Velluvkkammaran got converted and built an empire
The story of Velluvakkammaran Nambiar (1713-1799), is unparalleled in the history of India. Many Malayalis have built business empires after the Gulf boom started in the 1970s. But,Velluvakkammaran Nambiar owned a province and a treasury worth 12 million pounds in the 18th century, outside Kerala. He became the Commander and Governor of Hyder Ali and finally, he lost all of it to the British,earned a monthly pension of Rs 4000 in Masagon, Mumbai, and died as an orphan.
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| Ayaz Khan |
He was born in the feudal home, Chalil Velluva, to Palliyath Kannan and Kalyani.Kalyani was the only sister of the Chieftain, or,Adhikari , Rairu Nambiar,an unscrupulous person, generous only to his tenants.Velluva,was in Inderi or Indragiri,in the Kannur district of Kerala,a hilly area between Thalassery and Kannur,close to Edakkad. The area itself was called Velluva,which extended in the Indragiri hills,from the east to the south east.
There were two branches to the Velluva family tree:Chalad and Kalliat.Kammaran had two sisters,one married to Chalad and the other to Kalliat.The Kalliat later on spread another branch in Kuttikkatoor. Rairu Nambiar was from the Chalad branch.
Velluvakkammaran, the Malayalam novel, by C Kunjirama Menon ( M R K C),says the horoscope of Kammaran,called dearly as Kammu, predicted a long life and plenty of enemies for him; He was destined to stay abroad,in high positions, with lot of wealth and a sweet wife,with no children.He would die a sanyasin, in old age.
A tragedy and love
As the practice was in those days, after learning primary Sanskrit texts, Kammu was sent to study martial arts at age, 10.Tragedy struck when he was 18-Rairu Nambiar became mentally unstable after the death of Kalyani and the suicide of his second wife.He suspected his Secretary,Payyan Komar Nambiar,who collected taxes,had a role in the suicide of his wife.It has to be assumed that he had an illicit bonding with the wife of his boss.Rairu Nambiar swore to eat only with his left hand till her death was avenged.
Rairu Nambiar decided to celebrate his birthday which fell on the next day after the death anniversary of his wife,by inviting the rich and the influential.A Mrityunjaya homam was held in the nearby temple,after which the invitees sat for the feast.When everything was on the Banana leaf, Rairu Nambiar suddenly stood up, went where Payyan Komar was sitting, asked him to stand up, and stabbed him on his stomach. Rairu Nambiar soaked his right hand on the blood oozing out,went back,mixed the rice on the Banana leaf with the blood,ate one measure full on the palm,of course,of the right hand. Komar died instantly, and all were dumbfounded. Kammu informed the Thalassery adhikari, Mavila Chandu Nambiar, the revenue official of the Kolathiri King,who took Rairu Nambiar as a prisoner to his home in Mavilan kunnu,Thalassery. Rairu was taken to Thalassery and the fact that his properties were attached by the Kolathiri king proves the rumour,Komar was killed in Chalad,wrong. He was killed in Intheri.Years later,after becoming Governor,Ayaz Khan went to Thalassery to redeem his wealth,stayed at Mavilan kunnu,but didn't make a visit to Chalad.The Kolathiri King went and met Ayaz Khan there in the Malayalam Era,959, in the month,Kanni (1783 September).
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| Suffren with Hyder,1782 |
When Rairu Nambiar was taken prisoner,Kammu accompanied him to Mavilan kunnu,where he met Madhavi, daughter of Chandu. They fell in love.
