A BRAIN IN CHAOS:THE DEATH OF SWATI THIRUNAL

Swati Thirunal had a fight with his friend Vadivelu, towards the end

I was always interested in the 'mysterious' death of Swati Thirunal. So, when a source told me that Dr K Rajasekaran Nair presented a paper on Swati Thirunal in a seminar conducted by the Neurological Society of India in Kolkata, I became inquisitive. It was December. The 150th death anniversary of Swati Thirunal was coming closer. I called Dr Nair. Since I don't keep a diary, here is the incident from his book, Manassinte Bandangalum Saidhilyangalum (The Mind: Affinities and Aberrations-2008):

It was when the dailies were contemplating what to do on the 150th death anniversary of Swati Thirunal, Ramachandran of Manorama got wind of me. Ramachandran came on the night of December 23 and took notes from the paper I presented. I thought they may carry a small bit somewhere on the inside pages. But I was taken aback when I saw the daily of that Christmas (1996 December 25). This story, on the front page, is spread over three columns on the right top. And a Wonderful headline: "Swati gets relief from History's Discordant Notes". It was an array of phone calls then.

Swati Thirunal died on December 27,1846. His condition began deteriorating on Christmas. Dr Nair's paper saw light of the day on Christmas. Some new facts on death have emerged since. Dr Nair's father, Sooranad Kunjan Pillai was a well-known scholar and recipient of the first Ezhuthachan prize instituted by the Government of Kerala. I had met him a couple of times in his Karamana house. He was the biographer of Swati Thirunal.

Fight with Cullen

Swati Thirunal ascended the gadi when he was barely 16 years old and reigned for 18 years. Travancore had come fully under the yoke of the British Raj. The transition created a feeling of humiliation and servitude. The change was intolerable for Swati Thirunal. His own top officials were corrupt. It is well known that the  Resident, General William Cullen and Swati Thirunal were not on talking terms and the broken relationship took a toll on Swati Thirunal's health. Cullen who was then a Colonel with the Madras Artillery Regiment was made Resident of Travancore and Cochin in 1840. During the 18-year rule of Swati Thirunal, Cullen was there for only six years. Their relationship was cordial initially, but there was a communication problem. Cullen's hearing was a little impaired and the Raja had to speak loud. For the frail Raja, this was a strain on his lungs. So, Swati Thirunal tried to avoid the meetings. This communication gap was exploited by an official, Krishna Rao, who was a protege of Cullen. Cullen brought Rao along with him and asked Swati Thirunal to give him a job. He was made Deputy Peshkar. Rao played on Cullen; Cullen objected to every action of Dewan Subba Rao, who was also Swati Thirunal's tutor. Cullen assumed authority and the Residency became the centre of intrigues.

Dewan had to resign and Krishna Rao was promoted as Head Dewan Peshkar, who became Acting Dewan. With Cullen's reports, the Madras Government concluded that Swati Thirunal is weak. Swati Thirunal called his father Raja Raja Varma Koil Thampuran and Elaya Raja Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma for a meeting and showed them a letter relinquishing Travancore's ties with the British. His father, Elaya Raja and aunt Paravati Bai pleaded with him not to send the letter to Madras. Parvati Bai, who was Regent was a mother figure to Raja; his mother Lakshmi Bai had died early, at age 23. Raja Raja Varma had eloped with family members, from Parappanad in Malabar to Changanachery during the siege of Malabar by Tipu Sultan. They stayed in the Neerazhi palace in Changanachery; Queen Lakshmi Bai, his wife, built the Lakshipuram palace for his family members, later. He was a poet and translator and had equal felicity in English and Sanskrit.

General Cullen

Against the wishes of Cullen and Krishna Rao, who was ambitious to become the Dewan, Swati Thirunal recalled former Dewan  Venkata Rao, popularly known as Reddy Rao, who had retired 20 years back, to be the new Dewan, in 1843.

Though Madras approved this, Cullen objected to the subsequent appointment of Palace Peshkar, Kochusankara Pillai. After six months, to add to Cullen's animosity, Swati Thirunal dismissed Krishna Rao and sent him to Kollam, thus alienating him from Cullen. Cullen then insisted on removing former Dewan Subba Rao from Travancore. He went back to Thanjavur. Though Swati Thirunal became successful in recalling him, this incident made him depressive. He was attached to his tutor. After this, Swati Thirunal devoted most of his time to religion, prayers and ablutions. He gifted large sums of money to the Padmanabha Swamy temple, and in one instance, one lakh Surat rupees. From several bags, he poured them into several silver vessels in front of the idol. It took an hour. A total of Rs 34,00,000 which was surplus in the treasury was spent by the Raja in vows and ceremonies. Treasury became empty. The old Travancore historians, who extol the virtues of Swati Thirunal are silent on this. Maybe you get a peep into the mystery of the treasure of the temple.

