered question which was asked of me, still remains – Did Musa own property in Malabar hill? I do not know, though I find it unlikely due the lack of such references in the old material I perused, which at the same time mention Musa and the Mapla Por of South Bombay. Perhaps he did, and it would not be surprising.

Perhaps it was this presence of Mapla’s and Malabaris in the Ballard estate and fort area which made a number of youngsters make a beeline to those environs before their departure to more lucrative jobs in the gulf. I am sure they did not know of Chowakaran Musa then, nor do the people who land up in Mumbai these days know about him. It is also sad that people like Balasaheb Thakre had no idea about the involvement of people like Musa in the emergence of Bombay as a major trading city and port!

After the fires and the demise of Musa, we do not come across the presence of any Keyis in Bombay. The Mapla Por passed hands and today we see the Bazar post office and other buildings occupying the historic locale!

References

Bombay Gazetteer - 1894

Bombay in the making, being mainly a history of the origin and growth of judicial institutions in the Western Presidency, 1661-1726 - Malabari, Phirozshah Behramji M

The Rise of Bombay: A Retrospect SM Edwardes

Keyis of Malabar – KKN Kurup and Prof E Ismail

Kinship and Marriage in Southwest India – Kathleen Gough

Matrilineal Practices along the Coasts of Malabar- Aleena Sebastian

Merchants and Colonialism: The Case of Chovvakkaran Moosa and the English East India Company - M.P.Mujeebu Rehiman

From Kolattunad to Chirakkal: British Merchant Capital and the Hinterland of Tellicherry, 1694-1766 - Bonaventure Swai

East India Company and Moplah Merchants of Tellicherry: 1694-1800 - Bonaventure Swai

Shells from the sands of Bombay – DE Wacha

The Keyi Mappila Muslim Merchants of Tellicherry and the Making of Coastal Cosmopolitanism on the Malabar Coast – Santosh Abraham

Malabar hill and the pirates of Malabar

Eating at Ananda Bhavan

Notes

Musa’s name has been massacred in the annals of history. He is variously named as Chukara, Chokra, Chouacara, Chocara, Choacara Chogara, Chowkara, Chowkaran, Moosa, Mousa, Mussa, Musa and so on…
The unearthing of the connection between Mapla Por and Musa took a good amount of research work and may not be found in current history texts and papers. I would appreciate it if a link back to this article is made, should somebody choose to refer to the Mapla por.

A famine and the cholera epidemic....1943

Everybody talked about the Great War as the summer months of 1942 scorched the southern regions of India. The eastern allied bastions fell one after another, by February 42 Singapore had capitulated and in March 1942, Rangoon had fallen and Port Blair in the Andamans had been taken. The overjoyed INA factions in Malaya and Burma were waiting for directions from their new leader Subhas Chandra Bose ensconced in Rangoon, while at the same time, hundreds of thousands of panic stricken Indian refugees (Burmese workers) were in full flight across the seas and borders into India, their ancestral home. Their belief was total that the British Raj would do nothing to help them, for their brethren had not received any great support either at Malaya or Singapore. One could hear the refrain – that invasion was imminent, the Japanese were coming, and that the British are set to flee India. With censor controlled war news channels focused on the action in Europe, rumor machines in India took over and wild tales were told and retold. The Japanese soldier, though smaller than a Burmese elephant, evoked a bigger fear, rivaling a dragon.

Calicut should have been insulated from all this, but it was not. Many of the youngsters from affluent families were employed in Madras and they reported frantically that the situation there was no good either. In April a small incident involving some air strafing at Kakinada and Vizag set off bigger alarms in Madras. There were rumors that Jap ships had been sighted a few miles off the Machilipatnam coast. Madras trembled and the people fled from the city in trains and every other means of transport, inwards to villages and their ancestral homes. The Governor left for Vellore and the Secretariat machinery left by the Blue Mountain Express for the Nilgiris. And as Pulla Reddi mentioned ‘the Police Commissioner, insisting that the animals might break loose if Japanese bombs fell, refused to wait and sent a platoon of the Malabar Special Police to the Madras zoo ’who to his great horror ruthlessly did their job in a few minutes’

Such events should and did have repercussions in our home in Chalappuram as well (My aunt breathlessly explained how events transpired, last week). Everything of value at Ambalakkat was locked up and boarded, dark cloth was put over windows and the whole family left for Manjapra in Palghat, my dad’s maternal home near Vadakkancheri. My bachelor uncle Balamama remained behind to keep watch over the house. But it was a false alarm, nothing happened either in Madras or Calicut. All that happened over the months which followed was the southerly trek of a forlorn stream of refugees from Burma, into Madras.

The monsoon which hit Calicut (I can’t be sure if it was 41, 42 or 43, my aunt explains that her memory is a bit foggy these days) was particularly ferocious. She tells me that the flood waters came right behind our house in Chalappuram and boats plied the waters to take people and goods back and forth. As panic ensued, some burly Khalasi Mappilas were deployed to cut the (azhimurikkal) sand banks on the mouth of the Kallayi River and let the flood waters recede. They struggled initially, witnessed by a great mass of people on the shore, some khalasis were swept away into the raging sea, never to return again, but the others succeeded eventually and the waters ashore receded.

The war panic in Malabar too receded as the British pulled up their socks and geared up in the North East to fight the Japanese at Imphal and Kohima. The role of the Malayali in this war is unknown to many. Strange is the fact that the first IIL/INA subversions from Singapore to challenge the British in India, were launched by a Malayali from Calicut (See my article on TP Kumaran Nair), and even stranger is the fact that the first roads laid in the inhospitable mountain jungles at the far outreaches of Assam were the efforts of a couple of Malayali platoons (together with a Tamil and a Telugu platoon). It was this road that provided a means for the British and allied forces to launch a counter attack on the Japanese and the INA! It is a fascinating story which I will soon present. But for now let us get back to Malabar, briefly forgotten by the British in the chaos of war, where the situation was becoming dire, for other reasons.

The year 1943 is best remembered as the middle year of the Second World War, a period when the fortunes of the Allies changed for the better. The Axis powers were slowly driven back, from the various fronts where they had gotten stalled. The military generals and politicians had until then focused on their own existence and their mother countries, were more worried about events and strategies of the war, preparing on a daily basis to save themselves from annihilation. People ended up showing not only their best, but also their worst behavior, in this eagerness to save themselves.

Subash Chandra Bose and his INA were sequestered in Rangoon, trying to find common ground with the Japs. The Congress Party's Working Committee were all under arrest, all major leaders of the INC had been arrested and detained. The confused masses were leaderless and protests started to take a violent turn. In large parts of the country, local underground organizations took over. The political deadlock in the country continued throughout 1943. The detained Congress leaders continued in jail with the exception of Mahatma Gandhi, who was eventually released on medical grounds in May 1944. The quit India movement which had been launched, was petering out. Meanwhile famines hit many regions in British India, Malabar, Travancore and Cochin included.

Not many bothered about the South, especially Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. These were usually considered as areas typically blessed with good monsoons and had in the past managed splendidly according to the many English administrators who passed through, such as Innes, Evans and Logan. And so, Malabar was never seriously considered when the famine act was prepared in the previous century. The first major allocation of funds to Malabar was also connected with the famine act. The money thus obtained by declaring Malabar famine prone was later diverted from the famine insurance fund towards railway construction. In 1881, the Tirur - Beypore rail link was laid and by 1888, Calicut and Palghat were connected. Beypore was soon relinquished and six more lines were laid. The argument was that with the railway, equitable distribution of supplies would keep any future famine at bay.

During the wars, the British in general did not believe in alleviating any Indian situation of distress and concentrated on shipping food to war-torn Britain, sometimes even trans-shipping them out of India in full view of starving masses. Some British leaders even mentioned, that for a future balanced population in India, which was full of teeming breeders, some had to die, following on Churchill’s words that India was a country with beastly people and a beastly religion, who bred like rabbits. When told about the famines in India, he shot back ‘if so many were dying from lack of food, why is Gandhiji not already dead?’ Pundits explained that a potential reason for his apathy at the growing tragedy in India was due to his anger at Gandhiji’s efforts in taking away the jewel called India from the British crown, which he perceived, was his duty to defend. The lack of response in his dealings with the spreading famine was perhaps his way of getting back at Gandhi.

But how did Malabar end up with a deficit in food? Unlike many other places, Malabar indeed cultivated a lot of money crops those days, but they were commercial crops such as spices, tobacco, coffee, tea, sugarcane, castor to name a few. Of course there were coconuts, areca-nuts, jackfruits, cashew, mango and so on, and some amount of rice (food crops) was cultivated in Eranad and Valluvanad. With the outbreak of WWII, food prices spiraled upward and taxation rose. Though the British failed to act in the 1941-42 years, the situation was largely nascent because Burma, the rice bowl of undivided India was producing the required amounts of rice and they were being shipped to various ports in India, including Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. The Chettiars were still in control in Burma and rice of dubious quality continued to arrive in Malabar and Cochin ports. Problems started when the Japanese raided Burma.

The Southeast Asian campaign of WWII started when the Japanese bombed Victoria Point during Dec 1941, cordoned off Burma and followed up with the capture of Singapore, Malaysia and launched a land attack on Burmese targets. The Japanese intent was to get to the oilfields in Burma, a strategic conquest to ensure they had resources for the grand entry westwards across India. Within a span of three months, the British in Burma were in a hasty retreat, and Burma was in Japanese hands. The British, the Chettiar landowners and bankers as well as many hundreds of thousands of Indian laborers fled across the borders to mainland India. Paddy cultivation and its harvest was forgotten and the rice fields and mills in Burma, were at the mercy of the native Burmese and the Japanese conquerors.

With the evacuation of Rangoon in March 1942, there was now practically no hope of some 1.5 million tons of rice imports into Malabar, Travancore or Cochin and the industrial populations of Madras and Bengal. You can now imagine how matters spiraled downwards in rapid fashion. The deficit was not only in the South but in the whole of India.The wholesale price index of rice more than doubled in India and deficit financing surged from Rs 4 crores to Rs 438 crores in 1942-43. The Indian army increased in size 10 times to some 3 million solders and they naturally needed a lot of food, which the British had to provide in required quantities. As rice stocks got depleted, prices soared and the price ceiling acts did not work. As food intake reduced, malnutrition was rampant and the region of Malabar was now facing what usually follows, disease.

Adding to the misery was an uneven monsoon (too little and too much and at wrong times) the previous two years, and domestic production was some 40% lower. As imports from Burma stopped entirely and procurement from Mysore could not take place due to wartime disruptions, speculation and hoarding exacerbated the situation. The Gujarati and Mappila rice traders of Calicut were also to blame for the difficult times, for many were recorded as hoarding stocks. There were many other reasons too, and one you may find hard to believe was that rice was diverted to feed many European prisoners interned in India (Satara, Bangalore, the Nilgiri hill stations etc)! It was also noted by researchers that during the war years, workers used to work from 7 am to 5.30 pm; while post War, physical weakening due to malnutrition had reduced it to 8 am to 12.30 pm, showing the effects of the famine.

Interestingly the situation was brought up in the House of Lords – Huntingdon stated in Oct 1943 - I have no wish to give more of these harrowing figures. Those I have given are enough, I think, to confirm the dreadful stories of starvation and misery which are coming from India today, especially in the Deccan, and the States of Cochin and Travancore, and even more so in Bengal. Rice has risen over 950 per cent above pre-war prices and in some places even more. Not only is there a shortage of grain and rice, but there is also a great shortage of milk and milk products, and in fact foodstuffs of all kinds seem to be in great scarcity and at exorbitant prices. And whenever food is short cholera makes its appearance. In the Malabar districts 3,000 cases have been reported. Grim stories have come of patients not wishing to be cured of cholera, as the only alternative would be a slower death from starvation. There are also worse stories of parents deserting dying children, and children deserting parents, and even of children being sold for the price of food. But we do not need to stress these stories; I think the figures are enough to stir our imagination and to show how appalling the conditions in India must be.

Many others agreed, but as it appears, nothing came out of those pithy debates!

The administration turned a blind eye and to make the situation even worse, with agricultural work dwindling, many from the lowest classes became destitute. The cost of living index in Calicut, doubled. Rice cultivation in Malabar actually stabilized later in 1943, but all the produce was shipped to Assam for the military folks amassed to fight the Japs at the border. Meanwhile Bengal was also facing an acute famine, which got some amount of press and attention, but hardly any support. Millions died. Bose and the INA offered to ship rice from Burma for Bengal, but Churchill shot back that if he saw a single merchant ship in the Indian Ocean, it would be diverted to the Atlantic for needy Englishmen. To allies who were offering help to India, he stated that he could neither offer ships nor escort. And he informed them, crossly, that Indians, especially Bengalis, do not eat wheat.

In the twentieth century the import trade in rice was dominated by the Cutchi Memons, Gujaratis and Mappila merchants, at Calicut. They preferred Burmese rice because it was cheaper to ship them to Malabar rather than obtain rice from other northern centers. Interestingly, superior rice grown in Malabar was exported to other areas and the people of Malabar purchased cheaper rice imported from Burma. Cochin imported its rice/paddy requirements from Burma, Siam, and Indo- China. In Trichur a portion of the imported paddy was milled and re-exported to adjoining areas in pre-war times. The superior varieties grown in Chittur taluk were exported to Pollachi and Coimbatore markets. Cochin also received imported paddy and rice from Burma for re-distribution to Malabar.

Academically the situation in Malabar was starkly simple - Owing to the stoppage of imports amounting to about 300,000 tons of rice from Burma, the district of Malabar suffered very badly from shortage of food. The supplies obtained by Government to replace the imported rice came to 15,000 tons a month, which was reduced in 1942 December to 10,000 tons. In reality more than half of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore’s needs were being met by Burmese rice imports, and a loss of this as you can very well imagine, was not possible to counter. The results were malnutrition and disease.

Nobody was really bothered about the situation in Malabar, which by the way was simply dire. Malabar already in the throes of acute famine, was hit by a double whammy as resistance and disease immunity levels dropped. Disease stuck in waves as Malaria, Cholera and plague arrived. By February 43, Cholera had become an epidemic in Calicut. By June, July and August 1943, this virulent cholera strain dropped multitudes like flies in the heat. Initially, Cholera appeared in early June among the street beggars of Calicut. To prevent spreading of the epidemic in the city, these beggars were moved out to southern camps beyond the municipal limits of Calicut. This resulted in the infection spreading to the country villages.

Shankar - Cartoon depicting the Travancore situation

The inoculation drive was another problem. The ill trained vaccinators were not trained, they made the process extremely painful and used no disinfectants, scaring people even more. Tanur was hit as Calicut residents boarded the trains and got off there. Village officials refused to venture into any house where an affected person lived. Collector Mc Ewan and KV Suryanarayana Iyer the Municipal councilor tried hard in getting additional supplies, but getting any bureaucratic machinery to work during these panic stricken situations was perhaps impossible. The Malabar food committee had the Nilambur raja as chairman, and political parties as we saw formed their own helping committees. The taluks of Eranad, Ponnani and Calicut were most affected with a daily death toll of over 50. In Calicut, VR Nayanar’s Servants of India society, the Ramakrishna Mission, the Communist Party and the Malabar relief committee rose up to help. The congress led Cholera relief committee set up over 118 relief centers. Many orphanages sprung up. But one big issue in those days was the non-adaptability of Malabar food habits. Neither would they eat North Indian crops like Bajra, millet or wheat nor would they consume Travancorean Tapioca. As the situation became desperate the poorest of the poor subsisted on green leaves and grass on certain days, according to official records. Eventually, it just became a record of sorts, and it is simply mentioned that in 1943, in the midst of this epidemic, nearly 40,000 people died of cholera, dysentery and diarrhea.

Why Malabar got hit with this kind of a Cholera epidemic was an issue very much discussed in those days. While some administrators blamed unhygienic living, improper disposal of night soil in Calicut and so on, another story doing its rounds was that one last consignment of old Burmese rice sent from Madras to tide over the famine, early in 1943 was unhygienic. Some opined that the symptoms were not typical of Cholera but acute diarrhea.

