Showing posts with label Rajarshi Rama Varma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rajarshi Rama Varma. Show all posts

Thursday 15 January 2015

CHAOS:AN INVALID KING RULED FOR 24 YEARS

Corruption and Nepotism was Order of the Day

It is when we go through the life story of the abdicated King of Cochin,Rajarshi Rama Varma,we come across his fight with an invalid King,Mithuna Masathil Theepetta Thampuran(The King who died in the month of Mithunam),Rama Varma XIV,who ruled the Kingdom,during 1864-1888.The King(1835-1888),a pawn in the hands of the Dewan and a courtier,called the Cheruvathur Nambudiri,entertained wild allegations of the coterie against Rajarshi Rama Varma,his younger brother,Kerala Varma and his cousin,the first prince Kerala Varma,and made their life,hell.This cousin was the son of King's own brother.
The King was the son of Manku Thampuran and the nephew of the former King,Ravi Varma(1853-1864).He was the brother of Kunjipilla Thampuran,Kavamma Thampuran,and Maharaja Kerala Varma,Chinga Masathil Theepetta Thampuran(1888-1895).Since he was invalid through out his reign,his Dewan T (Thottakkat)Sankunni Menon,son of former Dewan,Edakunni Sankara Warrier(1840-1857)and Kizhake Thottakat Ammini Amma,virtually reigned and when the Dewan retired on 22 August 1879,due to ill health,his brother,Govinda Menon,succeeded.
 Rama Varma XIV
Records show that Rajarshi took no hand in public affairs,during the reign of Rama Varma XIV.The King had been a confirmed invalid,easy going,shrewd but averse to all intellectual and physical effort,and always anxious to take the line of least resistance in political and administrative matters.He was assisted by loyal and able Dewan Sankunni Menon,who had been Deputy Collector of Tirunelveli before he was appointed Dewan.The King gave him a free hand,and he was not altogether free from all taint of self-seeking and nepotism;but if he looked after his interests,it was without detriment to the welfare of the State.The King's brother,Vira Kerala Varma,often advised the King not to surrender his individuality,so completely as to be wholly led by the Dewan,but the King resented such advice.On one occasion,when the Elaya Raja tendered such advice,the King's reply was immediate and incontrovertible.The King told his brother,that being conscious of his own limitations-physical and intellectual-he had to use his judgement in selecting an efficient ,honest and loyal Dewan,and having done that, the only proper and wise thing to do was leave him alone to do his duty and not meddle with his discretion at every stage.
Dewan Sankunni Menon
Sankunny Menon's successor,Govinda Menon,retired from Madras service,though loyal,was far less efficient  and results of the King's weakness very soon became obvious,especially after,Sankunny Menon's death.The King's timidity was taken advantage of by his courtiers ,the most prominent and unscrupulous among whom was, Cheruvathur Nambudiri.Being invalid,the King was dependent on Cheruvathur,even for domestic ministrations,for the King had to be bathed and clothed by him,and in due course,Cheruvathur made himself indispensable to the King and began to wield immense influence which he exploited to his own selfish ends.Even the Elaya Raja,the King's own brother,was denied  easy access to the King,and the entire royal family became highly critical of the King and the administration.Corruption in the King's Court and in the public services,became order of the day,and the British Resident failed to intervene.There was very little contact between the King who could not speak English and the Resident.The King had permanently commissioned the Dewan to transact all business with the Resident on his behalf ,and even when courtesy calls by the Resident were proposed,the King would plead indisposition.But when a visit became unavoidable,the King would go to his favorite room in the southern wing of the palace whence the golden crown of the temple of the family Deity is visible and stand in devout prayer for some time,so that the Resident's visit might pass off without any mishap.In public functions,Crown Prince,Vira Kerala Varma represented the King,and he was knighted by the British,before he became King.
Rajarshi
Rajarshi and the Elaya Raja Vira Kerala Varma, the King's younger brothers, were very deeply attached to each other,and the King disliked them because of their definite and open disapproval of his policies.The King some times annoyed and bullied Rajarshi,who in spite of his deep respect and love for his cousin,was driven to the extremity of retaliation.The cause of vexation was most of the time trivial,and there was little harmony in the relations between the King and Rajarshi ,and during the comparatively long period of the reign,neither the Rajarshi or his brother had any opportunity of being in any way associated with the ruler in any of his activities,public or private.
Dewan Govinda Menon
The corrupt and sycophant courtiers who disliked and dreaded the Rajarshi were eternally active in their search for discord.Rajarshi's brother published anonymous reports and letters against Cheruvathur in news papers to no avail.When Rajarshi became a paramour to the married 16 year old daughter of the Elaya Raja's wife,in her first husband,Cheruvathur and Company spread the story that the affair was not out of love,but out of selfishness,because she being the daughter of the heir apparent.Rajarshi wrote to Dewan Govinda Menon,on 11 April,1886:
Cheruvathur and some of his comrades were for some time back trying to annoy me in various ways,especially by spreading bad reports about me,and my royal cousin-unfortunately for me-seemed to connive at their attempts;but as you know I took very little notice of it though His Highness's taking sides with them was really unpleasant to me...I shall wait and see if you can render me satisfaction by warning His Highness of the grave consequences of such folly;and if I fail,I tell you before hand that I shall myself take measures to annoy my offenders up to the last.
Rama Varma XVI
The King's dislike of Rajarshi and his cousin was aggravated by such letters of retaliation and Rajarshi's occasional visits to the palace afforded the King fresh chances for accusation. 
A letter to the British Resident by Rajarshi,after he became King,is proof to the rampant corruption in the system.When Simon,Head of the Police retired,Rajarshi appointed Davis,at the recommendation of the Resident.After a year,Rajarshi wrote: With the old Mr Simon as the Superintendent of Police,there was only one corrupt man in the whole force;with Mr Davis as the Head,there is only one man in the whole Police force who is not corrupt! 
There is not much contribution attributed to the King Rama Varma XVI,except he built Puthen Malika and Mani Malika(Clock Tower)in Tripunithura.He visited Madras in 1876 to meet the Prince of Wales,and was the first Cochin King to be knighted.
The King died in August,1888.With the accession of Vira Kerala Varma ,Cheruvathur Nambudiri,Chief of the corrupt courtiers,went into self exile.Though he could not be proved guilty of misappropriation of palace funds,he had to retire with a heavy cloud of suspicion.Govinda Menon retired in 1889.
Equally inefficient was the King,Madrasil Theepetta Thampuran(The King who died in Madras),Rama Varma XVI,who succeeded Rajarshi Rama Varma in 1914.He was known as Rama Varma Kunjikidavu Thampuran(1858 October 6-1932 March 27),born to Pana Nambudiripad and Kavamma Thampuran.He was the brother of King Ravi Varma Kunjappan Thampuran( Midukkan Thampuran,1941-1943),King Ravi Varma Kunjappan Thampuran(1943-1946),Kunjipilla,Kunjikavu,Kerala Varma Kelappan Thampuran and three others.
He was interested in curing snake bites and comprehending the language of the lizards.He was paralytic after a stroke,undergoing ayurvedic treatment constantly at Ollur or Shornur,leaving administration to his able wife,Thrissur Vadakke Kurupath Parukutty Nethyaramma.He gave the permission to build the largest Church in India,Basilica of Our Lady of Dolorous,in Thrissur.
Reference:
1.The Rajarshi of Cochin/Ed by I K K Menon
2.Cochin State Manual/C Achyutha Menon

See my Post,PARUKUTTY NETHYARAMMA RULED COCHIN

Wednesday 14 January 2015

TWO GERMAN CRUISERS AND ABDICATION OF THE COCHIN KING

Oh, It was not Emden, after all!


