Thiyya’s of Malabar
Exploring their originsThis was a particularly difficult topic for me and the only information I had to look at was a number of legends narrated by historians and reinterpreted by many more people...
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The story of 'The Rahimi'
When the fortunes of the Portuguese nosedivedMany years back, Sheik Zainuddin, writing about the problems (created by the Portuguese) faced at Malabar wrote - The Muslim sultans and emirs did not take...
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A Pirate in Malabar
A Scottish American privateer at Calicut and Kayamkulam These days we have an interesting story with a couple of Italian pirate hunters killing two Kerala fishermen off the Malabar coast and spending...
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The Infamous Portuguese Cartaz
In many of my previous articles, I mentioned in passing the so called Cartaz or pass system instated by the Portuguese who controlled Malabar and Indian west coast trade. Perhaps it is time now to get...
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The Sorry Story of Antonio Fedinando
And his role in the Anglo Scottish Union 1705-07Many a year ago, in 1705 to be precise, Scotland joined the British union, after an acrimonious period of four or five years, to create Great Britain....
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The Zamorin’s Palace - Calicut
The original Calicut Vikramapuram palace is no more to be seen, nor are the palace grounds or other structures. The Zamorin’s family after the destruction of the palace post Hyder’s arrival and the...
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The Porlathiri Epoch
The reign of the Porlathiris at Calicut is one of the complicated periods in Malabar history, not well documented but mainly covered under legends and myths. It was therefore difficult to get more...
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The Moplah Resettlement at Andaman
The Malabaris of the KalapaniThe TSS Maharaja, a ship built in 1879 was on a slightly different route this time. It went south to Madras, with it usual load of Bengali and Punjabi convicts, together...
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The Malabar rebellion and some Hindu leaders
You know, when you look at the situation today, you will despair somewhat, for large numbers of Muslims are going militant over some misguided idiot’s making of a movie or perhaps just a very offensive...
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The Indian Spy in Turkey
Ankara in the post WW1 period was a hotbed of activity in the middle of the Turkish war of independence. The Kemalists were busy, going about the hustle and bustle of creating their new country....
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Was there ever a Chinese settlement at Calicut?
The coastal ports and towns of Malabar (in this respect we go from Kayalpatanam - Tuticorin to Mangalore) have had numerous trade contacts over centuries with other countries and kingdoms. In the case...
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The story of Maj Gen WH Blachford, and the hole in his head
The final act at Calicut – 1790 - Hussein Ali’s defeat at British handsNot much is written about the events that transpired in Calicut in 1790. Much misery afflicted the people of Calicut and Malabar...
View ArticleGirolamo Sernigi and Calicut
We have spent a lot of time on the Portuguese presence in Calicut in previous articles. It was possible mainly due to the wealth of text written by those people about the new lands they discovered. In...
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The Madras Railway’s Western terminus
Beypore (Chaliyam) and thence Calicut I have written fondly about trains and the railways on a few occasions and I usually take the opportunity to ride one, each time I go to India. This time I could...
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Sir John of the Cross – The First Malabar Envoy to Portugal 1513-14
The Chetty or Nair, the Paravas, and the PaniyaramThe other day, my wife made some nice Paniyaram - a type of fried savory rice cakes. As I was munching away happily, a tidbit from history rose up to...
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The Mysterious Koya Pakki
Cosebequin, Coja beguyPeople who read the Portuguese accounts stumble on this name often, especially when they traverse through the early days. Who was this Koya allied to the Portuguese? Was he also a...
View ArticleCharles (Claude) Gabriel Dellon, the Frenchman in Malabar
On his travails and misfortune – Also the governor’s mistress and the inquisitionDellon was certainly an interesting person, one who was subjected to much misfortune because he was rumored to have...
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The Iyers of Palghat
Legends of the PI (Palghat Iyer)The arrival of Tamil Brahmins to Kerala is shrouded in some amount of mystery. No specific details are available and only general conjectures can be made. While the...
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The East India House - Casa da India
The offices that controlled the Estado da IndiaIt was as if fate decreed it, in return for the plunder of Malabar for 250 years. A Deeply religious Lisbon, locked in rituals like the inquisition, then...
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The Kollam Calendar Mystery – A discussion
Kolla varsham- that is what we call the Malayalam calendar. The interesting aspect is that here again we have two versions, the Malabar version and the Travancore version, the former centered on...
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