History says a "complaint added to Raja's uneasiness". Maybe the complaint was against the extravaganza. He resorted to fasts and abstained from food. He denied audience to all including family members and personal physician Dr Colin Peterson. The Raja referred to Cullen as Sweta, Pandaram or Vellan. His dislike for Europeans distanced Dr Peterson completely from him. Peterson was a relative of Cullen, according to Robin Jeffrey, the Kerala scholar. It was with great difficulty, at the interference of his aunt, Lord Hay, the visiting son of the Governor of Madras, Marquis de Tweedle, was given an audience.

Illustrated London(1952)/Victoria's letter to Cullen for Raja

Against the wishes of Cullen, Dewan Reddy Rao appointed his two sons in his own office. It became an issue in Fort St George and they were removed. 

In 1845, the Dewan went on a circuit to the northern districts while the Resident was in Bolghatty Palace, in Cochin. At Paravoor, he received gifts from Anantha Raman Iyen, who was the son of the late Dewan of Cochin, Nunjappiah. Some of his settlements there, including a case against a Tehsildar, were suspicious. Both Cullen and the Raja received complaints and Reddy Rao was asked to resign. Sreenivasa Rao was made Head of Dewan Peshkar. The treasury was empty and Swati Thirunal went to Kollam to recover health. At the end of the year, there were huge losses due to a storm and floods; Raja's father died. From then on, Swati Thirunal led a secluded, sedentary life. He loved solitude. The physician, Dr Peterson had no information on the illness; Elaya Raja was the medical attendant. He was afraid to enter the Raja's chamber. Swati Thirunal was unable to walk a few paces.

Rajaraja Varma, with Son, Swati

One day Swati Thirunal called Elaya Raja and told him to take back Krishna Rao to the Travancore service. Sreenivasa Rao is weak, he said. Let us give Krishna Rao a try, and assuage Cullen's raw feelings, he said. Krishna Rao was called and given the appointment letter as Dewan Peshkar."From this day, you are my man, not Cullen's", Swati Thirunal smiled, and Rao wept. The Raja asked him to assist Sreenivasa Rao well. It was December 10,1846. The last appointment was made by Swati Thirunal.

On the morning of Christmas, Swati Thirunal didn't go to the bathroom. When he didn't stir out of his bed, it struck alarm bells. No one dared to venture into his chamber. When alerted, his aunt Parvathi Bai and his brother-in-law went to Kuthiramalika. They and the Ilaya Raja waited outside the door. Around 11 AM, he got up heard his aunt's voice and tried to walk. He scolded the attendant who tried to help him. His legs failed to support him and Swati Thirunal held on to the wall with one of his hands."Mother, have you had your breakfast?", he asked his aunt. He said he slept a little longer.

The next day too, he didn't go to the bathroom. He had ablutions in the adjoining room. He had a light meal at 11 AM and went to bed. He was sinking. The doctor was not allowed inside. Elaya Raja asked Krishna Rao to alert Cullen. Ilaya Raja went to the palace more than 10 times. Around 10 Pm, Swati Thirunal ordered liquid food, sipped it a little and went to his last sleep. At three in the morning(December 27), the attendant saw him motionless.

Achuthsankar

Holloway's ointment

Dr Achutsankar S Nair, a bioinformatics expert who sings Carnatic music brilliantly, and Catherine Logan have jointly published a paper, Colin Peterson and his Medical Report of Travancore (1842). Catherine is related to Peterson(1815-1863). We have seen Peterson was never allowed inside the Raja's chamber. In the paper, they said:

"In 1846, a few months before Swati Thirunal's demise, it is known from several advertisements that appeared in the London Times that Colin Peterson administered a drug marketed by Holloway on Swati Thirunal. For instance, The Times, London dated 8 December 1846 (Tuesday) on page 8 carried the following, classified as an advertisement:

The Raja of Travancore and Holloway's ointment-On the 11th of July 1846, Professor Holloway was honoured with an order for six of the largest pot of Holloway's ointment from no less a personage than his Royal Highness the Raja, or reigning sovereign King of Travancore through the eminent firm of Messrs J Cockburn and Co, East India merchants, No 15, New Broad Street, London. The ointment, it appears, is for the personal use of the Raja, and will be employed under the superintendence of his private physician. Holloway's ointment is sold all over India, being a certain cure for ulcers, wounds, sores....of 28 years standing and may be obtained of the proprietor...London and of every medical vendor.

