NAMPOOTHIRIES PART 4 HISTORY OF NAMPOOTHIRIS
Introduction The Namboothiri Community - A History- Article preparedby Dr. Kesavan Veluthat. Dr.Kesavan Veluthat belongs to Veluthat Mana, near Tirur in Malappuram dt. His bestcontribution to Indian History is his studies on "Brahman Settlements in Kerala". He anchored abook in the same name which is now considered as the best source of information in the concerned area.Dr. Kesavan teaches History in Mangalore University. The Brahmanans of Kerala are known asNamboothiris. Historical evidences as wellas their own traditions suggest that they came fromNorth India and settled down in Kerala, migrating along the West Coast*. It isclear that they constitute links in a long chain of migration along the WestCoast of India, carrying with them the tradition that Parasuramancreated their land and donated it to them. Infact, one sees this tradition all along the West Coast from Sourashtra on; andthe Brahmanical traditions in the Canarese (Karnataka) and Malabar Coasts arenearly identical to one another. According to that tradition,Parasuraman created the land between Gokarnam and Kanyakumari and settledBrahmanans there in sixty-four Gramams or "villages". As a result, the Brahmanans of Kerala shareseveral common features with the Brahmanans of the Canarese coast; thisalso distinguishes them from their counterparts in the rest of South India. In the historical inquiry, thisis extremely important. What is necessary is not to look for the placeof their origin or the identity and date of Parasuraman but to ascertain thesocial function of such a tradition and examine the extent of linkages betweenthe two regions and their cultures. Itis stated that thirty two out of the sixty four gramams are in theTulu-speaking region and the remaining thirty two, in the Malayalam- speakingregion in Kerala. Recenthistorical research has identified these settlements on either side of theborder. Those in Keralaproper are listed in the Keralolpathi, the narrative of Kerala history.They are: a) Between rivers Perumpuzha andKarumanpuzha: 1.Payyannur,2.Perumchellur, 3.Alattiyur, 4.Karantola, 5.Cokiram, 6.Panniyur, 7.Karikkatu,8.Isanamangalam, 9.Trissivaperur, 10.Peruvanam. b) Between rivers Karumanpuzha andChurni: 11.Chemmanda,12.Iringalakkuda, 13.Avattiputtur, 14.Paravur, 15.Airanikkalam, 16.Muzhikkalam,17.Kuzhavur, 18.Atavur, 19.Chenganatu, 20.Ilibhayam, 21.Uliyannur,22.Kazhuthanatu. c) Between river Churni andKanyakumari: 23.Ettumanur,24.Kumaraanallur, 25.Vennanad or Kadamuri, 26.Aranmula, 27.Tiruvalla,28.Kitangur, 29.Chengannur, 30.Kaviyur, **31.Venmani, and32.Nirmanna. My note- Venmani is near my home and the many Brahminsdistinguish as Nampyathies and some as Nampoothiries nowa days. Nampyathies are mainly farmers. Ofthese, most survive today with the continuing Brahmanical traditions and thestructural temples known as Gramakshetrams. Many find mention in the epigraphicalrecords dating from the ninth century and a few are mentioned in literature. Moreover, every Namboothiri houseclaims to belong to one or the other of these thirty two settlements in Kerala. Thehistoricity of the Grama-affiliation of the Namboothiris, therefore, cannot bedoubted. It is possible that these settlements came up between the third andninth centuries of the Christian era, i.e., the close of the early historical period in thehistory of South India, described by historians as the "Sangam Age",and establishment of the Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram. There is a solitaryreference to the northernmost, and thus possibly the oldest, of thesesettlements, namely Chellur or Perumchellur or Taliparamba, in the Tamil"Sangam" literature with a Vedic sacrificial background and theParasurama tradition; but the rest of them are clearly products of a laterperiod. It is also clear that all these had been not only established but also sufficiently prosperousby the beginning of the ninth century, when the Chera kingdom wasruling over Kerala from Mahodayapuram. Whatis important is that when we begin to get historical evidence, they were wellestablished around temples, controlling the temple and the vast estates of landthat it possessed. The Gramamwas synonymous with the temple and vice-versa. It will not be far toowrong to look at these settlements as so many agrarian corporations centeredaround the temples. In fact, much of the agrarian land inKerala was under the control of these thirty-two Gramamsor