A King of Cochin, in Southern India, was known as, Vazhcha Ozhinja Thampuran, or, Ozhinja Valiya Thampuran in Malayalam language, meaning, His abdicated Highness. The incident in 1914, created a furore and it shocked his subjects, because, clinging to power by all means was the practice, and abdication was unheard of in the Kingdom. The rumour spread that the abdication was not a normal act and that he was forced to do it after he gave a garden party to the officers of a German cruiser. Still, I find takers for this theory. I too had believed in the theory, and had thought that the cruiser may have been, SMS Emden, which bombarded Madras on the night of September 22,1914.

SMS Emden
Many still believe, the second in command of Emden, Chempaka Raman Pillai, of Thiruvananthapuram, had rowed Emden ashore at Cochin, to see his friends and family members. The fact remains that the Malayalam word, Emandan (huge) originated from Emden, taking the cruiser to the state's legends. Though Emden never came to Cochin, it has a small connection with Cochin, as a diary entry of Georgina Lee, shows in the book, Home Fires Burning: The Great War Diaries, by Gavin Roynon:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

The German cruiser Emden which has been at large ever since the war, doing much damage in the Indian Ocean, including the shelling of Madras where she destroyed the oil tanks, has sunk five more British Steamers, three of them being liners. The Emden transferred the crews and passengers to the Steamer, Egbert and sent them to the nearest port, Cochin, near Madras.

So, Egbert came, not Emden.Georgina Lee was a normal homemaker, who began making diary entries, addressed to her nine-month-old son, Harry, when the First World War broke out after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated at Sarajevo, on June 28,1914. Georgina depended on newspaper stories. I too searched old newspaper reports, and here is a report dated October 24,1914, in Hawera and Normanby Star, page 5:

The Bombay steamer, Egbert has arrived at Cochin with 325 members of the crew and 22 passengers of seven steamers, sunk by the Emden between the 15th and 19th.

Rajarshi Rama Varma

The guns of Emden, Captained by Karl von Muller, bombarded the oil tanks of Burma Oil Company on the illuminated port of Madras at 9.30 PM, and then sank a merchant ship, killing five and injuring 28.125 shells were fired in 30 rounds, and it lasted for half an hour. It was a surprise attack and the British lost their morale. Raman Pillai was an engineer, assisting Muller. Later he became Prime Minister of the Indian provincial government based in Afghanistan, and he was poisoned to death by the Nazis, in 1934.

Chempaka Raman Pillai
Emden was named after the city of that name and was launched from the dockyard of Danzig, in 1909. It had 10 guns and two torpedo tubes. It was part of Germany's East Asia Squadron, based in Tsingtao, China, and Muller became its Commander in 1913. He detached it for independent raids in the Indian Ocean. It was quiet in the Chinese and Japanese waters in the first half of 1914, and when Ferdinand was assassinated, it was the only German cruiser in Tsingtao. Germany declared war on Russia, on 2 August, and Emden captured the Russian Steamer, Ryazan, and converted it to, an auxiliary cruiser, Cormoran. Then it steamed up the coast of Sumatra, to the Indian Ocean, entered the Bay of Bengal, on 5 September, and moved to the Colombo-Calcutta route, on September 10. Muller decided to bombard Madras in late September. After the bombardment, Emden forayed to the western side of Ceylon, and I got relieved only after reading this line because I was born in Cochin! It captured a British Steamer, off Minikoy, on October 15.

Oil Tanks Burnt by Emden/Madras, 1914

So, King Rama Varma XV, who reigned from 1895 to 1914, had nothing to do with, Emden, or any German officer in 1914. Then why he abdicated? Was he connected with any German delegation at all, at any point in time?

Yes.

Records show he gave a garden party to the officers of the German cruiser, SMS Gneisenau, in 1911. So, it was three years before and has nothing to do with abdication.
Gneisenau was an armoured Cruiser of the German Navy, part of the two-ship Scharnhorst Class. It was named after August von Gneisenau, a Prussian General of the Napoleonic wars. It was launched from the Bremen dockyard in June 1906, and completed in March 1908 at the cost of 19 million gold marks. Franz von Hipper was the first Commander for a few months. It had eight guns. Like Emden, it was also assigned to the East Asia Squadron, at Tsingtao, with the Flagship, Scharnhorst, in 1910 and served as the core of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee's fleet. At the outbreak of the First World War, the two ships, accompanied by three light cruisers and several colliers, sailed across the Pacific Ocean, before arriving off the Southern coast of South America. It encountered and overpowered the British Squadron at the Battle of Coronel, on 1 November 1914. The stinging defeat prompted the British admiralty to detach two battle cruisers to hunt down and destroy von Spee's flotilla, which they accomplished at the Battle of the Falklands Islands on 8 December 1914-Gneisenau sank. It had won the Kaiser's Cup four times, twice in Asia, in 1911 and 1914.
SMS Gneisenau

Hosting a garden party at Hill Palace, Tripunithura, for German officers of the cruiser, in a British dominion, was definitely not an innocent act, you may think. It was not a political act-the occasion was the visit of the German Crown prince, Wilhem and his wife Duchess Cecilie, to India, in December-January,1911. Wilhelm was the Guest of Honor at the Viceregal Lodge, when the escort ship, Gneisenau lay at anchor in the Cochin Harbor; with the formal approval of the British Government, the German Consul, Bueler arranged for the King's visit to Gneisenau and the King entertained its officers at a garden Party, and the Dewan gave a Cocktail Party in the night at Bolghatty Residency, with the approval of the Resident. The temporal sequence was ignored and this incident was termed pro-German by his detractors, three years later.