Holloway

Achutsankar, further in an article, The Demise of Swati Thirunal: New Facts, said: "Holloway's ointment is known to have been created by Thomas Holloway, who termed it a 'cure anything' ointment and made him rich. It is also today known that Holloway's medicines contained aloe, myrrh and saffron, which are unlikely to cure anything in the modern view. However, the diseases claimed to be cured are pointers to the medical conditions of Swati Thirunal and require further research by medical practitioners".

ointment pot

True. There is a theory that Cullen may have administered Holloway's ointment on the King with the help of Krishna Rao and the King's Physician. And that they may have poisoned him.Very unlikely. Swati Thirunal, who was suspicious of Cullen would have certainly taken precautions. It is evident from the fact that no European was allowed inside his chamber. Only Lord Hay was allowed. The Raja had refused to take medicines, even from the local vaidyars. Krishna Rao was allowed only once inside the chamber and was made happy just before the Raja's death.

Epilepsy

Dr Rajasekharan Nair had written an article on the disease of Swati Thirunal in Malayalam. It was devoid of medical language and I think it didn't contain the details his paper had. Dr Nair had done a retrospective diagnosis of Swati Thirunal's disease, considering symptoms and found that it was a normal death due to TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY. He had definitely rejected the prayopavesam theory, death by fasting. Raja was having food, though scarce. The immediate cause of death, according to Dr Nair's inference, is the blockage of the circulation of blood to the Cerebellum, characterised by Swati Thirunal's inability to walk.

Dr Rajasekaran Nair

Temporal lobe epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition manifested by recurrent seizures which originate in the temporal lobe of the human brain. The seizures involve sensory changes, like, smelling an unusual odour that is not there and disturbance of memory. Epilepsies fall into two main categories: partial and general.60% of all adult cases are partial. There are two types of temporal lobe epilepsies: Medial(MTLE) and Lateral(LTLE).MTLE is the common one. It arises in the inner aspect of the lobe, whereas LTLE arises in the neocortex or outer surface. The symptoms are, De ja Vu(a feeling of familiarity), Jamis Vu(feeling of unfamiliarity), amnesia, producing abnormal sounds(auditory), abnormal taste(gustatory), smell which is not physically present(olfactory), visual, sensory sensations, fear and anger. In the last stages, it impairs consciousness: motionless staring, automatic movements of hands or mouth and unreal speech.

The causes of the disease are encephalitis, meningitis, stroke and tumour. There are genetic syndromes. But it is not the result of mental health disorders. Human herpes virus has been seen in the affected area. The disease is said to be chronic when it is seen for more than three months; it is characterised by the high prevalence of depression. Now we move on to the celebrated neuroscientist, Vilayanur S Ramachandran, who wrote the great book, Phantoms in the Brain. He is the Director, of the Centre for Brain and Cognition, in San Diego, US. He is the grandson of Sir Alladi Krishna Swamy Iyer.

V S Ramachandran

V S Ramachandran's research has found that patients affected with TLE showed enhanced responses to religious words, diminished responses to sexually charged words and normal responses to neutral words. It means the medial temporal lobe is involved in religion, images and symbols. I am not a scientist, but I think the key to Swati Thirunal's disease lies here. Hence I emphasised religiosity in Swati Thirunal's actions when I quoted from history. His religious activity was excessive. A lot of religious leaders of yore have been found afflicted with TLE.J E Bryant's book, Genius and Epilespsy(1952) lists more than 20 mystical and great personalities. Famous neuropsychiatric, Peter Fenwick has questioned the trend of reverse diagnosis about religious leaders. Suffice it to say that Ramachandran's findings support Dr Nair, though it is not specific to Swati Thirunal.

Swati Thirunal was a writer and musician who became excessively religious towards the end. His eccentricities have been detailed. All of the kin were afraid of him because of his actions. The religious figures who were epileptic include Ezekiel, Paul the Tarsus, Saint Birgitta, Joan of Arc, Saint Catherine of Jenoa, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Catherine of Ricci, Saint Marguerite Marie, Saint Therese de Lisieux. Excessive religiosity and hypergraphia or excessive writing are part of a disorder called Geschwind Syndrome.

