THE RISE AND FALL OF THACHIL MATHU THARAKAN

It was a triumvirate that terrorized Travancore

Punarnava is Sanskrit for Thazhuthama, Boerhavia Diffusa. While undergoing Karkadaka Ayurvedic treatment in Punarnava, Edappally, Kochi, in 2013, I went back to Travancore History. Even in re-reading, I found a unique character, the first Christian Minister in any Princely State in India, Thachil Mathu Tharakan (1741-1814), haunting me. A man with no benevolence, devilish even to his own community, making a Metropolitan hostage in his Bungalow for several days.

The first salt struggle in India was not at Dandi in 1930 by Gandhi, but the one,  led by Velu Thampi 131 years earlier, in 1799, before he became the Dalava or Dewan, against the King of Travancore and Mathu Tharakan, who had the monopoly of salt trade in Travancore. In fact, the popular uprising made him the Dewan.

Tharakan was born in North Kuthiathode, Alangad, near North Parur, Cochin, a native state ruled by the Alangadu Kartha, later annexed by Travancore.

Tharakan's father, Thachil Thariath was a Kariasthan of the Kartha. Thariath was killed when Mathu was a small child and he was raised at his mother's home. The murder pushed the family into poverty and related struggles. Mathu had three brothers: Kunjuvariath, Ittiyavira Malpan and Thariath. The history of the St Thomas Church, North Kuthiathode says that Tharakan escaped to Thathampally in Aleppey during Tipu's reign. 

He joined his father's friends, the Ranga Shenoy-Narayana Shenoy brothers in Aleppey and brought timber from the Achenkovil forests and made a fortune. He returned and built a small church. It is evident that he shifted to Alapuzha when it was built into a major port by Raja Kesavadas, relegating the Cochin port to the backyard. He bought two ships from Bombay. The background of the rise of Tharakan can be seen in a wonderful paper, Coastal Polity and the Changing Port-Hierarchy of Kerala, written by Pius Malekandathil.

Tharakan 

As a result of complex coastal politics, by the middle of the 18th century, Aleppey emerged as a prominent maritime exchange centre and Cochin got a setback. Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch at Kulachal in 1742. He realized that the base of the Dutch was the commerce that flourished at Cochin. So he conquered major spice-producing native states like Quilon, Kayamkulam, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur and Porcad between 1743-1752. As a result, the flow of spices to Cochin was blocked. Trade in pepper was declared the monopoly of Travancore in 1743. This severely reduced the pepper available to the Dutch. 

It created difficulties for the local traders too. In 1763, during the period of Dharmaraja, a new port was built at Alapuzha by Raja Kesavadas-it opened a Travancore route to the international market. New trading groups, Pius points out, represented by Thachil Mathu Tharakan, having links with the English trade, took over trade at Alapuzha. Tharakan had a couple of ships. The King of Cochin, Sakthan Thampuran (1790-1805), who also had ships, in the changed situation, shifted to Thrissur, undermining the Dutch commerce at Cochin-ah, now I have the answer why he shifted from Tripunithura!

Tharakan was undertaking clear felling of the dense forest of Kerala for Alapuzha timber merchants initially, getting permission from the King for exports. Kesavadas built a Timber depot along the port and Tharakan got the monopoly to collect timber from Southern Travancore and sell it in the depot. Then he began getting direct permission and did clear felling for himself and amassed huge wealth. He donated part of it to the King, becoming Minister of Forests in the bargain. Once he donated a golden elephant to the King, to the surprise of the whole state. It made him respectable to the King and despicable to the public.

Slowly he got a monopoly on timber, spices, tobacco and salt. He was given the title, Tharakan, meaning broker. The broker in those days was the one doing the role of the middleman between the King and the traders. When the broker succeeded in lowering the price, he got a huge commission from the King. If you read history clinically, you will see the King was a wholesale trader.Dharmaraja made him, Mulaku madiseelakkaran or Minister of Commerce.

After the death of Dharmaraja, Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma, the 16-year-old Balarama Varma took over on February 17, 1798. He became the most unpopular king in Travancore's history. Dharmaraja was also known for his scandalous activities-The love letter he wrote when he was 62, to a much younger Manorama of the Zamorin family had got leaked and he had become the butt of ridicule. His last years were immoral to the core, though he had four wives. He died at 74. The administration was looked after by Raja Kesavadas. 

He used to take decisions and then inform the King. The King got immersed himself in the eulogy of Kesavadas or Kesava Pillai. Raja, who was a Samantha King of Carnatic Nawabs had become the slave of the English East India Company by the treaty of 1795, supervised by Kesavadas. He was given the title Raja, for his efforts in this treaty by the Governor General. It meant he was more than the actual King.

Balarama Varma entrusted the administration to Kesavadas, for a complete year,  till the sraddha of his uncle, the Dharmaraja, was over.

A coterie kills Kesavadas

Balarama Varma had his own coterie.He had relationships in the four houses of Dharmaraja's consorts and the Thampis in those houses influenced him. Since Dewan Kesavadas was in Aleppey, communication between them was rare and it became strained eventually. After sraddha, Balarama Varma decided to administer his own. The people in key positions were relatives of Kesavadas. Kesavadas was very friendly with Resident Major Bannerman. John Alexander Bannerman(1759-1819) was the person who captured Panchalamkurichi and hanged Veera Pandya Kattabomman. He was appointed Governor in Penang, where he died of cholera. His grave is still there in Protestant Cemetery.

Though the Malabar siege of Tipu Sultan was over, the Zamorin was still cooling his heels in Travancore. The Zamorin had three Nambudiri brothers from Calicut for the company: Uthiyeri (Udayagiri)Jayantan Sankaran Nambudiri, Jayantan Jayantan and Jayantan Subramanyan. All of them were in the Palace employment. Two events brought matters to a crisis: Jayantan succeeded in making the King sign a document ceding Shertallai (Karappuram) to the Cochin King. The special messenger with the order, Thottappaya Nambudiri was intercepted at Paravur, Quilon by Kesavadas and handled; Jayantan was one day carried in procession in the palanquin of the late Dharmaraja. He was admonished by Kesavadas.

Kesavadas, who had dinner in the Palace on the Arattu day in 1799, died in the courtyard of a relative's house in Sreevaraham. The cause of death was food poisoning, according to the report of Dr Seyters, who was assigned by the Company to Inquire into the death. According to the famous neurologist Dr K Rajasekharan Nair, who did a reverse diagnosis, the cause of death was arsenic poisoning. The Palace Secretary Kunjuneelan Pillai had given Rs 2000 to mix poison, it was found later.

Balarama Varma & his coterie(right)

Without consulting the Resident, Balarama Varma appointed the eldest of the Nambudiri Brothers, Jayantan Sankaran, the new Dewan. In a statement to Colonel Munro, Chief Commander Marthandan Chempakaraman said that the two main brokers of Travancore, Mathu Tharakan and Sankaranarayana Pillai (Chetti), through the youngest Nambudiri, Jayantan Jayantan had operated the King to get Jayantan Sankaran as the Dewan(Travancore State Manual, T K Velu Pillai, Vol 2). Jayantan Subramanyan bacame the Palace Secretary.Sankaranarayanan Chetti was a broker who had come to stay at Thucklay from Tamilnadu. Tharakan was friendly with both Kesavadas and the Company.

A British document, quoted in the Travancore State Manual of V Nagamaiah, refers to Jayantan, Chetti and Tharakan:...Thus, the triumvirate of ignorance, profligacy and rapacity came to rule the destinies of this interesting principality in spite of the earnest wish the Governor General Lord Morington expressed that a really efficient ministry should be formed.

