varnam

Dr. Subhash Kak has started a new column in Rediff. In his first article, India's schoolbook histories he writes about the Kerala school of Mathematics

The astronomers Aryabhata and Bhaskara may be familiar to some from the eponymous spacecrafts of the Indian Space Organization. Aryabhata (500 AD) took the earth to spin on its axis and he described the planet periods with reference to the sun. He also took the solar system to be several hundred million miles across. In all of these things he was ahead of the rest of the world by more than a thousand years. Bhaskara (12th century) was a brilliant mathematician. The last two names belong to the amazing Kerala school of mathematics and astronomy.

There is more

A 900 year old ship been found in a rice field in Kerala

The ship is made of local Indian wood but the craftsmanship is not, leading experts to suggest it was made by ancient Chinese, Japanese, Egyptians or Arabs.

After carbon-dating tests on the ship's wood, a local variety called Anjili, Gopi said: "We believe the ship to be approximately 920 years old. But the techniques used in making this vessel are definitely not Indian."

But how come the experts cannot say if it is Chinese, or Japanese or Egyptian or Arabian ? Do all of them have the same style of ships ?

A shipwreck, 1000 years old has been found in Kerala

More than 1,000 years old, the 72-foot-long sailing barge is made from caramel-colored anjili, a hardwood still growing nearby, but it lacks the sewn-plank construction common in India for the past 2,000 years.

Though its uniqueness has led to speculation that foreign seafarers built the ship from local materials for ocean-bound voyages, Pederson says the boat's construction would keep it closer to home. With a flat bottom and sharp transitions to the sides, "it's bad for the ocean," he says. "It's better for short coastal runs and inland waters."

In 1000 AD, Mahmud of Ghazni was making his invasions into North India performing his God given duty of removing idolatry. From 800-1100, Kerala was under the Chera Kingdom and the Kulashekshara Perumals ruled.

Kerala had trade contats with all countries from China to Palestine even before Christ. During those times boats without masts or rudder were very popular and were being rowed along the sea coast with 6 or 8 oarsmen. These boats were used to transport goods between coastal towns. According to V. Balakrishnan in his book History of Syrian Christians of India

The spices, including pepper were transported from Kerala to the port of Broach in Gujarat, which was at that time the busiest port in the West Coast. From there goods were transported in much bigger ships either to ports situated at the end of the Persian Gulf, or after going around Arabia, to the ports situated at the end of Acquaba or the Suez, depending on the ultimate point of destination.

The information about this ship is very limited at this moment. We will keep track of the developments.

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a travelog written by an unknown author in the first century about travel in the Indian Ocean. According to K.A. Nilakanta Sastri in his book, A History of South India.

The author of the Periplus (c A.D. 75) gives the most valuable information about this trade between India and the Roman empire. He mentions the ports of Naura (Cannanore), Tyndis--the Tondi of the poems, identified with Ponnani--and Muziris (Musiri, Crangannore), and Nelcynda very near Kottayam, as of leading importance on the west coast. Muziris abounded in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia and by the Greeks.

A Sreedhara Menon in his book, A Survey of Kerala History writes that there is no doubt that the present Kodungallor is the ancient Musiris. Now Dr. Shajan, an archeologist has proposed based on some evidence that Muziris, the legendary seaport of the ancient world, stood at Pattanam, a small town some 12 km south of the Periyar rivermouth (present day Kodungallur)

Radiocarbon dating of peat samples showed that Kodungalloor and Paravur areas were part of the sea some 5,000 years ago. By about 1,000 B.C., however, the sea had regressed and the coastline had more or less stabilised about two km west of the area where these two towns are situated at present. Another clue that led the team to Pattanam was the finding, based on remote-sensing data, that Periyar had changed course during the millennia, and the river course was in the Pattanam area 2,000 years ago. "My view is that the Paravur Thodu, which flows near Pattanam, was the old channel of the Periyar," says Dr. Shajan.

The most important find was the rim and handle of a classic Italian wine amphora, which came from Naples and belonged to the late first century B.C. The amphora, which was used to transport wine and olive oil, had been identified from a number of Roman sites in India, including Arikamedu and Alagankulam in Tamil Nadu. [via The Hindu]

There is some more information about the 1000 year old shipwrreck that was found in the sleepy hamlet of Kadakkarapally of Thykkal village in Alappuzha district of Kerala.

Archeologists say the boat is a product of fantastic workmanship. It is a double- hulled, double mast boat, divided into 11 compartments. The masts are no longer present. One mast step is in the center of the boat and the other is in the bow end. The boat has a pointed bow. The boat measures about 18.70 metres in length and its width is 4.05 metres. The original length of the boat could be around 21 metres.

