THE MYSTERY OF CHERAMAN PERUMAL AND MAHABALI

The Muslim Perumal And the Hindu Mahabali

There is a reference to a Sankara Varman or Chengal Perumal (621-640), meeting Muhammad Nabi (C.570-632), around AD 627. Nabi was 57 then. In the Muslim chronicles, there is another reference to a Zamorin of Kozhikode getting converted to Islam, as Abdu Rahman Zamiri (for Samoodiri), in CE 638. It was when the third Khalifa, son-in-law of Nabi, Uthman ibn Affan sent a delegation under Mughira Shu'ba, a companion of the prophet, to Kozhikode. On his return journey from Mecca, Zamiri died at Zafar, then in Yemen, now Dhofar, in Southern Oman. His qabr is still there. Afterwards, it was customary for the Zamorin, to dress up as a Muslim, during the Ariyittuvazhcha, or anointing ceremony, and take an oath saying he was a representative of the Perumal who went to Mecca.

The earliest available manuscript on Islam in Kerala, Tariq Zuhar Al Islam fil Malibar, by Muhammad Malik, mentions, the pilgrim leader, Zahiruddin Taqiuddin meeting the Perumal at Kodungallur, while on a journey to Srilanka, to see the Foot of Adam, or Adam's Peak. He met the Perumal again on his return. Perumal went with them to Arabia and the Perumal met Nabi in Jeddah, on Shawwal 27, Thursday, six years before Hijra, which is AD 617. He was converted to Islam as Thajudin and returned to Malabar after a few years. On the journey, he passed away in Sahar Mukalla, Yemen, on Muharram 1, Monday. It was the first year of Hijra, that is, CE 622.

Al Mukalla is the main seaport and capital city of Hadhramount in Yemen, a southern port of Arabia, on the Gulf of Eden, close to the Arabian Sea, 480 Kilometres east of Eden. It was founded in 1035, as a fishing settlement. Till the middle of the 11th century, it was part of Oman.

The old city is seen from Mukalla Port

Umar Muhammad Suhravardi says the Perumal was converted under the influence of the King of Mahal dweep, Maldives, Kilimanjaro. The Mahal King was known to Malik Dinar of Basra, and the King read out the accounts of Nabi's amazing deed of splitting the moon, to the Perumal and his minister, Krishnan Munjad. They decided to visit the Qabr of Nabi. But, when Munjad spurned Perumal's wife's lustful advances, she cooked up a molestation story against Munjad and the Perumal plotted to kill him. Realizing the sin, Perumal decided to join Islam and go to Mecca. Maybe it was a ploy by Sreedevi to discourage the Perumal from embracing Islam, under the influence of Munjad.

Munjad, who escaped, went to Male and got converted as Husain Khwaja and the Perumal went along with his nephew Kohinoor, to Mecca, in AD 701, during the Caliphate of Walid. The Perumal was joined in Kozhikode by Munjad's relatives, Mustha Mudukad, Neelinishada, Sharipad and their servants Marjan and Aswad, residing at Chaliyam. They were received in Basra by Malik Dinar and Jaffer Sulayman presided over the conversion. From there they went to Arabia, stayed for 12 years and the Perumal died in Sahar Mukalla, on his return journey to Malabar.

Still, there is a ritual of offering, Vattala payasam, to Krishna at the Chirakkal Kadalayi temple to expiate Perumal's sin. He had four wives in four different royal families, and Sreedevi belonged to the Kolathiri swaroopam. He listened to her word, committed a sin, hence had to go to Mecca-the offering is to expiate that sin.

Shaikh Zainudin in  Tuhfatul Mujahideen gives the period of Perumal's conversion being 200 years after Hijra began, so, in the year 822. Keralotpathi insists it was Palli Bana Perumal, not  Cheraman Perumal, who went to Mecca. Bana Perumal got converted first to Buddhism and then to Christianity and Islam. Cheraman was the fifth Perumal after him. The book alleges that it was the Muslims who concocted the myth that Cheraman got converted. We can see politics interfering here. The book has CE 332 as the year in which Perumal met Nabi. But Nabi began his religious work only after CE600, thus bulldozing the very foundations of the book. There are other versions which say Perumal went to Mecca in 825. 

The Caliphate showing Khorasan, CE 750

Maybe two Perumals got converted and went to Mecca. Sankara Varma during Nabi and the last Perumal Ramavarma Kulasekhara after Nabi.

Maybe both died in Arabia and Ramavarma was instrumental in Malik Dinar's visit to Kerala.MGS Narayanan opines that Perumal's conversion would have been in 1122. There is every chance since Yemen history says Mukalla was founded only in 1035. Maybe, it was a second Perumal conversion, as we will see later.

