BURNING OF LIBRARIES IN KERALA BY JESUITS & TIPU

But a Syriac Bible Manuscript Survived

We the Keralites,who love books and letters know many rich libraries of the world, like Alexandria have been burnt; but we don't know a rich libray in Angamaly in Kerala, South India was burnt in 1599, immediately after the Synod at Udayamperur, Kochi.  Also, Tipu Sultan burnt the Christian libraries.

The Synod held  on 20-26 June 1599, was a turning point in the history of Syrian Christians in Kerala and in the history of the State as a whole. It created a huge fissure in communal harmony. Out of 18 priests from Angamaly, nobody attended this Synod. After this,the furious Arch Bishop of Goa, Dom Aleixo de Menezes (1559-1617), who convened the Diamper Synod, destroyed the library at Angamaly.

Aleixo de Mrenezes

On 14 December, 1806, Dr. Claudius Buchanan, Chaplain and Vice Pricipal of the College at Fort William, Calcutta visited Angamaly and in his letters, described the incident: 

“Angamale was formerly the seat of the Archbishop of the Syrian churches in the Mountains of Malabar. In the town of Angamale there are three churches within a quarter of a mile from each other, in all of which service is still performed. The cathedral church is the largest, and contains the tombs of Bishops and Archbishops for many centuries. As I approached the town of Angamale in the evening, I heard the “sullen roar” of the great bell reverberating through the mountains. When the Romish Archbishop Menezes visited this place in 1599, the Christians strewed the way up the hill with the flowers as he advanced. And yet he came to burn the ancient libraries and Archives of Angamale. As the flame ascended, the old priests wept; but they were obliged to hide their tears, dreading the inquisition at Goa.”

Gouvea in Jornada (1603) also reports, that there was an archive attached to the Bishopric of Angamaly where the most important ecclesiastical documents were preserved. In Portuguese Christian documents, it could be seen that frequent usage of the word ‘serra’, meaning mountain region, which indicates the location of Angamaly.

As per folklore, Angamaly is considered to be the origin and main centre of Syrian Christians and from there it flourished entire Malabar (Kerala).There were Archdecons (head of community) and bishops residing at Angamaly. 

The three ancient big Christian churches within a kilometere, located in a straight street, are unique and marvellous in the history of churches. It is recorded that the first church of Angamaly, dedicated to St. George, was used both by the catholics and Jacobites till 1750. In this church there was a chapel, which was dedicated to St. George, where both the Catholics and the Jacobites conducted their services in cordial manner, emerges the ecumenism between these two communities. The second church was the church of Hormisdas, the Cathedral church,which was either built or renovated by Mar Abraham, exclusively used by the Catholics.

It was in 1570s, that Mar Abraham started the construction work of this church of St.Hormisdas. Its earlier name Homusio was transformed to Hormisdas by Alexis Menezes. St.Hormisdas or St.Hormis Abbot was a Chaldean saint of the 7th century. He was a monk in the monastery of Robban Bar-Etha. At Angamaly, the Eastern Church (Cathedral church) was dedicated to his name. But the name of St. Hormis Abbot was replaced by St. Hormis, in the Udaympeur Synod (1599), Xth decree, by attributing St Hormis Abbot as Nestorian. The third church was dedicated to St. Mary, under Jacobite community.

In 9th century, when the old Crangannore town (Kodungalloor) was attacked by Mohammedans, the Christian inhabitants left Kodugallur and approached the Alangad King to inform their grievances. Tradition says that sometimes after the 9th century the Arabs set fire to Makodi and that the Christians fled to Angamaly which then became their Headquarters. 

The King offered protection to them by developing a town and church exclusively for the colonial Syrian Christians concentrated at Angamaly. This church in the name of St Mary was handed over to Jacobite community which formed after Koonen Cross oath (1653) by splitting the Syrian Christian community in Malabar. It is believed that Angamaly was the main town or part of Makothavirapatnam. An  argument is that, there was a community of Syrian Christians and the Archdeacons governed the civil matters of this community from 3rd century onwards, at Angamaly. 

Even though Angamaly was the origin of Syrian Christian community and the first seat of Bishop House, there is no authentic evidence available about its generation period. In an account of a foreign missionary Fr. M.Karniarro who visited Angamaly in 1557, there is a narration about the establishments of a University for priests ( Malpan training) and a Christian church at Angamaly.

Fr. Karniarro recorded:

‘In the region of Angamale the Christians have their university; a Cassanar who is like a father among the Thomas Christians in whom they had great confidence on account of his great age and learning; it is fifty years since he began teaching sacred scriptures and he has many disciples from all parts of Malabar’.

In 1563, when Mar Abraham was ordained as the bishop of Angamaly diocese, St. Hormis East church was the cathedral church where Mar Abraham resided.

 

St George Basilica, Angamaly

When in 1503 the Catholicos Elias V consecrated three Bishops for Christians in India, he conferred upon Mar Yahballaha the title, "The Metropolitan of India and China." The initialy good relationship of the East Syriac Christians to the Portuguese had gradually deteriorated, and the Portuguese sought to hinder the arrival of the new Bishops from Mesopotamia. Bishop Mar Dinkha had to flee inland in 1534. In 1558 the Latin Diocese of Goa was elevated to an Arch Diocese. At this time, basing his claim on a papal bull, John (Yuhannan) Sulaqa extended his jurisdiction over India. The East Syriac Catholicos Shimun VIII Dinkha finally opposed this action, consecrated Mar Abraham Bishop in 1557, and sent him to India. The influence of the Catholicos was still in force, though there were in India at this time East Syrian, Chaldean and Latin hierarchies operating in parallel. Since the colonial power Portugal had sponsored first the Latin and then the Chaldean Church, the direction of development during this time was clear. After the Haldean Bishop Mar Joseph was handed over to the Inquisition, Patriarch Abdisho IV named a new Metropolitan, who tried to come to an arrangement with Rome. He was,however recalled by the Pope.

Regarding this matter, the Arch Bishop of Goa declared that in the future the Syrian Christians would come under the authority not of the Patriarch of the "Chaldeans" but rather the King of Portugal. It is difficult to say whether this political decree took effect at the grass roots.A prayer book written in 1562 in Angamaly-the seat of an East Syriac Archdiocese-indicates that the East Syriac liturgy was still in use there. In 1585/86 the Jesuit F Roz who knew Malayalam and Syriac, examined several liturgical books and determined that the "heterodoxies"  of Nestorius, Diodore of Tarsus,and Theodore of Mopsuestia could be found within. A 1585 Synod tried to cut off the Syrian Christians' contact with the Chaldeans. 

Menezes, one of the preachers at the court of King Philip II at Madrid, was appointed Archbishop of Goa in the year 1594, being then only 35 years of age, and in the following year, 1595, he landed at Goa. He held a brief from Pope Clement VIII, dated 27 February 1595, empowering him to enquire into the teaching and conduct of Mar Abraham, to visit that diocese, to appoint a Vicar Apostolic to take charge of the diocese and to bring the Syrian Christians into conformity with Rome. Before the Archbishop took any action on these powers, he received intelligence that the aged Mar Abraham had applied to the Nestorian Patriarch for a successor and he at once issued orders to all the Portuguese ports to stop any such bishop.

These orders were in time and a Nestorian bishop and priest on their way to the Malabar coast were intercepted at Ormuz and were sent back to their own country. The Archbishop was on tour in the north of the Portuguese territory when, through an express from the Viceroy of Goa, Francisco da Gama,he received the news of the death of Mar Abraham. He at once appointed Father Francis Roz, the Rector of the Seminary at Vaipicotta as Administrator of the vacant 'Angamale' diocese, but this appointment was kept back by the Council at Goa as unwise and the Archbishop, hearing their views, cancelled the appointment of Francis Roz and appointed the Syrian Archdeacon George as Administrator, directing him to make the usual profession of Faith.

For some time the Archdeacon gave no sign but at last he plucked up courage to be openly hostile and to show his hand. At Angamaly he assembled a Synod in which solemn resolutions were passed to acknowledge no bishops but those sent by the Nestorian Patriarch. The Latin priests and the pupils of the Vaipicotta Seminary were refused entrance into the Syrian churches and the rupture between the Syrian Christians and the Portuguese was complete. 

Hearing this news Archbishop Menezes at Goa resolved to go in person to the Angamale diocese and on the spot to endeavour to bring the Syrian Christians into conformity with Rome. When the Archdeacon George heard that the Archbishop was on his way to Cochin, he yielded so far as to go through the form of giving a verbal assent to a profession of faith which the Franciscan Fathers read aloud to him in the Church at Vypin. The Archbishop landed at Cochin on 1 February 1599, and accompanied by Archdeacon George, went on tour to the various Syrian Churches. The narrative of his journey, told at length in Gouvea's Jornada, is reproduced by Hough in his Christianity in India.

In 1599,in order to avoid Schism, the so called Synod of Diamper was held under the leadership of Archbishop Menezes of Goa. There the decrees of the Council of Trent were declared binding,the Roman calendar introduced,and the liturgy revised on the Roman model. Nestorius was condemned as a heretic, and allegedly Hindu customs were forbidden.Under duress,150 priests and 660 laymen signed decrees stating that the Church of East India should be entirely subjected to Roman central authority.

The Portuguese gathered the manuscripts of Syrian Christians ans systematically burned them. Thus the Syriac medieval Christian literature of India was almost completely lost. A notable exception is MS 64 from the library of the Metropolitan of Thrissur in Kerala, which contains the Nomacanon of Abdisho bar Brika from from 1290, that is, from within the lifetime of its writer. This is therefore the earliest known East Syriac manuscript from India. The decree XVI ordered that all the Syriac MSS should be handed over to the Archbishop or his deputy on a visit to the Churches. Due to the lack of printed books, the Qurbana MSS were excluded from this.

Buchanan Bible at Cambridge

The Synod prohibited the use of many heretic books. These books are listed below.