Statutory rationing was started 1944 and a one pound rice limit was fixed for ration holders in Calicut. But this was conditional on them buying a certain amount of wheat and Ragi. Cochin interestingly led the efforts of weaning away its hungry poor from rice by starting Cochin restaurants making new wheat and millet dishes. Slowly the difficulties abated and matters stabilized in Malabar.

In neighboring Travancore, similar issues cropped up, as they were also affected by the rice export stoppage from Burma. They had an even harsher predicament for a short while as the Madras presidency refused to provide any rice to the kingdom of Travancore due to shortages in the Madras State.

Interestingly landowners prospered to a certain extent, while the Japanese attacks decimated the large food growing areas in SE Asia. South India was the only undisturbed place and despite the 43 famine, they prospered due to higher prices and guaranteed purchases by the government. For example coconut prices rose three fold, rice by 450% and rubber by 750 times. So you can imagine how these landowners fared and why that resulted in the creation of so many small private banks in the state. And this possibility of becoming a landowner and obtaining regular work, coupled with a linient Malabar tenancy act made a number of Travancoreans move and resettle in Malabar’s hilly traits.

But one should also observe how different people gained or lost from the Great War. Nelliyampathy in Palghat is a prime example. In 1943, the State of Cochin started a farm in Nelliyampathy to feed the British troops. Many private entrepreneurs, inspired by the market for oranges, converted abandoned coffee plantations to orange plantations. Though there has been a noticeable decline in the area under orange plantations, Nelliyampathy still has orange trees growing in about 240 acres of land.

Another classic is the story ‘Maram’ penned by NP Muhammad, of a saw mill worker in Kallayi who quietly stole driftwood owned by others and became a rich man, a ‘moilali’. A period short story with a love triangle, it details the 1940’s Calicut, mentioning among other matters, itinerant Moplah workers, demonstrating how fortunes can change a man and so on, ending with a gentle twist. Those interested can see the movie online if you google it and see the visuals from the old Kallayi.

All in all, it was a harrowing time. Large percentages of population were decimated, but perhaps some good came out of it after all. Food distribution took effect, rationing and food control came about, there was a realization that rice was not the only form of food and many people found some sense in education, immunizations, hygiene and being responsible for themselves.

And there was something else, the tremendous awe which the British were held in, rapidly dissipated. To the people the state, for once, due to the special circumstances of war, looked brittle and the British no longer in any semblance of control. Some of their selfish acts were exposed during this troubled time as their true color surfaced. The government as many saw, now looked marked for oblivion. Finally, the Indians came out of it with a reborn vigor and a resolve to drive the colonial powers back to Britain.

Most of all, as Robin Jeffrey observes, the war broke down many caste values, restrictions on travel, the value of education and a possibility to work anywhere. It was a direct result of this that the Malayali decided that he never wanted to be hungry and poor again or beg for food handouts. They moved and traveled after this, to seek better fortunes. Many enlisted in the army, and many joined labor battalions to work in Assam and Burma and with it started a new Kerala economy, that of incoming remittances from these hard workers, toiling not only in others parts of India but decades later, in difficult terrains and conditions, abroad.

It has remained so ever since and lo and behold, a few decades later, the Malayali food symbol morphed into the wheat (maida) porotta. Wheat based dishes such as the Upma (salt mango tree), Poori, Chappati, and the such entered mainstream. The traditional meal comprising a humongous heap of Burmese boiled rice on a plantain leaf with a curry or two, slowly receded to a distant memory.

References

State failure and human miseries – M Raghavan

Malabar Famine of 1943, a critique of the war situation in Malabar 1939-1943 - Priya P

Food control and Nutrition surveys Malabar and S Kanara – KG Sivaswamy and others

The Cry of Distress - K Santhanam

Politics Women & well-being – Robin Jeffrey

Food Crisis in the Malabar District 1945-47 - N Balasubramaniam

Authors Note

Initially I wanted to write a factual article, steeped in details. As I started to peruse the dense but erudite works of KG Sivaswamy, Kasturiranga Santhanam and the very detailed analysis of M Raghavan, as well as some of those terrible pictures of the sufferers, I grew increasingly pensive and angry. The initial draft had lots of statistics and reasoning which I assumed would be terribly boring to a young reader who I hope will never see, hear or experience a famine, ever. Their minds, I thought, steeped in modernity and some amount of excess would never understand all this, so I dropped the topic and deleted the old draft. But then again, it did not leave my mind, so what I rewrote was a milder version, which you see above. I can assure you my friends, that it was terrible in Calicut in the first three quarters of 1943, far worse than my pen picture, it was a time when hoarding and theft was rampant, when friends turned enemies and when hope left the masses of Malabar.

I was surprised to note that famed writers of that era did not record this in their books or stories. Basheer it seems did make some mention, but why did SK Pottekat abstain? Or am I wrong? Reader opinion solicited. Was it fear of censorship?

An attempt on Collector CA Innes’s life

Some articles ago, we studied the impact of the Turkish Khalifa, the Khilafat movement and its effects on the Malabar populace, culminating in the violence of 1921 and a terrible aftermath. We also studied about the discontentment amongst the Malabar Mappilas and the attempts of earlier British administration, especially HV Conolly in countering what was termed as the Mappila outrages resulting in the attempt at disarming the disaffected Mappila. As all these were progressing from phase to phase, many a foreign cleric entered the area to whip up the emotions of the relatively illiterate Eranad Mappilas. These have been well studied and recorded by various historians, forming three categories of texts, one by left leaning scribes attributing everything to land tenures and as the outburst of have nots, the British stories calling them revolts against the crown, to be dealt with a firm hand and thirdly the events as seen by the Hindu aristocracy of Malabar. Two lesser known events from the earlier days are not quite well reported in any of these collections, one being an attempt to kill a British collector and secondly the British attempt at mainstreaming the Mappila’s desire to fight. I will detail the first now and then in a later article provide information on the second.

If you recall, a number of armed and violent acts took place in the early 19^th century ending with the confiscation of the Mappila war knives and ending with the murder of HV Connolly in 1855. Logan was appointed to concentrate on the land tenure aspects, we studied his story as well. The administration did not quite accept his report and the general consensus was that the outbreaks were due to mixed motives, agrarian and fanatical. It was in this situation that Charles Alexander Innes was deputed to Malabar to enquire, as a settlement officer. He added his views to the above stating that poverty was a third cause, but that the overriding issue was fanaticism. He also concluded that the repressive orders of 1854 had a salutary effect and that things had largely been brought into a semblance of control.

Actually there were larger issues still at play and the Mahdis were seemingly at work, for in 1884 there was a major disturbance relating to the conversion and later reversion of a Tiyya man at Chembasseri. As the account reported by TL Strange stated, this man decided to revert back to Hinduism and the Chembasseri Mappilas, furious at the event, wounded the man, who complained to authorities and was compensated by the British administration. A Sudanese Mahdi or his Hungarian representative was considered to be the catalyst behind this and the British quickly sent in (perhaps the Dorset’s) troops from Bangalore who in a surprise swoop, promptly disarmed the whole Ernad taluk, taking away 9,000 firearms and 12,000 swords. Close to 8 years passed after that without any major issues.

In 1894 a terrible tragedy occurred, known as the Pandikkad event where some 32 Mappilas killed themselves in a fanatical outbreak and this was followed by an even more terrible event in 1896 when some 92 Mappilas of Chembaseri became martyrs at the Manjeri temple. Because they were mostly wanton acts with little by way of concrete reasons the Mappilas were placed in the backward class for educational purposes, by the British. But something positive was now being done, strategic roads were laid into Eranad and schools were started. The Mappilas were pulled into the mainstream with army employment, jobs in Singapore, Colombo and the rubber estates, the Kolar gold fields, timber depots at Kallayi and other locales. This resulted in relative peace until 1915. Hitchcock the other player in these stories had incidentally been deputed a few years earlier and was well placed in the Madras special police at Malappuram and heading the intelligence acquisition team. In addition the Pukoya Thangal had issued a pamphlet to his people, sternly denouncing outbreaks as acts opposed to true religion.

Two events were to cause the next set of disturbances, one being the disbandment of a Mappila army battalion (I will cover this in a later article) and the second being the start of the first world war, with Turkey and the Islamic Caliph on the side of the Axis powers. During the First World War, the Mappilas came to believe that Germany had accepted Islam and, with the entry of Turkey on its side, and that the defeat of the British and their allies had become inevitable. They believed that the Germans and the Turks would relieve them of the British and that all their rent, revenue demands and debts would thus be cancelled. Since 1911 (Turco-Italian war) the Mappilas had professed support for Turkey and a 40 day prayer was regularly conducted at the Perinthalmanna mosque in support of the Ottomans. Pilgrims returning from Mecca reaffirmed the rumors that the Turks and Germans were drubbing the British.

These wild rumors now spun into conclusions that the German army had landed in Bombay and with that the entire Ernad area was in a state of unrest. In Sept 1914, the German warship Emden shelled Madras and the news hit the region like a bolt from the blue. Soon the British needing the armymen elsewhere, replaced the regular army at the Malappuram barracks with a less experienced reserve battalion, manned by local recruits, with the result that the Ernad Mappilas now stepped on the gas, increasing dacoities and forced conversions (Wood 135-137). It was one such forced conversion that triggered the Innes event at Kalikavu.

Let’s now step back a bit and see how Charles Alexander Innes landed in the midst of all this. Born in 1874 in Secunderabad, Innes was educated at the Taylor Merchant School and later at St Johns College Oxford. He passed his ICS in 1897, and secured a posting in Madras, with his surgeon dad’s connections. Initially he worked as a settlement officer and provided all the main inputs for the imperial gazetteer, and the Malabar gazetteer, on Malabar and Anjengo, living in Malabar. In 1910 he was appointed as acting collector and later in 1911 as Collector, and Chief Magistrate of Malabar.

The conversion complaint reached Innes in Jan 1915. Innes (Malabar gazetteer p84-85) reports that a Tiyya boy aged 10-12 was apparently, quite willingly converted to Islam. As Innes records - His brother who had neglected him, complained. The district magistrate (Innes) found the facts proved and fined the Mappila responsible, Rs 50/- on a technical charge of kidnapping. Outside the immediate area, this was magnified as an apostasy forced by the District magistrate and a plot seems to have been formed to murder both the magistrate and the boy, commence dacoities and to collect arms and followers for an outbreak.

The claim that the boy was forcibly converted by one Seythali at Kalikavu was investigated by Innes. Seythali was nabbed and he admitted that he had directed the boy, who according him wanted to change religion, to the Musaliyar who did the needful. Innes traced out the boy and released him, who was stated to be underage by the examining doctor. According to custom only somebody above 15 could be converted. Since the boy was only 10-12, the conversion as deemed invalid, and the released boy was handed over to his brother. Seythali was fined Rs 50/- and the Musaliyar who did the conversion was spared by Innes, in the interest of communal harmony. What happened next was ‘the blown up reporting in the Calicut newspapers’ stating that the boy was definitely over 15 and that Innes had insulted Islam.

Most of the finer detail which follows comes from the fine work by Annie Jose, so with my thanks and appreciation, let me borrow some highlights from her paper so referred at the end, under references. Additional details come from the relevant sections of the Malappuram and Malabar Gazetteers.

Collectors as usual tour their districts and Innes was on the beat, at Melattur. Innes while resting at night on 25^th Feb 1915, was informed by the retired adhikari, Kunjunni Earadi (accompanied by a couple of Mappilas) that an attempt was being planned on his life for having released the Tiyya boy, by one Thangayathil Alavi and his cohorts. The plan according to what Innes learned, was to draw him to Wandur or Nilambur and murder him.

These days, you would see the action which followed in a different light. There would be screaming sirens, police cars, teams of police in pursuit of the villains, much shooting and shouting and dramatic car chases. But what actually happened was nothing remotely close to that, and is an interesting study.

Innes contacted Hitchcock, the Police Superintendent at Mapalappuram and informed him of the developments. He was to come to Karuvarakkundu with the required backup. Innes had been told that Alavi was to be found at Karuvarakkundu some 32km NE of Manjeri. So he set out to nab him on 27^thFeb, cycling from Melattur, all alone, in his bicycle. Along the jungle routes, was a hill, called Chuliot Mala. As Innes was cycling on the pathway, just beyond the stream, slowly up the hill, he heard the muted report of a gun.

In his own words, Innes reports “At first I did not realize what it was, then I looked over my shoulder and saw just above the road in the jungle, a Mappila with a smoking gun in his hand. The Cap had exploded, but the charge had not ignited either because it was damp or because it was not sufficiently rammed home. Thinking it was only one Mappila, I dismounted, but no sooner had I done so than I saw the movement of another Mappila in the bushes, and it suddenly stuck me that the outburst had begun and the plot to murder me in a lonely spot had materialized. Being unarmed and not knowing how many fanatics there was, I thought it would be foolish to linger any longer in so dangerous a neighborhood and I leaped on my cycle once again. The chain smashed immediately and leaving the useless bicycle on the road, I made a dash for a turn in the road about 50 yards, and I made my way as quickly as I could to Karuvarakundu police station”.

Hitchcock and his police team were notified, and they converged to Chuliot Mala in search of the perpetrators, who had escaped. Innes investigating the matter now discovered that some 5-8 people were involved in the plot and that they had now moved off to Kalikavu, and were in hiding.

The initial short report read thus - Five men ambushed Innes this morning. Gun missed fire. Innes had miraculous escape. Innes, Hitchcock and Elliot, pursued Mappillas all day in two parties without success. Number of rioters now reported to be eight with four guns.

The rebels then acquired another gun from one Kantodiyil Kuttan and were planning the next step when they were accosted by Sub Inspector Amoo who tried to get them to surrender. They shouted back at him that they would not, they had ‘taken care of the boy’, had shot the collector and that they were proceeding to the Ayyappankavu at Alanallur. They also told Amoo that he was welcome to bring in the white men (Vellaikar) or company (kompanikkar) i.e. MSP police to catch them. On the way they slashed at a Tiyyan with their sword (It is not clear however, if the converted boy was murdered by them). After reaching the temple, they barricaded themselves and planned their own death, to die as shahids.

SI Amoo informed Hitchcock, who proceeded to Alanallur with his RSP forces. Innes wanting to avoid bloodshed contacted the local Thangal and asked him to talk to the men barricaded in the temple. The Thangal tried telling them that they would be shot and that their bodies would be burnt. Meanwhile Hitchcock and his men had arrived and they took positions, cordoning off the temple, planning an assault for the morning hours. At dawn they charged and the Mappilas fired their guns from within, starting a brisk fusillade. It was as you can imagine, of little use and the British entered the temple soon after to see four of the plotters dead and one injured. The dead were Seythali (who had fired on Innes), Moideen Kutty, Kunjalan and Moideen. The injured person was the Tangayathil Alavi. To ensure no further issues, the dead were buried and not burnt as would have been the practice following police action.

Alavi and 7 others implicated in the plot were jailed or transported to other districts. Later on it was concluded that Pottayil Kunju Ahamed Musalliyar had initiated the whole thing during the Kappil nercha after stating that the boy was 15 years old. This musaliyar is believed to have nursed a grudge because his uncle had been deported during the 1880 outbreaks.