Madayi Mosque

There are several people with the name, Malik Dinar. The name denotes an Iranian, not an Arab, according to A Shusterry. If that he journeyed from Kodungallur to Khorasan in Iran, and died en route is true, it might be the disciple of the famous Sufi of Basra, Hassan, who died in 744. Then the reference in Rihlat al Muluk that Malik Dinar started off to Kodungallur in 701, becomes logical and we are given to believe Kalady, where Adi Sankara was born, was administered by an Islamic Perumal. It was absolute anarchy in Kerala then.

In the legend, Perumal, before leaving for Mecca, instructs the Zamorin to look after the Muslims and the Qasi, well. If there was a Qasi, there was a mosque, before the Perumal.

It is said that Malik Dinar had Perumal's letters with him, and when shown, the King gave him a Buddha vihara, where the Cheraman mosque was erected. The Vihara was constructed by Palli Bana Perumal. There is a version that says the Arathalli temple was gifted and converted into a mosque in 629. The Madayi mosque in Kannur, the third mosque in Kerala, was constructed with the help of the King of Kolathunad. The history of the Arakkal Muslim Kingdom of Kannur says the mosque was built by Kohinoor, the nephew of Cheraman Perumal. There is also a version which gives its credit to the Nair minister of Kolathiri, who got converted to Islam. Ibn Battuta, the 14th-century traveller, records meeting a King, whose grandfather did convert to Islam and built the Valapattanam mosque.

Malik Dinar Mosque,Thalangara

In the Arakkal history, the nephew of Cheraman is not Kohinoor, but Saifuddin Muhammad Ali, who was known as Mahabali earlier, son of Cheraman's sister Sreedevi, living at Dharmadam, North of Thalassery. He was converted by Perumal and Malik Dinar, on their way from Kodungallur to Basra, via Dharmadam. They travelled to Mecca from the erstwhile Poynadu, comprising, Edakkad, Ancharakkandi and Mavilayi, governed by Randuthara Achans.Perumal got down at Sahar Mukalla,went to see Nabi at Jeddah.He called Saifuddin Muhammad Ali at the time of his death and advised him not to visit Kodungallur or Travancore. Mahal king, Munjad and Malik Dinar met Perumal at Mukalla and got letters from him. On return, Malik Dinar embarked at Dharmadam, and sent Perumal's letters through the trader, Gulam Syed Muhammad, to the King of Kodungallur. He built the Madayi mosque.

Before the conversion of the Perumal, there was Islam in Kannur, the Arakkal branch had stemmed from a princess of the Kolathiri family who had married the Nair minister, an Arayan Kulangara Nair, who got converted. Their successors were called Mammali kidavu s, meaning children of Muhammad Ali, or Mahabali, meaning, Perumal's sister had married an Arayan Kulangara Nair. Then, it was not Malik Dinar, but Kohinoor, or Saifuddin Muhammad Ali, who built the Madayi mosque. 

Inside Cheraman Masjid,Kodungallur

The legend that Kerala Muslims adore, is the one in which the Perumal is Thajudin. He went from Kodungallur, Koyilandi Kollam, and Dharmadam to Sahar Mukalla Bandr (port), went to Jeddah and met Nabi who converted and named him, Thajudin. Malik Dinar married Perumal's daughter, Rajiyat. The Perumal died of fever and was interred in Sahar Mukalla Mosque. His fourth son, Thaqiudin went to Madurai and built 22 mosques, including the one at Kodungallur.

Thajudhin(Tajudhin) is mentioned in the report of Rahmatullahi Ahaihi in his Musthadarak a Hadeeth, narrated by Abu Saeed Al Khudry. He describes Thajudin Al Hindi meeting Nabi and presenting a container of a pickle with ginger in it." Nabi fed his companions ginger and I also was fed a piece from it", records Rahmatullah. It becomes an eyewitness account thus. Thajudin, in this account, heard of Nabi's miracles from traders and met him through them, and witnessed the splitting of the moon, by Nabi. This incident was in Hijra 5. So, it was in AD 627, and if we take this as history, the converted Perumal was Sankara Varman, who ruled from,621-640.So,it was not the last Perumal,Ramavarma Kulasekhara.

