Malabar and Kerala Studies.NET
Dr. Neelamana Madhavan Nampoothiri's Personal site dedicated to Toponomy & Village Studies in Kerala with special reference to Malabar

MALABAR STUDIES-SAMOOTHIRI NADU
VOLIII Part ii

5.1 From the foregoing discussions it is clear that any attempt to understand the cultural geography andrelated aspects of the area under study must be done taking due consideration of the geopolitical background of the early and medieval period.

Power Structure of Zamorins of Cahcut - A Case Study of Chieftaincy:

5.2 Many factors of habitat are involved in the growth of the power structure of Zamorins of Calicut. Their first intention was to establish a port at Calicut. This in­tention is described in the trad itional history. It is said that the ancestors of Zamorins got two locations at Calicut as a gift from the Cheraman Perumal, the locations were a salt pan and a temple. As noted above, they started maritime trade with the support of Muslim community at Calicut and Calicut port flourished. Saltpan is a signifier of the trade activities.⁴⁷ The "temple" signifies their temple centered land administration. They conquered the Nila river nd1ey and an elaborate administrative system was intro­duced in the area to satisfy the need of their port and trade.

5.3 Principal investigator has prepared 13 research papers on the subject under dis­cussion analysing hundreds of archival materials of Zamorins of Calicut and they form the second part of the work Malabar Studies.(The MSS has been accepted for publication in1999 by the State institute of languages.Printing is over)

Area of territorial land :

5.3.1 Zamorin's land extended from Panthalayani Kollam (Quilanther of Arabian travellers) on the north of Calicut port, to Paravur near Cranganur port during the early part of 15th Century. The area is identified based on the Zamorin's records. for the first time. In chapter 13 of the above work. apart from the boundaries of the Zamorin's land, cheiftaincies who. accepted his Suzernity along with local ruling families and their political power are also identified. Their locations and area under their control is also found out. The family ba~cd power distribution there form various hierarchical structures and all these factors with reference to Nila river valley is entered in cul­tural maps, statistical tables and historical geography is analysed. The observations reveal that all-historical interpretations, records and other source materials. etc. are brought to light for the first time. There are many pyramidical structures of power distributed in the Zamorin's land. The apex of the whole structure was Zamorin's family, widi Zamorin as the heaJ of the family and state. Family members had separate titles called Sthanams. There were five Sthanams in th-e apex structure. The Sthanis themselves formed their own systems for administration and they imparted power ac­cording to the duties allotted to them. The Eral pad, the heir apparent of Zamorins, had a separate portion of land to rule. Other Sthanis of the family had various important duties. The Zamorins, with the help of these Sthanis formed the highest ruling group of the land. Eralpads territory was on the banks of Nila river. The territory once be­longed to Vettom, Valluvanad. Ncdumpurayur Nadu, Nedunganad, Venganadu and

other smaller chieftaincies. Zamorin's conquered the area before 14th cAD. A very significant fact is that, the major purpose of conquest was not the expansion of land,

. but for acquiring fertile paddy fields of the river valley. Land north of river valley was not so fertile in paddy production. To overcome the deficiency of paddy, he an­nexed the land of Vettom, Valluvanad, Nedunganad, Palakkad and Venganad except Kavilappara area⁴⁸. Thus the production of paddy and fertility of the land was the major factor which tempted Zamorins to conduct various wars during 15 and 16th century AD with local chieftains. This, in tllrn reveals the nature of habitat, production and reasons behind the numerous wars and peculiar geopolitical developments in the valley.

5.3 Another reason for acquiring the land was prospects of internal as well as exter­nal trade relations. The Palghat gap formed the major opening to the western parts of Western Ghats, which promoted trade and various migrations. The river system Nila had its eastern part in the Palakkat gap and it had its port at Ponnani, on the Western coast. By annexing the valley to Zamorin's land, the chieftain had controlled the trade and port, and the eastern Palghat gap in the Ghats, to promote trade. The undu­lated nature of the Nila river \ alley, land, hills, forests and such other natural facili­ties were there to enable the collection of commercial products such as cash crops and forest produces of Western Ghats. Considering this, he evolved a peculiar admin­istrative system with Ara (granary) and Tura (port and ghats) as two major parts of the system. Thus, he controlled the granaries anc all other factors related to them under the power s'ystem, Ara He controlled internal, external and maritime trade under the power system Tura.

Power Structure Hierarchy:

5.3.2 The hierarchical structure of port and land administration is analysed in two chapters (I I & 12). More than fifty investiture ceremonies with the ritualistic details are elaborately discussed in these chapters, which is supported by records related to 15th to 18th centuries AD. These records are brought to light for the first time. The different aspects of the system such as economic, ritualistic, power distribution. etc. are all discussed at grass root level. In each function it is seen that number of families involved vary between 150 and 200, and large amcunt of money is disbursed as he­reditary right. The system of lule completely depends on hereditary right.

5.3.2. I The earliest record (If investiture ceremoilY is dated 1580 AD. The titles given in such earliest instance;; are seen mentioned in much earlier records. Thus the system was fully developed and was in force at least a century earlier. This means .. Zamorins sway over Nila river \'alley was complete by 14?0 AD. This is possible only after the annexation of the ten itories mentioned earlier and establishment of a stable government at Calicut. Thus, the Zamorins might have established at Calicut by 1350 AD.

 

 

or middle of the 14th century. Study of foreignnotices of Malabar related to Chinese travelers reveal that there was a stable government, well planned city, port and adminis­trative offices at Calicut by 1350 AD. The Chinese references on Calicut trade are put to historical analysis for the first time at this stage of the work.

5.4 The analysis throws some light on the relation between political administration, religious activities and temple centered Ara and Tura political power structure. Zamorins implementation of all types of ruling factors was based on temple set up. There were more than 300 temples in the river valley. These were under Cherikkals, an administrative unit almost equivalent to the present taluk. Cherikkals were subdi­vided into Desom, Tara, Angadi (market) etc. for maintaining revenue system, differ­ent type of toll collections local law and order, village army system named as Lokar, village treasuries called Ara, etc. Cherikkal was the largest unit, and the head of administration of Cherikkals was called Talacarnor. There were Koymas, Talakkappu nayar, Patanayar and numerous other officials to collect tolls, revenue and to look after law and order. All these official duties were distributed to a large number of

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aristocratic families distributed far and wide in the valley. The right was conferred

upon them through investiture ceremonies under the direct presence of Zamorin him­self. Many signifiers like sword, turbans, head cloth, umbrella and such other items were given during the ceremony. Specific duties were also allotted to them as written documents. The right vested in them to rule the land was based Oil hereditary system, customs and manners and religious ritualistic disciplines. Thm, the families with right to collect revenue and the right to maintain local army men, and the right to look after law and order and temple administration enabled them to centralize money, land, control of religious activities and customs to themselves. A Kerala model of feudal set up was gradually evolved out.