For the record, Innes summarized thus: As early as January 1915 there were signs of unrest in the "fanatical zone" manifested by an outbreak of both petty and grave crime. A Tiyya boy aged 10 or 12, apparently quite willingly, was taken into Islam. His brother who seems to have neglected him complained. The District Magistrate found ' the facts proved and fined the Mappilla responsible Rs. 50 on a technical charge of kidnapping. Outside the immediate area this was magnified into an apostasy forced by the District Magistrate and a plot seems to have been formed to murder both the Magistrate and the boy, commence dacoities and to collect arms and followers for an outbreak. The plot was discovered and the District Magistrate and District Superintendent of Police with a small force of police promptly went after the conspirators who "went out" in approved Sahid fashion. The District Magistrate (Mr. Innes) was ambushed on his way from Karuvarakundu to Pandikkad and narrowly escaped with his life. This was on 27th February. The reserve police special force and troops from Malappuram were brought into the threatened area (Manjeri-Pandalur-Pandikkad) and the five outlaws were eventually tracked down by a small party of police on 1st March and forced to take refuge in the Ayyappankavu temple at Alanallur. Police reinforcements with the District Magistrate and District Superintendent of Police arrived late that night. The necessary dispositions were made to prevent escape and the following morning the place was attacked. Four of the fanatics died fighting and one was captured severely wounded. Eight Mappillas including the wounded man were deported and kept either in jail or in other districts under Regulation II of 1819. Four Mappillas who had been arrested as a precautionary measure among them being the afterwards notorious Variankunnath Kunhamad HaJi and Potayil Ahamad Kutti Musaliyar were released, their apparent implication in the outbreak being, it was decided, an elaborate concoction of evidence by their enemies. The local Mappillas seem on the whole to have behaved well and gave substantial assistance in tracking down the outlaws.

Hitchcock was awarded the Kings Police Medal in 1916 ‘for heading off an uprising by the Mapillas’ which incidentally was this Kalikavu incident.

Charles did put in quite an attempt to study underlying causes. For example, he rightly states - “Tipu's brutal methods of obtaining converts to Islam, which drove the Rajas and thousands of their principal adherents out of their country broke up the social organism, and engendered a fierce and abiding hatred between Hindu and Muhammadan; and in 1792, when the British took over Malabar, this animosity had reached a dangerous height, and the foundations of law and order had been undermined”. He continued - The Mappila outbreak may be attributed to 3 main causes: poverty, agrarian discontent and fanaticism, of which the last is probably chief. Poverty is still extreme in the fanatic zone, and is no doubt still to some extent accentuated by the Mappila practice in the south of dividing up the property of the father among his wives, sons and daughters."

Charles Innes went on to submit an interesting study of various causes of agrarian discontent and suggest fixed terms for land tenure, but the government and his successor Evans disagreed. He was, I presume, on account of all this, moved out to serve as director of industries and the controller of munitions and later as the foodstuffs commissioner, in Madras. He then served as a member in the (got knighted in 1924) Governor General’s council. Innes left India in 1927 to take the position of Governor of Burma until 1932 where his Mappila experience was to bear fruit. More on all that, another day.

Kalikavu was to figure prominently during the Aug 1921 revolt too, when some of the rioters burned forty houses belonging to other Mappilas who did not associate with the revolt. It was also Chembasseri Thangal’s headquarters for a while. Later Stanley. P. Eaton, a planter of Pulleugude Estate, was murdered, when a large number of rioters entered Pullengode Estate, pursued Mr. Eaton, who was in his bungalow, and beheaded him. His bungalow was looted. His body was not recovered, but a bone which was found and believed to be that of Mr. Eaton was buried near the bridge. On Mr. Lescher's suggestion and with his help the Mappilas of Kalikavu seemingly erected a memorial to Mr. Eaton as their duty. During this revolt, the Chin-Kachin battalion from Burma was used to subdue the Mappilas of Kalikavu.

Later on in life and after Burma, CA Innes joined the board of the Mercantile Bank of India in 1933 and served as chairman of the bank from 1938 to 1952. The Mercantile Bank of Bombay, later Mercantile Bank of India went on to become part of the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank or HSBC in 1959, the same year CA Innes died. Innes was also the chairman of Mysore Gold Mining Company and was on the board of the Oriental Telephone and Electricity Company. He passed away on 28 June 1959. An interesting man, indeed.

References

The Kalikavu riot of 1915 (JOKS Vol8, 1981) – Annie Jose

Peasant revolt in Malabar – RH Hitchcock

The Mappila rebellion and its genesis – Conrad wood

Malabar Gazetteer Vol 1 – CA Innes

On the origins and history of the Rowther Muslims

Ravuttar, Rowther, Ravuther

Most people from Palghat would recognize this community name, for a number of them are settled in various parts of the district. As a child, I would hear stories of them being remnants of Hyder’s and Tipu’s cavalry forces. If you recall these forces were camped around Coimbatore, Pollachi, Dindigul and thereabouts during their many forays into Malabar. Growing up in Koduvayur, I came across many Rowthers, mainly traders in and around Palghat. The Palghat community spoke a kind of Tamil signifying that they once belonged to Tamil regions and were not connected with the Malayali Moplah communities. OV Vijayan frequently mentioned them in his books, and even had a few characters in his famous Khasakinte Ithihasam (legends of Khasak). That reminds me, it is time for a reread of that great book, I have forgotten most of it.

Recently a student asked me details on the Rowther’s, and since it had been in my plans to cover them sometime, I got hold of a few interesting articles and papers, and was soon engaged in pursuit of the origins and development of this interesting community. It was a tricky subject for I could glean that the narrative was over time getting tailored by vested interests, tending towards irrelevant Turkic origins. Anyway, let us see how it all came about though one thing is amply clear, that the term Ravuttan came from the Tamil ‘irauttar’ meaning horseman or cavalry trooper and that they once belonged to the Tamil regions. As times progressed, the uniqueness of the community seems to have suffered and Thurston even defines it as a title used by the Labbais, the Marakkayars and Jonagan Muslims of the Coromandel (The reasoning is that during the 19^thcentury many Tamil Muslims believed that any kind of martial ancestry gave them a superior status compared to a lowly trader or sailor).

As far as Tamil Muslims are concerned, the conversions and adaptions to Islam followed either out of trade or out of invasions. In the case of the Kayalars (Tarakanar - broker) and the matrilineal Marakkayars, the communities arouse out of intermingling with Arab traders at various sea ports such as Kayalpatanam and Kalakkadu. These Shafei School followers (though there are instances of Hanafi Marakkars) are better known to us, since a number of Marakkars graced Malabar history in later times. The low density Pattanis are Urdu speaking North Indian (also known as Dekhani – from Deccan) origin Muslims, while the Rowthers descended from Tamil Hindu communities which converted to Islam and later served as cavalrymen in the Nawab’s army. Many of the Pattanis went on to own land away from ports and classified themselves as Zamindars, living near their Sufi shrines or dargas.

Fanselow brings in an interesting dimension when he explains the origins of the Rowthers and the Tarakanars, he says they are people without a history, in that they lack any conventional, collective, standardized account of their origins, and possess only some vague and ambiguous legends purporting to be statements of their origin. But one thing was always clear, that they were once Hindus and they were Tamils who converted at some point in history, not from one caste, but from a wider spectrum of castes including Brahmins. Why they converted is also not clear, if it was caste reasons or due to saintly influences. Strange, but not so strange considering the above, is the fact that many of them preferred to support the DMK or AIDMK, rather than the Muslim league! The Marakkars and the Pattanis on the other hand always preferred to consider themselves non-Indian.

The Rowthers however insisted that they were just like any other Muslim and not influenced by caste claims such as foreign or first Muslims etc. in order to create separations or hierarchies. They started out as a client community, under the Pattanis and the Marakkayars descendants of the Nawab’s soldiers during the 18^th century. Once the Nawab’s rule was replaced by the British, the Rowthers started to adopt new professions and moved to new regions. As the Madras presidency started reclassification, the Rowthers and Tarakanars were placed in the Labbai Tamil speaking category, while the others remained in an Urdu speaking category. From a strict point of view the Rowthers belong to the Hanafi sect, though they generally take no objections to marrying the Shafi sect Tarakanars. The Rowthers incidentally are called Appa Kootam while the Tarakanars are termed the Wapa Kootam, from the way their fathers are called. In a social level, the Rowthers stood between the Trakanar on the low end and the Pattani on the high end and both communities still carried some of their old Hindu beliefs and traditions.

JBP More contends that even during the time of the Hindu rulers in Tamilakam, the horsemen were known as Ravuta or Ravats and the term is seen in Tamil literature as early as the eighth century. It is also interesting to note that the earliest conversions in Madurai were carried out by Sufi saints and before the arrival of the Delhi Sultans. The terms used after the arrival of the Turkic sultans are as we know, Tulukan or Tulukar and until the 16rth century, there were just three categories, Tulukar, Ravuttar and Sonagar (Chongar or Yonaka). Note here that the Sonagars originally encompassed the Arab origin Labbais and Marakkayar communities and later on were associated only with the Marakkayars.

BA Beeran’s thesis however provides differing origins – he states (Citing Kamal’s book Muslimgalum Tamilagamum) “The Tamil speaking Muslims of central and south central areas of Tamil Nadu are understood as Rowthers. The ancestors of the Muslims of Rowther group were attached to horses. The wide utility of horses was not known to the people of Tamil country up to the medieval period. When the later Cholas and Pandyas understood the importance of horses of Arabia and their usage, they contacted Arab horse traders for the supply of horses. Accordingly, the traders brought horses in large number to the ports of Malabar, Konkan and Coromandel coasts. From there they were brought to interior parts of Chola and Pandya kingdoms. Along with horses, the Arabs arrived in Tamil Nadu as traders, agents, trainers, breeders and soldiers and settled down in the Tamil Kingdoms. They were also known as Kudirai chettigal. Some of them married Tamil women and converted Tamil population into Islam. In course of time, the descendants of the Arabs, offspring of the Arabs and the converts constituted a Muslim community which was named after their profession. Thus emerged the group called Rowthers among the Muslims of Tamil Nadu”. This as you may note contradicts the inferences of all other researchers.

He adds - Considering the territorial origin, the Rowthers are classified into a number of denominations which are named after their profession and areas from where they migrated to different parts of Tamil Nadu and settled down. Parimala Jamath, Puliyankudiyar, Eruthukarar, Vaigaikarayars, Nallampillayar, Musuriyar, Jambaikkars and Palakkad Muslims are the major denominations. The Parimala faction for example, migrated from Nagalapuram, Kovilpatti and Ettayapuram of Tirunelveli district to different pockets of Tamil Nadu are collectively named as Parimala Jamath (perfume trading). Puliyankudiyar were the migrants from Puliyankudi, a town in Tirunelveli district. Their origin was Karupatti a town located near Cholavandan, on the banks of river Vaigai. Being the migrants from banks of Vaigai they are styled as Vaigaikarayars. Those belonging to Eruthukarar group are seen in Tenkasi, Rajapalayam and Cumbum. The earlier generations of them were cattle breeders and traders through which they obtained the name Eruthukarar, a Tamil word meaning people dealing with Bulls. Members of this group living in Cumbum are understood as Rajapalayattar as they migrated from Rajapalayam. The Nallampillayar group is inhabited in Dindigul and Theni districts. Their ancestors belonged to Nallampillai village, located near Attur of Dindigul district. It was founded by Chinnakattiranayakan, Poligar of Kannivadi. In course of time a batch moved towards west and inhabited at Uthamapalayam, Cumbum and Gudalur, towns in Cumbum valley. They were basically agriculturalists.

The Muslim migrants from Musuri, a town of Karur district are called as Musuriyar. Their major settlements are eight in number located at Velvarkottai, Ilangakuruchi, Pillathu, Sittuvarpatti, Rajakkapatti, Puttanatham, Natham and Kovilur of Dindigul district. They have engaged in trade, professions and small scale industries. The Muslims who trace their origin from Ilayankudi and nearby areas to it in Sivagangai district claim themselves as Ilayankudiyars and they are found in Paramakudi, Chennai, Thiruchirappalli, Madurai, Poona and few towns of Karnataka and Kerala. They engaged in trade in leather, rice, grains and groceries in Burma and Malaysia before the Second World War. The Muslims hailed from Jambai, village located near Bavani town of Erode district are understood as Jambaikkarars. They are now inhabited at Erode, Avinasi, Mettuppalayam, Edappadi, Kothagiri and Conoor, they are engaged in leather, iron and jewelry business from 1970’s through which they have attained upper middle income status.

The Muslim migrants from Pothanur, Kuniyamutthur and fort area of Coimbatore and Pollachi are concentrated at Pudunagakaram, Tattamangalam and Kolinjamparai, towns of Palakkad districts of Kerala. . They are the Palakkad Muslims. Speaking Tamil they have flourished in rice, iron and real-estate business and maintained matrimonial links with the families of the places from where they migrated.

The Ravuttans of Madura and Trichinopoly believe that they were persuaded to change their religion by Nathadvali whose tomb exists at Trichinopoly and bears the date of his death 417 A.D. Among the Ravuttans there are also the Nagasurakkarar and the Vettilaikodikarar who yielded a place of honor at social functions to the members of the other sub-divisions. "Rabithu" in Arabic, ' Ravuth" in Telugu "Raw in Tamil, "Rahootha" in Sanskrit - all terms are titles connected with horse traders, cavalry soldiers, horse riding or training and this title was applied to all those who were connected with these activities; later it came to be retained by a section of Tamil speaking Muslims only.

Mohammed Raja’s research concludes the following - The well-known legend of the Siva Saint Manikkavasalgar of the eighth century A.D. is connected with the purchase of horses for the Pandya king. In that the Lord Siva who appeared in disguise as a horseman to protect Manickavasagar and he is called by the name Rawther ‘Lord Muruga is praised as Rawther by saint Arunagiri. Thus the term Rawthar was also being used as a title of respect and honor. Though the present day Rawther Muslims are without horses and activities connected with it, the title Rawther stayed among them and was faithfully followed to this day. There are many place names like Rawthamatham (Kallakurichi) Rawthanpatti (Kulithalai) Rawthan Vayal (Pudukkottai Dt) Rawthanpalayam (Thiruneiveli). These places might have been their early settlements or their stronghold. They remember their ancient trade and heroic valor in their marriage ceremonies and the bridegroom is conducted in procession on a horse.

Qadir Khan deals with the subject differently, showing that there had been much intermingling and misunderstanding during his times. He states ‘To this day, in the midst of whole areas peopled by Ravuttans, it is not uncommon to find single families of priests, preserving their original purity and enjoying the universal respect of the people around them. Like the Dakhnis these converted classes are as a rule Hanafites. Though Musalmans, they have naturally retained many of their original customs. The Ravuttans, as the derivation of the name from the Marathi Rava, ‘King’ and the Sanskrit ‘duta’ messenger signifies, were originally a class of cavaliers or horse-soldiers whose occupation was to look after and train horses. They seem to have been once largely employed in Tippu Sultan’s cavalry. They are mostly scattered in the Tamil districts, their centers being Melur and Palni in Madura, Pettai in Tinnevelly, and Pallapatti in Coimibatore. A great many of them live in the Vellore and North Arcot Districts, where however they have come under Dakhni influence to such an extent in dress, manners and even in language, that they form a separate class by themselves and are called 'Sahebmars'. The Sahebmars pretend to an Arabian descent like that of the Mappillai or the Marakkayars, but as Dr. Thurston puts it “their high nasal index and short stature indicate the lasting influence of short broad-nosed ancestors. The different sections of Ravuttans were converted at various times by missionaries who are venerated as saints and whose tombs exist to the present day. The most famous of these are the Nathad Vali (969-1039 A. p.) of Trichinoply, Syed Ibrahim Shahid (born about 1162 a. d.) of Srvadi, Sha-ul-Hamid (1532 to 1600 a. D.) of Nagore. The Ravuthans are a pushing and frugal not to say a parsimonious class. They have no dynastic longings or recollections like other Musalmans. They conduct the important trade in leather and do a great deal of the commerce of the country. Some of them earn a livelihood in making mats and in betel cultivation in both of which they are especially skillful’.

One thing I noted as I perused different accounts is the fact that while one expert stated that a community followed the Hanafi sect, the other would mention that they were actually Shafei. What this demonstrates is that there was some amount of intermingling over time and when they migrated to farther lands, the practices followed seems to have changed. One example is the case of marakkayars. While the studies in the Tamil ports showed that they were Shafeii, the studies of Mathur in Kerala mentions them as Hanafi’s. Similar is the case of Rowthers in Kerala, they belong to both sects and arrived at first in Palghat and Muvattupuzha, but spread all over now. The Palghat Rowthers are usually Shafei and seen in Pudunagaram, Kozhinampara, Koduvayur, Pudukode and Melrkode, and were traditionally weavers. It may also be noted that the Shafi Muslims in Travancore were termed as Methans.