Bannerman

Jayantan and his coterie could be in the gaddi only for two months. He had appointed Sankaranarayana Chetti as Valia Melezhuthu or Finance Minister and Tharakan, Commerce Minister. To collect taxes on several counts, he harassed several officials and wealthy individuals. The Principal Secretary at Aleppey, Neelakantan Chempakaraman, his brother Ayyappan Thampi and the Revenue accountant at Chirayinkil, Kesavan Chempakaraman Pillai were beaten publicly. The price of salt skyrocketed, because of tax. In North Travancore, Tharakan had a coterie of officials which included, Thiruvarpu Krishna Pillai, Chalayil Padmanabhan Annavi and Kizhakkumukham Yogeeswaran Raman.

The prominent official who protested was Sreepandaravaka Vachezhuthu Pravrithi, Veluthampi. His job was to record the accounts of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. The system Sankaranarayanan Chetti followed was to threaten, ask to sign a pro note and extract money within a period. Veluthampi had to sign a pro note for Rs 20,000. When he was denied the audience of the King by Jayantan Subramanyan, he went to the Nancihnad leader, Periyaveettu Muthaliyar. It was decided to publicly protest against the cruel tax drive.

People assembled on 27, Edavam, in East Fort. Resident Bannerman rushed from Palayamcottah and heard the public. Based on an enquiry the Nambudiri brothers and their brother-in-law, the sorcerer Palanattu Nambudiri was jailed. Chetti's ears were cut and handed over to the Forces. Chetti loyalists, Iraviputhurkada Sankara Pillai, Ambalavanan Thanu Pillai, Valyayajaman Parthivapuram Padmanabhan Chempakaraman, Tharakan loyalists Padmanabhan Annavi and Yogeeswaran Raman were put in Military lock-up. Thiruvarpu Krishna Pillai was jailed. Soldiers were sent to Alapuzha, to bring Tharakan.

Bishop made hostage

While the popular rebellion was on in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharakan was in the midst of a criminal act in Alapuzha-he had taken the Metropolitan of the Eastern Church, Mor Dionysius as a hostage.

Tharakan, though a Romo-Syrian Catholic, was not a friend of European Catholic Bishops. He was adherent to Roman Catholic Church, eager to have a native Bishop following the Chaldean rite and in communion with Rome, to rule the Romo-Syrian Churches in Malabar/Malankara/Kerala. With this aim, he sent two catholic priests to Rome and Portugal in 1778:Kariattil Joseph Kathanar and Paremakal Thomas Kathanar, to be consecrated as Bishops. We know Thomas Kathanar very well-he wrote, Varthamana pusthakam. Its manuscript was with the Thachil family till 2000, when they handed over it to the Catholic Church museum at Kakkanad, the Thachil family site claims. But it was with the Parayil Tharakan family and they handed it over. Joseph Kathanar wrote two books: Vedatharkam (Dialectics on Theology) and Noticiasdo Reino do Malabar(1780).

Joseph Kariattil (1742-1786) was from Tharakan's native Alangad. He was sent to Propaganda College of Pontifical Urban University, Rome when he was just 13. He took a doctorate in Philosophy in Theology and returned as a priest to Kerala in 1766. He was a professor at Alangad Seminary when Tharakan sent him. The King of Portugal was impressed with them and nominated Joseph for the Bishopric of Kodungallur. He was consecrated as Archbishop in Lisbon in 1783, becoming the first native Indian Arch Bishop. En route to India, he was poisoned to death by the Portuguese missionaries in Goa, on September 10,1786(his mortal remains were brought from Goa in 1961 and re-interred in St Mary's Church at Alangad). Thomas in return to Kerala was appointed Vicar General, Administrator or Governador.

The Community, indignant at the murder of Bishop Joseph, called a Synod and denied the authority of the Latin Bishops of Varapuzha/Kodungallur. In short, Carmelite missionaries should not interfere in the liturgical matters of the native Christians. The Vicar General was appointed temporary Head, subject to the consecration by the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon. It was held in Angamaly St George Church on February 1,1787, organized by Tharakan and presided over by Paremakal Kathanar. The decisions were written on palm leaves and became famous as Angamaly Padiyola.

Thus Tharakan consolidated the Syrians of the Roman rite. Then he turned his attention to Mar Dionysius I, Metropolitan of the Jacobites of Eastern Church(1765-1808). Tharakan contemplated the amalgamation of Jacobites and Romo-Syrians under the same native Roman Catholic Bishop. A grand design, where all Christians will be one and he, the self-styled King of them. Maybe, he was driven by the legend of the King Thomas of Villarvattom, who had Udayamperoor as the Capital.

He offered Dionysius the position of a Bishop of a United Church, provided he adopted the Chaldean creed and rituals, recognised in Rome. Dionysius initially thought of accepting it, thereby winning Romo-Syrians over. But he was flabbergasted by Tharakan's terms. Tharakan proposed a public meeting to convince Jacobites of the orthodoxy of Rome. Since the Travancore King Balaramavarma was at his beck and call, Dionysius had to yield to Tharakan. The meeting of both the parties was decided to be held at Kayamkulam on September 20,1791. 

When the meeting was about to begin, a messenger arrived with the news of the death of Tharakan's mother. The meet was postponed to November 22 at Niranam. The Romans arrived for the second meet, sure of the Celebration of the Eucharist according to the Roma-Chaldean rite. Then the news came of the death of Tharakan's bedridden son. For some years, Tharakan was silent. During this interval, the nephew of Dionysius was ordained a Ramban by Mor Ivanios, eventually to be raised to Bishop, as Co-Adjutor. But before realizing this, Ivanios died on April18,1794. Dionysius himself ordained his nephew as Mor Thoma VII.

Tharakan revived his old idea, after five years. Both parties met at Kayamkulam and vehement negotiations followed for 15 days. Since no solution was in sight, Tharakan contacted King Balarama Varma. A fine of Rs 25000 was imposed on Dionysius for 'concealing the properties' of Raja Kesavadas. The churches at Niranam and Chengannur with the properties, as well as properties of the Metropolitan including the Episcopal cross, crozier and sacramental vessels were confiscated. From this Rs 5,000 was realised.

Dionysius remitted another Rs 5,000.The balance was collected and paid. During the melee, Tharakan offered to pay the entire amount(or zero amount as King was his slave), if the Syrian community would sign an agreement accepting Romanism. Tharakan adopted the policy of the Inquisitor of Goa, Archbishop Menezes, brought armed men from the King and arrested Dionysius and many of the leaders and took them to Aleppey. 

The Metropolitan was put to starvation in Tharakan's Bungalow for several days, and was forced to sign an agreement accepting, "the profession of the faith prescribed by Pope Urban VIII for the Orientals, and submitting himself and his Church 'to the Holy Father the Pope, performing the Mass, reciting the breviary and observing the fasts and other rites as they were prescribed by the Synod of Diamper".Dionysius celebrated the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic rite at the St Michael's Church at Thathampally, Alapuzha on June 30,1799.

Dionysius I(Marthoma VI)

Within a fortnight, Soldiers came for Tharakan.

During the administration of Kesavadas, Tharakan was instrumental in granting lands to the churches under his sway. He had pressurised the administration to take over some palaces like Kudamalur and to hand them over to the churches. The Secretary of Kesavadas, Neelakantan Chempakaraman was a companion of Tharakan. Maybe he opposed the action of Tharakan in taking Dionysius hostage and got beaten up.

Tharakan, who was called to Thiruvananthapuram to face action, tried to escape when he reached Anchuthengu (Anjengo), by jumping onto a boat with the help of the English. The monsoon winds blocked his attempt; the English gave him asylum, and the public surrounded the Fort. The English had to budge when the order came from the Capital.

In Thiruvananthapuram,Tharakan stayed with Dewan Krishnan Chempakaraman for a day.Though he begged pardon through Assistant Ramalinga Muthaliar to the Resident, his ears were cut off the next day and sent to jail. Tharakan was asked to sign a pro note for Rs 10,00,000. Tharakan countered by saying that the government owed him Rs 14,00.000. The King compensated Tharakan for the lost ears-he gifted him a golden ear!

