THE FIRST MALAYALI (MALE) TRAVELLER

Theophilus came to Kerala in 354 AD

Who was the first Malayali traveller to go abroad? It is commonly believed that it was Joseph Kathanar or Josephus the Indian. It is a blunder because Joseph was part of a three-member delegation. But why can't it be Theophilus the Indian? The problem seems to be that Theophilus is considered (not confirmed) a man from Maldives by Western historians. When we look at him from Kerala, there is every chance that he was a Keralite; Of course, he was in Kerala in AD 354. Even if Theophilus is ruled out, Josephus will not be promoted because there is Daniel the Indian.

Constantine

Cabral

The story of Joseph Kathanar, the Nestorian priest of Cranganore, begins in the 15th century, before the Portuguese arrival when he was a layman. He was born in 1461; he was part of a three-member delegation which went to meet the Patriarch of Babylon, Mar Simeon(1437-1497) seeking native Bishops, in 1490, eight years before the arrival of Vasco da Gama. Till then, the Bishop of Persia was in charge of India, or a foreigner was sent. One delegate died en route. Joseph and George reached safely. Both were ordained priests by Simeon at the Holy Church of St George at Gazarta. Gazarta is modern Cizre, the town founded by Noah at the foot of Mount Judi, where the Ark came to rest. It is located on river Tigris; the historical Jazirat Ibn Umar, which connected Upper Mesopotamia to Armenia. It is known in Syriac as Gazarta d' Beth Zabdai town in the Anatolia region of Turkey, bordering Syria. It was the seat of the East Syrian Bishops of Beth Sabdai as early as the fourth century. Chaldean Bishops of Gazarta were there till the early 20th century.

Gazarta (Cizre) and Mosul

To Hormuz

Joseph went there via the island of Hormuz on a ship with Arab traders. Joseph and George were sent to the Monastery of Mar Awgin in Merda, Nusaybin or Nisibis in modern Turkey. Mar Awgin of Clysma or Saint Eugenius (died in 363) founded the first Cenobitic Monastery of Asia and is regarded as the father of monasticism in Mesopotamia. He was a pearl fisher on the island of Clysma near Suez in Egypt. After working for 25 years, he joined the monastery of Pachomius in Upper Egypt, where he worked as a baker. He, it is said, had the power to do miracles; when he left Egypt for Mesopotamia, about 70 monks followed him. He founded the monastery in Mount Izla above the city of Nisibis, in the Mardine province of Turkey. Nisibis was on the Eastern edge of the Roman Empire, where Christianity was the official religion.

Ruins of Mar Awgin's monastery

It was where Josephus had the sojourn. Two priests in the monastery, foreigners, Thomas and John were ordained as Bishops and were sent to Malabar with Josephus. After return, Josephus accompanied Bishop Mar Thomas in 1492 (or 1498), when he returned, to submit offerings of the Saint Thomas Christians to the Patriarch. In 1502, Mar Elias, successor to Mar Simeon, sent again the same Thomas along with three other Bishops: Mar Juballa, Mar Denha and Mar Jacob. Josephus had travelled thus to Aramea and Syria. On 10, January 1501, Joseph and his elder brother Mathias boarded the 12-fleet Armada of Pedro Alvarez Cabral from Cranganore. 

Cabral (C.1467/1468-C.1520), the Portuguese Commander had reached Calicut on September 13,1500 following the first expedition of Vasco da Gama in 1498. He was forced to leave a smouldering Calicut after a massacre on December 24(a Christmas in a bloodbath!) to Cochin and Cranganore.In Cranganore the Joseph brothers approached him. They boarded the armada on January 10. Fine. History tells us that Alvarez had to leave Cranganore on January 16, after he got intelligence that the Zamorin had sent 80 ships against him. It was a practice then to have a few noble hostages reciprocally when you reach a new land. When the Zamorin ships were on their way, the exhausted Cabral disanchored his ship with the two noblemen of Cochin, Idikkala Menon and Parangode Menon. Another act of cruelty which he inherited from Vasco da Gama. Cabral's mission was to cement the trade relations by bypassing Arab, Turkish and Italian merchants. He was the first Captain to touch four continents, Europe, Africa, America and Asia and is credited with the discovery of Brazil, though Brazil was actually discovered by Vincente Pinzon in 1499. He fell out with the King Manuel of Portugal on his return and led a private life. We do not know whether it had anything to do with the death of Mathias, Joseph's brother, en route. The Kerala clergy was part of the trade and intelligence network. The book, Itinerarium Portugallensium (1508) has recorded Cabral's trip to Malabar.

The plan of Josephus and his brother was to go to Portugal, Rome, Venice and return via Armenia and reach Babylon to meet the Patriarch at Mosul. Mathias died en route.Their final destination in the pilgrimage was Sao Tome. The very idea of visiting Sao Tome was brilliant because it was a newly discovered country. Sao Tome Principe is an African island, northeast of Trinidad, founded by Alvaro Caminha in 1493 (Caminha was later Secretary to King Manuel; maybe he fell out with Cabral). The Portuguese had gone to the uninhabited island in search of a place to grow sugar, in 1470. Sao Tome was right on the equator, wet enough to grow sugar cane in abundance. Its proximity to the Kingdom of Kongo guaranteed slave labour. Sao Tome is Portuguese for St Thomas. It has a Presidential palace, a cathedral and a cinema. Maybe Josephus wanted to see Sao Tome, with the idea of having his own sugar cane plantation. That is the Syrian Christian psyche. In his travels, Josephus met  Pope Alexander VI. He was interviewed in Venice, Lisbon and Rome and we have those accounts as a book, Josephi Indi/Navigationes, published in 1555, making him the first Malayali travel writer.