5.4.1. The studies on Nila river valley geopolitics of medieval period thus clearly brought out through the analysis of Zamorins records and other available manuscripts collected. threw lime light on enormous factors related to social formation and cut-

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tnal evolution of the area. Based on these observations the basic ~tructure of politi-

c::11 system and interrelations of power and cultural evolution arc identified. Since Zamorins rule was over two third of the state - from Parur to Quilandy - the system is to be taken as the preliminary basic system existed in Kerala in general with local variations. The following major observations on the power system are the result of the analysis.

Court: Astharzam

5.5.0 There was a court system at the Palace at Calicut with tWI) integral parts

. (a) Pyramidal structure of Kovilakom (palace) members as Sthanis (status holders) which included five Sthanam:-;. The Zamorins, (crowned king) was the apex of the structures.

(b) There were court ministers by name "Kovilakom Karyasthar" or "Ashtanam Karyasthar" Tammepanicker (head of Kalari and lokar, who gave training to sol­diers, palace members and various Cherickal administrators in fencing and sword fighting), Paranambi, the second one had duties related to revenue collection and local wars. Tinayanchery Elayath, the third one had also duties like revenue collec­tion of some specific items and had some control over the treasuries by name Ara existed in various parts of the land. Mangatt achan was the head of the Kariakkars with over all z'.dministration of law and order, Palace functions collection of revenue, templ~ administrfltion, etc.

(c) There was a Port officer by name Sahabander Koya, who acted as the chief accountant of Port at Calicut and general charge of maritime trade and subports.

(d) Valamkaichettis and Itamkai Chettis were in charge of intenlal trade activities.

(e) There were representative of Brahmins, Nayars, Menons, Menokis and many other groups of higher caste as functionaries at the court (Capital at Calicut) c~lJl ed "Asthanam" (head quarters).

Thus the hmctionaries of the government headquarters at Calicut was a group of aristocratic families with \'ast power to rule the lands. It consisted of two parts, the Kovilakam Sthanis (members of the royal family) and Asthanamkariakkars (hr':lds of various famillies with traditional rights and hereditary rights). Each member had specific duties, and necessary administrative powers and functions to implement their decisions based on tradition. hereditary rights a'1d customs and manners according to religious diseipiines. Zamorin was thus only a ritualistic head\ with crown and f}umy special rights. The actual political powers were vested in the Asthanam Sthanis and Kovilakam Sthanis. '

Hierarchy of Administrative divisions:

5.5. I (a) The admininistration of the territory was done in a two-fold way and they are interrelated whenever necessary. The largest unit of administrative division was Cherikkal and the head of the Cherikkal was Cherikkal Karyasthan; Talacharnor, Charnor or Chantol'. This was the title existed even during Sangham age which denoted a soldier or heroe, TaLl means head. Chantor means a soldier. Thus as evidenced by inv~stiture ceremonies conducted by Zamorins Charnor was the head of soldiers or LGk<J!' and 1:11am \\/ho formed Tara as their unit of settlements. The system of this capacity was 'sword', which was handed over to him during the investi­ture ceremony. Karyasthan means one who administers the area in all aspects or Sec­retary. Cherikkal land consisting of Devaswam (temple land) and Zamorins' own property was administered by Cherikkal Karyasthan. There were units like Angadi mar­ket) Tara (Settlement of Soldiers who were trained in fencing) apart from Desom etc. Janam seems to have some relation to Kalarithara, a fencing ground for fencing sel1oe·1. His offices was tc!nples. where granaries, treasuries and protective forces were existed. Ara (granary for collecting paddy and other products and for keeping the collected

 

money in cash) Kalam (farm house or granaries) and Kalari (training center of fenc­ing) co-existed in temple premises. Pattom (lease) was the system of revenue collec­tion. A share of paddy produced by the landholders was collected at the temple called Devaswam. Elaborate rituals are seen in collecting this share. These Cherikkal Karyasthans also looked after Law and order problems.

(b) There were 32 Cherikkals, 4 Brahmaswams (temple centred properties of

-;-'Brahlllins with specific rules for the use of revenue) and 28 Devasv.'ams u:1der Zamorins Asthanam. All these 64 units were under the Talacharnors or Cherikkal Karyasthans. Each family of Talacarnor had hereditory right and succession right. Thus tradition­ally the hereditary right became the rule of the land ~o them. There was the succes­sion fight to family members called 'Ananthiravar'. There were also 'sthanams' to them and they received specific duties and money for their rights from the rulers' fund. More than three hundred families existed on the Nila river valley as Sthanis. Temple was the centre of administration, and rule of law was decided by the members or 'sthanis' of families in each Cherikkal.The revenue accounts were forwarded to Asthanam, deducting various expenditures for administrations by the Cherikka] Karyasthans. Detailed descriptions and accounts of paddy and money collected are available in the records. Hence the economic background and the management of land

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and money can be studied. Such records are put to rigorous research for the first time.

Inte/ferences of Power and Greot Culture:

:'.6.1. It is clear that the Zamorin's rule existed :luring 15th to 19th cen. AD in the Ni]a river valley. The valley comprises of 15 to 20 Cherikkals· and more than twenty Devaswams and all Brahmaswams. Thus the analysis of the political interference of Zamorins in the area under study was a major factor in the social and cultura] forma­tion of the area. The analysis gives an exhaustive and grass root level understanding of the social and cultural situations of the area during medieval period. The caste system became highly rigid and many castes originated due to the Tit]es distributed by the royal family. Menon, T;lnta?n, Eluthachan and many more are seen as the out­come of the situation also. Most of the functionaries in the administration were the Brahmins, Nayars, temple communities and many upper classes. Thus the Asthanam Sthanis and Cherikka] Sthanis and official groups formed a socially upper class. who decided the law of the land, cu~toms, traditions and socia] activities. All these formed the land owners or land users wile. became economically well, the powerful groups. These groups utilised the economy .of land .. Since the administration was temple centered, cultural activities of the medieval society were also revolved around the temple. This brought many Sanskritic traditions of art, literature, painting, dancing, music and many otherl visual arts :1nd the like. The trend of incorporating the folk arts in temple rituals making expenditure out of royal fund is also an important factor. But the upper class totally was promoting Great culture. Thus Kathakali, Koothu, Kuutiyattam, Mohiniyattam and the like were nurtured and promoted by wealthy rul­ing aristocratic families. Thus the analysis of the medieval political situations in the valley give very important cultun information. These are to be put to quantitative and qualitative analysis with the help  of various types of frequencies, mapping and data registers.