The Infancy of our Saviour (The History of our Lady/Language: Syriac)

This book contained the following concepts, which are against Catholic creed:

1. The annunciation of the angel was made in the Temple of Jerusalem, which contradicts the Gospel of St. Luke, which says it was made in Nazareth.
2. Joseph had another wife and children when he was betrothed to Mary.
3. Child Jesus was reproved for his naughty tricks.
4. Child Jesus went to school and learned from them.
5. St. Joseph, suspecting Mary of adultery, took her to priests, who gave her the water of jealousy to drink; that Mary brought forth with pain, and parting from her company, not being able to go farther, she retired to a stable at Bethlehem.
6. None of the saints are in heaven but are all in a terrestrial paradise, where they should remain till the Day of Judgement.

Book of John Barialdan (Language: Syriac)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. In Christ, there were two persons: divine and human.
2. The names Christ and Emmanuel are that of only the human person, so the name Jesus should not be adored.
3. The union of incarnation is common to all the three divine persons, who were all incarnated.
4. The union of the incarnation is only an accidental union of love.

The Procession of the Holy Spirit (Language: Persian)

This book contained the following concept which is against Catholic creed:

1. The Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father, and not from the Son.

Margarita Fidei (The Jewel)

This is written by Abed Isho, a Nestorian prelate. This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. Mary is not ought to be called the mother of God, but only the mother of Christ.
2. In Christ there are two persons, the one of the Word, and the other of Jesus.
3. The union of the incarnation is only an accidental union of love and power and not a substantial union.
4. Out of three distinct faiths Nestorian, Jacobite, and Roman, only the Nestorian faith is the true one taught by the Apostle, and the Roman faith is false and heretical.
5. Matrimony is not a sacrament.
6. The fire of hell is metaphorical, not real.
7. Roman Church is fallen from the faith as they do not celebrate in leavened bread.

Fathers (Language: Unknown)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. Mary ought not to be called the mother of God.
2. The Patriarch of Nestorians is the universal head of the Church immediately under Christ.
3. The fire of hell is not real, but spiritual.
4. It is heresy to say God was born, or died.
5. There are two persons in Christ.

Life of Abed Isho (Language: Arabic)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. The whole Trinity was incarnated.
2. St. Cyril of Alexandria, who condemned Nestorius, was a heretic and is now in hell, for having taught, that there is only one person in Christ.
3. Nestorius, Theodoras and Diodorus are saints and are blessed.
4. None of the saints are in heaven but are all in a terrestrial paradise, where they should remain till the Day of Judgement.
5. God dwelt in Christ as in a rational temple, giving him the power to do all the good things he did.
6. The souls of the just will be in a terrestrial paradise till the Day of Judgement.

Book of Synods (Language: Syriac)

It contains a forged letter of Pope Caius, with false subscriptions of many other Western Bishops, directed to Nestorian Bishops, wherein it is acknowledged that the Church of Rome ought to be subject to Nestorian church.

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. The Roman Church is fallen from the faith, having perverted the canons of the Apostles, by the force of heretical emperors' arms.
2. The Romans are heretics, for not celebrating in leavened bread.
3. All Bishops who followed Nestorius ought to be much esteemed and styled saints and their relics must be revered.
4. Matrimony is not a sacrament. It may be dissolved for the bad conditions of the parties.
5. Usury is lawful, and there is no sin in it.

Book of 'Timothy the Patriarch' (Language: Persian)

This book contained the following concept which is against Catholic creed:

1. That the true body of our Lord Christ is not there in the sacrament of the altar, but only its figure.

Domingo or Letter of the Lord's-day (Language: Malayalam)

A letter believed to have come from heaven, in which the Roman Church is accused of having fallen from the faith.

Maclamatas (Language: Syriac)

It claims the distinction of two persons in Christ, and the accidental union of the incarnation is proved.

Uguarda or Rose (Language: Greek)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. There are two persons in Christ.
2. The union of the incarnation was accidental.
3. When Mary brought forth with pain, the sons of Joseph, which he had by his other wife, went for a midwife to her.

Camiz (Language: Syriac)

This book contained the following concept which is against Catholic creed:

1. The Divine Word and the Son of the Virgin Mary are not the same.

Menra (Language: Hebrew)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. Christ is only the image of the Word.
2. The substance of God dwelt in Christ as in a temple.
3. Christ is next to the divinity and was made the companion of God.

Book of Orders (Language: Tamil)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. The form, and not the matter, is necessary to orders.
2. There are only two orders: diaconate and priesthood.
3. Altars of wood, and not of stone, are to be consecrated.

It also contains prayers for those converted to Nestorianism from any other sect.

Book of Homilies (Language: Arabic)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. The Eucharist is only the image of Christ and is distinguished from him, as an image is from a true man.
2. The body of Jesus Christ is not there in Eucharist, nor anywhere else but in heaven.
3. The whole Trinity was incarnate.
4. Christ is only the temple of the Divinity, and God only by representation.
5. The soul of Christ descended not into hell but was carried to the paradise of Eden.

It also contains:

1. Letters from some Nestorian synods, in which it is said that the Nestorian Patriarch is not subject to the Roman Bishop.
2. An oath to be taken to the Nestorian Patriarch, as the head of the church, wherein people swear to obey him, and him only, and not the Bishop of Rome.

An Exposition of the Gospels (Language: Syriac)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. There are two persons in Christ.
2. Christ is a pure creature.
3. He was obliged to adore God, and stood in need of prayer.
4. He was the temple of the holiest Trinity.
5. Christ's soul, when he died, descended not into hell, but was carried to the paradise of Eden.
6. Mary deserved to be reproved as well as the rest of the Jews for having vainly imagined that she was mother to one that was to be a great King; looking upon Christ as no other than a pure man and presuming that he was to have a temporal empire.
7. Evangelists did not record all Christ's actions in truth as they were not present at many of them.
8. The wise men that came from the East received no favor from God for their journey, neither did they believe in Christ.
9. Christ was the adopted Son of God, and not God's natural Son.
10. Christ received new grace in baptism, which he had not before.
11. Christ is only the image of the Word and the pure temple of the Holy Spirit.
12. Eucharist is only the image of the body of Christ, which is only in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and not here on earth.
13. Christ, as pure man, did not know when the Day of Judgement was to be.
14. When St. Thomas put his hand into Christ's side, and said, "My Lord and my God!" he was not speaking to Christ as God, but it was only an exclamation made to God on such a miracle.
15. The authority that Christ gave to St. Peter over the church was the same that he gave to other priests, so his successors have no more power or jurisdiction than other bishops.
16. Mary is not the mother of God.
17. The First Epistle of St. John, and that of St. James, are not the writings of those Apostles, but of some other persons of the same name, and therefore are not canonical.

Book of Hormisda Raban (Language: Greek)

This book contained the following concepts which are against Catholic creed:

1. Nestorius was a saint and martyr and suffered for the truth.
2. St. Cyril, who persecuted him, was the priest and minister of the devil and is now in hell.
3. Images are filthy and abominable idols, and ought not to be adored.
4. St. Cyril, as a heretic, invented and introduced them.

Book of Lots (Language: Aramaic)

It contains many non-Christian rituals and practices such as:

1. Ring of Solomon
2. Choice of good days to marry upon, and for several other uses.

A book of unknown title which is a Nestorian version of Flos Sanctorum (Language: Syriac)

Describes the lives of many Nestorian saints.

Parisman or Persian Medicine (Language: Persian)

It contains:

1. Many sorceries.
2. Certain methods whereby one may do mischief to their enemies and may gain women.
3. The strange names of devils, that whosoever shall carry the names of seven of them about him writ in a paper shall be in no danger of any evil.
4. Many exorcisms for the casting out of devils, mixing some Christian words with others that are not intelligible.
5. The invocation of the Most Holy Trinity, often desiring the doing of lewd things and enormous sins, joining the merits of Nestorius and his followers, many times, in the same prayer with those of the Blessed Virgin, and those of their devils with those of the holy angels.

The decree XVI ordered that all the Syriac MSS should be handed over to the Archbishop or his deputy on a visit to the Churches. Due to the lack of printed books, the Qurbana MSS were excluded from this.Some of the other books which are said to have been burnt at the Synod of Diamper are:

1. The book of the infancy of the savior (history of our Lord)
2. Book of John Brandon
3. The Pearl of Faith
4. The Book of the Fathers
5. The Life of the Abbot Isaias
6. The Book of Sunday
7. Maclamatas
8. Uganda or the Rose
9. Comiz
10. The Epistle of Mernaceal
11. Menra
12. Of orders
13. Homilies (in which the Eucharist is said to be the image of Christ)
14. Exposition of Gospels
15. The Book of Rubban Hormisda
16. The Flowers of the Saints
17. The Book of Lots
18. The Parsimony or Persian Medicines.

In the vaults of the Cambridge University library in England lies one of the most important relics of the Christianity in India. It is the only surviving copy of the Buchanan Bible. First ever book to be translated and printed in Malayalam. Sometime between the 9th and 12th centuries, in the remote region of Tur Abdin, on the border of Turkey and Syria, someone prepared a copy of the Syriac Bible and dispatched it to India. It came into the posession of the Jacobite Church.

After the Synod of 1599, clerics of the Syrian Church were advised to bring their religious texts to correct the errors in their Bible. All the copies of the Syrian Bible were declared heretical and ordered to be burnt. Before the Church had time to react,they were destroyed. This was followed by the destruction of the huge library of the Syrian Church at Angamaly. Only a single copy of the Syriac Bible survived in a remote church in central Malabar. In 1807 when Buchanan was in Kerala,Mar Dionysius showed this copy to him. The Church gifted it to Buchanan. He donated it to the University of Cambridge in 1809.

Syrian Orthodox Church,which follows the Patriarch of Antioch in Syria,follows its own version of the Bible known as the Peshitta Bible which was compiled at the end of the 3rd century CE.Peshitta means, straight or simple. It was written in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic. Aramaic was the language of Jesus.

It is believed that, by a quirk of fate, only a single manuscript of the Syriac Bible survived. K R N Swamy in his book, Mughals, Maharajas and Mahatma, writes how the invitation to the Synod had not reached one of the remote mountain churches in Central Malabar, where this Bible was kept.