 Upon his arrival in Lisbon, Joseph the Indian spent a couple of years intensely interviewed by the Portuguese Court and the Casa da India, the India House that managed all overseas territories in the 16th Century. It is likely that the detailed depiction of the East Indian Coast and the Bay of Bengal in the Cantino Planisphere of 1502 owed in large part to Joseph. Cantino Planisphere (Cantino World Map) is the earliest surviving map showing the Portuguese geographic discoveries in the East and the West. It is named after Alberto Cantino, an Agent for the Duke of Ferrara who smuggled it from  Portugal to Italy in 1502.

Cantino Planisphere, 1502. Bibliotheca Estense, Modena, Italy

Joseph went to meet the Pope around 1503 and reported on the Malabar Syrian Church. It was on this trip he dictated his narrative on India to an Italian scribe which was published in 1507 in Italian as part of a collection, Paesi Novamente Retrovarti, edited by Francanzano da Montalboddo (I take this Italian as correct; he is mentioned as Frananzio/Fracanzono/Facanzio/Fracanzano etc). Montalboddo is the present Ostram in the Central province of Ancona in Italy. It includes Joseph's own account of the Cabral expedition. The copy of the German translation of Paesi (1508) was sold at $ 1,10,500 at Christie's. The feat of Joseph is amazing.

Cover of Paesi, German

This anthology, published on November 3,1507 became a huge success because it was for the first time an account of Cabral's discovery of Brazil was published. The book documented the journeys undertaken by the Portuguese, Spaniards and Italians at the service of the Iberian Monarchs. It described Alvise Cadamosto's (Italian slave trader and explorer, C.1432-1483. He was hired by the Portugal Prince Henry the Navigator to explore west Africa in 1455 and '56) voyage to Cape Verde and Senegal, the pioneering voyage from Lisbon to Calicut, Pedro de Sinta's expedition to Senegal, Gama's Voyage, Columbus' three voyages, Alonso Nino, Pinzon travels, Giocondo's version, Vespucci's letter to Lorenzo de Medici about his third voyage, documents of peace treaty between Kings of Portugal and Calicut and and Cabral's voyage to India and Brazil. Josephus is here mentioned as Jose' Indico.

Paesi Novamente Retrovarti, First Edition, 1507

Daniel the Indian was a priest sent from Kerala (?) to Syria for Ecclesiastical training, around 425. He translated the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans from Greek to Syriac while at Edessa. He signed it as Daniel the priest, Indian. The Ecclesiastical language of the Indian Church then was Greek and Syriac. The travels of Theophilus (who died in AD 364) are recorded by Philostorgius, an Arian Greek Church historian. Theophilus, it is recorded, was taken hostage by the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, so that the people of Male would not plunder the Roman ships that passed by. This means that Theophilus, whose original name we do not know, was a pirate in Male. In Rome, he became a Christian and a Bishop. He was ordained first as a Deacon by the Arian Bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia. Eusebius was distantly related to Constantine the Great and he was the one who baptised Constantine on May 22, AD 337. During his time at the Imperial court, major positions in the Eastern Church were held by Arians. He was a tutor of Emperor Julian. When he signed the confession in the First Council of Nicaea in 325, he said, he"subscribe with hand only, not with heart." He died in 341, at the peak of glory.

Gallus Coin

Theophilus, also called the "Ethiopian," was alternately in and out of favour with the Roman Emperor Constantius II, who succeeded Constantine. He was exiled because Constantius believed him to be a supporter of his rebellious cousin, Gallus. Since Theophilus was famed as a healer, he was later recalled to heal the wife of Constantius, Empress Eusebia. She was cured and Theophilus was in favor again. He was once again exiled for supporting the disfavored Theologian, Aetius, whose Anomoean doctrine was an offshoot of Arianism.

Eusebius

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius(CA AD 250/256-336), a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt concerning the relationship of God the Father to the Son of God, Jesus. Arius asserted that the Son of God was a subordinate entity to God the Father. He was born in Libya and became a priest in Alexandria of the Church of Baucalis. His opposition to Trinitarian Christianity and his theory of the Father's divinity over the Son made him the cynosure at the Ecumenical first Council of Nicaea of 325. Deemed a heretic by that Council (The Indian Church was represented in it by the Persian Bishop Johannes), Arian was later exonerated in 325 at the regional First Synod of Ture; after his death, he was pronounced a heretic again at the Ecumenical First Council of Constantinople of 381. Emperors Constantius II (337-361) and Valens(364-378) were Arians or Semi-Arians.

Arius

Arian concept of Christ is that the Son of God didn't always exist, but was created by -and is therefore distinct from the Father. It is grounded in the Gospel of John(14:28): You heard me say, "I am going away and I am coming back to you".If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
When they were friendly, around 354 AD, Constantius sent Theophilus on a mission to Asia via Arabia where he is said to have converted the Himyarites and built three churches in Southwest Arabia. It was on this trip he reached Kerala, maybe his own country (Thomas of Cana had arrived in Cranganore, just nine years back, in AD 345). A very interesting period: the seat of the Patriarch was vacant during 346-363. It was also vacant during 317-329. In simple terms, the Cana trip and the Theophilus trip were free; they had nothing to do with the Patriarch. The Patriarch Papa Bar Aggai died in 317; The Patriarch Darba'sh min(343-346)was there for three years; The Patriarch Tomasa was there during 363-371.