 

Integration of Little Culture:

(c) Great culture of Sanskrit was powerfully spread over the area with the help of royal patronage or political support. Temples of Second Chera period were com­paratively less in number in the area. But there were shrines and worshipping cen­ters like 'Kaavu' highly spread on the valley. The transformation of these centers to the line of Great cuI ture was the major trend created by the rule of chieftaincies during the medieval period. Many festivals like pooram, pooyam etc existed in the area as agricultural festivals. The festivals were incorporated to these newly trans­formed Shrine temples as temple festivals of which Vedic and Tantric ritualistic sys­tems were already introd uced. The temples, of earlier non Vedic worshipping system thus became centers from where great culture and Bhakthicult spread over the valley. The Pooram, Pooyam, Talappoli and the like were also had changed their folk trends and ideas with the introduction of some factors of political power, and Sanskritic cultural streams. Thus the impact of Great culture on the social set up of the area must be rigorously analyzed to separate the streams of Great culture and its eco­nomic, cultural and all other influences.

Centralisation of Economy :

(d) As enumerated earlier, there was a templeucentered administration of villages under Zamorins. It is believed that die land o\·.'llership as 'janmam' right was with Brahmins and chieftaincy alone. There are so many instances to prove that 'janmam right' existed in other sectors of caste hierarchy. A conspicuous example is of land ownership records of Lokanarkavu temples. whish proves that Nail'S also hadjanmam right. It is to be noted that number of Nair families were very high compared to royal families and Brahmin families and other temple communities. These Nair families had the right to wear sword, a symbol of political power with army headship. These families had enormous sthanall1s and legal and traditional rights. They had succes­sion rights too. Thus, japmall1 right on land and political capacity helped them to acquire enormous wealth under the pretext of la'1d administration as representatives of royal families and Brahmaswams and Devawoms. The head of the Asthanam Karyasthan, Mangat Achan acquired wealth in these capacities and there are records, which prove the handing over of lands to temples and royal cheiftancy, Apart from these. they were the actual holders of land under pattom or lease system, Thus. the families associated with political power - Brahmins, Nail'S and other temples com­munities - had enormous chances to acquire and centralize landed properties LInder. them. along with various incomes such as cu.stom duties, tolls etc. These families thus emerged as wealthy local political units, which made decisions. related to the whole society to a large extent.

 

 

Emergence of Tara wads and Social Fragmentation:

(e) An important aspect of this family system was that, they acquired wealth and maintained it under "joint family" system. We have to see that the origin of joint family system in the Zamorins land was directly related to the political power of chieftancies. In the investiture ceremonies we see that all privileges conferred upon the ~thani.s where stable and rigid, the basic rules to be observed were tradition, he­reditary right, succession right, customs and manners and religious scriptures. The w~?lth acquired by the Sthanis was to be protected. Fo:" that also tltey had to ob:y these rules. Each Sthani family had enormous landed properties etc., and the man­agement of this was done by the head of the family - the eldest man of the family members who had the right to impose political decisions too. But it is seen that there were more than 50 'Anantharavars' who also had succession rights as some privi­leges· conferred upon the family head. Thus, this right was an approved one by all means. This particular dimension of the political power - intrusion and interference of certain aspects of political power iri the privacy of families- had the basic root in ·Purushantaram a hereditary right, which produced joint family sy·stem. Enormous "joint family" units were there in the valley, supported and promoted by royal power. This peculiar system was criticized by men of letters in later periods. M.T. Vasudevan Nfl-ir, the Jnanapeedom laureate and many others had this major theme in their novels and poems. The term 'Taravaditham' (a kind of aristocracy) evolved out of it. It is to be l·ememhered that the 'tara' w(\sa unit of Soldier settlement, or LcKar. "Lokar', the Zamorins soldier groups have village units called Tara and largest part of these 'Iokar' included Nair youths. This 'Tharavadittam' had a special meaning too - valor of the youth and status of heroes. One of the greatest poets in Malayalam Itasseri Govinclail Nair, made drastic remarks against this system through his poems. Even in the middle of 18th century, poet Kunchan Nambiar, who is the father of visual art 'TulIaI',. had wrjtten against these features and made 'satirical remarks against tris kind of "royal rule" and valourship. Itasseri and the concept of PONNANI KALARI becomes an important point of discussion here. A member of this group, Mahakavi AKKITHAM is being studied to evaiuate the situation, by Sri. Sukumaran who is working for his Phl under the Principal Inve~tigator. This has two dimensions, 01~c will reveal the importance of Ponnani Kalari, the other will reveal the traditional force of Vedic Cult in the valley. All these men of letters are the products of the river valley. Many more il1~~tances in the expressions of art forms, architecture etc are there to be noted here. This important aspect of the Sthani rule thus paved the way to form a social hierarchy based on Wealth, Power, Customs and manners, and Religious scriptures. Thus, the 'v'.'?y to e'.'olve c rigid caste system came into b!"ce, which has two broad divisicils.

(A) A large group related to temples and royal administration. This included castes like Nampoothiris (Brahmins in general) Nairs (including Lokar) temple communi­ties (Labour groups of temple function and functionaries of temples).

(8) A very large group of people who were set apart from all privileges received by the group 'A', this class of people were labourers of markets, palaces, temples, joint families, sthanis and aristocratic families, and agriculturallabollI~ers. In later periods,

 

the interaction between group' A' and group' B' gradually became impossi ble and caste rigidity made various social feuds and frictions. Later Records substantiate this view related to social activities and social formation.

([) Social systems like 'Bhrashtu' (adultery) and 64 anacharas of Brahmins described in the Sankara smruti. a traditional religious scripture, the dos and donl's of castes defined in the tradit ional history Keralolpathi are all the out come of the peculiar geopolitical dimensions.

(g) Matrilineal system of the succession right had also has deep roots in the above medieval socia; evolution.

Lokar and Army System:

(h) It is to be specially mentioned that the army system of the royal chieftancy had various influences in the formation of the society. As mentioned earlier, there was only "lokar" as soldiers to participate in local wars. They were entrusted witl: the duty to fight ag,1inst foreign attacks too. These 'lokar' groups had only tradi­tional training in Kalari or fencing. Even in 18th century, they used "Ampum Villum" (Bows and Arrows) for fighting against foreign armies of Dutch and Portugese.

(!)These groups were widely distributed in cherikals and they were called to assemble whenever;.: war occurs. These groups were under the control of Cherikkal karyasthas and large aristocratic families, who used them for their own gain. This type of army systems brought many clashes in villages also. The system helped only­to the growth of w;ealth and power to the large families of which Zamorins was only a ritualistic head, even helpless to fight against enemies. The situation was support­ive to foreigners like; Portuguese Dutch. French and English and they gradually be­came super political powers. The internal system was thus highly fragmented, which" brought foreign supremacy in the land.

(j) The Lokar-; are seen assembling in the name 'Tarakkuttam' in the viJlage and Nattukuttom in festivals like Mamankam. Thus these concepts explain end in traditional history is a fact, but with crucial difference in nature.

