Before entering into an enquiry into the initial causes that lead to the Moplah rebellion, we have to look into the military expedition and ravaging of Malabar by the Mysore Sultanate. There is a thinking still prevailing with many that it was this aggression of Malabar by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan that provided the incentives for the Malabar Muslims to attempt such a feat again.
In olden days Kerala was known separately as North Kerala and South Kerala. The North Kerala consisted of scattered independent kingdoms of Chirakkal, Kadatthanad, Kottayam, Kurungode, Kannur, and Kozhikode in addition to Prumpadappu, Valluvanad, Vettatthunadu, Nediyiruppu etc. The South Kerala consisted of the two kingdoms of Kochi and Travancore. Kannur was known even in olden days as a Muslim Kingdom. More than two hundred rulers belonging to Kings, feudal lords, and territorial chieftains were in control of these territories. These small kingdoms were constantly fighting in between and engaging in war with one another. It was in such circumstances that the outside forces started entering Kerala and join sides with the fighting lords. Kerala was constantly reeling under attacks from these outside forces during the entire period from 4th century to 11th century AD. Even some small kingdoms were obliterated during this period. Vembalanadu is one among them.
During the latter half of 11th century when The Chola king attacked and conquered parts of Kerala, Kaduthuruthy, the capital of Vembalanadu was also plundered. It was after this that the old kingdom became extinct. It was concluded during a meeting of prominent Brahmin leaders of Kerala belonging to the famous Nambudiri lineages of Perinchallur, Payyannur, Paravur, and Chengannur, held at Thali of Thirunavaya that the recurring outside attacks were a result of the internal conflicts and the fighting between the local lordships and it was imminent that a savior be chosen for the entire Kerala. This was approved by all the warring lords and their feudal chiefs and they agreed to choose and appoint such a savior king. It was also decided that the term of one such savior king will be 12 years.
In the early period, such savior kings were chosen and anointed from the famous rulers of neighboring Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms. At the time of coronation of such a savior king it was usual for all the local lordships to be present and actively participate in the proceedings and declare their allegiance to the newly appointed supreme power. It has not been possible to exactly ascertain when the reign of such supreme lords called a “Perumal” started and when it ended. As per ”Keralolpathy” (a text about origin of Kerala attributed to Thunchath Ezhuthacahan, the famous Malayalam poet, scholar and father of Malayalam literature belonging to the 17th century) the first Perumal was anointed in 216 AD and his name was Cheran Keralan. (As derived by several scholars from analyzing the “Kali samkhya” found in the book. The “Kalisamkhya” is a traditional method of recording numbers based on alphabets)
Later many kings of Kerala have occupied the Protector’s position. Those selected periodically as the Protector were called “Cheraman Perumal” It is believed that the name originated from the first Chera king who became the first Perumal. The designated Perumal was supposed to run his governance from Kodungallur treating it as his capital. But such a Cheraman Perumal did not enjoy the ruling powers over the entire Kerala. These Kings could not afford to relinquish their own kingdoms and shift to Kodungallur for twelve years to rule Kerala. In the circumstances what they did was to depute an expert in administration as well as a trained warrior either belonging to Brahmin or Kshatriya casts. Accordingly such people who reached Kodungallur as representative of the Supreme king were also called in due course Cheraman Perumal. The last Cheraman Perumal was Ramavarma belonging to the Trippunithura Royal family (Cochin Kingdom previously called Devarashtra) His full name was Cheraman Ramavarma Perumal. He had two sons from a marriage with a queen of Eranad Royal palace. During his old age, he distributed all his territory to the five branches of his lineage. The royal family of Kochi was an important branch of Ramavarma Perumal’s Tripunithura Palace. The other branches are believed to be Parappu Kovil, Pappu Kovil, Parappa Kovil, and Kottayathu Kovil (Puranattukara). The Ramavarma Perumal after distributing all the territories like this finally gave Kozhikode (Kukkudakkode– A circular area where the crowing of a rooster can be heard.) to his two sons.