Chandu's uncle, Kunkan Nambiar,was instrumental in getting permission to the English East India Company to establish the Thalassery factory in 1704,using influence on the Ilaya Vadakkumkoor,or the Prince Regent Kunhi Ambu/Udaya Varma,and by bribing the Kolathiri King.In return,the King gifted the Mavilan kunnu to Kunkan Nambiar.It was close to Thalassery,from,Edakkad in the north,to Mayyazhi river,in the south.Udaya Varma gave the land after the Company complained to him on the attack on their ware house by the rival prince Kunhi Rama Varma,with Nair Chief of Iruvallinad,,Kurangoth Nair.Chandu had married Mathu,the only niece of the wealthy planter,Thandarapilly Ambu Kurup.She was rescued and looked after by Chandu,after Kurup was killed by some Muslim traders,on the issue of a breach of trust on the sale of pepper.Mathu grew up in the house of Kalyat Kelu Nambiar, Chandu's generous uncle.
Rairu Nambiar died a few days after he was taken prisoner, after confessing to Kammu that he killed Komar to avenge his wife's death. So, it is clear that the madness of Rairu Nambiar was just an alibi spread by his well wishers,to protect him from punishment. Kolathiri King attached his property,and asked Kammu to join the Army as a soldier, after the death rituals of 41 days.It was compulsory for the Nair males to join the Army. He rose from the ranks,became Commander and introduced uniform for the first time, to the soldiers. The King was old and very weak, and a puppet in the hands of the queen and the Prime Minister, Subramanya Iyer. Among the two Prince Regents, Thekke Ilayakoor Kunhi Rama Varma and Vadakke IlayakoorUdaya Varma,the latter was greedy and was keeping fingers crossed to usurp the throne, the Prime Minister colluding with him, secretly. This Regent,who was stationed in Neeleswaram,Kasargod, sent 500 soldiers,in country boats to the Eripuram river, the present day Pazhayangadi river, to seize the Valapattanam Fort. He was defeated in this adventure, by Kammu,the Commander.
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| Granite pillars,Ikkeri temple |
The Regent, fearing hell, tried for a treaty with the King of Ikkeri, which was six kilometers south of Sagara, in the Shimoga district of Karnataka. It was the capital of the Keladi Chiefs during 1560-1640. Afterwards, the capital was shifted to Bednur,by Shivappa Nayak,the best among the Keladi kings (Canarese).Bednur means,the town of bamboos.When the King of Ikkeri,Hiriya Basappa Nayak died in 1755, his son, Sundara Nayak, was only nine years old. The queen,Virammaji, took over the reins,with the help of the Prime Minister, Doddappa, who later became her husband.Her little son was shifted to the house of a Jamindar and was kept under house arrest.After spreading the rumour,the son has died,Doddappa became de facto King. Sundara Nayak contacted Hyder Ali,after attaining maturity, and the march by Hyder Ali in 1763 to Bednur, and its annexation,would change Kammu forever, as we will see within a few minutes from now. Hyderali captured Viramma, kept her in confinement with her son, in the Madhugiri Fort.
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| Madhugiri Fort |
In case, 30,000 was not paid on time,the right to collect taxes would be surrendered to Ikkeri.After spies alerting Kolathiri,Kammu went to the Regent's palace with a contingent and took him prisoner, to Valapattanam Fort. Then, on his own, Kammu decided to go to Ikkeri, for an encounter with the king. Ikkeri King, after getting news that Kammu was traveling, withdrew the 40 country boats with soldiers from the Madayi sea.Kolathiri sent word to Kammu not to go to Ikkeri,but to remain in Neeleswaram. It is better to remember that Kolathiri had only the present day,Chirakkal Thaluk.Kannur was with the Arackal King, Ali,and the Southern part was with the four families of Randuthara Achans.
A conspiracy to kill
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| Chirakkal Palace |
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| Hyderali |
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| Malabar and Cochin,under Mysore |
Kammaran gets converted
Hyder Ali,after his return from Ikkeri, converted Kammu to Islam,calling him,Muhammad Ayaz Khan.He was enlisted with the Asad-i-Ilahi(new converts)troops.Ayaz Khan was put under the tutelage of, French Naval Captain,Bertrand Francois Mahe de La Bourdonnais.Hold your breath-Mayyazhi became Mahe,taking its name from him!.An alternative account suggests that he displayed such bravery in the capture of Mahe,while he was with the French East India Company,that the name of the town was added to his own(He was in India service,from 1720, till 1745.He had quarreled with General Dupleix over his conduct of affairs in India,and was later arrested in 1748).