Macaulay enters

Major Colin Campbell Macaulay became a Resident in January 1800. We should not confuse him with his nephew, Thomas Babington Macaulay. Colin Macaulay (1760-1836) served 30 years in India, retiring as Lieutenant General. He was captured by Hyder Ali in 1780 and imprisoned for four years. At Seringapatam in 1799, he was Secretary to a Political/Diplomatic Commission headed by Arthur Wellesley which accompanied the force that marched under General Harris against Tipu. 

Macaulay was a Resident During 1800-1810. He was once attacked by Chempil Arayan, inside Bolghatty Palace, in unison with Veluthampi and Paliath Achan. When Colin Macaulay arrived, Padmanabhan Chempakaraman was appointed Dewan. He was removed in March; Veluthampi took over as Dewan. The pro-Tharakan Balarama Varma asked his ministers Ayyappan Chempakaraman, Padmanabhan Chempakaraman and Veluthampi to review Tharakan's case. 

All of them gave reports that it was Tharakan who owed money to the government. Ayyappan Chempakaraman even fined Tharakan Rs 200,000. Maybe the King turned against Ayyappan because of this, too. As Tharakan's complaints escalated, Veluthampi fined him Rs 200,000 and kept him in jail. Though Tharakan was freed in July 1804, Macaulay jailed him again for not settling the amount due to Navroji from Bombay who was trading in Aleppey. Tharakan sold his cargo and ships to settle it. He was freed in March 1805.

Once free, Tharakan sought the help of the new Archbishop of Verapoly (The Archbishop was Raymond of St Joseph during 1803-1816; John Mary of Jesus before him, from 1784)and raised his claim of Rs 14,00,000 again before Macaulay and Veluthampi. Veluthampi agreed to a review. The representatives of Tharakan and the government met at Bolghatty Residency and reviewed the accounts. The Resident's verdict came: the government owed only Rs 85,000.

Since Veluthampi was at loggerheads with the Resident, he came up with a forest case against Tharakan and began attachment proceedings against him. The Resident wrote to Veluthampi not to be vindictive. Veluthampi stopped his actions; the Resident asked Tharakan to see the Dewan at Quilon with all the documents. He also gave Tharakan a letter to be handed over to his brother's son, Dr Kenneth Macaulay, who was at Quilon. Mathew Tharakan, who was afraid of Veluthampi, sent his grandson, Kochu Mathu with Kenneth. Macaulay had cheated Tharakan: In the letter to Kenneth, Macaulay had asked for Rs 59000 from the total amount of Rs 85000. 

The rest of Rs 26,000 should only be given to Tharakan. Veluthampi, according to the letter, agreed to give 26,000 to Kochu Mathu but demanded a full receipt for Rs 85000. Kochu Mathu was held hostage for not signing the receipt. When Tharakan approached Macaulay, he said he had taken Rs 59,000 from the Dewan; so a full receipt should be given. Macaulay agreed to give a loan of Rs 33,000 to Tharakan which he rejected. The receipt was given.

Thankakomban book

The Verapoly Archbishop too turned against Tharakan. Maybe at the instigation of Macaulay. In a complaint to the Resident, the Bishop said Tharakan had collected money from the churches in the Diocese and gave Rs 30,908 to the Travancore government and Rs 14,000 to Cochin. The Bishop wanted the Resident to collect those sums from Tharakan and return it to him. The money was collected by Tharakan to ordain two native Bishops. So, it was clear that he had sent Joseph and Thomas to Portugal with not his own funds. Macaulay attached Tharakan's assets in Cochin. Tharakan was jailed again for an amount of Rs 23,500 he owed to a ship captain.

Thus Tharakan was a victim of his own actions and the political tide which turned against him. Here we see small rays of popular struggle for independence in Travancore, which Tharakan failed to gauge. I quote from, Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories, Vol 14:

In Travancore, Veluthampi Dalawa led a rebellion against the British in 1808-09 because Colonel Macaulay demanded that the state pay arrears of tribute promptly especially when the state was in serious financial difficulties and because the British Resident rejected Dalawa's actions against Mathu Tharakan. His lands were taken over illegally by the state instead of payment of taxes. The Dalawa was assisted by Paliath Achan, the Chief Minister of Cochin, who was disappointed by the British settlements of property claims which were unfavourable to Cochin.

Veluthampi thus became a victim of the extremism of Tharakan.

Tharakan, his family site says, was the founding life President of Akhila Thiruvithamcore-Cochi Nazrani Mahajana Sabha. He built the Church of St Antony at Thycattussery(1791) and the present St Anne's Forane Church at Petta, Thiruvananthapuram, Thachil family site claims. Other claims: He was the main exporter of teak wood to the UK. They were used to build the ships which took part in the Napoleonic wars(1799-1815). He had sold timber on loan to the Resident.
Though most of the documents refer to Tharakan as Thachil Mathu Tharakan, the history of Thottakkad St George Church, Kottayam, refers to him as Thachil Thariath Mathu Tharakan. 

The King had permitted him to build the Church there.

Tharakan had two children, Ouseph and Thariath. Tharakan died in his ancestral home at Kuthiathode. Since he had no legal heir, the amount due to him was given to the Orthodox Theological Seminary(Old Seminary)at Kottayam, at the intervention of the Resident, Munro. So the money didn't go to a Catholic institution.

We do not know what Tharakan did with the golden ear that he got as a gift.
When Tharakan was called to Thiruvananthapuram, Dionysius escaped from Aleppey to Niranam. He publicly apologised for celebrating the Holy Eucharist according to Roman Catholic rites. As a penalty, he vowed to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in all the Syrian churches at his private expense. He died on April 8,1808.
The moral of the story is very simple: The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done(Le Pere Goriot part II, Balzac,1825).

Reference:

Marthanda Varma Muthal Munro Vare/K Sivasankaran Nair/DC Books,1996,
Land and People of Indian States and Union territories, Vol 14/Ed by SC Bhatt, Gopal K Bhargava
Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-Modern India/Ed by  Yogesh Sharma/Primus
Thachil Mathu Tharakan/M O Joseph/NBS,1962
Travancore State Manual/T K Velu Pillai
History of Travancore/P Shungunny Menon
Church records-Niranam Granthavari,Nalagamam
Puthenkavu Cathedral smaranika
Thachil Mathu Tharakante Thankakompan/K M Varghese/Manorama, 1922
Indian Church History/EM Philip Edavazhikkal,1908


See my Post, A CHRISTIAN IN THE ZAMORIN FAMILY

A CHRISTIAN IN THE MALABAR ROYAL FAMILY

The Zamorin's nephew became a Christian in 1600

I never thought Udayamperoor,just seven kilometers away from my place,Tripunithura was connected to Ooty.Frederic Price,in his book,Ootacamund,a History,says that the decision to redeem Catholic faith in Ooty was taken in the Diamper Synod of 1599.Diamper is of course,Udayamperoor.A Jesuit priest,Fr Fininicio was sent to Ooty.Then comes the biggest surprise.I quote from the book:A native convert,a nephew of the Samur Rajah,accompanied him and some others.
This journey was in 1602 and Fr Fininicio wrote a report on it at Calicut on April 1,1603.This Portuguese manuscript is preserved in the British Museum.

Reception to Gama by Zamorin.Illustration by Philip Baldaeus,1672

I have seen Illustrations,fictitious,of this trip in the Sullivan's Museum in Kotagiri,Nilgiris.But there was no illustration of the nephew of the Zamorin,who had become a Christian.I had written on Prince Rama Varma of the Cochin Royal family who became a Christian in 1835.But the conversion in Calicut was 235 years earlier;before that,around 1537,the Tanur King had converted and taken the name,Dom Joao.It was the time when the Zamorin failed to evict the portuguese from Chaliyam.Soon,Vettathu Raja with his wife became Christians but went back to the Hindu fold,dejected.
We will come to the details of the nephew later.
Unless we gather the background of the Synod,we won't be able to assess the importance of the Calicut conversion.

Synod Church

The Synod of Diamper was held inspired by the inquisitions in Spain and Portugal,in the All Saints Church of Udayamperoor during June 20-26,1599,under the leadership of the Portuguese Arch Bishop of Goa, Aleixo de Menezes.153 Ecclesiastes and 660 laymen,elected/invited,participated.The Synod issued 200 decrees.It was held under threat by the Raja of Cochin;he threatened to take over the assets of the churches which stayed away from the Synod.The church was encircled by Portuguese/Cochin soldiers.The Raja himself was a slave of the Portuguese.He was consecrated as King in the Church,with a crown bearing the Cross.

The Syrian Christians of Malabar(modern Kerala)were following a lot of original Hindu beliefs.The Synod condemned all these,relating to transmigration,fate and astrology.The Hindu customs relating to matrimony,death,purification on touching lower castes were abandoned.The Christians were banned from attending traditional Hindu functions like Onam.Hindu musicians were banned from performing in Christian churches.The Christians who were doing military services to Hindu kings were asked to stop it.The formal separation of Christians from their Hindu brethren and the unification of Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala with the Roman Catholic Church was complete.

Menezes

Till the Synod,the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala were under the See of the Chaldean Patriarch or Catholicose of Babylonia(Seleucia-Ctesiphon).Menezes endeavored to eliminate the Bishops sent from Babylonia.He created the impression that the Patriarch was Nestorian, heretic and was opposed to Rome.He told the Synod so.The last Metropolitan of the Saint Thomas Christians,appointed by the Patriarch,Mar Abraham of Angamaly,who was Persian, died in 1597.His Archdeacon George (Geevarghese)took charge as Administrator of Angamaly Archdiocese.Archdeacon was All India Head of the Palliyogam or Assembly,thereby the virtual ruler.The Bishop,one from abroad,was a nominal representative.The Archbishop Menezes of Goa,taking this void as an opportunity,nominated  Jesuit priest,Fr Francis Roz as Administrator.Since Fr Goerge was very popular,Menezes had to reverse the decision.Fr George called an assembly of Saint Thomas Christians in Angamaly and took the pledge that if Rome sends George as Bishop,they will accept,but not a Latin.

The enraged but tactful Menezes toured Kerala in February,1599 to earn goodwill of the churches and priests.After winning over a sizable number of priests,he threatened George to depose.Menezes appointed Thomas Kurien,nephew of the former Arch Deacon of 1593,whose claims had been overlooked earlier,as the new Administrator.George had no other way than to yield. After deposing the influential George, Menezes began to consolidate.The consolidation had its finale at Udayamperoor.The Portuguese imposed new customs,hierarchy,law,liturgy and rites.Several manuscripts were burnt(Liturgical and Episcopal texts at the Angamaly library were systematically burnt;Menezes burnt Syriac books in 59 churches.After Angamaly,Syriac collections of Cheppad and Chengannur were burnt).All references to the childhood of Jesus and the first wife of his father Joseph were removed.

Kunjali's sword

During the Synod,the King was Keshava Rama Varma(1565-1601),who is known to have gone on a pilgrimage to Kashi and other temples for five years,fed up with slavery under Portuguese.Kunjali Mohammed Marakkar was in touch with him.In 1583,Portuguese Viceroy Francisco Mascernhas forcibly took the authority to collect commercial tax from the King.As public protest raged,the new Viceroy,Duarte Menezes came to Cochin and sorted out the issue.It was on January 26,1599,Archbishop Menezes arrived in Cochin.On the second day of arrival,he convened a meeting of officials to seek help for the war efforts at Kottakkal,without the permission of the King.The King sent his Chief Justice, Joan d Miranda to Menezes to pull him out of the Kottakkal war.Miranda told Menezes that Cochin was at war with Koratty Kaimal and could not help with forces at Kottakkal.Menezes sent Miranda back.Then two meetings between the King and Menezes followed;Menezes shouted a lot at the King for helping the Archdeacon.Menezes forced the King to help him in the Synod.Before Menezes left for Goa after the Synod,he met the King again and asked him to get converted to Christianity.A very long conversation followed.The King escaped saying he would call a meet of Brahmin scholars later.Menezes cursed the King to undergo the harshest tests on the D-Day and left.The King died on 3 May,1601.

Old Marakkar home,kottakkal

Archdeacon George (Geevarghese of the Cross),or Arkhadayakon Geevarghese died in 1640.He had surrendered and led the priests in the Synod.His protests continued afterwards and he was excommunicated by the Bishop,Francis Roz.In 1615 they reconciled.Though George was appointed Bishop of Palayur,he rejected it.His earlier position of Archdeacon was above that of a Bishop.They again fell out.He didn't jell well with the next Bishop Britto too.He is believed to be buried in the forefront of the Pakalomattam ancestral house at Kuravilangad,Kottayam.

Joseph Kathanar(Josephus Indus),who reached Europe from Crangannur in the beginning of the 16th Century had given the Europeans a brief on the Kerala Christians.From his brief,it was clear that the Christian customs were no different from that of the Hindus.With the advent of the Europeans in Kerala,this social fabric of bonhomie got shattered.The European Christians who came had both ideological and commercial scores to settle with the Muslims in Kerala.The harassment Muslims had to undergo has been described in the Tuhfat-Ul-Mujahideen of Sheikh Zainudin.The Diamper Synod virtually separated the Kerala Christians from the main stream.

Dr K N Ganesh,Historian,has opined that as far as the respective communities are concerned,the actions of the Europeans and Kunjali Marakkar are similar.Marakkar too struggled against the new forces that tried to undermine the existing strength.The last Marakkar declared freedom from the Zamorin and tried to be the King of the Muslims.

I am not sure whether we can equate Marakkar with the Europeans,like Ganesh did.For our present story the period is important.It is known that Samoothiri was Samudrathiri and was termed for the first time as Zamorin by Abdul Razzak after 15th Century.Though Vasco da Gama had arrived in 1498,the Zamorin gave permission to the Portuguese to build fort at Ponnani only in 1585.After this,Zamorin helped them to destroy several Muslim structures in Kottakkal.Zamorin allowed the Portuguese to build a factory at Calicut  in 1591,the year Menezes bacame Bishop of Goa.A Foundation for a Church was also laid in that year.It is clear that Zamorin did this because he was afraid of his former Naval Commander Kunjali Marakkar IV,or,Mohammed Marakkar.

Gama with Zamorin,steel engraving,1850s

 Kunjali was a title given by the Zamorin to the chief trader.The Kunjalis who were there in Calicut for seven decades were natives of Cochin who had escaped to Calicut after Portuguese fleets reached Cochin and threatened their commercial interests.For both Zamorin and Kunjali,the Portuguese were common enemies.It is because of this enmity,Zamorin had entered into a treaty with his arch enemy,Cochin,in 1503.But in 1598,the Portuguese were able to convince the Zamorin that Kunjali Mohammed Marakkar intended to take over his Kingdom.After he fell out with the Zamorin,Kunjali terrorized the Portuguese with his trusted lieutenant, Chinali.Chinali was a Chinese slave of the Portuguese from Malacca.The boy who was rescued by Kunjali,became a Muslim and his right hand.The forces under the Portuguese Commander,Ande Furtado de Mendoca,in 1600, attacked Kunjali and Chinali,captured them.Marakkar was executed  publicly in Goa.

Thus,in both the Diamper Synod and the execution of Kunjali Marakkar,Menezes presided over.
Aleixo de Menezes(1559-1617) was Arch Bishop of Goa,Arch Bishop of Braga in Portugal and finally,Viceroy of Portugal.He was consecrated as Bishop in Goa in 1591.He was just 35.He was leader of the Inquisition in Goa.Both the Inquisition and the Diamper Synod were condemned by Rome later.The result of the Synod was unfortunate.I quote the Catholic Encyclopedia(1913):The only case in which an ancient Eastern rite has been wilfully romanized is that of  the Malabar Christians,where it was not Roman authority but the misguided zeal of Alexius de Menezes ,Arch Bishop of Goa,and his Portuguese Advisers at the Synod of Diamper(1599),which spoilt the old Malabar rite".The Synod was invalid because it was convoked without authority,without the approval of Rome.The Saint Thomas Christians could not participate in the proceedings because the medium was not Malayalam or Syriac.The agenda was pre planned.Several decrees were incorporated after the Synod.Because of the Synod,the Church split into two.Since it was found invalid,Bishop Francis Roz ,who was appointed after the Synod,called another Synod at Angamaly in 1603.Maybe the word menace in English has its origin in Menezes.