Himyarite Kingdom (110BC-520s), also referred to as Homeric Kingdom was in ancient Yemen. Its capital was the modern city of Sana'a, after the ancient city of Zafar. It fell to Christian invaders in 525 AD. The Kingdom was the major intermediary linking East Africa and the Mediterranean world. The export of ivory from Africa was taking place there to be sold in the Roman Empire. Ships from Himyar travelled regularly to the East African Coast. Periplus has described the trading Empire of Himyar and its ruler Charibael (KarabII Watar Yuhna'em II), who was friendly with Rome. Himyar was the dominant polity in Arabia until 525. Foreign trade centred on the export of frankincense and myrrh. It conquered the Kingdoms of Saba' and Qataban during 115 BCE-300 AD and took Raydan/Zafar as its capital instead of Ma'rib. Saba' was finally conquered by Himayar in the late third century AD. Zafar's ruins are still there on Mudawwar mountain near Yarim. Their trade failed because of the reasons being the Roman superiority over the naval trade route after the Roman conquest of Egypt, Syria and Northern Hijaz. Aksumites invaded Tihmah and Najran in 340 AD. The occupation lasted till 378.

Himyar Coins

Constantius

After fulfilling his mission in Himayar, Theophilus sailed to his Island home. Then he visited Other parts of India, reforming many things. They sang songs, read the Gospel, and heard liturgy sitting. He found this outrageous. Perhaps the worship in the church's standing became a rule from that period onwards.

The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests the place he visited as Malabar(Kerala). The reference of Theophilus in India is to a place where a body of Christians had the church, priest, and liturgy near Maldives can only apply to a Christian church on the adjacent coast of India, not Ceylon because Ceylon was known by the name Taprobane at that time. The people referred to have their liturgy in the Syriac language and they inhabited the west coast of India, Malabar.

Sao Tome Cathedral

The area in India where Theophilus worked finds a mention later in history in Universal Christian Topography written by Cosmas Indicopleustes who visited India around AD 522. He wrote: "We have found the church not destroyed, but very widely diffused and the whole world filled with the doctrine of Christ, which is being day by day propagated and the gospel preached over the whole earth. This I have seen with my own eyes in many places and have heard narrated by others. I as a witness of truth relate: In the land of Taprobane (Srilanka), inner India, where the Indian sea is, there is a church of Christians, with clergy and congregation of believers, though I know not if there be any Christians further in this direction. And such also is the case in the land called Male(Malabar), where the pepper grows. And in the place called Kallia (Kollam), there is a Bishop appointed from Persia, as well as in the island called Dioscores(Socotra) in the same Indian sea. The inhabitants of that island speak Greek, having been originally settled there by Ptolemies, who ruled after Alexander of Macedonia. There are clergy there also ordained and sent from Persia to minister among the people of the island and the multitude of Christians..."

Catholic Encyclopedia finds Kallia is Kalyan in Mumbai, whereas authentic interpretations say it is Kollam. Kalyan seems to be utter nonsense. I have seen a few texts where Male is spoken of as Kollam or Quilon.

If it is agreed that Male in the account of Cosmas is Malabar, why Male in the case of Theophilus is Maldives?Only because, Westerners connect it with Male, the capital of modern Maldives.A case of mixing past with present.My suspicion that Theophilus was a Malayali has roots in this regard. It is only a suspicion, I reiterate. I don't have the equipment of a historian.

Cosmas was a rich Christian merchant from Alexandria, Egypt.

Now we have to answer an important question: Since there were many Indias in that period, were the visits of Theophilus and Cosmas actually to subcontinent India?
In a brilliant article, A Confusion of Indias: Asian India and African India in the Byzantine Sources, Philip Mayerson of New York University refutes the claim that both of them had been to subcontinent India.

World picture of Cosmas

It is not well known that after the fourth century, the region called India varied in Byzantine texts. It was subcontinental India, Ethiopia/Axum or South Arabia. I had written earlier that Theophilus the Indian was also called "Ethiopian", reinforcing this confusion. Mayerson points out that in the dictionaries, there is only one India. But historians dealing in trade between Rome and the East knew several Indias. E H Warmington in The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India writes: "It was in reality trade with the Ethiopians and even under Justinian in the 6th century Byzantine subjects visited not India so much as Arabia and Axumite realms(particularly Adulis) and the ignorance now shown about India was truly prodigious".

Though Warmington opines thus, confusion is still there as to what India meant-Ethiopian, Arabian or subcontinental. Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium states that Theophilus was sent to India, "where he found some Christian followers of the Apostle Bartholomew".Mayerson categorically dismisses it and says that Theophilus was sent to work among Homerites in Arabia Felix. He questions the veracity of the account of Philostorgius; he is of the view that several writers like Ammianus Marcellinus(c.330-395), Procopius of Caesaria (c.500-post 565) had a perception of the geographical India in South Asia. But Procopius in Buildings has reverted to the conventional wisdom of his age in connecting India with Ethiopia when he states, "the Nile river, flowing out of India into Egypt, divides that land into two parts as far as the sea".Mayerson states that subcontinental India receives more than a digression in A Christian Topography, a work of an unknown Alexandrian merchant and aspiring Theologian who was later given the name Cosmas and the sobriquet of Indicopleustes.' Mayerson says Cosmas knew the Red Sea region and there is consensus among historians that he didn't visit India.