F Ros monument,St Thomas Church,N Parur

Buchanan donated this original Syriac Bible with 25 other Syriac manuscripts. It would have been the oldest Bible in India, if it remained here. It was from this manuscript, Philipose Ramban of Kayamkulam, with Thimmayya Pillai, made an incomplete translation and printed it in the Courier Press, Bambay in 1811. 

After the Synod, the Syrian Christians became a filial church of the Latin Church, and their connection with the Catholicos was severed. 1599 is portrayed as the darkest year of Indian church history. It is nevertheless typical that the Jesuit F Roz, who eventually became the Latin hierarch of the Syrian Christians from 1599 to 1624, reached the conclusion: "These Christians are certainly the earliest in this part of the Orient...Although they have lived under the heathens, Jews and Mohammedans, they have remained steadfast in their faith to this day." 

In the known history of Syrian Christians, the first regional Synod was convened at Angamaly in 1583, in which Mar Abraham presided. In this Synod various important decisions were taken regarding the corrections in the liturgical books of Syrians, establishment of Vaipicotta seminary etc.

Mar Abraham died in January, 1597 at Angamaly and his body was buried in the Cathedral church (St. Hormis or East church, Angamaly). Angamaly was the first Archdiocese in India and the jurisdiction of the Angamaly at that time, extended over the whole of India, and the metropolitans were designated as ‘of India’ or ‘all India’ ( metropolita w- tha’ rad-kollah hendo). After Mar Abrham’s demise, the superior of Archdiocese, Goa, Menezes degraded Angamaly and brought it under the control of Goa Archdiocese by appointing Fr. Francisco Ros as Bishop of Angamaly.

The disgraceful activities of Menezes, enraged the Syrian Christians of Angamaly. They struggled to recapture the lost Archdiocese seat of Angamaly. The Archdeacon Geevarghese also, with the support of native Christian community, protested against the biased movements of Menezes. In addition, there was a strong power of Nazarani soldiers under Archdecon. It is very interesting to review the past history of these soldiers, who were trained in different types of fights, centered at Angamally. There were more than fifty thousand trained Nazarani soldiers (belongs to ‘Amoci’ or ‘Chaver’ – were persons who swore to give their lives to protect a person) who were ready to serve the local rulers and also to take care of Syrian Christians. Menezes tried to convene a Synod to establish his interests without obtaining permission from Rome. But he was not daring to organize this Synod at Angamaly as it was the dominant center of Syrian Christians and Nazrani soldiers. So he selected a safe place to conduct this ‘Angamaly Synod’ at Udayamperur where he managed to get the support of king of Kochi and Portuguese soldiers. 

Thus the synod was held at Udayamperur in 1599.

Syriac script on the wall of St Mary's Jacobite Church,Angamaly

The Portuguese arrived in India during 16th century.The Portuguese ‘padroado’ was come into force in 4th August 1600 at Angamaly. The Padroado is a system which means the royal protection of the King of Portugal over the churches in the territories occupied by the Portuguese. It had its origin with the Popes themselves. In 1603, Mar Ross convened another local Synod at Angamaly. Its aim was to rectify the drawbacks of decisions taken in the invalid synod of Udayamperur. In 1608, the Archdiocese seat at Angamaly was retrieved; but its title was changed to that of Cranganore (Kodungalloor). However, Mar Ros did not reside at Kodungalloor.

After this, there was the burning of Christian libraries in Kerala, by Tipu Sultan.

A Portuguese Franciscan missionary, Frey Viacente de Lagos started a College Seminary at Crangannore in 1541. He had the support of the bishop of the St. Thomas Christians, Mar Jacob (1502- 1522) and of Fr. George, a St. Thomas Christian priest who studied in Portugal. St. Francis Xavier in his letter to the king of Portugal praised the attempt of Frey Viacente. There were about 100 students when the saint wrote this letter. This seminary was a failure because the missionaries did not take care to teach Syriac, the liturgical language of the Syrian Christians. Hence those who studied there could not administer the sacraments in the parishes of the Syrian Christians. The priests who were ordained here, were disowned by them.

They served the Latin diocese of Cochin. Mar Joseph, the successor of Mar Jacob, refused to ordain anyone who had studied in this seminary because of the lack of knowledge of Syriac. This Seminary was under the jurisdiction of Goa. The college continued to be under the Franciscans even after the establishment of Vaippicotta Seminary by the Jesuits. This college was a success in the sense that it produced well trained and good Latin priests from the community of the Syrian Christians. Since those trained there could be of no use to the Syrian Christians themselves, they stopped sending their children to this seminary and thus it came to an end.

The Jesuits started a seminary at Vaippicotta in 1581 for Syrian Christians. Fr. Francis Roz was the Rector and he taught Syriac in 1584. The excellent teaching in the seminary really attracted the Syrian Christians and they sent their children to it. It was under the jurisdiction of Mar Abraham (1567-'97), bishop of the Syrian Christians. This seminary became very famous. It was staffed by the Jesuits. There were 50 or 60 students who were taught the Humanities, Latin, Chaldean, the Cases of conscience, the rudiments of catholic faith and of the liturgy.

In 1627, the yogam (assembly) at Edapally decided to suppress Malpanates and to give instructions to send the students to Vaipicotta seminary. The following directions were given to the seminary : To limit the number of admissions to Vaipicotta seminary To select candidates from noble families To select only the best to priesthood To teach others to live as good Christians Regarding the piety and exemplary life of the students of this seminary, there is a report of 1597. They increase more and more every day in number as well as in diligence to piety. Every fifteen days they receive the sacraments, sometimes more frequently. They do various penances and fasts. They are taught Syriac and Latin. They recite prayers at fixed hours every day. They speak about divine things with ardour.

When the Dutch captured the Portuguese possession of Cochin in 1663, the Jesuits were expelled from Vaippicotta and the seminary was turned to an asylum for lepers. They shifted the seminary to their house at Ambazhakad started in 1662. At Ambazhakad the seminary for the Syrians was different from the Jesuit house of studies. This seminary was closed down legally with the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773. It was destroyed in 1789 with the raid of Tipu Sultan,and the library burnt.

Ruins of Vypikotta Seminary

Tipu Sultan's invasion of the Malabar had an adverse impact on the Syrian Malabar Nasrani community of the Malabar coast. Many churches in the Malabar and Cochin were damaged. The old Syrian Nasrani seminary at Angamaly which had been the center of Catholic religious education for several centuries was razed to the ground by Tipu's soldiers. A lot of centuries old religious manuscripts were lost forever. The church was later relocated to Kottayam where it still exists to this date. The Mor Sabor church at Akaparambu and the Martha Mariam Church attached to the seminary were destroyed as well. Tipu's army set fire to the church at Palayoor and attacked the Ollur Church in 1790. Furthernmore, the Arthat church was also destroyed.

Over the course of this invasion, many Syrian Malabar Nasranis were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Most of the coconut, arecanut, pepper and cashew plantations held by the Syrian Malabar farmers were also indiscriminately destroyed by the invading army. As a result, when Tipu's army invaded Guruvayur and adjacent areas, the Syrian Christian community fled Calicut and small towns like Arthat to new centres like Kunnamkulam, Chalakudi, Ennakadu, Cheppadu, Kannankode, Mavelikkara, etc. where there were already Christians. They were given refuge by Sakthan Tampuran, the ruler of Cochin and Karthika Thirunal, the ruler of Travancore, who gave them lands, plantations and encouraged their businesses. Colonel Colin Maculay, the British resident of Travancore also helped them.

Mural of St Thomas/St Mary's Church

In Indian history, another notable destruction of a library was in Nalanda.

In around 1193 CE, Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turkic chieftain out to make a name for himself, was in the service of a commander in Awadh. The Persian historian, Minhaj-i-Siraj in his Tabaqat-i Nasiri, recorded his deeds a few decades later. Khilji was assigned two villages on the border of Bihar which had become a political no-man's land. Sensing an opportunity, he began a series of plundering raids into Bihar and was recognised and rewarded for his efforts by his superiors. Emboldened, Khilji decided to attack a fort in Bihar and was able to successfully capture it, looting it of a great booty. Minhaj-i-Siraj wrote of this attack:

"Muhammad-i-Bakht-yar, by the force of his intrepidity, threw himself into the postern of the gateway of the place, and they captured the fortress, and acquired great booty. The greater number of the inhabitants of that place were Brahmans, and the whole of those Brahmans had their heads shaven; and they were all slain. There were a great number of books there; and, when all these books came under the observation of the Musalmans, they summoned a number of Hindus that they might give them information respecting the import of those books; but the whole of the Hindus had been killed. On becoming acquainted [with the contents of those books], it was found that the whole of that fortress and city was a college, and in the Hindui tongue, they call a college [مدرسه] Bihar."

Ruins of Nalanda University

This passage refers to an attack on a Buddhist monastery (the "Bihar" or Vihara) and its monks (the shaved Brahmans).The exact date of this event is not known with scholarly estimates ranging from 1197 to 1206.While many historians believe that this monastery which was mistaken for a fort was Odantapura, some are of the opinion that it was Nalanda itself.However, considering that these two Mahaviharas were only a few kilometres apart, both very likely befell a similar fate. The other great Mahaviharas of the age such as Vikramshila and later, Jagaddala, also met their ends at the hands of the Turks at around the same time.

Another important account of the times is the biography of the Tibetan monk-pilgrim, Dharmasvamin, who journeyed to India between 1234 and 1236. When he visited Nalanda in 1235, he found it still surviving, but a ghost of its past existence. Most of the buildings had been damaged by the Muslims and had since fallen into disrepair. But two viharas, which he named Dhanaba and Ghunaba, were still in serviceable condition with a 90-year-old teacher named Rahula Shribhadra instructing a class of about 70 students on the premises. Dharmasvamin believed that the Mahavihara had not been completely destroyed for superstitious reasons as one of the soldiers who had participated in the desecration of a Jnananatha temple in the complex had immediately fallen ill.

Nalanda was India's second oldest University after Thakshila. Spread over an area of 14 hectares, it was the principal seat of learning fthe from the last century BCE till the Turkish invasion of 1193. It is estimated that 9 million manuscripts were destroyed. The library burned for three months, in three multi storeyed buildings, one of which had nine storeys.

