The decline of Nayar dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908 8173040656, 9788173040658

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The decline of Nayar dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908
 8173040656, 9788173040658

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THE DECLINE OF NAYAR DOMINANCE

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THE DECLINE OF NAYAR DOMINANCE Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847-1908

ROBIN JEFFREY

'

HOLMES & MEIER PUBLISHERS, INC. New York

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First published in the United States in 1976 By Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc. 101 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10003 Copyright © 1976 by Robin Jeffrey All rights reserved. Library of Congreaa Cataloging in Publication Data Jeffrey, Robin. The decline of Nayar dominance. Bibliography: p. 1. Travancore-Politics and government. z. Travancore­ Social conditions. 3. Nairs. I. Title. 05485.T7J36 301.5'92'095483 74-zzI IZ ISBN 0 -8 419-0184-8 Printed in Great Britain .

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and father - Guid geu '• •carce

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COITENTS

Abbreviations

viii

Preface

X

xiv

Introduction

OIAPl'liR

1. The Distribution of Resources, 1847: Nayars in Coafort 2. Militant Missionaries: N- Reeources for Low cast", 1847�

3. travancore transforaed: N- Resources for A11, 1860-72

4. cash, Caste and CUst011s: The Bffeet of Ne• Resources, 1872-91

5. The Mal-.yali 5abb-. •nd the Malayali -rial: Out of Chan�, Conflict, 1886-91

6. The Brahain-Nayar Official &lit• and its Coapetitors, 1891-1904

7. 'SOcial Civil War•, Nayar• at Bay, 1902-8

1

37 70

104 157 177

215

Epilogue Bnd of Matriliny: Beginning of Disillusion

253

Notes

272

Glossary

331

Conclusion

330

Appendix

Biographical Notes

335 347 365

Bibliography Index

vi

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I would aore eapecially ca.11 attention to the central point of intereat ,, , in any deacriptive and hiatorical accow,t of the Na1ayali race - the poaition, naaely, which waa occupied tor centw-i•• on centw-iea by the Nayar c:aate in the civil and llili• tary organization of the province, - a poaition ao unique and ao laating that blat tor foreign intervention there •-• no reuon why it ahould not have continued to endW'e for centuriea on cen­ turiea to coaa. Their function• in the body politic have been terMlY deacribed in their own tradition• .. 'the •Y•'. 'the hand' I a nd 'the order•, and to the preaent day we find the• apread througb­ out the length and breadth of th• land, but no longer - I could aay, alaal - •preventing the righta (of all clu•••l fr- being curtailed or auffered to fall into diauae•, - Williaa Logan, Mal.Abar, Vol.I, 1887, pp,v-vi •

•••

O Wbo baa not heard of that wondert'ul aan, Sir GePWO'l Row, the great Dewan, Who ha• ruled lor the laat ten yeara or aore, The Protected State of Cocoanutcore? Thia State, if judged fr- •Reporta• you read, Ia a very wonderful State indeed; A 'Model State•, in which you -Y aM averything ia juat a• it ahould be, Where dwellea worthy and well-oiled nation, llleat with a t'aultleaa adainiatration; The brighteat land, with the lighteat tax, And an annual aurplua o f fifty lace; Where happy ryota ne•er peatared by faainea, Till field•, in aubjection to bleaaed Brahains. • • • • • • • •

In abort, and l'• aure I cannot aay aore, 'Tia heaven on earth, tbia Cocoanutcore. R .c .caldwell, 'The Good Sir C--eaaon Row•, Chutney Lyrica, 1871,

•••

Wbil• a Brahain friend of aine wu travelling on Gover,-nt duty in the Kottayaa Diviaion with a saart local officer, the latter ea.id in reply to repeated queations about the country and people - 'Whenever you••• a peraon that is atrong in phyaique, ._rt and of good bearing, you aay infer that he is either a Syrian Chriatian or an Ilavan; and it' you Me one that ia in physique, pale and liatl••• in bearing, your inference that ha is a Nair will not often be aiatalten. Siailarly, if you •- a garden land with a good hedge and firat-rate cocoanut palaa in it, you can infer that the owner ia a Syrian or Ilavan - if Mdgel••• and unattended, you can be aura that the land belong• My friend, the Brahain official, found out aub••· to a Nair,' quently by experience that all the local officer had aaid •a• true .... Th• aaae condition of thing• I have fou.nd to be true aore or l••• in the South of Travancore alao, Uthe word 'Native• ia aubatituted for •Syrian• and 'Shanar 1 for 1 Ilavan•. - SpMch by P,Th&nu Pillai, quoted in a letter to the Madraa Mail, 9 Oct. 1901.

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ABBRBVIATI� - Aapthill Paper•

AP

- Congregational Council tor World Niaaion, London Ch .Sec.

- Chief Secretary to the Nadraa Gover-nt

CNS

- Church Miaaionary Society

OCSA

- Church Niaaionary Society Archive•

CRR

- Crown Repreaentative Record•

LD

- Letter• to the Dewan

UtG

- Letter• to the Nadru Government

UIS

- London Niaaionary Society

UIS, TDC

- London Niaaionary Society, Travancor• Diatrict C«-ittee

Mal .Mar ,coa.

- Report ot the Malabar Mfrriage Ccaaiaaion1 1891

Maxu,Report

- Report ot the Travancore Naruapkkathf.Yaa CO-itt-1 1908



- NannanAa Nonaatery Library

MPP

- Madru Political Proc�inga

MRR

- Nadraa Reaidency Record•

NAI

- National Archive• ot India

RNNM

- Report• on Native Newapapera, Nadra1 - Travancore Adainiatration Report - Travancore Governaent Bngliah Records - Travancore Governaent Gazette

•n.c Proc.'

- •Proceeding• ot the Travancore Legislative Council'

UlC

- United Theological College, Bangalore viii

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COCHIN STATE

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·-·Sw1eboundt,y - - - Otatttci or St Nayar• held in 1847 when this story begins.

NOTES 1. Prakash Tandon, �jabi Century, 1857-1947 (Berkeley: University of California Preas, 1968), pp.11 and 29-31. 2. London Hiaaion,uy Society (hereafter UIS), Travancore District Coaaitt- (hereafter me), Annual Report [hereafter Rsport), 1908, p.10, quoting Rev.Jwa Duthie who arrived in Travancore in 1859. The trip froa Madras to Quilon by ship in the 18SO. could be -de in 4 or 5 days if a ship was available. The railway react...i Quilon in 1903. 3. The woaan was Mary Poonen (later Mr•.Mary Poonen Lukoae) who becaae the director of the Travancore -ic&l departaent in 1924. See the Madras Mail, 26 Oct. 1915, p.3 and 24 sept. 1924, p.4. She waa the first Malayali woaan to take a BA degrin 1909. Madras Mail, 6 March 1909, p.5. 4. The area around Cape Coaorin waa Taail-apeaking. Tbeae T-il taluka -r• transferred to Taail Nadu (then Madras state) during the reorganization of the Indian states on a linguistic baai• in 1956. 5. Keralolp&tti, discussed in Will1- Logan, Malabar, Vol.I (Madras: Government Pre", 1951; first published 1887), pp.221-4. 6. �., p.224n. s- alao A.Sr�ra Menon, A Survey of Kerala (Kottay_, National Book Stall, 1970), pp,10-11, which History suggest• that the Keralolpatti dates froa the 18th or 19th century.

7. To talk of a •village• in Kerala is to suggest a aialeading picture. 5ettle-nt is dispersed, on. houae and coconut garden -rgea with another, and to a at ranger i t is iapossible to discern where one deaaa ends and another begins.

8. Luis Du*>nt, Hotlo Hierarchicua (London: Paladin, 1972), p.207,

9. For diacuaaions of the 'doainant cast••, aee Dwaont, Hiera.rchicu.a,

pp.205, 207 and 333 (note 34b); M.N.Srinivaa, 1The Social Syatof a Mysore Village', in McKia Marriott, ed., Village India (Chicago: Chicago University Preas, 1955), p.17, and 'Th• Doainant Caste in Raapura•, Aaerican Anthropologist, Vol.XIV, 1958, pp.416, 420 and 426 ; Kathleen Gough, • The Hindu Jajaani Syst - 1 , Bconoaic Developaent and Cultural ChanSI!, Vol.IX, No.1, Oct.1960, p,91; Peter M.Gardner, 'Doainance in India: A Reappraisal', Contributions to Indian SocioloSI)', New Series, No.II, Dee,1968, pp,82-97; F.G,Bailey, Tribe1 Cf.ate and Nation (Manchester: Manchester University Pr•••, 1960), pp.257-63. For critici... of the concept of the •d oainaAt caste• which atr••• the illport­ ance of factionali•• �g so-called •dominant caste•, •- T.K. Ooamen, 1 Tbe Concept of Dominant Caste: Some Queries•, Con­ tributions to Indian SociolOSl)I, N- Series, No.II, Dec.1968,

""

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pp.58-81. See al•o B.B.Bvane-Pritchard, 'The Nuer of the Southern Sudan', i.n M.Fortee and Bvane-Pritchard, ede., 1962; African Political §Y•t-• (Oxford: Univereity firet published, 1940), pp.281-2, for a diecueaion o f '•119-ntary oppoeition• which I think etren9thene the ar9uaenta of thoee who atreea the iAportance of the 'doainant caete•. 10. Nayar• -re divided into a nuaber of eubcaatee. Thee• will be diacueeed later. 11. Ca.,.u• of India, 1901, Vol.I, Part 1, pp.168-75. Travancore Ceneua Report [hereafter Caneue], 1901, Vol.I, p.208. 12. For discueeion• of dominant rural cast•• enhancing their political importance in the 20th century, see Maureen L.P. Pattereon, •ca.te and POlitical Leaderahip in Maharaehtra. A Review and Current Appraiaal •, Bconoaic W-kly, -bay, 2 5 Sept. 1954, pp.1065-7; John G.Leonard, •Politic• and Social Change in South India: A Study of the Andhra Move-nt', Journal of C«->nwealth Political Studiee, Vol.V, No.1, March 1967, The pp.60-77; Da919&r Bernatorff, 'Bclip•• of "Reddy-Raj"? Att-pted Reetructuring of the Con9re•• Party Leaderehip in Andhra Pradeeh', Aeian Survey, Vol.XIII, No.10, Oc:t.1973, pp. 959-79; Jaaee Manor, D.Pbil. the•i• (1975) for».. Univereity of Sue•- which deal• with caete and politic• in Myeore in the 1930• and 19409; David H,,rdi•an, D.Phil. theeie (1975) for The Univereity of sueeex on politic• in Gujarat in the 1920. and 1930e.

Pr•••,

xxi

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Chapter 1 nm DISTRIBUTia-1 OF RBSOURCBS, 1847: l'IAYARS IN COMFORT A. nm GOIIIIRMMIINT a, TRAVANCORB The Cher& Bapire, which appeara to have aw:vived in varioua foraa froa &bout 130 A.D. to 1100, occuion&lly brought a aodic- of unity to the revion of Kerala. In the courae of & hundrad•ye&r war in the 11th century with the Chol& dynaaty which rulad th• country to the eaat, the Cher& llllpire dia­ inteQratad. Ita local chiefa, deprived of & central loyalty, aet ti..aelvea up &a independent ruler a.1 iror the next aix or aeven hundrad yeara, dosena of petty chief• waQad inter­ aittent wara. The l&rgeat and aoat aucceaaful of theae rulera cl&iaed Kah&triy& atatua, but it••- lilully that they were N&yara who &a & reault of political &nd ailitary aucceaa able to eDQineer & proaotion in ritual atatua.2 Kerala liea on a narrow abelf o f land, never aore than 70 or ao wide, between t he Weatern Gb&ta and the Arabian s-. In placea the Ghat• riae to 8,800 feet, and to croaa th- except at the three -Jor paaaea, P&lQhat, Shenkotta and Araaboli - ia & tortuoua journey. Within Kerala, the country ia hilly &nd interaected by 30 ..jor rivera flowinQ froa the After the diaaolution of the Cher& liapire, Gh&ta to the ae&. the iaol&tion iapoaed by the Gb&ta allowed the development of & political ayatea largely \lndiatw:bed by eventa in the reat of India. At the - ti-, Kerala•a difficult internal c-nicationa produced hereditary rulera of the aaalleat portions o f land. They were linked by a looae ayat• of vaaaal&ge to diatrict and reQion&l chiefa. Th••• in �urn were aubject to the theoretical aovereiQnty of aelt-atyled princes 3 who ai9ht claia to be the r9Q&nta of the laat Cher& aperor. At the loweat level of the adainiatration of the land waa the d••- or village, varyinQ betwNn about 1 and 10 aquare •ilea, depet>dinQ on population, and preaidad over by an heradit&ry Nayar he-n. Theae owed alleQi&nce to the ruler of the diatrict or .!YI!!, '& territorial orQ&nization of the

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rilling Nayars•;

5

the naduvari was theoretical.ly •ubject to

Kshatriya or 'iaaenthan princes.

Conflict• over expen•ion a nd

allegiance were recurring at variou• level•, but -re played

out under recOQDized rule•.

A conquered naduvari wa• left

in control of hi• de•aaa, al.though he paid tribute to hi•

6 conqueror a nd became his aubject - at least until the next war. Parallel with the de.-, though not necesaarily following

the ..-. geographic boundary, were local ca•t• bodie•. Naabudiris were said to have been organized into 6, i�•·aa•

by Paruurw, and it wu the qr••!• which was vital �or thea

in aatter• of cute.

Siailarly, Nayar• in Travancore were

organized in k&ru (tara in north Kerala) and lravas in cheri•.

For Nayara and lravaa, h099ver, by the aid-19th century, the caste organizations

•e- to have been of declining iaportance.7

Under the pre-Britiah policy Nayar• had privileges and power,

although they probably never accounted for more than 20 or 2511 of the population.

They -r•, moreover, recognized only ••

Sudra•, inferior in ritual. atatus to the a-all number• of

NaabAnd.

Indeed, in the areas aouth of Quilon,

a llixed ayatea of inheritance was followed.

The girl lived

with her husband, and aha and her children were entitled to

half of hia self-acquired property on hi• death, the other half 86 When the aatrilineal ayste• becaae paaaing to his nephews. burdenaoae, Iravaa had little difficulty in caating it aside. 21

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Shanar• In the Taail uea• eouth o f Trivandrua, Shan&r• occupied a Bnuaerated at about 6'5 position siailu t o that of Iravas. of the population in 1854 (4.6" in 187S after extensive con­ versions to Christianity), Shanars -r• T-il-apeakin9, patri­ lineal a9riculturali•ts and labourera. They were primarily tapper• of the palayra, •a pala interior only to the coconut, 87 which be9ins to flourish in the dryer cli-te aouth of A c011110n occupation, however, provoked no Neyyattink&ra. fellow-t-linQ between Iravas and Shanara: in areaa where they overlapped, there were •constant conteata •••about pre•88 -inence 1 Unlike Nanjanad Vellal••, a reapected ca.te of Sudra. which had adopted Malayali way•, includin9 the -trilineal ayatea, 9 when it found itaelf in a Malayali-doainated atate, 8 the Shan&ra r-ined Taaila, and, aore iaportant, dependent on Nayar or Nanjanad Vellala landlords. In a nuaber of waya the Taail taluks of south Travancore were a Malayali colony. Nayar• held -ch of the land, and Malayalaa W&S •the lan9Ua9& of the court•, and of the do-atic circle aaon9 Sudraa and Brahaina. Taail ia the lan9Ua9& of the Bazaar and of the lower caatea., 90 The civil diaabilitie• which applied to Iravaa applied alao to Shanara. They were offenaively pollutin9 t o hi9her caatea; their woaen were forbidden to cover their breaeta. Since 1806, however, converaion to Chriatianity had enabled aore than 7,000 Shanar• to eacape fro• •.,.. of the worst dia­ abili tiea iapoaed on th- by their traditional atatus and occupation. In that year Tobia• Rin99ltaube, a Pruaaian, affiliated with the London Misaionary Society, had entered the atate and� the firat Shan&r convert• uound Na9ercoil. Rin9eltaube was aucc...i.cl by two lln9liah aisaionaries in 1816. C..• ot thea, Rev. Charles Mead, becaae a belli99rent challpion ot the converts, and after disturbance• with the hi9h castea in the 1820a, he extracted fro• the airk&r the ri9ht tor Shanar 22

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Chri•tian woaen to cover their br•a•t• with a di•tinctive jacket. By the 18.50a the I.MS had about 15,000 adherent• in the area •outh of Trivandrum; ao•t were Sh&nar•• 91 (Thi• wa• in contra•t to north Travanc:ore where the CMS did not begin to pro•elyti.ze until after it• rupture with the Jacobite• bee.- final in 1840). Sh&nar• • position of de•pi•ed •-i­ aliens gave th .. little stake in Travanc:ore aociety, and helps to ac:count for their readine•• to convert to a...,. religion which proaiaed protection and opportunity for -terial iaprove­ .. nt. Slave C&atea Deapiaed and oppreaaed though Sh&nara and Iravaa were, other caatea suffered fr011 graver diaabilitiea - which Sh&nar• and Iravaa -r• faatidioua about enforcing. The alave cutea, principally compoaed of Pulayas, Pariah• and Kuravas, were fairly accurately enuaerated in the 1854 c•n•u• at about 13� of the population. After thousand• o f conversiona to 92 Christianity, they still aaounted to 131i in 1881. Pulayaa were the largest MCtion, Malayalaa-spesld.ng, and concentrated in the area• froa Trivandrum north. In Pariah­ dominated regions aouth of Trivandrum, Pulayas were said to be the 1-••t o f caatea; but the ,.._ waa clailled of Pariahs who 93 lived in central and north Travancore. Although Kuravaa ah&red -e of the characteristics of the hill tribes, they bad been bound to the land for generations; they were concentrated in Trivandrua district. Within each slave ca•t• there were endogaaous aubdivisions, but th••• were uniaportant to their ritual auperiora. Brahains and Nayar• considered th••••lvea polluted if a alave approached within SO or 100 yarda, while •none of the Sh&nara ••• will 94 approach th- within a di•tance of Sor 6 yarda•. Slavea cried out aa they walked along the edge• of road• to warn high caatea of their approach I if a h i g h -caate -n or waa&n approached the slave took to the fields. Th• condition of the •lave caate• in 1847 could have been only alightly worse than Samuel Mat-r found it in 1884: 23

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The ••n are in wretched filthy clothes.

There is

111.1ch slll'ferin9 fr'111l aiclu>ess, the dirt of the h011se produces verain and itch, which deprives th- of A rHpectable

native aust cover his nostrils with his cloth

when he enters aao"9st thea, for the stench and the filth.

The a9'1(1, if there are any, suffer

l'roa debility, and aay lie helpless day after day until they die;

inl'ants suffer froa sores,

diarrhoea, wor1111 and want of food;

adults from

headache and indi9estion, a9Ue, dysentry, and 95 intermittent fever,

In 1847 slaves carried out all the aost arduous &9ricultural

labour, in return for which they received food.

The airkar

owned about 15,000 whoa it leued t o pri vat• la-lder•.

They -re expected to pay the aidtar and feed the alave•.

96

l>iaobedient alaves could be beaten and _,rdered with iapunity, and all alavea could be 1-lly sold.

' ••. Alaoat every

market �·, at Olanoanacherry, wrote the Rev. Henry Baker, Jr., 'children are br0119ht by their parent• or near relations for 97 The 9oin9 price waa between 6 and 18 rupee•. a ale 1 • The only advant- which alave caatea derived froa their

traditional position was t he horror and revulaion which they

en9endered in hi9h caates,

As late

u the 18th century there •

had been months of the year when Pulayas -re entitled to

abduct or pollute hi9h-caste wo-n;

women ao polluted either followed their polluter or were sold into slavery,98 S1ave­ caate feativals were tolerated which brou9'>t t091tther -re

than 3,CXJO people 'armed with aword•, alin99, pointed atick• and other weapons •••• .