It was this  fanatic zeal of Menezes that reigned in both Malabar and Cochin during 1591-1600.A period of upheavals.The Saint Thomas Christians had the monopoly over the spice trade and hence it was a requirement of the Portuguese to bring them under control.Zamorin was pressurized tactfully to remove Kunjali.When Zamorin finally aligned with the Portuguese,his nephew became a Christian.

Price's book

It was at the request of Governor of Madras,Lord Ampthill,in 1903,Frederick Price began writing,Ootacamund,a History.Sir John Frederick Price was Chief Secretary of Madras and Member,Madras Legislative Council,who translated the Diaries of Ananda Ranga Pillai.He researched the expeditions to Ooty and found the first was in 1602 or the early part of 1603.The details are there in The Manual of the Nilgiri District by H B Grigg.He quoted on the first expedition from JW Breeks' (First Collector of Nilgiris)work ,Thomas Whitehouse's abstract of a (Portuguese) manuscript in the British Museum.Whitehouse has used it in his book,Lingerings of Light in a Darkaland(1873),a history of the Syrian Catholic Church in Malabar.I quote it:

At the Synod of Udiamparur in the State of Cochin,held under Archbishop Menezes in 1599,information having been received that there were certain villages of Christians in a country called Todamala,who anciently belonged to the Syrian Church of Malabar ,but then had nothing of Christianity except the bare name,it was ordered that priests and preachers should be sent thither immediately to redeem them to the Catholic faith,baptise them,etc.Francisco Roy,the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Syrian Christians(From the Synod history,the name is wrong,it should be Francis Roz),in 1602 sent a priest and Deacon of the Christians of St Thomas with a good guide to find out the place,and collect information.They reached the Todamala;but ,as the account brought back by them was not sure and complete as was desirable,Bishop Roy requested the Vice Principal of the Jesuits to depute a priest of his own order to make further inquiries.The Rev Jacome Ferreiri was selected for this mission.He started from Calicut,the place of his residence ,and was permitted to return safely,after undergoing great exposure and fatigue ,with a good deal of information about the hill tribes,their manners and customs;but with no tidings of any Christian colony,which had either become extinct or removed elsewhere,if it had ever been there at all.At Calicut,he wrote a formal report,dated April 1st,1603,from which the following particulars are gleaned-
He proceeded,via Manarecate 13 leagues inland from Tanur.A native convert,a nephew of the Samur Rajah,accompanied him and some others.....

A medal:Gama with Zamorin

I stop here;let them continue the journey.The name,Jacome Ferreiri in this description has been established wrong.Frederick Price has referred to a re translation of the document in the British Museum,which appears in Cambridge Anthroplogist Dr WHR Rivers' book,The Todas(1906)in which the priest is Fininicio.In present documents he is Jacome Fininicio,a Jesuit priest from Portugal.
What about the nephew of Zamorin ,the new Christian,who was with Fininicio?He is not mentioned again in the document.

Reference:
Ootacamund:A History/Frederick Price/Rupa,2012
Kerala Samooha Padanangal/Dr K N Ganesh/Prasakthi Book House,2002
Calicut:The City of Truth/MGS Narayanan
The History of Christianity in India/James Hough,Vol 4.
Cochi Rajya Charithram/K P Padmanabha Menon/Mathrubhumi,1989
Eastern Christians in India/Cardinal Tisserant
India and the Apostle Thomas:An Inquiry,with a Critical Analysis/A E Medlycott
The History of the Church of Malabar/Michael Geddes
Portuguese Cochin and the Maritime Trade of India/Pius Malekandathil

See my post,PRINCE RAMA VARMA BECOMES JACOB RAMA VARMA

KRISHNA MENON'S LOST LOVE

It is a story of two women, one drug and political intrigues

V K Krishna Menon had a nervous break down in 1935 and was hospitalised in London.According to the letter of 1,January 1952,sent by Under Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations,Sir Percivale Liesching to Sir Archibald Nye,British High Commissioner to India,there were two reasons for the breakdown:death of his father Advocate Komath Krishna Kurup and the collapse of a long term relationship with a woman.I had read the biographies of Sergei Eisenstein and Satyajit Ray written by Marie Seton.But I never knew then that Marie was the woman in Krishna Menon's life.

Marie,who later became a friend of Indira Gandhi and lived in India for two decades,has also written a biography of Nehru,Panditji:A Portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru.In it Marie says her first meeting with Menon was in 1932.Menon told her:"The only man to lead India into the modern world is Jawahar Lal Nehru.Gandhi can't do this.Nehru has a modern scientific mind".

Marie Seton

Based on Menon's correspondence with his sister Janaki Amma,his grand niece Janaki Ram has written a book,V K Krishna Menon,a Personal Memoir.In it Janaki Ram(Janaki Ram is related to Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer too;she is the daughter of Menon's sister Janaki's elder daughter VA Madhavi Shastri) says that Menon was a believer in Astrology and after a failed love affair he remained a bachelor.The author,however suggests that in spite of his haughty temperament,many women were attracted to him.
The failed love affair,of course was the one with Marie Seton.As Janaki said,he had flings,but the only serious affair he had was with Marie.
Britain declassified a bunch of their Security Service MI5 files in 2007,in an effort to denigrate him.While he was Secretary of the India League during 1928-1947,they intercepted his phone calls at home,office and his letters.He was under surveillance.The MI5 dossier on him is of the view that Menon was a Communist agent and hence a threat to Britain.When I tried to corroborate the information in the files with other documents,I got the feeling that Menon was a single man army fighting the British and a true revolutionary.He agitated both Britain and the US.MI5 had even suspected African leaders Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah when they were in London.Britain considered Menon a weak link in the Commonwealth security chain.

The files are silent on Marie Seton,but refers to Menon's relationship with a woman,Bridget Tunnard-about that later.
In the 1930s,a period when both Menon and Marie met,Britain was under severe domestic pressure to grant India autonomy.Intellectuals such as Bertrand Russel, Harold Laski and Labour Party politicians such as Stafford Cripps,Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot batted for India.Laski was professor of Menon in the London School of Economics.According to Paul M McGarr of the University of Nottingham,Menon,above all others "transformed the British based campaign into a cohesive and dynamic political force".The  India League under his leadership became a force to reckon with.He made an intelligent move to be associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain,CPGB.At that time the attendance for India League meetings was meagre.He met Nehru for the first time in 1935(the year of break down).He became Nehru's literary agent,acted as political chaperon to Indira Gandhi when she studied at Somerville College,Oxford.CPGB had 15000 members and had a newspaper with a circulation of 40,000.So Menon got enough people for his meetings and propaganda.Menon became friendly with Rajani Palme-Dutt,Marxist theoretician and Harry Pollitt,General Secretary of CPGB.Pollitt,years later rescued the Indian Communist Party from a split in the Madurai Party Congress.Menon co-opted leading British Communists to Executive Committee of India League.

Marie with Satyajit Ray,London

In 1934 he became Labour Councillor from the North London borough of St Pancras.And then,four more terms.Though the MI5 files say that Menon was an opportunist,facts are otherwise.He would have been an MP from the constituency of Dundee which had connections with India's jute industry.But the ticket for him in 1939 was cancelled because he refused to condemn the Soviet invasion of Finland.This shows the strength of his association with CPGB.The invasion had its repercussions in the Indian Party,especially in the Kerala unit.Democratically speaking,the invasion was immoral.Though Menon tolerated it for the sake of CPGB,his relationship with the party soured  after the Nazi invasion of USSR on 23 June 1941.The CPGB stopped attacking British colonialism because by then the Soviets had allied with the British.