Wilhelm
No records of a British resistance against the King exist, for hosting such a party. If they had taken it as an offence, the King should have been removed, in 1911, not in 1914. Or, he could have been removed in 1902, for using Germans, for building the Parambikulam Tramway. Or he could have been removed in 1907, when a German Baron, Kauffman visited Cochin as the King's guest, spent time hunting in forests, and got a monograph on the King written in German on his return. Instead, his gun salute was raised from 17 to 19, in 1911. There is no point in arguing a power tussle in this case, because, a lot of records exist, to prove that King Rama Varma had revealed his intention to abdicate as early as 1905, but the British insisted on his continuation. In 1914, though the King was advised by his well-wishers to reveal the earlier correspondence, to silence the critics, he said, "When someday the truth comes out, the disappointment of my detractors will be all the greater, but, there is no reason to hasten that end".

The King's letter dated 18 August 1905, from Tripunithura to the Resident, James Andrew, begins thus:

The proposal I am going to make in this letter may appear to you as somewhat strange and ill-considered. But, it is not so. I have spent a good deal of careful thought over the matter, and am making the proposal only after long and mature consideration. I wish to be relieved of my charge of the administration at the end of this Malabar Year. My chief and almost sole reason for deciding on such a course is my desire to have complete rest and peace of mind during the remaining portion of my life.
.......
I, of course, expect an allowance for my maintenance during my retired life. But, knowing as I do, of how heavy a burden the family of Cochin is on the State, and considering that the item of expenditure is altogether new on account of the step I am now proposing, I shall not name the sum of the allowance for me. Whatever sum the Durbar and the Government consider to be a proper amount will be accepted by me with gratitude and thankfulness. It is now my intention to keep up any great position or dignity during my retired life, and it will not, therefore, be difficult for me to live comfortably on a moderate amount. In this connection, I have to make one request for the consideration of the Government. It is this: a portion of my allowance, not less than Rs 100 a month, may be continued after my lifetime to my wife and her children as long as one of them is alive.
........

He was 53 then, and the letter brings out the sage in the King. This was the King, who auctioned off the 14 gold caparisons in the Poornathrayeesa Temple to build the Ernakulam-Shornur railway line, ignoring the criticism inside the royal family. He sold all gold ornaments and borrowed money from the Chidambaram Temple Trust. Though the first train ran in 1902, the effort took a heavy toll on the King.

German Crown Prince in India

P Rajagopalachari, who was the Dewan, when the railway project was begun, was shocked to learn about this letter, and he wrote to the King, requesting him to withdraw it. The Cochin Dewan at the time, N Pattabhirama Rao was also shocked. The Resident forwarded the King's letter to the Governor of Madras, and the Governor, Lord Oliver Russel Ampthill (1900-1906), in his rejection letter of 4 September 1905, said: There is nobody at present who is fit to succeed you as Raja of Cochin and to govern the state without detriment to the interests of the people.

Lord Ampthill sought  Viceroy Lord Curzon's advice and wrote to the King on December 9,1905:Neither this Government nor the Government of India can consent or be a party to your Highness' abdication.

Ampthill
The King again wrote to Resident A T Forbes, on 13 June 1913, saying he was not prepared to extend his public career beyond December, but the British vetoed. The King prevailed, and Dewan J N Bhore issued an extraordinary gazette on 25 November 1914:

"It is the desire of His Highness the Raja to abdicate on the 22nd Vrischikam 1090 (7 December 1914). His Highness would be glad to meet such of his people as many find it possible to be present at the Durbar Hall on that date at 12.50 PM".

But, according to T K Krishna Menon's Memoirs, the King abdicated on 13 July 1914.

After abdication, Rama Varma stayed on at Ernakulam for some months, while his Palace at Thrissur was in the process of construction, and he shifted to Merry Lodge Palace, the present Kerala Varma College, during the summer of 1915, led a sage's life and died on 29 January 1932. The Palace was built for him by his old, loyal friend, T(Thatikonda) Namberumal Chetty, the master builder of Madras and business partner of Dewan Pattabhi Rama Rao.   A statue of him was unveiled in the public park at Ernakulam(Rajendra Maidan), on October 13, 1925, by the Governor of Madras, the 2nd Viscount, Goschen(1924-1929), in the presence of the Political Agent, Cotton. The statue was made by British Sculptor, E G Jillicken, at the cost of 1300 pounds.
The question once again, is why the abdication?

There is a hint in the following lines of I N Menon, Son of the King, who was Director of Public Instruction in Cochin:

My father had hoped to harness the waterfalls at Athirapally and get enough electrical power generated for running not only the indigenous factory and cottage industries but also to attract to State big industrialists from other states and provinces to invest capital in the state;, before any concrete steps could be taken, he laid down the reins of administration in the hope that his Dewan Mr Bhore, with whom he had discussed his plans at great length, would be able to implement them. Unfortunately, Mr Bhore could not get my father's successor to agree to these proposals, and he left Cochin a sadder and wiser man.

Rama Varma XVI
It means, his successor, Rama Varma XVI, known as, Madrasil Theepetta Thampuran(The King who died in Madras), was a roadblock to, Rajarshi Ramavarma. It is evident in the abdicated King's very brief autobiography that the earlier KingRama Varma XIV(1864-1888), Mithunamasathil Theepetta Thampuran, and a courtier called Cheruvathur Nambudiri, were hands in glove, against him, and his cousin(son of the Raja's elder brother, who died at age 33, in 1880)spreading canards. Rama Varma XIV, was very weak, affected by illness throughout his reign. He built the Puthan Malika and Mani Malika(clock tower)in Tripunithura.In the Palliyil house in Tripunithura, there was a girl who was the stepdaughter (daughter of his wife by an earlier husband) of the late Raja who was then Elaya Raja. This girl was about 16 years old and had a regular husband. Rama Varma(Rajarshi) proposed to become a paramour to her, and as the husband raised no objection, it was done so. Cheruvathur and others spread a story that he did it simply to please the Elaya Raja(Vira  Kerala Varma), but not because he loved her.

He, as heir apparent, wrote to the Dewan against Cheruvathur, on 11 April 1886:
Cheruvathur and some of his(Raja's) comrades were for some time back trying to annoy me in various ways, especially by spreading bad reports about me, and my royal cousin-unfortunately for me-seemed to connive at their attempts; but as you know I took very little notice of it though His Highness's taking sides with them was really unpleasant to me...
Duke Ferdinand
Rama Varma was the son of the third daughter, Amba/Kunjikavu Thampuran of the Senior Rani, and Bhaskaran Nambudiripad. He has recorded thathis brother, Kerala Varma (Kochunni)Thampuran (Born in 1855, he died as heir apparent), began to attempt certain radical changes in social and religious matters which gave rise to severe criticism all over Tripunithura. His mother too, felt some uneasiness at these things. A set of newly English-educated men of State, gained the sympathy of his brother and a few other princes."My brother", Rama Varma writes, "though very intelligent and well educated in Sanskrit, was somewhat hasty in coming to conclusions and acting upon them. He was also very very obstinate....he fell out with me, and ever since, tried to annoy me in several ways. From this time forward we began to pull the ropes in opposite directions, with equal force, and the consequence was that we never became friends again".