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| La Bourdonnais |
It was around this time,Kolathiri began to be called the Chirakkal King.Demands came from the Ikkeri King to pay him the 3 lakh indemnity,due to him.The Regent refused,arguing that the first agreement to usurp the Kolathiri was not implemented by the Ikkeri King.Bells of revenge rang,Commander of Ikkeri,Reghunath reached Ezhimala,with a fleet,in 1732.This affected the business of the Thalassery English factory severely,since they were depending on Mangaluru port for food.The English, the French,the Portuguese,the third Ilamkoor, Kottayam King, and Ali Raja fought with each other for breathing space.The crisis was solved only after Kolathiri ceding the area North to Valapattanam river,to Ikkeri.Till 1766,the year in which Hyder Ali attacked and conquered Malabar, Ikkeri forces remained in the area.
Ayaz was being tried by Hyder Ali, in difficult missions.He was asked to thwart the Maratha force from the Southern border.Ayaz went there,and when Commander Dave began to withdraw,Hyder Ali asked Ayaz to pay him one lakh,lest they will align with the English and the Nizam of Hyderabad.Hyder said he will sent the cash with Tipu. After waiting in vain for few days,Ayaz borrowed money from the natives.Tipu was wreaking vengeance.Then Hyder sent Ayaz to Hyderabad to coerce the Nizam,which he accomplished remarkably well.Hyder never wanted a dispute with the Nizam, because the two were the only Musim rulers in the Deccan,though the Nizam suspected the half Hindu, Hyder. Colonel Smith was flabbergasted to learn that the Nizam has backed from the joint campaign against Hyder.When Hyder found ,strategy worked out very well, wherever Ayaz was sent, he asked Ayaz to take the Governorship of Chitradurga (Chitaldurg). Ayaz refused saying,he doesn't know to write or read Kannada or Hindi.Hyder advised: "Keep a Corla (rope whip) in your right hand and that will do you better than pen and ink." Ayaz was Governor of Chitradurga for three years, from 1779,before moving on to Bednur.Chitradurga was the richest in the entire Mysore and the second better Fort after Srirangapattana. It was strategically important,since both the Nizam and Maratha s were to be handled from there.
When he became a little free in Chitradurga, according to the Malayalam historical novel,Velluvakkammaran ,he remembered Madhavi, and twenty long years had passed since they met each other.He took leave from Hyder,traveled via Bengaluru to Kalyat in Kannur.He,being a Muslim,refused to stay in the home,preferring the outhouse,instead.Madhavi was converted in the Irikkoor mosque,three miles away from Kalyat,becoming Amina Begum.There is no historicity in this,because, Ayaz was 66 when he became Governor of Chitradurga. It was not twenty,it was a minimum of 45 years!
Ikkeri King ruled North Malabar during 1732-1740.In South Malabar,Hyder had seized some areas including Palakkad as early as 1757, when he was the Faujidar at Dindigul,at the behest of the King of Palakkad,Kombi Achan,of the Tharoor Swaroopam,who was the enemy of Zamorin.Ali Raja had invited him to invade North Malabar then,which he had rejected(After he did,Ali Raja set fire to Kolathiri palace).In 1763,Hyder captured Bednur,appointing Sreenivasa Rao as the first Governor and Sardar Khan as the Deputy.
Palakkad King had also urged Hyder to wage a war against the Zamorin.Zamorin had agreed to pay 12 lakh as war expenses and to give back the areas seized from Palakkad.Hyder's second attack in 1766 was when Zamorin didn't keep the promise.Zamorin became a hostage inside his own palace,with no way for religious rituals.He set the gun powder store of the Mananchira palace on fire,inviting the fire to immolate him.He had sent his family and relatives to safety in Ponnani.