Manavedan and Manavikkiran were the names of these two sons. Along with Kozhikode, Ramavarma presented a sword also to them. The Zamorins (as they were later known) believed that these ancestors of them were blessed by a command from the last Perumal – “to be deadly and kill in the process of consolidating a kingdom of their own”. After partitioning the kingdom Ramavarma Perumal sacrificed everything and embraced a life of renunciation and was known as “Sundara Murthy Swamikal.” Preaching to people and going on pilgrimages, he left for his heavenly abode from a place called Vannery Chithrakoodam near Thiruvanchikulam.
As per the book “Keralolppathy” about 25 kings were crowned as Perumals in all. They were:
1.Cheraman Perumal, 2.Chola Perumal, 3.Pandya Perumal,4. Bhattarya Perumal,5. Kerala Perumal, 6.Chenkala Perumal, 7.Chozhiya Perumal,8. Kulasekhara Perumal, 9.Bana Perumal,10.Thuluva Perumal,11. Indra Perumal, 12.Arya Perumal,13. Kandha Perumal,14.Kutty Perumal, 15.Mada Perumal, 16.Ezhi Perumal, 17.Kompa Perumal,18. Vijaya Perumal,19.Vallabha Perumal, 20.Harischasndra Perumal, 21.Malla Perumal, 22.Kulasekhara Perumal, 23.Adiraja Perumal, 24.Pandya Perumal, 25.Cheraman Ramavarma Perumal.
It is to be assumed that Keralolpathy was written based on mostly hearsay and some manuscript records kept in royal palaces. It is difficult to ascertain whether the author has failed to get information on any king or altogether omitted some of them from the book. The demise of the last Perumal was recorded in “Kalisamkhya” method by the Malayalam letters “swargga sandeha praaptha” and he had distributed his entire kingdom among his dependents and followers, as denoted by the “Kalisamkhya” – “kuruthy samashrayam” is almost certain. There are conflicting stories going around about the last Perumal having embraced Islam, Buddhism or Christianity. Muslims love to believe that onset of Islam in Kerala was after the conversion of the last Perumal to the Muslim faith.
William Logan has recorded in his Malabar Manual about the conversion of the last Perumal to Islam solely on the basis of hearsay.
“The last Perumal had a dream. On a new moon night in Mecca, a full moon bloomed and by Midday the full moon was split into two. Half of it remained in the skies and the other half descended on to the hill side called “Abikubez”. Later the two halves joined again and the moon set. This was the dream. It was after some time that a pilgrim party going to a mosque in Adam peak in Ceylon in a ship reached Kodungallur. They got an opportunity to have an audience with Cheraman Perumal. The Perumal received the Muslim pilgrims with great reverence and told them about his dream- of the full moon that rose in the sky of Mecca on a new moon night. The Perumal also enquired about whether any extraordinary incidents had happened in Mecca. One of the pilgrims named Sheikh Zakkiuddin told him that in the same way the dream has occurred, their prophet Muhammad Nabi was attracting many nonbelievers into Islam. The Perumal was curious to learn more about Islam and entrusted the administrative responsibilities to the near and dear ones. He bestowed the appropriate regions to their respective local lords and in the process what the Ernad Raja got was a sword and the Kozhikode region.
The Muslim pilgrims who came as guests of the Cheraman Perumal were Malik Dinar and his family. The Perumal who went to Mecca accepted a Muslim name – Abdul Rehman Samiri –and embraced Islam. From Arabia he married a Muslim lady. While living in Shar in Arabia for a long period, he decided to spread the new religion accepted by him and construct several mosques. With this aim Abdul Rehman Samiri was preparing for a return voyage, when he took ill and was bedridden. Later he prepared instructions to the lords to whom he had gifted the kingdoms. The orders were that they should give all facilities in their kingdoms for propagating Islam and construction of mosques. It was after the death of Abdurrahman Samiri that Malik Dinar and his team reached Malabar with these instructions. They constructed nine mosques in the respective kingdoms. The first one was in Kodungallur itself. Malik Dinar himself took over as the Khalifa of this mosque.”