The Suppressed Class:

5.7 As mentioned earlier, there were large groups of people mentioned under grolip 'B' as labour classes without land or social privileges. The lease records prove thilt many of them had been sold ;dong with land, as a transfer of labour under the new landowner. These classes were the lowest of the social hierarchy. They were the actual producers of paddy, cash crops and various items for the group' A'. The prCi­duction was high, as evidenced by temple festivals, family ri tuals, coronation cel­emonies, investiture ceremonies etc of royal families, aristocratic families and sthani families. The lease records prove that large quantity of paddy was collected as rev­enue from the least; holders of land and the holders were groups in the higher classe.': of group 'A'. The situation points out that, the lowest groups in the social hierarchy, when become well rdl;cated in the social aspects, may come out as great force against

 

 

the social suppression exerted 011 them by group' A'. The later history of 18th and 19th centuries proves this. Numerous rational movements emerged out in the valley with heavy backing of political ideologies of National movements, and the fore most of them was communist movement led by E.M.S. He was a native of the valley, and he spearheaded the social mo\·ements. Another leader was  V.T. Bhattatiripad, who gave leadership to restructure the social system of Brahmins in particular. Yet an­other leader was K.P. Kesava Menon, who was the propagandist of Democratic ide­ologies and leader of Indian 0:ation!'d Congress.

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All these movements and social revolutionary activities had their origin in the social unrest depicted in the society of the valley by medieval political activities of chieftancies and Sthani Families. Another factor is also to be mentioned. The system in general neglected the river system and the changes of habitat occured with high momentum. The degeneration of the River Bharatappula had its origin in the peculiar social and cultural evolutions." Nila was only a sacred water course based on Bhakti.

5.8 All these factors enumerated have been put to rigorous analysis based on avail­able original source materials of 1T>yal families and feudal families which are unno­ticed tilldate. Village system. identity of Malayalan, origin of feudal families and their social relations, evolution of Calicut and Zamorins of Calicut, evolution of capital at Calicut and port at Calicut, environment facilties helped the emergence of Calicut port, trade systems, trade relations with China, emergence of the most pow­erful cheiftancy, the Zamorins, who ruled the land between Parur in the south and Quilandy on'the North, and his important political activities on the Nila valley for various political gain. Thus the- content of research papers collected in Malabar Studies the geo political situations. administrative system, various aspects of social prob­lems and identification of numerous problems are under  rigorous investigation..

Ongoing grass root analysis related to Zamorins rule:

5.8.1. The social formation and cultural evolution, takes place due to the various forces surveyed here on geopolitical basis. This can be observed on the basis of statistical distribution tables. frequecy tables, area wise distribution maps and his­torical geography maps prep;lred. Even though the major medieval political force was the Zamnrinsandtheiradministrative factors generally represented as feudal families, there were rulers of \'arious territories existed prior to Zamorins sway over the land. They were called Uiaiyavars. A few of them such as Valluvanadu, Nedunganad and Kollengod ,Ire mentioned in Cherafnscriptions. In later period there appears Vettom. Talappi IIi. Tamr etc. Again, during the later centuries we note Tarakkal, Kavalappara, Kutiravactom and a few other large feudal families who con­trolled the area. Thus, the geopolitics has to be analyzed vertically through ages taking their geopolitical distJ ibution nature in account. These major political and social controlling factors exerted Iheir centrifugal forces on the central power system., The Zamorins. They can be \'iewed as a horizontal forces acted upon the society in various stages of social evolution. The Zamorins on one side always tried to consoli­date the power; and large families on other hand tried to centralize the political,economical and religious powers into themselves. The factors identif:ed as political  

widely distributed in the area, with hereditary rights. Thus control over these functionaries means consolidation of power of administrative functionaries have various forces merged together in them and they are enumerable in number, money, religion and political strength which became impossible for the Zamorins in later periods and the powerful chieftaincy collapsed.

5.8.2. The area wise situation is reflected in the Zamorins political units such as cherikkals, devaswams and Bnhmaswams. They are distributed mainl~ in the valky. The revenue divisions - Palakkad, Malappuram and Trichur Districts. Thus, distribu­tion maps, geometrical figures and statistical tables will bring out the geopolitical forces, which are the major factors behind the social and cultural formations ... A spatial distribution of them th us brings out the "Cultural Geography" of the valley. The idea Cultural Geography is thus not expressed here as a distribution of various cultural factors but the detailed study of the forces. The factors, which worked as contributory forces behind the social formation, are closely observed and the result­ant is identified. This will help to understand the society, which was revolving around an'd linked with the early histl)l'ical and political evolutions. Since such an attempt has not been done in this din'ction related to KeraLl culture in general, the model envisaged here become a matter for further research and indepth study and necessary corrections.

5.8.3. The cultural geography of the area under study has direct relations to the pat­terns of village system, family formation, urbanization trends created by political, cOtlllnercial, trade and exchange systems etc of early, medieval awl modern period. Since the earlier work is based on Calicut and ZamOlins of Calicut, the present back ground of political streams identified based on various administrative records be­comes the back bone of further studies.⁵² It is to be pointed out undoubtedly that Zamorins rule was basically a structure build up on the Nila river valley landed prop­erties and Nila Valley society. The power structure reveals that all the major activi­ties of the political system were mainly depending on the valley for its functioning:

Hence the understanding of tlw background political t istory. termed as geopolitics of the valley has much importance.

5.8.4. We obtain primary source as recorded evidences and in some cases tabulated accounts of money and distribution of other items. General use of these materials as sources only help to identify Important problems and to evaluate their potentials in the cultural formation. As 'llrc2.dy noted, the features of the early and medieval soci­etal changes can be descriptively made out of it. But the actual transformation, the interference, influences of different centripetal and centrifugal forces and the result­ant changes are to be identified. This can be done, using historical sources made out of the available primary sources, corroborating and correlating it with other historical evidences, social and cultural signifiers availed through fieldwork, local collec­tions from informant's and other branches of the kr.owledge. The general primary sources are to be converted into historical sources. Tht se historical sources are to be analyzed in a scientific way. The process at the end will help to see the actual his­torical evolutionary stages and the dynamism of the ;j(1ciety through ages. A system­atic analysis is to be done to see the above social impjicationsof power structure  

existed in the river valley. Thus the primary factor of the system, their spatial distri­butions, status maintained by the Political power on economy and religious activities are to be brought out. Various hierarchies are seen formed in the society related to the infrastructure of the power system.

Zamorins Control and stresson Nila River Valley:

5.9. Hierarchical forin has four major divisions divisions 1. Court (royal pow:r group) 2. Land adminjstrative group (Cerikkal Power System) 3. Port administration (Mari­time trade) 4. Temple administration group. All these groups are again divided into various sub groups.