Ayaz Khan Surrenders
Mysore forces again came, in 1773. Sardar Khan was sent to attack Travancore in 1775, but was successful only seizing the Thrissur Fort and North Kochi.When Ali of Arackal failed to give the indemnity,his country was gifted to the North Malabar Ilamkoor Prince Regent. In 1777, the U.S., with the help of the French, became free from the clutches of the English,thereby igniting the English-French war.Mahe port was in danger of being captured by the English. Hyder,who was taking French guns through this port,to Mysore,kept a force ready at the port.Vadakkekoor sent a 1500 strong Nair force. The English declared war against Hyder in 1778,and sent General Matthews from Mumbai to capture Bednur Fort. It was at this juncture, Ayaz was shifted from Chitradurga to Bednur. Hyder always used to say, Ayaz was his right hand in the hour of crisis. Mahmood Khan Mahmood, in his book, Kingdom of Hyderali and Tipu Sultan, notes that Ayaz was the adopted son of Hyder. Just before reaching Bednur, Ayaz had crushed the Kodagu, Ballat rebellions.When Ayaz reached Bednur, Doddappa was a prisoner on the Eastern side of the Fort. He called Doddappa to his Bunglow, gave a dressing down, and sent him as prisoner to Srirangapattana Fort, taking permission from Hyder. Ayaz named Bednur, Hydernagara.
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| Chitradurga Fort |
Though Ayaz loyalists wanted him to oust Tipu and become the King,Ayaz handed over Bednur to General Matthews,ceding to the advice of Donald Campbell, the traveller. Campbell,who was taken prisoner by Hyder's soldiers after a shipwreck,was freed by Ayaz ,for negotiations with the British,at the behest of Matthews.The General met the confused Ayaz,at his Bunglow,and worked out the terms.Ayaz rode on his favorite horse, Feroze that night,accompanied by 50 English horsemen to the British camp.Matthews agreed to the demand of Ayaz to take him and his dear ones, including the horse Feroze,to Thalassery,by ship.Next morning,he went to the Bednur fort,opened the treasury.One version says that it had three lakhs, Ayaz took half and distributed the other half to Reghunath Pant and soldiers. He reached Thalassery on the third day. He began staying at Mavilan kunnu.He kept the word given to the dying Rairu Nambiar by building a Siva temple and gifting land to a Nambuthiri Brahmin.
Ayaz and Amina could not stay there for long. In the winter of 1784, after a bath in the pond,Amina became feverish and died on the 11th day.It was the year when the Mangaluru treaty between Tipu and the English was signed ending the Malabar campaign of Mysore.As part of the settlement,Tipu asked the British to hand over the war prisoner, Ayaz,to him.The British declined. The novel,Velluvakkammaran,s eems to protect Ayaz, especially towards the end. He wrote the novel, based on an unpublished English work, by Othenan Menon, a former Sub Registrar of Koothuparamba, in Kannur. He had stayed for some time in the Chalad Velluva home.
Fleeing to Mumbai
Though Tipu failed to kill Ayaz, he compensated by killing and torturing hundreds of Nairs of Malabar. He hated the race.In 1788,Tipu gave strict orders to his army Commander M Lally and Mir Asrali Khan, to,"surround and extricate the whole race of Nairs from Kottayam(Wynad) to Palghat."This is known as the Order of Extermination of Nairs.The captivity of Nairs at Srirangapattana during 1786-1789 saw forcible conversions,torture and death.
The novel says Ayaz Khan got back his ancestral property and he preferred the life of a sanyasin after the death of Amina.Impossible,as Ayaz was a Muslim.Menon claims,Ayaz requested the British, a life in a distant place. If you want to lead a sanyasin's life, why Mumbai? History says, he fled to Mumbai,when he heard Tipu was secretly planning to kill him.