Thajudin passed away in the Oman port city of Salalah, en route to his return to India. The qabr of Thajudin is there in Hazrat Syedina Tajuddin Dargah, in Al Baleed, Salalah. He went to Jeddah from Mukalla, and on his return, fell sick at Salalah, and died in the port of Zafar, now Dhofar, on the Eastern border of Yemen, in Southern Oman.In local parlance, he is Chakrawati Farmas. By a strange coincidence, here, Sankara Varma the Perumal, who became Thajuddin, gets identified as Abdurahman Zamiri, the Zamorin, whom I mentioned at the beginning. The qabr is in the same city. Salalah is a greenish area like Kerala, with coconut trees, Plantain, Papaya and pepper. It is claimed by the local people that, it is the result of the dua made by Thajudin to Allah, to make the land his own home place. The distance between Mukalla and Dhofar is 680 Kilometers,10 hours.

Qabr of Thajudin in Salalah

The confusion about the Perumal who became a Muslim got confounded when the term, Cheraman Perumal was taken as an individual. It was a common term for the ruler, meaning, Chera's Perumal for Kerala. The Perumal, when first brought to rule, were not in Kodungallur. They were stationed at Thalyur, North of Thaliparambu, in Kannur. The Perumal sent by the Chola king stayed at Chozhakkara palace and the one sent by the Pandya king at Pandivampana, according to Keralotpathi. Palli Bana Perumal, who became Muslim, stayed at Banapuram. His father was from the Kodungallur Perunkovilakam. That he got converted makes sense, because the mosque, Palli, is attached to his name, which, definitely was a later addition. Palli is also a Buddhist word, hinting at a mix-up.

Cheraman Masjid/C.AD 625

What was the motive behind the conversion?
He had a quarrel with the Brahmin priests, his tongue was pulled out, he was dethroned and went to Mecca. Another version is that he murdered Bhutharaya Perumal, with the help of the Nambudiris after his defeat at the hands of the latter, forcing him to abdicate the throne. This made Nambudiris decorate him as a glamorous Kshatriya King. Keralotpathi brings in Parasurama, saying, the Perumal sought a solution to enjoy the wealth of Parasurama illegally. 

The Brahmin diviners told him, he has the solution only in Islam, and he will get an excuse when he kills Commander Nair, for an illicit relationship with his wife. He gifted 28 provinces to 29 kings before sailing to Mecca. When at last Mangat Unnikumara Menon came to see the Perumal at Thrikkariyur, he had only the land where the cock crows (Kozhikode?) and a bushy land (chullikkad). The place where the Perumal lived in this story, is Thrikkariyur, where Thunjath Ezhuthachan was born, much later. He knew better.

I have also read, the Perumal went to Mecca from Eraniel in Travancore. During the close of the temple festival there, an elephant is driven to the pond and asked to search for the Perumal. Here the story is, after Varaguna Pandyan defeated the Perumal in a battle at Vizhinjam in Travancore, the frustrated Perumal went to Mecca. In this chronicle, Kohinoor is not his nephew, but the Travancore Queen's son.

Mannar Koil

Fine. The last Perumal, Ramavarma, towards the end, lived not in Kodungallur, but Kollam.M G S Narayanan has proved that the Chera Perumals ruled during 800-1124. In the fierce war with the Cholas, Kulothunga Chola destroyed Perumal's capital Mahodayapuram, near Kudungallur and he shifted the capital to Kollam, around 1100. He had pressure from the Nambudiri brahmins. In the political turmoil, the Perumal abdicated in favour of his son, Kotha Varma(1102-1125). Perumal rule by that time had ended, Kollam had been captured by Kulothunga Chola in 1096, and Venad had become independent. It is believed that Perumal's sister had married a prince of the Perumbadapu royal family in Ponnani. The inscription, dated 1102 in the Rameswarathu temple in Kollam, records that the Perumal lived in the Panamkovil Palace. 

So, it is certain that it was not a Perumal who got converted in 627 or 638, even if the conversion account is true. If we take into account the evidence provided by MGS, it was not the Perumal, it was his son, King Kotha Varma, who may have embraced Islam. Hence, we find a nephew, not the Perumal's son, in the chronicles. For the benefit of chroniclers, Maldives is closer to Kollam than Kodungallur. The Perumal, being a friend of Sundara Murthy Nayanar, leading a monastic life after the abdication, makes sense. He is not Thajuddin, anyway. 

Koil idol

It takes us to the Mannar Rajagoplaswamy Kulasekhara Perumal Temple,40 kilometres west of Tirunelveli, near Ambasamudram, on the banks of the Tamiraibharani and Karuna rivers. The history of the temple with several inscriptions records that the Perumal stayed 30 years there, and died worshipping the Rama idol there. 