------------------

Reference:

1.The Church of the East: A Concise History/ Wilhelm Baum, Dietmar W. Winkler
2.Travancore Resident G T Mackenzie's Chapter on Christianity,dated 23 October 1901 to V Nagam Aiya's Travancore Manual

© Ramachandran 

THUS THEY ABOLISHED SLAVERY IN TRAVANCORE

There Was Also Tax on Breasts

There is an unsung hero in the entire episode of the final abolition of slavery in Travancore-Rev George Mathen.He was the commission appointed to look into the discrepencies prevailed in the implementation of the abolition of slavery.Based on his report,the proclamation for the complete abolition of slavery was declared in Travancore on 1855. 

During second chera empire [800-1102] the pulayas enjoyed a high status.The Pulayanar Kottai of Trivandrum was the center of a Pulaya ruler who established his control over the surrounding parts.A pulaya princess, Kotha is said to have ruled over Kothamangalam of Nedumangad taluk But in course of time,by the seizure of power by the Nambudiris, this community was reduced to the status of slaves. 

Colonel John Munro

Most of the castes below the Nadars and Ezhavas, such as pulayas, Parayas, Paravas, Kuravas and Vettuvans were generally regarded as slaves.The wars between petty chieftains were followed by the capture of the vanquished.The vanquished were made slaves.During famine, the parents used to sell their children for petty sums of money to work in the houses or in the fields of the rich.Later they were converted as slaves. Women of higher caste, if found of relation with men of lower castes, were invariably reduced to the position of slaves. Victims of caste inquisition or Smartha Vicharam were sold to fisher men. 

There existed a custom known as “Pula Pedi” which pushed many into slavery.The debtors who could not pay loans sold themselves to creditors and served them as slaves till their liabilities were over.The Kings of Travancore sold members of the defeated king's family as slaves.Evidence shows that the women and children of eight Knights who were extirpated in 1730 were handed over to fisherman as slaves.

The Ettuveetil Pillamar (Lords of the Eight Houses) were nobles from eight Nair Houses in erstwhile Travancore in present-day Kerala state, South India. They were associated with the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram and the Ettara Yogam. Their power and wealth grew until Marthanda Varma (1706–1758), the last king of Venad and the first King of Travancore, defeated them in the 1730s.The Ettuveetil Pillamar were known according to the villages in which they resided and all held the title of Pillai. The Eight Lords were Kazhakoottathu Pillai, Ramanamadhom Pillai, Chempazhanty Pillai, Kudamon Pillai, Venganur Pillai, Thazhaman Madhom Pillai, Pallichal Pillai and Kolathur Pillai.Kazhakkoottam and Chempazhanthi lie to the north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city, while Venganoor lies to the south, between Balaramapuram and Kovalam.

The Ettara Yogam ('King's Council of Eight'), an association consisting of the Pushpanjali Swamiyar, seven Potti families and the King of Venad administered the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple of Thiruvananthapuram. The Ettuveetil Pillamar, aided by the Ettara Yogam, became the supreme power in Travancore to such an extent that the sovereign needed their permission even to construct a palace for himself at his capital. With so much power in their hands they wished to do away with the Royal House.

 The earlier chroniclers of Travancore history state that their chief intention was to extirpate the Royal House and convert the state into a pseudo-republic under their control, and eventually under a monarchy under one of themselves. With this in mind they plotted and assassinated Maharajah Aditya Varma by poisoning him and set the Palace on fire.Five of Umayamma Rani's six sons were drowned under suspicious circumstances.But researches reveal that Adithya Varma died a natural death and umayamma Rani had no children.In the document of 1730 regarding the execution of the Pillamar the name used for the conspirators is Ettuveetil Madampimar and not Pillamar. Besides, of the eight Pillais, only Kazhakoothathu Pillai and Kulathur Pillai are mentioned, the remainder being totally different individuals. The remaining six families are not mentioned at all, and it is improbable that the King who personally made investigations would let any of them go free.

High caste females who were exposed to punishments when detected of immorality or breach of caste rules and regulations, immediately became untouchable and slave of the ruler. 

Records show that prisoners, ex-convicts released from jails after undergoing long years of punishment and people from depressed sections were generally victims of the inhuman practice.

The days of enslavement meant they were bound to obey orders of their masters without question. They were given a meagre subsistence allowance, too low for their hectic work.

Children born to slaves would become slaves for all practical purposes. Men and women were sold and bought like cattle once in the state.

European merchants also used to buy slaves from here and ship them to their colonies to make them work as bonded labourers.

Matriarchy ( Marumakkathayam ) system existed and the people had to pay an amount as fee called Adiyara. It amounted to one fourth of the value of the property. It was difficult to pay a fee to conduct and arrange marriages.A particular type of tax known as “Kuppakkache” in the nature of pole tax was imposed on Parayas and ezhavas in the Taluk of Thovalai.

The Breast Tax (Mulakkaram  in Malayalam) was a tax imposed on the lower caste and untouchable Hindu women by the Kingdom of Tranvancore,if they wanted to cover their breasts in public, until 1924.The lower caste and untouchable women were expected to pay the government a tax on their breasts, as soon as they started developing breasts.The lower caste men had to pay a similar tax, called tala-karam, on their heads.Travancore tax collectors would visit every house to collect breast tax from any lower caste women who passed the age of puberty. The tax was evaluated by the tax collectors depending on the size of their breasts. 

Gowri Lakshmi Bayi

There is a folklore about a Nangeli, a woman who lived in the early 19th century at Cherthala in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in India who supposedly cut off her breasts in an effort to protest against the caste-based breast tax.

The village office came to her home to survey her breasts and collect the breast tax. Nangeli revolted against the harassment, cutting off her breasts and presenting them to him in a plantain leaf. She died soon from loss of blood.Nangeli's husband, Chirukandan, seeing her mutilated body was overcome by grief and jumped into her funeral pyre and committed suicide-a male Sati.

Following the death of Nangeli, a series of people's movements were set off. Soon the place she lived had come to be called as Mulachiparambu (meaning place of the breasted woman).The Marxists have time and agaun tried to give this folklore authenticity,but is not recognized in any of historical accounts.

The law resulted from Travancore's tradition, in which the breast was bared as a symbol of respect to higher-status people. The Nair women were not allowed to cover their bosoms while in front of the Namboodiri Brahmins or entering the temples, while the Brahmins bared their breasts only to the images of the deities. The women of the even lower castes, such as Nadars, Ezhavars and untouchables castes, were not allowed cover their breasts at all. With the spread of Christianity in the 19th century, the Christian converts among the Nadar women started covering their upper body, and gradually, even the Hindu Nadar women adopted this practice. After a series of protests, the Nadar women were granted the right to cover their breasts in 1859.

It was after the arrival of missionaries that a great change wss witnessed in the life of dalits. Missionaries appealed to Madras Government, and with the instruction of Madras Government, Travancore government decided to pass an Act for the emancipation of the slaves. Rani Gowry Lakshmi Bai,mother of Swati Thirunal,who was the Regent 1811-15),and who had a close relationship with the Resident dewan John Munro, issued two proclamations in 1815,when she was only 20. 

The first declaration said that Christians were exempted from taxation;the second said that the Christians were exempted from forced labour namely,Oozhiyam.This was only for the rescue of the Christians,not Hindus. 

Rev Charles Mead

The efforts of two lady missionaries,Johanna Celestina Horst Mead ( 1803-1848) and Martha Mault ( 1794-1870 ) marked a turning point in the life of Dalits. They started a Boarding schools at different parts of Travancore,admitting slave girls.Johanna was the wife of Rev Charles Mead, who shifted his Mission Head Quarters from Mylaudy to Nagercoil in 1818, on account of his civil appointment as Judge of the Nagercoil Court.Mead got Col.Munro's Traveller's Bungalow at Nagercoil, to reside at from Col. Munro.After her marriage with Rev Charles Mead of LMS, Mrs.Johanna Celestina Mead arrived at Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District with her husband in 1819.Mrs Mault,wife of Rev Charles Mault, arrived at Nageroil in 1819; as LMS missionaries to work with Rev Mead.

In the year 1818, at the age of 24, Martha married Rev .Charles Mault of Shropshire. Charles Mault had been trained for Priesthood at the Missionary Academy, Gosport near Portsmouth, England under the auspices of the London Missionary Society and also had been ordained as a LMS Pastor, before a week of their marriage . The review of the East India Company's Charter of 1813 had fully opened the closed door for missionary work in India.After marriage,as decided before Mrs, Mault along with her missionary husband Rev, Charles Mault, sailed towards the shore of India for missionary work in South Travancore,in December 1819.Their eldest daughter Eliza Mault married the famous Missionary, Linguist , Tamil Scholar, Writer, Historian and Bishop Dr. Robert Caldwell. in 1844, at the Home Church, Nagercoil.

Mrs. Johanna Celestina Horst Mead, Mrs Martha Mault, Mrs Miller , Mrs. Thompson, Mrs Norton, Mrs. Bailey and Mrs Baker were the pioneers connected with the Pioneer educational enterprise among the women of Travancore. In1819, Mr Mead and Mrs Mead planned and decided to establish one Boys' School and one Girls' School, at Nagercoil. Accodingly a Girls School was established at Nagercoil in 1819, and with great difficulty some girls were collected and admitted in the girls School. and the School began with 18 girls[CMA, p. 766.]. Mr and Mrs Mault came from England and stayed with Mr and Mrs Mead , the Girls' School was greatly improved. Mrs. Mead an Mrs Mault made mutual division of their work in the Girls School. Mrs. Mead taught the student in the Girls Boarding School, plain sewing, spinning knitting , etc, Mrs Mault taught them crochet and embroidery [in1821 inroduced the pillow lace].