Title page, Itinerarium Portugallensium

Grant Parker who wrote The Making of Roman India doesn't dismiss the visit of Cosmas to India. He admits there is an eastern Indian Ocean paradigm where there is an overlap in elements associated with India and Africa. The Indian Ocean then was considered a connected zone; North Eastern Africa and Ethiopia were considered within the same geographical unit as the subcontinent. Parker requests us to make a virtue of the conflation/confusion of India and Africa. So, according to Parker, Cosmas gives India a sense of specificity, lacking in other writers. For Cosmas, like that in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, India was part of a trading zone that stretched all the way to the Red Sea and the African coast. Cosmas himself was a trader who travelled to the subcontinent as well as along the east coast of Africa. His India is not the marvellous India.

Cosmas

We have seen Theophilus was out of favour with Constantius for two reasons: his support to the cousin of Constantius, Gallus and the Theologian, Aetius.

Aetius of Antioch was born into a poor family in Coele-Syria and worked as a vine-dresser and goldsmith in Antioch to support his widowed mother and family. He was a slave of a woman called Ampelis. Having obtained his freedom in some disgraceful manner, he became a travelling tinker and a goldsmith. He was convicted for substituting copper for gold in an ornament entrusted to him for repair. He gave up the trade, attached himself to an itinerant quack, and picked up some knowledge of medicine. Still, his interest in Theology made him study under Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch, Athanasius, Bishop of Anazarbus and Presbyter Antonius of Tarsus. He was ordained a Deacon in 350 and exiled for propagating Arianism. Banished by Constantius, he went to Alexandria in 356. He died as a Bishop, living in private, in 367.

Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus(ca 325/326-354), commonly known as Constantius Gallus was paternal half-brother of Constantine I, so half-first cousin of Constantius. The elder sister, whose name is not known, was the wife of Constantius and he married the sister of Constantius, Constantina. He was raised to the rank of Caesar on March 15, AD 351 and was made a Consul of the East at Antioch in 352. Antioch was one of the four cities of the Syrian metropolis. There he had to face a Jewish revolt at first and then a famine. He turned the mob fury against the Consularis Syriae, Theophilus. The mob killed Theophilus. Maybe this Theophilus is different because Gallus was brought to Croatia in 354 and was sentenced to death. In that year we know, Theophilus was in Kerala. But if the dates are not correct, Theophilus is one and the same as the characters were at Antioch. The history of Maldives too mentions Theophilus. From Himyar/Arabia, he went to his homeland; then he returned to Arabia, visited Axum and settled in Antioch.

During his time or afterwards, Christianity was never the religion in Maldives. Of Course, he got converted in Rome. Maldives is the smallest nation in Asia.

Maldives was never the name of the island. It got that name when it was a British Protectorate from 1887-1965. So it was not Maldives during the time of Theophilus.

What was it before? In the mid-16th century, it was with the Portuguese for 15 years. It was with the Dutch(Malabar) for just four months in the middle of the 17th century. For natives, it was never the Maldives. Still not. Ibnu Batuta called it Mahal Dibiyat, which is there in the state emblem. For us, it was always Male.

The first settlers of Male (Maldives!) were Dravidian people from Kerala in the Sangam Period(377 BC-300 AD. The substratum of the language of Maldives, Dhivehi is Malayalam. The ancient Srilankan chronicle, Mahawamsa calls Maldives Mahiladiva in Pali. But during the period under discussion, Maldives didn't have that name as part of Lakshadweep.

World map of Cosmas

After people from Kerala, Male history says, the inhabitants were the Sinhalese descendants of the exiled Magadha prince Vijaya from an ancient city known as Sinhapura (543-483 BC). There is a legend that Vijaya went to Male from Western India. The story says Vijaya visited Bharukachha/ Bharuch in Gujarat on his ship down the voyage south. Philostorgius speaks of a hostage from the island called Diva.

We think Westerners are wise; I have quoted Mayerson here who dismisses the theory that Theophilus and Cosmas have come to India. Has he been to all these areas? Isn't he on the same ship as Theophilus?

In ancient texts, Malabar was called Male; in the story I recounted, Theophilus was definitely an Ayurvedic. Male still has no Ayurvedic/Christian tradition. It will do some good if we believe Theophilus started his journey from Kerala. I do not know why the church, which has invented several stories is not trying to place Theophilus in a positive time and space. Finally, I have read Christography a lot; Arius seems to be an original mind.

Reference:
Ecclesiastical History/Philostorgius/Alexander Kazhdan & Leslie Mac Coull/Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
A Timeline for Eastern Church/Catherine Tsai
A Confusion of Indias: Asian India and African India in the Byzantine Sources/Philip Mayerson, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol 113
The Commerce Between the Roman Empire and India/E H Warmington
The Making of Roman India/Grant Parker 
India in 1500 AD: The Narratives of Joseph the Indian/Anthony Vallavanthara/Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press,2001
Syro Malabar Catholic Diocese of Kanjrapally/Rev Dr Antony Nirappel
The Kerala Church: Changanacherry, Kerala, India 

© Ramachandran


See my post, WITH JASWANT SINGH IN ISRAEL & PALESTINE




 






 

THE RISE AND FALL OF THACHIL MATHU THARAKAN

It was a triumvirate that terrorized Travancore

Punarnava is Sanskrit for Thazhuthama, Boerhavia Diffusa. While undergoing Karkadaka Ayurvedic treatment in Punarnava, Edappally, Kochi, in 2013, I went back to Travancore History. Even in re-reading, I found a unique character, the first Christian Minister in any Princely State in India, Thachil Mathu Tharakan (1741-1814), haunting me. A man with no benevolence, devilish even to his own community, making a Metropolitan hostage in his Bungalow for several days.