From the myriad myths, the one inference one can arrive at is that one Perumal/Perumal's son, did embrace Islam, and the legend is a concoction of Buddhism and Islam. In the olden days, Hindus seldom differentiated between the two,calling Muslims, Boudhas. I have always felt the story of Vamana dethroning Mahabali is based on the Cheraman myth, and there is a Mahabali, Saifuddin Muhammad Ali, in the story. Vamana destabilizing Mahabali is symbolic of, Nambudiri Brahmins dethroning the Perumal, after his attempt on the life of Munjad. Even in the Muslim chronicles, there is a reference to a rebellion by the Nair chieftains against the Perumal.

Embracing Islam was an escape route for him. Only the excommunicated sought conversion. In my childhood in Tripunithura, during Onam, a Muslim used to arrive, from Nettur, singing, paeans to the Perumal. Later I read the song in one short story, Vilapangal, by N S Madhavan. Thus, Onam always brings to my mind, a Muslim.

Reference:

1.Caste invades Kerala:A Social History of India/S N Sadasivan
2.Tuhfatul Mujahideen/Zaindudin
3. Keralotpathi
4. Outline of Islamic Culture/A Shusterry
5. Kerala Muslim Charitram/P A Said Muhammad
6. A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar/Francis Buchanan
7. The Southern Gates of Arabia/Freya Stark
8. Genesis and Growth of the Mappila Community/Dr Hussein Randathani
9.Muhammad Rasulullah/M Hamidullah 
10.Perumals of Kerala/MGS Narayanan 
11.Tadkirat-al Kiran Tarik -i,Khulufa-i-Arab/Sayyid Shah Kabir Tanaferi 
12.Islam in Kerala/Syed Mohideen Shah
13.Muslimingalum Kerala Samskaravum/P K Muhammad Kunji

See my Post,ARAKKAL ALI RAJA'S ATTACK OF MALDIVES

EXPOSING THE PARASURAMA MYTH

KERALA WAS THERE MUCH BEFORE PARASURAMA

In the oldest Purana, Matsya Purana, the incarnation of Parasurama happened in the Malaya Mountain. He killed the race of Kshatriyas and filled seven lakes with their blood, and then did penance at Gokarn. Varuna appeared and blessed him. Parasurama went to Kanyakumari and flung his axe into the sea. The sea receded in the area between Kanyakumari and Gokarna. The area thus formed was 160 Kada.

Parasurama makes his appearance in the Aithareya Aranyaka of Rigveda, the Sahyadri episode in Skanda Purana, Kerala Mahatmyam, Keralotpathi, Kerala Avakasa Kramam and Kerala Vamsakavyam. Chattambi Swamikal has tried to expose Parasurama in his work, Pracheena Malayalam, quoting the Sahyadri episode.

Guru,Chattambi,Neelakanta Theerthapadar

From Malaya Mountain, he saw fishermen below, on the sea shore, climbed down, took out the string from the Angle (choonda) made it the sacred thread, and thus made them Brahmins. So, the Malayali Brahmins, Nambudiris were originally fishermen, according to Chattambi Swamikal. The Kerala he founded spread from south of the Vaitharani river to Subrahmanyam, in the North, From Sahya Mountain to the sea, in the form a Soorpa (Sanskrit for Malayalam Muram, a flat, shallow sieve used to winnow grain). Though he recovered a land, Brahmins from North India, refused to come and inhabit it. So he made fishermen, Brahmins.

The problem with this episode is, Kerala existed before Parasurama, because, the incarnation of Vamana was just before him, in which we have the story of Mahabali reigning over Kerala. In Dasavathara, Vamana is 5th and Parasurama is 6th. So, to fill the loophole, it is said that Vamana recovered Kerala from Mahabali, then gave it to sage Kasyapa, Kasyapa, in turn, to Gowders, Dravidas, scholars and priests.

In Thretha Yuga, the kings like Karthavirya Arjuna, protected and nurtured the earth. Afterwards, conceding to the prayers of Brahmins like Kasyapa, Mahavishnu incarnated as the son of Jamadagni. The son, Prasurama, killed Kshatriyas 21 times, gifted the entire land to priests like Kasyapa and Vasishta while he performed Aswamedha, climbed over Mount Sahyadri and meditated, viewing the vast expanse of the sea before him. When Narada arrived, Parasurama the fool lamented that he has no space to sit, because he has gifted the lands to the priests. Narada advised him to split the Ocean. Parasurama sent the arrow from the Mountain, creating Ramakshetra, or Kerala. The place where the arrow, or, Bana, fell, came to be known as Banavalli.