After having moved to Neyyoor, Mrs Johanna Mead established a Girls Boarding School at Neyyoor in 1828 and this Girls Boarding School flourished for many years in many ways under the ardent and zealous care of her. The Girls Boarding School at Neyyoor played a crucial and significant role to spread education and self dignity among the women in and around Neyyoor and in the whole of South Travancore. The Girls Boarding School at Neyyoor and other Boarding Schools established by the Missionaries during that period of time were the means of training many girls and women in the habits of order, cleanliness, industry and useful leaning .Besides Scripture the girls students in Girls Boarding Schools were taught a fair knowledge of History , Geography, Arithmetic and elements of natural Philosophy was imparted in vernacular.In 1837 in South Travncore there were 15 Girls Schools containing 361 girls and in 1840 in the two districts of Neyyoor and Nagercoil out of 7540 school children 998 were girls.

The Girls' Boarding School at Nagercoil in 1820, was the first Girl's Boarding School in the whole of South India.

Martha Mault

By the treaties of 1795 and 1805 that were concluded between English East India Company and Travancore, the political power wrested with the Company,and the Travancore King was,infact,a slave.Under pressure from Col. Munro, Rani Gowry Lekshmi Bai introduced certain reforms which helped the slaves to get certain privileges denied to them. So by the proclamation of 1812, Rani Lakshmi Bai introduced a notification for the abolition of slavery. On 21 vrichikam 987 ( 1812) this proclamation was published. proclamation said:

“with reference to the natives and foreigners who for the sake of profit, buy at a cheaper rate, the boys and girls of several low caste people of this country and sell them for a higher prices, take them to a distant places and pay tolls at sea ports and thus make a regular bargain of them. As this is really inhuman and disgraceful custom, which ought to be checked, we here by noticed that no person shall, for purpose of cultivation buy or sell pulayas, kuravas, malayars, vetars, pariah and others in mortage, janmam or pattam, as is done in many places orarear title deeds with the prominent land holders of the place concerning them or engaged such people for cultivation and that no people of any other caste shall beyond this natural customs, buy or sell children of their own caste or pay toll to the sercar.if any one raise his voice against this proclamation and has a regular dealing of the slaves shall be subjected to sever punishment, their property should confiscated and they themselves banished from the country”. 

Many taxes such as ‘Thalayara,’ ‘Valayara’ were also abolished by the proclamation of 1815. 

In the same year another proclamation removed the taboo imposed on dalits in carrying umbrellas, lights and a knife chained with gold and wearing ear-rings.
In 1836, slaves who worked as bonded tenants in government lands in Travancore had been released. By 1843, slavery and slave trade had also been banned in British India. 

Missionaries continued their efforts,aimefd at catching the lower castes. They submitted a series of memoranda.The government felt that the earlier proclamation could neither abolish nor contain the evil; hence, a fresh legislation was issued in 1843,during Swati Thirunal's reign.

A report says that in 1847, the slaves were mainly used as agricultural labour, for which they were given food served on leaves placed in small pits in the ground. The Travancore government kept 15,000 slaves who were given to landlords on rental basis, who had the power even to kill slaves if they disobeyed orders. They also sold slaves to others. Young children were often taken to the markets, mainly by their parents, to be sold. Some European missionaries were reluctant to convert them to Christianity, as they feared that it may adversely affect their conversion plan of the upper castes and the image of their mission. Up to 1854, no baptism of these castes was done by the CMS church. 

The Governor General Lord Ellenborough and Council decided to enact another act in 1843 for the emancipation of the slaves.In 1847 the missionaries submitted a memorandum to Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma portraying the plight of the slaves for consideration. It was with this the demand for the abolition of slavery in Travancore began. Resident General William Cullen ( 1785-1862 ) forwarded the memorandum to the Raja for action. So on behalf of Maharaja, the Dewan Krishna Rao replied to the Resident that “his Highness would never fail to give his attention to the unfortunate class of people referred in the missionaries’ petition.The Resident was not satisfied by this.

General William Cullen

The missionaries continued their effort to compel the Resident. Finally on 13 March 1849 he passed on a memorandum to Dewan , “Recommending certain measures for improving the condition of slaves and for the gradual abolition of slavery in the state.” The Resident requested the Dewan to observe the provision of the act passed by the Indian government.The King expressed his willingness to look into this vital issue, prepared a draft proclamation and sent it to the Resident.The Resident found that the draft proclamation was inadequate. On 20 November 1852, the Dewan sent a revised draft largely observing the guidelines laid down by the Resident and submitted it for approval. In September 1853, the Travancore authorities prepared another draft of proclamation and the copies were sent to the Dewan of Cochin and the Resident for their consideration. The Resident approved. 

The drawback of the 1853 proclamation was so glaring, the Resident wrote a series of letters to the Dewan of Travancore. In one of the letters, he requested the Government to discontinue the tax levied on the sarkar slaves. In another letter,the Resident mentioned the cruel practice of selling free men as slaves. The Travancore Government was indifferent. As a solution, the Resident suggested the re publication of the proclamation of 1853 with modifications.On June 1855 another proclamation was issued,for the complete abolition of slavery.The final blow to slavery in India was struck by section 370, 371 of the Indian Penal Code, which came into force on January 1862, on the basis of which any person found to possess slaves became punishable. 

The abolition of slavery in Travancore in 1855 led to even more frustration among the upper castes who felt they were losing control.Uneasy with their social status, a large number of Nadars had embraced Christianity, and started to wear long cloths. When many more Nadar women turned to Christianity, many Hindu Nadar women also started to wear the Nair breast cloth. This led to violence between the upper caste and lower castes.

 In October 1859, riots broke out as Channar women were attacked in the marketplace and stripped of their upper clothes. Houses were looted and chapels burned. The government issued another proclamation permitting Channar women, whether Christian or Hindu, to wear a jacket, or cover their breasts ‘in any manner whatever, but not like the women of high caste’. 

Following the trails of Travancore, the neighbouring princely state Kochi also banned the practice in 1872. 

Rev. George Mathan ( 1819 – 1870), a.k.a. Rev. George Matthan, Rev. George Mathen, Geevarghese Kathanar or Mallapallil Achen,who was the commission to reprt on slavery was an Anglican priest (Kathanar), Malayalam grammarian and writer of the 19th century Kerala. 

Mathan was born on 25 September 1819 in the village of Kidangannoor, Kerala as the son of Chengannur Puthencavu Kizhakkethalackal Mathan Tharakan and Puthencavu Puthenveettil Annamma. His great grand-father Cherian and his grand-father Chummar had received Tharakan title from the Travancore king, as they were a wealthy family who supported the royalty in times of need. 

From childhood, he had shown great aptitude for learning. Since Mathan’s father had died at a very early age, his uncle Rev. Kurian Kathanar took charge of his education. Inspired by Kurian Kathanar, he became a Deacon and Kathanar of the undivided Malankara Syrian Church. 

Later, he received an offer from the C.M.S Anglican missionaries to pursue university education at the newly opened Madras University at Madras. He accepted the offer and after graduating from Madras University, he became an Anglican priest. He was the first ordained native priest of the Anglican church in South India. 

Mathan first started his ministry in the Mallapally area of Travancore and became known as "Mallapallil Achen," meaning father of Mallapally. He was instrumental in converting the first lower-caste family (headed by a man named Habel) to Christianity in Mallapally. This day is celebrated even today in Kerala as Habel’s Day. This family’s conversion into Anglican Christianity encouraged the conversion of a large number of lower-caste people into the faith. 

Rev George Mathan

Rev. Mathan was also a contemporary of Hermann Gundert, a German priest, who wrote the first dictionary in Malayalam. 

While ministering to the people, a full-time job, Mathan found time to write erudite treatises on grammar and local culture. He wrote the first book of Malayalam grammar called "Malayazhmayude Vyakaranam," which was published in 1863. His other works of longish essays include, "Satyavadakhedam," "Vedasamyukthi," and "Balabhyasam." It should me remembered that A R Raja Raja Varma,who got the sobriquet, 'Kerala Panini',was born on the year Mathan's grammar was piblished.Kerala Panineeyam,Varma's treatise on Malayalam grammar was published only in 1896.

Rev. Mathan was a keen educationist. He helped collect funds to build the Cambridge Nicholson Institute (CNI) and oversaw the construction of its building and facilities. Later on, he became the principal of the CNI, which was instrumental in spreading English medium education throughout the state of Kerala.
The Malayalam poet and littérateur Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer stated in History of Malayalam Literature: "All in all, George Mathan built a permanent framework for Malayalam literature and thus made all Malayalis indebted to him, a fact beyond dispute." 

Rev. George Mathan died on 4 March 1870. He is interred at St. Thomas CSI church, Thalavady.

© Ramachandran 

AMBEDKAR AND SON IN KERALA ,1936 & 1950

Ambedkar Ignored Gandhi in Vaikam Sathyagraha

Though Dr B R Ambedkar came to Kerala in 1950,his son had been in Kerala in 1936.Ambedkar's dairy records that on 5 April 1936,after his return from Lonavala,his son Yashwant Rao left for Kerala with his uncle Shankar Mama,for medical treatment for rheumatism.Shankar Mama is,Ambedkar's first wigfe Rama Bai's brother Shankar Dhutre.He was living in the Ambedkar household.

The treatment was done by Panavally Krishnan Vaidyar ( 1877-1937) at Panavally near Aroor in Alapuzha district.I had read in an article by N S Madhavan in Granthalokam,November,2016,that Ambedkar had come with his son just before Vaikam Sathyagraha.He had mentioned the place name as Pakapally,near Aroor.It is not true.

Krishnan Vaidyar

My enquiries have revealed that Yashwant was treated by Panavally Krishnan Vaidyar of Chittayil family,Panavally near Aroor.It is one of the traditional families in Kerala,where Ayurveda treatment started during the late 18th century with the famous Sanku Vaidyar and his father.Panavally Krishnan Vaidyar, the elder son of Sanku Vaidyar is one of the authentic and pioneering figures in the history of Ayurveda in Kerala especially in Panchakarma treatment. The contribution of Krishnan Vaidyar in the gamut of Ayurveda is immense. As a traditional Ayurveda practsioner his fame crossed the borders of the country and contributed much to the popularity of Panchakarma. His book Vasthipredeepam is an authentic text on Panchakarma, especially Vasthi therapy.P S Varier of Kottakal ( 1869-1944 ) learned Vasthi from Vaidyar;the family still keeps the silver vasthi yanthra used to do vasthi on Narayana Guru.