Several celebrities, Socrates, Julius Caesar, Elizabeth Munroe (wife of James Munroe, 5th President of the US), Napoleon I etc have been found epileptic in retrospective diagnosis.
Musicians afflicted include Jimmy Reed, Neel Young, Lil Wayne, Lindsey Buckingham, Chris Knox, Ian Curtis, Richard Jobson, Susan Boyle, Edith Bowman, Peter Jeffries, Vusi Mahlasela, Hikari de, Mike Nolan, Adam Horowitz, Mike Skinner, Geoff Rickley, Prince and Lauren Pitford.Among writers, Dostoevsky, Karen Armstrong, and Stephen Knight. Edgar Allan Poe, Tolstoy, Lewis Carrol, Alfred Nobel, Tchaikovsky, Roosevelt, Truman Capote, Richard Burton etc had one or more seizures. Alexander, Da Vinci, Martin Luther, Louis XIII, Moliere, William, JonathanSwift, Samuel Jonson, Rousseau, Byron, Shelley, Dickens, Kierkegaard, Flaubert, Maupassant, Van Gogh and Graham Greene had similar symptoms.

Among political leaders, Lenin is a famous case. So, Swati Thirunal is in good company. Some suspect that Swati Thirunal had some venereal disease and Holloway's ointment has something to do with it; people affected with TLE are known for sexual dysfunction. Swati Thirunal was not impotent before he became ill; he had a son from Narayani-Anantha Padmanabhan Thampi. The Travancore historians, out of devotion to the dynasty, were very antagonistic towards Cullen. Swati Thirunal's successor Uthradam Thirunal had no quarrel with him; in fact, Cullen became his protector. Cochin had no problem with him. Let history speak for itself. While delivering a speech, on Swati Thirunal's relations with Cullen, on February 5, 2013, Dr Robin Jeffrey said Cullen loved Travancore and did his best to protect it from Dalhousie's doctrine of lapse annexation. It was with the contribution of Cullen and Krishna Rao, the museum was started in Thiruvananthapuram. Cullen retired in 1860 and settled in Travancore. On the way to Nilgiris, he got a fever in Kollam and died in Alapuzha on october1,1862. He was cremated in CSI Church there.

Vadivelu

The neurologist and the historian have missed the crux while unravelling the mystery of Swati Thirunal's death. A year ago before his death, the Raja got estranged from his asthana vidwan Vadivelu whom he had nurtured. The reason for the estrangement is still a mystery; T Lakshmana Pillai (1864-1950) has stated that Sarasijanabha, the famous keerthanam ascribed to Swati Thirunal was a fact written by Vadivelu. Vadivelu was drawing more than double the salary of the Magistrate. The estranged Vadivelu moved from Aryasala where Swati Thirunal had built a house for him, to Haripad. The court musicians interfered and they were reconciled. When Vadivelu praised the Raja in a Varnam in a performance after reconciliation, Swati Thirunal admonished him and told him to praise HIM. The very next day, Vadivelu changed the line in the verse: it is the Adathala Varnam, in Natta, Sammugamu. Vadivelu died a few months before the Raja, in 1845.No doubt, it hastened Swati Thirunal's death.

I never knew how to finish this-so I called Dr Nair, a friend of the legendary Oliver Sachs, now. He told me, as President of the Neurological Society of India, he was the first to invite V S Ramachandran for a talk in 1999. I do remember film actor Murali telling me that he invited Ramachandran to Thiruvananthapuram, after reading Phantoms in the Brain. Dr Nair told me he chaired the NSI session, and a neurologist at Apollo Hospital, a classmate of Ramachandran, who has his name in Vathapi Ganapathim Bhaje discouraged him. He told Dr Nair that Ramachandran is an eccentric! Eccentricity is tolerable; not mediocrity. It was the problem with Swati Thirunal. 

Reference:
1. History of Travancore/P Shangunni Menon
2.Swati Thirunal/Sooranad Kunjan Pillai
3.Colin Peterson and his Medical Report of Travancore(1842)/Achuth Sankar S Nair & Catherine Logan
4.Manassinte Bandangalum Saidhilyangalum/Dr K Rajasekharan Nair
5.Rogangalum Sargatmakathayum/Dr K Rajasekharan Nair
6. The Demise of Swati Thirunal/New Facts/Achuth Sankar S Nair
7. Genius and Epilepsy/J E Bryant
8. Demystifying Swati Thirunal/V Sriram

© Ramachandran 

See my blogs, MASTERS IN MASTER BEDROOMS & VIOLIN COMES TO CHENNAI