the several Upagramams they had - at least that is the impression that wegather from the inscriptions of the period. With such Brahmanical control ofland and the population dependent on that land, it is not surprising that Kerala came to be known asbrahmakshatram or where Brahmanans wielded the power of Kshatriyas. Infact, the statements inKeralolpathi as well as other historical sources, that it was the Brahmananswho put the Chera king on the throne, mean the same thing. In any case,the presence of the Brahmanans in the polity of that kingdom is really verystrong. We see this at various levels, from the royal court down. As suggested earlier, the villages wereorganised around temples, which owned landed properties in large measure.Committees known as ur (oor), urar, or uralar managed these temples and theirproperties. Thesecommittees consisted of the prominent Brahmanan landowners of the locality andwere, basically, concerned with their own interests in the landed property. Thestrong sense of community exhibited by such committees is remarkable. Thecommittees are shown to have had a corporate character, taking decisionsunanimously and carrying them out ruthlessly. Idiosyncrasies of individual members were never tolerated;nor was anything detrimental to the corporate interest of the bodies. Elaborateprocedures, often following the prescriptions in the Dharmasastra texts, couldbe seen in the records, such as what is called the Muzhakkala kacham, which earlier historians likeElamkulam P.N. Kunjan Pillai took as designed to protect the interests of thetenants. Thissolidarity rendered them a very powerful group in society and this, coupledwith the ideological tools such as Varnaashrama Dharmam and the Agamaicreligion of the temple, enabled them to dictate the pattern of society. It isthis that enabled them to be the kingmakers in every possible way. Anotherelement which helped them gain in power was the curious practice of arms which a section ofBrahmanans in Kerala had. Known variously as the Chatter or Chattirar, thesearms-bearing Brahmanans are seen in records from different parts of India fromthe post-Gupta period onwards. It is from Kerala that we have the clearestinformation about them. Wehear about the significant institutions called Salais, which imparted militarytraining to these Brahmanan youthin different parts of Kerala - some of them had been looked upon by theneighbouring rulers as a veritable military threat to them. They had no pretension of Vedicscholarship, but on account of their muscle power, they became a considerableforce in society and politics. Inthe subsequent period, however, their profession of arms lost all relevance andthey were reduced to the status of professionals performing the typically Namboothiri entertainment, partritual and part art, known as Sanghakkali or Panayam Kali. In any case, Namboothiris hadbecome a significant economic, social and political force by the time the CheraPerumals were ruling over Kerala. Thisjustifies the statement of a modern historian that the polity under the Cherasof Mahodayapuram was in reality a Brahmanan oligarchy and that the Brahmanansconstituted the real power behind the throne. And, there was indeed a Tali, the memory of whichsurvives in four temples council of Brahmanans in the Chera capital known asthe Nalu of Melttali, Keezhtali, Netiya Tali and Chingapuram Tali. Whenthe Chera kingdom disintegrated in the twelfth century, the influence of theBrahmanans did not, nevertheless, decline. In fact, we see them deciding thecourse of history with renewed vigour. The practice that the eldest sonsucceeded to the estates of thefamily continued and was strengthened by accepting the custom, that only he waseligible to marry within the caste and father children to inherit the properties of the family, whichnearly got the force of law. This resulted in the consolidation ofthe properties, but also led tothe extinction of several families. The properties of such families went totheir near relatives and this led to the rise of huge landed magnates amongNamboothiris in these medieval centuries. Correspondingly, the insistence ofunanimity in the meetings of the temple committees is no longer seen. Also, onecomes across attendance by proxy being allowed in such meetings. All this ledto the consolidation of feudal tendencies and the consequent growth oflandlordism. It was not, contrary to what some historians have held, a case ofthe cruelty and