This coterie led by his own brother worked against Rama Varma over time, and every decision of his was made controversialculminating in a palace rebellion, during 1898-1902, when the gold caparisons of Poornathrayeesa Temple were sold and the allowances of the princes were cut to raise funds for the Shornur line.

The date of Rama Varma's first abdication letter is very important. It is August 18,1905, exactly a month after the verdict to excommunicate and banish Kuriyedathu Thatri, in the caste inquisition or trial of chastity(Smartha Vicharam). The majority of the banished were rich, influential and well-connected. It was the last nail in the coffin when the coterie spread the rumour that the trial was stopped when Thatri was about to pronounce the name of Rama Varma. So it was not a cruiser that led to the abdication; it was Thatri, who launched a thousand ships.

Reference:
1. The Rajarshi of Cochin/Ed.I K K Menon
2. Sir Rama Varma Rajarshi/I K K Menon
3. The Story of an Abdication/C Achyutha Menon


© Ramachandran

See my Post, PARIKSHIT THE LAST KING AND THE OTHER PARIKSHIT







 

Saturday 19 April 2014

PARIKSHIT THE LAST KING AND THE OTHER PARIKSHIT

He Abdicated the Throne for a Panchangam

The last King of Cochin was known as Parikshit Thampuran (1876-1964). Though his real name was Rama Varma (Kunjunni) Thampuran, he was known as Parikshit because of the travails he had to undergo before his birth. He went through the kind of experiments the Pandava king, Parikshit of Mahabharatha had to undergo before his birth.

Parikshit Thampuran

Thampuran's mother, Amba/Manku Thampuran was not able to deliver the child even after two days after she started having labour pain. When the Ayurvedic medication by Thycaut Moos and Elamana Krishna Menon, was found fruitless, the family members decided to bring Dr D Gunther, Medical Officer, and father of Robert Gunther, from Ernakulam, and other doctors from the Cochin Fort, to do an operation. Dr Gunther said that they would be able to save either the mother or the child. The family began praying to the presiding deity, Sree Poornathrayeesa. Then, a Kshatriya lady (Nambishtathiri)servant in the Palace who was an expert in the ottamooli (treating with one wonder drug)treatment, came forward and said she would make a try. Dr Gunther grinned; he went to a room and sat there waiting for the tragic end.
Young Parikshit

The servant searched the Palace compound, made a juice with some medicinal plants, carried it on a wooden plank and entered the Queen's room. Within minutes, the cry of the newborn made the Palace jubilant-the mother had a sudden, easy delivery. Only Dr Gunther was unhappy. T M Chummar, who knew the King very well, records that, it was the famous Vaidya Madom Nambudiri, who experimented with a wonder drug, and it was before the arrival of, the doctors.

Parikshit, ChithiraThirunal, Airport/1949
The Royal family remembered the birth of the mythical King Parikshit and appended it to the name, Rama Varma.

The mythical Parikshit had succeeded Yudishtira as the Kuru King of Hastinapur. He was the grandson of Arjuna and Subhadra and the son of Abhimanyu and Uthara. Uthara was carrying her son in her womb when Abhimanyu was slain in the war by Kauravas. Ashwathama tried to kill the unborn child and the mother directed Bhrama-sheer asthra towards her tent. He had done it to avenge the killing of his father, Drona by the Pandavas. He even wanted to kill the unborn to finish off the whole race. Though he succeeded in his aim, Krishna appeared and gave life to the dead embryo. The child, Parikshit was born after the war. Krishna was a maternal uncle of Abhimanyu.
Coronation of Parikshit, Aug 1948, Durbar Hall/Cochin
Though it is well known that Thakshaka, the serpent King of Taxila caused the death of Parikshit due to a curse of a Brahmin, I read an alternate account while researching the story. The official wife of Parikshit was Madravati and her son, Janamejaya. But he had an unofficial Puthrika (lower caste) wife, Samika and a son, Sringin.It was Sringin who murdrerd Parikshit!

So there was a cover-up even during the mythical times. The Royal family decided that people should never know that the King had his death at the hands of a Dalit. Manusamhitha had denied equal rights to a puthrika wife and a puthrika son.

The first attempt to introduce modern medicine was made in Cochin in 1818 by a missionary, Rev J Dawson, who opened a dispensary in Mattancherry. It received a monthly grant from the government, but it was closed after a couple of years. In 1823, the Civil Surgeon of British Cochin was made ex officio Darbar physician, and a Dresser was attached to the jail at Ernakulam, while the Trichur jail was placed in the charge of the Dresser attached to the British Military detachment there. These three people began to show the advantages of modern medicine and surgery. In 1848, Dewan Sankara Warrier opened the first Government Hospital, the Charity Hospital in Ernakulam, which was developed into the present General Hospital. Just a year before the birth of Parikshit Thampuran, in 1875, a hospital was opened at Thrissur. 

People who do not know history see the swearing-in of upstart politicians on grounds like Ramlila Maidan, a revolution.What about the Coronation of Parikshit on the ground of the Durbar Hall in Ernakulam in August 1948?
Ariyittu Vazhcha Kovilakam 

Till Parikshit Thampuran, the Coronation or ariyittu vazhcha was held in Mattancherry in a very small cottage, called the Ariyittu Vazhcha Kovilakam. It was opened only for the coronation. There was a cot in the locked room in the cottage, only used during the coronation. The Zamorin of Calicut sent troops to seize it but was defeated by the Portuguese troops in 1557. In gratitude, the Cochin King gave them permission to build the Immanuel Fort; in reciprocation, they built the Mattancherry Palace. From then on, the coronation procession began from the Mattancherry Palace to the ariyittuvazhcha kovilakam. Then the King would take a dip in the pond. The locked room will be opened and he he would sit on the cot with an olakkuda (umbrella made of farm frond). History has it that one of the Cochin Kings, Rama Varma (1701-1721) had taken a vow not to wear the crown till he had reclaimed Vanneri, the land he lost to the Zamorin. So during the coronation, the Crown was placed on his cap. The priests performed the Vedic rituals, and rice was showered on the King as a blessing.


Ikkanda Warrier

After the coronation, the King would go to the Palliyarakadavu temple, opposite the Palace. Then he would proceed to the houses of the Tamil Brahmins to pay obeisance. The ceremony ended in the Coronation Hall of the Dutch Palace(the former Palace built by the Portuguese)where the King would hold the first Durbar. All this was changed by  Parikshit in one go.