The first salt struggle in India was not at Dandi in 1930 by Gandhi, but the one,  led by Velu Thampi 131 years earlier, in 1799, before he became the Dalava or Dewan, against the King of Travancore and Mathu Tharakan, who had the monopoly of salt trade in Travancore. In fact, the popular uprising made him the Dewan.

Tharakan was born in North Kuthiathode, Alangad, near North Parur, Cochin, a native state ruled by the Alangadu Kartha, later annexed by Travancore.

Tharakan's father, Thachil Thariath was a Kariasthan of the Kartha. Thariath was killed when Mathu was a small child and he was raised at his mother's home. The murder pushed the family into poverty and related struggles. Mathu had three brothers: Kunjuvariath, Ittiyavira Malpan and Thariath. The history of the St Thomas Church, North Kuthiathode says that Tharakan escaped to Thathampally in Aleppey during Tipu's reign. 

He joined his father's friends, the Ranga Shenoy-Narayana Shenoy brothers in Aleppey and brought timber from the Achenkovil forests and made a fortune. He returned and built a small church. It is evident that he shifted to Alapuzha when it was built into a major port by Raja Kesavadas, relegating the Cochin port to the backyard. He bought two ships from Bombay. The background of the rise of Tharakan can be seen in a wonderful paper, Coastal Polity and the Changing Port-Hierarchy of Kerala, written by Pius Malekandathil.

Tharakan 

As a result of complex coastal politics, by the middle of the 18th century, Aleppey emerged as a prominent maritime exchange centre and Cochin got a setback. Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch at Kulachal in 1742. He realized that the base of the Dutch was the commerce that flourished at Cochin. So he conquered major spice-producing native states like Quilon, Kayamkulam, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur and Porcad between 1743-1752. As a result, the flow of spices to Cochin was blocked. Trade in pepper was declared the monopoly of Travancore in 1743. This severely reduced the pepper available to the Dutch. 

It created difficulties for the local traders too. In 1763, during the period of Dharmaraja, a new port was built at Alapuzha by Raja Kesavadas-it opened a Travancore route to the international market. New trading groups, Pius points out, represented by Thachil Mathu Tharakan, having links with the English trade, took over trade at Alapuzha. Tharakan had a couple of ships. The King of Cochin, Sakthan Thampuran (1790-1805), who also had ships, in the changed situation, shifted to Thrissur, undermining the Dutch commerce at Cochin-ah, now I have the answer why he shifted from Tripunithura!

Tharakan was undertaking clear felling of the dense forest of Kerala for Alapuzha timber merchants initially, getting permission from the King for exports. Kesavadas built a Timber depot along the port and Tharakan got the monopoly to collect timber from Southern Travancore and sell it in the depot. Then he began getting direct permission and did clear felling for himself and amassed huge wealth. He donated part of it to the King, becoming Minister of Forests in the bargain. Once he donated a golden elephant to the King, to the surprise of the whole state. It made him respectable to the King and despicable to the public.

Slowly he got a monopoly on timber, spices, tobacco and salt. He was given the title, Tharakan, meaning broker. The broker in those days was the one doing the role of the middleman between the King and the traders. When the broker succeeded in lowering the price, he got a huge commission from the King. If you read history clinically, you will see the King was a wholesale trader.Dharmaraja made him, Mulaku madiseelakkaran or Minister of Commerce.

After the death of Dharmaraja, Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma, the 16-year-old Balarama Varma took over on February 17, 1798. He became the most unpopular king in Travancore's history. Dharmaraja was also known for his scandalous activities-The love letter he wrote when he was 62, to a much younger Manorama of the Zamorin family had got leaked and he had become the butt of ridicule. His last years were immoral to the core, though he had four wives. He died at 74. The administration was looked after by Raja Kesavadas. 

He used to take decisions and then inform the King. The King got immersed himself in the eulogy of Kesavadas or Kesava Pillai. Raja, who was a Samantha King of Carnatic Nawabs had become the slave of the English East India Company by the treaty of 1795, supervised by Kesavadas. He was given the title Raja, for his efforts in this treaty by the Governor General. It meant he was more than the actual King.

Balarama Varma entrusted the administration to Kesavadas, for a complete year,  till the sraddha of his uncle, the Dharmaraja, was over.

A coterie kills Kesavadas

Balarama Varma had his own coterie.He had relationships in the four houses of Dharmaraja's consorts and the Thampis in those houses influenced him. Since Dewan Kesavadas was in Aleppey, communication between them was rare and it became strained eventually. After sraddha, Balarama Varma decided to administer his own. The people in key positions were relatives of Kesavadas. Kesavadas was very friendly with Resident Major Bannerman. John Alexander Bannerman(1759-1819) was the person who captured Panchalamkurichi and hanged Veera Pandya Kattabomman. He was appointed Governor in Penang, where he died of cholera. His grave is still there in Protestant Cemetery.

Though the Malabar siege of Tipu Sultan was over, the Zamorin was still cooling his heels in Travancore. The Zamorin had three Nambudiri brothers from Calicut for the company: Uthiyeri (Udayagiri)Jayantan Sankaran Nambudiri, Jayantan Jayantan and Jayantan Subramanyan. All of them were in the Palace employment. Two events brought matters to a crisis: Jayantan succeeded in making the King sign a document ceding Shertallai (Karappuram) to the Cochin King. The special messenger with the order, Thottappaya Nambudiri was intercepted at Paravur, Quilon by Kesavadas and handled; Jayantan was one day carried in procession in the palanquin of the late Dharmaraja. He was admonished by Kesavadas.