Vaidyar's Sanskrit Guru was Keralavarma Valiya Koyi Thampuran ( 1845-1914),who resided at Ananthapuram Palace,Harippad.Vaidyar was a close associate of Prayikkara Govindan Vaidyan.

Krishnan Vaidyar was enlisted among official Vaidyars of the princely families of Travancore and Kochi kingdoms. He had an array of successful disciples in this genre of Panchakarma all over India. Krishnan Vaidyar was a social reformist, writer, political activist; one of the prominent leaders of the historic Vaikam Sathyagraha, industrialist, and an ardent follower of Narayana Guru. He was twice nominated as member of Sree Moolam Prajasabha in the early 1910s.

Krishnan Vaidyar was the man behind peopling the coir industry in the coastal Kerala. He introduced the brick, clay industries in Southern Kerala and a lot more under the influence of Sree Narayana Guru and the reformative spirit of that time. Krishnan Vaidyar was Vaidya of Narayana Guru and was with his mentor till the time of Guru’s death. He treated luminaries like Thanthaiperiyor E V Ramaswami Naykar.

The treatment to Yashwant was done at a seven acre island,Anchamthuruth,an island off Panavally.The island was gifted to Vaidyar by a Sait of Kochi,probably Ismail Sait,father of Isa Ismail Sait aka Kanmani Babu who produced the Movie,Chemmeen.Vaidyar had cured Sait of a disesase.The island is still with the family that runs the CKV Hospital at Poochakal.Vaidyar died in 1937.He had two sons,who were vaidyas-Raghavan and Padmanabhan.

The family holds the view that Krishnan Vaidyar wrote the fanous marching song,Varika Varika Sahajare,Sahana Samara samayamai...( Come on, come on, time for hard struggles) was written by him.When I pointed out that it is included in the name of Amsi Narayana Pillai in the book,Padayalikalude Pattukal,Vaidyar's grand son Dr V R Suresh ( son of Raghavan ) said:"It was written by my grand father for Vaikam sathyagraha,and was sung there;the welcome song also was written by him."

Records do show that Vaidyar wrote the prayer song,Sivasambho,Sambho,Sivasambho....

I had been to Amsi Narayana Pillai's ancestral home at Thengapattanam,in present day Kanyakumari district,in 1995 to write on him and the marching song! 

Amsi Narayana Pillai's life history says that,In 1930, a group of 25 people under the leadership of Ponnara Sridhar, N.C Shekhar and Amsi Narayana Pillai started a march from Trivandrum to join the Salt Sathyagraha in Kozhikode. The group sang the "varika varika sahajare" song along the way. All three governments (Travancore, Cochin and Malabar) banned the song. On the basis of a ban, Amsi was sentenced to six months in prison in Viyyur.But if the song was sung at Vaikam,its author is Vaidyar.He wrote the welcome song to Mahatma Gandhi when he was given the first reception in Trivandrum Law College,in 1925.

Gandhi's first visit to Kerala was for one day to Malabar in 1920,during Khilafat agitation.The second visit was during Vaikam Sathyagraha in 1925, from 8-19 March.Gandhi met Narayana Guru at Varkala.Gandhi again came to Kerala in 1927,1934 and 1937.

Vaikom Sathyagraha (1924–25) was a social protest in erstwhile Travancore  against untouchability and caste discrimination in Hindu society of Kerala. The movement was centered around the Sri Mahadeva Temple temple at Vaikom, in the present day Kottayam district. The Sathyagraha was aimed at securing freedom to all sections of society to pass through the public roads leading to the Sri Mahadeva Temple.

Ambedkar with son Yashwant

Gandhi wanted only caste hindus to be on the fore front of the Vaikam Sathyagraha-hence he ordered Barrister George Joseph who was very much there to lead it,to exit from the scene.

Panavally is a serene village on the northern end of Alappuzha district. It spans from Arookutty on the northern side to Poochackal on the southern side Arookutty was the northern frontier of Travancore which separated it with old Kochi. The old customs house and the summer palace of Travancore King, which is overlooking the backwaters are still there. Different branches of the backwaters of Vembanad surround the village.The soil and other eco system show, like many regions of Kerala, that this part of the land has emerged from the sea, few centuries ago. 

On November 12, 1936, the Maharajah of Travancore signed the historic Temple Entry Proclamation, and “in one bold stroke, the age long injustice of barring lower castes from entering temple was removed.” And, a “tidal wave of joy and rejoicing passed through every nook and corner” of Travancore. The action attracted attention and admiration from the whole country.

Travancore may not have been the first State, nor its Maharaja the first person, to throw open temples for Dalits. The northern and western parts of India had made a small beginning earlier. But, as the Manchester Guardian observed then, such a concession had never been made on such a large scale before.

The impact of the Temple Entry Proclamation was immediate and far-reaching. Not only were temples under the control of the Travancore Maharaja thrown open, but even private temples heeded the call for change. Outside of Travancore, temples in Malabar and the rest of the Madras Presidency felt the cascading effects.

Such an ‘epoch making' event was the culmination of two decades of struggle. In 1919, T.K. Madhavan, a prominent social reformer and the Editor of Deshabhimani, the Malayalam newspaper ( not the Marxist one ), took up the issue of temple entry with the Travancore government. So did Kunju Panicker in 1920, and again Madhavan in 1921. But none of this had any effect on the government.

Gandhiji, who was anguished by the ‘very feeble response' of south Indian temples to reform efforts, agreed with Madhavan, during a meeting in 1921, that Kerala was ripe for a temple entry agitation. He insisted on peaceful protest and found there is “no swifter remedy than a real satyagraha properly handled.”

In 1865, the Government of Travancore had published a notification that all public roads in the state were open to all castes of people alike. In July 1884, the Government by a fresh notification reaffirmed the policy laid down in the previous order and enjoined that any violation of these orders would be visited with the severest displeasure of the Government. This notification came up for a judicial review before the High Court. The High Court then considered it expedient to draw a distinction between Raja Veedhis (King's Highways) and grama veedhis (village roads). The court decided that the public roads mentioned in the notification of the Government were intended to mean only the Raja veedhis and not grama veedhis. The roads around Vaikom Temple were considered ‘ grama veedhis and consequently even after 65 years of Government proclamation, they were barred to the Avarnas and a unit of police (consisting of Savarnas) was stationed in the vicinity to enforce the custom.

T K Madhavan

The first-ever attempt at entry into the temple was made by a group of about 200 Ezhava youth in 1803-4. Avittom Thirunal Balarama Varma was the king of Travancore and Velu Thampi was the Dalava.They gathered near Dalava Kulam (a pond), about 150 meters east of the temple beyond which they were not permitted to move towards the temple. This pond, originally a small one meant for pilgrims to take bath before entering the temple, was renovated by Ramayyan Dalava in the 1750s and hence the name "Dalava Kulam". Kunju Kutti Pilla had collected about a dozen Nair soldiers from the locality. In the following conflict between the soldiers and Ezhavas rebels, many Ezhavas were killed and buried in the pond near the temple. This incident later came to be known as ‘Dalavakulam Massacre’.

T K Madhavan met Mahatma Gandhi at Tirunelveli on 23 September 1921 and apprised him of the conditions of the Ezhavas and their achievements through the SNDP. Because they had already achieved admission to school, Mahatmaji agreed that the time was ripe for temple entry. Mahatmaji promised to write to the State Congress Committee to take up the issue.

Madhavan attended the Kakinada AICC meet (1923) in the company of Sardar Panikkar and K. P. Kesava Menon. Madhavan got a pamphlet printed: A request to the Indian National Congress on behalf of the untouchables of India. Madhavan tried with all his might to convince the members of the need to eradicate untouchability. The Congress agreed to include the eradication of untouchability in their constructive programs and resolved to lend full support to the Vaikom Movement, and authorized the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee (KPCC) to undertake the task.

In accordance with the Kakinada Congress resolution, the KPCC met at Ernakulam on 24 January 1924 and formed an Untouchability Abolition Committee (UAC) consisting of K. Kelappan (convener), T. K. Madhavan, Kurur Nilakantan Namboothiripad, T.R. Krishna Swami Iyer, and K. Velayudha Menon. A Publicity Committee of five members including T. K. Madhavan was also formed.

The KPCC, the UAC and the Publicity Committee reached Vaikom on 28 February 1924. The struggle began.

Periyar and Gandhi at Vaikam

The Akalis of Punjab came to Vaikom to open a free kitchen for the Satyagrahis. Non-Hindus like barrister George Joseph , Bhajematharam Mathunni and Abdul Rahman (the Editor-in-Chief of The Young India) came forward to offer Satyagraha. But Gandhiji did not accept any of these. Gandhiji wrote in Young India on 24 April 1924, and 1 May 1924 against accepting outside aid.

Gandhi wrote to George Joseph on 6 April 1924:

"As to Vaikom, I think you shall let the Hindus do the work. It is they who have to purify themselves. You can help by your sympathy and your pen, but not by organizing the Movement and certainly not by offering Satyagraha. If you refer to the Congress resolution of Nagpur, it calls upon the Hindu Members to remove the curse of untouchability. I was surprised to learn from Mr Andrews that the disease had infected even the Syrian christians".

In March 1925, Gandhi arrived in Vaikom, held public meetings, bolstered the satyagrahis, met the Maharani regent, and confronted the head of the Nambudiri priests in a three-hour conversation.

Before journeying to Vaikom he had written in Young India (19 Feb 1925): 'The Vykam satyagrahis are fighting a battle of no less consequence than that of Swaraj'.

On 12 March, accompanied by two southern allies, EVR (E V Ramaswamy Naicker) and CR (C Rajagopalachari), Gandhi called on Narayana Guru who reiterated his endorsement of the sathyagraha.

Towards the end of Gandhi's nine-day visit, the princely authorities climbed down, yet it was only months later, in November 1925, that all, including Ezhavas and the 'untouchables', were able to walk on the temple roads.