We have scant regard for history. Part of the Ariyittuvazcha kovilakam, six cents, was used for the village office till 1995 when the activist Purushothama Mallya interfered. Now it is going to be a monument.
Parikshit Museum

Parikshit Thampuran was the son of Ottur Raman Nambudiripad and Amba/Manku Thampuran.The scholarly mother taught him initially and Nyaya was taught to him by his uncle, the abdicated King(1914) Rama Varma, he was the second prince to pass B A from the Presidency College, Madras, after the reigning King, Uthradam Thirunal Kerala Varma. They had, in fact, gone to the College together, but he could pass only two years later, in 1904, because he fell ill, after accompanying his uncle on a North Indian trip. They had gone to attend the Durbar in Delhi, in honour of the visiting Prince of Wales, Edward VII. After the Durbar, they went on a pilgrimage to Kasi and Rameswaram. His uncle delivered a speech in Sanskrit at Benares. He married the daughter of his uncle and Ittyanath Valiya Parukutty Nethyaramma, Ammukutty/Madhavi Amma. They had no children.

Among his works, Subodhini, the Logic text is prominent. He along with his classmate, K Rama Pisharody, wrote a commentary to Kalidasa's Sakuntakam, titled, Sarartha Deepika. Among his poems, Prahlada Charitam is famous. His articles in Malayalam were compiled by A D Hari Sharma, as, Dhalangal.

Parikshit Thampuran with the Jews/Painting at Synagogue

He took leadership in conducting the Scholars Assembly, every year at the Sanskrit College, in Tripunithura, from 1926. In 1960, the Chief Justice and Sanskrit scholar, M Pathanjali Sastri presided over the final session. In 1962, an Akshara Sloka festival was held in the palace, and eminent scholars such as A V Krishna Warrier, P C Vasudevan Elayath and K Achyutha Poduval, participated in the competition, G Sankara Kurup, A D Hari Sharma and P C Devasia sat among the audience. Kanchi Sankaracharya, during the Raja's brief tenure, gave him the title, Dharsana Kalanidhi. 

He ruled for only a year,1948-1949. The first election to the Cochin legislature coincided with his coronation. It was the first election in India on the basis of a unified adult franchise. Cochin Rajya Praja Mandalam got a majority in the elections. It merged with the Indian National Congress; E. Ikkanda Warrier assumed office as the first Chief Minister on September 20,1948. So, Parikshit Thampuran had no role to play and he saw the writing on the wall. On July 1,1949, Travancore and Cochin were integrated to become Thiru-Kochi and Parikshit ceased to be the King. The ruler of Travancore was offered the post, of Rajpramukh, the Governor. Parikshit politely declined the post of Uprajyapramukh. He asked only two things: the official panchangam of the government should be sent to him annually; the eldest member of the royal family should be called the Valiyathampuran. He gave up royal powers unconditionally. He died in Tripunithura, on November 12, 1964.

The Hill Palace Museum is named after Parikshit. 

The story of Swati Thirunal was the reverse; he was declared a ruler while he was in the womb of Rani Lakshmi Bai. Hence he was known as Garbha Sriman(glorified while in the womb).

Reference:
1.Sadara Smarankal/T M Chummar 
2.Raja Vamsam/Tripunithura Smaranakal/R T Ravi Varma 


© Ramachandran

See my post,KRISHNA MENON AS A HEADLOAD WORKER


Monday 10 March 2014

PARUKUTTY NETHYARAMMA RULED AND LOOTED COCHIN

There was heavy looting in the palace

Travancore had Attingal,Kunnummel Ranis and the Umayamma Rani.In modern times,it was ruled by three women:Gowri Lakshmi Bayi(1810-1815),Gowri Parvathi Bayi (1815-1829) and Sethu Lakshmi Bayi (1924-1931).Among them only one,Ayilyam Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi reigned in her own right for three years, 1810-1813,before becoming Regent during 1813-1815.The Other two were only Regents.It was the adoption of 1788 that brought Gowri Lakshmi and Gowri Parvathi to Travancore.Sethu Lakshmi and Sethu Parvathi,grand daughters of Raja Ravi Varma were adopted from Mavelikara in 1900.

Parukutty
Cochin,people think,never had a Queen.Wrong.It had a very scheming Queen in her 90s who reshaped the State's destiny within two years-Gangadhara Lakshmi(1656-1658). It had a brainy Nair lady ruler Parukutty Nethyaramma who took over the reins during the reign of an absent minded King and an absent Penvazhi Thampuran or Valiamma Thampuran,the Senior Lady of the Royal family.

It is known that when Sonia Gandhi took over as AICC President,the constitution of the Congress Parliamentary Party was amended to incorporate a significant clause:The Congress President will have the right to appoint or disappoint the Prime Minister.It was tradition in Cochin-the senior most female member,Valiamma Thampuran as Head of the royal family will have the authority to appoint or dismiss the King.

So,during the last days of the Portuguese in Cochin,the senior most female member,Gangadhara Lakshmi decided that she will appoint herself.She was 93.Her real name is not known.

It was 1656 . King Rama Varma (1650-1656) died and she found it difficult to find a successor because of disputes in the family.He was adopted from Chazhur.Under Portuguese command,she had adopted five princes from Aroor and Vettath.Both the Mootha thavazhi ,senior branch and Elaya thavazhi,junior branch claimed the throne.The Zamorin,the invading Dutch and small principalities supported the Mootha thavazhi.The Portuguese who supported the rival faction asked Gangadhara Lakshmi to invoke tradition and assume throne.She was Queen for two years during 1656-1658.She raised the Cochin Army of 3500 strong Infantry,120 cannons ,55 Artillery Units and three Naval ships.The Elayathavazhi got monopoly in succession, as princes from Moothathavazhi were arrested and imprisoned.Several princes from Moothathavazhi escaped from the capital of Mattancherry to Ceylon.They met the Dutch in Colombo and the Dutch prepared themselves for the siege of Cochin.

R M Palat
Though Gangadhara Lakshmi made her adopted son Rama Varma the King (1658),she ran the administration.The Dutch built their first Fort Orange in Paravur.Gangadhara Lakshmi discreetly sent Rama Varma to Paravur and worked out a pact with the Dutch.The Dutch Governor Hendrik Van Rheede double crossed and the Dutch in 1660 killed two princes of Moothathavazhi ,who met them in Colombo and brought them to Cochin.At the same time the Queen allied with the Portuguese too.