Kesavadas, who had dinner in the Palace on the Arattu day in 1799, died in the courtyard of a relative's house in Sreevaraham. The cause of death was food poisoning, according to the report of Dr Seyters, who was assigned by the Company to Inquire into the death. According to the famous neurologist Dr K Rajasekharan Nair, who did a reverse diagnosis, the cause of death was arsenic poisoning. The Palace Secretary Kunjuneelan Pillai had given Rs 2000 to mix poison, it was found later.

Balarama Varma & his coterie(right)

Without consulting the Resident, Balarama Varma appointed the eldest of the Nambudiri Brothers, Jayantan Sankaran, the new Dewan. In a statement to Colonel Munro, Chief Commander Marthandan Chempakaraman said that the two main brokers of Travancore, Mathu Tharakan and Sankaranarayana Pillai (Chetti), through the youngest Nambudiri, Jayantan Jayantan had operated the King to get Jayantan Sankaran as the Dewan(Travancore State Manual, T K Velu Pillai, Vol 2). Jayantan Subramanyan bacame the Palace Secretary.Sankaranarayanan Chetti was a broker who had come to stay at Thucklay from Tamilnadu. Tharakan was friendly with both Kesavadas and the Company.

A British document, quoted in the Travancore State Manual of V Nagamaiah, refers to Jayantan, Chetti and Tharakan:...Thus, the triumvirate of ignorance, profligacy and rapacity came to rule the destinies of this interesting principality in spite of the earnest wish the Governor General Lord Morington expressed that a really efficient ministry should be formed.

Bannerman

Jayantan and his coterie could be in the gaddi only for two months. He had appointed Sankaranarayana Chetti as Valia Melezhuthu or Finance Minister and Tharakan, Commerce Minister. To collect taxes on several counts, he harassed several officials and wealthy individuals. The Principal Secretary at Aleppey, Neelakantan Chempakaraman, his brother Ayyappan Thampi and the Revenue accountant at Chirayinkil, Kesavan Chempakaraman Pillai were beaten publicly. The price of salt skyrocketed, because of tax. In North Travancore, Tharakan had a coterie of officials which included, Thiruvarpu Krishna Pillai, Chalayil Padmanabhan Annavi and Kizhakkumukham Yogeeswaran Raman.

The prominent official who protested was Sreepandaravaka Vachezhuthu Pravrithi, Veluthampi. His job was to record the accounts of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. The system Sankaranarayanan Chetti followed was to threaten, ask to sign a pro note and extract money within a period. Veluthampi had to sign a pro note for Rs 20,000. When he was denied the audience of the King by Jayantan Subramanyan, he went to the Nancihnad leader, Periyaveettu Muthaliyar. It was decided to publicly protest against the cruel tax drive.

People assembled on 27, Edavam, in East Fort. Resident Bannerman rushed from Palayamcottah and heard the public. Based on an enquiry the Nambudiri brothers and their brother-in-law, the sorcerer Palanattu Nambudiri was jailed. Chetti's ears were cut and handed over to the Forces. Chetti loyalists, Iraviputhurkada Sankara Pillai, Ambalavanan Thanu Pillai, Valyayajaman Parthivapuram Padmanabhan Chempakaraman, Tharakan loyalists Padmanabhan Annavi and Yogeeswaran Raman were put in Military lock-up. Thiruvarpu Krishna Pillai was jailed. Soldiers were sent to Alapuzha, to bring Tharakan.

Bishop made hostage

While the popular rebellion was on in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharakan was in the midst of a criminal act in Alapuzha-he had taken the Metropolitan of the Eastern Church, Mor Dionysius as a hostage.

Tharakan, though a Romo-Syrian Catholic, was not a friend of European Catholic Bishops. He was adherent to Roman Catholic Church, eager to have a native Bishop following the Chaldean rite and in communion with Rome, to rule the Romo-Syrian Churches in Malabar/Malankara/Kerala. With this aim, he sent two catholic priests to Rome and Portugal in 1778:Kariattil Joseph Kathanar and Paremakal Thomas Kathanar, to be consecrated as Bishops. We know Thomas Kathanar very well-he wrote, Varthamana pusthakam. Its manuscript was with the Thachil family till 2000, when they handed over it to the Catholic Church museum at Kakkanad, the Thachil family site claims. But it was with the Parayil Tharakan family and they handed it over. Joseph Kathanar wrote two books: Vedatharkam (Dialectics on Theology) and Noticiasdo Reino do Malabar(1780).

Joseph Kariattil (1742-1786) was from Tharakan's native Alangad. He was sent to Propaganda College of Pontifical Urban University, Rome when he was just 13. He took a doctorate in Philosophy in Theology and returned as a priest to Kerala in 1766. He was a professor at Alangad Seminary when Tharakan sent him. The King of Portugal was impressed with them and nominated Joseph for the Bishopric of Kodungallur. He was consecrated as Archbishop in Lisbon in 1783, becoming the first native Indian Arch Bishop. En route to India, he was poisoned to death by the Portuguese missionaries in Goa, on September 10,1786(his mortal remains were brought from Goa in 1961 and re-interred in St Mary's Church at Alangad). Thomas in return to Kerala was appointed Vicar General, Administrator or Governador.