5.10. Zmorins, the king, wa~ at the top of all these pyramidical structure. He was the crowned king, with all royal status. The king gave the utmost imponance to the Nila river valley. (Bharathappula Basin)

5.10.1. Each of the four other royal members had some special powers and Eralpad had power to rule Edathanad on the Nila river valley. He ruled the area to protect Zamorins strategic activities, trade interests and agricultural importance of Valluvanad, and Palakkad where paddy cultivation was extensive. This was the reason to annex the Valluvanad: to Zamorins land too. He ruled the area under the supreme power Zamorins of Calicut. Eralpad had two administrators under him, who belonged to the areas of erst while Nedunganadu and Valluvanadu in the river valley. Thus, the royal members themselves were there to rule the northern bank of the river system Nila. No other royal member is seen given power to administrate any part of the Zamorins land at any time.

5.10.2. The royal palace group consisted of four Karyasthas. I) Dharmothu Panicker (2). Para Nampi (3). Tenayancheri Elayathu and (4) Mangatt Achan. Out of these'. two of them belonged to 'the Nila river valley. Dharmothu Panicker was the head of the Kalri where training in fencing was given to the army. There was no standing army for the Zamorins of Calicut. The men who were well trained in Kalari system were lived in their own villages attached to village fencing schools. The officer in charge of these people as a w'hole was Dharmothu Panicker. He was the teacher in training of royal members too. In coronation ceremonies. he was the ritualis­tic head who handed over tht' sword to the king and his subordinates in the royal group This officer had  his ancestoral house at Tiruve:gappura, on the northern bank of the river system. Another one Paranampi had his ancestral house at Rayaranalloor: on the northern bank of the river Nila.

5.10.3. Thus the importance of the area is seen reflected in the administrative system itself, which accommodates. the valley in very high political status du:iqg Zamorins reign.

5.10.4. The Zamorins family had a head quarters at Ponani by name Trukkavil Pal­ace, which was' the ritualistic headquarters of the Nediyirupu Swaroopam (Zamorins of Calicut)..Another palace complex known as VairaNallur is also identified.But the palaces are completely gone for ever. Analysis of the importance of the headquarters show that Zamorins second capital at Ponnani on the river mouth of Bhaaratappula or Nila has many historical

 

.

dimensions. They lived most of the time at Ponnani, and whenever necessary, Zamorins made royal visit to Calicut port Head quarters. They never mention in any records, that the house as 'Calicut'. All the important deeds have the title Puntura kon, or the king of Puntura. However, in Calicut there is no palace by name Puntura. Another title they used is Nediyiruppu Swaroopam, where Nediyeruppu is still considered as the earliest ancestoral house. All the description of the royal writs starts with the reference of Ponnani palace, as "Ponnani vayka Trikkavil Kovilakathu erunnarule" ­(The king who resides at Ponnani palace, on Ponnani river mouth). This clearly establish the importan-:e of the ri vel' Nila, the Nila vaHey and port under his rule. When Zamorin annexed Vettom, who was the ruler of Ponnani area, the Zamorin made the Vettom king under his control by conferring kingship to the Vettom by the Zamorin himself in the coronation function. No other feudatory under Zamorins was seen conducting such a function and seen delegated their power to institute them in the coronation ceremony. This mLlst be viewed as the Zamorins strategy to establish his supremacy on the ri vcr system and the valley of it. The situation of the Trukkavil palace is under grass root level toponymical investigation. The vastusilpa technique of the Palace is also under investigation for which toponyms are the only source materials available. HoweVl;r such studies conducted by the author at Calicut, Nediyiruppu and Kottakkal had established that such basic considerations were there in planning Zamorin palace complexes.

5.10.5. Another important point related to Zamorins and Nila river valley is that Zamorins used to conduct a market mobilization festival under the name "Mamankam: on the sand banks of Bharatapula. This was conducted in every twelve years. A Festival, under the name "Taipuyam", was also conducted by him yearly. Both festi­vals were attached to Tirunavaya temple, a Vaishnavite center:' praised as patalperra kshetra by the Alwars of 8th - 9th centuries. Thus, the festival was conducted by him as an act of Bhakti. The temple, with its fame as a Vaishnava center of the south India helped him to make contacts necessary for internal market mobilization on main land. The festival was supposed to be conducted by king of Vallllvanatu in earlier times and later it was taken over by Zamorins under the strategic movement or' Sahabandarkoya. the h~ad of the Calicut port; Even though he was a Muslim. he had been appointed by Zamorin \\ ith all ritualistic status investiture ceremonies. This must have been done to get the support of the Muslim community as a whole. who were great maritime traders t,)o. He stood on left hand side of the Zamorin when Zamorin attended the  ..Mamankam festival lasting twenty-seven days. This clearly is an evidence of the importance of the area for market promotion, the under current aim of the festial. As noted earlier, the three major forces are Power. Economy Re­ligion, Customs and Manners. They are inseparable in the Zamorins administration. As far as maritime trad.e and internal marketing system is concerned, the involvement of Muslim community is also inseparable. They are seen ritualistically interwoven with the power structure.

The festival was re-enacted on the sand banks of Thirunavaya in 1999 and 2000, as a sponsored progra:mme as (J part of the present research by the Principal investiga­tor, after 234 years of !he last Mamankam conducted by the Zamorins of Calicu.. BBC, Asianet and Sun TV, AIR and all media Nation wide covered the festival.

 

 

5.10.5.1 Recent investigations proved that the Zamorins consolidated the Aryavaisyas who are Tarakans and Moothans ususally trade intermediatories or Middle men. These groups are highly distributed in northern and north eastern part of Nila River. They are spread over the western valleys and Ghat area of Palghat. Hence the Ghat will be under his control. 

5.10.6. Zamorins promoted the temples, Brahmin settlements and vedic and sastra knowledge in various ways. He used to conduct Pattathanam, a scholarly discussion at Tali temple (Calicut) every year. The most important scholarfamilies particiDated in the function belonged to the river valley. Hence he prote~ted a Madom at Tirunavaya to help the brahmin families in the valley. The vedic school is still there and vedic study is being conducted. The system was later shifted to Kadavallur temple on the banks of Nila and the Vedic discussion 1O find out the greatest scholar in Vedas and satras is being conducted at Kadavallur temple yearly under the name "Kadavallur Anyonyam". A few records of Zamorins administration give the details of Brahmin families, which establishes Zamorins help in promoting vedic culture. families. Fur­ther enquiries are under way regarding these aspects.