According to the historical records available, Thykkal was once a busy port. The Kerala Coastal Gazette, published by a local church says Thykkal and nearby areas had settlement of Jews and Arabs.The Gazette adds that the area where the ship was found could have been either a broad canal leading to the sea or part of the Arabian Sea itself. Thykkal is only two kilometers away from the Arabian sea coast in Alappuzha district.

While the older article mentioned that this wreck was 1000 years old, the new one says it is about 600-800 years old.

This brings up the question, what makes a hamlet sleepy ?

Thiyya is a caste under Hinduism in the South Indian state of Kerala. Now there is a new study which explains where they came from.

The predominant Thiyya community of Malabar migrated to Kerala in 7000 BC from Kyrgyzstan in the erstwhile Soviet Union, says a fresh study revealing their disputed origins. While the people on the coast of the Black Sea were migrating to different parts of the world in BC 7000, a section who had settled in the foothills of Tian Mountains came to India.

``Thiyyas of Malabar are the descendants of this group of Kyrgyz,'' asserts T. Damu in his latest Malayalam book `Lanka Parvam'. He says that the name Thiyya was derived from the name of the mountains, Tian, on the southern side of Kyrgyzstan. The Saikon community of Punjab and Saikover community of Rajasthan also have the same origin. [ Thiyyas migrated from Kyrgyzstan, says study]

So before the Indus Valley Civilization, and before all possible dates for Mahabharata, a bunch of people moved from Kyrgyzstan to Kerala. I have to read this book.

Wikipedia has an entry on Kumaranasan, a great Malayali poet who lived in the early 20th century. The interesting fact is that it was Sri Narayana Guru who influenced him.

Kumaran was dogged by ill-health right through his early life. When he was eighteen, Sree Narayana Guru visited his house at the request of his father. Kumaran was bedridden at that time. The great saint suggested that Kumaran should stay with him and become his disciple. The little boy found the invitation irresistible. Thus began a new phase of life for the young lad.

Kumaranâ??s meeting with Sree Narayana Guru can be compared to the meeting of Naren with Sri Ramakrishna. These are significant events, in the mysterious and inexorable ways of destiny. While Naren became a full fledged Swami, Kumaran continued as a lay disciple of Narayana Guru and made substantial contributions in the fields of poetry, literature and social renaissance, which Kerala witnessed during the early part of this century. [Kumaranasan]

There is a coin exhibition going on in Trivandrum, which is like a narration of the whole history of Kerala state.

The coins on show include the silver Purana, issued by the Ay-Chera chieftains between 600 and 200 BC and which is believed to be the oldest coin of southernmost India; the silver Makotai, the earliest known portrait coin of South India, which was issued by the Cheras during the Sangam age; Roman dinarii; the minute Quarter Taras of Vijayanagar, which weigh just 0.06 gm; and the Vellichakram, issued by the Travancore king, Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, in the mid-18th century.

The coins, which were in circulation in Malabar, such as the famed Gold Mohur; the Venetian Ducat; and the coins issued by the East India Company, the French in Mahe, and Hyderali and Tipu, are displayed. There is a collection of the gold coins minted by the Gangas, Hoysalas and Yadavas. [Coining a unique history]

A 9th century Vishnu temple, which remained dilapidated for years, is being rebuilt at Perumpazhuthur, near here, thanks to the initiative of the local people.

Authenticated by historians as having been built during the rule of the ''Ay" dynasty in 867 A.D, the temple is one of the rarest of its kind the country with a circular-shaped sanctum santorum.

Though the temple finds mention in the ''Monuments of Kerala'', published by the Archaeological Survey of India, it remained dilapidated with most of its remains buried till the people of Perumpazhuthur organised themselves to reconstruct the edifice and restore its old glory a few months ago.

The book, authored by H Sarkar, mentions only a few circular temples in Kerala, including that at Perumpazhuthur. He also highlighted that circular temples were rare for Dravidian style.

''The Arts and Crafts of Travancore,'' authored by Stella Kramrish and pubished by the Department of Culture, carries the photo of the temple in a dilapidated condition and the damaged statue of Vishnu. [Local people rebuild a 9th century Vishnu temple via IndiaArchaeology]

Before the Cheras established themselves as a major force in Kerala, it was ruled by the Ay dynasty sometime between 7th to 11th century AD with Vizhinjam as the capital.The Ay dynasty ruled the land between Nagercoil and Thiruvalla. In A History of South India, Nilakanta Sastry writes that the Ay kingdom lay around the Podiya hill, the southernmost section of the Western Ghats. He also writes that the Greek geographer Ptolemy wrote about one 'Aioi' was ruling the country at that time which included Cape Comorin and Mount Bettigo.