Many Rowthers of Travancore adopted the Pillai surname and placed themselves above the Mappila. Interestingly a Rowther could walk through a Brahmin Agraharam, whereas a Tiyya or Ezhava was not allowed to! And they did not eat food cooked by an Ezhava or Tiyya! The old and established Rawther families even identified with a particular vamsam name which traces their Hindu origins. They celebrated the child’s first haircut, and the circumcision ceremony was according to Mattis, called Khatna ceremony (done in the old days by the barber – Ossan), rather than Sunnath. And like the Pattanis who were usually the moneylenders, some Rowthers also partook in this trade, accepting interest.

As far as migration to Kerala is concerned it is said that Pandyan persecution or post Nawab constraints led them to migrate, and they did, to Palghat, Trichur, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Quilon areas. Typical professions they adopted earlier were as butchers, frozen fish and meat vendors and petty vendors. Some of the Shafi Rowthers continued cloth weaving while others managed and indulged in Beedi manufacture. In Tamilnadu however, they excelled in trading dried lentils, betelnuts as well as beedi leaves and cloth. Known to have no qualms about travel, they were always shrewd businessmen.

As we saw earlier, the Kayalars had more slang in their Tamil and were Wappas while the Rowthers and Labbais were the Appas. For the Rowther, mother was amma, while it was Umma for the marakkar and brother was kaka for the Marakkar, while it was annan for the Rawther. Sister was raata for Marakkar while it was akka for Rowther. Grandfather was Appa for the Marakkar while it was tatta for Rowther.

And that brings us to the story of another demigod, the Muttal ravuttan, very much a part of the Draupadi cult of Tamilnadu, especially Gingee where the Ravuttan signifies a Muslim horseman, Draupadi’s guardian, and as Wendy Doniger puts it, ‘a folk memory of the historical figure of the Muslim warrior on horseback, whether he be the sufi warrior leading his band of followers or the leader of an imperial army of conquest’. At the Chinna Salem temple, the offerings to Muttal Ravuttan include marijuana, opium, cigars and Kollu (muthira – horse gram) for his symbolic white flying horse. The Muttal Ravuttan himself is known by many names, such as Muttal Rajputan (from Nepal), Muttal raja, Muttal Rajaputtiran etc. As the story goes, Muttal Ravuttan was born in Gingee. One night he had a dream in which Draupadi-amman told him that she would give him whatever he desired if he would sacrifice a pregnant woman to her. Muttal Ravuttan had a pregnant younger sister named Pal Varicai (Row of Teeth). He readied her for sacrifice, but Draupadi stopped him, thinking: "She is a woman like me." She praised Muttal Ravuttan's dedication, however, and told him that she would still grant him a boon. Whatever he thought of would be done; but he must give up his religion and come serve at her residence (i.e., her temple): "Serving at my feet, you can live with me." Muttal Ravuttan thus gave up his religion and came to serve Draupadi. Henceforth it was agreed that she would receive pure offerings of milk, flowers, vegetables, and fruits. And he would receive live sacrifices (uyirinankal paliyitutal; i.e., blood sacrifices) such as cocks, goats, and even humans.And Muttal Ravuttan, after he has apparently been tested by Draupadi in the dream that nearly brings him to sacrifice his pregnant younger sister, is told not to perform this rite before he "converts" to Draupadi's service as the guardian who accepts animal "and human" offerings. He thus gives up his mantravadi ways and his Muslim religion, but at the same time retains such traits, turning his "meat-eating'' religion and his magical gifts to the advantage of the "purer" Hindu deity whose grace now extends, in return, to include Muslims. There are many more versions, such as the Mutalakkani story where Muttal Ravuttan was the Muslim field general of a Hindu king named Muttala Maharaja of the North Indian kingdom of Muttalappuram who came over to serve the Pandavas when the king married his daughter Muttalakkanni to Dharma. Muttal Ravuttan did this because he had always been devoted to Muttalakkanni, and wanted to serve her until his death. So he also served the Pandavas as the guardian of the northern gate of their palace. Those interested in these myths and legends may refer to the two part work by Alf Hiletbeitel.

When they arrived in Kerala is not quite clear, but loose figures of different waves over 900 years are floated, some of them could have been the descendants of the Muslim soldiers who faithfully followed their Pandyan masters to Poonjar(1152 C.E) and Pandalam. Then again it is said that Raja Kesavadas invited them when Alappuzha port was formed, and during the later years (1799 - 1805), some Rowthers had to flee the religious persecution in the Polygar areas to settle down in the eastern parts of Kerala. Conversely, some Meenakshipuram Muslims also belong to the Ravuttar descendants of converts who served in the army of the Nawab of Arcot defending the area against neighboring Travancore in the early 18th century. There is also a strong belief that Ayyappan was a Vellalla and the close relationship enjoyed by the Rowthers and Velallas in the eastern districts of Kerala point to the possibility of Vavar being a Rowther Muslim. Their marriage symbol is a Thali (in the old days tied by the grooms sister), and are a patrilocal community

So that was a little journey into the past of the Rowther, a community which Fanselow stated had no history. Conjuncture put them as converted Hindus of Tamil Nadu, who originally served as cavalry to many kings. Over time, they migrated to various parts of S India, and Kerala as well. Today many of them are all well integrated into the vibrant Kerala Muslim community, dispersed into many occupations, and very well educated.

References

The disinvention of caste among Tamil Muslims – Frank S. Fanselow (Caste Today - CJ Fuller)

A handbook of Kerala Vol 2– T Madhava Menon

Social stratification among the Muslims of Kerala - PRG Mathur (Frontiers of embedded Muslim communities in India – Ed Vinod K Jairath)

The Political evolution of Muslims in Tamilnadu and Madras 1930-1947 - J.B.P More

Muslim merchants – Mattison Mines

The cult of Draupadi - Parts 1 & 2 – Alf Hiletbeitel

Muslims of Tamil Nadu and hajj pilgrimage to Makkah (Thesis) – Basheer Ahmad Beeran

Muslims of Tamil Nadu 712 to 1947 A D a study - Jan, S F Naseem

Muslim politics in Tamilnadu 1906_1947 (Thesis) - Nazeer Ahamed, M

Maritime activities economy and social customs of the Muslims of Coromandel Coast 1750-1900 (Thesis) - Mohamad, J Raja

South Indian Mussalmans – Qadir Hussain Khan

Islamisation and Muslim Ethnicity in South India - Mattison Mines (Man, New Series, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Sep., 1975), pp. 404-419)

Islam in Tamilnadu: Varia TORSTEN TSCHACHER (In German)

People of India – Kerala – Vol XXVII, Ed KS Singh, (Rowthers D Tyagi)

Much is written about the voyages of Cheng Ho. In fact there is even a voluminous book just listing bibliography of published works detailing Cheng Ho’s life and time. But how much of all that is conjecture, myth, lore and legend and how much of it is fact? That seems to be the biggest problem, because the scribes of the Ming period rewrote history and fudged fact with fiction with impunity, so much so that filtering truth from them is an art in itself. The importance of the voyages, the treasure ships themselves which awed and terrified onlookers from any shore, the expenses in making them, the reasons for these voyages and the reasons which ended the voyages are still steeped in mystery. The man behind it all, the seven foot tall Muslim eunuch, is who they say brought Islam to Melacca, defeated pirates, established relations and leaders, fought a war with a Lankan Monarch and took away Buddha’s tooth to Nanking. But Zheng He or Cheng Ho, who suddenly found himself adrift when his patron Chu Ti (Zhu Di - the Yong Le, Yung Lo monarch) passed away mysteriously, also met a mysterious end.

Those 35 or so years in history are testament to the heights reached by the Ming dynasty and the depths they sunk to, as events took its toll on the uncle who usurped the throne from his nephew. They are all connected in a way and it is always interesting to see just how fate intervened and upset a merrily trundling apple cart. And for that, we have to start at the very beginning with an ill-fated child king named Chien Wen, for it is, as Julie Andrews put it , ‘a very good place, to start’.

The Chien Wen period 1398-1402 was a turbulent phase in Ming history. It is closely tied to the succession issues which cropped up after Chu Yuan-Chan, the Hung Wu (1368-1398) Ming emperor died. Even though he had a number of powerful sons well placed in positions of governance in various provinces, he chose Chu Piao, the son of his principal consort Ma as his crown prince and successor, but as destiny would have it, this bloke passed away before his father, in 1392. The Emperor for some reason then chose this Chu Piao’s second son and his grandson, the 15 year old Chu Yun-Wen, as the crown prince. Chu Yun-wen ascended the throne in Nanking on 30 June 1398, at the age of twenty-one, a few days after his grandfather's death, much to the dismay of Chu Ti, his powerful warrior uncle, the 4^th son of Chu Yuan-Chan and Prince of the Yan province (Yanjing, Beiping, Peking, Beijing). The position was very important for it was the Mongol frontier and at that time, an invasion by Timur was anticipated. Thus started the apparently benevolent Chien Wen reign, a period which is still a mystery due to its erasure from all records by Chu Ti, who usurped the throne a few years later following a civil war and much intrigue.

JianWen - Chu Yun-Wen

The changes the new emperor brought about were more for centralized governmental rule and the enforcement of the rule of civil law, reduction of taxes and finally clipping the powers of the regional chieftains, i.e. his own uncles, by abolishing their princedoms. But naturally, they were furious and the person who spearheaded the rebellion was the lone remaining (of the 5 who fell, two had died) Yen prince, his uncle Chu Ti. Now one should also take note that a rule existed that no princes should head to the Emperor’s capital Nanking (Nanjing) in the South unless there was a potential threat against the emperor by wicked officials. Secondly Chu Ti’s sons were being held in Nanjing as hostages. In 1399, Chu Yen-Wen made a blunder by sending back those sons to Peiping and Chu TI seizing the opportunity, rose against his nephew resulting in a 3 year civil war. By mid-1402, Chu Ti and his eunuch supported army (Zheng He included) broke through the Chin Chuan palace gates which had been clandestinely kept open by conspirators.

During the melee that followed with the arrival of the Yen prince's armies, the palace compound within the Nanking city walls was set ablaze. When the fire subsided, several badly burned bodies were produced and declared to be those of the emperor, his wife empress Ma, and his eldest son.The emperor's second son, Chu Wen-kuei, just two years old, was captured along with other surviving members of the imperial family. He was spared but was jailed with the others and released many years later. The true fate of the deposed Chien Wen emperor however remained a mystery.

As legends go, Chu Yun-Wen knew what was coming. He had been provided a lacquer box some time ago by a monk. He opened this, as Chu Ti broke through the gates. The sealed box contained a tonsuring knife, 10 pieces of silver and monk’s garb, enabling him and nine followers to escape from the palace through a secret passage. Some 13 more followers joined them later in exile. So stated the lore.

Yongle - Chu Ti

Chu Ti took over as a new emperor after ensuring that his nephews reign was expunged from all records and proclaimed the following year, as the first in the reign of Yung-lo (Lasting joy). Nevertheless, there was as it seems, popular sympathy for the previous emperor’s suffering and legends about his mysterious fate spread. Whether Chu Yun-wen died in a palace fire (as was officially announced) or escaped in disguise to live many more years as a recluse is perhaps a puzzle that troubled Chu Ti until his own death and has been a subject of conjecture by Chinese historians ever since. Some believe that Chu Ti did little to kill the rumors because he wanted people to believe that he had not killed his nephew, and had taken over the throne at a time of unrest in the country’s best interests. Whatever said, he would have desired to know where Chu Yen-Wen was and keep an eye on him.

The first Zhu Di confidante who was sent out to track down the Chien Wen emperor in the land areas around Nanjing and afar was one Hu Jung. He set out and came back twice with no information but assured the emperor that Chu Yun-Wen had no populist support and was no more a challenge. Many years later, in 1440 a monk named Yang Hising Hisiang appeared with 12 followers and claimed to be the Chien Wen emperor but this was quickly debunked as he was over 90 years old and the real emperor would have only been 64.

Zheng He’s (Ma he, San bao or Cheng Ho) association with Chu Ti had started in the 1380’s after he was captured from the Mongol armies and was castrated to become a eunuch. A huge, commanding man (his family records claim that he was seven feet tall, with a waist five feet in circumference, glaring eyes, and a stentorian voice), he was considered to be a fierce warrior and was very much involved in campaigns against the Mongols from 1393 to 1397. He is also believed to have played a key role in Chu Ti's move to Nanjing and the usurpation of the throne. Chu Ti was now in place, the eunuchs had replaced the scheming monks and the king was building up his image and power base while planning a move of the nation’s capital to Beijing. Getting back to the Chien Wen story, it was believed by some that Zhu Di requested Zheng to check all sea ports and countries he visited, if the Chien Wen emperor was hiding in any of those nations.

Meanwhile, Chu Ti was perturbed with the relations with Timur the Mongol whom he feared the most, for his envoys had not returned, not did those his father had sent some years earlier and it was becoming clear that Timur wanted to annex China next. Timur deputed his armies to build forts and farm the land at the borders well ahead of his attack so that when his large armies arrived, they had no supply issues. In Dec 1404, he commenced his march to China with some 200,000 troops. But as luck would have it, he died enroute in Feb 1405 and his son Shahrukh decided that war with China was not a good idea.

This was the background to the Ming voyages touching ports at South East Asia and South India. Many reasons were provided by subsequent historians as to why these apparently expensive voyages were planned and carried out under the captainship of Cheng Ho. While it could have very much been for the new monarch (who had secured the throne by force) to cement his position and obtain a tacit approval and formal recognition from the rest of the neighboring countries, especially those they traded with, it could have been a number of other reasons.

The reasons usually discussed are a) to search for and weed out the deposed Chien Wen emperor Chu Yun-wen, who was rumored to be wandering around the SE Asian countries in the guise of a monk b) to obtain support from Muslim countries and ward off a potential invasion by Timur c) encourage tributes and endorsement by the various foreign states of the fragile legitimacy of the new emperor d) to display China’s military prowess and extend the new emperor’s political influence e) to bolster and improve trade relations e) Southern expansion policy f) to fight off piracy in the South China seas.

It is quite clear that there was no need for a huge armada to go hunting for the Chien Wen emperor who was actually rumored to be lurking in the North Vietnam (Annam) area (South Vietnam was Champa) . Also by that time private shipping was virtually banned and only state sponsored ships piled the seas. But then again, Zhu Di could always have asked Zheng He to keep an eye out and the ears open for news about the absconding emperor. So that was not a reason, nor was the Timur invasion a reason for the attack was aborted and Chu Ti would definitely have heard of Timur’s demise, in time.

A treasure ship

Starting in 1405, six expeditions were launched and continued through the reign of Chu Ti. With Chu Ti’s mysterious demise, the expeditions stopped, though a final 7^th voyage captained by Cheng Ho traversed SE Asia, circumvented South India and touched African shores, one last time. When the ships came back, they were without their admiral, for he had met his end, as they say, at Calicut in 1433. The voyages, their composition and the routes are covered in so many sources, so I will not get into them. But let us for a moment check again some of the remaining reasons. Why were they launched with much fanfare and expense, when the very same Chinese had already been trading with the very same countries for many centuries before the Mings? They had a tributary system in place with Maabar and Quilon, as well as many other countries since the Sung period (I had covered some of this in the Sha-mi-Ti mystery article)

During the Sung period, foreign trade flourished under private management, and half of the government's revenue came in the form of returns from monopolies and excise taxes. As much as twenty per cent of the cash income of the state came from maritime trade. The Emperor even stated: The profits from maritime commerce are very great. If properly man- aged they can be millions (of strings of cash). Is it not better than taxing the people? Before the fall of K'ai-feng in 1127, thirty-five per cent of the tribute with trade missions came to China by land and sixty-five per cent by sea. After this date, all tributes came by sea. So you can imagine how important sea trade was to China in those times and this continued through the Yuan period.