The Dutch invaded Fort Cochin in 1661 and they fought the great war with the Portuguese in the beach.The Portuguese counted on the Cochin army to pound the Dutch ships at Vypin Fort.The Queen ordered her army to fire balls without gun powder.Fort Cochin fell and King Rama Varma was killed by the Moothathavazhi in the prevailing anarchy.They forged a letter of appointment by Gangadhara Lakshmi and crowned Goda Varma.The Queen was made a hostage in the Calvetty Palace.
The Dutch Governor Van Rheede realized the foul play only when the Cochin Army began to attack the Dutch at the Calvetty Palace.Since it was violation of the friendship treaty,the Dutch soldiers stormed the Palace, arrested the Queen and kept her in custody at Malabar House.She reaffirmed loyalty to the Dutch and blamed Goda Varma for the foul play.At 98,she was again crowned by the Dutch for just two days.Goda Varma arrested and her brother Vira Kerala Varma succeeded her,ending the decade long crisis in 1663.The Palace which was damaged was rebuilt by the Dutch and it became Dutch Palace.

Van Rheede in his autobiography has paid rich tributes to her brilliance,double play and tactics.

Parukutty Nethyaramma was known for her administrative capabilities,but full of intrigues. She was Lady Rama Varma,a product of circumstances.

She was the consort of King Rama Varma(1914-1932) who is popularly known as Madirasiyil Theepetta Thampuran (the king who died in Madras).She was born in Thrissur in1874 to Kurur Nambudiripad.Her mother was from Padinjare Shrambi house of Vadakke Kurupath family. Ramavarma(born 1858) was 16 years elder to her.When they got married in 1888,Rama Varma was a prince and the chance for him to become the king was remote.But Rajarshi Rama Varma(1895-1914) abdicated the throne after a tussle with the British.He had used the Germans to build the Parambikulam Tramway and entertained the German Consul Bueler at Hill palace. The sale of 14 caparisons of the Poornathrayeesa Temple to build the Ernakulam-Shornur railway line and withdrawal of privy purse to the family members had precipitated a crisis in the Royal family;the line was opened in 1902.With all this,the British tried to poison the mind of his wife.Life became hell for him.He stepped out of Hill Palace with just a personal trunk of clothes.Following his abdication,the Valiyamma Thampuran too abdicated after appointing Rama Varma as King.His wife Parukutty filled the gap,took over and virtually became the authority.The majority of the orders during 1914-1932 were signed by Parukutty.

Ramavarma
 A set of palace scholars argue that Rama Varma was an able administrator who attempted reforms based on the Study of Sociology by Herbert Spencer and Political Economy of John Stewart Mill, which doesn't seem to be true.He had other interests:he used to cure snake bites,he tried to comprehend the language of the lizards using Gawlisastra.

According to Sir T. Vijayaraghavachari, the Dewan, “His Highness conveys his commands in a Socratic method. You have to watch his words carefully not to miss the meaning. …..His Highness is a student of Spencer. At times, he would make me suspect he was an agnostic at heart. The act of worshipping in the temple, once H.H remarked to me”- ‘has a tonic effect. The spectacular side of the temples here has to be developed so as to leave a marked impression on those who go to the temples.’

T.K. Krishna Menon recorded this Raja’s period in his book, The Days that were,thus: "The next ruler was a great constitutional Monarch. His generous nature and lofty patriotism and desire to take the country through reasoned progress to the front place among the Indian States were visible in every act of his. He had ‘a dislike for all pomp and ostentatious display’. His knowledge of the Ayurvedic system of medicine and his special aptitude in the treatment of cases of poisoning were always at the disposal of the public. He evinced a parental solicitude in the elevation of the depressed and backward classes. The very first thing that engaged his attention was the financial position of the State……The result was remarkable. The annual income rose from 46 lakhs of rupees in 1914-8-15 to 86 lakhs in 1927-7-28 and a surplus from 12 to about 70 lakhs."

Parukutty handled financial matters.Middle men were driven away from the Palace owned agricultural lands ,collection of taxes was improved; Valiya Thampuran Kovilakam Trust was formed to administer the Palace estate.A stroke made Ramavarma paralytic and he suffered dementia.Rama Varma was in Ollur or Shornur most of the time undergoing Ayurvedic treatment.With improved finance,Parukutty upgraded Maharajas College.Ramavarma was the Chief Guest at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Ernakulam College in 1925 and it was renamed Maharajas college in honour of him.Parukutty improved Trichur zoo,developed the road which later became the M G Road,and renovated the Durbar Hall.She gave 1000 acres from her property  to build the new Central Prison at Viyyur.She was instrumental in opening the royal city gates of Tripunithura to commoners.For her works,King George V honoured her with Kaiser -i-Hind, in 1919,the only Nethyaramma (Nair consort) to get such a recognition.The tradition was that Nethyarammas were untouchables during the day and immensely touchable during the night.Parukutty rewrote the rules and revamped the system.The revenue of the state won a 17 gun salute from the British.When a picture of any Nair consort of the King is not available,we have a rare picture of her supervising a work.

Parukutty Nethyaramma

Her cousin Kurur Neelakantan Nambudiripad was a prominent Congress leader.She met Gandhi in Trichur in 1925 and became an ardent follower.Gandhi was made a state guest and her son V K Aravindaksha Menon was deputed to assist Gandhi.The letters section of The Collected Works of Gandhi has the correspondence between him and Parukutty's daughter V K Vilasini Amma.Her second daughter Ratnamma was married to R M (Ramunni Menon)Palat,son of Sir C Sankaran Nair,who was AICC President.Palat became Minister for Public Health in Madras later.Her son Aravindakshan had married Malathy,daughter of V K Narayana Menon,contractor in Trichur.It was in his house Pandyala, Nehru,Kamala and Indira had taken rest en route to Ceylon.Parukutty began to wear Khadi and started units around Hill palace for Khadi products,to the displeasure of the British.This action of her forced the British to remove the King from his seat,but the attempt failed.The Viceroy Lord Willingdon tried to prove the King insane.

Junior Rani
A bizarre incident full of drama, took place in 1930.When the British were delaying the coronation of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma in Travancore,the Junior Maharani Sethuparvathi Bayi,his mother, met Parukutty Nethyaramma.The Junior Rani was in rivalry with the Senior Rani,Sethulakshmi Bayi,who was the Regent.He was supposed to be crowned in 1930,when he attains the age,18.But the British believed that Chithira Thirunal was mentally unstable and refused to anoint him.They asked the Junior Rani to wait till he is 19 and half.The Junior Rani recounted this to Parukutty and became indignant.All of a sudden, the Rani brandished a revolver and threatened to shoot herself.We are not told how Parukutty saved the situation.The Resident ANL Cater's fortnightly report after this incident speaks of the Junior Maharani's "fondness for intrigue".