For Malayalis Kunhali Marakkar was the brave commander of the Zamorin's Navy, who fought against the Portuguese. The story is that the Muslim Marakkar dynasty fought against the Europeans for almost hundred years. But now there is new research suggesting that a) Marikkars were not of Arab descent, but instead were of Tamil origin b) he could be a myth

According to Dr. Ochanthuruth, "the traditional view of Kunhalis as patriots supporting feudal lords like the Zamorin needs to be corrected.

In the light of Kunhali Marikkar's own actions and Shayk Zaynuddin's statements, it is clear that they wanted an Islamic Principality in their own Malabar. (Shayk Zaynuddin was an Arab scholar who lived in Ponnani).

"After 1600 when the Kunhalis were almost silenced by the Zamorin through a political operation with the help of the Portuguese, the Muslim religious leaders in Malabar elevated Kunhali Marikkar as a cult figure for having attempted to unite the Muslims belonging to different ethnic groups and established their identity on the basis of an Islamic dream as visualised by Shayk Zaynuddin.

"This is the starting point of Muslim fundamentalism and communalism in South Malabar, later described by Ines and Evans as "fanatic zone," he says in his paper presented at an international seminar on `The Portuguese and Kunhali Marikkars - myth and reality'.

"My attempt in this paper is to trace the truth about the origins, growth and struggles of the Marikkar family. Most of the Portuguese sources treat the Marikkar as enemies. Shayk Zaynuddin, an Arab scholar of Ponnani, in his Tuhfat-ul Mujahidin, states that the Marikkars had turned against the Portuguese only by 1524.

According to Dr. Ochanthuruth there is a big gap in historiographical literature about Kunhali Marikkar from 16th to the present century. Till the publication of Malabar and the Portuguese in 1929 by Sardar K.M. Panikkar, there was no serious writing on the Kunhali Marikkars except a few ballads.

Dr. Ochanthuruth's views contradict the opinions of well-known and highly rated historians Sardar K.M. Panikkar, A.V. Krishna Ayyar and O.K. Nambiar.

He also questions claims that Marikkars were Mappila Muslims (Mappilas are children of Arabs married to Malabar women), and contends there is no evidence to support the belief that Marikkars lived in Pantalayani - Kollam, then in Tikkodi and then in Kottakkal, which was their last headquarters.

"Available evidence suggests Marikkars were of Tamil origin and many of them were Parathava converts from Coramandel," Dr. Ochanthuruth claimed. [Kunhali Marikkars: myth and reality]

Recently, The President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam visited the Cheraman Juma Musjid in Kodungallur (ancient Muziris) in Kerala. This mosque, believed to have been built by Malik bin Dinar in 629 AD, is considered to be the oldest mosque in India. If this date is accurate, then this mosque was established much before the time of Adi Shankara (if we go by the dates ascribed by the Sringeri Peetam) and around the same time Huen Tsang was in India. This mosque has quite a history

As the tradition goes, a Chera king, Cheramanperumal of Kodungallure, left for Makkah, embraced Islam, and accepted the name Thajudeen. He married the sister of then King of Jeddah. On his return trip, accompanied by many Islamic religious leaders, led by Malik-ibn-Dinar (RA), he fell sick and passed away. But he had given introductory letters for the team to proceed to ‘Musiris’ (Kodungallur, the Chera capital. The visitors came to Musiris and handed over the latter to the reigning king, who treated the guests with all respect and extended facilities to establish their faith in the land. The king also organised help for the artisans to build the first Mosque at Kodungallur, by converting Arathali temple into a Juma-Masjid. It was build in 629 A.C., and the area around it had been ear-marked for the team’s settlement.[Cheraman Juma Masjid A Secular Heritage]

The Cheraman legend is not corroborated by any contemporary record or evidence. None of the early or medieval travelers who visited Kerala has referred to it in their records. Thus Sulaiman, Al Biruni, Benjamin of Tuleda, Al Kazwini, Marco Polo, Friar Odoric, Friar Jordanus, Ibn Babuta, Abdur Razzak, Nicolo-Conti – none of these travelers speaks of the story of the Cheraman’s alleged conversion to Islam.

Sreedhara Menon also authoritatively states that Kerala never had a king called Cheraman Perumal and quotes Dr. Herman Gundert, the German who composed the first Malayalam-English dictionary and the grandfather of Herman Hesse for this. But there seems to have been a Cheraman Perumal, whose history is overlaid by legend. According to Saiva tradition, he had an association with a Sundaramurti, the last of the three hymnists of Devaram. This Cheraman Perumal vanished in 825 A.D, about 200 years after Muhammed thus confirming that all that Mecca trip was a fanciful legend.[10]

Footnotes:

There are various theories on Kerala's relation with the Jews. According to oral tradition Jews established trading contacts with Kerala during the time of Solomon. There are other traditions which claim that Jews came to Kerala during the time of King Nebuchadnezar of Babylon in 500 BC, the time of Buddha. According to Romila Thapar in her book Early India, the Jews came to India in the tenth and eleventh century AD.