The belief that the last Perumal embraced Islam is not based on facts which are clear from the observations made by several learned people. In his History of Kerala, Karuppumveettil Gopala Pillai proves point by point that the story of the last Perumal embracing Islam is utterly wrong. His book explains about it. In the book called Land of Perumals, by Dey, a renowned historian has made it clear that there was no individual Perumal with the name Cheraman and the term merely meant the “ruler of Chera kingdom”.
Dr. Gundert has recorded like this. “Even though the term Cheraman Perumal is there on the tongue of every Malayali, no one with that name ever existed.”
In the Mangalore edition of “Keralolppathy “ it is stated that the return of the last Perumal was in the middle of 4th century AD. But the British historians have recorded that the period of last Perumal was 9th century AD. Same time, the period in which Muhammad Nabi lived was in 6th century AD. From this it will be clear that the myth about Cheraman Perumal meeting the prophet is not factual. It is claimed that the Perumal embraced Islam in AD 825. But an Arab traveller called Suleiman who visited Kerala during the period has commented that he could not see even one person or even heard from anybody in Kerala about one who is converted to Islam or learned Arabic. None of the other Muslim writers like Al-Biruni who lived between 10-11th century or Al Idrisi (12 century AD) Benjamin of Tuedela , Rasbiduddin ? (13th century) Al Karvinio , Marco polo Abul Fida, Friar Odoric, Friar Jordanus, Ibn Battuta, (13-14 century AD) Abdul Razzaq , Nikola Kondi (14-15 Century AD) have recorded anything in their books about Cheraman Perumal embracing the religion of Islam. Abul Razzaq was the Muslim writer who came to Kerala as the Ambassador of Persia, to convert the Zamorin of Calicut to Islam after the visit of Ibn Battuta. Zainuddin Makhdum the Egyptian traveller who visited Kerala in 15th century has opined that the story of Cheraman Perumal converting to Islam is not true. Sheikh Sainuddin who wrote Tuhfat al-Mujahidin has also agreed with this opinion.
The story of last Cheraman Perumal embracing Islam is first mentioned in the Portuguese poem called Lusiad. This poem was written between 1553 and 1559 while in India. The Portuguese got the information about the Perumal’s conversion from a Muslim called Monkayid. Since Monkayid knew Spanish, it was through an interpreter that the story of Conversion of the Perumal conveyed to the Portuguese. This man later went to Europe along with Vasco da Gama and embraced Christianity. The book of Richard Stephen Whiteway called “Rise of Portuguese power in India” mentions this fact. Writers like Dr. Astly have recorded the name of this Mohammadan as “Bondebo” as is evident from some history books.
When it is clear from the above books that Cheraman Perumal has not embraced Islam, the claims of Christians that the last Perumal had embraced Christianity and Buddhists, their versions also merits scrutiny.
When Saint Thomas visited Kerala in the first century AD, there was a royal clan named either Villyar vattam or Villorvattam. There were chieftains and their families with sir names like Kurup, Kaimal, Panicker, Karthavu associated with this place. When the Portuguese first landed in Kerala this royal family did not exist. The chieftains had appropriated the royal properties among themselves. There is an opinion that the present Velorvattam near Cherthala was a part of old Villyarvattom. It is believed that Buddhist and Jain religions thrived in the area and the place had trade and travel connections with foreign countries via sea route. Apostle Thomas was one of the 12 important disciples of Jesus. Probably the main aim of visit of St.Thomas to Kerala was to meet the King of Villyarvattam about whom he might have heard a lot. Christians believe that St. Thomas landed first at Malankara. If it were so, the Malankara Island would have been with in the administrative jurisdiction of Villyarvattam king. During the meeting, St. Thomas told the king the wonderful stories of Jesus Christ and the king was attracted towards Christianity. As a result several Christian churches were constructed in Villyarvattam. In between 1st to 15 centuries AD the Villyarvattam king exercised supremacy over social and ecumenical functions of Christians in Kerala in addition to the overall administration of the territory. The King converted himself to Christianity and after the assassination of St Thomas, went to Mylapore church, established by his followers and assumed priestly duties there till he breathed his last from there itself. The grave near to that of St Thomas is believed to be that of Erstwhile Viillyarvattam king. This was the statement of Feriyayi Susa (?)