5.10.7. As a part of promoting original Brahmin settlements the Zamorins involved in the feud between Panniyur and Sukapuram, the prosperous original settlements of the valley mentioned in the 9^th cAD Chera Inscriptions. This has various political dimen­sions too. A survey in this aspect is almost completed and the most important publi­cation of Vellayude Caritram. a manuscript written by Vella, member of Panniyur group was already made with study. The manuscript is the first prose writing in Malayalam literature. the firs! historical book based on direct evidences written in historical perspective and the' first biographical writing in M~layalam. Apart from this the writing is the first indigeous historical record on Mysoreans' attack on Malabar. The interference of the Mysoreans in Malabar altogether changed the social situa­tions of South Malabar, particularly NiJa river valley. The rational movements of the valley obtained acceleration alter the Mysorean attack in the area, and \o"hich had very great religious impacts in 'Iater periods.

S.10.8. Pattathanam was in the outset, ·seem to be an yearly function to promote the vedic and sastraic knowledge It involved a legal administration content regarding the dealings of Bhrustu and such other criminal offences by Brahmins and other castes of the highest status in the c,lste hierarchy. In certain cases regarding Brustu. the pattathanam is seen making final decisions and those who violated religious scrip­tures were seen made out caste. Most of the Brustu cases are seen occurren in the" Nila basin. More than two hundred records were collected related to it. The problem needs micro-level enquiries because this criminal offence was widely spread on the valley compare to othe"r places in Kerala because large number of Brahmin families settled in the valley. The head of the Brahmin community was Alvancheri Tamprakal and who was the priest to corollate the Zamorins. He and priests priests like Kudall ur Nampoothiri and Pumulli r\al1lpoothiry ilnd such other aristocratic Brahmin families who were part and parcel of Zamorins administration were also have their ancestoral houses on the valley.

 

5.10.9. The situation reveals that all these aristocratic families were manipulating the administration under the pretext of Bhakti, religious observances etc. It is important that many criminal offences were also seen discussed in the Menayam, an organiza­tion headed by Mangattu Achan. Most of the incidents were taken place in the cerikkals of the Nila river valley. This adds another importance to the relation of political power and the river valley It is suspected that the legal code of conduct. Vyavaharamala, written in Sanskrit based on Sanskrit Niti texts was an out come of the Zamorins rule. However the principal in"estigator h£ls brought to tile light t\VO texts of the Vyavaharamala from a collection of records of Punnasseri family. Punnasseri Nambis were officers of the Eralpad, and the family has ancestoral house in the valley at Pattambi. The Vyavaharamala texts are seen edited and translated into Malayalam with a notable commentary. One of the texts - probably the earlier copy - is not dated. The second one is dated 1816 AD, and the name of the translator is also given. This finding establishes that the feudal chieftains and feudal families followed the legal text for administrati ve purposes.

5'.10.10. Zamorins coun poels were known as Pathinettarakavikal or 18Y2 poets. Zamorins promoted all branches of know ledge such as Vyakaranam. Vvedantam etc. They included 9 poets from Tiruvegappura, five poets-from Payyur and Kakkasseri Bhattatiri. All of them belonf': to the areas on the banks of Nila. From all these it is evident that the Zamorins had many interests in the valle-yo This royal protection and promotion received by the area had its own impacts in the formation of social and cultural tllends in the river valley.

5.] 0.11. The factors related to the administration of Cheriikkals and ports are the most important political tools that widely spread over the land of Zamorins. especially on the Nila river valley. As pointed out in the earlier analysis. The administration had its pivotal point at the temples or Devaswoms and Brahmanical institution such as Brahmas\-voms. Each and even village had Brhmaswoms. Devaswoms and ruling feu-

                                                  -         '--                                .                                     I..-

dal aristocratic families related to them.

The:Tit!es and related socialaspectss :

5.11.0. The Cherikkal adminiqration had three administrative groups. Cherikkal ad­ministration was headed by Talacharnur who will be "Sthani" of a feudal family. Sthani means one who obtained a sthanam or status, from the head of the state. There were various kinds of 'Sthanam· or status distributed by the king. Talacharnor Nayar. Pata Nayar, Talalcappu Nayar, Koyma, Menokki, Menon,Ezhuthachan. Kaimal. Koya. Marakkar. etc numbering morc than twenty. It is very sig;1ificant that most of these titles became caste names in later period. Menon status was given to a number of families and it is seen that Menons became caste title of a large group of families. Marakkar was given to some other families later Marakkar: became a group title under caste system among fishermen. The observation that the caste titles became rigid according to the political economical, religious power inherited and vested in them time to time is yet to be enquired and at present it can be poted only as a probability. However, the title distribution to each functionary in the administration had far and wide social impact and it divided the society into different hierarchies on economic, political and religious, rjtualistic grounds.

 

Titles and Joint Family System:

5.11.1. These titles were hereditory rights and families which obtained the titles continued to use them to express their power, economic and religious position with­out break. They got a number of privileges in the society. The hierarchy of the privileged groups are enormous, and the law of inheritance based on Purushantaram right and Anantharam rights were political back bonesof these  groups. Thus male members of each family ottained the succession rights. These sllccession rig~ts we,re also approved legally by the head of the state, the Zamorins court. It is seen that the eldest of male members of such families received the title power as the hea.d of the family and got the right to implement political responsibilities in Cherikkals. He was called "Mutta" - the eldest legally. The younger member next to the "Mutta" became 'Elaya'. Thus title and rights were distributed like 'Calappurathu Mutta Nayar' and 'Calappurathu Elaya Nayar'. The youngsters or "Anantiravars", even up to forty in number in each family were seen receiving these privileges. They are all eligible to share the money and rights in later days and hereditary right enabled them to sustain all previleges. It is thus opened the way to form joint family system, with great social, political and economic power.

5.11.2. Reasons for emergance of joint family system has not yet been historically dealt with : the studies of Kerala culture.. Hence the finding; related to emergenceof privileged groups under Titles, and spread of joint family system along with matrilenial inheritance system becomes very important in the social formation of the Kerala society.

Aspects of MarilinealSystem

5.11.3 Matrilenial system was supposed to be the general inheritance law, followed by a very large sector of the society especially Nairs of Malabar. It is observed, by scholars. that the system became so prevalent to protect the wealth of a family and to protect the wealth of a  dividing and distributing it to other families. The marriage 'system in joint families is thus of prime importance. In a Nair family even after the marriage. the female remained in her ancestral home and the husband used to visit her occa­sionally. This enabled the ancestral family of the female, to protect the wealth from dividing it and separating a unit of family out of the ancestral family. with the wed­ded lady. Since the husband is only a visitor, without any right on the wealth of the female, the' wealth of the female remained in her own family and was always handled' by the male members of the ancestral family. This generated the right ofwealth goes to the' Ananthiravans' or the m;de children of the female members and these females are sisters of the head of the house (karanavar) The younger brothers of tht karanavar are the h,)ld~rs. of the succession right legally approved and ritualisticaliy given to them by the political power as hereditory right which might have brought strained relations. Thus the joint family system emerged as a way to sustain and protect the wealth, power and religious status etc - the privileges in general, in a Sthani family. "Anantharlm" became the right and female members had no right on wealth.