An Asoka pillar edict

The entire myth of Parasurama collapses here, because, instead of his brand axe, he sent the arrow. In this story, he sent the arrow from Sahyadri, not from Kanyakumari. Most importantly, Kerala was there, before Parasurama, because of Vamana.

The recovered area was called seven Konkanas: Kerala, Thulanga, Saurashtra, Konkan, Kamhad, Karnataka and Barbara. Kerala Mahatmyam says he flung the axe with his left hand from Kanyakumari, whereas, Keralotpathi differs by insisting, he threw the axe from Gokarn, and Nagas ruled over the area when Brahmins fled. It says Parasurama made Durga the protective deity, made and deposited the Rasi gold coins, under the earth. When fortunate people dig the earth, Rasi appears as a treasure.

Historically, the word Kerala first appears in the rock pillar edicts of Emperor Asoka(BC 274-237), by referring to a king, Kerala Putra. Kerala was one of the four kingdoms in South India, the other three being, Chola, Pandya, and Sathya Putra. The whole area was called Thamizhakam. Pandyas say Parasurama was a Pandya king, and the era of him was known as Parasurama Sathakam. Chera history mentions that Parasurama anointed Bhanu Vikrama, the Chera king on the throne. The Chera legend also says it was Velkezhu Kuttuvan, the king who recovered the land from the sea by throwing his spear. There are other versions too: it was the Pandyan who ruled Vadingalamba who threw the spear. No, it was Ugra Pandyan who ruled Madurai, who got the spear from Siva and threw it into the Ocean.

Kerala Putra in the Asoka edict is considered a Chera King. The Chera empire consisted of modern Kerala, Coimbatore and Salem with Muziris or Karur as the capital.

The Kerala Brahmins took out the spear from the Tamil legend, fixed an axe, and brought Parasurama the Brahmin into the picture. Thunchath Ezhuthachan is said to have written Keralotpathi, based on the Sanskrit Kerala Mahatmyam, which is quite unlikely, because the text is so raw, and has no sublimity associated with Ezhuthachan. It does seem to be written by a Nair because the text accepts Nambudiri dominance. The new converts to Brahminism, had their Kuduma (tuft of hair)on the front, whereas in North India, it is on the back. The politics is, Malayali Brahmins will never be accepted by the North Indian Brahmins, and they will remain in Kerala to do the rituals. The capital of the 64 Brahmin families, was Vellappanad. Sudras were brought from different parts. The Malayali Brahmins violated the laws given to them by eating meat and instigating wars. They split into Val Nambi and Pattini Nambi, the former wielding the sword and the latter only the umbrella and conch. Since they took to battles, the Tamils came to Chengannur and entered into a conflict over the cremation of a dead body, the body was thrown into the river. From then downwards, Chengannur Nairs, avoided using lime (Chunnambu), while chewing betel leaves.

The Brahmins became corrupt and were removed from administration and Perumals were brought from Keyapuram. They stayed in the capital of Thalyur, North of Thaliparambu in modern Kannur. A period comes when the Brahmins quarrel with the Perumals and take over the reins again, with Thrikkariyur (birthplace of Ezhuthachan 1495-1575)) as capital. From then on, Brahmins were allowed to wed Kshatriya women...It is a long story in Keralotpathi. The book is also considered the handiwork of the Brahmins in the 18th century, which is disputed by M R Raghava Warrier and Rajan Gurukkal in their history of Kerala, because, a copy of the text was found in 1527, in Nellikanthuruthy kazhakam, North of Payyannur. But that doesn't absolve the Brahmins from fixing Parasurama as the founder.

Caldwell

The fact is, Kerala has nothing to do with Parasurama, and the name Kerala has nothing to do with coconut, Keram. The state, historically was Cheralam, the Chera country. Cheralam means the declivity of a mountain. Plini who lived in the first century AD mentions, Muziris is in Chelobotras. The alphabet,' k'in Dravida becomes, 'ch', when followed by a vowel, in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu, according to Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), the linguist. Thus Kerala becomes Cherala. Conversely, 'ch' becomes,'k'too-Cheera, and spinach, becoming, Keera is a fine example. Chera Puthran became Kerala Puthran with the root of the name in Cheru or mud, from an area where paddy is sown. Kerala, is thus, Cherala, the wetland. Coconut is out, and Paddy is in.

Reference:
1. The Eight Anthologies/John Ralston Marr
2.Kerala Charithram/Raghava Warrier, Rajan Gurukkal
3. Kerala: Word Lore/Dr V Sankaran Nair
4. Keralotpathi

© Ramachandran

See my Post,PARASURAMA,DALITS AND THE ART OF AXING