Even before Kublai Khan’s regime, Maabar was considered a Chinese tributary. During the Yuan period, Yang Tingbi had been deputed in 1280 to secure Qulion’s participation, perhaps also some other kingdoms with ports such as Xincun matou (Punnaikayal). Later, several delegations were sent from China either to Maabar and Quilon and, in fact, tribute trade between South India and Yuan-China flourished – particularly between Quilon and China as attested, for example, by Ibn Battuta.

During the early Ming period, even though maritime commerce was an exclusive monopoly of the state, and they believed in a larger Chinese world, the state readily accepted the contributions of the Arabs and Hindus in the fields of astronomy, geography and navigation. Places like Calicut and Berawala were of "strategic" importance within the larger networks of fifteenth century emporia trading, whereas older locales such as Kayal only had a minor significance (Perhaps due to the silting up of coastal waters in the Tambraparni delta and a subsequent deterioration of harbor facilities). So one reason would have been to cement ties with the Calicut Zamorin after the rise of Calicut and its establishment as a port. That the Chinese were close by and observing all this, is clear with the Chaliyum activities, as previously discussed when I mentioned the Sha-mi-ti story.

And so the trips continued, tributes were made, Zheng he and party came and went a few times, they meddled around with some local affairs, placed steles and promoted trade, got some ‘ponnadas’ now and then for Zhu di. Large numbers of people came and went with the treasure voyages, ambassadors went and came back presumably with stories of the magnificence of China, especially the Forbidden City. Many who studied these made mentions of immense expenses incurred in these voyages, with good returns due to the opening up and promotion of trade with China. The treasure ships came back laden with what the Chinese needed. Glue, Gum, Cobalt blue, pepper, spices, hides, wood and so on arrived, while silk, clothes, umbrellas (palm leaf type), paper currency left its shores to pay for the goods.

The ships themselves were not that much of a drain to the state as is widely believed. Of the 2342 ships ordered during 1403-12, some 62-94 were large treasure ships. Also, 249 older transport ships were converted to handle Ocean voyages in 1408. An ocean going ship in 1408 cost aproximately 1000 piculs of rice (375 taels). Considering the state revenue which was 30 million piculs of rice or approximately 200,000 taels of silver, this shipbuilding was not really a huge drain on the coffers (in 1408) as some scholars felt. But by 1410 floods arrived, accompanied by famines and plague and the decade which followed was a disaster period (some felt that the plague came with Zheng he’s ships return voyages). Deaths were numerous and Chu Ti responded with subsidies to farmers and reduction of taxes. From 30 million piculs of rice, the state revenue dropped to 20 million. But Chinese reputation suffered and the paper currency depreciated terribly. A thousand strings of 1000 paper cash which fetched 1000 taels of silver or 250 taels of gold during the Hung-wu (pre Chien Wen) era was now worth only 12 taels of silver or 2.5 teals of gold!

As the Chinese economy suffered, the Mongols in the north invaded and troubles in southern Annam (Vietnam) areas surfaced. Chu Ti moved the capital to Peking in 1421 and further away from the sea ports at a huge expense. Perhaps many of these voyages were also meant to bring in material and equipment for the new capital, but that is a topic we will revisit another day. The entire expense in creating this new capital, feting of other nations ambassadors and so on was frowned upon by Chu Ti’s bureaucrats while he was busy trying to shore up the country against the marauding Mongols in the North leaving his son Shan Chi in command at Peking. All government expense was slashed, travel was curtailed and the treasure ship voyages temporarily stopped. But the 6^th voyage of Cheng Ho was already planned and there were embassies of 19 states waiting to go back home. As the Mongols attacked from the north, Hsia Yuan Chi, Chu Ti’s commerce minister protested, was jailed and his war minister killed. Chu Ti then set out on his 5^thcampaign to take charge of the battles personally.

On August 12, 1424, the 64-year-old Yongle Emperor Chu Ti died on the march back to Beijing, at Yumachuan, after a fruitless search for the fleeing Oirats. Some say he was frustrated at his inability to catch up with his swift opponents, and that he fell into a deep depression and illness, possibly owing to a series of minor strokes or as one mention states, elixir poisoning. Some accounts mention that the emperor was partially paralyzed and took potions laced with arsenic as a stimulant and may have been slowly dying of arsenic poisoning. The king who was famous for his one finger Ch’an (whenever Chu-Ti was asked anything, he would just raise one finger) was gone.

Shan Chi took over, reinstated Hsia Yuan Chi as finance minister, reduced taxes and brought about a series of austerity measures. All sea voyages were banned. All imports were stopped, so also purchase of horses and teak. But there was a problem with the large numbers of crews (some 200,000 of them) in Cheng Ho’s fleet. Shan Chi ordered Zheng He’s deputies to round up all those sailors and proceed to Nanjing and garrison the palace.

Cheng Ho had at this point of time been deputed on a special mission to Palembang, in order to confer a seal of office on the Ming appointed Chinese chief of that Sumatran city. He knew of his master’s death only after he returned. He was then placed in command of the Nanjing palace forces in 1425. The new king now decided to move the capital back to Nanjing but he died in the same year. The sailors were next put to work on repairing the palaces at Nanjing and the great tomb of Chu Ti. Later as the insurgence in Annam grew, many of these sailors were sent south to fight that battle, but as fate would have it, they were trapped and many were decimated. Some were deputed to the grain transportation barge service.

Cheng Ho continued to work on palace repairs with the remaining men, even requesting the new monarch that they be rewarded for their hard work, but got his wrists slapped for making frivolous requests. They were then commanded to complete the mausoleum for the empress Ma. Presumably many were frustrated about all this and a number of them dispersed, many retrained themselves for other jobs and thus the huge number of sailors of the great treasure voyages were soon mostly gone.

No more ships were built, for those shipwrights were no longer available, and the stores had no supplies of wood or other building material, by 1426. The techniques of constructing these massive ships had also been lost. In fact much of that wood was given to the people of Nanking in 1424, when there were fuel shortages, for a pittance. Many of the remaining 118,000 shipbuilders were moved in 1426 to Peking in order to build the mausoleum for the Hung-hsi emperor.

In 1430, the finance minister Hsia Yuan chi died and the new king finally sanctioned the last or 7^th voyage. It took a year for Cheng Ho to get everything ready, and it was made up of reconditioned ships from earlier voyages and a few sailors Cheng Ho could find, plus a few new recruits. The voyage which set out in 1431 returned after two years, this time also touching new shores in Africa and the Middle East and Mecca. That Cheng Ho died in this voyage is clear, for in 1434, Wang Cheng was appointed to his post as chief supervisor of the department of ceremonials.

Cheng Ho as is reported, died at Calicut and was apparently buried at Niu-erh-shan outside Nanking. The ships were in Calicut in the last days of March and Mid-April 1433, so that was the time when he passed away. And with his demise, the death knell was sounded on the Ming voyages. The economy continued to deteriorate, the troubles in Annam became worse and the new emperor had to sue with them for peace. Up North, the Chinese lost to the Mongols and the Ming king was taken prisoner. And with all that, Ming China shuttered its gates, ports, and shores, effectively walling itself off from the outside world.

A dynamic era had come to a close….

People ask, what would have happened if Cheng Ho had to contend with the new entrants, the Portuguese, at the shores of Malabar? It is difficult to say, but with the information above, it is apparent that the contest would not have been one sided or fully in favor of the Chinese, but at the same time, the Portuguese would not have acted with impunity as they did, after 1498.

References

The Cambridge History of China- Volume 7, the Ming Dynasty 1368-1644

Yuan and Early Ming Notices on the Kayal Area in South India – Roderich Ptak

The Emergence of China as a Sea Power during the Late Sung and Early Yuan Periods: Jung-Pang Lo

The termination of the early Ming naval expeditions (papers in honor of Prof Woodbridge Bingham) – Jung-Pang Lo

The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200-1450 - Tansen Sen

Cheng Ho and Timur – Any relation – Morris Rosabi

On the ships of Cheng Ho – Pao Tsen PAng

The Sha-mi-ti Mystery

Notes

The Chien-wen reign name was belatedly restored by the Wan-li emperor in October 1595 as part of an abortive project to compile a history of the Ming dynasty. However, it was not until July 1644, 242 years later, that the Southern Ming ruler the Prince of Fu (Chu Yu-sung, d. 1646) assigned to the emperor the temple name Hui-tsung (Magnanimous Ancestor) and the posthumous name Jang Huang-ti (Abdicated Emperor). The latter honorific title was chosen in response to the popular belief that the emperor did not die in the palace fire, but willingly abdicated the throne in favor of his uncle in order to mitigate the general disaster of the civil war.

The Zheng He ships are a subject of much discussion, and their sizes vary greatly in different accounts. They were supposedly 44 chang long, 18 chang wide (1 chang=3.3mts) and built at Lungkiang near Nanking. Woodcuts of these ships show 4 masts, while some showed 3, but they were not complete records. General design notes stated that for every 10 chang length, two masts were required. Further studies by Pao Tsen Pang and others establish that the big ships should have had 9 masts and that the armada comprised many types of treasure ships. The pictures of the largest with more than 4 masts are not available.

Tipu Sultan’s new Malabar Capital and the Farrukhi mint

There is some mystery involved in the town of Feroke, and its antiquity boasts of it being the capital of Tipu’s Malabar, though quite short lived. The first hint of the town’s name comes from Tipu’s own writings about his dreams, where he mentions of a particular dream involving white elephants (and later, a second one dealing with a bear) from China while returning from Farrukhi (near Calicut) and camped near Salamabad (Satyamangalam near Coimbatore). More precisely, in history it is named as Paramukku, a desam in Beypore amsham about 6 miles distant from Calicut town wherein 1788 Tipu apparently built a fort and projected the founding of a new capital. It is indeed cryptic and we have only very little information on the establishment of Feroke and its instilment as a Malabar capital in the amsam of Nelluru. Let’s take a look at what we have.

But before Tipu’s arrival in Malabar, the region boasted an ancient habitat. Let us check out that story. The person who brought it to fame was one Madam Blavatsky. Helena Blavatsky was a very interesting person and deserves more than an article to just introduce her. If you did not know her already, she was a Russian occultist, philosopher, and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. Theosophy according to her was reviving an "Ancient Wisdom" which underlay all the world's religions. In 1880 she and her American husband Olcott moved to India, where the Society was allied to the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement and were later headquartered in Adayar. The couple became the first Westerners to officially convert to Buddhism. Theosophy spread rapidly in India but experienced internal problems after Blavatsky was accused of producing fraudulent paranormal phenomena. In 1885 she moved back to Europe and published many works, with “The Secret Doctrine’ as one of them.

In Secret Doctrine, she stated - E. Biot, a member of the Institute of France, published in his Antiquites de France, Vol. ix., an article showing the Chatam peramba (the Field of Death, or ancient burial ground in Malabar), to be identical with the old tombs at Carnac -- "a prominence and a central tomb." . . . "Bones are found in them (the tombs)," he says, "and Mr. Hillwell tells us that some of these are enormous, the natives (of Malabar) calling the tombs the dwellings of Rakshasas (giants)." Several stone circles, "considered the work of the Panch Pandava (five Pandus), as all such monuments are in India, so numerous in that country," when opened by the direction of Rajah Vasariddi, "were found to contain human bones of a very large size." (T. A. Wise, in "History of Paganism in Caledonia," p. 36).

I perused the original Biot article, but he had never mentioned Chatanparamba, in fact he just mentioned the existence of circular formations illustrated with sketches and adding some of the above text. Deccan and the mention of Raja Vassiriddi etc started giving me the feeling that something was off in Balavatsky’s quotes. Furthur research led me to an authoritative note by A Aiyappan on the very subject which confirmed the stone structures, capped kudakallus (umbrella or mushroom covers), the rock cut tombs in Feroke and the details of the excavations in 1931 by Prof Dubreuil and Ayappan himself. Ayappan believes there were Samadhi or Nirvana locations of an old Buddhist community. The tombs were complete with some tripod stands, urns and a few more artifacts, though they had already been ravaged by treasure hunters by the time these 20^th century archeologists reached there. Prof Dubreuil believed they were of Vedic origin, and he thought they were agnidriyas or fire houses.In all they acquired about twenty-five objects of burial urns, pottery, four-legged urns, clay models of doga, brinjals, iron objects, cornelian beads etc The general conclusions after a detailed study was that these were pre 200BC rock tombs. The location of these in Feroke is at Chenapparambu, not Chatan parambu.

Let us not dwell too much on it now and go to another period, when Tipu Sultan following on his father Hyder’s heels, decided to move his administrative headquarters to Feroke. Was it because the old Samoothiri Kovilakom had been burnt down to ground after the Zamorin immolated himself in 1766?

In English and Mysore records you will find the town variously mentioned or transliterated as Ferokhi, Furkhy, Farrukhi, Furruckabad or Ferrockhee, Feroke cutchery or Ferokhabad. The translations and origins of the name Feroke are also varied while some historians believed it was from a man of fame named Umar Farukh while others insist it is Feroke meaning ‘prosperous town’. In Tipu’s writings, he calls it Farrukhi. Some others explain that Farrukhi means happiness. Tipu also had a coin mint established in the area, after destroying the Zamorin’s mint at Calicut.

The joint commissioner’s report mentions Tipus visit in April 1788 as when the decision was taken to move the capital to Feroke. On the occasion of this visit which Tippoo made to Malabar as sovereign, he projected the removal of its capital from the old seat of it at Calicut, to a much preferable station between seven and eight miles from its mouth (which is better adapted to become a seaport than any other within the province), where he laid the foundation of a fort and city, on which he bestowed the name of Furrukabad or Ferokhia, and compelled the natives of Calicut, much against their inclinations,(though apparently with the wisest political intentions) to remove thither: but since the war in 1790, they have all returned to their former abodes, so that hardly a vestige now remains of the new capital.

An analysis of the Farokhi Pagoda (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 52) coin reveals the following summary- This coin is known as the "Farokhi pagoda" and, according to Hawkes, "is supposed to have been so called by Tippu in honor of a new sect of this name." Others state that it was so designated from the circumstance, that Farokhi was a title of one of Muhammad's successors. Marsden (Vol. II, p. 717) observes regarding the term "on some of the copper money we shall find it to stand, apparently, for the name of a place, otherwise called New Calicut."At first I was inclined to adopt the last suggestion, and there seems little doubt that in some cases the words Farokhi patan do indicate that the coin was struck at a fort near Calicut, which, according to Wilks, was called "Ferrockhee." In other instances this cannot be the case. Thus on the hun described by Marsden, Part II, p. 716, the place of mintage given along with the word Farokhi is Hyder Nagar (Bednur). Probably the term was originally adopted as a pious token of respect for one of Muhammad's successors, and subsequently in some cases did double duty by expressing this and also the place of mintage.

The English reports of Tipu’s rule (though it should not be believed as such) are not flattering. They state - Calicut, having with other parts of Malabar cast off the yoke of Hyder, was, in 1773, reconquered by the Mysorean ruler, whose forces were, however, in 1782, driven out by the British. Tippoo Sultan retook the place in 1789, and treated the inhabitants with a studied and detestable cruelty, thus described by Bartolomeo, who was then in the vicinity: "He was preceded by 30,000 barbarians, who butchered every person who came in their way, and by his heavy cannon, under the command of General Lally, at the head of a regiment of artillery. Then followed Tippoo Sultan himself, riding on an elephant, and behind marched another corps, consisting of 30,000 men also. The manner in which he behaved to the inhabitants of Calicut was horrid. A great part of them, both male and female, were hung. He first tied up the mothers, and then suspended the children from their necks. The cruel tyrant caused several Christians and heathens to be brought out naked, and made fast to the feet of his elephants, which were then obliged to drag them about till their limbs fell in pieces from their bodies." Such of the men as were not immediately massacred, whether Brahmins or Christians, were forcibly subjected to the initiatory rite of Mahomedanism, or at best had the option of submitting thereto or being hanged. The foreign merchants and factors were expelled; and with the view of utterly ruining it, the cocoanut trees and sandal-trees in the adjoining country were cut down, and the pepper-vines torn up by the roots.