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| Hyder Ali,steel engraving,1790s |
Though Tipu failed to kill Ayaz, he compensated by killing and torturing hundreds of Nairs of Malabar. He hated the race.In 1788,Tipu gave strict orders to his army Commander M Lally and Mir Asrali Khan, to,"surround and extricate the whole race of Nairs from Kottayam(Wynad) to Palghat."This is known as the Order of Extermination of Nairs.The captivity of Nairs at Srirangapattana during 1786-1789 saw forcible conversions,torture and death.
In a letter of March 22,1788,which was traced by Sardar K M Panikkar,in the India Office Library,London,Tipu Sultan boasted:"Over 12000 Hindus were honoured with Islam".In a letter of December 14,1788, to the Army Commander in Kozhikode,Tipu ordered:"You should capture and kill all Hindus.Those below 20 years maybe kept in prison and 5000 from the rest,should be killed,hanging from tree tops."
From historical facts which we have seen, it is difficult to believe that Hyder took Kammu under his wings, when he was a boy.Hyder would have met him either in 1755, during the Ikkeri campaign, or,in 1757,during his first march to Malabar-at that time, Kammu was aged,42-44. Clearly,then,it was a case of switching sides, from Kolathiri,to Hyder. Or,it was a case of capture and forcible conversion, for, Hyder in 1766,had deported 15,000 captured Nairs to Bednur and only 200 survived,according to Gazateer. Maybe Ayaz was a survivor. The version Tipu hated Ayaz from the beginning is difficult to accept; Tipu turned against him,after Ayaz gifted Bednur to the British. Hence, Menon termed his book a novel, not history. He wanted to glorify Ayaz.If this is accepted,there is every chance that he had married Madhavi earlier,and the conversion of her happened in old age.
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| Thalassery Fort |
The novel was published in 1927. We have enough historical evidence now to prove that Ayaz was not running an orphanage,but was an inmate in an orphanage. History also speaks about his widows and sons.If we accept Menon's story, Amina Begum/Madhavi,was issueless,he had wives before and after Amina.Thus,we can fill the gap of 20/45 years between them.Was Madhavi married? The novel says no-only Allah knows.
The British never gave back him the ancestral properties, though he staked claim for it in 1792.They termed the claim,fraudulent and sanctioned a monthly pension of Rs 4000, after he settled in Mumbai.History speaks of his minor son, Fayaz Ali Khan,who was denied his father's pension.Fayaz fought for it in Mumbai and London.The British tried to block all his efforts,including his trip to London.His representative, Muhial- ud-Din fought for him in London,incurring huge debts.The British offered him to pay the debts, if he stopped arguing the case for Fayaz. Finally, the British restored the pension. Muhial-ud- Din returned to Mumbai,but the ship with the case papers, sank in the Bay of Bengal. Then,there was no case to argue,leaving the memories, afloat.Any empire, is a mirage.
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Reference:
1.Velluvakkammaran/C Kunjirama Menon(he was known as MRKC-Chengalath Kunjirama Menon,in the reverse order.He was Editor,Kerala Pathrika,and Manager,Mangalodayam.
2.Malabar Manual/William Logan
3.Historical Sketches of South India/Mark Wilks
4.A Narrative of the Extra Ordinary Adventure/Donald Campbell
5.Counter flows to Colonialism/M H Fisher
6.Kingdom of Hyderali and Tipu Sultan/Mahmood Khan Mahmood.Trans:Anwar Haroon
7.History of Tipu Sultan/Mohibbul Hasan
8.Tipu Sultan:Villain or Hero?/Sitaram Goel
9.Religious Intolerance of Tipu Sultan/PCN Raja
10.Haidar Ali and Tipu sultan/Lewin Bentham Bowring
11.Tellicherry Factory Diary Volume XVIII
12.Tellicherry Consultations,Vol VIII,1933.
13.The Dutch Power in Kerala/M O Koshy
© Ramachandran