There were two disasters during the reign of Ramavarma, when T Raghavachari was the Dewan:plague in Mattancheri and a communal riot at Trichur,Parukutty's native place.The communal riot was in February-March,1921,four months before the Moplah rebellion in Malabar.The Christians in Trichur,loyal to the British,attacked a non co-0peration meet and set fire to the shops and houses of the Hindus,during a loyalty procession.The King wrote to the British Resident and the Dewan was removed.Dr A R Menon was the leader of the Congress,and the Congress leadership invited the Mappilas of Malabar for the protection of the Hindus.The Mappilas arrived in thousands and held a procession.Thereafter,the Resident H H Burkitt and the Dewan called both the parties for a discussion and the issue was settled after a week.

Dewan Vijayaraghavachari replaced Bhore and was at the helm during the events of outbreak of Plague in Mattanchery, scarcity of rice in the State and riots in Trichur. To tackle the rice problem, he fixed maximum selling prices of local paddy and rice, opened a circar depot for sale to the poor and tried to procure Burma rice from Madras. In addition, he opened relief works to give labour to the unemployed and at Trichur opened a trial poor house to give kanji. Dewan’s preemptory order to put down the rioters in Trichur did not win approval of the Highness. As regards to Cochin Harbour, hydroelectric scheme, and paper pulp industry Dewan was non-conclusive for the time being. He co-operated with the start of boy-scouting in a quasi-Governmental mode. He favoured progressivity of the legislative council. In spite of the laudable services of the Dewan there was a falling off and Dewan Narayana Menon replaced Vijayaraghavachari.

The three year tenure of Narayana Menon as Dewan was largely uneventful except for the heated activities in the legislative Council as regards to the Cochin Harbour scheme. Extract from Dewan Narayana Menon’s letter dated November 1924 refers to Parukutty: “Keeping me on for another year does not commend itself to the consort and she wants to let me go at the end of my term and put in Narayana Iyer instead.”…… On account of the condition of H.H’s health the administrative machinery has I fear gone out of order.”

On 6 December 1924, C.W.E. Cotton, the Resident wrote to Ramavarma: “Having regard to the state of your Highness’s health, you may perhaps wish to avail yourself for further term of Mr. Narayana Menon’s experience and the fact that he is so doughty a champion of the Durbar’s interest in the problems connected with the Cochin harbour scheme will make him difficult to replace until they are settled.”

A confidential letter from Hill Palace, Tripunithura, dated 14 December 24 to Mr. Cotton ,said: “I propose to appoint Rao Bahadur Mr. T.S. Narayana Iyer, my present Chief Judge to succeed Mr. Narayana Menon. I am glad to say that I am rapidly improving in my general health and there is less difficulty in walking.”

On 5 February 1925, Resident Cotton wrote to Patterson the officiating Secretary of the Government of India, Political Department: “Mr. Narayana Iyer is not a flyer and has no recent administrative experience. But his reputation is good, and if the selection is restricted to the officials in State Service, he is certainly the best man available. Narayana Menon was too steadfast a guardian of the State finances ‘to be no longer acceptable to the Maharaja’s consort who is the defacto ruler of the State. It is to be presumed that she has hopes that Mr. Narayana Iyer will prove more accommodating. The Maharaja is too old and too feeble to take any real active interest in the administration and the Dewan has to be constantly on his guard to prevent undue interference on the part of the consort whose ruling passion is the acquisition of wealth for her already wealthy family.”

T.K.Krishna Menon adds, “But, as for Narayana Iyer, he had no hint of any extraordinary gifts. His conspicuous gift was negative. It was his silence. Events always played the trump card for him. His luck was a legend, and he was loyal to the last breath of his life.”

Narayana Iyer’s tenure as Dewan continued to be troublesome. Discontentment among the junior male Thampurans progressed to such an extent that a memorandum of no confidence against the administration was submitted to the Resident and the Secretary to the Madras Government. The Dewan had to defend the Raja who was for all purposes seemed to be out of the loop. British also was confronted with the vexing problem of how to deal with a mentally disabled ruler of a feudatory State.

The Junior Thampurans of the Ruling Family, Cochin wrote a letter to Lt, Col. C.G. Crosthwaite, Agent to Governor General, Madras State on 10 October 1928,in which they requested an interview to discuss several troubling issues informally. Such an interview did take place and Dewan Narayana Iyer who was also present tried to rebut all the issues vigorously. Several letters were written by the Dewan, Crosthwaite and Kerala Varma, the leader of the Junior Thampurans.

Ramavarma,Baroda Gaekwad,Wife and Parukutty

Narayana Iyer’s term was to end and frantic effort was made to replace him with the son-in-law of the consort/Raja. A few letters are available to substantiate this.However, at this point the British authorities decided to bring in C.G. Herbert I.C.S. as Dewan.

Lt. Colonel H.R.N. Pritchard  followed Crosthwaite as Agent to the Governor General, Madras State Agency. The interchange of letters that took place between Herbert and Pritchard certainly give a perspective of what happened between 1924 and 1932.

Herbert’s letter to Pritchard dated 24 December 1931 can be summarized as follows:

 1. A note is enclosed in the letter to explain the difficulties experienced in the State of Cochin.

2. Intervention in the administration, might take two forms, one consisting of the transfer of the Sarvadhikariakar through whom the consort is effecting her influence and the second consisting of the appointment of Elaya Raja as Regent. The third possibility is to do nothing until the Raja dies or situation becomes so bad that the Government of India can take over.

The note written by Herbert has been so informal that liberal amount of paraphrasing has been resorted to: “It has been evident to me since I became Dewan rather more than a year ago that His Highness, owing to his age and ill-health, is incapable of taking any personal part in the administration. Under the constitution however many of the affairs of the State can only be transacted under the orders of the Maharaja or with his concurrence, and in spite of the present Maharaja’s incapacity orders continue to issue in his name. Obviously therefore, in fact, these orders are passed on His Highness’s behalf by others who have taken His Highness’s place in the administration.”

Herbert expands on the various courses he could take in such a dicey situation:“A change seemed very desirable, if not absolutely necessary, in the interest of the Thampurans – the members of the Ruling Family – for reasons which will be stated later.”

“For these reasons I discarded the idea of waiting till the situation reached a crisis before taking steps to improve it, and decided to adopt the alternative course of replacing the present Sarvadhikariakar by a man in whose integrity confidence may be reposed.” 

Herbert wanted to appoint the Sarvadhikariakar  Narayana Pisharodi as the Commissioner of Devaswoms with the same pay grade and bring in Subramania Aiyer as the new Sarvadhikariakar. Herbert’s recommendations were questioned or rejected.