Marie's book on Ray

British Viceroy Linlithgow had written to British Secretary of State for India Leo Amery in November 1942 to put Menon in jail:"...that it has been found possible to accept the suggestion which I have I think made once or twice that we should take pains to break up Menon and break up the India League with him.I am certain that so long as he is there he will be a focus of discontent and difficulty and I should myself have thought that he was really worth taking a little of chance."
This suggestion was not accepted;Britain feared the backlash.
I think this is enough to destroy the MI5 files and fix Menon's prominence before independence.Suffice to say that Menon was a man of character when he met Marie Seton.
Marie Seton(1910-1985)was an actress and an accomplished art,theatre,film critic,who remained a socialist throughout her life.She was the daughter of Captain Seton who served in India and got wounded in one of the uprisings.Mother,also a Marie,remarried Sir Charles Walpole after Seton's death.

Krishna Menon

When she was just 19,Marie Seton organised lectures for the Soviet film Director of the landmark film, Battleship Potemkin,and father of the technique,Dialectical Montage,Sergei Eisenstein when he toured Western Europe in 1929(I have seen two more films of him:Strike and Ivan the terrible).After two years,she went to Russia as an associate to Eisenstein,to study film making.After return she took keen interest in the formation of the British Film Institute.It was then,as Art Correspondent of Manchester Guardian,while moving in socialist circles,she heard about Menon and met him.She had once barged into Gandhi's room to meet him.
They fell in love.Marie described Menon thus:"He was strikingly unlike any Indian,thinner by far and extra ordinarly angular.It was hard to decide if he was a very handsome man in a hacked out sculptural manner,or if he was distinctly devilish to look at...when focused,his almond-shaped eyes resembled those of a hawk".
Menon's Social Secretary in the High Commission,Pamela Cullen remembered Marie thus:"Seton had a fascination for India and as a young woman she had been introduced to India's fight for independence by Menon,who was a struggling lawyer in London".
It is a fact that Menon was struggling and had been financed by Bob Cleminson,son of a Methodist preacher,especially during the war.

Eisenstein

Marie was busy in the Cultural circle when she was going strong with Menon.In 1935,she helped in establishing the reputation of the Jamaican sculptor,Ronald Moody.She also became part of the circle of PD Ousepensky,the Russian esotericist.After his move to Newyork,she worked for him.She slowly drifted away from the struggling Menon.The broken Menon,during the course of his rehabilitation,became dependent on Luminal,a barbiturate-based sedative,the side effects of which included confusion,loss of consciousness and paranoia.Luminal was a brand name of phenobarbital marketed by Bayer in 1912.It had sedative/hypnotic properties.It was a first-line drug for partial and general epileptic seizures;was a sedative for anxious or agitated patients.It remained a commonly prescribed sedative until the introduction of Benzodiazepines in 1960s.
Marie went on with her work.She helped her friend,CLR James,the Trinidadian writer to stage his play,Toussaint Louverture,based on Haitian revolution,which had Paul Robeson in the lead role.Her first book was the biography of Robeson.She garnered public opinion when Robeson was victimized in the US.She published five seminal essays on British Cinema in Sight and Sound during 1937-1938.She married Donald Hesson,Chicago based lawyer and writer in 1938.They got separated in 1942.

Guy Liddell

When Menon was High Commissioner,Nehru asked Menon to find an expert of British origin to evangelise on the educational quality of films.Menon in turn asked his Social Secretary,Pamela Cullen.Pamela looked for Marie.It is said that Marie was suggested by S G Tendulkar,who was studying Cinema with Eisenstein in Moscow.Marie arrived in India in 1955 to help in establishing the film society movement in India.University Film Society and Childrens'Film Society were set up.In the 1960s she was a guest of Indira in the Tin Murti Bhavan.The Federation of Film Societies came into being with Ray as its President.Indira was its Vice President and Marie,Adviser.She was awarded the Padmabhushan in 1984 and was cremated on her death according to her wish.

Now the Second phase of Menon.

He was made the High Commissioner in London in 1947.His eccentric character encouraged both Indian and UK officials to question his psychological stability.But Nehru stood behind him like the rock of Gibraltar.
MI5 continued to suspect him a person with Communist leanings and blocked all Top Secret files from going to him.In 1949, Guy Liddell,Deputy Director General of MI5,observed:"As long as Menon and his associates remained in his office,there could be no reasonable guarantee of (Commonwealth)security as far as India is concerned".In May that year reviewing the Menon dossier,he concluded that Menon's long term affair with Bridget Tunnard,an India League Secretary (she was Administrative Secretary till 1971)connected to the CPGB is of more concern to MI5.Liddell wrote,Menon's relationship with Tunnard suggested 'that anything of interest that Menon hears about will reach the Communist Party through her".
There were more threats.Menon had appointed PN Haksar ,another leftist to head External affairs(Haksar was Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi later,1967-1973).Then came Patsy Pillai-she and her husband were members of the Communist Party of South Africa and joined the Brondsbury branch of the party on their arrival in London.Menon appointed her immediately in his private office.Sanjeevi Pillai,Director of IB was briefed by MI5 in 1948 and 1949 while he was in London.IB posted LL  Nan in India office to spy on Menon and regular reports were sent to Nehru.
Menon appeared incoherent in public in several occasions in 1951.Rumours of TB,heart disease or addiction to drugs began to spread.A second nervous breakdown was suspected.Nehru described an encounter with Menon in Paris in 1951:"He staggered into the room,obviously very far from well...his appearance and general behavior was so odd that he attracted the attention of others...Malik,our Ambassador here,asked Nan if Krishna Menon was drunk.Nan was herself alarmed and came to me to say that Krishna was very ill and something should be done about him.He had the appearance of a person on the verge of going off his head..".

NR Pillai with Ambassador Richter,1957

We do not know whether Menon began taking Luminal again.But his abuse of Luminal was well known to the British(see,Gordon Walker,Political Diaries,page 241).
Nehru dispatched his Secretary M O Mathai to London in September 1951 to inquire about Menon.Mathai's report mentions Menon's special bonding with Bob Cleminson.He saw Menon at least once daily.Menon took his girl friend from the High Commission to Cleminson's London apartment."On one occasion,she danced naked",Mathai informed Nehru.Foreign Secretary,N R Pillai informed Nehru on Menon's special interest in SCK Agencies,involved in defence deals.India ,it was reported then had overpaid them 1,40,000 pounds for ammunition contracts.Its Chief Associate was the murky Bob Cleminson.The money was going to India League and Menon's publishing venture,Meridian Books,which published Nehru's Discovery of India in 1951(The famous Penguin books was founded by Menon with Sir Allen Lane).
It has to be assumed that Mathai was sent after a private letter Nehru got from Mountbatten in September,1951 requesting him to remove Menon.Mountbatten cited only the ill health of Menon.Head of MI5,Sir Percy Sillitoe briefed the Prime Minister Clement Attlee.Later that year,Attlee told Rajkumari Amrith Kaur that "Menon too ill and incoherent to meet or talk with".
Menon had been pushed to the wall.He was offered a Cabinet Minister post or the post of Ambassador in Moscow or the Vice Chancellorship of the Delhi University by Nehru.Menon had sent Nehru medical certificates to prove that he was sober and normal and threatened to commit suicide if removed from London.Finally Menon was cajoled to be in the UN delegation.
Thus,in the downfall of Menon,a woman character,Bridget Tunnard played a part.His infatuation for her was not fiction-I have read in the reminiscences of Winnie Dadoo,wife of the South African Communist leader Dr Yusuf Dadoo (he had studied in Aligarh Muslim University,before doing Medicine in London)that when they met Menon in 1949,Ms Tunnard was with him.Inder Malhotra,well known journalist has written that the Menon-Tunnard relationship was known to everyone connected with India League office.
None except Menon could have survived such an international onslaught;Nehru would not have protected anyone else in a vulnerable position.Hence people said,Menon was the alter ego to Nehru,like Ezra Pound was to T S Elliot.
Reference:
1.'A Serious Menace to Society':British Intelligence,VK Krishna Menon and the Indian High Commission in London,1947-52/Paul M McGarr/The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History,August,2010
2.Portrait of a Director/Marie Seton
3.For,Menon's nervous breakdown/British Archives file KV/2/2513-10
4.For,Menon's suicide threat/Note by Spooner,24 January 1951,British Archives file KV/2/2512-16,Brown,Nehru248
5.Panditji:A Portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru/Marie Seton
6.V K Krishna Menon,A Personal Memoir/Janaki Ram
7.Nehru:A Political Life/Judith M Brown 
8.Left out in history/Inder Malhotra/Indian Express,March6,2007