The Jews of Cochin say that they came to Cranganore (south-west coast of India) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. They had, in effect, their own principality for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Moors, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode) attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were "tampering" with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known).

Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin passed into the British sphere of influence. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam and Parur. Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel).[The Virtual Jewish History Tour]

Among the ancient graves outside the synagogue, stand a tombstone which dates from 1264, making it the oldest Hebrew inscription found in India. The oldest such document is regarding a wedding that took place in the synagogue in 1812. [Kerala showcases its Jewish history, treasures]

The BBC has an article on the theory that the town of Pattanam in Kerala could be the location of the ancient port of Muziris.

What is known, from a 1st Century document, is that the harbour was "exceptionally important for trade."

Clues to its location are provided in ancient Indian texts. Professor Rajan Gerta, from Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala, said that there are many references to "ships coming with gold, and going back with 'black gold'" - pepper.

"These ships went back with a whole lot of pepper and various aromatic spices, collected from the forests," he added. Merchants from a number of different cultures are believed to have operated in the port, and there are numerous Indian finds from the time as well as Roman ones.

In 1983, a large hoard of Roman coins was found at a site around six miles from Pattanam. However, even if Muziris has been found, one mystery remains - how it disappeared so completely in the first place.

Dr Tomba said that it has always been presumed that the flow of the trade between Rome and India lasted between the 1st Century BC through to the end of the 1st Century AD, but that there is growing evidence that this trade continued much longer, into the 6th and early 7th Century - although not necessarily continually. [Search for India's ancient city via email from Srijith]

Note that the map shows the location of the Cheraman Perumal Masjid, which according to myth, was built by a Kerala king who converted to Islam.

(Image via Dr. Shajan)

While the Harappans were known to burry the dead, in South India, there was this custom of burrying the dead in urns. In the past few years there were discoveries of burrial urns in various places in Tamil Nadu. Burrial urns, 2800 years old were found in Adichanallur with the urns having inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi. Later urns dating from 3rd century BCE to 3rd century AD were found in Palani.  This practice of burrying people in urns was common in ancient Greece as well as in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Now three types of burrial urns, believed to date back to between 6th century BCE and 2nd century AD have been found in Kaladi (Adi Shankara's birth place) in Kerala.

The urns were excavated by a team of researchers led by B. Ramesh, Director of the Research Centre at Sree Sankara College in Kalady. "Three types of earthen urn burials and some pots were found in a single day's excavation. Due to heavy downpour, the contents were severely affected. The biggest urn is 4.5 feet high and 2.75 ft in diameter," Dr. Ramesh said.

He said that its lower half had a height of 2.75 ft. The height of the upper half cannot be ascertained due to the damage that has occurred to it over the years. This was found 2.5 feet beneath the surface. It is a handmade red-and-black ware having a shape similar to that of an egg, with an ovoid lid. A prominent rim is seen on the middle part that joins the two halves.

The second urn (a medium-sized) was 3 ft high and has an inner diameter of 1.5 ft. It was situated on the northeast side of the main urn and three feet beneath the ground level. It also has a lid similar to the big one. But the bottom portion is a flattened one.

The third urn, smaller in size, also was 2.75 ft away from the main urn. Small earthen plates in broken conditions are also seen near the urns. Dr. Ramesh said the research team had conducted similar excavations near the present site on the banks of the Periyar. The team had found tools of varying sizes and shapes belonging to the Neolithic period. Various black and red pots and pot shreds were also retrieved.

The research team is now trying to identify more sites in the area that bear the relics of ancient culture and civilisations. They have also started a project to collect evidence that mark the presence of such age-old remains dating back to the Neolithic and Megalithic periods.

Archaeologists say the burial urns found in Kalady indicate that a civilised society lived there more than 2,500 years ago and the excavation also reflects the typical south Indian megalithic culture. [Burial urns of Megalithic period excavated]

Rare text of Swathi Thirunal found

The text, 'Sandupuruvarnanam,' describing the unique feature of erstwhile royal state of Travancore, was recently traced by manuscript researchers at Manoormadam Kottaram in Mavelikkara in Alappuzha district.
Out of the 57 palm leaves of this text penned by Swathi Thirunal in Malayalam script, 31 have been found among a bundle of manuscripts in a box at Manoormadam, Assistant Co-ordinator of Manuscripts Post-survey Programme, P L Shaji told PTI.
From the inscriptions on the text, it could be learnt that they were written in AD 1839, he said.