Only on three of them, that is. The fourth road was made a 'Brahmins only' path from which Christians and Muslims too were excluded.

Destined to be venerated himself as the rationalist Periyar, EVR played a significant role in the satyagraha and suffered imprisonment for it. In November 1925, he presided at a large public assembly in Vaikom where the struggle's participants and supporters accepted the terms that Gandhi's visit had secured.

Future critics would call the terms inadequate, but the response at the time was of joy and triumph. A year earlier, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, thirty-three at the time, called the Vaikam satyagraha 'the most important event' for the country's 'untouchables'.

Ambedkar could assess it becuase he had Kerala in his radar from the time of the Mappila Jihad of Malabar in 1921.I have quoted Gandhi's journey to Vaikam from Rajmohan Gandhi's book,Modern South India:A History from the 17th Century to Our Times.Even Ambedkar's quote on Vaikam is from that book.

The Travancore Temple Entry Proclamation, as Ambedkar cautioned, was “not the be-all and end-all of social reforms.” Nor did things dramatically change for the better for Dalits immediately after 1936. But there is no doubt that the Proclamation indeed was a big step in establishing the rights of the lower castes in Kerala, and indeed the nation as a whole.

Ambedkar had responded about the Mappila Jihad thus:

"The blood-curdling atrocities committed by the Moplas in Malabar against the Hindus were indescribable. All over Southern India, a wave of horrified feeling had spread among the Hindus of every shade of opinion, which was intensified when certain Khilafat leaders were so misguided as to pass resolutions of congratulations to the Moplas on the brave fight they were conducting for the sake of religion"...

" Any person could have said that this was too heavy a price for Hindu-Muslim unity. But Mr. Gandhi was so much obsessed by the necessity of establishing Hindu-Muslim unity that he was prepared to make light of the doings of the Moplas and the Khilafats who were congratulating them. He spoke of the Mappilas as the "brave God-fearing Moplahs who were fighting for what they consider as religion and in a manner which they consider as religious ".

Ambedkar wrote:

"There occurred in that year in Malabar what is known as the Moplah Rebellion. It was the result of the agitation carried out by two Muslim organizations, the Khuddam-i-Kaba(servants of the Mecca Shrine) and the Central Khilafat Committee. Agitators actually preached the doctrine that India under the British Government was Dar-ul-Harab and that the Muslims must fight against it and if they could not, they must carry out the alternative principle of Hijrat. The Moplahs were suddenly carried off their feet by this agitation. The outbreak was essentially a rebellion against the British Government. The aim was to establish the kingdom of Islam by overthrowing the British Government. Knives, swords and spears were secretly manufactured, bands of desperados collected for an attack on British authority. On 20th August, a severe encounter took place between the Moplahs and the British forces at Thirurangadi. Roads were blocked, telegraph lines cut, and the runway destroyed in a number of places. As soon as the administration had been paralysed, the Moplahs declared that Swaraj had been established. A certain Ali Musaliyar was proclaimed Raja, Khilafat flags were flown, and Ernad and Walluvanad were declared Khilafat Kingdoms. As a rebellion against British Government, it was quite understandable. But what baffled most was the treatment accorded by the Moplahs to the Hindus of Malabar. The Hindus were visited by a dire fate at the hands of the Moplahs. Massacres, forcible conversions, desecration of temples, foul outrages upon women such as ripping open pregnant women, pillage, arson and destruction – in short, all the accompaniments of brutal and unrestrained barbarism, were perpetrated freely by the Moplahs upon the Hindus until such time as troops could be hurried to the task of restoring order through a difficult and extensive tract of the country. This was not a Hindu-Muslim riot. This was just a Bartholomew. The number of Hindus, who were killed, wounded or converted, is not known. But the number must have been enormous.”(Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, pages,183-184.).

Ambedkar Visit programme in Kerala,1950

The shocking reaction of Annie Besant on Mappila Jihad ,which was published in New India, 6 December 1921,would have stirred the mind of Ambedkar.Annie Besant wrote:

“Wilful murders of Hindus and arson were first begun in my own place. This contagion began to spread like wildfire and we began to hear of murders daily. Within a fortnight cold-blooded murders of Hindus became very common......A pregnant woman carrying seven months was cut through the abdomen by a rebel and she was seen lying dead on the way with the dead child projecting out of the womb. How horrible! Another, a baby of six months was snatched away from the breast of his own mother and cut into two pieces. How heart-rending! Are these rebels human beings or monsters?”.

During Vaikam Sathyagraha,Ambedkar,for removing difficulties of the untouchables and placing their grievances before government. In order to bring about a new socio-political awareness among the untouchables, Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar established"Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha" on 20 July 1924 at Bombay. The founding principles of the Sabha were. "Educate, Organize and Agitate".Ambedkar convened a meeting on 9 March 1924, at the Damodar Hall, Bombay, to consider the desirability of establishing this Sabha.

Ambedkar married his first wife Ramabai ( 1898-1935 ) in 1908 in a very simple ceremony in the vegetable market of Byculla, Mumbai. At the time, Babasaheb Ambedkar was aged 15 and Ramabai was nine. His affectionate name for her was "Rāmu", while she called him "Saheb".

Ambedkar and Ramabai had five children – Yashwant, Gangadhar, Ramesh, Indu (daughter) and Rajratna. Apart from Yashwant (1912–1977), the other four died in their childhood.Yashwant was 24 when he reached Kerala for treatment.Yashwant Bhimrao Ambedkar (1912–1977), was the only survived son of Babasaheb and Ramabai Ambedkar. He was a social activist, editor, Buddhist activist and politician. He was the second President of the Buddhist Society of India.Yashwant married Meerabai. They had four children – Prakash, Rama (daughter), Bhimrao and Anandraj. Rama married Anand Teltumbde, a scholar, social activist and professor.

After Ambedkar’s return from London in 1923, he had to fend for his family, which included his wife, his children, his sister-in-law and nephew. He wanted to practise law but for that, he needed to be registered with the Bombay High Court. He did not have the money to pay the registration fee. His friend Naval Bhatena came to his rescue and gave him the requisite Rs 500. In 1923, he was admitted to the Bombay Bar Council and began his practice. He pleaded in the Bombay High Court as well as in the district courts of Thane, Nagpur and Aurangabad. But soon, the economist Ambedkar overwhelmed the lawyer Ambedkar. He wanted to do social work but had no time to spare. In order to pursue his career as a lawyer, he had turned down the offer of a Rs 2500-a-month job in the British Government. He had also refused to join the Kolhapur State Services. Ambedkar wanted to have an office but again he lacked finances. With the help of his friends, he rented a small room at the Social Service League, Poyabaodi, in Bombay, and later moved to the first floor of Damodar Hall, Parel. A portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte hung from his office wall.

C Kesavan,T M Varghese and Barrister George Joseph

Inspired by the Indian National Congress's resolution which called upon its "Hindu members to remove untouchability," caste Hindus, a Syrian Christian Barrister George Joseph, and untouchables in Vaikom village in Travancore State aided by the District Congress Committee leadership made arrangements in early 1924 to start a Sathyagraha campaign to remove the restrictions on the use of public roads that went alongside the local temple. Gandhi, who had recently been released from prison and was recuperating from an illness, supported the Sathyagraha campaign from a distance.

In the dozens of letters he wrote to the organizers over the duration of the life of the Vaikam Sathyagraha, Gandhi communicated the philosophical, tactical, and strategic aspects of Sathyagraha. He also wrote often and in detail about Vaikam in Young India, a bi-weekly he published in English. The Mahatma was the sathyagrahis' guide and teacher in the art and science of nonviolent resistance. In a lengthy article titled "Vykom Satyagraha," he stressed that

Satyagraha is a process of conversion. The reformers ... do not seek to force their views upon the community; they strive to touch its heart— It beho[o]ves the organizers, therefore, to set even the most orthodox and the most bigoted at ease and to assure them that they do not seek to bring about reform by compulsion (Vykom Satyagraha] is... a movement to purify caste by ridding it of its most pernicious result.

In another communication, he advised the sathyagrahis "not to overawe the orthodox." As before, Gandhi eschewed direct confrontation of Hindu orthodoxy. The essentials of Sathyagraha that Gandhi was passing on to the sathyagrahis, at Vaikam were largely ignored by Ambedkar and his followers in the Dalit-led Sathyagraha campaigns. Nonviolence was never "a way of life" for Ambedkar.

Barrister George Joseph,who had distanced himself with Gandhi,had corresponded with Ambedkar in 1935,according to the biography,George Joseph,The Life and times of a Kerala Christian Nationalist by his grandson George Gheverghese Joseph.

On 13 May 1935,the Joint Political Conference held a meet at Kozhencherry under the President C Kesavan,on the backdrop of the Tangassery agitation.Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer wanted to incorporate Tangassery into Travancore,whereas the Christian inhabitants there wanted a British Protectorate.George Joseph presided over the Kozhencherry meet.In his challenging address,Kesavan made critical references to the Nairs' monopoly of the general administration,roundly condemned the policy of of the government for discriminating against other communities and hinted at the intention of the Ezhavas to leave the Hindu fold.At the same conference,a request was made to the King of Travancore to dismiss Sir C P as his legal and constiturtional advisor ( Sir CP was made Dewan only in 1936) on the ground that his continuance was inimical to communal harmony.Kesavan said:

"We do not want that 'Jantu' (creature).I did not say 'Jantu' but Hindu. He will do no good to the Ezhava, Christian and the Musalman. When I say this I do not see any play of protest in the countenance of any one of you. It is after the arrival of this gentleman here that such a bad name about Travancore state has spread outside. Unless this man leaves the country, no good will come to it. We have achieved these things by the joint organisation of our three communities."

Calling one a Jantu ( animal ) was a statement of hatred,not of criticism.

A week later,Kesavan was charged under section 117 of the Travancore Penal Code for exciting contempt and feelings of disaffection towards the Government.George Joseph was appointed the defence counsel.He was to make a journey from Madurai to argue the case and return there on the completion of the hearings.Since it was believed that George Joseph's arrest was a strong possibility,the Kottarakara railway station was the only safe venue for the discussion of the case and the political events of the day since the railway stations constituted British territory and thus were outside the jurisdiction of the Travancore authorities.Kesavan was found guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a payment of a fine of Rs 500.