 

Aspects of Sambandham :

5.11.4. This important social institution brought a kind of "sanlbandham" in families other than Brahmins. The system of Sambandham was there in Brahmins community. Brahmins had also used this to protect the wealth and power of family with some differences. Even though there are many differences in the functioning of the system, sambantham and joint family in Brahmins were to protect the wealth of family second aim was to keep th~ purity of rituals in the family. This generally led to the evolution of Brahmin society under the centralization of power, wealth and religious rights.

5.11.5. Brahmin feuds of earliest original Grama settlements of Kerala in Taliparampu and Perinchellur where matrilineal system existed was also to be viewed in the light of the above situations. The settlements existed in the 9th century AD, during the rule of Cheras of Mahodayapuram. Later it is seen that a group of Bramin families numbering 237 or 'Sagara', left the settlements after long feud between others and migrated to central Travancore. All other Brahmin settlements except the two men­tioned above followed Pat~'iarchal System. These types of feuds existed in settlements of matrilineal type too. It is to be enquired whether the inheritance law followed by the Brahmins had any contribution in the feuds between the Gramas. Generally it is viewed that these were based a Saiva and Vaishnava friction. Such analysis is neces­sary to understand the famous fetid between Panniyoor and S ukapunun gramas on the river valley under study. Social institutions like bhrashtu etc. has deep roots in this type of. social evolutions of early ages. Caste formation, joint family system, matri­lineal and patriarchal system of inheritance laws, saml)andham, brushtu and other caste and smruti-based legal code of conducts etc are major dynamism of the social formation. generated by the political power structure. They had their origins in·vari­ous social contexts created by the feudal setup of Kerala model.

Temple System:

5.12. Another impacts o(this kind of power structure in religious activities. customs and manners of different section of the society are also to be viewed here. As men­tioned earlier, the function of religious centers in the administration - civil - and ­criminal thus become ver~/ important. The power was implemented through the temples generally known as Devaswams. There existed a hierarchical system of administra­tion in temples to implerrl'~nt criminal laws and civil laws including revenue collec­tion. The Devaswams were 28 in number, under which more than four hundred temples were accommodated. Large temples are the ce!1ter of administration where all the administrations are done under the headship of Talacharnor, the powerful apex authority of Cherikkal administration. Under the Talacharnor or Cherikkal karyasthan. all the Devaswams in a Cherikkal functioned. In each Devaswam there was a Koyma to look after the day to day affairs of the temples. Under him there was temple ac­countants and other temple servants and functionaries. There was enormous landed properties annexed to tempies as Devaswam land. Thus, the Talacharnor and Koyma were the powerful administrators in this Temple centered Cherikkal administration with hereditory right and power of sword. Most of the functionaries under them had also hereditary rights and privileges as religious and political sthanis. All these families thus distributeJ ;ij villages also ·form highly privileged group and they themselves

 

had some political, economical and religious activities. The families had implemented the joint family system also. Since the problem is to be discussed at length, only a few aspects are noted here.

Temples and Revenue Collection: Bhakti and Temple Arts:

5.12.1. Revenue coliection was made as a3hare of the annual pl·oduce from the lands, leased to various grou ps of people under all castes except the agricul tural laborers of lowest classes tribals and aboriginals. Most of them are at present under the sched­uled casts and scheduled tribes. Even th~ castes under other backward classes had land on lease (as Pattom) was given. The center of revenue collection in Cherikkals was called kalams or granaries. Share of the produce fixed by the ruler through the Talacharnar was the tax given to the ruler or state treasury. Share'of produce from paddy culti vation was made a~ paddy or rice whereas the share of produces of garden land and commercial crops were collected in terms of money. All collections were done at the center called Kalam, and kalams were invariably attached to temple pre­mises. They were seen invariably protected by Kalari or fencing school. The kalari was the center of training the 'Lokar", the soldiers of the royal system. Thus temple, kalam and kalari formed a single unit of royal power, which controlled the matters related to the revenue and other incometo the royal system. Talacharnar and koyma, after making the annual expenses of salaries, temple rituals and ceremonies. the amount of balance is remitted to the royal treasury. There was no centralized treasury or granary- at the head quarters, even theugh minting of money was done. by the royal family. The revenue collection was done as a well disciplined·ritual. in the premises of the temple complex and hence there was no problem of any protest in giving the fixed revenue. In many case~, a fixed revenue was remitted to royal family by the Talacharnor, and the amount was seen stated in the royal writs served to the' Sthanis' during the investiture function of sthanis. An important factor here is that even rev­enue collection had obtained a ritualistic capacity and strength of Bhakti. the Zamorins, in 16th century, had given shape to an art form called Krishnanattom, to mobilize and establish the sanctity of revenue payment by the lease holders. This mllst be viewed as some obstructions were emerging out in the payment of revenue. The visual art ,va'; Pl(.:>cllted in temples, feudal families and kalams, and during the enactment days. lease holders were bound to pay the tax at such centers. This shows that even the art form Kathakali, a later form of Krishnanattom had its roots in the power implementa­tion strategies. Varivi.ls temple arts like Koothu, Koodiyattam etc had its origin dur- . ing these days and all such arts, visual and other types h-ad their origin and develop­ment in the river valley, associated with the trends in temples created by the feudal rule. The temple art forms like Kathakali, Kutiyattam, Koothu and Krishnanattam were promoted by feudal families and they nourished and developed in Kerala be­cause of the trends of the valley. A few papers on this are at present evaluated and a field work is under way to gel details of the problem.

 

 

Consolidation of Society in temJiles :

5.12.2. A significant finding in this temple centered administration is that, the central power Zamorins directly promoted Koothu and Krishnanattam, and no other art form is seen conducted by the royal family purely in their temples directly or they didn't made expenditure in temples for conducting them from their treasury. On the other hand, the "oyal family \"as very particular to accommodate folk rituals apd folk arts and folk festivals in the 'Kavu' or shrines and temples. Annual expenditure state­ment in each centre spread on the valley kept by the royal family shows that pooram, pooyam and other festivals, kummatti, tira, pampinkalam, kalameluthum pattum and Ramayanam koothu (a shadow play) etc are all seen conducted in temples annually as a part of temple ritual. More than twenty-five such types of folk ritualistic arts were promoted in this way.