One of the principal complaints of the Thampurans was about the large sums of expenditure from the Palliyara Muthalpidi for the benefit of the consort and her children after the Maharaja became ill. One of the Thampurans had information obtained surreptitiously from the Palace Accountant. A copy of the same was included with the note. Irregularities in the management of the Ammaraja’s estate and Sarvadhikariakar managing the same instead the Raja infuriated the Thampurans. They were demanding a thorough audit of the accounts of the Palliyara Muthalpidi for the last few years.

C G Herbert

Herbert continued:" have endeavored in this note to describe the situation created in the State by the present condition of His Highness’s health and the difficulties that arise as a consequence in the transaction of State affairs. I do not think those difficulties are likely to diminish as time goes on: on the contrary as interference from the Palace are increasing there seems every reason to apprehend that administration in future become more and more difficult. Two methods of dealing with this situation now appear to exist. The first is to allow the administration to be carried on, as it was carried on in the past, under the influence of the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar. In that event there is, in my opinion, no possible advantage to be gained by a Dewan appointed from British India at the head of the administration: for his proposals can always be vetoed by the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar, it is evident that his opportunities for improving the administration will be exceedingly limited. The balance of advantage in these circumstances seems to me definitely to lie in the appointment of an indigenous Dewan. For the chances of friction arising on administrative questions between the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar on the one hand and the Dewan on the other would be minimized by such an appointment while the administration itself could in the circumstances lose nothing by it.

"The alternative course would be to check the influence of the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar. It was with this aim in view that I suggested the transfer of the
Sarvadhikariakar from his present post. Whether that would in fact have solved the problem it is of course now impossible to say: there was at least the chance of its doing so. But it is doubtful whether, matters having reached the stage which they have now done, it will be worthwhile to go to the trouble of securing the Sarvadhikariakar’s transfer merely for the sake of making the experiment. Assuming that it is desirable to interfere in the matter at all the better course would be definitely to end the part which His Highness’s consort and the Sarvadhikariakar now take in the administration.


"One thing is thus clear. The time has now come when a definite decision has to be taken whether on the one hand to allow the consort and the Sarvadhikariakar to continue their interference in the affairs of the State: or, on the other to limit if not to terminate that interference altogether. In the former alternative the balance of advantage is against having a Dewan from outside the State at the head of the administration: for this can only result in friction in administrative matters without any corresponding gain."

Ramavarma in his final Years

On 3 January 1932, Col Pritchard wrote to Sir Charles Watson, Political Secretary to the Government of India, New Delhi,on the senile behaviour of the King.I quote just a few lines from the letter:"In order to give a further illustration of His Highness’s condition I will describe briefly his behavior at the Durbar which was held in connexion with the presentation of Kharitas from Lord Irvin and the Viceroy. As I shook hands he broke into a guffaw of inane laughter which I must confess was somewhat disconcerting. I tried to enter into the usual brief conversation, but His Highness remained completely dumb until I asked whether he found the climate cooler in Tripunithurai than in Ernakulam. I must mention that we were then sitting in his Palace in Tripunithurai. His Highness turned to me and said “Where is Tripunithurai?”. During the firing of the Vice regal salute His Highness created some embarrassment by repeatedly calling out “What is the firing for?” and much more when he turned to the heir apparent and asked him whether his wife was present! He didn’t know what to do with my garland and finally his hands had to be raised over my head by the Dewan. When my wife received hers His Highness again emitted a peal of laughter saying in a loud voice “Lady Sahiba'. It was altogether an extremely undignified Darbar.”

He stated further:“In a letter addressed to Cater in December 1929 the Thampurans wrote that, however since their respect and reverence for His Highness’s person was, they felt compelled to complain as they knew that things which were done in His Highness’s name were done by others and that, so far as they knew the Maharaja had practically ceased to function, and that his powers and authority were being usurped by others. Finally they prayed to be freed from a rule by people other than the legitimate Ruler. The Thampurans are undoubtedly convinced ( and so is Herbert) that the Consort and Sarvadhikariakar are looting the Palliyara Muthalpidi properties, and, as they are precluded from filing a suit against the Karanavan or manager because he is the Ruler, they very naturally claim that if Government consider it expedient to permit a mentally defective Ruler to retain his powers then it is for the Government to devise some way of protecting them from being robbed."

Several interesting facets of information regarding the looting by Parukutty Nethyaramma,could be noted after reviewing the communications between Herbert and Pritchard:

1. Palace accounts indicated every year, from 1918 onwards 25,000 to 35,000 rupees withdrawn from the Palliyara Muthalpidi until 1929 for various reasons.

2. Vellikulangara and Mattathur of forest lands was given to the Palliyara Muthalpidi from the Government during the X-Raja’s time. These lands were leased to the Consort for RS 200/- and cutting the trees fetched Rs 17,000, but nothing was put back in the Muthalpidi.

3. Maharaja’s own Palace when he was first Prince was gifted to the Consort. But she sold it to the Palliyara Muthalpidi for Rs 13,000/- but was assigned as pattom tenure for Rs 200/-

4. Few irregularities in dealing with Ammaraja’s estate also has been listed.

5. There was a plan to move the Maharaja’s College from Ernakulam to Ramavarmapuram near Thrissur.

After receiving the letter sent by Pritchard a telegram from Polindia arrived on 29/1/1932: “ H.E. the Viceroy directs that you should arrange to have H.H. the Maharaja of Cochin examined at once by a European mental expert with a view to ascertaining his mental condition and capacity to rule. Agrees that Doctor Somervell should if possible be associated with the mental expert in this examination.”

Dr Somervell agreed to be of help. Major A.C.A. Smith, Superintendent of the mental hospital of Yeravada, Bombay was to examine the Highness in Madras. But on 25 March 1932, Sir Sri Rama Varma, Maharaja of Cochin died at 7.45 A.M. at Cochin House, Madras.


After the death of the King,Parukutty initially shifted to the Ratna Vilas Palace she built near her home in Trichur.Then she went on an extended tour abroad with her grandson Sankaran Palat who was admitted to Le Rosey in Switzerland and later the Charter House,England.She returned to India and divided her time between Coonoor and Trichur.She had tea estates and a tea factory in Conoor.

About her activities,a fortnightly Intelligence Report at the National Archives,Newdelhi states:"The hill palace here is the center of nationalist activity and charkhas have been introduced to assist the weaving of the Khadi."

I doubt whether any Gandhian now knows the story of Parukutty.

C G Herbert was reversed foreign service in Cochin to Madras,and Sir Shanmukham Chetty was appointed Dewan,in 1935.Chetty became the first finance minster of independent India.He was an economist and was chosen by Gandhi against the wishes of Nehru.He resigned in 1949,due to conflict of views with Nehru.

See  my Posts,KRISHNA MENON AS HEADLOAD WORKER,PRINCE RAMAVARMA




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