caprice of Brahmanans who deprived the non-Brahmanan landownersof their landed properties. Differentiationon the basis of wealth also led to differences in ritual status. We start getting Namboothiris of infinitelyvarying ritual status from this period onwards. Increased wealth and politicalpower led to greater leisure, which made possible the creditable intellectualand cultural contributions by members of this community. It also resulted ingreater licentiousness. The literature of thisperiod, in both Sanskrit and Manipravalam, which was a mixture of Sanskrit andMalayalam, gives us a picture of such easy-going life, as do otherforms art in this period, including the Devadaasi dance and the theatricalperformances such as Koodiyattam and Koothu. It is for this reason that this period earned the ratherappropriate sobriquet of being the "orgiastic period" of theNamboothiris. Theperiod after the fifteenth century witnessed major changes in the course of thehistory of Kerala. Trade with the western world, first via Arab Muslims andthen directly through the Portuguese and the Dutch, brought about a majortransformation. TheNamboothiris failed to read the writing on the wall and adapt to the changedsituation accordingly. They lived in a make-believe world offeasts and Kathakali and games of chathurangam and the like, unmindful of thewinds of change that were blowing around. Whenthe trading companies got gradually transformed into political masters, theNamboothiris again lagged behind. Probablybelieving in the permanence of the landed wealth they had, they refused to taketo English education and thus make use of the immense opportunities offered bythe colonial state, unlike their counterparts in other parts of the country. Thecynicism that resulted, expressed itself in the form of the proverbialNamboothiri humour and the poetry of the Venmani variety. It wassomewhat unbearable for them to see their own tenants and children (of othercastes, to be sure) being their rulers, this time dictating terms to them. Thispushed them toinitiate social reforms among themselves, demanding modern education, rights toproperty for all members of the family, proscription of polygyny and permittingeven the younger brothers to marry within the caste. It was this'Yogakshemam' movement during the early twentieth century, spearheaded bystalwarts like Kurur Unni Nambudiripad and V.T.Bhattathiripad, which broughtabout some semblance of modernisation to the community. When far-reaching land reforms wereadopted in Kerala in the post-independence period, the Namboothiris received afurther shock. Many of them lost their land and the only source of livelihood;but many others have taken to modern education and qualified themselves tocompete with the rest of society in the modern world (To kno w more about thisClick here ). However,nostalgia for what is perceived as a lost golden age continues, which oftentakes the form of an unfortunate revivalism and obscurantism as several associationstestify. * NOTE: Readers may note that the issueof whether there was an "Aaryan Invasion" of India, or they wereindigenous to the land, or there was a series of migrations with resultantcultural absorptions and adaptations, is yet to be resolved. Archeologists,historians, linguists, social scientists, anthropologists, politicians, and ahost of "experts" are still arguing and have not reached anyconsensus. – Editor Reading List: Note:This is not a comprehensive bibliography. Those who are interested in greaterdetails may go to the literaturereferred to in the works mentioned below. 1.Ganesh, K.N., "Keralattinte Innalekal" (in Malayalam), Department ofCultural Publications, Govt of Kerala, 1990. 2. Narayanan, M.G.S. and Kesavan Veluthat,"A History of the Namboothiri Community in Kerala", in"Agni" Edited by Frits Staal,Asian Humanities Press, Berkeley, 1983. 3.Narayanan, M.G.S., "Perumals of Kerala", Calicut 1996. (Published bythe author.) 4.Rao, Nagendra, "The Historical Tradition of South Canara and theBrahmanical Groups: A Study of Gramapaddhati and Sahyadri Khanda", M.Phil. Dissertation(unpublished), Mangalore University, 1995. 5. Varier, Raghava and Rajan Gurukkal,"Kerala Charitram" (in Malayalam) Vallathol Vidyapitham, Sukapuram,1991. 6.Veluthat, Kesavan, "The Brahman Settlements in Kerala: HistoricalStudies", Sandhya Publishers, Calicut, 1978. I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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