The city was almost completely demolished, and most of the materials taken to Nellura, six miles to the south-eastward, where they were used to build a fort and town called by Tippoo Sultan, Furruckabad, or Fortunate Town, "a fancy," says Colonel Wilks, "which afterwards nearly proved fatal to his troops, by leaving them the choice of a ruin or an unfinished work as points of retreat and rendezvous." In the latter part of 1790, the Mysorean force, having been concentrated in the neighbourhood of Calicut, was attacked by a British detachment commanded by Colonel Hartley, and totally defeated ; Tippoo's general was made prisoner with 900 of his men, and 1,500 more laid down their arms at the "fortunate town," whither they had been pursued by the conquerors. Under the treaty concluded in 1792, which deprived Tippoo of half his dominions, Calicut fell to the share of the East-India Company, and was formally incorporated with the British dominions. After this event the scattered survivors of the population returned and rebuilt their dwellings; and Buchanan, at the time of his visit in 1800, found the number of houses considerable, and the prosperity and population rapidly on the increased.

Before its apparent destruction by Tipu, the town of Calicut apparently contained between 6,000 and 7,000 houses. When the province of Malabar was conquered by the English, in 1790, the former inhabitants of Calicut returned to their old abode. In 1800 Calicut again contained more than 5,000 houses. The new town of Feroke, had thus, a short lifespan of only twenty four months - from May 1788 to December 1790.

I had covered the last battle at Feroke in an earlier blog, but catching up to Mahtab Khan who had retreated to Feroke, Mahtab Khan had retreated to Ferokabad, and the Colonel resolved to pursue him, and accordingly marched next morning, 11th December, but as he approached the place, he heard that Mahtab Khan had fled the night before with 200 men, and all the treasure loaded on elephants, towards Tambercherry Pass. Fifteen hundred men laid down their arms as our Troops entered Ferokabad, Beypore, and all the vessels in the Calicut Harbour submitted, and six thousand inhabitants. Colonel Hartley's success will be followed with the most important advantages. The whole country is now reduced from Tellicherry to Cochin, and the Zamorin again put in possession of his hereditary dominions. He has sent out his Nayrs to clear the country of Tippoo's adherents.

Now having seen what the English had to say and the very little the Mysore rulers mentioned, let us go on to study the antiquity of Nellura. In fact there are some doubts that the Paramukku fort was built by Tipu. A study by S Nalapat states - Paramukku (The corner of Parappanad) now called Feroke after Tipu named it as Ferokabad with a ferry (Beypuram ferry) and 2 miles above it in Ernad is the field with megalithic remnants of old Cheranad, Ernad families and ancestors. Beads and urns were excavated here. The agate beads and urns are ancient settlement remnants of the people. Captain Gillham found a very ancient fortress at the mouth of Beypore River the walls strongest at west and northwest and north angles where foundations were 13’ across and 2’-3’ deep commencing on coarse sand and shelly bottom. Southwest it is of laterite stones and chunamb, and there are small portions of masonry and concrete leveling. Who made that fort, a Parappanad Raja maybe? The assumption that it was Tipu’s fort was by the British and not quite proven.

In reality, only a well and a small building for storing magazine were constructed at the site. The remnants of the fort built in laterite at Paramukku, Kottasthala, was declared an archaeological monument in 1991 under the Protected Monuments Sites and Remains Act of 1968. A well with a 12-metre diameter can be found in the compound with two mini wells inside this huge well. There is a long tunnel that leads from the premises of the fort to the river.Tipu’s dream of founding a new capital had to be abandoned after he was compelled to retire to Coimbatore due to the approaching monsoon. But it is certain that his administrative officers lived in Farrukhi during 1788-1790. Tlpu himself visited Malabar early in 1788 and made a stay of several months, during which arrangements were made for transferring the seat of government from Calicut to Feroke. Calicut was taken by British troops towards the close of 1790, and by the treaty of Seringapatam in 1792, the Malabar district came under the jurisdiction of the East India Company. The usual spelling of the mint-town is that given above, but on some of the coins it is 'Kallkut'.

From Tipu’s letters we can see that in his communications during 1786 concerning Athan Gurukkal (who together with other Malabar Moplahs are not considered as Muslims by Tipu!), Arshad Beg is addressed as Faujdar of Calicut and Abdul Kareem as Sipahdar of Calicut. By 1788, he is seen to be writing to Husain Ali khan, faujdar of Farrukhi and later Muhammad Ali, Second Diwan of Farrukhi , confirming that the move/change of capital took place in 1788 and remained so in 1789. In his 1789 letter to Badruzzaman Khan, he states“Seven months ago [that is in August 1788] we proceeded in splendor for the purpose of settling the country of Farrukhi (Calicut), when calling together all the Nairs and Mopillas, we made enquiry respecting the state of the receipts and disbursements of the rayats; and having ascertained the same, remitted a third part of the amount which they had been accustomed to pay to the Sarkar, delivering at the same time to every one of the rulers or chief men of the country, a Hukm-namah (or mandate) to the following effect………In 1790, he writes to Syed Abdullah “Through the divine favour, and with the assistance of the refuge of prophesy (Muhammad) the whole of the infidels inhabiting the districts of Farrukhi (Calicut) have received the honour of Islamism [that is, have become Musalmans].

About the mint at Farrukhi, the following is stated by Sanket and Kapoor - One of the major mints during Mysorean rule over Malabar was Kozhikode (Calicut). This mint struck gold and silver coins, generally fanams and rupees, as well as copper coins. Coins have been recorded bearing dates 1195 AH to 1201 AH (1215AM) which coincides with 1780-1787 AD. However in 1788 AD the mint in Calicut was closed and destroyed and the Mysorean administration centre in Malabar was moved to Farukhabad (Farrukhi). This newly founded mint took over the tasks of the earlier Calicut mint. Gold fanams and copper paisas were struck here. The last date recorded on coins from this mint is 1218 AM (1790 AD). The fort at Farrukhi was taken by Colonel Hartley, after the defeat of Tipu’s army under Husain Ali and the mint ceased was shut down.

Quoting Bhandare & Stevens, Farrukhi is the name was given to the place now known as Feroke situated on the south bank of the Beypore River, about seven miles to the south of Calicut. In 1788, Tlpu Sultan, no doubt prompted; by similar reasons to those which led to the destruction of the town of Mysore, demolished Calicut and commenced the erection of a fort a few miles away, around which in course of time it was, hoped a new Calicut would arise. The fort was still unfinished on 10th December 1790, when it was taken by Colonel Hartley, after the defeat of Tipu's army under Husain All. The designation of this mint is no more intelligible than are most of Tipu's newly invented names, but in this case it has persisted to the present day, thus affording a solitary instance of the term which he adopted coming into general use.

During the Mysore occupation, currency m Calicut is seen to have undergone a drastic change Initially, Tipu ordered a variant of the gold 'Vira Raya' Fanams to be struck there This variety is inscribed with a Persian letter he and called the 'Bahadun Vira Raya' Fanam In tune with Tipu's currency reforms after he ascended the Mysore throne in 1782, he introduced a Paisa-Rupee-Pagoda system in Calicut He also opened a new mint in the region at Feroke (Farrukhi), located near Calicut, which, during the later part of his reign, became the principal mint for copper and gold While gold and copper issues of both Calicut and Feroke under Tipu (namely fanams and paisas) are fairly numerous, silver is exceedingly rare for these mints This phenomenon was probably an outcome of the large issue of French and British silver fanams in the preceding years

Tipu's fort - Feroke

PP Mohammed Koya writing about Feroke states that the fort building started in April 1788, and the view from atop the Mammally hill, 105 ft above provided a clear view of Kallayi, Beypore, Calicut, Chalium etc. proving that it was a strategic selection for a capital and a fort at Nallura. The fort was situated in a 9 acre area. Farrukhi was notable for the imprisonment of Ayaz Khan and the hanging of the Mangat Achan. The nearby Pettah housed the trade establishments and the ‘jivahani parambu’ was where hangings took place. A mosque in that vicinity was where Tipu met the Kondotty Thangal. It appears that there are still some Hanafi Deccani Muslim families living in the area, remnants of Tipu’s soldiers and administrators from Mysore. Later it became a camping area for British soldiers and was known as Paramukku. The area behind the fort was the Kottapadam. Other place names connected to this fort are Kottakadavu, Kottakkunnu, Kottasthala and Kottakkal Puzha. It was later acquired by one Hofman, then the commonwealth works and later Dr TP Muhammad.

So much for a capital of the Mysore sultan, which remained a work in progress..

References

The coins of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan – JR Henderson

A Unique Over-struck Paisa of Tipu Sultan - Purnanand Sanket, Mohit Kapoor

Dreams of Tipu Sultan –

Original letters of Tippoo Sultaun – asiatic annual register, For the Year 1810-11.

"Bombay Billys" The British Coinage for the Malabar Coast - A reappraisal By Drs. Shailendra Bhandare & Paul Stevens (Oriental Numismatic Society Newsletter # 172, 2002)

Kozhikode Muslimgalude Charitram – PP Mohammed Koya

History of paganism in Caledonia – Thomas A Wise

Rock cut cave tombs of Feroke – A Aiyappan (Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society Vol.23)

The secret Doctrine - Blavatsky

Fort photo courtesy Kallivalli.blogspot

Checkout the following videos on the Feroke Tipu Fort, 1 and 2

Jahangir’s mother and Guardian

This is a mystery that had endured for many a decade and every historian working on Moghul history and Agra has come up with their own twist to it. When I started on this topic some years ago, I believed I could get to the crux of the matter with some effort, but it proved to be so difficult to peel the onion, as they say. I spent so much time and effort in this study, perusing countless articles and sources, reaching nowhere conclusively. Were Maryam Zamani and Jahangir’s mother the same person? Or was it that there were two people in the picture?

Why is there so much of a problem in this case? Was it because Akbar had women of multiple religions in his harem? Did confusion in the mind of historians arise because Akbar had allowed his Hindu consorts to practice their beliefs and rituals? Did further complications arise when researchers connected the Portuguese, Hindu, Christian, Turkish and Armenian wives of Akbar to Maryam Zamani and Jahangir, proving nothing? Perhaps so. The other issue was that the translations of many of the primary sources are considered conflicting, doctored over time and inadequate by some experts.

Birth Of Jahangir

But it is a fact that the biological mother of Jahangir was never named in any record. Jahangir’s memoirs do indicate that that a lady of very high standing and titled Maryam uz Zamani was considered to be the Wali Nimat Begum. The Mughal times were replete with adoptions, god mothers, and nursing mothers, so it proved to be pretty difficult to figure out who could be the biological mother of Jahangir and who became the titular mother of Jahangir. From all studies, one thing is amply clear, that Maryam Zamani was the definitely the titular mother of Jahangir.

Another issue was the palace of Mary (Maryam ki Kothi) or Mariam at Fathepur Sikhri which many attributed to Maryam Zamani. Many argue about the presence of pastors in that specific palace, the presence of the image of Mary, a cross and so on and so forth, confounding the situation. Some others clarify that it was in actuality, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

So I decided to take a different route after having exhausted normally followed routes. Why not try a different method and just focus on Maryam uz Zamani, the so called queen mother? And thus I got back to the records which I had collected while researching the sinking of the queen mother’s ship Rahimi. At that time the identity of the queen mother was secondary, so I had not paused while repeating the oft stated belief that she was potentially Jahangir’s mother, the daughter of the Kachwaha Rajput. Now let us check what we know from British records.

We know that the queen mother was the owner or at least the patron of the ship Rahimi, one of the biggest, plying the seas between Surat and Mocha, carrying goods and approximately 1500 pilgrims for the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. We know that she got miffed when British and later the Portuguese held her ship to ransom, and in turn with her powers in the Mughal court put the English and the Portuguese into no amount of trouble. All records state clearly that ship was somehow connected to the queen mother. The title Maryam uz Zamani is not used (This has however been inserted as a foot note by translators & late researchers). And interestingly she was perhaps never the titular owner of the Rahimi.

We also know that she was involved in the Indigo trade. Some English and VOC Dutch traders saw the potential behind exporting the much vaunted Bayana indigo to Europe, and this indigo was needed for cloth dyes as well as for the Dutch porcelain industry. Finch’s transactions record the indignant queen mother who took revenge on Hawkins when he usurped stock which was not meant for him. Most of the indigo crop came from a place called bayana and we note that Bayana was an area patronized by Maryam Zamani. She had built the water tank (a baoili or step well), a residence and the gardens at Ibrahimabad in Bayana and guard posts on the route from Agra to Bayana, to protect the Indigo industry. These structures were built in 1612-13 (If she was from Amber in Rajasthan, she would have made some investments there, right, why Bayana?) and was also an occasional residence for Maryam Zamani, at a period when the indigo producing tracts in Bayana were doing well, trade in Indigo was brisk and the Dutch and English were the buyers. The Baoli has two gravestones which have not been identified and it is felt that one of these may even belong to Maryam Zamani.

All this points to the fact that she was a shrewd businesswomen and well respected by traders and in the Moghul court. She certainly had the powers to execute hukum’s /written orders (they were not strictly speaking farmans as some have noted) or edicts under her own seal and in those documents she terms herself ‘the Wali nimat Begam mother of King Nuruddin Jahangir’. Now Wali Nimat is a term that has been translated in differing ways. In Persian, which was the legal language of the Mughal court, it means ‘A benefactor, a generous patron’. The full sentence is ‘Wali Ni’mat walida I Jahangir badshah’ where it is clear that Maryam Zamani is the titular mother. Otherwise adding the adjective such as ‘generous patron of’ makes little sense, mother would have been enough and powerful.

She was a certainly a person of high standing as certified by Hawkins for she was known to receive a jewel from every nobleman "according to his estate" each year on the occasion of the New Year's festival. Interestingly Hawkins refers only to Jahangir’s mother, not a Maryam Zamani.

We also know that while she had a residence in Agra, her home was at the village of Dahr near Lahore, where she spent her time and invested time and effort, also building gardens. We can see that Jahangir visited her repeatedly at Dahr for important occasions such as weddings and ceremonial weighing’s. This is stated in the contemporary Persian texts.

Maryam Zamani Mosque - Lahore

And of course we have the very famous Maryam Zamani mosque which she built in Lahore in 1614, one of the earliest mosques in Lahore which was built under her patronage (the inscription states- founded by Maryam Zamani, the Queen). The architectural style it seems, marks a transitional period between the two periods, i.e., Pathan and the Mughal with the gigantic domes is taken from the old Pathan period mosques and the construction style for example, the gateways, the balconies etc. are reflective of later Mughal architecture. For me, it is difficult to imagine a Rajput woman practicing Hinduism and living in Agra as Akbar’s wife building a splendid mosque in faraway Lahore. We also know that there are no known records of temples or places of Hindu or Christian worship patronized or built by Maryam Zamani, thus making it somewhat clear that she was a serious practicing Muslim. Also it is clear, she took the wellbeing of thousands of Hajj pilgrims seriously, and interaction with Mecca and trade there. Why would the daughter of Bihari Mall do that? One could argue that she took to Islam a 100% and was an overt believer, but we see little reason for her to do that as she had been allowed to practice her religion and live in peace and harmony by Akbar. But it is also somewhat clear that many of these Hindu wives, for the purpose of marriage could have been given Islamic names for the record.

There is an intriguing reference that the title of Maryam Zamani was given to the lady posthumously (Monserrat). That does not sound quite correct for we do know that the title was used by Jahangir in his writings and the stones laid at the mosque in Lahore as well as the baoli in Bayana state her name. But it cannot be found in any contemporary accounts of Akbar, though we can find Mariam Makkany and the usage queen mother mentioned often in British and Dutch accounts. Perhaps those writers mistook one of Akbar’s wives to be Maryam Makani, who was actually Hamida Banu, Akbar’s mother and there was a similarity in the first name on both titles.