See my post,KRISHNA MENON AS A HEADLOAD WORKER







 
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NAMBIAR,NEHRU AND INDIRA GANDHI

Split in party;split in life,life in Europe

Two people whom Jawahar Lal Nehru loved apart from his father Motilal and Gandhi were Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and ACN Nambiar.I do not know whether we can say Nehru and Nambiar were relatives;they were related to the same family at least-Nambiar had married Suhasini,the sister of Sarojini Naidu.Nehru was in love with Padmaja Naidu,daughter of Sarojini Naidu.Nehru made Padmaja the Governor of West Bengal(1956-1967; Mother was Governor of UP,1947-1949).Nehru used to keep a portrait of Padmaja in his bedroom,which Indira would often remove.Suhasini was the first woman member of the Communist Party of India.She was instrumental in making Captain Lakshmi a politician.

Commander Bertling with Nambiar(second from right) and Krappe,Berlin,1944

Arathil Candeth(Kandoth) Narayanan Nambiar(1896-1986) was born in Tellicherry to Kesari Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar,who wrote Vasanavikrithi,the first short story in Malayalam.Vengayil family had 200,000 acres of land while Chirakkal Raja had only 30,000.Major General K P Candeth,who led the liberation of Goa,was Nayanar's grand son.Sir C Sankaran Nair,former Congress President was the maternal grandfather of Candeth.Nambiar had gone to London to pursue studies.He became influenced by the famous revolutionary Chatto or Virendranath Chatopadhyay, brother of Sarojini Naidu.Afterwards Nambiar became a reluctant recruit of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,to be on the side of the Nazis.
Somerset Maugham wrote the story,Giulia Lazzari,based on the British attempt to murder Chatto in 1915,on the Swiss border with France or Italy.Maugham was in British secret service then.The main character in the story,John Ashendon was based on Maugham himself and Chandra Lal  on Chatto.It is said that Maugham wrote 21 stories on his secret service experience.Only seven saw light of the day.Winston Churchill asked him to burn the other 14.

Chatto

Chatto was born in Hyderabad in 1880 and at Twenty Two, he sailed to London for studies.He came under the influence of Bipin Chandra Pal and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.Bose asked him to move to Berlin.It is there the British secret service agent Donald Gullick tried to lure him to the Swiss border.He was arrested by the Swiss police in Zurich.He felt both Nehru and Bose let him down and he escaped to Moscow.He wished to be part of the Comintern,but his rival,M N Roy made it there.He changed his name to Virendranat Agornatovich Chatopadhyay to escape from enemies.His father was the first Indian to get a Dsc, Aghoranath Chatopadhyay,Physicist from Edinburgh University and the first Principal of Nizam's College,Hyderabad.In Moscow,Chatto was very close to M N Kirov,Stalin's no.2.Kirov fell out with Stalin during the Great Purge and Chatto was executed by Stalin in 1937.The romantic Chatto had at least lived with three women;he lived with the American journalist Agnes Smedley for seven years(1921-1928) which was ruinous for both.She moved to Shanghai,where she was lover of Soviet super spy,Richard Sorge.She is well known for her novel,Daughter of Earth.

Agnes

Chatto and Nambiar had shared their love for the Ghadar Party,the revolutionary party formed by Punjabi Indians in the US and Canada.Nambiar as a roving journalist had written an article,The Elephant and the Porcelaine Shop in the June 1927 issue of The United States of India published by the party.The same issue contains an article,China,India and English Imperialism by Rabindra Nath Tagore!The party which was formed in 1913 got split into Communist anti Communist factions after the first World War.
Nambiar was introduced to Suhasini in Chennai,by his brother,Madhavan,who was in the Indian Education Service.He had known Nehru while at Cambridge.Madhavan had befriended Suhasini's sister Mrinalini,while studying in London.Mrinalin had her home in Chennai .Nambiar's relationship with Suhasini was detested by Madhavan and Nambiar had to leave the home.An Industrialist by the name, Sankara Iyer helped him to pursue studies in London.Suhasini had gone to London early,to join Oxford.Together they shifted  in 1922 to Berlin,at the invitation of Jayasurya Naidu,Sarojini's son.. Nambiar set up the first Information Bureau of the Indian National Congress in Berlin in October,1922,at the request of Jawahar Lal Nehru,whom he had met at Brussels..It was called The Indian News Service and Information Bureau.Suhasini joined the Communists and left for Moscow,to study in the Eastern Universitry,and Nambiar made his Secretary at the Bureau,Eva Geissler,his mistress.Eva's sister Louise became M N Roy's mistress.Suhasini returned to India with Lester Hutchinson,who guided the Communist Party of India,and got accused in the Meerut conspiracy case.Suhasini's letters to Nambiar found no solace and they got separated ;Sarojini Naidu stood by Nambiar when it happened. Nambiar had fallen out with Chatto too .There is reason:Sarojini Naidu,at the instance of Gandhi,published a statement condemning Chatto's activities as 'terrorism'.After this,her father refused to see her and didn't allow her to see even in his last days.All the available evidence shows Ms Naidu was not on speaking terms with her family members.

Sarojini Naidu with Padmaja

Motilal and Nehru visited Berlin in November,1927 at Chatto's invitation;before that Chatto and Nambiar had met Nehru at the Anti Colonial Congress in Brussels,in February.Nambiar  worked as a left wing journalist when the Second World War broke out.It was in Germany Bose met Nambiar.When finally Bose got the interview with Hitler,he took Nambiar as interpreter.Hitler didn't support the ideas of Bose and he sent Bose in a submarine to Japan.When Bose left Germany,the reluctant Nambiar was given the charge of Free India Centre.Germany gave the Berlin Centre the status of a Mission.He also became Chief of the Radio station,Radio Free India and Indian Legion,the 3000 strong army of former Indian prisoners of war which was formed by Bose to fight the British in India.Commander of the Legion was first Lt Col Kurt Krappe and then Heinz Bertling.Against the wishes of the members,they were sent to defend the French coast.In April 1943,there was mutiny in the Legion itself.They refused to move to Holland.9th Company of the Legion was sent to Italy on a failed mission.In the August Allied bombing,Nambiar's own house was  destroyed.Nambiar was a Minister of State in the Provincial Government formed by Bose in March,1944.Eventually Nambiar was beaten up by Nazi Storm Troopers,imprisoned and deported to Prague and then to Paris.Nehru's interim government gave him an Indian passport,against the wishes of Britain.By then the entire Nehru family had become his second family.In several articles and books,it is mentioned he was the first Indian Ambassador to (West)Germany in 1947.It is not so.First Ambassador was Subimal Dutt(1952-1954).Nambiar was appointed Ambassador to Sweden in 1953 December(See picture of him after presenting credentials to the King)and to (West)Germany or FDR in 1955.He served for three years1955-1958.