The Community, indignant at the murder of Bishop Joseph, called a Synod and denied the authority of the Latin Bishops of Varapuzha/Kodungallur. In short, Carmelite missionaries should not interfere in the liturgical matters of the native Christians. The Vicar General was appointed temporary Head, subject to the consecration by the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon. It was held in Angamaly St George Church on February 1,1787, organized by Tharakan and presided over by Paremakal Kathanar. The decisions were written on palm leaves and became famous as Angamaly Padiyola.

Thus Tharakan consolidated the Syrians of the Roman rite. Then he turned his attention to Mar Dionysius I, Metropolitan of the Jacobites of Eastern Church(1765-1808). Tharakan contemplated the amalgamation of Jacobites and Romo-Syrians under the same native Roman Catholic Bishop. A grand design, where all Christians will be one and he, the self-styled King of them. Maybe, he was driven by the legend of the King Thomas of Villarvattom, who had Udayamperoor as the Capital.

He offered Dionysius the position of a Bishop of a United Church, provided he adopted the Chaldean creed and rituals, recognised in Rome. Dionysius initially thought of accepting it, thereby winning Romo-Syrians over. But he was flabbergasted by Tharakan's terms. Tharakan proposed a public meeting to convince Jacobites of the orthodoxy of Rome. Since the Travancore King Balaramavarma was at his beck and call, Dionysius had to yield to Tharakan. The meeting of both the parties was decided to be held at Kayamkulam on September 20,1791. 

When the meeting was about to begin, a messenger arrived with the news of the death of Tharakan's mother. The meet was postponed to November 22 at Niranam. The Romans arrived for the second meet, sure of the Celebration of the Eucharist according to the Roma-Chaldean rite. Then the news came of the death of Tharakan's bedridden son. For some years, Tharakan was silent. During this interval, the nephew of Dionysius was ordained a Ramban by Mor Ivanios, eventually to be raised to Bishop, as Co-Adjutor. But before realizing this, Ivanios died on April18,1794. Dionysius himself ordained his nephew as Mor Thoma VII.

Tharakan revived his old idea, after five years. Both parties met at Kayamkulam and vehement negotiations followed for 15 days. Since no solution was in sight, Tharakan contacted King Balarama Varma. A fine of Rs 25000 was imposed on Dionysius for 'concealing the properties' of Raja Kesavadas. The churches at Niranam and Chengannur with the properties, as well as properties of the Metropolitan including the Episcopal cross, crozier and sacramental vessels were confiscated. From this Rs 5,000 was realised.

Dionysius remitted another Rs 5,000.The balance was collected and paid. During the melee, Tharakan offered to pay the entire amount(or zero amount as King was his slave), if the Syrian community would sign an agreement accepting Romanism. Tharakan adopted the policy of the Inquisitor of Goa, Archbishop Menezes, brought armed men from the King and arrested Dionysius and many of the leaders and took them to Aleppey. 

The Metropolitan was put to starvation in Tharakan's Bungalow for several days, and was forced to sign an agreement accepting, "the profession of the faith prescribed by Pope Urban VIII for the Orientals, and submitting himself and his Church 'to the Holy Father the Pope, performing the Mass, reciting the breviary and observing the fasts and other rites as they were prescribed by the Synod of Diamper".Dionysius celebrated the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic rite at the St Michael's Church at Thathampally, Alapuzha on June 30,1799.

Dionysius I(Marthoma VI)

Within a fortnight, Soldiers came for Tharakan.

During the administration of Kesavadas, Tharakan was instrumental in granting lands to the churches under his sway. He had pressurised the administration to take over some palaces like Kudamalur and to hand them over to the churches. The Secretary of Kesavadas, Neelakantan Chempakaraman was a companion of Tharakan. Maybe he opposed the action of Tharakan in taking Dionysius hostage and got beaten up.

Tharakan, who was called to Thiruvananthapuram to face action, tried to escape when he reached Anchuthengu (Anjengo), by jumping onto a boat with the help of the English. The monsoon winds blocked his attempt; the English gave him asylum, and the public surrounded the Fort. The English had to budge when the order came from the Capital.

In Thiruvananthapuram,Tharakan stayed with Dewan Krishnan Chempakaraman for a day.Though he begged pardon through Assistant Ramalinga Muthaliar to the Resident, his ears were cut off the next day and sent to jail. Tharakan was asked to sign a pro note for Rs 10,00,000. Tharakan countered by saying that the government owed him Rs 14,00.000. The King compensated Tharakan for the lost ears-he gifted him a golden ear!

Macaulay enters

Major Colin Campbell Macaulay became a Resident in January 1800. We should not confuse him with his nephew, Thomas Babington Macaulay. Colin Macaulay (1760-1836) served 30 years in India, retiring as Lieutenant General. He was captured by Hyder Ali in 1780 and imprisoned for four years. At Seringapatam in 1799, he was Secretary to a Political/Diplomatic Commission headed by Arthur Wellesley which accompanied the force that marched under General Harris against Tipu. 

Macaulay was a Resident During 1800-1810. He was once attacked by Chempil Arayan, inside Bolghatty Palace, in unison with Veluthampi and Paliath Achan. When Colin Macaulay arrived, Padmanabhan Chempakaraman was appointed Dewan. He was removed in March; Veluthampi took over as Dewan. The pro-Tharakan Balarama Varma asked his ministers Ayyappan Chempakaraman, Padmanabhan Chempakaraman and Veluthampi to review Tharakan's case. 