Kesavan's conviction aroused some of his Ezhava community friends even more and a section among them sought mass conversion to Christianity.They approached George Joseph on this matter.According to the biography,George Joseph's attitude was some what ambivalent.While any addition to the Christian fold was welcome to some one with his recently acquired Christian convictions,he was uneasy about the non-religious motivation underlying the intended mass conversion.He counselled caution when a number of Christian organisations wanted to take a more active role in promoting this project.This was also the time that he corresponded with Ambedkar regarding the efficacy of mass conversion as a political weapon to improve the status of the untouchables.However more favourable circumstances,notably the Temple entry Proclamation led many Ezhavas to reconsider the original plan of embracing Christianity.

The book claims that this conversion movemet had the approval of SNDP Yogam-it can't be true becuase Sir C P had made several Ezhavas including Kumaran Asan Sree Moolam assembly members and eventually before Sir C P left Kerala,SNDP Yogam held farewell meetings in honour of him.R Sankar was a close friend of Sir CP.Sir CP allotte 27 acres of prime land to build the SN College free of cost,at the heart of Quilon town.Sankar and associates expressed their gratitude to Sir CP.Kesavan who was an atheist and anti Hindu, instead of condemning the Sabarimala Temple burning,applauded it by saying that destruction of temples would eradicate superstitious beiefs in society.

Incidentally it was Narayana Guru,renaissance leader and life long President of SNDP Yogam and Kumaran Asan,the Illustrious General Sceretary of SNDP,who vehementally opposed the conversion move of a group of upstarts and insisted that there is no religion equal to Hinduism in providing spiritual freedom and enlightenment,in a well known article,titled,Mathaparivarthana Rasavadham,a treatise on religious conversion.

George Joseph,who had supported Fascism as a rival to Communism after he left Gandhi,began to preach Christianity among the depressed classes and in 1937,a manifesto was issued by 14 Indian Christians including him,for conversion of the depressed classes to Christianity.George Joseph,a soldier of Christ,who had become an evangelist wanted to convert the depressed classes who constitute a majority of the Hindu population as a prelude to forming a Christian theocratic state in India.

K R Narayanan,former President of India,remembered Ambedkar in an article in the newspaper "Implanter" from Shillong, on May 18, 1985:

 "I recall the brief meeting I had with Ambedkar in New Delhi in 1943 when he was a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council. After taking my first degree from Travancore, I had gone to the north in search of a job. I had a letter of introduction to Ambedkar from one who had known him in Travancore. I took a room in a cheap hotel in Delhi, put my luggage there and then went to Ambedkar's residence at Prithvi Road with the introduction letter. He read the letter and asked me "Where are your 'Samaans', your luggage?" Obviously, he was thinking of putting me up at his residence. That was the kind of a human being he was. Though I was a stranger coming from a remote corner of Kerala, he wanted to put me up in his house.

"India was fortunate to have a crop of great leaders during this century. I would put Ambedkar on the same level with them, with Gandhi, Nehru, and others. As you know there are many differences and great debates among these leaders, but all of them were united on two things – freedom for India and the Unity of India."

R Velayudhan

Narayan obtained his B. A. (Honors) and M.A. in English literature from the University of Travancore (1940–43) , standing first in the university,thus becoming the first Dalit to obtain this degree with first class in Travancore. Though Narayanan has not named the personal friend of Ambedkar in Travancore,I guess it was none other than R Velayudhan,a relative of Narayanan.Velayudhan was 10 years elder.

R Velayudhan was elected to Lok Sabha as independent from Quilon cum Mavelikara reserved constituency in 1952. Son of  Raman Kelan; born on March 23, 1911; educated at Middle School, Uzhavoor, High School, Kurvilangad, C.M.S. College, Kottayam, Arts College, Trivandrum and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay; married Dakshayani Velayudhan, September, 1941; 4 Sons and 1 Daughter.; Political Worker and Journalist; Labour Welfare Officer, Tata Oil Mills, 1941—45; Information Officer, Government of India, 1945—48; Social Worker especially among Scheduled Castes of many years standing, also interested in amelioration of proletariat classes.Wrote a book,“Gandhi or Ambedkar”.

Velayudhan's wife,Dakshayani Velayudhan ( 1912 – 1978) was an Indian parliamentarian and leader of the Depressed Classes. Belonging to the Pulaya community, she was among the first generation of people to be educated from the community. She holds several distinctions including becoming the first woman from her community to wear an upper cloth, the first Scheduled Caste woman graduate in India, a science graduate, a member of the Cochin Legislative Council and of being one of nine female members of the Constituent Assembly of India.

Dakshayani Velayudhan

Dakshayani was born in the Mulavukad village of the Ernakulam district in 1912. She completed her B.A. in 1935 and went on to complete her teachers' training course from the Madras University three years later. Her studies were supported by scholarships from the government of the Cochin State. From 1935 to 1945 she worked as a teacher at the Government High Schools in Trichur and Tripunithura.

In 1945 Dakshayani was nominated to the Cochin Legislative Council by the government of the State.

Her wedding was held at Sevagram in Wardha with Gandhi and Kasturba as witnesses and a leper standing in as the priest. The couple had five children Dr. Reghu (previously doctor for Indira Gandhi), Prahladan, Dhruvan, Bhagirath [Secretary General, The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)] and Meera. 

Although a staunch Gandhian, Dakshayani sided with  Ambedkar on many issues relating to the Scheduled Castes during the Constituent Assembly debates. She agreed with Ambedkar giving up the demand for separate electorates arguing instead for 'moral safeguards' and the immediate removal of their social disabilities.

On 8 November 1948, after  Ambedkar introduced the draft Constitution for discussion, she expressed her appreciation for the draft while calling for greater decentralisation. She also suggested that the final draft of the Constitution should be adopted following a ratification through a general election.

She intervened again on 29 November 1948, during discussions on draft Article 11, which aimed at prohibiting discrimination on the basis of caste, and was permitted to exceed the time limit by the Vice President of the Constituent Assembly who said, "It is only because you are a lady I am allowing you." Velayudhan called for implementation of non-discrimination provisions through public education and pointed out that it would send a great public signal if the Constituent Assembly were to endorse a resolution condemning caste discrimination. "The working of the Constitution," she said, "will depend on how people conduct themselves in the future, not on the actual execution of the law.

Report on Ambedkar's Speech in Kerala,9,June,1950

Ambedkar visited Kerala during 8-11 June,1950,as Law Minister.He had come to discuss the Hindu Code Bill with the Hindu leaders in Travancore and Cochin.He travelled in a special sloon in the Trivandrum Express and reached Trivandrum on the night of 8 June from Dhanushkodi.He was welcomed in the railway station by the Thiru-Kochi Chief Minister Parur T K Narayana Pillai and other leaders.He spoke on the Constitution in the assembly hall.

The State Archives has 210 pages of documents on Ambedkar's Kerala Visit.He could not visit the first dalit colony at Sachivothamapuram,Kurichi,though the Commissioner for the advancement of Backward Communities had suggested it.The file notes that Ambedkar had no programmes at Kottayam.

From Ambedkar's office to Kerala,May,1950

The archival document,no Dis.12412/50/CS is from the political section of the Chief Secretarial Department of the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin.The document bears the scroll that it was supposed to be destroyed in 1971.Thankfully,it still survives.

K V K Sundaram,Secretary from the Law Minister's office had written on 13 May 1950,to Chief Secretary K G Menon,of Ambedkar's visit.It says:"He would like to take advantage of the visit to discuss with selected persons the application of Marmakkathayam and Aliasanthanam Laws and other local laws affecting Hindus generally in that area."

Aliyasanthanam Law resembles to a great extent the Marumakkathayam law and the common element in both the systems is that the inheritance under which the property descends is in the line of females. P.R.Sundara Aiyar in his book Malabar and Aliyasanthana Law mentions that Aliyasanthanam Law is the exact Canarese equivalent to the term Marumakkathayam. Aliyasanthana system of law is mostly followed by non-Bhrahmin communities in Tulunada or otherwise known as Canara and mostly speak Tulu. The word corresponding to Marumagan in Tulu is Marumaya. It is believed that the rules of Aliyasanthana Law has its origin in Canarese pamphlet known as Bhutala  Pandya's Kattu Kattalai. In fact the Bunts, the Billawas and the non-Priestly class among the Jainas in Kanara are governed by this system.

Ambedkar was accompanied by his wife Savita and private secretary M Massey.Union Minister of Railways K Santhanam also joined him.His train was to arrive at Trivandrum at 6.45 pm on 6 June 1950,and according to the programme,he left Trivandrum for Madras by air at 12.45 pm after an early lunch on Sunday,11 June.

Kerala Govt Note on Ambedkar visit,1950

At the railway station,apart from the Chief Minister,ministers,speaker,DCC president,Chief Secretary,Advocate General,Deputy speaker,Mayor,Magustrate and IG were present.Ambedkar had asked for a discussion with the AG.Ambedkar stayed at the Residency guest house,visited Chithralayam,Museum,zoo,Acquarium,School of Arts and Institute of Textile Technology and Padmanabhapuram Palace,enroute to Kanyakumari.Ambedkar met Rajapramukh Chithira Thirunal.

The file has a letter to the government from P M R Pillay,private assistant of Ambedkar.

The file has this interesting note to a department:"To arrange for the issue of permits to purchase two bottles of whisky from Messrs Spencer & Co,Quilon,and remove them to Trivandrum,if strong drinks are to be served to the guests."

____________________________________

Reference:

1.Dhananjay Keer.:Dr. Ambedkar, Life and Mission

2.Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Pakistan or The Partition of India. Samyak Prakashan. 2013

3.Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar:Writings and Speeches,Dr Ambedkar Foundation,2014

4.Gandhi,Ambedkar and Eradicatin of Untouchability/Sudarshan Kapur

5.Ambedkar and His writings:A Look for the New Generation.Raj Kumar

© Ramachandran