ACN Nambiar

For the love life of Bose,his great grand nephew(Netaji's elder brother Saratchandra's grandson)and Harvard History professor,Sugata Roy in his book,His Majesty's Opponent,quotes Nambiar.Nambiar remembers Bose's love affair with the Australian,Emilie Schenkl:"He was deeply in love with her.In fact,it was an enormous intense one.The love blossomed during 1935 in Vienna and in the mountain retreats of Austria and Czechoslovakia.The hills and valleys of Kurlsbad,Hofgastein and Badgastein were the only witnesses to this romantic side of Subhas's life-a side that remained hidden from public view".
In December 1935,Nambiar was with Nehru,Kamala and Indira in Vienna and the Badenweiler health resort in Germany.Her death was just two months away.Kamala was worried about the future of Indira.Kamala shared her anxiety with Nehru in the presence of Nambiar.She expressed her disapproval of Indira marrying Feroze.He was a Parsi,the son of Jehangir Faredoon,a Marine Engineer.After his father's death,he and mother Rattimmai arrived in Allahabad to live with aunt,Dr Shirin Commisariat of Lady Dufferin Hospital.He didn't complete degree in Ewing Christian College.He had attached himself as a Congress volunteer and helper to Kamala.He was with her in the Bhawali TB Sanatorium in 1934.Feroze is not stable,not qualified,Kamala said.She spoke with emotion and became tired."You leave the matter to me",Nehru said and went out.The Nehru family used to call Nambiar,Nanu.Kamala turned to Nambiar and said:"You know what he said.Indu will listen to none except me.I could have guided Indu gently away from Feroze.But my end is near.Jawahar will give no guidance to Indu.She will be ultimately allowed to count the mistake of her life".

Hutchinson,Suhasini(middle)Mrinalini

Kamala died on 28 February 1936,at Lausanne,Switzerland.Afterwards Feroze fell in love with the daughter of Vijayalakshmi Pandit,who was an editorial trainee at National Herald,of which Feroze was MD.Pandit airdashed from Moscow and rescued her.He then began a relationship with the daughter of a Muslim Minister in UP who was in the AIR.Several others-Tarakeswari Sinha admitted she was in the list.
After a visit to Spain with V K Krishna Menon in 1938,Nambiar met Nehru in Europe.Nambiar asked Nehru what would be the outcome of the civil war in Spain.Nehru replied Republicans would win.He wanted Nambiar's comments.Nambiar was blunt:"Like all the Liberals in England,Europe,US and Krishna Menon,you are indulging in wishful thinking.My assessment is that much to my dislike,the Republicans have not got the ghost of chance.More blood will flow and Franco will emerge as the ruler of Spain".Nehru was angry.

Nambiar's article,1927

During  Nehru's first visit to Germany as PM in July,1956,he had to give a return banquet to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer(1949-1963) and his colleagues.Ambassador Nambiar wanted to serve drinks.He spoke to Foreign Secretary N R Pillai and Pillai to M O Mathai,Nehru's Secretary.Nehru said:"Tell Nanu he can serve Sherry to begin with and Moselle wine(white)and Rhine wine(red)and nothing else.He and Pillai should not drink".
When Maulana Abul Kalam Azad visited Germany as Congress President,he stayed at the Embassy in Cologne with Nambiar.Nambiar was a meticulous host,who knew the habits and tastes of his guests.He set up a small bar in Maulana's room with plenty of whisky,brandy,white and red wines and French Champagne.Maulana liked Champagne.Nambiar discovered that Maulana was happy to be left alone.Nambiar had invited German guests for a dinner in honor of Maulana.Maulana sneaked out immediately after the dinner was over and remained in his room alone,sipping Champagne.On return to Delhi he praised Nambiar as the best Indian Ambassador.

Nambiar in Sweden,outside palace1954

It was M N Roy who got Suhasin admitted to the University in Moscow,at the instance of Chatto..Once Sarojini Naidu  introduced Suhasini to Edgar Snow ,who wrote Red Star over China,in Mumbai.He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.T T Krishnamachari who was Finance Minister saw Nambiar was alone in Germany.On return,he said he will sanction a social secretary to Nanu if Ministry of External Affairs demanded it.It was done.
Suhasini  in the late 1920s joined the under ground Communist Party.She with brother and writer Harindranath Chatopadhyay went to Lahore from time to time,where their sister Mrinalini was Principal of Gangaram School.It was in Lahore Suhasini found a good cadre in Vimla Bakaya. Suhasini married  RM Jambhekar,who joined the party in 1929 along with cousin,S G Sardesai.He was an artist and singer as well and belonged to the industrial family of Jambhekars and Kirloskars.The Communist Manifesto was translated into Marathi by Gangadhar Moreshwar Adhikari when he was in Meerut jail(1930-1931).It was edited by Jagannath Adhikari and Jambhekar.Jambhekar was arrested following the Girni Kamgar Union strike of March,1940.He was elected Generel Secretary of All India Friends of Soviet Union(AIFSU) in its first Congress on June3-4,1944.Sarojini Naidu was President.Famous poet of Kerala,Vallathol was Vice President.The Congress was dominated by B T Ranadive,Hiren Mukerjee and Jambhekar.There is a sad story on Suhasini and Jambhekar in A Traveller and the Road by Mohit Sen.In June 1950,Mohit Sen and wife Vanaja Iyengar traveled to Prague to attend the world Congress of the International Union of students.It was the period of Calcutta Thesis propounded by B T Ranadive.Suhasini,Jambhekar and Vimla Bakaya(who later married Satyapal Dang)had been aggressive exponents of the thesis,which advocated armed killings.They had used their position to damage those who
disagreed.

Vimla Bakaya

 Masood Khan from Bhopal dropped a bombshell in the conference.Khan had married Katya,daughter of Russian intellectuals who had run away to Czechoslovakia after the 1917 revolution.Masood in his speech said the Jambhekars and Vimla  had reported on the so called revisionist views of Masood and Pradyot Mukerjee(historian who died young in Mexico) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.Hence Masood was jailed for some time,Katya was under house arrest and Pradyot was expelled from the country.He hit out at Suhasini,Jambhekar and Vimla.It stunned everyone.Vimla wept.Suhasini and Jambhekar were suspended from the Party;Vimla was recalled to India.
Captain Lakshmi remembers Suhasini had stayed at her home in Gilchrist Gardens,Madras as a political fugitive at the time of the Meerut conspiracy case of 1929-1933.She used to sing excellently.She taught Lakshmi the Communist Internationale.Suhasini knew Madras well;she had studied in Queen Mary's College where Kamaladevi Chatopadhyay,Harindranath's future wife,was her friend.Suhasini died in 1973 and Jhambekar in 2003.It is said Suhasini first met him at the Moscow University.

Journal of 1927

When Indira's marriage with Feroze was in doldrums,she wrote to Nanu uncle,seeking his views.Nambiar replied that under certain circumstances,it was preferable to have a clear break to living in make-believe.
Nambiar used to go to BITS,Pilani to see his niece who was Dean of Humanities there,whenever he was in India.He stayed with Nehru while in India.Nehru always fought with him on political matters.In early 1964 Nambiar saw an exhausted Nehru at the break fast table.Nambiar told him:"I feel sad about one thing-you have not got angry with with me this time."Nehru tried to smile.Nambiar got the feeling that Nehru will not live long and he will not see him again.He wept.
Indira Gandhi before her death in October 1984,brought Nanu Uncle from Germany. He stayed at Uday Park,South Extention II,Newdelhi till his death two years later.He died unsung.His relatives didn't care for him.

Reference:
1.Edgar Snow:A Biography/John Maxwell/Hamilton
2.Chatto:The Life and Times of an Indian Anti Imperialist in Europe/Nirode Barooah/Oxford
3.Reminiscences of Nehru Age/M O Mathai
4.Two Alone Together/Sonia Gandhi/Penguin,2004
5.His Majesty's Opponent/Sugata Roy,Cambridge,2011
6.Bose in Nazi Germany/Romain Hayel/Random House
7.Transcultural Encounters between Germany and India/Routledge,2013
8.A Traveller and the Road/Mohit Sen/Rupa,2003
Please read, Nambiar,Bose and Germany in blog,Maddy's Ramblings.
See my posts,KRISHNA MENON AS HEAD LOAD WORKER,THREE ENGLISH MADMEN