A fi9ht uaually followed •which

al110at invariably end& in aerioua injuries or loaa of life'.

The - alave caatea were noted for •robberie• and outra91ta 1 and •attack• ••• on the Reaident '• ba1X1&9"'. 99 Because they were ao offenaive, they -r� 9"fterally left alone. At the aaae time, not all slave holder• were cruel, and

even a cruel aaater had an intereat in keepin9 his slave• alive,

He depended on their labour just aa they depended on

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hia patronage,

Aa late as 1943 an Irava anthropolo¢at

claimed that -bera of for-r slave caatea ""° -r• not tied to a high-caste far.er felt 'handicapped that they have no lOO protector and lord• • The position of the slave castes was in fact ao debased

that they -r• little touched by the rapid changes of tile late

19th century which affected aost other sections of Travancore

society.

In the 1890a accusations about alave-holding were

still aade, and in 1918 a leading Nayar could refer un-

consciously to 'Pulaya alavea• and conclude that •the Pulayaa -� aarfa ••• , •101 have 110atly reaa in,_.

...

Conversion to Christianity wu their only road to iaprove­

Mnt;

but they had so little t o offer - their resources both

of atatua and of -t•rial things -re non-existent - that -• aissionariea were reluctant to accept th•. They saw that slave-caste converts would lower the prestige of the

aisaion and make it a,re difficult for th- to retain Syrian Christiana or to convert •-bera of higher castes.

For the

chapters which follow, however, the elave caatea are iaportant

because their plight first roused LMS and CMS agents to united protest to the sirkar and the Madras Government.

The

aisaionariea• caapaign for the abolition of slavery which began

in 1847 soon broadened into a auch wider challenge to s.- of the principles of Travancore society.

The refor•s which the

sirkar was forced - and later encouraged - to -ke impelled decisive changes in that society.

Their traditional cuatoas, status and occupations gave

caatea - and let ua include Syrian Christiana as a caste for

the aoaent - different advantages and potential in 1847.

Malayali Brahaina, a tiny fraction of the population, were so venerated, ao -althy and so re11oved froa the everyday world

that until the 20th century they -re to carry on unconscious

of, and unresponsive to, the changes taking place around them.

On the other hand, the a lave castes were ao badly placed in traditional society that there waa little they could do to take advanta9e of change.

Between theae two extreaes, however, non-Malayali Orahmins, 2S

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Nayar•, Syrians, Travaa and Sbanars were to be helped or

handicapped alter 1847 by their cuatou and ritual etatus. Qi the face of it, Nayar• held the beat carda.

The largeat

identifiable group, they were the traditional k-pera of the

social order, cloaely linked through hypergaay to the Malayali

Brahains and Kshatriya princes.

Moreover, u

1N

ehall •••,

-ch o f the land waa theirs, and their aarnukkattay- ayatea

� inheritance wu calculated to preserve their ea tatea.

the aarmaakl9 the Nubudiri Brahllins who acquired abaolute right to the soil (janaan

2

'birth, nativity•).

Their

OM\erahip ot the land preceded th-caate atylea of dre••,

and in thia queation low-c&atea were able to harneaa aisaionary

zeal for decency to their own idea• of preatige.

Nayar• were forbidden •,....,al•, uabrella• and .... types ot

j._llery, but what aost offended the missionaries - and 110at clearly aarked a woman as low-caate - was the cuatoa which

prohibited loe-caate .._n froa covering their breasts.

tbis

wu not completely unfair, for Nayar ..,..n, althougl\ they had

the rigl>t to ...r a acanty upper cloth, were required to bare their breaats before t-ple deities and caate superiora.

Moreover, in north Travancore where the 015 worked, Nayar ....n generally -nt bare-breaated by choice;

in the southern

district• T&llil influence was stronger and the diatinctive 82 upper cloth wu worn. Syrian Christian woman traditionally In t he north, then, the CMS

wore a long-alNved blouse.

could put it• convert• i.nto costuaea aiailar to the Syriana•;

the atyle of dress was loDQ eatabliahed, and tor wo-n, a covered torao brought little atatua anyway.

But in the aouth

the rigl\t to cover the breaats waa r-rded aa a great social privilege, and the airkar punished tho•• low-c&ata wo••n who the dignity. 8 3

a••-

After so- rioting i.n 1829 Head achieved contir-tion of an

earlier procl.-tion allowing Shanar convert• to -ar a jacket (kuppayaa), but they -re still forbidden to -ar the upper

cloth of the Nayar• or the blouse ot Tamil Brabllina.

Shan&r• -r• to go bare-breasted aa before. statua, not decency, that Shanar• aought.

Hindu

But it waa

The lcupP&Yaa did

not bee._ fairly general aaong Chriatian woman until the

aligl\t iapro-nt in the financial condition of Shanars i.n

the 1850., and even then the aisaionaries had to reaort to

subaidi•• and gentle coercion to poJJ"larize it.

'Tho•• who

can afford it invariably •ar th-•, wrote the Rev. Ebeneser 58

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Lewi•, •and even thoae who cannot Uford to purchase such alwaye cover th-lves in the house of God'.

But local

cloth wu too rough to be eatiefactory, and he appealed

for old dreeeee froa England which could be reaade into 85 About a year later, in 1856, the aiaaionariea kuppayaa.

beQ&ll an organieed caapaign to clothe their f_.le adherente. '••• it ha• been exceedingly difficult', confeeeed the Rev.

Frederic Baylie, •to introduce what to them ie a etranve

cuet011 ••• the woaen venerally have been content with putting their cloth over their heads and folding it in front, when

they coae to service, which ie not sufficient covering even then, and on other occasions going about as the heathen

In the previous year, however, about 500 jackets

WOMn'

were aade by the girl• in the boarding echool in Nagercoil;

150 -re dietributed free and the reat sold for the coat of

the aaterial.

'At our last celebration of the Lord'•

Supper, for the firet ti-, every one of the t..ale -•bere, old woaen as well ae young (and the old generally have a great objection to theae new-fangled cuatoaa) had on the 86 jacket and were thua decently clothed.'

But there wae more enthuaiaP for the fliaey upper cloth

than for the thoroughly decent kuppayaa.

In 1855 a group

of Shanar convert•, not content with the kuppayaa, petitioned the eirkar for peraission to dress their 87 pleaeed. Their requeet waa rejected, weakne•• of the eirkar and encouraged by 88 contempt for Krishna Rao•• 90-v.rnaent,

women ae they

but perceiving the

the aisaionariea•

Christian women

began increaaingly to wear the forbidden upper cloth, often on top of the kuppayaa.

exaaple.

Hindu Shanare followed their

In O.Cember 18S8, after a few earlier disturbances,

P. Shungoony Menon, the Nayar dewan peahkar of the southern

division, heard cbaro•• a9&inat a Christia.n Shanar woaa.n who

had worn the upper cloth in violation of the terae of the

proclaaation which Mead had extracted in 1829.

Shungoony

Menon accused the Hindu and Chriatian Sh&nara of •autual

consultation• to overturn the laws of the state, and reported 59

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that U a deciaion wa.a 11iven &Q&iMt tbe accused woaan •it 1• their intention to &••-ble in a aultitude and create diaturbance• .•••. The crux o f the -tter wu that 'the Sha.nar -n -a.rin11 dilferent kinda of clotb [ aic] 11.ke tbe Soodra.a and otber biljh cute people, and frequentin11 tb• public road•, cannot be diat in!l"i•hed a.a Sba.nar• •••• When the dialoy&l conduct of the Chriati&n Sban&ra i• properly dealt with, the Hindu Shana.ra would beb&ve [eic] t-elvea u tbey ollljht to do.•89 On 3 January 1859, after tbe circula­ tion of a airka.r notilica.tion -int&ininQ the la.wa of dreaa, be reported that a Shanar aob bad a.tt&eked tbe tobacco ahop &Dd acae -rchanta in Kottu, near N&Q8rcoil.90 Sbl1J>900DY

Menon'• ayapa.thiea obvioualy lay with the Nayar and Vella.la. landlord• of hi• diatrict who -r• beinQ pla11ued by a1111reaaive Shanara and recalcitrant Pariah alavea.

Chriati&n &Dd Hindu Shenar•, however, had the support o f the •iaaiona.ri••, wbo told a different atory. They &llJ:.. d tb&t the trouble beQ&n in Kottar on 4 January, but it -• Naya.ra and By­ Vellalu who beat Sh&nara and tore off upper clotha.91 pa.aain11 Shun11oony Menon and the D-an, tbe lliaaiona.riea wrote directly to Cullen. They accused 4 a.riatocra.tic Na.ya.rs of havir>Q orQ&niaed the attacks, but Cullen waa aceptical. Thuabiea a.re probably -n of reapectability, 2 of the 4 aore especially', he wrote to tbe Dewan, wbo wu by tbia 'I ahould be cautioua tberetore of tiae T. M&dhava Rao. iaplicatir>Q t- without the atror>Qeat evidence.•92 ThrOUljhout January there -r• scattered clubea and atealthy incendia.ri• directed &Q&inat lliaaion property. A detachment of 100 -n of the Nair Brilj&de wa.a aent to Naljercoil under a Buropean officer, <hou11h a• Cullen pointed out, the -n -r• all Naya.ra, aany with relative• and property in the aouth; they •could hardly be expected 93 to afford auch a.i.d•. Yet a picture ot a diatrict ra.va.ljed by fire and eword i• hardly accurate. To be aure, there -re report• of Sb&nara in Tinnevelly in Britiah Indi& prepa.rinQ to invade Tra.vancore 94 a nd of Trava.ncore Sb&n&ra aeekinQ refuQ8 in tinnevelly.

'™••

60

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But by the beginning of ,abruary All waa qui.et. No one••• killed in the diaturbanc••, and the d•uge to aiaaion property 4*>unted to Ra.128 by the airk&r'• eatiute or Re.l,lOS by John Cox'•· CUilen regretted •theM little contret-pe• at the cloae of hie Reaidency and Lord Harri•'• governorahip. 95 He traced the diatw:bAJlcee to • nuaber of c•u•••: • • growing fffling of diaquietude oc the part of the Soodr••, at the innovation• of the Shanar, both Chriatian and Heathen• 1 the etrong ffflinge of al•veholdera againet t he aiaaioaari•• aince the -ncipation procl.wtion of 18SS; the belief of Nayar• that Queen Victoria•• proclwtion of November 18S8 had •annulled all previoua innovatione• in caete.96 Although Hindu and Chriatian Sb.anar• outnuabered Nayare and Vell•l••, tbe latter -r• better organiaed and ar...S, and could count on the eupport of their relative• and c••t-n ••ployed by the airk&r and of their dependent ex-•l•vea and tenanta. When it cw to open violence, Sb•n•r• gained no advantage fr- their connection• with tbe aiaaionariea. But even while the dietw:bulcee -r• going on, the ueefuln••• of aiaeinnary eupport wae apparent in the letter• to CUilen and IIMI aiaaionuiee eoaw:ed appeal• to the Goversment. that the battle-• noieily loat, and u - eb.all •-, thi• did auch to win the war. With the Rebellion atill not ccapletely cruahed in north India, the MAdr•• Goveriment could not ignore conflict in habitually delinquent Tr•vancore.

Madr••

D. MAKING ntB SIRKAR MIND ITS *YS

,or tbe MAdraa Goveriment, tbe breaatcloth diatw:bancee-r• the laat etraw. Since 1852 there had bMn • eteAdy atre.. of petitioc• and ccaplainta froa Travancore, and little reapooae froa the Travancore airk&r -capt excue•• and vacillation. .., but aieeion­ Not •11 the coaplainta had coae fr- aieeionari ary proteate received greateat credence. The aiaaionuiel ...,_ no diatinction bet-n the oppreeaion, corruption and inccapetence of the airku and ite diacria1natory l•w•. A t Goverraent ••• inclined to condean the fo,,_r firat, the But over the year• and ahrug it• ahouldera at the lAtter. 61

Madr••

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aiaaion&J'.y propa9&J'(la aucc...s.d in blw:-ring the diatinction, and by 1859 the aiaaionariea had -de the iaaue of inequitable la•• inaeparable fro• that of adainiatrative chaoa, Miagover-at To be on the aide of the adainistrative angels u far u the Madraa Governaent wu concerned, one had to produce budgetary surplua••; the road to hell was paved with deficits and the aignpo•t• were written in red ink, By such standams the rravancore sirka.r was on the way t� ds-•ion when Krishna Rao 91 took office, tor he inherited a debt of six lakha of rupeea. In his :first He scarcely tried to aoderate the expenditure. year in o:f:fice, a lalch o:f rupee• was spent on cereaoni•• connected with the Maharaja•a death and the thread cereaonie• of one of the princes. In the next fou.r years, Ra.2.13 lalchs -re spent on the M&haraja•s -ighing-in-gold cereaony By 1851 expend­ and Rs. 2 lalchs on the aw:-ajapaa festival. iture on uttupuru, the Brahllin :feedinghousea, had cliabed to Palace and t-ple expenses a new high o:f Ra.3.36 lalchs. Tb• airka.r'• attitude hovered around Ra. 3 lalch• each.9B to expenditw:-e •a• -11 illustrated in 1B38 when the Dewan rejected the Keaident• s proposal for construction of a north­ south road: ••• independent o f certain iaportant repairs and

additions which are now being aade to the Sllri Padaansbha Pagoda at rrevandrua, two new palaces ••• are under construction for the uae of Hi• Highnesa tlw Rajah and the varioua Pagoda•, Palace• and other public buildings froa Suchindraa to the North o f rravancore having :fallen into a state of decay and ruin are also undergoing conaiderable repairs-. and all the above-aentioned works wou.ld neceaaarily 99 require a very large outlay of public funds. Reaunerative public works ..re not within the airlcar's ken. When Krishna Rao proudly reported econoaies of Rs, 75,000 in 1852, the Madru Governaent -r• dis-yed to find that they had been effected by discontinuing the engineering office, 62

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d1-1aa1n9 200 p1oneera, reduc1n9 the nuaber of aunaitfa and cuttin9 the price of pepper paid t o the ryota.lOO

l1>e earl)' 1850a -re replete with def1cita and aiQDa of in-

efficiency.

?be account• tor 1851-2, tor exaaple, did not

reach the Nadru Goveu ..nt until February 1854, and in October

1852 ...... Travancore public aervanta -barraaaed the airkar by petitionin9 Nadraa about their aalary arreara.101 Cullen

aaaured the Nadraa Goverraent that •none but the -•t ordinary 102 arrea.ra of two or thrN aontha exiata•, but later wrote to

Kriabna Rao to warn of illpendin9 •-t danQeroua conaequencea •. Ke pointed out that a Buropean -ployee at Quilon waa 7 -the in arrear• and that all the court official• a t Alleppey and Parur were unpaid.103 ?be operation of the pepper -nopoly increaain9ly brouQht

the airltar into diarepute.

In the 10 yeara, 1849-58, Travan­

core pepper aalea had averaged only 5,000 candiea annually (1 candy• 500 lba.) while Malabar diatr1ct, with the •­ cllaate and area, bad averaQed 18,600 candlea. 104 Jtroa the

early 1850a, the Travancore ryota had not been paid tor the pepper which they turned over to the airkar'• pepper atat1ona. ?be payaent which rightfully belonged to the• waa kept by the local official•. Pepper -99lin9 to 8rit1ah Cochin in

exchan9e tor contraband tobacco bee- a aajor tr�tic, while acme poorer tar.era were aaid to have deatroyed their v1nea to

eacape the attention• of the tahaildara and the pepper depart­

-nt. l1>e ahortage o f pepper, and the aubterfUQe involved in 99tt1ng it, occaaioned -,rial• to the Nadraa Goverwnt froa the Chaaber• of Coaaerce of Madraa, -bay and Ceylon and the -rcbante of Pond1cherry; all called tor the abolition of the 105 Travancore aonopoly. The corruption and incompetence of local official•, which the pepper probl- underl1-d tor the Nadraa Governaent, wu

cl-r even to CUllen. Ke tried to exert 9r-ter control over tahaildare and other official• by appointing diatr1ct officer•, one of the• T. Nadbava Rao, ill 1855.

Hitherto

tahe1ldara bad had no aupervieion except froa the huzur cutcherry.106 But the quality of the -n aade iaprove-nt

63

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Tbei.J: chief qualification -• that they -re Nayar• and that they could, according to one afford to purchaae their appoint-nta troa the 'Tbe ignorai,ce ot a large proportion of tahailda%a' wa• -11 known, aa waa the obaoleacence of a&DY ottic••· 'Th• aalt depart-nt•,Cllllen wrote on diacovering groaa waatage, •ia Wider Ananda R- ••• who ahould be aore careful that be

diffic\llt. Brahaina or petitioner, Dewan. 107

doe• not by auch neglect• haaten the abolition ot a uael••• appointaent•.108 But C\lllen•a adacmitiona did little good. IC.riahna Rao had neither the ability nor the inclination to C\lllen had not the will- nor wreat1e with auch probl-. tbe heart - to coapel hia.

T-arda Annexatl.on By aJ.aoat all adaiasiona, Travancore waa aisgoverned, and the concrete aanitestations ot aiarule, which the Madras Govera-nt noted, were coapl-nted by the petitions ot aiasionari•• and Bet-n 1853 and 1856 the •i•sionariea petitioned othera. 6 tiae•, and in 1857 John Cox published auch ot the corr••· pondence in Travancore It• Present Ruin Shown and the R--Sy Sought in A Correspondence with the Govern.ant ot Madra, in tbe Years 1855-57. During the - period there were 8 other lengthy petitions to which tbe Madra• Gover-t cho•• to attach little •igniticance becauae t.hey c.- troa Indian•, The catalogue of criaes Burasians or disreputable Buropeana. and injustices in each petition is ot no great interest. What •a• iaportant •a• the c... ulative effect on a •yapathetic governor lU.. Harri•, who, a • -11 aa preasing for the abolition ot slavery, had been reaponsible for the appoint-nt of the Torture Coaaisaion in Madraa. By the aiddle of 1855, Harri• waa beginning to favour aoae tor• ot direct interterence in Travancore•• internal atfaira. To prepare the way, the Madraa Gover,ment in Auguat forwarded a long LMS petition, containing detailed charge•, to the Governor-General. Contrary to hia reputation aa an -ger annexationiat, Dalbouaie pointed out that Travancore•a payment ot the aubaidy of 8 lakh• ot rupees •a• not endangered, and he therefore declined 64

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The airk&r eacaped with another warning. to interfere. 109 However, when the Court ot Director• received the aaae papera,· it authorized the Madraa Governaent to eatabliah a coaaiaaion Confronted by thia to inquire into Travancore attaira. contradiction ot iJlatructiona, the Nadraa Goverrment aubllitted all the paper• to Calcutta tor a definitive ruling in August They -r• atill circulating when the Mutiny began in 1856. May 1857. But while the tile• revolved, in Curzon'• worda, atately, aolean, aure and alow, in C&lcutta, eventa in Travancore and Madraa -r• aoving aore rapidly. Another aiaaionary petition '110 waa taken up by the Madraa Governaent in �larch 1856,. and the Madraa Athena- contin-d t o inv.igh againat the. Travancore airka.r. In October ot the .... year, the Athenaeua publiahed 'A Political Sketch ot Travancor.e•, by 'A Native•. The writer was in tact the 19 year old aecond prince, Viahakhaa Tirunal. The article indicated oppoeition within the palace to the -• Maharaj& and the bad old ways It concluded tb&t Travancore ••• ot Cullen and Kriahna Rao. in a aoat •periloua poaition•. Native State• are every day all around taat falling victia to tha all-graaping policy ot the Paraaount po,Mr. The prelude in Travancore is already aung •••• Tho•• who ought aoat to teel, and endeavour to avert it [the threat ot annexation] are leaat aware and aind­ tul ot it. The only way ot aaving the atate is to place ita _,.._.nt in the handa ot a reaolute and 111 vigoroua ainiater like Salar Jung ot ttyderabad. Bxternal torcea, �ver, began to benetit Travancore. The outbreak ot the Mutiny reaoved the 1-diate threat ot annexation, and death removed Kriahna Rao, on 26 November 1857, 10 daya after the aecond relief ot Lucknow. Hia auc:ceaaor •• Dewan waa the 29 year old T. Madhava Rao, a Deaaatha 8rahain, dewan peahk&r and torserly tutor ot the two princes, Ayily- and Viahakhaa Tirunal. Both Madhava Rao'• father and uncle had been Dawana ot Travancore (reapectively, Ranga Rao, Dewan 1837-8; Venk&ta Rao, o-an 1822-30, 1838-9). 65

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Since 1855, aa a result of Cullen'• inaiatence, Hadhava Rao

bad been working aa district officer in the a011thern division,

-re even the aiaaionariea applauded 'the integrity, energy

and i.mpartiality with which you have fulfilled the duties of 112 )IOllr office•. His appoint-nt waa probationary for a year,

but in that tiae he battled against the chaotic adainistration

and won the confidence of both Cllllen and the Hadraa Govern•

aent.

Harris exonerated hi• froa blame for the breaatcloth

disturbances.

explained,

'The fire was aaouldering•, the Governor 113 when Hadhava Rao tock office.

The Aftermath of the Diaturbancea

Travancore now had a o-an who appeared able to put the

Such aucceas

adainiatration in order and produce aurpluaea.

would have aatiafied the Hadraa Governaent 5 yeara earlier,

but in the after-th of the breaatcloth disturbances and o f

the Hlltiny, the relationship bet._n the Mah&raja, the o-an and the Resident, and the aoci&l issues in Travancore, c011ld

not b e ignored.

In tbr- tortllOlla deapatchea, the hoae

governaent tried to explain the policy which it wished to aee 114 iaple-nted in Travancore. Generally, its conclusions ..re that Re•idanta had exercised too great an interference

in internal affairs, that the Mah&raja had beco- a cipher, that he auat be -de to take greater reaponaibility in the

governing of the atate and that Cllllen•a resignation would be helpful if a n- policy were to be followed.

1659, Cullen announced his intention to reaivn.

In September

Meanwhile, on the IIOCial front, the airk&r in July isalled

a proclamation granting Hindu Shanar woaen the eaae rights to

cover their breuta aa Christian Sh&nars - i.e., in any -nner

except that of the high castes.

But no siailar rights were

granted to Iravu or other low-caste Hindus.

About August

1859 the U4S agents petitioned the Madras Gover,_,.t for what proved to be the last tiae for -ny years.

They conceded

Madhava Rao•• achie-nts, but complained at the omissions in the proclamation, Cullen•• retention, and the continued 115 They received a sympathetic bondage of aany ex-slaves. 66

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hearin9 fr011 the new 90vernor, Sir Charles Trevelyan. Trevelyan had already in May expreaaed hia horror at the laws 116 which required women to 90 bare-breasted, and now with Cullen's reaivnation to co- into effect on l January 1860, be took the opportw,ity to instruct a new Resident in the

kinda of social chanve• which ouQht to be insti9&ted in

117 Travancore.

A• the ,_ Resident, he choM F. N. Maltby, a for-r -•ber

of the Madras co-ittee of the Church Missionary Society,

brother of a later actin9 90vernor of Madras, nephew of a

for-r Biahop of Durhaa and • a 900d Christian, Church of

E.r19land

aan•. 118

Instead of 9ivin9 Maltby written instruc­

tion•, Trevelyan called hia for an interview, after which

Maltby prepared a ....,rand ... of what Trevelyan had said.

The

chief aubjecta were tbe abolition of the Travancore monopolies

and the dress restriction• imposed on ShaDAr women.

To effect

the latter, Trevelyan told Maltby, •even if the use of cold 119 steel i• necessary, this •ill be afforded•,

AlthouQh the reference to •cold steel' w>derstandably upset

Trevelyan•• council, Maltby can have had f- doubts of what

•u expected of him.

Within a f- months of takin9 up his

appoint-nt he had bee� to at least one missionary, •our

present excellent Resident•, who visited aisaion stations,

distributed bibles and encouraQed the propavation of Christian truth.

•surely•, wrote the aaae lllsaionary,

120 dawnin9 of a better day•.

•we

h&v• the

From the arrival of lln9lish aiaaionaries in Travancore, their adherents had looked to th- for protection.

But in the later

1830• and early 18409 the number of missionaries doubled, and

their protection became more widely available.

At the aaae

time, the 015 in north Travancore broke with the Jacobites, and be9an to proselytize for a ,_ An9lican church. aisaionaries did not seek the low castes;

sou9ht

th-.

The

the low castes

Indeed, a0t1e missionaries had 9rave ais9ivin9s

about acceptinv low-caste adherents, especially Pulayas and 67

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Pari&ha.

It was difficult, ho.,.ver, for moat aiaaionariea

to deny the call of their h1.111&nity, and in 1847 the UIS and

CMS jointly petitioned the Travancore airlc.ar for the abolition of slavery.

Their plea was rejected, but their work aaong

the slaves, their newspaper

caapaigna and petitions, were

instr-..-ntal in forcing abolition in 1855.

As more and it0re

alaves turned to the aiaaiona.riea, boWlaver, high castes

becaae alaraed and resentful.

Their efforts at repression

only strengthened the bonds between low-caste adherents and aisaionar iea.

-nwhile, low-caste adherents -re benefiting

fro• aission education, whicb not only gave th- an enhanced

idea of their o-, status but tbe skills to carry on trade or

seek salaried work outside Travancore.

But the new assertive-

neaa on the part of aisaion adherents - and to aoae extent of their unconverted caat-n - was bitterly reaiated by

high castes, and the aiasionariea found theaaelvea forced to

provide political leadership to help secure what they regarded

as the •civil rights• of their regenerated adherenta.

The

Madras Government, which wu continually confronted with

missionary petitions, had other grounds for diapleaaure with the Travancore sirkar.

It was moving towards an inquiry into

the whole Travancore administration when it was deflected by

bureaucratic delay and the outbreak of the MUtiny.

Ho-ver,

the breaatcloth disturbances, which ait0unted to a direct clash

between aisaionuy-inspired, low-caste assertiveness and high­

caste conaervativiaa forced the M&dras Government to turn its

attention again to Travancore. prestige o f the aisaions.

Its decisions enhanced the

It virtually ordered concession•

on dress restrictions and sent to Travancore a devout Resident instructed to reform the administration and work for the

abolition of all restrictions o n dreaa.

In tbe wake of the

breaatcloth disturbances, 3,000 Sbanara joined the aisaiona;

tor th4ta 1 the leaaona and advantages ..re obvious. 121

In effect, the aiaaionariea in Travancore offered low

castea resources which bad not previously been available to

the•.

High caste• were auspicious, resentful and angry.

However, the reforas carried out by the airk&r in the 18609 68

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-r• to brin9 a nwober � new resourcea within coafortable reach o� the bi9h caatea.

69

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Ch&pter 3 TRAVANCORB TRANSl'ORMBD:

N'6W RBSe growing ... _,.,.d tor coconut product• in the world aa.rket, aany Iravaa ..re experiencing a_., it aodeet, proeperity. Li.ke low-caste Chriatian converta whoae financial reaourcea bad alao grown, aOJM Iravaa

-r• unwilling to accept quietly the traditional dis&bilitiee which were etill enforced againet thea.

On the eurtace, Nayar• alao appeared to benefit fraa the

changing circuaetancea ot the 1870& and lBBOe.

They flocked

to the governaent echoole, and their aale literacy rate ro•• troa 21" in 1875 to 37" in 1891. No other group approached

thi• 16" increase. At the •- tiae, Nayara captured aore than a q11&rter ot the choiceet poets in the airkar service thoee on ealariee of aore than Ra. SO a aonth. Yet Nayare•

share ot euch job• •a• •lightly l••• than that ot non-Malayali

Br&blline, though their population •a• 17 t1-a greater. lay the aakinge ot a grievance. Nayara, however, bad another, 9reater problem. 107

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iapartible -trilineal joint-taaily, the taravad, increaaiDQlY proved an eabarru-nt and a handicap.

Educated Nayara

winced at the taunts that • no Nayar knoWa hia father•, while taravada -re tom by tellda over aoney and land.

'Ibe idyllic

•c01D1.1nality• of intereat which ahould have characterized the

taravad began to cruable.

Finding it difficult to raise

capital, and having fixed ideas about what constituted reapect­

able eaployaent, Nayar• took little part in the coaaercial

activities which allowed acme Syriana, Iravaa and Christian

convert• to iaprove theaaelvea -terially.

In 1891 educated Nayar•, worried by the atate of the taravad

and the declining proaperity of Nayara, gathered u aany allies u posaible trca other caatea and religion• and led an asaault

on the heavy non-Malayali Brahain repreaentation in the airkar

aervice.

If Nayar• could re-eatablish their political aupr•­

acy of pre-British�-. t he arguaant se....S to run, all could

be -de right with the taravad.

But that aupr-cy could

-r be recaptured, and by 1905 Nayara were to find theaaelves divided within, resisted by non-Malayali Brahaina, and under preaaure froa Syrian• and even Iravu.

It waa the apread of a caah econcay and the increaaed value

of land which were perhapa aoat iaportant, though leaat noticeable, to -n living in the 1870• and 1880s.

What wu

readily apparent was the burgeoning governaent school syst• and the advantage• of aending one• s dependants to school.

this education helped to underaine aany of the traditional

Yet

Malayali valuea and led to intense coapetition tor the beat jobs in the governaent aervice.

For the ..trilineal joint•

taaily of Nayara, the aua of theae changes added up to tension, dispute and decay.

A. NCfl•MAu.YALI BRAHMINS

When Nadhava Rao left Travancore in 1872, non-Malayali Brahains

-re at the height of their power in the state.

Still enjoying

the traditional veneration which Travancoreana accorded to

Brahains, they had captured the best joba in t he sirkar service

through their educational attainaenta and the patronage of the 108

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L\BLB

Nuabera1 literacy atatiatica and airltar joba at tour aocial cateqoriea in 1875 and 1891

0 1n·

Percenta99a in parentbeaea are ot the category•• ahare ot that cluaitication. non-Malayali &rahaina in 1875 bad 25'5 ot all joba on Ra. 10-50 a .,..tb.

"'

3

CJ 0

Nuaber

a

C

z

< m :»

V, 0 ��

.,,,,. :,

O!!!.

_3 :;: !Y Catholic Syrian• did not nor-lly aeeociate. Bxaai ner concluded that 'the cauee of education ••• would appear, \lnfortunately, to have been eadly negl.ected, and hence, no doubt, the fatal facility with which Jacobiti•• ••• ha• 81

hitherto been epreading •••'• The tiret effort to lead Roao-Syriana into weetern-etyle education had coae in 1883. With the Jacobite• deep in liti­ gation, •.,.. Roao-Syriana tonied the Syrian National Union Aeaociation in co-operation with Mar Dionyeiua. The aia of the aeeociation waa the • national. and eocial well-being' of the Syrian•, an end which wae to be achieved through education and c-rce.82 The chief figure in the organization appear• to have been Fr. Nidbiry, who hoped to bring Dionyeiue and the Jacobite• into ccaaunion with R.,... year•, Nidbiry wheedled Ra. 20,000 and a bargain price tor the 22-acre WOodl.and Betate out of J-.a Darragh, an Aaerican Roa&n Catholic who •a• in the coir buein"• in Al.leppey. 11le aoney wae to be ueed to fOOlnd a joint Roao-Syrian/Jacobite college at Kottayaa. Trying to win over the Jacobite•, Nidbiry bad the aoney paid to Dionyaiue Who ueed part of it in bis 83 litigation. The college •c- •a• finally cruehed by the oppoeition ot Suepicioue of any iraterthe Raao-Syriane• Buropean biehopa. nization with heretic•, and dietruating Nidhiry•a claia that be had 'the eecret coneent of Mar Dionyeiue to abjure Jacobit­ i•• and beco- catholic after the eetabliebaent of ••• a college•,84 they forced Roao-Syriane to drop the college propoeal and the Wood.land Betate in 1888. 85 Yet at the aaae time the European hierarchy wae aade aware of the neceaeity of providing weatern-etyle echool• tor Roao-Syriane. By 1890 125

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there "re 23 echoola under Rcaan catholic aana-,,t;

1895, 49.

by

In 1888 a aeminary •a• founded in Ch&nganacherry,

Berctuoan•a High 86 School, an English-teaching in&titution, in 1891.

the Remo-Syrian heartland, which grew into St.

Thoae Syrian• who uaoci&ted with - though they did not

neceaaarily have to belong to - the Anglican church in

Travancore were the firat to get an extenaive "•tern education

K. It. Kuruvila,

and to aia at eaployment in the airkar aervice.

who became a Bachelor of Civil Engineering i n 1877, waa a

Jacobite, but he had been partly educated at.CMS College and

his parent• had been briefly connected with the OIS.

Kuruvila

entered the Travancore public work• depart-nt and becaae t he

highaat ranking Syrian public aervant ot hie generation.

few year• hie junior waa Dr. a. Poonen, a CMS Syrian, who

A

received his early education in Kottayam and atudied medicine at AberdMn Univeraity in the early 1880a.

He roM to be

the higheat-ranking Indian in the Travanc:ore aedical depart87 aent. The CMS connection had uMa beyond education.

Aa planting

increued on the hill• ea1t of Kotta,yam, young Syrian• found

eaployaent aa clerk&, auperviaora and artiaans on the eatatea,

or u clerk• in export merchant•' otticea in Alleppey or Cochin.

Planter• auch a& George and William Baker, aona ot Rev. Henry Baker, Sr., and F. G. Rich&rdaon, a ward ot the Baker taaily, patronized the taailiea ot Syrian Christiana.

Richardaon

wrote o t hie employaent of 'Kotta,yam Syrian Christian&' and

ot hi• friendship with one ot the early CMS clergymen, Rev.

George M&tth&n.

88

When the Rev. Henry Baker, Jr.

had an

interest in a coffee eatate, bia 111&1\AO-r ••• a Nayar convert 89 Planting waa at who waa trying to aaaiailate u a Syrian. its 10 ..at ebb in 1885, but there were atill aaid to be 300

Chriatiana, excluding coolie•, on the hill• all year round and more at crop t�. 90

Having been introduced to the akilla and opportunities ot

planting, a few Syriana took up coffee land around Pirmed on their own account.

One who did ao

•a•

Thcaaa Matthai,

Syrian, a -triculate of CMS College, and the father ot

a 01S

126

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John Matthai, the tirat Indian finance ainiater in the The boldin99 ot theae t- early planter•

In at least two caaea, they exappear to haw been large. tended to 500 and 800 acrea, although it is doubtful whether they were able to find the finance• to plant auch ot this in The auctiona ot waate land in 1874 brought Ra. 2.25 cott-.91 lakha t o the airkar and diapoaed ot 8,000 acres, aostly to Indians.92 When cottN tailed disastrously after 1879, Matthai loat his inveataent and left planting (his OIS connectiona helped bia to aove to Calicut •• a school-•t•r and inspector). At- Syriana, however, persevered on the bills and -r• in a position to take advantage ot tea 'When it be9&ft to prosper in the 1890s and later to popularise rubber aaong their fellow Syrians who held land on the rising ground between Kotta.yaa 93 and the hilla. The expanaion ot planting and public works in the 1860• had brought other benet"its t o Syrian traders. The roadbuilding progr- connected the Syrian centre ot Kotta.yaa with Madura in the Madras Presidency, and the cot"t"ee Htat•• which flourished around Pir-d in the 1870. relied t"or their By 1879, just proviaioning on Kottayaa as well aa Madura. bet"ore leaf di••••• ruined coti-.. throughout aoat 01" aoutb India, the proaperity ot Kotta.yaa trader• wu obvioua and owed •ao -ch to the Cot"t•• Intereat ••• which giws ••• aarketa tor their produce [and] ... .. ployaent tor their bandies and bullock• ... '. 94 The Kottayaa-Madura road, c011pleted in 1876, opened up large tracts ot sloping garden land in the aru 01" Travancore where Syrians ..re aoat n.,..roua. ot the change that owrtook the land east 01" Kottayaa, P'. G. Richardson wrote about 1905: there waa a t1- when, starting troa Kottayaa on bis pony ride to P"rwaad there were only aix place• on the long and ..ary track ot 45 ail•• where a planter could obtain tire to light hi• cheroot I Now, however, along the whole length ot the road there are houses and gardena and a thriving population ••••95 one eatiaate placea the incr•••• in land under cultivation in 127

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Travanc:ore in the 50 years before 1911 at nearly 2lli a year, or a virtual doubling of cultivated land.96 In the area around

Kottayaa much of this land was taken up by Syrians.

The

profitability of caah crop• wu becoaing obvi.oua, and in

addition to their ccmmercial intereata, Syrian• had a atrong

farming tradition.

Unlike Nayars, they -re not encumbered

by an impartible -trilineal joint-family. In youth, Syrian• had the advantage of a recognized paternal obligation to pro­ vide education and a atart in life, but individuals -r• no.,..

theleaa mcpected to make their own way later.

Nayar•, on the

other hand, were legally guaranteed a living fro• the inco­

of the joint-f-ily.

By the late 1880s all the Syrian aecta -re turning their

attention to education, while individual Syrian• -re finding Syrian•, too, eatabliahed a co-anding position in journaliam.

The aectarian Skiniiahee -de it desirable for each of the faction• to own a pr••••97

Jacobitea owned the Western Star, founded in Cochin in 1865 and moved to Trivandrum in 1893.

The •...,. family held the abkari 98 contract for moat of Kottayaa division. Another Syrian

started the first Malayalam newspaper, Paachilla Taraka in 1864.99 The CMS had published a number of journals in

Malayalam and 6ngliah froa the 1840a, and an unknown Syrian

Chriatian, in collaboration with a CMS miasionary and hie wife, waa reaponsible for publication of what was arguably the first novel in Malayalam.100 Kerala Mitram waa atarted by a Gujarati in Cochin in 1881, but ita editor waa K. I. Varghese Mappillai, a Jacobite, and perhapa the leading Malayalui journalist of his time.

In 188� under the auspices of the Syrian National

Union Association, Fr. Nidhiry established Nasrani Oeepika, the oldest Malayalam rMWapaper atill publishing in 1973.

Two year•

later Varghese Mappillai fon,ed the first joint-atock company in Travancore to (ound Malayala Manorw, the moat flllOOus

Malayalam newapaper, whoae present office• stand on the land Nidhiry acquired for the unsucceasful college ach.,... 101 In

aid-1893, after so.. Hindu venture• had fallen by the wayside, all 10 newspapers publishing in Travancore were Christian128

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own�. �

102

By about 1890 Syrians had set their own house - or 110re

correctly, houses - in order, a.nd 4 major aecta, Romo-Syrians,

Jacobite•, Mar Thoaitea and An9licana had -•r9ed.

T he

sectarian disputes o f the 1890a gave an iapetua to education. Schools ..re a way of rallyin9 a aect•a adherents and of deaonatrating its control of a pariah.

Western-style education,

which had been largely confined to those Syrians willin9 to

associate with the 015,-• bec,_in9 widely available to -•bars of all sect• by 1890,

With the increase in the nuabera of

educated Syrians caae growing indignation at their virtual

exclusion tr.. the gover..-nt service.

As Paachima taralu.

observed in 1877, •aany are studying Sngliah not with a view to acquire knowledge, but for the purpose of aal-91

our a, CHANGK,

eet-n non-M&layali 8rabains and Nayar• there •a• an incipient rancour. In fields auch u education, which they had trad­ itionally led, 8rahains -re confident that they could not be

overtaken. One declared, it •a• aaid, that he WO\lld cut off hia 10011&tachea if a Nayar ever paaaed the M&ater of Arte exa•­ ination of the M&draa Univeraity.1 For a Deaaath& Brabain,

the removal of the aouatachea would have been an eaotion&l and Tbe enthuaiaaa of Nayar• for education, huaili&ting geature. ho-ver, could not long be denied. In 1880, the 26--year-old P. Thanu Pillai, who was a teacher in the M&haraja•s Coll9 publiahed, th• average wu 96

thua in 25

ot the perbap• 30,000 in Travancore had taken the axtr•- atep ot goil>9 to law; •• an indication ot the aalai•• affecting the taravad, th••• ca•• -r• the tip ot the iceberg. yea.r•, nearly 1,800 taravada

By 1890 appalling atorie• ..re circulating about the atate

ot poverty to Which aoaa t-iliea h-1 been reduced by tooli•h

litigation and haphuard --ve-nt.

It wu aaid that -

ta.ravada ..re forcing their young girl• into aaabandhaaa with

old Brahain• Who could attord to �

alway• peraitted

a price.18

Nayar• had

•aabandhaa• with non-Malayali Brahaina, but

the latter -r• l••• attractive hu•band• than Naabudiri•,

Kahatriyaa or even •..., allbc&•t•• Nayar• caae to know aore

ot Nayara.

All educated

ot Hindui.. in the reat ot India,

their eabarru-nt at a cuatoa which other Hindu• regarded aa

both coaical and diagracatu.l 9r-. father,

G. Par--awaran Pillai'•

tor exa11p•.•, wu a Pat tar, and Pa.r--awaran Pillai'•

aon ha • au9119ated that thia waa iaportant in aaking hia • an 19 uncoapr-.lai09 opponent ot eocial injuatice •. Certainly

tor a• a polluting N�a.r be had little to do with hi• father and received no financial aupport troa

it ll&de bia independent,

hia.

tor the decayin9 taravad ..re va.rioua. Soae -n, eab&rruaed by the jibe• at the laxity ot N�a.r the r....u.. auggeated

aorala, advocated a aore bincling aarriage tie, recogniaed by

law.

Other• aaked how a -r• aarriage law CO\lld aaeliorate

ot the taravad, while• t- radical• called tor partition on deaand: the ri9ht ot any aellber to a.it tor and The prevailing receive hia ab&re ot the ta.ravad•• uaeta. the condition

ayat-, one writer argued, rendered Nayar wca1n •coarae• and

Mn •avazicioua•.

Without their diaproportionate ahare

poata under goveriment, • aoat be rui...S.

ot

ot the Nair t-ili•• would aoon

All it ia aany are.

• 20

One ot the &ia• ot the M&layali Sabha had ot courae been ratora ot Naya.r aarriage cuatoaa; but by 1890 the Sabha'•

leading ti�•• - r • deeply involved in the M-,ria.l and the

184

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--r

•il'.k&r-•ervice i••u•.

In that year, however, C. Sankaran Nair,

of tbe Madra• LAVi•lative Council and the leading a Nayar in the Madra• Pre•idency, introduced a bill to penait Thi• Nayar• i n Briti•h India to r119iater their •aabandbaa•.

-1d aake the •aabandhaa l119ally binding and enable Nayar• to

di•po•• part of their MU-acquired property on tbeir wives and

children.

The propo•ed bill -t with i--Siate opposition -

fr- Nayar• Who defended the old •Y•t- in it• entirety, fr­

Nayar• who urged cautious •low change•, and fr- Naabudiria,

K•hatriyaa and non-Nalayali Brabain• who •aw their traditional doaeatic arran-nt• tbr-tened.2 1

Nadra• Gover-nt created the Malabar Marriage c-.i••ion, beaded by Sir T. Muthu••aai Aiyar, the aoat di•­ The

tingui•hed Bralain in the Pr••idency, to exaaine the •bole

aubject.

Originally, Kerala Vanaa, a K•hatriya, the poet and

huaband of t he •enior Rani at Travancore, • u to have been o ne

of the 6 --'>era, but he withdrew and wu replaced by the Raja

of Parapanad, a Kahatriya, born in Travancore but living in

Malabar.

Hi• faaily traditionally aupplied husband• for the The c:01111i•aion exaained witne•••• in Rania of Travancore.22

Malabar in aid-1891, and reque•ted written opiniona froa Travancorean•, including R- Rao, the

o.wan,

and judge• A. Govinda Pillai and T. Kunbi Raaan Nair, a Malabar aan Who had entered Travancore ••rvice. All three favoured legi•lation to recogni•• or clarify Nayar -rriage, but there wu un­ certainty about what fora the law ahould take and what it could

be expected to do.

R.- Rao told the c0111ti••ion that 'the

educated portion of Nalayal-• ••• would hail any -••ure which will have the effect of aaking the -rital tie aore real and binding ••• •, while Govinda Pillai •tated flatly that educated

M&layali• (a• •o often, M&layali here -ant Nayar) • deajncte-1 • a change of the marriage •Y•t- and 'all cl•••••' would

'..1�' a change; he did not go into detail. Kunbi Raaan Nair oppo•ed -jor change• in the ayat- of inheritance, which, he felt, would deatroy the taravad.23 ?be c--i••ion•a report wu publiahed towarda the end of 1891 and •u�ated a IIOdeat, voluntary bill. But the report 185

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waa forwarded to the Gover,_nt ot India, where it rotated with

other til•• tor two year•, and it was not Wltil 1896 that tile

Malabar Marria99 8111 becaaa law. Under it• proviaiona people ot any cute in Malabar tollowi.Dg the _,..•,ekka�tay­ ayst- could register their Nllbandhaa with gover,-nt.

•-bandhae a 1-1 earria99,

•ede the

fllia

entitled a wan to •eke

over his aelt-acquired property to hi• wife and children, and

conterred on earueakkattayia auch benefit• o t Bn;liah law as

bi;aey, adultery and divorce. Yet the act •a• parely per­ •iaaive: to tboae who did not register it 6id not apply.

Duri119 it• first 10 year• on the atatute book.a, t-r than 100 people regiatered their �ria99a; by 1906 it •a• pro­ nounced • a dead letter '.2' ?be terea and paaaage ot the act -r• watched cloaely in

Travancore, eapecially after the M�rial and the virtual

diaaolution ot the Malayali Sabha.

tbanu Pillai pointed out

that the error ot Sankaran Mair•• bill was in not reco911iai119

a public:

•-bandhae cereaony aa a

legal earriage, and thi• was

the burden ot Kunhi Ruan Nair'• evidence to the Malabar Marriage Coaaiaaion. 25 Only by ;ranting auch reco;nition

could the lar99 eajority ot eaT11•elruttayia be brought w ithin the acope ot the 1- and •inieal right• given to •i-• and children.

A • early aa 1882, the Special c_.iaaion on Malabar Land

Tenurea, headed by Willi- Logan, dr- attention to the need to give Nayar• the right to wake a will and to leave their ••lt-acquired property to tbeir wive• and children.

111•

situation as it atood waa 'fatal to individual industry an d

thrift, and it the lo ia not aoon changed the conaequencea to the ruling caate will be diaaatroua' •26 In 1887 the Malayali

Sabha circulated a draft of a �ria;e bill a.,n9 ita -bera,

but the Travancore airkar ahowed no inclination to accept

le;ialativ• propoaala trow an organization which it r-rded

as auapect.

It was a •eaaure ot the good relationa exiatin; betwMn

leadi119 Nayar otticiala and the n- Dewan when early in 1896

Shungaraaoobyer 'adviHd, encouraged and proepted' Tham.I Pillai 186

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to introduce a bill in the Travancore �•lativ• C:o,anc:i1. 27 28 provided The bill, wbich c:. V. Ruan Pillai helped to draft, le9&l recognition for all aarriagea aolw,bed by •the

preaentatioa of a cloth or acae otber r-iaed cer-,ny•. It did not undertake to change the •Y•t•• of inheritanc:e1

on

a aan•• death, hi• taravad and hu nephewa r-1--1 hi• rigbt­ But it r-ed any doubt about a aan•• right to ful beira.

provide for hia

•if• and children froa hi• -it-acquired

property during b.t• lifetime, and it aiaed to end tbe ridicule directed at the laxity of Nayar aorala. In hi• apeecb introducing tbe bill, Tbaml Pillai

tbe latter upect llbich

1tl>aeiaed

••-ed aore iaportant to b.t• educated

circle than the econaaic difficultiea in wllich tbe taravad

found it-lf:

Whether froa ignorance or prejudice our critic• •­ to ha- no qualaa of conacience in levelling a9&inat

ua the reproach: 'Your •ivea are concubine• and your aona are baatarda• •

• • • [But in fact tbe aaabandbaa] union ia intencS.d to be peraanent and ia, in the vaat -jority of

cu••,

practically ao.

Though there i• no civil

right in theory, every father feel• it i• bi• duty to aaka aoae proviaion, according to hi• -ana, for

hia wife and children • • • • ln Travanc:ore - at all event a in aoat part• the aona have to perfora aradha and obaerve deekaba

tor the father [on hi• de&tb]. alao obaerve pollution.

Tbe wife and cb.tldr-

In aoae part• of Travancore

a9&in tbe father'• nan� and not the k&ranavan•• i• uaed aa tbe NCoDd ...,_ 1.n deacribing the full nua of the individual. The wit'e 1• invariably taken to the huaband•• bouN, live• and -••e• with hia and ia not

at liberty to leave bia boua• even to viait her .-n If relation• •itbout ber huaband• • peraiaaion. • • •

one would cut off all prejudice• and preconceived notionm and iapartially and diapaaaionately

invNtigate tbe aubject, ha will find that the 187

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conj\19&1 wuon ••• 1• not a caaual. or fugitive

connection for 1CY in which Cbrietiane -r• well•

repreeented, there down.

wu a

tendency to try to keep their nuabere

In 1898 when the Buropean head of the dapart-nt

eaployed 2 Syrians,..,. a graduate of Bdf.nburQII and Glaagow

on Ra. 7 0 a -ntll, he recei-d a all&rp note fr- Sllungaruoobyer 70 wbicb insisted that lie -.t llalce no aore birinva. Towarda tlle end of Sllungaruoobyer • • amf.nietratioo, Syrian•

beQ&II to advance arguments wllich sounded -r• and -,re like

tbe teatiaony of the M&l&yali N•Drialiata 6 or 7 years

earlier.

TIiey ridiculed a s fraud tbe futidiouaneee about

t-ple pollution wllicll kept the jobs of talleildar and peallkar

in t he llande of Brahaina, Nayar• and the occaeional Tuil

Sudra.

MaDoraaa wroi.1

Now tllie objection, if at all, i• equally applicable t o SUdra officials.

Neither Christiane nor Sudru

will be .aitted into the places where a.-ab•ina are feasted;

arranv-nta for tlli•, which ba- in either

ca•• to be -de frca witb-t and tllrougb subordinates,

can be u efficiently carried -t by

official

u by a Sudra.

a Christian

Por in point of eocial

atatua, the Syrian Christiana who constitute tbe -,at

iaportant portion of the Cbrietian c.....,.ity in

Travancore, are in no way inferior to the Maira. tbeir unaurpaeaed and unaurpaaaabl• loyalty and

To

industry, the 11reateat of the Sovereigna of Travancore

[ Vi� Tirunal] Ila• borne eloquent teetiaony.

TIie newspaper pointed out that Syriana bad degr-•, held posts in Mysore and Madras and bad sent tlle first Travanconana to study in Britain.

'Moreover all Christian officials, unlike

-any of their aore fortunate Hindu brethren, have attained

tlleir position only tbrougb tbe po•••••ion of aore than the

required qualificatione,•

71

TIie iaplication that Syrians •re socially inferior to 198

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Nayar• wu a alight which Syrian• would not bear. Although the COllflict aigbt be owr job• and power, the q-•tioa of Por their part, Nayara cou.ld iapiahly atatua gaw it edge. choo•• to luap all Chriat1ana together, Syrian• cou.ld not hold certain poata under the airk&r becallae Pulaya conwrta It wu a charge which Syrian& rejected, yet it led the• to kffp u r-t• aa poMible fr- the convert•. , • , n.e Syrian Chriatiana ill their every-day habita [Mano rpt wrote] and their intercom•• with otber people differ wry little froa the Nair• u,ong ""they liw. their rec09U&ed aocial atatua 1• alao high - higher certainly • •• than that of Mwral of tbe ao-called Hair caatea. ••• [Yet] the accidental peculiaritiea of certain aectiona of Chriatiana are now uaed u a dead -ight to drag down all Chriatiana ali.ke even fro• that atage of tolerable pre-1nence ao long enjoyed by thea.72 In April 1898 tbe gr,.ing diaaatiafaction with tbe Shungaruoobyer edlltntatration led Syrian• to fora an aaaoc­

iation • t o watch the intereata of the Travancore and Cochin Chriatian coaaunity•.73 Although it wu called the Travancore and Cochin Chriatian Aaaociation, it wu intended only for Syri.ana, and at firat it bad re-dtabl• aucc••• in bringing togetber the varioua aecta. The organiaational -ting, held on 21 April, wu called by T. C. Poonan, the OIS Syrian and the firat Nt.layali to atudy i n Britain; he wu elected preaident. IC. ICuruvila, the retired engineer and the firat Syrian --r of the Travancore Legalatiw Council, prapoHd the firat reeolution. It dealt with the discriaination Syrian• -r• experiencing fr- Shungaraaoobyer'• goverft rt •aettled policy• towards Chriatiana bad been 'to reduce t!Ma to a poaition of datinct inferiority•. Yet the ueociation reaolved to be strictly loyal and launch no ' unfair agitation', Manor- obaerwd that without 'the wideapread diacontent that now prevail• u,ong the Cbriatian c-unity 8uch antagoniatic aecta aa the ProtNtanta, the Roaan Catholic•, JacobitN and Reformed Syriana [ Mar n.-itea] ,

""°"

199

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could not have aet on a coaaon platfora a• they did at thia 4 Rvttn P'ather -.nu.1 Nidhiry, the leading Roao­ -ting•. 7 Syrian, whoN influence C, v. Raaan Pillai bad been ao ealJ"r to win for the Memorial, waa ready to participate, in spite 5 of the disapproval of hia European auperiora.7 Yet why did Syrian proteat COON at thi• tiae? Bxcept for a brief period under .John Munro, Syrian• had alway• been excluded frc:a the airk&r service. The thrff aajor isaues which diaenchanted the proteatant aiaaionarie• with Shungaraeoobyer•• adainiatration had le•• iaportance for Syriana. Tbe latter, aoreover, -re atill recovering froa the .Jacobite-Mar Thc:aite litigation, the Rc:aaniata -re ruled by a l!.Uropean Hierarchy auapicioua of all contact• with other aecta, and Anglican Syrian• -re felt to be haraing the whole cc:aaunity by their --r•hip in a church which included low­ e&ate conwrta. In part, foraation of an aaaociation was a reaction a11&in•t liti9ation and aectarian atrife. The intra-Syrian feuda had awakened • the cultured -n in all the different partiea , , • to the conviction that their atren9th lie• in their union, •• ,.76 Strength, they thouljht, wa• neceaaary, The riae o f an educated, aabitioua Nayar party in the airkar aervice in lealjue with Sbun1JU&a00byer - to diaturb Syriana u auch u aiaaionariea; nor did the aaauaption that the adainiatration wu anti­ Chriatian depart with ShUDIJUUOObyer. In 1899, It. P. Sankara Menon, the Malayali Maorialiat and now a diatrict jud9e, aentenced a Syrian aub-aagiatrate to 2½ year•• ri90roua iapri-nt and a fine of Ra. 1,500 for wronljfully detaining and c:bar9ing a Bralmin e119ineer of the Public Worka Departaent. The outcry reached Madraa where the Mail called the aentence •aonatroua •.77 The High Court quickl.y reduced the aentence to a fine of Ra. 500, but the incident wu the firat in a eerie• which waa to win Sanlcara Menon the reputation of a 8 Similarly, when the Euroataunch, par_t iaan caate Hindu.7 pean High Court jucl98 -nt on leave in 1899 and wa• replaced by a Brahain, the firat tiae for year• the High Court waa 19 without a Chriatian judge, Syrian• again •-lled a plot. 200

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By the end ot the century, leading Syriana -re ch&atened and troubled, Yet, at the ..... tiae, aAllY of thea enjoyed an Indeed, this added to the sense of increasing econoaic power.

grievance: the coaaunity with the onl.y • Bngland-returned -n • was excluded fr011 the aoat powerful otficea under governaent, and in those branches where it•-�• did tind entry, their progress wu otten hindered and retarded. A correspondent of the Madras Mail wrote th&t •Syrian Christian -rchanta are In the getting the trade of the country into their hands. villages the h&rd-working Syrian is ousting the Sudra and the 80 Naabudri. • T. c. Poo-n had started the first Wholly Travancore bank in Kottayaa in the early 1890a, and although it had not prospered, in 1900 M. Pouloo••, a Jacobite, founded the Tiruvalla 8enlt wbicb operated successfully tor a nuaber of 81 yeara. By 1900 Travancore had 24 r99iatered joint-stock Nine ot these were various kine - aay be aaid of Chan-cherry JC. Par--aran Pillai. Unlike Mannaa and R.eaak•iahna Pillai, O>anganacherry•a father wu a Nayar and a go-rnaent servant. When the father was transferred to Trivandrua about 1887, the fuily accoepanied hia. Changanacherry•a parents died within 10 aonths of each other about 1891, and to ha- been able to c-­ plete his atudiea through help froa c. Krishna Pillai and othera. He aatriculated at lS and later graduated. He taught school in Trivandrua.and did the 8achelor of Law 92 By 1905 he was proeinent enough in p,blic affairs deg ree. to take part in the reconciliation -•ti119 of Nayar• and Iravaa in Quilon, and in January 1907 be wu a delegate to the

be•--

third ••••ion of the Sri Mulu Pop,lar Aaaeably where he 9 att-pted to speak on the aa.•11a1lrkattayu question. 3 In the aw year be published a •-ping critici- of aa...alkk&ttayaa 237

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which concluded: 'All th&t we want ia out and out partition 94 and that at the inetance ot any -ber who deairea it'• He too

•a•

inc. Kriehna Pillai•• party when the Keraliya Nair

Saaaj aplit,. He later becaae preaident ot the Nair Service Society and

•a•

reaponaible for piloting the legialation which

provided tor individual partition ot the -trilineal joint­

f-ily in 1925.

All tbr- -n were product• ot the poverty and diearray

which confronted Nayar• in the late 19th century.

thr", the old aociety wae -nitnt ly deficient.

l'or all

• The

political, social and econoaic condition • • , wrote Changena­

cherry K. Paraweawaran Pillai, • which gave rise to tbe particu­

lar ayst- ••• lut.ve disappeared and other conditiona baaed upon totally different aapects of lite have been forced upon us so

that it haa becoae positively diu.dvantageous to continue the old order ot things.• 95

C. Krishna Pillai, their patron, agreed.

In 1903, estrang-

ed troa many ot his cont-poraries in Trivandrua and still

stationed in northern Travancore, he torwed the Travancore Nayar s.-ju.

Thia wu a aodest organization ot 31 -•bers

which aiaed to retora Nayar cuatoaa and avoid palace politics by working in t he aofuasil,

Unlike the old Malayali Sabha,

-bership wu reatricted to Nayara.

Criticiaa cawe quickly

from non-Nayar• who ea• the branch organization• as •aecret

societiea •, dedicated to the arouaal ot c,-unal aniaoaities 96 and providing indication• ot 'impending diaturbancea•. Th••• charges wera rebutted by tbe editor ot The Nayar, a

short-lived aonthly publiahed troa Changanacherry, who wrote

that non-Nayar• were •elcoae to attend ••tinge a• obaerver•

and that the aole aia ot the organizations wu to atrive tor

•all deairable reforas in the cuetoaa and the aocial inatitu­ 97 tions ot the Nayara•. By the end ot 1904, Kriahna Pillai, backed by the wealthy Kavalaa Neelacunda Pillai, who wae the

preaident, had enrolled 380 aeabttra and eatabliahed 12 aofuaeil branchea,98 Manno later wrote that in a small way auch 99 activiti•• even reached Changanacherry. The Nayar-Irava riot• provided a ahock for the disunited 238

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elite of educated Nayara. In late January or early February 1905, while the diaturb&ncea -r• atill IJC)i.ng on, Kriahna Pillai c- to & reconciliation with hi• old Trivandrua aaaociatea, notably c. v. R&a&n Pillai and P. Ayyappan Pillai. They agreed to fora a joint org&nization called the Keraliya Nair Saaaj, which IIOUld unite Kriahn& Pillai'• aofuaail 100

branchea with R&a&n Pillai'• influence in the capital. It waa a union of different viewpointa and intereata: of an official elite, i-reed in palace politic• and able to g&in certain benefita therebY, and • larger aection of generally younger Nayar• whoa• iaaediate concern waa the ecc,n011ither;

iii) allotting h&lf of a aan•a

self-acquired property to his wife and children on his death.

Put into practice, such aeuurea would not h&ve ended the tarav&d, but they would have encouraged reaotely related

branches to sever all connections and partition f-ily property

voluntarily.

l'he prospect of the whole tar&v&d - and thus

distant relatives - benefiting froa the death of an enterpria•

ing aeaber would have ended, and with it one of the reaaona why

there were always a f- tarav&d aeabers ready to reaiat a unaniaoua and voluntary partition.

Now, too, a aan would no

longer have to rHort t o ccaplicated and soaeti-s illegal 244

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methods to provide for his wife and children after his death. The second resolution was aild enou9'>:

it called for

reco!jftition of the ceremony of saabandhaa as a leoal marriage.

Other resolutions, advocating disaemination of education AJ11on9 N&yars and the orga.nization of village branches or karayogps, recalled Nayar ....tings of earlier years.

The two resolutions

requiring changes in the law were forwarded to the governments 120 of Travancore, Cochin and Madras. Within a 110nth, the Asseably aet in Trivandrua under the

presidency of the n- Dewan, P. Rajagopalachari, a Bralllllin who

jokingly claimed to behead his enemies with a pen. The story 121 impressed Nayars. A member of the Statutory Civil Service,

Rajagopalachari had been Dewan of Cochin from 1896 to 1901 a.nd

was registrar of cooperative societies in the Madras Presidency

when he was persuaded to come to Travancore.

On the third d&y of the session, after the completion of the

custoa&ry speeches and foraalities, he announced the creation

of a co-ittee of 4 Nayar• and a matrilineal Saaanta - 3 non­

official• to be elected by Naya.r •-bers of the Assembly a.nd

The c.,_.ittee was

2 officials to be appointed by the sirka:r.

directed to investigate 10 proposed refonos of the joint-f&111ily, marriage, and inheritance custcns ot Nayars.

suggested reforms were:

legal marriage; vans;

Chief among these

the recognition of s&J11bandh&J, as a

statutory controls over the power of karana­

and, the rights to bequeath all one's self-acquired

property, to arrange partition of distantly related branches

of taravads and to claim a share, for wives and children, of the self-acquired property of a man dying intestate.122

The 3 _,.bers chosen by the Assembly were M. Krishna Pillai,

a retired district judge, K. P. Padmanabha Menon and K . Krishna Pandalai (a S•ma�ta), both Hi¢ Court vakils.

The sirkar

appointed A. Govinda Pillai, a High Court judge and the highest

ranking Nayar in the government service, as president, and

N. Raaan Pillai, excise commissioner, as secretary.

The

comaittee was obviously elitist, and closely enough connected with the old Thanu Pillai circle to make one expect from it

great caution.

M. Krishna Pillai, N. R&lll&D Pillai and 245

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Pada&n.abha Menon -re all in their late forties, old achool­

fellowa and signatories of t he M&layali Meaorial,

Govind&

Pillai at S6 waa the oldest --ber and the only one to have done a full course of study outside Travancore;

from Presidency Colleve, M&dr&a, in 1869. at 34 waa the you-at •••ber,

he graduated

Krishna P&nd&lai

N, Raaan Pillai was the aon

of the Dewan, N. Nanu Pillai, and had fled Travancore with

G. Par...awaran Pillai in 1882.

Padaanabha Menon was the aon

of peahkar P. Shungoony Menon and brother of K, P, Sankara

Menon,

The coaaitt-, however, produced a virtually unani-

110ua report which was decidedly radical, and a body of ev­ idence which depicted the econoaic plight of Nayara aa

starkly•• any retoniat paaphleteer.

The coomittee toured the state throughout 1908, heard

1,021 witneaaea and published ita report at the end ot the

year.

It reco-nded:

the recovnition of the cer..,ny ot

aaabandh&a •• a legal aarriage;

and polygamy;

the outlawing o t polyandry

divorce b y autual consent certified by a

r�iatered document;

coapelling karanavana to keep careful

accounts of their use o f taravad aaaeta;

the grant to wives

and children ot & halt share ot the self-acquired property of a aan dying intestate;

and the ri!Jht of any branch of a

taravad descended froa the - woaan to de-nd partition,

123

The last reco-endation tell short ot the right ot individual

partition which Mn like Ch&ng&nacherry K. Paraaeawaran Pillai

were advocating, but it would have been enough t o deatroy the

big taravad.

In a taravad ot 2 0 -bera, for exaap1e, a

aother, her brother, her 3 children and their 2 children,

would have been eapowered t o deaand 7/20tha ot the taravad aaaeta and separate thftaelvea coapletely.

It would be wrong, however, to auggeat that because the

c01111ittee•a recomae.ndationa ..r• unaniaou.a on aoat pointa, no critics caae forward to give evidence.

Chief a110ng tbe

opponents ot any kind o f partition was C, V, Raaan Pillai who

circulated a Malayalaa paaphlet on the subject and appeared before the co-ittee.

Arguing in favour ot aoae kind ot

registration of -rriave, he opposed any atteapt at •breaking 246

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up wh&t belongs to the c.,_on<y•.

One of his fears was the creation of -11 proprietors and the fra91Mntation of hold­ ings.

Yet he claimed th&t a11ong Nayars 'what ia notoriously

wanting ia the spirit of enterprise•.

The question of parti124

tion, he argued, needed much 110re consideration. c.

v.

R-,i Pillai'• oppoaition to partition and exhorta­

tion to individual initiative were not necessarily illogical.

His view of Nayara u the ailitary gentry of Kerala, living on large ancestral estates, following an idyllic way of life and

preserving the tranquillity of society, accurate, but it was firmly held.

125

aay not have been

To tu,per with the taravad

was to destroy the gr-t fa11iliea and put at risk one of t he

Nayars• greatest assets:

their hold on the land.

Hia concern

about fragmentation of holdings waa shared by others.

Keah&va Pillai told the co-ittee:

P. K,

The partitioniata' proposal in the wide way in

which it is put forward by some, ia like a proposal to pull down the fortification which protects an ill-disciplined force and break up its existing

organization just when the siege baa become close.

126

A letter to the editor of the Madras Mail stated the f-rs more specifically:

[Partition will] reduce a good portion of the Nair

gentry to the condition of peasant proprietors and the r.-inder to that of landless men.

nae keen

competition that ia going on for land in Travancore

and the relative strength and strategic skill of

the coapetitors aake me fear that the Nair land­

holders will auccuab if the protection which the

law affords to Teads ia now taken away.

127

The coaaittee ..t such opposition with state .. nta of the virtues of coapetition.

'The creation of small proprietors ••• ia in

fact the very thing th&t promotes enterprize [sic]•, it con­

cluded.

Moreover, partition would • s trengthen the coatunity

••• by bringing into operation the univeraal law of the

survival of the fittest•.

128

8ut the conclusive argument in

favour of some fora of partition was the chaotic state of the 247

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tABLE C:

Alienation• and ac9uiaition9· of property by Nayar•, Christi an•, Ireva•, Sh&n&re a.ndS••ant&f in Travancore for 1083 {about 15 January 1908) 18 aonth1 prior to 1

-.r-

Category

Sales in MortSll!Q!I in rupee1

ruee••

+ or - in rupees

Total in rupee•

NAYARS

- Buyers or mort9&9eff

- Sellers or mort9&90rs

CHRISTIANS - Buyers or mortgagee•

- Sellers or mort9&90rs

IRAVAS - Buyera or mort9&geea

- Sellers or mort9&90r•

12,20,264

76,40,804

88,61,068

17,39,607

89,98,463

1,07,38,070

22,44,641

80,07,137

98,51,778

19,82,647

66,98,124

86,80,771

11,71,197

42,31,665

53,92,862

10,53,763

40,44,083

50,98,476

3,08,643

12,49,291

15,57,934

3,03,261

11,71,664

14,7,,925

11,829

63,423

75,252

17,298

94,605

1,11,903

- 18,77,002

+ 11,71,007

+

2,94,386

+

83,009

SHANARS

- liuyer• or mort9&9"S

- Sellers or mort9&90ra

SAMAHTAS• - Buyera or mort9&geea

- Sellers or •ort9&90rs

Source:

M&n.1 Report,

36,651

Appendix IV, p. 75

• Sawantaa were a matrilineal caste ranking between Nayar•

and Kshatriyae and found in limit-.! number• in north Travancore.

They -re more numerous in Cochin and 8ritiah Malabar.

An&nthakriehna I,,_r, Cochin Tribes, Vol.II, p.146. Pandalai was a

s.....nta.

K.Kriehna

248

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taravad, which wa• proved to the •ati•faction of the co-ittee

by an iapre••ive array of statistic•.

Partition might not be

the coaplete solution, but clearly aatters could not continue a• they -re.

Like the opponent• of partition, the coaaittee•s fir•t

:oncern was the land.

It collected fi911res on all sales and

mortgage• in the atate tor 18 month• prior to the beginning

of the Malaya1- month of M&karaa (Janu.ary-February) 1908.

Under a aystea which in theory

Table C shows the findings.

a&de property inalienable without proof of neces•ity or the

consent of all adult members of the taravad, Nayars had

alienated by sale or mortgage property worth Ra. 18.77 lakhs

aore than they had acquired.

Saaantas, a ru.tr1linea.l

caste nu..11bering no more than a thousand or so in north

Trava.ncore, had a similar net loss o! Rs. 35,651.

Among

p&trilineal groups, on the other h&nd, Christians of all

kinda had a net gain of R•. 11,71,007 worth of property;

Iravas, Ra. 2,94,386;

and Shanars, Rs. 83,009.

Christiana and Iravas -re acquiring land.

c011ing fro•7

the answer was obvious:

Where was it

from Nayara.

And

what was happening to the aoney which Nayar• gained from bypothecating their land?

That qu•stion led the Marnmekka-

ttayaa co-ittee to its second concern:

litigation.

TABLB D: Suitt involving 9ranavans1 brought by tuavad members, 1073-1082 M.E. (1897-8/1906-7) Tyl!! of suit

l.

Suits to cancel a karanavan•a alienations

3.

Suits to set aside decrees made against a k.aranavan•s alienations

2.

Suits to remove a karanavan

4. Suit• to set aside attachment of taravad property tor a karanavan•a debts

Number 4,365 295

142 67 4,869

Source:

Haru1 Report, Appendix I, p. 73

A• Table D •hows, di•p,,te• over the karanavan•a management provt not

all be aade right with the -trilineal joint-taaily and aiQht not the traditional Nayar role ot leaderahip and dcainance be

reasserted?

Such an hypothesis presupposed that Nayar• co11ld beba- aa

a political community, a united group.

The evidence in 1908

The subcaste distinction• ot traditional 1 34 society had still to be overcaae, while the !actions aaong

was not encouraQinQ.

educated Nayara -r• only brou9ht to99ther with ditticulty and 135 were to tly apart avain in 1915. Moreover, the tact that the larvest Nayar landholding taailies had been able to cope

with the chanve• ot the past 60 years while lesser taailies

had not, pointed to incipient class divisions which were to becoae increasingly pronounced.

Where the old aubcaatea

withered and died, cla•• distinctions took root.

By 1908 the unquestioned dcainance which Nayar• had enjoyed

60 years earlier had vaniahed.

It had been replaced by a

situation in which N&Yara, to be sure, atill held aany advant-

ages.

But th••• -re no longer unchallenged, and the econoaic

power ot the -jority ot Nayar taailiea -• manifestly on the

decline.

252

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Bpil"9118 BHD a, NATRILIMY: IIIIGINIIING 0, DISYIJJJSIOI It waa Noveaber 1912 trntor• the repon ot the Naruaalckatt�aa

C-.ltt- reeulted in legielatioa, and the re9Ul&tioa which waa then paaeed did not grant taravad panitioa on dw1nd, ev_,

Tbie, ot couree, ran aga1net the to braacbee ot taravade. Co ltt-·• rec-adatioae. TIie dr�t bill Which •a•

initially pr....,ted t o tbe ic.yar rmtrn·'I ot the 1A9ielative

C-..c:11 contained the C. :1'tt-•e provi111oa to alloor braachee deeceaded tr- the •- ..,

•= to dwnd\ partition.

However,

the 3 Nayar• in the 1A9iel&tive Cowlcil\�ere conaervativee, tearful ot partition, and they fought •�ceeetully to have the l partition clauae dropped t� the Bill.

R�latioa I ot 1088 ot the Malabar Bra recogiuaed a public

•aabandhar aa a 1-1 rarriage, and gave wive• and childr- ot

Nl\yare dying iateetate the ri!lht to halt ot tbe hueband'• acquired property.

A ran could diepoee ot all hie aelt­

acquired property by raking a •111.

••lt­

A huaband, roreover, •aa

ude the legal guardian ot hi• wite and children it tbey lived •1th hia;

wive• and children -r• given a right to -intenaace

againet the huaband, without prejudice to their right to trn

raintaiaed by the wit•'• taravad.

Th• power• ot the k&ranavan

-r• lirited, eiaple procedur.. tor divorce ••r• laid 4-n, and eubcaate dietiactioae •POll9 N�ar• ..re intentionally igaored.2 Ia the 1890e eucb a -aaure would have eatietied -t

ot educated opiaJ.oa.

•bade•

The recognition ot public •arbandbar u

a legal rarriage wu the -jor a1a ot Tbanu Pillai'• bill in 1896.

perty ot an iatutate Nayar on hie rite and children -ld bave helped to •atiety the critic• wbo claired that to ..,._ their initiative, Nayar• a-4ed the incentive ot being able to pro­

vide tor their tarili••.

By 1908, -v•r, the di••enaion in the taravad and the

eelt-iateruted attitude ot -t k&ranavane -4• the -tri253

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lineal joint-taaily appear irreparable to aany Nayar•. While conaervativea 11.ka c. v. Raaan Pillai aight aN the -intenance of tbe taravad u the only way to preaerve Nayar•' landed inter..ta and poaition in aociety, younger -n advocated partition tor the .... r-n. one wrote: ••• the evil• ••• [of partition] are aore than counter­ balanced by the treedoa which every aharebolder obtaina to illprove hie ahare: and u againat tbe rec:kl8•• con­ dµct of a ahareholder - bave to take into account tbe equally reckl..• conduct of q\l&rr•l-• joint .,._re, which ultiaately bring• ruin on their Tarwad property and tellda to acatter it aao119 tortwae-•eekillg ..,.,.y. lendera. That the property of aany a Nayar Tarwad baa thua paaaed into otbera• handa ia plain •••• Moat of the K&ranavana of tbe•• day• aind aore their own private inter..t a than the intereata of -bera c:oaaitted to their charge • • • • l'ree partition of Tarwad property baa 3 beccae a aatter of -c•••ity. Th• fact that Nayar -ber• ot the Legislative Co1&DCil could ignore tbe preaaing deanda tor partition -rely •pbuiaed t be diviaiona aaong educated Nayar• and t he u.nrepreaentative character of the COW>Cil. The probl- of the taravad affected thouaand• of Nayar• and appeared soluble only through legialative action. Nayara, tberetore, -r• drum towarda both the Legialative COW>Cil and the Popllar Aaaebly. Proa 1913, Changanacllerry K. Para­ -•waran Pillai led Nayar � ill the Aaaeably tor an ex­ panaion of the Legialative Collncil and an inc:reaae of its 4 powera. Thi• wu not aurpriai119, tor Nayar• had won every ••at but � in the Aa-bly electiona tor ..at• on tbe Council. A Council with real power, choaen on aucb a baaia, would be doainated by Na,yara. The trick, however, wu to overcoae the d.iviaiona aaong Nayara - the faction• aaong the educated, the aubcutea aaong the rllral and conaervative - and thua enable the• t o act a• a political coaallnity At the atate level. Nayar• lacked tho•• coaoon grievance• a o uaeflll tor uniting Iravaa. 254

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C. Kriahna Pillai brought the queation of aubc&ate to a head A t a f-•t .c+ ,.,,Patin9 t he deatb of Viahakba• in 1909.

Tirun&l'• wife, he and bia foll-•r• inaiated tb&t the Tu,pia -

H&yara deacended fro• ltabatriyaa - -t with the•.

Tb• T&wpi•

and bia follo••r• left tbe 9&tberin9. About a year later, M&Dn&tb P..,_,,...bh& Pillai •a• elected eecretary of a local Nayar &e&oci&tion at Perunna, hia refuaed, and ltriahna Pillai

na.ti- vil�, ,-ar Ch&ngana.cherry.

Tbia

karpogaa

•mter• of all Nayar eubc&atee in the area;

included

ita aiae -r•

eubcaate fuaion, interdinin9, and abolition of talikettuk&ly&n&9

and other wuteful, ellb&rraaeiD9 cer-,ni••.

karayogaa had

built ite � office•,

By 1912, the

and in October 19lo&

M&nn&9 and a f- friend• founded the Nair Service Society and

vowed t o devote their li-• to eocial eervice.

By 1922,

a

Malabar Nayar could write envioualy that in Travancore the 8 proc••• of aubcaete fuaion waa alaoat c-plete.

But while there wu pr09r••• t-arda the eli•ina.tion of the

old diviaiona aaon9 Nayar•, there -r• factional b&ttlee aaoD9

the eo&cated elite, and indication• that clue would one day divide Nayare u effecti-ly ae eubcaete ever

had.

1915, the lteraliya Nair 5aaaj eplit acriaonioualy.

Pillai and hie foll-•r• tried to pack tbe annual

In No--r c. V. Reean

general

-tiDII in Trivandru- witb their eupportere, and C. Kriahna Pillai, Cba-nac>,erry K. Par...-aran Pillai and Na.nna.tb 9 P�bh& Pillai and their follower• left in proteet.

Peraona.l rivalriee played a part in the eplit.

C. V. R•Nn

Pillai•• influ_,ce in the ..,_!niatration, for ex1,rp'•, bad grown with t he appoint-nt of M. Kriehn&n Nair, a M&J&bar lawyer,

Dewan.

aa

H-.-r, c. Kriehna Pillai•e party tended to c-. fr-

1••• affluent Nayar areu o f central and nortb Travancore and to favour individual tarav&d partition.

Tbe foll001ere of

c. v. qa••n Pillai were fr- the wore arietocratic Trivandru­ and aoutb Travancore tarav&de; their large holdin99 •

individual partition tbr-tened

Foll001iD9 the break, Kriehna Pillai'• follow.re foraed the

All-Kerala Hair S1uj. and Chan9&n&cberry K. Pa.rwewaran

Pillai uaed it• -•tinge to call for refor- of the Le9i1lative 255

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Cowlcil.

10

ln Sept.-r 1916, T. It. Velu Pillai, anotber

--r of tbe ltriablla Pillai party, got peraiaaion to introduce 11 a bill in tbe Council for brancb partition of tbe taravad. The progrffa of tbe Bill dra� OIi •1-ly I the Dewan, ltr1•bnan

Nair, wu cool towards it, and oaly witb tbe expansion of the

1Agialati- council in 1919 and again in 1921 did legislation 12 Tbe tw:ning point for taravad partition becoae poaaible •

- in Noveaber 1920, when aupportera of individual partition attended a -ting of S-ea•j in Trivandruw.

c. v.

Raaan Pillai'• uraliya Nair

The -ting wu in�ended to paaa a

resolution in favour of branch partition, but after tbrff

boura of wrangling, a reaolutioo in favour oL individual 13 partition wu carried overwhel-ingly. It wu anotber 4

yeara, haacver, before a bill providing for individual partition 14 becaae law. Regulation Il of 1100 of tbe Malabar Bra (October 1924)

virtually legislated away tbe -trilineal joint-faaily.

'Bvery

legal heir of all her huaband 1 a aelf-acquired property.

Tbere

Tarwad' becw •entitled to clai- bia or ber abare of tbe propertiea of tbe Tarwad.' A •if• waa wade tbe adult_.,... of a

-r• a n..-r of qualifications and conditions, but tbe effect

of the ,_ regulation wu to allow tbouaanda of N&Yar• to take their ahar• of the taravad•a UNta and 1-v• the joint­ 1 faaily. 5

Th• r....lta in ..,.. waya juatified the worat fear• of the

anti-partitioniata.

In tbe 5 yeara following the act, Nayara

recorded an average annual net loae of property wortb Ra. 48.7

lakhc.

In the aw period, Cbriatiana ahowed an annual aet 16 gain of property worth Ra. 33.S lakha. By 1931, -r• Nayar•

probably owned land than any other group, but nuabera alone did

not constitute econo-ic atrengtb.

Nayar holding• of -t land 17 appear to bave been fragwented and aubdivided, and mach of 18 tbe land N&Yara did own wu heavily -rtgaged. Nevertbeleaa,

paper -rah!p of the land allowed Nayar• to control tbe





refor-ed bicwral lagialature, Htabliabed in 1932, Wbich

continued to base tbe francbiae on pay-ant of Ra. 5 in land 9 t 1

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TIMI probl- of tbe -triline&l joint-faaily had preoccupied

educated Nayar• for aore than 30 yeare.

Tbe pr�P1141•nda lt

bad provoked wu aleo in effect propAgend& for a wider coaaunity.

Nayar• -r• continually told tb&t tbey were Nayar•, tb&t they

•hared -y tradition•, that tbey bad once ruled and tb&t they

would rule again -n tbe probl- of -trili.ny -r• eolved. If,

u Neaaath Padle&n&bha Pillai later wrote, Nayar• i n the

19tb century bad little coneciou•-•• of belonging to a Travan­ 20 core-wide co ...,ity, t he organisational atteapte t o refora t he aatrilineal ey•t- did auch to propagate eucb

awarene•••

Nayar organiaatione, -r-ver, reinforced in tbe ainde of other groupe - Iravu, Chrietiw, non-Nelayali Brahaine - the

-cluaiveneee of Nayar•.

In 1916, it wu :laponible t o allow

the etudente in the Nerui.-aja•e College, Trivandrua, to vote

aaong tbeaaelve• for the outetanding boy, becauee • caete pre­

judice played a great part in t he election. and ••• -rit wae ignored•.

1tuaaran Aaan wu • aetoniebed • to diecover wbetl 2

N&yare canvueed hia for vote• in t he Aa-bly election• to

tbe Legielative Council, tb&t they • wanted n o Bah&va -ber in

[ One] went eo far to [ eic] •&Y that

the Legielative Council.

Bab&ve educational etatue would not � to eucb a level for 21 10 or 15 year• to c... •.

Appeal• to caete and c:oaaunity � fuhioneble and oft-

repeated in the period betw•n 1910 and 1920.

for patronage on ltuaaran

Aaan••

Iravu relied

friendly relationebip witb 22 P . R&j&gopalacb&ri, wbo wu Dewan until 191,. Tbere -r• public -•tinge of lturavu, Pulayee, Latin Catbolice, and

Neabvdirie to pr••• for eirk&r belp for tbeir •oc ,aitiee•, but the ueoci&tiona whicb gr- out of euc:l> -tinga -v•r 23 attained the c:oberence of tbe S.N.D.P. Yogaa. Bduceted

Syrian Chrietiane, bowever, gr- i.apatient et their continued -lueion fr- the mcecutive branch•• of gov•r-t, an d in

1918 famed the Civic Righte lA&gue at a -ting in ltottay-.

Tbe Leag11e claiaed to repreMnt 2 6 lakh• of Chri&tiane, low­ cute Hindue and -liae, and �••ended equal rigbte in tbe

public eervice and in public inetitutiona for all Travan­ 2 cor....,.. ' It wea quickly pointed out tb&t Syrian Chrietian•

257

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25 o-nrbelaingly daainated tbe League. The Lea- •aged a raapaign of public •-tinga and epeechee eiailar to that of tbe Nalayali N•orial.

It won a -11 victory in 1922 when the

devu- or t ..pl• dep&rtBeDt wu ••parated fr- the revenue depart-nt, . and non-caete Kindue -r• thereby peraitted into the -.:utive eervice.26 By 1925 there •a• a Syrian Chrietian 27 dietrict officer. The ailitancy of the Indian National Con9r•••, wbic:ll bad become eo pronounced in Britieh India fr- 1919, left Travan­ core relatively 1111touched. Becauee Travancore • u a prince­ ly etate, Con9r••• leader• regarded it u beyond the ecope of

their activitiee. There ••r•, h011ever, occuional foray• of the Malabar-baaed Kerala Provincial COllllitt- into 28 Travancore, and the etudente • etrika in Trivandrua over f­ increu•• in Septftlber 1921 owed ._. of it• inepiration to the non-cooperation -nt in Britieh India.29 ?be atteraath of the etrike produced the firet call• for reeponeible govern­ 30 •ent in Travancore. 1'h• failure of non-cooperation in Britieh India turned the nationalist leaderehip towarde council entry and "conetructi-" pr091"t1E e8 • At the Kakinada ••••ion at the in 1923, a reeolution •u pueed •hic:ll co-itted the Congr••• to work one of the inetigatore for the eradication of untoucbability. of the reeolution •u T. K. Madhavan, a Travancore Irava •ho bad eou.gbt an intervi.. with Gandhi at Tinnevelly in 1921 to intora hia of the dieabiliti•• of Iravu.31 The -Y for Iravu bad not been euy. Although by 1921 there were 4,500 literate in Bn9liah and their aale literacy rate in Malayalu wu 36!1, educated Irava• -r• lar91tly lc.ept out of the govern­ -nt eervice and legielature. the rural poor -re excluded fr- aost teapl.. , certain roada and a f.. public buildinga.32 Madhavan bee._ preeident of the S.N.D.P. Yo- and gave it a aore ailitant etance. When Con9r••• activiti•• ele.. bttre -r• in biatue early in 1924, he succeeded in getting Con9re•• eupport and national attention for a aatya9raba at Vaika• in At Vaikaa avarna Hindue, ae -11 ae being north Travancore. banned fr- the aain t..ple, -r• not peraitted to uee the 258

Con9r•••

Con9r•••

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Tl>e aatyagraha, according to The Hindu correapondent writing at it• outHt, wu to be • a truly glorioua tight, one to ntabliab the dignity of aan and bia right of frff -nt i.n public place••. 33 n.e aatya­ grabia did not aalt tor t..ple entry but only tbe right to uae nearby roa.da. l'here waa, however, aoae uony in the way Madhavan waa able to uH the Congr•••'• -..S tor 9Uitable agitationa. DQring non-cooperation Iravu bad generally aupported the Britiab gover,_t,34 and Kmu.ran Aaan bad accepted a Mdal fr- the Prince of WalH. Th• gentl-,ily Vailtaa aatyagraha dragged on tor -r• than a year and waa eventually aettled with a �proaiae which admitted avarna Hindu• to -•t of tbe road• around the teaple. The aatya­ graba, however, publicised the diaabiliti•• of Iravu and lent 1-petua to a --nt tor t-ple entry tor avar- Hindu•. Such iaau•• -r• to doainate Travancore politic• until the T-ple Bntry Proclaaation of 1936. Barly in 1933 Iravaa, Nualiaa, Syriana and otber Chriatiana tora«l the Joint Political Congreaa to oppoH the new legialative retonoa. Theae had incr-•ed the aiae of the Council and A••-bly, but by retention of the Ra. S land-tax qualification and a careful gerryaander, left tbe control largely in the handa of 35 The Joint Political Congr••• -• fairly aucceaatul Nayara. in inducing Chriati.ana, Nual1- and Iravu to boycott the electiona of 1933.36 Tenaion with Na,yara ran high, and the vernacular pr••• briatled witb attacka by aeabera of one c�ty againat othera. At the •- tiae, Irava leader• were uaing the Joi.nt Political Congr••• and the S.N.D.P. Yogaa in atteapta t o force the governaent t o throw open it• teapl•• Pr-inent Iravaa threatened that they to avarna Hindua. would lead theu caat-n into Chriatianity, Ialaa, Buddhiaa and •-n Sikhia U tbe t-pl•• were not opened to th••· 37 Other• recoaM"'1ed atheia and Karl Marx. In 1936 Sir c. P. R-i Aiyar, an old friend of the ruling taaily who u •conatitutional adviaer• had been the piM!5f qriU in Travancore aince 1931, becaae Dewan. In a flurry of activity in 1935 and 1936, the tranchi.•• 259

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qualification

wu reduced to payaent of Rs. 1 in l&nd tax, a

public services comaission was eetabliehed to eupervies

governaent appoint-nta, a nd in November 1936 all t-plee under

governaent aana-nt -r• thrown open to Hindus of all 38 caetea. R-•w-i Aiyar•s aia wu to ieolate the extreaiets in the Joint Political Congrese, 110et of who• he eaw as being

Syrian Christians.

He was largely eucceseful.

By 1940 the

S.N.D.P. Y_, and 110et other caste or religious associatioruo, 39 An- political were carefully supporting the governaent. organization, tbe Travancore Stat• Congresa, led by Patt­

Thanu Pillai, a south Travanc:orean Nayar, and supported by aember• of the old Joint Political Congreea, waa for-d in 1938 to c-paign for responeible governaent.

However , after

a concerted effort in 1938, it rarely threatened the eirk&r again until Indian independence wae i-inent in 19'7.

The nature of Trava.ncore as • princely etate, in which the

Mah&raja was eacroea.nct and even unhappy subjects began their petitioruo with expression• of loyalty, led upiring leaders

into a particular style of political activity.

Since the

Nalayali Memorial of 1891 their quest had been for ieaue• which could be preeented u panaceas.

The Maharaja•• loyal

eubjecte had grievance• which required eolution;

all would be -11.

once eolved,

Such grievance•, howev•r, eepecially

tho•• with a etate-wide eignifica.nce, were invari..i,ly r•lated

to the cuetoas or dieabilities of particular caetee or religious group•.

Th• c-paigne for removal of a grievance

reinforced a etate-wide c.-unity conscioueneaa.

Por uny

Nayar•, the right to individual partition of the -triliawal joint-f-ily wu r•garded u the ult1-te solution to their probl-s:

F••nclpated fro• the thraldoa of the faaily the

junior -r learn• to look upon hiaeelf not u a zero a• he foraerly wu but aa a unit ... he

bee�• induetrioue and prudent ••••

Th• net

reeult ie to eupply a.n incentive to produce induetry.

Partition suppli•• not only the incentive to induetry but aleo the -a.n• to atart it. 40 260

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Syrian Christiana pressed for separation ot the revenue and

devaaaa depart-nta so that they aight acquire influence in the

executive branches of gov•r-nt -cowaenaurate with their Iravu 4-nded concessions in the gover-nt econ011ic power. Aa a princely service and the civil rights ot aavarna Hindus. state, Travancore lay outside the -in •-ep ot the nationalist aov...nt; nationalist ideology and leadership -re not avail­ able to aubli-t• the passions generated by local iuuea. The goals ot -t ot th••• local -caapaigna were eventually

achieved. The Travancore public service bee... the preserve ot Travancoreana. The -trilineal joint-faaily bee- individ­ ually partible. the revenue and deva... depart-nta were separated, and a public service• cn-taaion established. Teaple entry was granted to all avary Hindus. Indeed, by 1948 even responsible gover-nt had been gained under a thr--11&n ainiatry ot Pattaa Thanu Pillai ( a Nayar), T. M. Varghese (a Mar Th011ite Syrian) and C. Keaavan (an Irava). Yet none ot They these solutions satisfied the hopes they had raised. .. re, to begin with, essentially the goals ot the ...ltbier, ••stem-educated sections ot -ch • coaaunity '. Such -n set out to preaent theaaelvea aa leaders ot their • eo vnity•. First, however, they had to overcome the old geographical and subcaste differences which traditionally divided Nayar• and Iravas; aaong Syrians there -re competing sects. And as these old crevices were bridged, new fissures ot claaa began to appear. BetwNn 1901 and 1941 the population ot Travancore 110re than doubled fro• 2,950,000 to 6,070,000. The density by 19'1 wu 800 people for eV1try square aile in the state. That figure, too, disguises the real density, tor auch of tbe state wu back­ water or mountain, or turned over to the cultivation ot planta­ tion crops. The literacy rate wu 4'711, including -n, and aaong Christian and Nayar aen it was 73•. 41 It••• not surprising that a high density ot population, high rate of literacy, high uneaplo�nt and a shattered social syst• aaong sections ot the population led to a strong Ccaaunist Party. As early as 1926 the Travancore UD•plo�nt 261

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Bnquiry Coaaiaaion wa• pointing to ' the gzowing taacination which aocialiatic and cn--.niatic idaaa ••• exerciae upon the In 1934 ainda ot the young ..n educated in our college•'.42 Congre•• Socialiata won control ot the Kerala Provincial Con­

gre•• C.ayaa ey1t- or the granting of equal civil right• to all c:aetee and religiona; nor wu reeponeible goven ..nt, a united Kerala or even a coaauniet adainietration. An elderly Travancore Nayar writing on the firet annivereary of the death of Pattaa Thanu Pillai aade the dieillueiorment clear. After the fall of the firet Pattu ainietry in October 1948 Travancore•e fate wae deter­ ained by: the whiae and fancie• of fifth rate politician• who were jealou. of Trivandrua and the people who built The reeult wu Travanup a proeperoue Travancore. core Cochin Integration, ••• and the tranefer of the High Court froa Trivandrue to one of the dirtieet towna in the world [ i.e. Cochin) , followed by the appoint-nte of briefle•• lawyer• - who.. only qualification waa jail life for a f- aontha when Sir c. P. -• D-an - to higb judicial and executCorruption and nepotiea ran high and ive officee. allegation• againat Minieter, -re freq-nt and too ....,Y •• •• On the let of �r 1956 a trunlcated [ eic) Kerala State wu born •••, after giving away a well developed and fertile South Travancore, the real original Travancore, to the State of Madru (which wu another political blunder) in exchanc;ie 263

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48 for an undeveloped Malabar Diatrict.

Thia

wu a far cry frc:a the aelf-confidence of 70 yeara before,

when another N&Yar could write tbat •- have every right to

expect that, in courae of ti-, the Malayali coananity will c-. by the recognition due to it u the aoat pr09reaaive 4 coaaunity in aouth India•. 9

264

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Conclusion In the l&at halt of the 19th century a aociety which had 1 aurvived tundpzantally unch&DQed tor 700 year• cw unhinQe' 1818, quoted in CMS Annual Report, Vol.VII, 1819, p.168.

25. Rev. Jo•epb Fenn, letter, quoted in OIS Annual Report, Vol.VII, 1819, p.323.

26, Rev. Henry Bakar, Sr, A Seraon Preached at Chri•t Church, COttayaa1 on the 9th No.-ber 1859 (Kottayaa: OIS Pr•••, 1860), p.15.

27. Thi• can only be a 911Na. It i• baaed on an ••ti-te of 25,000 Nayar joint-f•iliea at thi• tiae and perhapa 8,000 Nayar •irkar �ficial• and petty official•.

28. • Travancore and It• Land Tenure• , calcut ta Review, Vol.CCII, Jan. 1901, p.130, quoting 'an experienced Travancor• officer•.

29, Travancore calendar, 1851, pp.vi-x.

30. Madra• Polit ie&l Proceadlnga [ hereafter MPP], 15 July 1862, Range 321, Vol.XL.VI, pp.256-7.

31. Travancore calendar, 1851, pp.vi-x.

32. Williaa CUllen, Re•id.,t, to the Cllief Secretary to the Madra• Govern11ent (hereafter CII.Sec,], 15 March 1843: Madru Reaidancy Record• ( hereafter MRR], Letter• to the Madru Gover-t ( here­ after I.HG], Vol.XIV.

33, Travancore calendar, 1815, pp.vi-x.

34. CUllen to the Cb.Sec., 25 Jan. 1858: MPP, 9 Feb. 1858, � 321, Vol.XXXIX, p.237. 35. J.H.Hutton, caate i n India (&oabay: Oldord Ulliveraity Pr•••, 1969; fir•t publiabed 1946), pp.79-85, di•cua•e• pollution at acme length and cite• all hi• exaaple• fro• Kerala and aouth Taail Madu,

36. A.l(aWk11WOrth], Day Dawn in Travancore (Kottay•: CMS Pr•••, 1860), pp.8-9.

37. HUtton, caete, pp.79-80, givee a convenient di99et.

38, •Miea Baker•• School at Cottayaa•, 1884, probably written by Mary Bak.er who wu the daughter� the Rev. Henry Baker, Jr, Cllurch Mi••ionary Society Archive• [hereafter CMSA], No.38� 1884.

39. Rev. Jacob Chandy , Sr • •Journal• , 15 Aug. 1855 and 25 Nov. 1856: CMSA, uncatalogued. 40. See Rev. Jacob Chandy, Sr. •Journal', 7 July 1853, 15 Jww 1854 i Rev. 1n to the Secretary, OIS, 5 Jan. 1857, 31 Jan. 1866: CMSA, uncatalogued,

ao- "•

41. Savarna refere to high-cute Hindu•i 42, Ceneua, 1875, p,191.

avarna to low caetee.

43, S• the advertiaeaent in the Travancore Govenmant Gazette 274

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[bere&fter tGG], Vol.>OOCII, No.45, 6 Nov. 1894, for a NUibudiri, aQ'ld 20 to 40, of 'unbleaiabed cb&racter •, to be prieat of the aa1n Badrinath teaple in the Hiaalayu.

44. Nagaa Aiya, Manual, Vol.II, pp.286-8, for a diacuaaion of the Pottia.

tr vancore Mar tha rt o t hereafter Ml>pl.Report , p.13. 46. Fred.Fawcett, 'Notea on aoae of the people of Malabar', Nf;drp.e l'or a Go"!rnaent Muaeua Bulletin, Vol.III, No.l, 1900, p.61. deacription of the elaborate triala for fornication ataQ'ld by Naabudiria, ••• Lo98ft, Malabar, Vol.I, pp.122-6. 47. the -jor public appearance of the Malayali BrahaiM wu tbe M•Mial aurajapaa cerw,ny when they went to trivandrua to chant prayer• and be feaated. Ole, Par--&ran N&llbudiri, •u cbief justice of the Sadr Court for 10 yeara in the 1840a and early 18SOa, but bia caae -• exceptional.

45.

48. Rev. Saauel Matffr, Th• LI!"! o f Charity (London, .Johns-, 1871), p.291 Na- Aiya, Manual, Vol.II, p.255; Fawcett, 'NOtea' , p .85.

49. S.. .Joan Mencher, •n,e N&llboodiri Br&hain. of Kerala', .Journal of Aaian and African Studiea, Vol. I, 1966, pp.189-90, for a Naabudiri•a explanation for their •backwardneaa• in the 20th century. SO. Ward and Conner, Memoir, p.137. 51. LOgan, Malabar, Vol.I, p.129.

52. Re rt of the Malabar Marria Coaaiaaion [hereafter Mal. Mar. Coa. , 1891, Appendix III, p.4. • An•-ra to Interr 09&toriea• by C.Karunakara Menon, aub-editor, The Hindu. 53. Kriahna Ch&itanya, A Hiatory of !!!lafal&a Literature (-ba.y: Orient Ln�, 1971), pp.126 and 122. Chaitanya•a translation.

54. U.Balakriahna Nair, 'The Naira: A Race of Hereditary Figbtera•, Malabar guarterly Revi-, Vol.I, No.2, .June 1902, pp.83-4. It ahould be noted that u late aa 1902 after 4 fairly accurate cenauaea, Nayar• were atill deacribin9 theaaelvea •• 'the bulk• of the inbabitanta.

55. Kathleen Gougb, 'Th• Nayar• and the Definition of M&rriave•, Journal of the Roytl Anthropological Inatitute, Vol.L>OOCDeae, Agrarian Change, p.217, Report of the Special Comaiaaion on Malabar Land Tenurea,Vol.I (Madras: 1882), p.134. 106. Thia waa in contrast to a nuaber of states in northern India wbere •••i-autonoaoua local chiefs survived under the raja. .Jaipur and Baroda are examples.

107. Travencore Adainittration Report [hereafter TAR], 1864-5, pp.28-30. s.. also Varl)h•••, Change, p.30. In the 1830• Travancore had an eeti,...ted 741 square ailes (475,000 acree) in rice. W.G.Horaley, Meaoir of Tr,vancore (Trivandrua: Sirkar Pr•••, 1863; first publiehed, 1839), p.1.

108. In 1913 after auch eillpli.fication there were still 66 kinda of Padaanabha Aiyar (editor), tenure and 387 perautatione. Settl-nt Report, Vol.I, Appendix II, No.3, pp.lxxvi-lxxvii. See aleo R-ien9&r, 'Meaorandua•, p.145. 109. Ward and Conner,

-ir,

p.72.

110. Census, 1875, pp.261 and 266.

111. Ibid., p.267.

112. Horeley, Meaoir, p.l.

113. Weleh, R-iniecencee, Vol.II, p.107. 279

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114. Wud and Conner, Meaoir, p.50.

115. Bailey, Baker and ,-nn to Col .D.N-11, Reeident, 18 March 1822, in CMS, Annual Report, Vol .X, l&a3, p .238.

116. Nidhiry, Nidhiey, p.91 Diary of Pr. M&tMW P&lakkunnel, in the poeNeeion of P.J.Seb&eti&n, Peri•apen&e"4ty, Kottay&a Dietrict, who tr&nelated portione for - during &n intervion 8 Auguet, 1971; A.O.M&tth&i, 'Life of the Venerable Arch­ deacon OolNn -n , CMS', Travwore and Cochin Diocee&n !prd, Vol.XV, No.1, J&n. 1905, p.7. Matthai wu -n·• eon. Rev. J.Chandy, Sr. •Journal', 13 Dec. 1856: CMS Archive•, unc&talogued. 117. Ward and Oorvwr, M-oir, p.72.

118. Tbe ReQU!&tion• and Procl&a&tione of Travancore, Vol.V, p.797, R-lation III of 1100.

119. Rev. J.Ruseel to the Foreign Secretary, LMS, 24 Jan. 1856: OCWM, Travancore, Box 4, Folder 4, Jacket B. 120. Log&n ,

M&lal>u , Vol.I, pp .245•9.

121. See Aehin Dae Gupta, 'Tb• M&kinge of Travancore•, Benoa.l Past &nd Present, Vol.UCXX, July-oec. 1961, pp.124-48 and Ashin Das Gupta, Malabar in Aei&n Trade1 1740-1800. (C&llbridge: univereity Pr•••, 1967).

122. Krishna Rao, Deecription, p.47.

123. Ward and Conner, Meaoir, pp.8-9 and 89.

124. Quoted in Rev. T.Whitehouse, Ungerings of Light in L&nd (London: Brown, 1873), p.6n.

125. A.H[awltsworth], Dty

a D&rk

Dawn, p.so.

126. Nidhiry, Nidhiry, p.3; Rao, Ch&nge, p.22.

127. C.P.Matthen, I Have Borne MUch (M&drae: Allpthill, 1951), p.12. See aleo Aiyappan, 'Iravae•, p.41; K.Kuruvill&, A Histo5y of the Mar n.aa& Church &nd Its Doctrine• (M&drae: Christian Literature Society for India, 1951), p.41; Brown, Chrieti&ne, p.172; B.M.Ph.ilip, The Indi&n Church of St. 1b011&8, (Nagercoil: LMS Preas, 1950), p.420.

128. Ward and Conner, Memoir, pp.137-8.

129. Rev.J.Russel to the Foreign Secretary, LMS, 24 J&n. 1856: CCWM,

Travancora, Box 4, Folder 4, Jacket D.

130. Census, 1875, p.260.

131. It would be wrong to overeaph&siae the deJl&nd for aanufactured goods in Keral&. In 1901 Fawcett wrote that aaong Nayar• 'a �- hou•••• kept 'ra.aore of English or Oenaan manufacture•. Sciseors were regarded a• '..- fangled•. Fred Fawcett, •Nayars of M&l&bu', M&dras Governaent Museua Bulletin, Vol,II, No.3, 1901, pp.194-5.

280

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Chapter 2 1. A.Aiyappan, Social Revolution in a Kerala Villpqe (N- York: Aaia Publiahin9 Houae, 1965), p.35; Bric J. Miller, •C&ate and Territory in Malabar', Aaerican Anthropologist, Vol.LVI, 1954, p.419. Saauel Mat-r, Native Li1'e in Travancore (London: W.H.Allen, 1883), p.34.

2. Abba to the P'orei9n Secretary, LMS, 1 P'eb. 1855: a:IIIN, Travancore, Box 4, P'older 4, Jacket A.

3 . Minute• of the OIS Travancore Conference, 17 Dec. 1857: UTC, No.39,

4. Rev. Henry Bakar, Jr. to the Seczetary, OIS, 12 October 1847: CMS,\ 1 No.30 of 1847; Rev.Dr. Cll&rlea Leitch to the P'orei� Secretary, 1 Jan. 1853: o::v,i, Travancore, Box 4, P'older 3, Jacket c; Rev. Bbeneaer �is to the P'orei911 Secretary, LMS, 28 Jan. 1853: CCWM, Travancore, Box 4, Folder 3, Jacket C; Rev. J. o. Whitehouae to the Foreign Secretary, LMS , 2 Sept. 1853: COiilC, Travancore , Box 4, Folder 3, Jacket B. 5. Rev. Joseph Peet to the Secretary, CMS, 2B June 1861: OIS Archive•, uncatalo!lll94.

6. Rev. G. O. Newport, quoted in LMS, Travancore District C,--Jttee, Report], 1866, p.7. Annual R!J!Ort [hereafter LMS,

nx:,

7. See the Madras Athena...., 2 Nov. 1848, 2 Jan. 1855, 6 Dec. 1856. Krishna Rao, the •a• said to provide the Resident with -n. See also the Petition of Koratty Ka.ra Swaayar to the Madru Government, S Nov. 1854: MPP, 6 Feb. 1855, Range 321, Vol.XVIII, p.518, which accuaed Cullen of 'the ruin of -ny Forty years later it -n of caat[e] and reapectability•. was aaid of another Resident, J.D.Rees, that • his behaviour quite recalled the days of General Cullen, only that in Cullen'• ti.lie the ladies concerned received an adequate remuneration•, R.S.Lepper to Curaon, 29 June 1903, quoting • a cultured Hindu official': Ial, Aapthill Papers, B/233/17.

o-an,

8. [Viahakhaa Tirunal], 'A Native Statesaan•, C&lcutta Review, Vol.LV, 1872, p.229.

9 . Rev. Joseph Peet to the Secretary, CMS, S May 1859: CMS,\ uncatal�; Rev. Saauel Mat-r, The Land of Charity,(London, John Snow, 1871), p.297; Abbs, sxperience, p.82.

10. Ainslie T. Babree, Charles Grant and British Rule in India (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1962), pp.238-9.

11. Cullen to the Chief Secretary to the Madru Gover,-nt, n.d.: ..-P, 24 June 1853, Range 321, Vol.III, p.2156. Also Cullen to the Chief Secretary, 24 Au9. 1853; MPP, 14 P'eb. 1854, Range 321, Vol.VII, pp.527-8; Cullen to the Chief Secretary, n.d.: MPP, S June 1855, Range 321, Vol.lOCI pp.2389-2403; Cullen t o the Chief Secretary, 24 Sept. 1853: MPP, 24 P'eb. 1854, Range 321, Vol.VII, p.726.

12. See Cullen, 'Meaorandua addressed to the Madras Gover.-nt on the 5th Dec. 1843• (Trivandrua: 1849), and his article i.n &Cial Hi,tory Ravi-, Vol.V, No.2, June 1968, pp.171-87, and Hardgrave, the Nadara ot Taailnad (Berkeley: Univeraity ot California Pr•••, 1969), pp.60-70.

BS. Lewia to the Foreign Secretary, UIS, 20 Dec. 185'1 CCWM, Travancore, Box 4, Folder 4, Jacket A. 86. Baylia to the Foreign Secretary, UIS, March 1856: CCWM, Travancore, Box 4, Folder 4, Jacket C. 87. CUllen to the Ch.Sec., 31 March 1855: MRR, u«l, Vol.XVI. 88. Cullen to the Rev. John Rusael, 15 March 1858: lGBR, Cover No. 211S. Chriatiana, Cullen claiaed, were tlatly retusing to do uriyaa.

89. Shungoony Menon to Madhava Rao, 3 Jan. 1859: tQ!R, cover No. 211S. 90. Shungoony Menon t o Madhava Rao, 4 Jan. 18S9: TG&R, Cover No. 211S. The notitication had been iaaued in Trivandrua on 27 Dec., but it did not reach Nagercoil , according to Shungoony Menon, until the atternoon ot 3 Jan. 91. See Hardgrave, 'Breaat-Cloth COntroveray•, pp.182-3, lie accept• the aiaaionary accounts and ll&kea the diaturbanc•• sound rather like the reliet ot t.ucknow. 92. Cullen to Madhava Rao, 14 Jan. 1859: MRR, LD, Vol.XI. 93. CUllen to the Ch.Sec., 16 Feb. 1859: MPP, 1S March 18S9, Range 321, Vol.XLII, p.281. 94. Cullen to the Ch.Sec., 18 Jan. 1859: MRR, MPP , 1 Feb. 1859, G.O.No.75; Hardgrave, •Breaat-Cloth Controveray•, p.183.

9S. Madhava Rao to CUllen, 12 Feb. 18S9: MPP, 1S March 1859, Range 321, Vol.XLII, p.284; COX t o F.N.Naltby, Reaident, 7 May 1860: l'GIIR, Cover No. 2115. Cox wrote that 11 aiaaion building• had been da•aged or deatroyed. The airkar later replaced the buildinga. Maltby to Madhava Rao, 18 June 1860: MRR, LD, Vol.XII; CUllen to the Ch.Sec., 14 Jan. 1859: 19U!, MPP, 1 Feb. 1859, G.O.No.75. 96. Cullen to the Ch.Sec., 16 Feb. 18S9: MPP, 1S March 18S9, Range 321, Vol.XLII, pp.281-6; Cullen to the Cb.Sec., 13 Jan. 18S9: MPP, l Feb. 18S9, Range 321, Vol.XLII, pp.143-7. 97. Cullen to the Ch.Sec., n.d. [18S3]: MPP, 1 April 18S3, Range 321, Vol.II, p.1162. 286

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98. MPP, 17 Au9. 1852, Ran911 320, Vol.LXX, p.2236. 99. R.Ran9a Rao to Fraaer, 6 April 1838: tGBR, Cover No.16034. 100. Cullen to Kriahna Rao, 1 o.c. 18521 NRR, U>, Vol.VIII.

101. MPP, 24 Feb. 1854, R&ft9'1 321, Vol.VIII, p.737; Petition, 22 Oct. 18531 NPP, 29 Nov. 1853, Ran911 321, Vol.V, p.3589.

102. Cullen to the Ch.Sec., 1 9 Feb. 1855: NPP, 6 March 1855, Ran911 321, Vol.XVIII, p.918. 103. Cullen to K r iahna Rao, 18 O.C. 1855: MRR , U>, Vol.X. Se• alao CUllen to Kriahna Rao, 25 Sept. 1850: MRR, LD, Vol.VIII. 104. F.N.Maltby, Reaident, to the Ch.Sec., 20 Feb. 1860: MPP, 26 March 1860, Ran911 321, Vol.XI.IV, pp.232-40.

105. Cullen to Kriahna Rao, 20 Au9, 1855: MRI!, LD, Vol .X: ,..,., 31 May 1853, Ran911 321, Vol.III, p.1963; Rav. John Cox, Travancore Ita PreMnt Ruin 111 (Na911rcoil: London Miaaion Preaa, 1857), p.viii. cox wrote that there waa aora •-99lin9 than deatroyin9; CUllen to Kriahna Rao, 20 Au9. 1855: NRR, LD, Vol.X. Sae al-, NPP, 9 Oct. 1855, Ran911 321, Vol.XXIV, p.4370.

106. CUllan to K riahna Rao , 25 Au9, 1855: MRR, LD, Vol .X. 107, Petition of Mr, Harri• to the Governor-Ge-ral, 8 March 1855: Harri•, an MPP, 12 Jww 1855, R&J>!le 321, Vol.XXI, p.2473. Buraaian, claiaed that all tabaildarahipa -r• for aale and that one, aold for Ra. 7,000, brou!jht ita purchaaer Ra. 60,000 in 18 110ntba, althou!jh a tahaildar '• pay waa only Ra. 70 a aonth. the Hadraa Gover-nt concluded, however, that • the character and poaition of Mr. Harri• are not auch aa to 9ive any -i!jht to hia aaaertiona•. 108. CUllen to Kriahna Rao, 18 April 1856; CUllen to Kriahna Rao, 23 Feb. 1857: MRR, LD, vol .X.

109. MPP, 14 Au9, 1855, Ran911 321, Vol.XXIII, pp.3799-3800; Secretary to the Gover-nt of India to the Ch.Sec, to the Madraa Govern­ aent, 12 Oct. 1855: NPP, 27 Nov. 1855, Ran911 321, Vol.XXV, p.5019. 110. MPP, 11 March 1856, Ran911 321, Vol.XXVIII, a printed petition inserted bet•"n pp.774-5.

111. Madraa Athenaeua, 25 Oct. 1856. •aa publiahed on 23 Oct.

The firat part of the article

112. B&ylia to Madbava Rao, 1 Jan. 1856, quoted in 'Raja Sir T. Nadbava Rao•, Pr�nt Tanjor,ana, No. I I (Tanjore: C.S.Maniya, 1915), p.25. 113. .._,randua by Lord Harri•: NPP, 1S March 1859, Ran911 321, Vol • XLII, p.285. Walter Blliott concurred. 114. Political Deapatch No.4 of 31 March, No.11 of 19 Au9., and No.21 of 8 o.c. 18591 Political Deapatchea to Nadraa, Vol.I, 1858-69, 115. Petition, n.d., ai9fted by RuaNl, Cox, B&ylia, Denia, Mateer and Aahton: NPP, 2 Sept. 1859, Ran911 321, Vol.XI.III, pp.126-46. 116, Trevelyan to Cullen, 6 Nay 1859: MPP, 10 Nay 1859, Ran911 321, Vol.XI.II, pp.87-8. 287

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117, Trevelyan had long been a bitter critic of •hat be saw u the follies of Hinduiaa, See his article 'TIie Thuge: or Secret Mllrderer a ot India•, lldinburqh Revi.., Vol ,Uarlea Mead to Buaebiua Nead, 24 Aug. 1860, quoted in Agur, Church History, p,51.

119, Maaoranduaby F.N.N<by, n.d.1 la'P, 24Dec. 1958, Range 321, Vol,XI.III, p.243, Trevelyan'• colleagues -r• indignant at hia irregular transaction with Maltby and appalled at the -ntion of •cold at..1 •. So waa Sir Charle• WOod, the Secretary of See hi• Minute, 12 June 1860, and Political Despatch State. No, 17 of 24 July 1860: Political Deapatc:bea to Madru, Vol.I, 1858-69.

130. Rev. John Hawlrid98 Univeraity Presa, The 1971 census showed Kerala l968), pp.151, 146 and 155, with a literacy rate of about 6011, twice as great as the all­ India figure. Of the 5 moat literate towns in India, 4 (Alle­ ppey, 70.06�; Nagercoil, 69.52�; Trivandrua, 69.38�; Quilon, 68.48•) were in Travancore; the 5th was Cochin (69.3011), See The Hindu, M&draa, 10 July and 17 and 23 Aug. 1971. 13. Census, 1875, pp.232-3 and 245-6,

14. TAR•, 1866-7, p.78 and 1902-3, p,49, See Sreedhara Menon, Survey, pp.155, 182-3 and 262 tor accounts of the lut.lari in old Kerala.

15. TAR, 1872-3, pp.128-9, For the harsh punishments and thunderous noise ot a village school in the 1880s, see Mann&th Padm&nabh&n [Pillai], ente jivitaaaaranalaY• 163. Travancore L.41,w R,eortf, Vol.IV, Special Appeal Suit No.221 ot 1060, pp.12-17. Spacial Co ittee to the Dewan, 1 3 March 1889: IGBR, Cover No.6154. 303

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164. Rev. Jacob Chandy, Sr . •Journal•, 21 June 1852 and 4 Jan. 1856: OISA, uncatal09Ued. See alao Chandy, •Journal• , 2 9 April 1857, tor a long 4iacuaaion with an elderly Irava convert on the aapiration• ot convert• and the danger• ot converting Pulayu.

165. Diary ot Rev.A.F.Painter, 8 Sept. 1882: OCSA, No.49 ot 1882.

166. Naga,o Aiya, Ml!!ual, Vol.II, p.397, write• that cr-tion aaong Irava• ••• rare. Kriahna Iyer, Social Hiatory of Ker&1a, Vol.II, p.100, discua••• the preatige value ot cr-tion tor Irava.s. 167. Thuraton, ca.tea, Vol.II, pp.396-7.

168. Ibid., p.397. A.Sreedbara Menon, Kerala Diatrict Gaaetteera: Quilon (Trivandrua: Gowr,-nt Pre••, 1964), p.170. 169. UIS, TDC, Report, 1865, p.9.