Then we have the so called tomb of Maryam Zamani in Agra, which has its own intrigue. She was not cremated after death. Instead, it is mentioned that Maryam Zamani was buried at Sikandra at the Lodhi garden. Now that again is a troubling subject because Jahangir did not build his revered mother a tomb of her own, but appropriated a garden and building used by Ibrahim Lodhi, which is quite strange and inappropriate according to many researchers.

Coming to nursing mothers, we know that Sheikh Bayazid (Moazzam Khan) was grandson of Sheikh Salem. And it was Bayazid's mother nursed Prince Salem (Jahangir) on the day of his birth.

Finally we know that Jahangir himself believed and mentioned that he was originally the son of one of Akbar’s consorts, not a regular wife of Akbar. The Tabaqat-i-Akbari Vol 2 states as follows - As one of the consorts became enciente at this time, His Majesty took her to SikrI, and left her in the house of the Shaikh; and he himself remained sometime in Agra, and sometime in SikrI. He gave the name of Fathepur to SikrI, and ordered the erection of bazars and public baths there.

Knowing this, how could we possibly comb through the 5,000 or so women in Akbar’s harem (and some 300 wives) as well as the palatial homes of many other royal ladies to get to the hidden persona of Maryam Zamani or for that matter Jahangir’s mother? It is made somewhat easier by the many hundred researchers who have traversed this route and have recorded their findings. I was fortunate in accessing and perusing many of them but decided sadly to forgo their conclusions as each came up with a different outcome.

13 of Akbar’s more famous wives have been traced by historians. The first was Ruqaiya Begum and she was childless. The second was the daughter of Jamal Khan and the third was with Abdulla Khan’s daughter. The fourth was with Bairam Khan’s widowed wife and Akbar’s cousin Salima Sultan Begum. He had four Rajput alliances and they were with the daughter of Bihari (Bhar) Mall of Amber, the niece of Rai Kiran Mall of Bikaner, the daughter of Rawal Har Rai of Jaisalmer and finally the daughter of the Raja of Dungarpur. There were many other marriages, such as the scandalous taking of Abdul Wasi’s beautiful wife (which I had written about earlier). Then there was Qasima Banu daughter of Arab Shah, later Bibi Daulat Shad and finally the daughter of Naquib Khan. From all these wives, only one son survived, that was Salim who later on became known as the emperor Jahangir.

What is also clear was the amount of intense rivalry and intrigue in the Mughal courts and particularly between the wives at the harem. Not that it is surprising in any way, for it was common in every royal household what with the endowments and titles the girls families expected from such matrimonial and consortia alliances. Everything depended on the relation the girl managed to keep with the monarch. They are known to have tried all the tricks of the trade, including opium, alcohol and so on. But that is not the topic, so let’s move on…

Noorudin Islam points out that the Tabakat page 281, vol II clearly mentions the mother was Salima Sultana. But I could not find any such reference other than the cryptic statement ‘As one of the consorts became enciente at this time, His Majesty took her to SikrI, and left her in the house of the Shaikh’. However it is true that Salima was in charge of Akbar’s Zenana and had mediated on Jahangir’s behalf. It is still a possibility that she was Maryam Zamani for Kaviraj Shyamal Das opines- Salimah Sultan was considered the guardian of Akbar's zanana, and all the children of Akbar and Jahangir were tended by her: it was for this very reason that she mediated on Jahangir's behalf, when he had fallen out with Akbar, and brought him to Court from Allahabad. Jahangir regarded her as his mother, and she in turn looked upon him as her son. She could in theory be therefore a strong contender for the identity of Maryam Zamani.

The learned Beveridge mentions - I still think the silence of all the leading historians remarkable. Neither Abu-l-Fazl, nor Nizamu-d-din, nor Badaoni, nor Firishtah nor Khafi Khan mentions Bihari Mall's daughter as Jahangir's mother. This cannot have been the result of bigotry; for Abu-l-Fazl, at least, was no bigot, and he and some of the others mention the marriage of Bihari Mall's daughter with approval. If they approved of the marriage, why should they not have approved of its resulting in the birth of a son? He however admits that the Tawarikh-i-Salim which he checked mentions that Jahangir married a daughter of Bihari Mall, and had by her his son Khusru.. But he adds - There is a curious statement in the Tawarikh-i-Salim (Price, p. 47), that Akbar had a son by Bibi Maryam who was placed under the care of Raja Bihari Mall, confounding the matter even further.

The book on the Kachhwahas makes their potential connection to Jahangir clear by quoting Jahangir himself - Tuzuk-i-jahangiri (p15)- I made Raja Man Singh who was one of the greatest and most trusted noblemen of my father, and had obtained alliances with this illustrious family, inasmuch as his aunt had been in my father's house (i.e. was his wife), and I had married his sister, and Khusrau and his sister Sultanu-n-nisa Begam, the latter of whom is my eldest child, were born of her. (Refeqat adds - Had Mansingh’s paternal aunt, i.e. Bharmall’s daughter been Jahangir’s mother, he would have mentioned it since he spoke highly of Mansingh). A table of births (Abul fazl) also shows a blank against Jahangir, which was the custom if it was a concubine and not a noble (Note here that the table shows Hindu mothers as daughter of and none is mentioned as d/o Bhram Mall). A related fact is that Mansingh, developed an intense dislike for Jahangir towards his later days.

Now let us take a look at a contemporary work - which is the record left behind by Dutch trader

Francisco Pelsaert. This was a very enterprising young man, who lived in Agra during Jahangir’s time and played with super high stakes. He gambled with VOC money, and had connections with Mughal women of high standing. In 1618 he sailed for the east in the Dutch company's commercial service and two years later was posted to India as junior merchant. After travelling overland from Masulipatam to Surat, he was sent to Agra where he stayed for seven years, becoming a senior merchant. He lived in Agra during 1620-27 for all of seven years and should have been in the thick of things. He loaned money, he hobnobbed with suppliers and other traders, he embezzled money for himself in the process and he traded in Indigo, a matter close to the heart of Maryam Zamani. In 1626 he wrote an account of the Mogul Empire, which was translated from the Dutch by W. H. Moreland and P. Geyl, and published as Jahangir's India -The Remonstrantie of Francisco Pelsaert

He mentions the following in his book, while describing Agra - Beginning from the north, 8 there is the palace of Bahadur Khan, who was formerly king of the fortress of Asir (5 kos from Burhanpur) . Next is the palace of Raja Bhoj, father of the present Rai Ratan, Governor of Burhanpur 4 (rank 5000 horse). Then come Ibrahim Khan (3000 horse); Rustam Kandahari (5000 horse); Raja Kishan Das (3000 horse) ; Itiqad Khan, the youngest brother of Asaf Khan (5000 horse); Shahzada Khanam, sister of the present king, who was married to Muzaffar Khan (formerly King of Gujarat) ; Goulziaer Begam, this king's mother; Khwaja Muhammad Thakaar (2000 horse); Khwaja Bansi, formerly steward of Sultan Khurram (the translator adds a foot note - This should represent Guljar Begam, but the name of Jahangir's mother is not elsewhere recorded, her official title was Maryam-uz-Zamani, which Pelsaert gives below as "Maryam Makani”.

Going on to describe the fort he says - There is little or no room within the Fort, it being occupied by various princely edifices and residences, as well as mahals, or palaces for ladies. Among these is the palace of Maryam Makani, wife of Akbar and mother of Jahangir, as well as three other mahals, named respectively Itwar (Sunday), Mangal (Tuesday), and Sanichar (Saturday), in which the King used to sleep on the day denoted by the name, and a fifth, the Bengali Mahal, occupied by ladies of various nations. Internally then the Fort is built over like a city with streets and shops, and has very little resemblance to a fortress, but from the outside anyone would regard it as impregnable.

We can see that the use of a term Maryam Zamani is missing and Palseart persists with Maryam Makani, who was actually the mother of Akbar, but what is glaring is the fact that he gave a proper name to Jahangir’s mother and that she had a Haveli at the edge of Agra and that another ‘mother’ potentially Maryam Zamani, had a palace within the Red Fort. Considering that Palseart was known to be very correct with his facts, it is clear that Jahangir’s mother was one Gulzar (Gulizaror Goulziaer) Begam.

Could that be one of the Gulizar Begam’s in the court and Zenana of Akbar, i.e. the two well-known women? One was the sister of Mirza Kamran, Akbar’s cousin, and the other was Kamran’s (unmarried) daughter, the latter being the one who went on a hajj with Gulbadan Begam (who wrote the Humayun Nama). Assuming that the elder Gulizar could be Maryam Zamani does draw some merit, since Kamran Mirza had intimate connections with Lahore. As we discussed previously, Maryam Zamani built a mosque in Lahore and had a house in the village of Dahr near Lahore. But we are not sure that she lived within the fort, all we know from Palseart’s writings is that she had her own haveli.

So we are left thus with three contenders, all staunch Muslims, for the god mother position. Salima Sulatan, Ruqayah Sultana Begam and the elder Gulizar Begam. One of the three above was Maryam Zamani who went on to build the mosque in Lahore and the baoli at bayana, as well as contribute liberally and be a patron of many charities. Now Salima and Ruqayah were Akbar’s wives, so they had their own quarters within the fort. The person who lived outside in a haveli could thus e the Gulizar Bagam.

According to Jehangir, Maryam Zamani passed away in 1623 (9th May 1623 "On this day news came from Agra that Her Highness (Hazrat) Maryam-uz-Zamani, by the decree of God, had died). Now we know that Salima passed away in 1613 and her body was laid to rest at the Mandarkar Garden in Agra. Ruqayah sultana passed away in 1626, and she was buried on the fifteenth level in the Gardens of Babur (Bagh-e-Babur) in Kabul, Afghanistan. If you cross those two out based death dates, the only remaining senior person who could have been Jahangir’s god mother or step mother is Gulizar, the sister of Kamran and the wife of the late Yadgar Nasir Mirza. Nevertheless, it is also a fact that the other two women cared very much for Jahangir.

The business transactions conducted by the royal women from inside the Zenana or around were through multiple layers and involved many other persons. Who therefore was the queen mother referred to by the traders and how about the fact that Maryam Zamani owned a ship Rahimi and traded with the English and the Dutch? As such the real owner of the ship was Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, Salima Sultana’s step son. Rahim was incidentally a ‘Navaratna’, a honored poet in Akbar’s court. It is only conjuncture that the queen mother was the real owner working behind him. Perhaps Salima Sultana was that person, not Maryam Zamani, and it is not mentioned so to my knowledge by Hawkins or others.

As for Maryam Zamani’s tomb, it is unlikely this had anything to do with any Rajput wife of Akbar, perhaps it was indeed Gulijar Begam’s tomb or for that matter, Maryam’s tomb is one of the two at the Baoli in Bayana where it is felt Maryam Zamani spent her final years.

And how about the Mariam palace in the Fathepur Sikri? That is another intriguing story which we will discuss another day.

As always, this is an open discussion based on various resources I perused. More research is needed to conclusively determine the facts, which I doubt will happen considering that most people seem comfortable identifying Bharm Mall’s daughter to be Jahangir’s mother.

A few of the references perused

The story of Akbar’s Christian Wife - Rev H Heras

Mughal marriages, A politico-religious and legal study- Ansari Zahid Khan (Pakistan Historic society journal)

Maryam Zamani’s baoli at Bayana – A note – Rajiv Bargoti

Farman of Maryam Zamani, mother of Emperor jahangir – Khan Sahib Zafar Hassan

Jahangir’s india - The Remonstrantie of Francisco Pelsaert WH Moreland

Edicts from the Mughal harem – SAI Tirmizi

Akbat the greatest Moghul – SM Bruke

Waterworks of Mediaeval Bayana – Natalie Shokoohy

Maryam Zamani mosque - the earliest dated Mughal period mosque at Lahore – Saeed Tahir

ShahJehan – Fergus Nicoll

Akbar’s Queen Mary - HS Hoston

The topography of the Mughal empire as known to the Dutch - Joannes De Laet ( Tr-E Lethbridge)

East India Company records 1602-1613

Early travels in India – 1583-1619 Ed William Foster

The female missionary intelligencer May 1, 1868 (Tomb of Mariam Zamani)

History behind the terracotta paintings – Md Noorul Islam

The Kachhwahas under Akbar and Jahangir – Kunwar refaqat Ali Khan

Identity of Jahangir’s mother- Aparna Chattopadhaya (Journal of Indian History 68-71, 1192)

The Mother of Jahangir - H. Beveridge and reply by Kaviraj Shyamal Das

The Tuzuk Jahangiri

Pics – Maryam Zamani mosque (courtesy Dawn 13-05-2015 )

The ‘Notorious’ country trader Robert Adams

April 8^th 1738 , an obscure epitaph for a British gentleman came to the notice of observant readers - At his House in Cavendish-Square, aged 64, Robert Adams, Esq; one of the Directors of the East-India Company, and formerly Governor of Tellicherry in India for the said Company. The above Gentleman, when in India, being once a Hunting, and separated from his Company in the Woods, was attack'd by a Tyger, who seized him by the Shoulder, but he at the fame pierced the Tyger with a lance through the Body, and they both fell together; but happily disengaging himself, he kill'd the Creature on the Spot, and hath ever since born a Tyger rampant in his Coat of Arms. He is said to have dy'd worth £100,000/- which he has left to his two only Daughters, both unmarry'd.

Now those reading it will think that the biggest act in Adam’s life was the killing of a tiger. Well, he was certainly more than that, he was considered adroit, resourceful, cunning and what not, depending who you asked. This bloke spent most of his adult life of some 42 years in Malabar, was fluent in Malayalam and hobnobbed with the Kolathiri raja, the Ali Raja, Zamorin, the Cochin Raja and the Travancore Raja, and many a time played one against the other. He enriched himself, plied his own ships in the seas while passing off as a British country trader and the Chief of the Tellicherry factory. The Dutch considered him their nemesis, the French hated him with a vengeance and as time went by and the British even titled him their governor in Malabar. His house at 8-Cavendish square in Marylebone, London, built after retirement demonstrated his status and wealth. Time we got to know him right?

I believe he arrived at Tellicherry in the 1687, just 13 years old and it is mentioned that sometime in 1703 he shifted to Calicut where he lived on until 1720. Later, he moved to Tellicherry as the head of the EIC factory until 1728, till he was forced to scoot and sail back to London. His times in Malabar are quite interesting and he was much involved in the politics of the land as well as the activities of the EIC at the Tellicherry factory treading a narrow grey zone when it came to ethics.

The Calicut factory was first established in 1616. In 1664, the Dutch were instrumental in expelling them from Calicut and but was reestablished in 1668. The Calicut factory according to some records did not do much, and an old report in the Calcutta review states - In 1615, Captain Keeling, with three English ships which were the same that had brought Sir Thomas Roe on his embassy to the Great Mogul, arrived off Calicut and concluded with the Zamorin a treaty, which included permission for the founding of a factory at Calicut. The Zamorin's object was merely to obtain the help of the English in driving the Portuguese from Cranganore and Cochin, which they had conquered, and when the English showed no signs at helping in this business, the ten persons who were left by Captain Keeling to found a factory received very ungracious treatment. However, by the middle of the seventeenth century, the English Company had contrived to supplant both the Portuguese and the Dutch to some extent in many parts of India, and in September 1664, an agreement was concluded with the Zamorin for the establishment of a Settlement at Calicut, the Company agreeing to pay duty to the Zamorin on the trade carried on at the port. The jealousy of the Zamorin, whose experience of the Portuguese had not been favourable, continued nevertheless, and it was not until after the English Company had been settled nearly a century at Calicut, that they were permitted, in 1759, even to tile their factory there, so as to protect it against fire.

It does not seem quite right though and we know from many records that if not the Calicut factory, Robert Adams as the local resident in the 1690’s period did well personally as the resident and country trader. The appointment of Alexander Orme at Anjengo was another important event and the subsequent friendship between Robert and Orme was to structure Malabar British relations for quite some time and create famous progeny through marriage between the two families. It was an enduring bond — Adams married Margaret Hill, Orme her sister. Orme became chief of the station at Anjengo, where a massacre occurred in 1721 of a predecessor, William Gyfford, and many under his charge. Orme’s second son, Robert, was born there in 1728, and was named after his uncle Robert Adams. Robert Orme is nowadays considered the historian of India.