Villyarvattam king was in no way ever a Cheraman Perumal. There are no stories even about it. So the belief that the Perumal embraced Christianity is also not correct.
Next we have to examine whether the last Perumal was converted to Buddhism. Bana Perumal whose name appears as the ninth Perumal in the book “Keralolpatthy“ is the king who accepted Buddhism and died as a Buddhist monk. He is known more as “Palli Bana Perumal”
The fact that the last of Perumals, Cheraman, did neither embrace Islam nor Christianity and he ruled the country till the age of 73 and adopted a hermit’s way of life (Sanyasa/Total renunciation) and lived for a hundred years is evident from books like Kerala Visheshamahatmyam, Halasya mahathmym, Thiruviayadal Puranam, Periya Puranam etc. In the circumstances, it is to be found out as to who was the Kerala king who embraced Islam. If you delve deep into it and refer some old books, the enquiry finally leads to the dynasty of Zamorins of Kozhikode. It is not clear whether at any point of time the Zamorin was crowned as the Perumal. It was the Perumals who used to preside at and receive salute from the feudal lords during the grand event of Mamankam at Thirunavaya. There had been no crowning of any more Perumals after the last incumbent gave up his powers and went accepted sanyasa. Mamankams had continued to be held after that also. It is clear that the Zamorin started presiding over the function not after being anointed as Peumal or bestowed with that title. Since the Zamorins wanted to be known as the sovereign monarch of Kerala and annexed several small kingdoms to his domain to create an impression that he enjoyed the lordship over them, may be, many people at some point of time or other were under the mistaken notion that the Zamorins usurped the title of Perumals too. We know that the two sons of the last Cheraman Ramavarma Perumal were the rulers who established the Zamorins dynasty and ruled Kozhikode. Because of their lineage to the title of Perumal also might have been used by them.
What has been inscribed on the alleged converted Perumal’s tomb stone after his death is “Abdul Rehman Samiri” It is also said that the name given to the Perumal after conversion by the Prophet Muhammad Nabi was “Tiyajuddin.” The Kozhikode kings were all known as “Samoothiris”. “Thamuri” is a colloquial form of Samoothiri. In olden days the Kings were addressed as “Samuri.”
Islamist writers used to refer to him as Al-Samari and Samuri. The converted Abdul Rehmanm when he breathed his last, because of respect towards him, in a typical Arabian style, the old title of Samiri was added while inscribing his name on the tombstone. A historian called Fersta has recorded about a Zamorin having embraced Islam and gone to Mecca.
During the occasion of crowning of a new Zamorin, the new incumbent takes a pledge that he “will take over the responsibility till the “uncle returned”. Probably what they expected was the return of the Zamorin who went to Mecca. Above all, the only king who ordered that at least one man from every fisherman’s family should embrace Islam was the Zamorin of Kozhikode, in the whole of India.
Out of all this, what can be concluded is that the belief about the last Cheraman Perumal went to Mecca and got converted as a Muslim is not correct. In fact there was no single king who ruled over the whole of Kerala at any point of time. Those who were anointed as Perumal were also not rulers of the entire Kerala in the strict sense of the word. It was also not for this purpose that the twelve distinguished families chose to elect a Perumal. The last Perumal was no doubt RamaVarma of the Thrippunithura palace dynasty also known as Devarashtra. As he reached the evening of his life Ramavarma chose to lead a hermit’s life under the name “Sundara Murthy Swamikal”. The idols of “Cheraman Perumal and Cherathi Amma” found in Thiruvanchikkulam temple complex might most probably that of Ramavarma and his Royal Consort.