5.13 Temple became the pivotal point of the society in various aspects. It was only a continuation of the temple centered rule by the Cheras of Mahodayapuram, where the Brahmins obtained upper hand in all functions of the society. This promoted the Great culture with far reaching results in the society. Ultimate result was rigidity of caste, wide spread segmentation of society based on caste, vedic and puranic culture, centralisation of political and economic power and ritu::t1istic st:'ltus. The temples accommodated folk rituals in temple acti vities and orthodox rei igious ri tuals as noted earlier. Apart from that, a great number of non Aryan worshipping centres were an­nexed tc the temples of Aryan worshipping nature of puranic Gods ritualistically which made the society to feel  that they are part and parcel of the general political structures. power etc., and in the society on the basis of rituals, Bhakthi and 'reli­gious observances spreading and dissemination of knowledge was in such a way that Dravidic aspects are superimposed by non-dravidic aspects. Gradually the upper refeerence society as a whole was strongly connected to temples and they became the upper class with privilege to enter the temple to be in service of temple higher caste status etc. One of the major factors, which lead to this type of fragmentation, was the ownership of land under lease. The labour class - agricultural labourers. labourers of market etc. had no opportunity to make income out of land or use the land with legal ownership. The higher group thus totally became the land owned class and the other became landless. The segmentation, became hard and numerous due to the religious  discipline. A hard rule came into existence by name "Ayittam' and "out caste". As !1oted earlier, the higher groups who were in administration of temples  and Cherikkals spread far and wide with land ownership or with land under lease. Nila river valley thus provides enormous possibil ity to understand the social formation of segmental nature.

5. 14 The architectural patterns of the residences of feudal f<:imilies also deserve some remarks here. A study of a few temples and families has already proved that the feudal families followed some patterns of temple architecture in their Nalukettu sys­tem of buildings. Nalukettu, Ettukettu etc constructed by Brahmin families and other higher castes like Nayars, l\knons etc are clearly constrcted. for accommodating joint family with a number of small units of family. There were worshipping centers of different deities in the house as family deities, or even separate rooms were allotted

 

for worshipping purposes. Annual functions and recurring rituals of religious nature were also seen conducted in these families. This shows the impact of the temple centered Social system and the influence of religious activities even in family set up. A few papers are prepared on this problem and a few scholars are working to bring out the important features of the architectural developments.

Tl!chnical Literature :

5.15 A set of papers collected on all aspects of Great culture in the valley is at present under further enquiries. Development of Bhakthi lit.erature technical litera­ture and secular writings of the valley has been discussed in these papers. Among the technical literature Ayurveda and Jyothisasthra shows very high influence in the area. Ayurveda deserve special attention here. Kerala Ayurveda development is unique in the nature. The medical science was promoted by Astavydyas who learned Astamga hrudaya for their medical profession and there are families in large number as tradi­tional Ayurveda scholars. It is said that the Ayurveda type of medical treatment had strong relations to Buddhists or Jainas settled in the valley. Investigations prove that the Jaina or Budha religious activities were existed in certain areas. Some primary enquires regarding the traditional families who practice Ayurveda such as Vaidyamadam, Alathurnampi, Pulamanthol Moosad etc have completed and rigorous field work is under way for collecting local ~isto.'·y of AYll'··'~da. The most important family who traditionally belonged to the practice of Jyotisha, Jyotisastra and archi­tecture was Kanippayyur namboodiris, and a survey on their history is almost over. All these f:unilies belong to the river valley.

Need of compararative study with Chera period

).16 It is important to state It that all these societal aspects had deep roots in the period of Cheras of Mahodayapuram. Thus. an evaluation of comparative situations of early and medieval periods become necessary. There are enormous signifiers in the Chera inscriptions of 825AD - 1125 AD that Brhamins settlers were in adminis­tration and helped the formation of reference society, Tends of segmentation of the society or Cast and Religion dimensions etc. are already evaluated by scholars. The chera inscriptions establish that there was a system of administration where the court included representatives of Bhramins from all 32 original settlements. They were grouped under 4 kalakams and the representatives of kalakkams were in the 4 Tali.. which existed in the capital, at :Mahodayapuram naniely :Meltali, KiitJli, CingapurattaJi and Netiyatali. It is said that Panniyoor the prosperous original Brahmin settlement on the bank of Nila was one of the Kalakams. Kalakam was a Bhramin organization. and training of arms was a part of kalakam at the Temple, the headquarters of kalakam. The Panniyoor temple premises shows traces of architectnai structures once existed to accommodate large number of people according to loc,il Brahmins. An enquiry in to the matter may bring out e\en the kalakam in its full details. An examination of a Chera inscription enabled to arrive at some important interpretations related to kalakam. the position of agriclilturallabourers in Kerala etc.vhen put to correct read­ing of the matter. The inscriptions of 898 AD found out from the Iranikkalam temple near to Chera capital at Mahodayapuram reveales the basis; of Saiva Vaishnava feud

 

existed in original Bhramin settlements. The inscription when compared with another inscription of Chola muttarayan dated 1015 AD found at Tirumittacode temple on the bank of Nila also reveals the Saiva Vaishnava feuds of original gramas and probable interference of Cholas, the ardent Saiva propagators. There seems to be the necessity of hard treatment to the temple organisations to save the temples from Sai va. Vaishnava feuds and ultimate damage.

5.17. Hence the krnple inscr;ptions of Cheras Mahodaya'apuram if re-exami:led and re- evaluated under the present knowledge of medieval history summarized here. will provide important historical situations to understand the evolutionary stages and forces of society from Chera period.

5.17.1. The temple organizations like Sabha, ganam and the like were there in the Chera period to administer the temples and temple properties. The temple was ad­ministered by the Koyiladhikari; usually the younger brother of the king who suc­ce.eded the king in the crown. Such a situation is not seen in the medieval period, 'Utaiyavar' the local chieftains like Eranad, Valluvanad etc., were there under su­preme authority of the Chera King. The chieftains also had direct relation to temples and a share of income of the temple was received by them. There is no such system under the Zamorins temple administration. It is seen that all such administrations are done-by the Cherikkal heaci . TitledtalaCharnor and Koyma of the temple, But in the place of Sabha, organizations like Yogam and Sdmudayam ete., are seen in temples. Yogam e\'en controlled the kings and e\'en punishments were carried out in the presence of them,

5. I 7.2. The functioning of the Utaiyavar·system during Chera, period has to be com­pared with rule of chieftains. It is seen that there were more than 13 Utaivars during the Chera period. A few of them participated in Chera documents as signatories, Eralanate utaiyavar, and Valluvanad utaiyavar Nedukalayanatu utaiyavar are there at that time and they were rulers of the Nila river valley,The political power structure of these rulers after the fall of the central power was in dark, But it is clear that by the middle of 14th cAD (ADI342) as remarked by foreigners the ruler of Calicut \Vas the powerful cheftain. Chinese re-cords give sufficient guidance regarding the power of Ca!icut during the fourteenth century. By the first quarter of 15th century. we get details of kings like Manavikr,lma who 'J/as the supreme authority of port at CaJicut. Later records give evidence that the chieftain established their sway o\'er the ri\'er \·alley. with all factors of powa evaluated here in this analys