With the arrival of Robert Adams in Calicut, the relations between the new Zamorin and the British took a new cordial tone. When he extended his hands in friendship and provided financial support for the Zamorin’s ventures, the Zamorin countered by reducing duties on pepper by 25%. The Zamorin then sided with the British and ensured that they were not cheated by local traders, with threats of a boiling oil ordeal in case of any charges against them. He ordered thus - “In consideration of the aid rendered at Calicut and money given to my servants, we promise that, the matter of the contract entered into by you and you to pay if any dispute be raised by any one in regard to the value of the articles they agreed to supply for money received, I will compel him to deliver the articles on return of the money, as may appear just, and subject him besides to an oath (ordeal). If his hand comes out clean, he will be held innocent and you will have to pay him, as usual, the expenses he may incur (in taking the oath).

Vissicher had the following to state about Adams in Calicut covering three periods of Adam’s life in Malabar.

Calicut, though still a commercial town, is falling into decay. Many ships, both English, French and Moorish, however, keep up their trade with it, because there are no restrictions on commerce, with the exception of a duty of 5 per cent, paid to the Zamorin on all imports, to enforce which he keeps officers stationed here. As the English have the largest business they are the most favoured by the Zamorin, whom also they often supply with money when he is in want of it.

Mr. Adams, the head of the English in this place, was brought up there from a child, and having, from his youth, traded with the people of Malabar, he acquired a familiarity with their language which gained for him much influence among them. In consequence of this advantage, he was chosen by the English as their Governor. Being an enemy to our Company he incited the Zamorin to the late war, himself lending, in order to promote it, 100,000 rix dollars, with which that Prince defrayed the expenses of the war:—we have no reason to doubt this story, since he even sent English officers to assist the Zamorin, to defend Fort Paponette against our arms. Nay more, when Chetwa was conquered by the Zamorin, and our people expelled, the English immediately erected a factory there, in order to secure the pepper-trade; this factory was destroyed when the fort was re-taken.

I will relate an instance of this sort of conduct which took place at Calicut in the year 1720. The English officer, second in command there, went out one day to drive in his carriage. It happened to be a day when the great national assembly of the Malabars was collected in the open air to deliberate on the affairs of the State. The Englishman, in order to shew his contempt for them, instead of making a circuit, drove right through the multitude, in spite of their entreaties that he should desist from such unbecoming conduct, which threw the whole assembly into the utmost confusion. On the following day, when the assembly met again at the same place, the Englishman chose to shew his courage by driving through it again with some ladies who were in his carnage. This time the people were so incensed at the repetition of the outrage, that they struck their hands to their weapons and cut the carriage to pieces, and the hero and his amazons had to escape wounded to their homes. Though this was no more than the miscreant deserved, yet Mr. Adams, declaring that the conduct of the natives was cruel and inhuman, left Calicut and threatened to set the bazaar on fire. The Zamorin, who reaped so much profit from the English trade, managed to pacify him and to recall him to Calicut, but as the bad feeling of the natives towards the English still exists, he distrusts them and spends most of his time at Tellicherry.

While the tenure of Adams’s stay in Calicut during the 1687 to 1703 period is not well detailed in any primary source, his times and machinations as the chief and Governor of the EIC factory in Tellicherry is better known. His involvement on Malabar trade and its politics are somewhat well recorded from the time he was made the chief of the EIC factory in Tellicherry. The EIC had finally chosen Tellicherry after toying with ideas for locating a major factory either at the Indonesian islands in Bantam (Java) and also at Calicut. Due to continuous sparring with the Dutch at Calicut, they decided to occupy the factory abandoned by the French at Tellicherry late in the 17^th Century. This proved to be a wise decision for the EIC, for the pepper obtained from Randattara, Kottayam and Valapattanam were of better quality and the duties levied by the Kolathunad raja was lower than Calicut. It was in these circumstances that in 1703, the competent Robert Adams with strong local knowledge took over from Thomas Penning as its chief. His brother in law Alexander Orme was appointed the chief at the southerly factory at Anjengo near Attingal (Adams was also involved in resolving the situation after the 1721 massacre at Anjengo). A shrewd politician and more than just a trader bringing profit to the EIC, Adams spent his years tarrying between the rajas of Kolathunad, Calicut, Kadathanad, the Ali Raja and sometimes even venturing south to Cochin and Travancore, but always maintaining cordial relations with them.

George Woodcock writes - The Dutch were not the only Europeans anxious to feast on the great spice trade which the Portuguese had created and been forced to abandon. But the English remained, and under their most active administration, Robert Adams in Calicut and Alexander Orme in Anjengo, they energetically cultivated the favour of the local princes of Calicut and Travancore. Other nations followed their example.

His first act was to fortify the Tellichery installation with material support from the Zamorin. Robert Adams was the one to lay the foundation stone for the fort and this remained one of the EIC’s strongest forts in the region. Robert Adams’s adroitness in securing permission for the fortification of Tellicherry from the Vadakkilamkur Raja and material support from the Zamorin is testimony to his relations with two rajas who were otherwise wary of each other, to say the least. Following the fortification, he obtained a monopoly for spice trade from the Kolathiri king.

But another event which brought his name to the fore was the acrimonious relations between the EIC and the Kurungoth Nair in whose lands the EIC factory actually stood. The Nair (who depended on the duties and rent) instigated by the French who had returned to start operations nearby in Punno, demanded continued payment of duties from the EIC, which they refused to pay. As matters transpired, the Nair supported by a rival Kolathiri Prince of Udayamangalam attacked an EIC warehouse situated North of Mahe, in 1704, and destroyed it. Skirmishes continued for many years and finally Adams retaliated with force in 1715 by commencing hostilities with armed forces against Unnittiri and Kelappan, the two local chiefs of Kurungoth Nadu. They were defeated, the Nair had to sign an agreement accepting EIC superiority and he also ceded the Mailam hill to the EIC as reparation. We will get into this battle in more detail another day and examine the circumstances, but for now suffice to note that Adams established himself and EIC as an important factor in Malabar politics ever after.

Another longish story is the involvement of Adams in the fight for Chetwa between the Zamorin and the Dutch. Here we see that Adams had a personal stake. In reality he did a lot of trading on the side and outside the EIC books. We can see that Adams organized a large and profitable trade in opium whose consumption was popular in the Cochin and Venad regions. Robert Adams, turning in a good personal profit, imported Bengal opium and sent it up-river on empty EIC pepper boats to Chetwa, for further sale. The situation as conducive to Adams, due to the peace treaty between the Zamorin and the Dutch signed in 1710. But when the Dutch decided to fortify Chetwa, the act would not be tolerated by the Zamorin.

Adams, whose business was also affected by the entry of the Dutch in Chetwa, instigated the Zamorin to launch a surprise attack on the Dutch in 1715, and provided English armaments and forces in support. The fort of Chetwa was eventually destroyed by the Zamorins forces and the Dutch had the humiliation of seeing the English flag hoisted at Chetwa. The Zamorin then built a fort at Paponetti with English forces manning it. The Dutch had no choice but to retaliate and they were supported by forces from Batavia led by William Jacobitz. In 1717, they destroyed the Paponetti garrison and recaptured Chetwa, but all this was at a great commercial expense which pulled down Dutch balance sheet even more into the red. So much so, they proclaimed that with effect from 1721, they would not enter into any more wars to support the Cochin raja. It was also during this time that Adams had an apparent fall out with the Zamorin (maybe due to events at a Calicut bazar) and retired to Tellichery, as we saw from Vissicher’s notes, quoted previously.

Adams then found his name broadcast due to his sometimes acrimonious and oftentimes friendly relationship with the French who were vying to get a strong foothold in N Malabar. They started by signing an agreement with the Kadathanaad raja for pepper monopoly. Adams was instrumental in getting the Vazhunnavar to attack the French at Mahe, and these kinds of attacks continued while Adams at the same time maintained a friendly personal relationship with Tremisot, the French chief at the Calicut lodge, exchanging frequent letters on commodity prices, attending mutually hosted parties and so on.

Various sources point out to Adams’s involvement in funneling tobacco and pepper purchases to the EIC through himself and many benami (fictional or other third parties) names. We also note that that the VOC was quite furious at all this and even had planned to employ people to silence him on some occasions. He chose to follow rules only when they suited him and otherwise flouted them at will. But he got away with it all for a long time.

But his later years at the EIC outpost were clouded by accusations of misappropriation and personal profiting at company expense, all acts which were often in practice amongst the many EIC managers of that time. Just around the time he was being bandied to take over as Bombay Governor from William Phipps, the accusations came out and the next years were spent fighting these as well as threats of legal actions. Adams had been tipped of the activities by his friends in the Bombay bureaucracy and he was encouraged to leave Malabar for the sanctuary of London. Let’s take a brief look at this epoch in his lifespan.

It appears that Adams had loaned large amounts of company funds to the Zamorin and other Malabar ‘princes’ to fight the Dutch. Some 650,000 fanams could not be recovered and Adams was forced to sign bonds for their recovery. Additional charges against him were in retaining EIC ships for longer periods at Tellicherry and their missing profitable business opportunities due to this, lading company ships with his own stocks of pepper, and indulging in expensive conflicts with the French at company expense. To prevent him from absconding, his wife Margaret was detained. Nevertheless, the couple managed to scoot and sail to England from Calicut in 1729, ending their many decades of life in Malabar.

In London, he worked hard to have his name cleared and furious correspondence ensued between him and the EIC directors. He argued that all his actions were as subordinate to the Bombay offices and that there had been no objections, all along. Since many of the serving officers and directors were also complicit, he managed to get away from any kind of formal censure and was eventually cleared. A lot of claims due to him were paid by the EIC in Bengal and with it Adams purchased his new house at Cavendish square from the Duke of Chandos, in 1730. He had brought with him three Malabar servants Edward, Antonio and Abgail, but it appears that the harsh London weather disagreed with them and they went back home in 1731.

It was in 1732 that Adams acquired the Tyger coat of arms and found a home for the poor tiger’s skin on a prominent wall of his home. Even larger compensation claims by him were remitted by the EIC and he lived a life of comfortable retirement, in London. It may be interesting for some readers to note that these areas in London were developed, resettled and promoted by the so called ‘distasteful new Indian (pepper or Malabar money) money’ brought in by such nefarious and avaricious traders. After his return to London, it appears that Adams continued to invest monies in the India trade.

His infant nephew, Robert Orme, was sent from India to be brought up in Adams’s house from the age of two and later sent to Harrow for schooling in 1734. In 1736, Roberts Adams passed away leaving behind an estate reportedly worth £100,000. R Orme went back to India in 1742 aged 13. The widowed Margaret Adams vacated the big house and moved round the corner to a marginally humbler dwelling at 6 Cavendish Square. Adam’s house at Cavendish Square served as an embassy for the Spanish in the late 1840's and the Brazilians around 1860, finishing up as the Japanese Legation until 1892.It later became the UK headquarters of Chevron, the giant American energy corporation.

Adams’ correspondence, now archived as the Adams letter book, reveal much about the English private trade in Malabar and through to Bombay. Adams private enterprise involved not only financing the local rulers such as the Zamorin, but also holding a share in the shipping ventures of that period. We note from his letters that Adams held a sixteenth stake in one ship belonging to Captain Gilbert and was one investor among thirty two in another ship, the Wyndham. We can also see that by 1707 Adams was even involved in constructing and managing his own vessels, attested by his purchase contracts with one William Gayer to buy masts, timber and various other ship provisions. Some of his vessels were recorded as having called at Mocha in Yemen, sailing from Calicut around 1721. We can also see piracy accounts related to Adams’s ships operating along the Malabar Coast which had been attacked by both the Dutch and Angre’s fleet during the 1720s. Another noteworthy incident occurred when Robert Adams’s ship manned by Moplahs was involved in the Jeddah massacre in 1726 where Adams’s supercargo (one who traded on behalf of a principal) Frankland and Dalgeish ended up getting murdered by an irate mob. Adams settled the case after obtaining large compensation.

Adams was also a provider of information and business tips to his friends, he informed them regularly of incidents in parts of the world through lively correspondence, and provided them market information often on Malabar and Persian trade. He invested heavily in joint ventures with Charles Boone (his close friend and governor of Bombay) at this time. Adams’s sisters were married to East India Company officers resident on the west coast; Hannah to Hezekiah King and Eleanor to Alexander Orme. Both of Adams’ sons, Robert and Benjamin, were also in the East Indies forging careers in commerce.

From London, Adams provided much support to Robert and particularly Benjamin. As is obvious, he offered them advice, and recommended them often to other higher placed EIC officers such as William Wake, Stephen Law and Robert Cowan; each of whom eventually became governors of Bombay during and after Adam’s stay in Malabar. Adams asked Stephen Law to regularly advise him ‘how my son Benjamin behaves himself and lives’, keen to be the first to know about any indiscretions or ‘any loose or extravagant behavior of his’. Moreover, Benjamin was encouraged by his father – like any good merchant – to be a diverse and varied trader, to hold more than one investment at the same time and to endeavor to be an amiable, friendly and well-grounded individual in order engage in successful business.

He was also the first to experiment with different methods in remitting his profits to security in London. Edward Harrison, always professing sane advice, suggested to Robert Adams in 1721, that diamonds could be an efficient method of remitting money back to England.

Testament to Adam’s relations with the Kolathiri Raja is the latter’s letter to the new EIC governor John Braddyl, stating Robert Adams “behaved always with great candor and civility to the country in general” and now with the recall of Adams in such a manner, “little trust is to be placed on the company”. He concluded his letter by saying that, “it is said that the Europeans are men of their words, but the ordering of Mr. Adams away, and the manner of his going seems quite contrary”

I won’t be surprised if Adams had himself dictated this, he was one canny individual! But one thing is clear, from a sleepy little port, Tellicherry rose to the position of a trading post of much prominence, and for that it owes much to the machinations of country traders like Robert Adams.

References

Speculative development and the origins and history of East India Company settlement in Cavendish Square and Harley Street -Richardson Harriet; Guillery Peter

British Private Trade Networks in the Arabian Seas, c. 1680 – c. 1760 - Timothy Davies

Robert Adams: the Real Founder of English East India Company’s Supremacy in Malabar Arun Thomas M., Dr. Asokan Mundon

Letters from Malabar – Jacob Canter Visscher

Establishment of British Power in Malabar – N Rajendran

Malabar Manual – William Logan

Dutch power in Kerala – MO Koshy

Malabar and the Dutch - KM Panikkar

The Rajas of Cochin 1663-1720 – Hugo K s’Jacob

History of the Tellicherry Factory (1683-1794) – KKN Kurup

Fortunes a faire – Catherine Manning

Private fortunes and Company profits in the India trade in the 18^th century – Holden Furber

Foundation of the Empire – Ina Bruce Watson

Arabian Seas – Vol 1, Vol 4 R J Barendse

Pics – Tellicherry fort – British library

Ullal - An account

The Chalappuram Gang and the Ameen Lodge

Hans Raj - The British Approver

An American Consulate in Kerala?

The Fathul Mubiyn, Qadi Mohammad and the Zamorin

The Moplah Rebellion 1921 – A British Soldier's viewpoint

Travancore lines – a Reality Check

The Zamorin and a Padre (1587-1620)

Chowakaran Musa and the Mapla Por of Bombay

Malabar -War years 1941-1944

The Kalikavu incident - 1915

The Rowther community

The many mysteries behind the Cheng Ho Voyages

Farrukhi – A capital shortlived

Maryam Zamani – Still an enigma

Robert Adams - Governor of EIC Malabar

The Renegade Portuguese Moplah Corsair - Dom Pedro Rodrigues

Uneen ‘Ramasimhan' Saheb’s story

The Mystery of the Zamorin’s Coronation Stone

Napoleon, India and the Russian intrigues – Part 1