170. Thuraton, Castef. Vol.II, p.393. Sreedhara Menon, Quilon, p.170. Aiyappan, •culture Change', p.18. Barboaa, Book, Vol.II, p.60. C.nau1, 1901, Vol.I, p.279. 'roBR, Cover No. 9047. A IIOdern Irava account claiaa that before the Naabudiria caae to Kerala all ..n -re equal. Soae Keralana collaborated with the invader• and becaa• Nayara; othera resisted and becaae Iravaa.

171. Travancore Law Report•, Vol.IV, Appeal Suit No.21 ot 1062, 4 July 1887, pp.70-2.

172. Census, 1875, pp.245-6; 1891, Vol.I, p.498. There were 1 , the eupheai•• tor low c.aatea, atill only 187 •other Hindua in gover,-nt aecondary achoola in 1889. The total enrol­ -nt waa about 3,000, two-thirda ot which waa Nayar and non­ Malayali 8rahain. MRR, MPP, 21 Aug. 1890, c.O.No.404. 173. Cenaua, 1875, p.255.

174. TARa, 1868-9, p.14; 1864-5, p.l. 175. H.N.Read, Principal, to R- Rao, 6 April 1891: l'ClliR, Cover No.1744. 176. rosR, Cover No.1744.

-

177. TAR, 1895-6 178. There ia no way ot knowing exactly the number ot Nayar -tri­ lineal joint-taailiea in Travancore in the 1890•, but 32,903 Nayar taaili•• partitioiwd themselvea in the 5 year• alter the retora regulation ot 1925. Cenaua, 1931, Vol.I, p.168. Auguata Blandford, The !.And ot the Conch-Shell (London: CBZMS, n.d. [c.1901], p.38, wrote that Nayar taailiea could consiat o t •u -ny as 30 people living under the a.- root•. She worked tor 40 years aaong Nayara around Trivandrua; farther north, taravada ""'y have been larger. Dividing the Nayar population ot 1891 by 20, one arrive• at a figure ot between 25,000 and 30,000 taravada. 179. TAR, 1889-90, p.149. 180. Manna.th Padmanabhan, jivitfsaaran,kal, pp.10-12.

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181. Shungaruoobyer, Director ot Vernacular Bducation, to Madhava Rao, 10 March 1869: 1GIIR, Cover No.290. SN alao Vol.V, No.33, 27 Au9. 1867. VOl-XXJJ, No.7, 12 Feb. 1884. Kerala Varaa to Rua Rao, 20 July 1890: TGBR, Cover No.1361.

125!.,

!!!!,

182. 'Anniveraary ot Hi• Hi!lbne•• the -raja'• College and HilJb Scbool, Trevandnla', 25 June 1881, bound •1th §, 9 Au9. 1881.

183. Tbe Hindu, 15 May 1891, p.4, reported that the Naharaja'• College and Hi!ilh School uone bad produced 786 -tricu.latea aince 1870. About 30!l of tbeae -r• "-Ya:r•. 184. Rev. Jobn Caley to tbe Seel 9tary, CMS, 17 July 1889: OCSA, No.97 ot 1889. S.. al•o Madry Nail, 22 Sept. 1891, p.3, tor Read'• retir-nt.

185. Blandford, Concb-Sbell, p.39. Painter to the secretary, ocs, n.d. [received 1n London, Oct. 1895): OCSA, No.180 ot 1895.

186. Cenaua, 1875, p.142.

187. See Kathleen Gou!lh, 'Nayar: Central Ker ala•, 1n Schneider and GoulJb (editor•), Matrilineal Kinahip (Beruley: Uni,,.raity ot C&litornia Pr•••, 1962), pp.337•8. N&laba:r Herald, 11 Sept. 1909. LMS, TDC, Report, 1887, p.23. Paachiaa July 1877, 1n -, Nalayalaa, Taraka and Keralapatak&, 2 tortnilJbt •Ddinv 14 July 1877.

188.

Notea by Henry Baker, Jr.• n.d. [c.1875]: CMSA uncatalQ9Ued.

1

189. Ananthak.riahDa Iyer, Cochin Tribea, Vol.II, p.22. Hindu, 10 June 1887, p.5.

,!!!!

190. Polyandry ... atill practiaed aaon 9 -• Nayar• in the 1880a. SN Rev.A.F .Painter, the Hill Arriana •, Journal ot tbe Anthropological Society ot -ba,y, Vol.II, 1887, p.148, in an aaicle about Nayars. Rev. Saauel Mateer, •Social Retor•• Aaon9 the "•Yara ot Malabar• , Journal ot the Antnropo.logical Society ot Boaba,Y, Vol.II, 1887, pp.317-8.

•em

191. Kerala Mitraa, 11 March 1882, 1n endin9 15 March 1882.

IUCNN,

Malayalaa, tortnilJbt

192, Rev. Saauel MatNr, 'Nepotiaa in Travancore•, Journal ot tbe Anthropological Inatitute, Vol.XII, 1883, p.297. MatNr cited a caae tor libel broulJbt by a 9roup ot Nayara a9ainat G,K,Varaa •ho had aade t he cha:r9e in a Malayalaa book, S.. alao Madras Tiaea, 1 July 1891, p.6,

193. A. Govinda Pillai, 'Baaay on the Na.-••akathayaa Marriage Q,wation•, Report ot the Malabar Marriage eo-1••1on, 1891, Appandlx III, p.6.

194. o. Chandu Menon, Indlllekha, trana. W.Duaer9'le (Calicut: Matbrubhuai Publiahin9 Co.Ltd. 19651 tirat publiahed in The Bn9liah, 1890; 1n Malayalaa, 1889), pp.xix and ,. novel 1• set in British Malabar, but the r....rka here apply equally t o Travancore. S.. Chaitanya, Literature, pp.261-5, 305

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for a discussion of Indulekha.

19S. In 188S a junior -•ber of a taravad successfully sued his karanavan for the expenses of his education in English. Kerala Patrilca, Nov. 188S, in RNNM, Malayalaa, fortnight ending 30 Nov. 188S.

196. ,!!!, 186S-6, pp.11-2.

197. TAR•, 1866-7 to 1871-2.

198. W.B.Oruby, outlines of M,,,ruaak&tayaa L.aw (Kottayaa: CMS Preas, 1884), p.iv.

199. TARs, 1872-3 to 1877-8.

200. TARs, 1880-1 to 1890-1.

201. Census, 1881, pp.242-3.

202. H.8.Gri99 to the Ch.Sec.,14 Aug. 1890: HRR, MPP, 9 Sept. 1890, G.O.No.436.

-

203. TOG, Vol.XXII, No.37, 9 Sept. 1884.

204. Coaplaints about the •ployaent of 'foreigners• in the airk.ar service were recurrent i n the 1880s. s- for example, Kerala Mitraa, 28 May 1881, Oct. 1882, April 1886, June 1887, Nov. 1887, in RNNM, Malayal-.

20S. S.Shungarasoobyer, C. Pacheappa Naickttr, P. Thanu Pillai, 'Report of the Viruthi C-ittee•, 12 June 1889, l'GBR, Cover No.1664.

206. Pocock, Kanbi and Patidar, p.s2, makes the useful distinction bet-en •at�ng• within a caste and •status• A aan might have high in the overall social system. standing within his caste, though it has low ritual status.

207. Mal•bar Special Coamiasion, Malabar Land Tenures. Report, Vol.I (Madras: Goverl'IIHnt Press, 1882), pp.cvii­ cviii. Chapter

5

1. Paachiaa Taralca and Keralapataka, 2 Feb. 1880, in RNNM, .Nal.1.y&l-, fortnight anding 14 Feb. 1880. The Brahain was said to be T. Gopala Rao of KuabalC, Report, 1892, p.8, quoting a catechiat, V.Charlea Victor.

127.

Nadru Nail, 24 April 1900, p.3.

126 • .!:!!!,, 1895-6, p.143. 128.

ucs, mc,

Report, 1900, p.16, quoting Rev.W.D.O.bourne.

129. Rev • .10bn Caley to t be Secretary, CMS, 29 May 1900: OISA No.69 of 1900.

130, Rt.Rev.N.Hodge• to the secretary, CMS, 7 Nay 1900: C>ISA, No.67 of 1900; Minute• of the Travancore and Cochin CMS Miaaionary conference, Kottayaa, 27 Feb. - 5 March 1900: CMSA, No.« of 1900. Chapter 7

1 • .,_ lhoapaon, Acting Governor of Nadraa, to Lord Aapthill, Acting Viceroy, 6 .1une 1904: India Office R-rda, Aaptbill Paper• [ hereafter AP], B/233/34/1. 319

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2. R.S.Lepper, Pr�ea110r rt world bec:&uae he baa alway• hated 11\lropeana' •

3 . Allpthill to C\lraon, 20 .Jilly 1903, quoting • letter frca tbe Reaident, G.T.Mackenaie: AP, &/233/8. 4. See the Malabar Herald1 12 .Jan. and 13 April 1907. 5. P•r-•••ran Nair, raNn pill•, pp.209 and 213.

6. H.B.Gri99, Reaident, to tba Ch.Sec.,14 Allg. 1890: NIUI, ...P, 9 Sept. 1890, G.O.No.436.

7. Aaptbill to Curson, 15 Sept. 19031 AP, B/233/8. In tbe letter, Aaptbill rilled Ollt any a1&9gaation tbat tbe Mab&raja -• bo110a......i. 8.

see tbe Malablt.r Herald, 15 .Jllfte 1907, for the extravagant

aarriage cer--,niea of Saravanai • • g�andda"gbter. The Herald claiaed he waa wortb 80 lakha of rupee•, bllt tb&t •- an .,...ggeration. P'or Sankaran T-pi, •- tbe -.. Mail, 11 Aug. 1920, p.6, whicb reported tb&t he ••• -tablisbing acbolar­ ahipa valued at Ra. S0,000 t o celebrate bis 60tb birtbda.y.

9. !lodge• to tbe Secretary, 045, 22 Nov. 1902: atSA., No.139 � 1902.

10.

see tbe -.. Mail, 22 May 1902, p.4.

Aaptbill to Lord George �ilton, Secretary of State for India, 10 Dec. 1902: AP, B/233/7/1.

11, Aaptbill to C\lraon, 27 Feb. 1902 [ in fact, 1903], AP, B/233/8.

12 • Les,s,er to CUrzon, 29 .June 1903 , AP, B/233/17. which follow are fr.. tbi• letter.

Tbe cpotationa

13. Aaptbill to !Yailton, 26 Allg. 1903: AP, B/233/7/2.

14. LOc. cit.

15. Aapthill to C\lraon, 20 .Jilly 1903:

AP, B/233/8.

16. Aaptbill to CUrzon, 29 Allg. 1903: AP, &/233/8.

17. T'-J>aon to Aaptbill, 20 Oct. 1904: AP, B/233/34/2.

18. Allptbill to an..s l.Alte. Legialative Council, 1888-91. NIDHIRY, Father B anuel (1842-1904). Roao-Syrian. Learned Bngliah at a school aponaored by his father in their village, Kuravilangad, near Kottayaa. Wealthy land-owning taaily with a tradition ot providing priest&. Also studied at CMS College, Kottayan; knew Malayalaa, Tamil, Sanaltrit, Syriac and Bngliah. Deacon, 1861. Secretary to the adainistrator ot the Cranganore and Cochin dioc••••, 1861-73. Ordained, 1875. Campaigned against achia-tica, 1876-82. Tried to win over Jacobite• to On Founded and edited Naarani Deepilta, 1887. Rome, 1886-9. friendly ter•• with Hindus and Protestanta. Agitated for Indian bishop• for Ro.>-Syrian dioceaea. -ber ot Bash& Poahini Sabha. Advocate ot Bngliah education. Vicar-General, Kottayan dioceae, 1889; reaigned, 1892, over disputes with Buropean hierarchy, which forced hia to withdraw f'r011 Travancore and Cochin Chriatian Aaaociation, 1903. Wrote Nalayalaa poetry; Supported the Malayali widely eat•- aa an ayurvediat. -..rial but did not sign it; his brother wu a ••ber of' the delegation which -t the Dewan. PADNo\NABHA. MIINCII, K. P. (1857-1917). Nayar. Matriculation, Brnakulan High School and "Maharaja•a College, Trivandrua, 1874; Son ot P. Shungoony Menon, q.v., and eventually, 8A and BL. brother of K. P. Sankara Menon, q.v. Madraa High Court valtil. Signed Malayali Meaorial. Returned to Travancore, 1890a, as a valtil. -ber ot Mar11••"ltattayaa co-it tee, 1908. Author of Hiatory ot Kerala, 4 vols.

PAOMANAIIHA PIUAI, Mannath [ 'Hannam•] (1878-1969). Nayar. Born Bducated Changanacherry in a poor taravad; father a Nambudiri. in village school and up to lower examination in sirltar vernacuAppointed achool-ster in 1893-4, by C. Krishna lar schools. Teacher-training course, Trivandrun, 1900. Lett Pillai, q.v. teaching and paaaed vakil exaaination, 1905. Follower of c. Krishna Pillai, in Keraliya Nair Saaaj. Founded Nair Service Society, 1914, and bee- full-tine organi�er, 1915. General Secretary ot N.s.s. tor nearly SO yeara. Joined Travancore State Congress, May 1947. Led 'liberation atruggle • against co-uniat goverrment of Kerala, Dropped 'Pillai• caste naae in 1950a and becaae Mannath 1959. Padmanabhan.

PARAMESWARAN PIUAI, Changanacherry K. (1877-1940). Nayar. Father a Nayar. Orphaned at about twelve. Matriculated in Trivandrua, 341

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1892; FA and BA, and taught in Fort Vernacul&r School; BL. Dele9&te to Helped by c. K.ri•hn& Pillai, q.v. Popular A••-bly, 1907. Publiahed •A Plea for Partition in Mar11e1Jd••t1,ayaa Tarawada 1, 1907. Follower of C. Kriahn& Pillai in conte•t• with C. V. Raaan Pillai. Preaident of Judge of Nair Service Society after K. Kelappan Nair. Travancore High court, 1927. In Travancore State Congr••• 1938-9 and briefly loat hi• governeent peneion. Leading advocate of partition and piloted Nair Act of 1924 through Legielative Council.

PARAMBSWARAN PILLAI, G. (1864-1903). Nayar. Father a non­ Malayali Brahain. Forced to flee Travancore, 1882, for writing anonyeoua article• i.n the Cochin Argus att&Cking the Dewan. BA, Presidency College, Nadraa, 1888. Attacked T. Rua Rao, the Dewan, q.v., in the Madras Standard, 1887-90. Translator, Madraa High Court. Helped or1U.ana(Lon0on:th&clcer, 1902), _ 'Atdp totravancora10rl>an aodl',M&lab&r9'!!:rtarly 2

Parw:::!::·P���!�·( �::r�'fl(_Pl,'A ;�·for Putitioto inlol&.....,&kk&U1&)'.. Ta r-•d•',N&h.ba.r puartarJy ltavi-,

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Vol.VI, Noe.1 and 2, J,- ands.pt. 1907, pp.15-29 and 83-91. (�tt'-9r-, Rev.T.] 'A Retind Chaplain', lpiffflt M! tllfLift ofM Tndt9n Chaplain (London: Saapeon, i.-, Nareton, Searl• and Rivington, 1882). Pbaroah and Co. A Gpett,-r of Soutbern India (Nadrae: Pbaroall and Co., 11155). Pllilip B.N. A Letter to tbe Secretau to tba C::OrreePC>ndiDa CCrttt•• ot the C.N,S,1 Nadrr,•1 R• tbe Syrian awrcb Bndw-�t (Kottayar: Nalayala Manorw Pre.. , 1902). Tb• I Cburcb ot St (Nagercoil: LoDCSon Ni..ion Pr•••, 19SO written in 1907 ), Pnane•balar Pillai, T. 'Tbe Norality ot tbe R-,rana', !!tlahlt.r Quarterly Rri-, Vol.VIII, No.2, June 1909, pp.83-7. ProceediDqe ot the Trivandnm Society (Trivandraw: Sirkar Pr•••, 11156), Rae, George Nil- The Syr¼A" Cbycb in India (lldJ.Dburgb: Willi&w Blackwood and Sona, 1892), Revn Menon, K. 'Th• Scytbian Origin ot tbe Nair,• • *labar puarterly Ra,,1-, Vol ,I, No,2, June 1902, pp.143-52. "•••n Pillai, C. V. Nartbend• VarN (A Hietor ical 0-p,s;f), trw. a.It.Menon (Trivaadnm: Kwlalaya Book Depot, 1936). Dpen•th Aiyar' s. Briel Sketch ot TravancoreI n.e Model State ot India (Trivandrua: Weetern Star Pree,, 1903). The R al Houee ot Trav core witb Brie:( N•oir tbe •baraJa (Trivendrua• NeJabar Mail Preee, 1906 ). Th e Probl- ot Charity in Trav!ftcore (Trivandr_, Malabar Nail Pree•, 1907). 'J;ravancore ot Tod&Y (Nadraa: Oriental Bncyclopaedic Publiebing Co., 1920). Diwan T1 Rw Raw (Trivandruw: Anantha Rw VarM Pree,, 1926). A Hietory ot Travancore (Nadraa: Srinivaea VaP..,,ecbari, 1938). R.... J .D. 'Prince Albert Victor in Travancore I. Nacaillan 11 Naga­ fi-, May 11190, pp.71-80. Narrative, ot Toure i n India Made by Hie llxlcellency Lord C--Mra1 1886-1890 (Nadraa: Gover-t Pree•, 11191), 'The Daily Lite ot an Indian Prince•, Nacw!llan'• !!te•lne, July 1906, pp,711-20, Richarda, Rev.w .J. 'Not•• on tbe 'tandtt Pai.J,ane ot Travanc:or• • , Indian Antiquary, vol.IX, 1880, p.120. The Indian Cbrieti&ne ot $t1 Thcaae (LoDdoll: BearoH and Sona, 1908), Robinson, Williar ed. Rinqeltaube tbe Riebi (letter• and journal,] (Sbettield: Sbettield Independent Pr•••, 1902). Sadaaiva Aiyar, T. '"Th• Morality ot tbe Rwyana" - A Review•, Malabar Quarterly Review, Vol.VIII, No,3, Sept, 1909, pp.208-15, 5anke'"a Menon, lt,P, 'OD tbe ca,t.. ot Malabar', Nadru JomD&l ot Literature and Science, 11178, pp.172-87. Sawyer, A.N. 'Tapioca CUJ.tivation in Travancore•, Indian ,ore9ter, Vol.XXI, 1895, pp.290-6. S.ebagiri Prabbu, N. 'A Note on the Word Nayar', Mal!!>ftr Quarterly Revi.., Vol.I, No.4, Dec. 1902, pp.347-9. Sbungoony Menon, P. A Hietory o( Travancore tr- tbe Barlifft T1-• (Nadrae: Higginbothaw, 1878). Singh, Pritbipal •Raja Sir T. Nadhava Rao, K.C.S.I. 1 • But and Weft, 354

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Govinda Pillai, Mallur K., 222 Govinda Pillai, P .G., 244 Govindan, M. , 270 Graduate•, 110

Gror•. 2

convereion to Chrieti&n• ity, 130; trader•, 341 -rk for public -rid departaent, 91·2 Ielaa, 259

Haripad, 230 Harrie, Lord, 49, 61, 64, 66 Harvey, Dr. Robert, 78, 157 Ha.....,rth, Rev. .John, 3 3 HJ.gh School and College, Maharaja'•, 78, 82, 110, 123, 148, 150, 159, 179, 218, 257; adait• Iravaa, 143 Hill tribee, 23 Hinstl', Tb•, 106, 175, 259 Huxhul, Williaa, 98 Hyderabad, 65, 72

.Jacobitea, � Syrian Chriet• ian• .Janai•, 88, 90, 224; power• of liaited, 89; ,•• alto l.and .J&te, 268 32, 169 .1Mll!, N U