All of them gave reports that it was Tharakan who owed money to the government. Ayyappan Chempakaraman even fined Tharakan Rs 200,000. Maybe the King turned against Ayyappan because of this, too. As Tharakan's complaints escalated, Veluthampi fined him Rs 200,000 and kept him in jail. Though Tharakan was freed in July 1804, Macaulay jailed him again for not settling the amount due to Navroji from Bombay who was trading in Aleppey. Tharakan sold his cargo and ships to settle it. He was freed in March 1805.

Once free, Tharakan sought the help of the new Archbishop of Verapoly (The Archbishop was Raymond of St Joseph during 1803-1816; John Mary of Jesus before him, from 1784)and raised his claim of Rs 14,00,000 again before Macaulay and Veluthampi. Veluthampi agreed to a review. The representatives of Tharakan and the government met at Bolghatty Residency and reviewed the accounts. The Resident's verdict came: the government owed only Rs 85,000.

Since Veluthampi was at loggerheads with the Resident, he came up with a forest case against Tharakan and began attachment proceedings against him. The Resident wrote to Veluthampi not to be vindictive. Veluthampi stopped his actions; the Resident asked Tharakan to see the Dewan at Quilon with all the documents. He also gave Tharakan a letter to be handed over to his brother's son, Dr Kenneth Macaulay, who was at Quilon. Mathew Tharakan, who was afraid of Veluthampi, sent his grandson, Kochu Mathu with Kenneth. Macaulay had cheated Tharakan: In the letter to Kenneth, Macaulay had asked for Rs 59000 from the total amount of Rs 85000. 

The rest of Rs 26,000 should only be given to Tharakan. Veluthampi, according to the letter, agreed to give 26,000 to Kochu Mathu but demanded a full receipt for Rs 85000. Kochu Mathu was held hostage for not signing the receipt. When Tharakan approached Macaulay, he said he had taken Rs 59,000 from the Dewan; so a full receipt should be given. Macaulay agreed to give a loan of Rs 33,000 to Tharakan which he rejected. The receipt was given.

Thankakomban book

The Verapoly Archbishop too turned against Tharakan. Maybe at the instigation of Macaulay. In a complaint to the Resident, the Bishop said Tharakan had collected money from the churches in the Diocese and gave Rs 30,908 to the Travancore government and Rs 14,000 to Cochin. The Bishop wanted the Resident to collect those sums from Tharakan and return it to him. The money was collected by Tharakan to ordain two native Bishops. So, it was clear that he had sent Joseph and Thomas to Portugal with not his own funds. Macaulay attached Tharakan's assets in Cochin. Tharakan was jailed again for an amount of Rs 23,500 he owed to a ship captain.

Thus Tharakan was a victim of his own actions and the political tide which turned against him. Here we see small rays of popular struggle for independence in Travancore, which Tharakan failed to gauge. I quote from, Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories, Vol 14:

In Travancore, Veluthampi Dalawa led a rebellion against the British in 1808-09 because Colonel Macaulay demanded that the state pay arrears of tribute promptly especially when the state was in serious financial difficulties and because the British Resident rejected Dalawa's actions against Mathu Tharakan. His lands were taken over illegally by the state instead of payment of taxes. The Dalawa was assisted by Paliath Achan, the Chief Minister of Cochin, who was disappointed by the British settlements of property claims which were unfavourable to Cochin.

Veluthampi thus became a victim of the extremism of Tharakan.

Tharakan, his family site says, was the founding life President of Akhila Thiruvithamcore-Cochi Nazrani Mahajana Sabha. He built the Church of St Antony at Thycattussery(1791) and the present St Anne's Forane Church at Petta, Thiruvananthapuram, Thachil family site claims. Other claims: He was the main exporter of teak wood to the UK. They were used to build the ships which took part in the Napoleonic wars(1799-1815). He had sold timber on loan to the Resident.
Though most of the documents refer to Tharakan as Thachil Mathu Tharakan, the history of Thottakkad St George Church, Kottayam, refers to him as Thachil Thariath Mathu Tharakan. 

The King had permitted him to build the Church there.

Tharakan had two children, Ouseph and Thariath. Tharakan died in his ancestral home at Kuthiathode. Since he had no legal heir, the amount due to him was given to the Orthodox Theological Seminary(Old Seminary)at Kottayam, at the intervention of the Resident, Munro. So the money didn't go to a Catholic institution.

We do not know what Tharakan did with the golden ear that he got as a gift.
When Tharakan was called to Thiruvananthapuram, Dionysius escaped from Aleppey to Niranam. He publicly apologised for celebrating the Holy Eucharist according to Roman Catholic rites. As a penalty, he vowed to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in all the Syrian churches at his private expense. He died on April 8,1808.
The moral of the story is very simple: The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done(Le Pere Goriot part II, Balzac,1825).

Reference:

Marthanda Varma Muthal Munro Vare/K Sivasankaran Nair/DC Books,1996,
Land and People of Indian States and Union territories, Vol 14/Ed by SC Bhatt, Gopal K Bhargava
Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-Modern India/Ed by  Yogesh Sharma/Primus
Thachil Mathu Tharakan/M O Joseph/NBS,1962
Travancore State Manual/T K Velu Pillai
History of Travancore/P Shungunny Menon
Church records-Niranam Granthavari,Nalagamam
Puthenkavu Cathedral smaranika
Thachil Mathu Tharakante Thankakompan/K M Varghese/Manorama, 1922
Indian Church History/EM Philip Edavazhikkal,1908


See my Post, A CHRISTIAN IN THE ZAMORIN FAMILY