The Keralolpathi is a Malayalam work that deals with the origin of the land of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. Shungunny Menon ascribes the authorship of this work to Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan

Thunjathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan was an Indian poet from around the 16th century, known as the father of the Malayalam language — the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala, spoken by 36 million people in the world...

, a 17th century scholar of the Malabar region of India. The Keralolpathi is mostly an expansion from an earlier Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 work known as the Kerala Mahatmayam. That work is classed among the Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 Puranas as an Upa Purana (or sub Purana) of the Bhoogola Purana.

The Keralolpathi covers the ancestry of the Namboodiri Brahmins and other castes of Kerala and is sometimes called the "Kerala Ulpathy". While the "Kerala Mahatmayam" deals with the origin of Kerala and its people alone, the Keralolpathi gives a history of Kerala down to the modern age, including reference to the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in Kerala.

Perumals mentioned in Keralolpathi

Perumals of Keralolpathi

• Keyapperumal
• Cholapperumal (Chola Empire)
• Pandipperumal (Alupas
  Alupas
  The Alupas kings were a minor dynasty who ruled parts of coastal Karnataka. Later with the dominance of Kadambas in Banavasi, they became feudatory to them. With the changing political scenario, soon they became the feudatories to Chalukyas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagara Rayas...
  
   Pandyan kingdom of Tulunadu)
• Banapperumal
• Thulubanperumal (Alupas
  Alupas
  The Alupas kings were a minor dynasty who ruled parts of coastal Karnataka. Later with the dominance of Kadambas in Banavasi, they became feudatory to them. With the changing political scenario, soon they became the feudatories to Chalukyas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagara Rayas...
  
  )
• Indrapperumal (Indra III of Rashtrakuta Dynasty
  Rashtrakuta Dynasty
  The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian Subcontinent between the sixth and the 10th centuries. During this period they ruled as several closely related, but individual clans. Rastrakutas in inscriptions represented as descendants of Satyaki, a Yadava well known...
  
  )
• Aryapperumal
• Kundranperumal
• Kottipperumal (Khottiga Amoghavarsha
  Khottiga Amoghavarsha
  Khottiga Amoghavarsha was a ruler of the Rashtrakuta Empire. During this period the Rashtrakutas started to decline. The Paramara King Siyaka II plundered Manyakheta and Khottiga died fighting them. This fact is available from the Jain writing Mahapurana written by Pushpadanta. He was succeeded...
  
   of Rashtrakuta Dynasty
  Rashtrakuta Dynasty
  The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian Subcontinent between the sixth and the 10th centuries. During this period they ruled as several closely related, but individual clans. Rastrakutas in inscriptions represented as descendants of Satyaki, a Yadava well known...
  
  )
• Madapperumal (Ahichatra
  Ahichatra
  Ahichatra was the ancient capital of Northern Panchala, a northern Indo-Aryan kingdom mentioned in Mahabharata. The remains of this city has been discovered near Ramnagar village in Aonla tehsil of Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh state. The excavations have brought to life a brick fortification...
  
   Madasthana the original homeland of Nair
  Nair
  Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
  
  /Bunt (community)
  Bunt (community)
  Bunt , previously spelled Bant, are a community of erstwhile nobility, feudatory and gentry from the region of Tulu Nadu in the south west of India which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala...
  
  )
• Ezhipperumal (Ezhimala Kannur)
• Kombanperumal
• Vijayanperumal
• Valabanperumal (Valapattam
  Valapattam
  Valapattanam is a small town in the Kannur district, located in the Indian state of Kerala. It is also the smallest panchayath in kerala.Its area is 2.04 sqr Km. It is about 7 km north of Kannur. Valapattanam is an important Muslim settlement area in Kannur. Valapattanam is known for its...
  
   ruler)
• Harichandranperumal
• Mallapperumal (Malla (Nepal)
  Malla (Nepal)
  The Malla Dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Nepal from the 12th to the 18th century. Malla kings of Nepal visited Lumbini in the 11th and 12th century. It was during their reign the people living in and around the Kathmandu Valley began to be called as "Newars" . The Mallas were the ruling clan of...
  
   dynasty)
• Kulasekharapperumal

Criticisms

Historians doubt the reliability of this collection of legends as it contains many discrepancies. For instance it states that a certain Viceroy

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 of Kerala went to Mecca

Mecca

Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

 and met the Islamic prophet Mohammed there. However the corresponding date mentioned is such that the prophet was not even born till more than a century later. It also mentions that the King Krishnadevaraya

Krishnadevaraya

Śrī Kriṣhṇa Devarāya , , , and also known as Krishna Devarayulu in some inscriptions was the famed Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire who reigned from 1509–1529 CE.He is the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by many Indians...

 of the Vijayanagara empire

Vijayanagara Empire

The Vijayanagara Empire , referred as the Kingdom of Bisnaga by the Portuguese, was an empire based in South Indian in the Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of the Yadava lineage. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts...

 appointed a Viceroy over Kerala in 428 AD. However the said king reigned between 1509 and 1529 AD.

Likewise even the origins of most of the caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

s and clans of Kerala varies from the ancient Sanskrit Kerala Mahatmayam. Besides, by the 18th century modified versions of the work started appearing, varying from kingdom to kingdom and region to region in Kerala. Therefore, according to Shungunny Menon (a native historian of Travancore

Travancore

Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

, Kerala) one cannot place, in the Keralolpathi, the value of a historical source. Shungunny Menon, stated that:
William Logan, who was the author of the Malabar Manual also refutes the validity of the Keralolpathi and describes it as:
K.P. Padmanabha Menon, another native historian calls the Keralolpathi: