Kolathiri
Encyclopedia
Kolathiri or Kolathiri Rājā (King of Kolathunādu
) was the title by which the senior most male along the matilinial line of the Mushika
or Kolathunādu Royal Family (Kolaswarũpam) was styled. The Sangam Literature
such as Kuṟuntokai
, Puṟanāṉūṟu
, Akanaṉūṟu
mention the Tamil
Velir kings called Nannans ruling Ezhimalai
.The Tamil Patriarchal Velirs adopted Matriarchy in the 12th century as mentioned by Athula in his book Mooshika Vamsham. The Royal family, alternatively known as the Kulyas, Kolis, Kolwas, the Velirs
, Ezhimala, Kolaswarũpam, Mũshika Vamsham, Nannāns of Ezhimala etc., had its seat at Ezhimala in Kerala
, India
and was one of the major political houses which became prominent in Kerala after the disappearance of the Kulasekharas or Perumāl rulers of Mahodayapuram by the twelfth century AD.
Kolathiri Rājās like Pazhassi Raja
are Nambiars.
anthologies describe his engagements with such neighboring ruling elites as the Cheras. Nannān of Ezhimala was more of a Tamil tribal chieftain who established himself at Ezhimala as the ‘capital’ of his chiefdom and engaged primarily in plundering raids in the neighboring territories. By the eight century, however, the political atmosphere in South India had changed rather dramatically as a new political culture based on settled agrarian exploitation took root in the region. As in other parts of the sub-continent, Brahmanism provided the ideological support for these newly emerging regional, primarily agrarian principalities by linking them to a pan-Indian vedic-puranic tradition. The composition of the Mũshikavamsam (a Sanskrit
poem composed by Athula, the court poet of the Mũshika king Srikanda in the first half of the eleventh century) is a specifically regional reflection of what seems to have been a much wider, all-Indian development. According to the Mũshikavamsam, a legendary figure Ramaghada Mũshakan had established the lineage of Kolaswarũpam. Whatever may have been the authority for this story, inscriptional evidence from at least the eighth century seems to support the existence of this ruling line. In addition, an inscription dating to AD 929 mentions about one Vikramaraman identifiable with the ruler Vikramaraman who appears in the Mũshikavamsam. Another inscription from tenth century mentions a Nair Cheftain, Udayavarman, who bore the title Ramaghata Mũvar—an epithet used by the Mũshika kings. An inscription from the Tiruvattũr temple mentions an Eraman Chemani (Raman Jayamani) who is identifiable with the king who appears as the 109th ruler in Mushikavamsam.
It is possible that their royalty then goes back to as far back as 1800 B.C. They, over the millennia intermarried very frequently with the Cheras
, the Pandyas and the Cholas, and also might have given rise to the royalties of the Lakshadweep
, the Maldives
and Sri Lanka
. They have also had matrimonial alliances with the Chedis
, the Somas
and the Yadavas and gradually assimilated to the Nairs. The Arakkal and the Nileshwaram Royal Families are both branches of this Royal Family, having branched out from them over the centuries. The Southern branch of this family ruled over erstwhile Venad
and is today known as the Thiruvithamkoor or Travancore
Royal Family. The Mushika Royal Family has found mention in surviving ancient Indian texts like the Vishnu Purana
and also in Greek accounts like that of Strabo
.
The socio-cultural uniqueness of Kolathunādu became more distinctive only after the disappearance of the Kulasekharas of Mahodayapuram by the early twelfth century AD.During the Sangam period, the early centuries of the Christian era, both Kerala and the Tamil regions were considered to be part of a common cultural realm and to belong to a common geographical settlement pattern, in spite of being under distinct political entities. More specifically, Tamil anthologies of the early Christian era make no sharp cultural or social distinction between the Mũvarasar of Tamil country or the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, all operating within a common cultural and geographical milieu. Also later, the temples of Kerala (Malainādu) were included in the sacred geography of the Tamil Bhakti movement and were profusely praised by the Āzhwārs and Nayanār
s, the main proponents of the movement, in their verses. The Kolathiris were praised as Vadakkan Perumāls (Perumals of the North) by the author of the Keralolpathi
.The Kolathiris were vassals of Hoysala Empire
in the 14th century.
After the invasion of Malik Kafur
a general of Alauddin Khilji
in 1310 all the South Indian Tamil and Dravidian kingdoms were destroyed. Kolathiri who possibly an ally of Malik Kafur
became the most powerful king of Kerala immediately after the invasion. In 1314 Kolathiri send two princesses called Attingal
Rani and Kunnumel Rani to marry the Tamil Venad
dynasty then ruled by Veera Marthandavarma the son of Ravivarma Kulasekhara.
Between 1335 to 1377 the most powerful dynasty of South India was the Madurai Sultanate
. Kolathiri along with the newly found Samuthiri kingdom in 1340 were considered as allies of the Muslims especially Arab
s.The large Muslim army and Navy supported the Kolathiri and Samuthiri kingdoms which enabled them to defy the Portuguese. However when Tipu Sultan
attacked in 1776 with a relatively small army of 4000 Cavalry and 8000 infantry the Samuthiri and Kolathiri surrendered. Tipu Sultan
had established friendly relationship with the Arackkal kingdom(Ali Raja
) when he arranged marriage between his son Abdhul Khali with one of the princesses of Arackkal Royal family. Without the support of the Muslim army Kolathiri surrendered to Tippu without a war in 1776.
Foreign accounts also corroborate the distinct identity of this kingdom in later centuries. Marco Polo, who visited this coast in the twelfth century AD, noticed the independent status of the king of this region.The fourteenth-century narrative of Ibn Battuta refers to the ruler of this region as residing at Baliapatanam. This offers a clue that by this time, the centre of the political authority had shifted from Ezhimala to Baliapatanam, a town located south of Ezhimala. In the sixteenth century AD, a Portuguese official Duarte Barbosa also mentions Baliapatanam (Baliapatam in European records) as the residence of the ‘king of Cannanore’.
legitimized political power, and the actual working of power relations in the region. It appears that the
Kolathiris never exercised a monopoly of authority in the realm. Authority was a decentralized, shared, and pluralistic entity. The kingly status attributed to the Kolathiris remained more or less a nominal one. The Kolathiris had to sustain their political dignity within the constraints set by the limits of their economic resource base as the geographical features of Kolathunādu did not guarantee a large-scale agricultural surplus. Shaped by the limited agrarian economy in Kolathunādu, the possibility of a centralized political structure to emerge was limited. This constricted opportunity to exploit the limited agricultural surplus obviously restricted the chances of the Kolathiris to exercise considerable influence over the people of the region. Instead, there emerged a fluctuating field of powerful taravādus of Nāyars exercising control over the resources from their respective landed properties and the dependent labour-service classes. The inability of the Kolathiris to monopolize the use of force in the realm on account of their weak economic position meant that the outward appearance of regal authority remained more or less nominal.
lineages in north Kerala. The Nileswaram (Alladam) Swarũpam and the Arackal Swarũpam claimed
independent political identity. Moreover, political power within the Kolaswarũpam was also
disseminated into different kovilakams. In the Keralolpathi there are four kovilakams sharing the political authority of the Kolaswarupam namely: Talora Kovilakam; Arathil Kovilakam; Muttathil Kovilakam; and Karipathu Kovilakam. According to the Keralolpathi Kolathunādu tradition, the Karipathu Kovilakam claimed some sort of superiority over the others. However, it was the Palli Kovilakam and the Udayamangalam Kovilakam, as apparent from the Dutch records, which dominated the political scene of Kolathunadu Both these kovilakams had again branched into various kovilakams, thereby, creating a network of political houses within the Kolaswarupam.
The original kingdom of Kolathiri was partitioned along 5 matrilinial-divisions of the Kolathiri family and had rulers of the respective parts/ Kũr-Vāzhcha (part-dominions) namely Kolattiri, Tekkālankũr, Vadakkālankũr, Naalāmkũr, Anjāmkũr.
During the period of Hyder Ali
and Tipu Sultan
from 1766 to 1792 multiple military invasions, plunder and systematic forcible conversions were performed in North and South Malabar alike. Fearing forcible conversion, a significantly large section (Chieftains and Brahmins) of Malabar chose to take refuge in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore as Travancore had an alliance (Treaty of Mangalore
) with the English Company according to which "an aggression against Travancore would be viewed as equivalent to declaration of war against the English". Thus at various time points between 1766 to 1792 all female members and many male members of Kolathiri family had taken refuge in southern kerala. On the restoration of peace in Malabar, while the family went back, three sisters stayed back in Travancore at Mavelikkara. Dissensions resulted in one of them moving to Ennakkad while another settled at Prayikkara. Thus three matrilinial branches of the Kolathiri family settled in Travancore and established the royal houses of Mavelikkara, Ennakkat and Prayikkara.
‘Kolathiri had no right to ask them to perform a sacrifice since in the jurisdiction of Perumtrikkovilappan (the deity of the Rajarajeswara temple of Perumchellũr, Taliparamba) the order of any king would not be valid’ (The epithet of the deity rajarajeswara or king of the kings blatantly indicates the royal status assumed by the deity).
Consequently Udayavarman brought 237 Brahmin families (Sāgara Dwijas) from Gokarnam
and settled them in five Desams. (Cheruthāzham, Kunniriyam, Arathil, Kulappuram and Vararuchimangalam of Perinchelloor Grāmam) . The latter adopted Nambũdiri customs and performed Hiranya-garbhā and conferred Kshatriyahood on the former. Later, on the request of Rājā of Travancore, 185 of these Sāgara dwijans families were sent to Thiruvalla. (Thiruvalladesi Embraanthiris).
by permiiting their members to be adopted.The first adoption took place around 1315 whereby the two princesses of the Kolathiri family were installed as Senior and Junior Rāni s of Attingal
, with the titles of Āttingal Mootha Thampurān and Āttingal Elaya Thampurān respectively. Adoptions into the Travancore Royal Family followed in 1684, 1688, 1718, 1748 and 1788 until the 19th century. The celebrated Mārthanda Varma
the Great was a result of the 1688 adoption and his successor Dharmarājā
who fought and defeated Tipu Sultan of Mysore was an offspring of the 1718 adoption. The weak Balarama Varma
who ruled after Dharmarājā in the early 19th century belonged to the 1748 line. The famous Maharanis Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and Gowri Parvathi Bayi belonged to the 1788 line as did the Maharajahs Swāthi Thirunāl, Uthram Thirunāl, Āyilyam Thirunāl
, Visākham Thirunāl
and Moolam Thirunāl.
.
. The film is based on a fictional story about a young Indian who tried to kill Vasco da Gama. The movie was released on 31 March 2011.
Kolathunadu
Kolathunādu was one of the three most powerful feudal kingdoms on the Malabar Coast during the arrival Portuguese Armadas to India along with Zamorin's Calicut and Venad. Kolathunād had its capital at Ezhimala and was ruled by Kolathiri royal family and roughly comprised the whole northern...
) was the title by which the senior most male along the matilinial line of the Mushika
Mushika Kingdom
Mushika Kingdom was an ancient kingdom of the Tamil Sangam age in present day northern Kerala, India ruled by the Royal dynasty of the same name. They ruled the strip of land between Mangaluru in the north and Vadagara in the south...
or Kolathunādu Royal Family (Kolaswarũpam) was styled. The Sangam Literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
such as Kuṟuntokai
Kuruntokai
Kuruntokai ,a classical Tamil poetic work, is the second book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Kuruntokai contains poems dealing with matters of love and separation content matter and were written by numerous authors. Nachinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar living during the sixth or the ...
, Puṟanāṉūṟu
Purananuru
Purananuru is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 200 BCE – 100 CE. Purananuru is part of the Ettuthokai anthology which is the oldest available collection of poems of Sangam literature in Tamil....
, Akanaṉūṟu
Akananuru
Akananuru , a classical Tamil poetic work, is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. It contains 400 Akam poems dealing with matters of love and separation...
mention the Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
Velir kings called Nannans ruling Ezhimalai
.The Tamil Patriarchal Velirs adopted Matriarchy in the 12th century as mentioned by Athula in his book Mooshika Vamsham. The Royal family, alternatively known as the Kulyas, Kolis, Kolwas, the Velirs
Velirs
Velirs were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakkam in the early historic period of South India. Extolled in Sangam literature for their charity and truthfulness, they were the ancestors and head of the modern Tamil Vellalar caste...
, Ezhimala, Kolaswarũpam, Mũshika Vamsham, Nannāns of Ezhimala etc., had its seat at Ezhimala in 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....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and was one of the major political houses which became prominent in Kerala after the disappearance of the Kulasekharas or Perumāl rulers of Mahodayapuram by the twelfth century AD.
Kolathiri Rājās like Pazhassi Raja
Pazhassi Raja
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja , popularly known as Kerala Simham or Lion of Kerala, was the Hindu Nair King of Kottayam , which was based in modern Kannur District, North Malabar zone of Kerala State in...
are Nambiars.
Royal symbols of Kolathiri
According to legend, Lord Parasurama is said to have provided Ramaghatha Mooshikan on his day of coronation (1) Naandakam Vaal (a special sword)(2) and assignied the herb Nenmeni-vaka (Mumosa lebbek) as the tree associated with the dynasty (3)and further assigned Vaakapookkula (infloresense of Mumosa lebbek) and Changalavattam Vilakku (This is a heavy bronze lamp used in temple processions and the lamp itself has an oil storage space with a spoon attached to it by chain), as the royal symbols. The Kola-swaroopam dynasty believes that it is this association of theirs with Nenmeni-vaka (Mumosa lebbek) that led to their nomenclature as Mooshikan. The Royal flag and the Royal seal of the Kolathiri family therefore was a combination of images namely : Thoni (a boat), Changalavattam Vilakku , Naandakam Vaal and Nenmeni-vaka.Royal flag/standard (Kodikkoora or dwajam)
The imagery of the flag consisted of two Naandakam-Vaal-swords on either sides with a centrally placed Vaakapookkula-infloresense of Mumosa lebbek and five half crescents beneath.Royal seal (Mudra)
The imagery of the seal consisted of a thoni-boat beneath, a changalavattam-lamp above it, further above a vertically placed Naandakam-vaal-sword, followed on either adjacent sides by a Vaakapookkula-infloresense each.Pre-colonial period
Ezhimala (Mount Deli in European accounts) and its neighboring regions were dynamic centers of socio-political activities even in the early centuries of the Christian era. Surviving Tamil anthologies draw a brilliant picture of one Nannān who controlled the area in and around Ezhimala. TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
anthologies describe his engagements with such neighboring ruling elites as the Cheras. Nannān of Ezhimala was more of a Tamil tribal chieftain who established himself at Ezhimala as the ‘capital’ of his chiefdom and engaged primarily in plundering raids in the neighboring territories. By the eight century, however, the political atmosphere in South India had changed rather dramatically as a new political culture based on settled agrarian exploitation took root in the region. As in other parts of the sub-continent, Brahmanism provided the ideological support for these newly emerging regional, primarily agrarian principalities by linking them to a pan-Indian vedic-puranic tradition. The composition of the Mũshikavamsam (a 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...
poem composed by Athula, the court poet of the Mũshika king Srikanda in the first half of the eleventh century) is a specifically regional reflection of what seems to have been a much wider, all-Indian development. According to the Mũshikavamsam, a legendary figure Ramaghada Mũshakan had established the lineage of Kolaswarũpam. Whatever may have been the authority for this story, inscriptional evidence from at least the eighth century seems to support the existence of this ruling line. In addition, an inscription dating to AD 929 mentions about one Vikramaraman identifiable with the ruler Vikramaraman who appears in the Mũshikavamsam. Another inscription from tenth century mentions a Nair Cheftain, Udayavarman, who bore the title Ramaghata Mũvar—an epithet used by the Mũshika kings. An inscription from the Tiruvattũr temple mentions an Eraman Chemani (Raman Jayamani) who is identifiable with the king who appears as the 109th ruler in Mushikavamsam.
It is possible that their royalty then goes back to as far back as 1800 B.C. They, over the millennia intermarried very frequently with the Cheras
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
, the Pandyas and the Cholas, and also might have given rise to the royalties of the Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
, the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. They have also had matrimonial alliances with the Chedis
Chedi Kingdom
Chedi kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled during early periods by Paurava kings and later by Yaduvanshi Rajput kings in the central and western India. It falls roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna and along river Betwa or Vetravati...
, the Somas
Somàs
Sornàs is a village in Andorra, located in the parish of Ordino....
and the Yadavas and gradually assimilated to the Nairs. The Arakkal and the Nileshwaram Royal Families are both branches of this Royal Family, having branched out from them over the centuries. The Southern branch of this family ruled over erstwhile Venad
Venad
Venad Swarupam was one of the three prominent late medieval Hindu feudal kingdoms on Malabar Coast, south India, along with Kingdom of Calicut and Kingdom of Cannanore. In the early 14th century, Venad ruler Ravi Varma Kulasekhara had established a short-lived supremacy over southern India...
and is today known as the Thiruvithamkoor or 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...
Royal Family. The Mushika Royal Family has found mention in surviving ancient Indian texts like the Vishnu Purana
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
and also in Greek accounts like that of Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
.
The socio-cultural uniqueness of Kolathunādu became more distinctive only after the disappearance of the Kulasekharas of Mahodayapuram by the early twelfth century AD.During the Sangam period, the early centuries of the Christian era, both Kerala and the Tamil regions were considered to be part of a common cultural realm and to belong to a common geographical settlement pattern, in spite of being under distinct political entities. More specifically, Tamil anthologies of the early Christian era make no sharp cultural or social distinction between the Mũvarasar of Tamil country or the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, all operating within a common cultural and geographical milieu. Also later, the temples of Kerala (Malainādu) were included in the sacred geography of the Tamil Bhakti movement and were profusely praised by the Āzhwārs and Nayanār
Nayanars
The Nayanars or Nayanmars were Shaivite devotional poets of Tamil Nadu, active between the fifth and the tenth centuries CE...
s, the main proponents of the movement, in their verses. The Kolathiris were praised as Vadakkan Perumāls (Perumals of the North) by the author of the Keralolpathi
Keralolpathi
The Keralolpathi is a Malayalam work that deals with the origin of the land of Kerala. Shungunny Menon ascribes the authorship of this work to Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, a 17th century scholar of the Malabar region of India. The Keralolpathi is mostly an expansion from an earlier Sanskrit...
.The Kolathiris were vassals of Hoysala Empire
Hoysala Empire
The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
in the 14th century.
After the invasion of Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
a general of Alauddin Khilji
Alauddin Khilji
Ali Gurshap Khan better known by his titular name as Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji was the second ruler of the Turko-Afghan Khilji dynasty in India.He was a well and capable ruler. He belonged to the Afghanized Turkic tribe of the Khiljis...
in 1310 all the South Indian Tamil and Dravidian kingdoms were destroyed. Kolathiri who possibly an ally of Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
became the most powerful king of Kerala immediately after the invasion. In 1314 Kolathiri send two princesses called Attingal
Attingal
Attingal is a town and a municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India, bounded by the Mamom and Vamanapuram rivers. It is situated 30 km to the north of state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.-Demographics:...
Rani and Kunnumel Rani to marry the Tamil Venad
Venad
Venad Swarupam was one of the three prominent late medieval Hindu feudal kingdoms on Malabar Coast, south India, along with Kingdom of Calicut and Kingdom of Cannanore. In the early 14th century, Venad ruler Ravi Varma Kulasekhara had established a short-lived supremacy over southern India...
dynasty then ruled by Veera Marthandavarma the son of Ravivarma Kulasekhara.
Between 1335 to 1377 the most powerful dynasty of South India was the Madurai Sultanate
Madurai Sultanate
The Madurai Sultanate or the Ma'bar Sultanate was a short lived independent Muslim kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India during the 14th century CE. It lasted from 1335 until 1378...
. Kolathiri along with the newly found Samuthiri kingdom in 1340 were considered as allies of the Muslims especially Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s.The large Muslim army and Navy supported the Kolathiri and Samuthiri kingdoms which enabled them to defy the Portuguese. However when Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
attacked in 1776 with a relatively small army of 4000 Cavalry and 8000 infantry the Samuthiri and Kolathiri surrendered. Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
had established friendly relationship with the Arackkal kingdom(Ali Raja
Ali Raja
The Ali Raja was the title of the Muslim raja of Cannanore from the 16th to early 19th Century. The king's palace, which he purchased from the Dutch in 1663, was named Arakkal Palace after the ruling dynasty.-Origins:...
) when he arranged marriage between his son Abdhul Khali with one of the princesses of Arackkal Royal family. Without the support of the Muslim army Kolathiri surrendered to Tippu without a war in 1776.
Foreign accounts also corroborate the distinct identity of this kingdom in later centuries. Marco Polo, who visited this coast in the twelfth century AD, noticed the independent status of the king of this region.The fourteenth-century narrative of Ibn Battuta refers to the ruler of this region as residing at Baliapatanam. This offers a clue that by this time, the centre of the political authority had shifted from Ezhimala to Baliapatanam, a town located south of Ezhimala. In the sixteenth century AD, a Portuguese official Duarte Barbosa also mentions Baliapatanam (Baliapatam in European records) as the residence of the ‘king of Cannanore’.
Decentralized realm
There appears to have been a significant discrepancy between the ideal type of polity presented in Brahmanical texts such as the Keralolpathi, where the Kolathiri Rājā is presented as the custodian oflegitimized political power, and the actual working of power relations in the region. It appears that the
Kolathiris never exercised a monopoly of authority in the realm. Authority was a decentralized, shared, and pluralistic entity. The kingly status attributed to the Kolathiris remained more or less a nominal one. The Kolathiris had to sustain their political dignity within the constraints set by the limits of their economic resource base as the geographical features of Kolathunādu did not guarantee a large-scale agricultural surplus. Shaped by the limited agrarian economy in Kolathunādu, the possibility of a centralized political structure to emerge was limited. This constricted opportunity to exploit the limited agricultural surplus obviously restricted the chances of the Kolathiris to exercise considerable influence over the people of the region. Instead, there emerged a fluctuating field of powerful taravādus of Nāyars exercising control over the resources from their respective landed properties and the dependent labour-service classes. The inability of the Kolathiris to monopolize the use of force in the realm on account of their weak economic position meant that the outward appearance of regal authority remained more or less nominal.
Constitution of the Kolathiri family
By the seventeenth century, the Kolaswarũpam had to share its political authority with two otherlineages in north Kerala. The Nileswaram (Alladam) Swarũpam and the Arackal Swarũpam claimed
independent political identity. Moreover, political power within the Kolaswarũpam was also
disseminated into different kovilakams. In the Keralolpathi there are four kovilakams sharing the political authority of the Kolaswarupam namely: Talora Kovilakam; Arathil Kovilakam; Muttathil Kovilakam; and Karipathu Kovilakam. According to the Keralolpathi Kolathunādu tradition, the Karipathu Kovilakam claimed some sort of superiority over the others. However, it was the Palli Kovilakam and the Udayamangalam Kovilakam, as apparent from the Dutch records, which dominated the political scene of Kolathunadu Both these kovilakams had again branched into various kovilakams, thereby, creating a network of political houses within the Kolaswarupam.
The original kingdom of Kolathiri was partitioned along 5 matrilinial-divisions of the Kolathiri family and had rulers of the respective parts/ Kũr-Vāzhcha (part-dominions) namely Kolattiri, Tekkālankũr, Vadakkālankũr, Naalāmkũr, Anjāmkũr.
| The matrilinial divisions of the Kolathiri family (Kovilakams) | |||
| Division | Branch | Sub-branch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Udayamangalam | |||
| Palli | Chirakkal | ||
| Chenga | Prāyikkara at Māvelikkara, Ennakkāt' (Further divided into Ennakkāt and Māvelikkara) | ||
| Tevanam Kotta | |||
| Padinjāre | |||
| Thekumkure | Kolath kovilakam | ||
| Kāvinishery | |||
During the period of Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...
and Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
from 1766 to 1792 multiple military invasions, plunder and systematic forcible conversions were performed in North and South Malabar alike. Fearing forcible conversion, a significantly large section (Chieftains and Brahmins) of Malabar chose to take refuge in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore as Travancore had an alliance (Treaty of Mangalore
Treaty of Mangalore
The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tippu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.-Background:...
) with the English Company according to which "an aggression against Travancore would be viewed as equivalent to declaration of war against the English". Thus at various time points between 1766 to 1792 all female members and many male members of Kolathiri family had taken refuge in southern kerala. On the restoration of peace in Malabar, while the family went back, three sisters stayed back in Travancore at Mavelikkara. Dissensions resulted in one of them moving to Ennakkad while another settled at Prayikkara. Thus three matrilinial branches of the Kolathiri family settled in Travancore and established the royal houses of Mavelikkara, Ennakkat and Prayikkara.
Ascension to Kshatriyahood
In 1617 A.D Kolathiri Rāja, Udayavarman, wished to further promote himself to full recognition by performing Hiranya-garbhā, which the Nambũdiris refused. As he attempted to force the Nambũdiri Brahmins of Taliparamba (Perumchellũr) to perform this ritual for him, the Nambũdiri Brahmins refused him by stating:‘Kolathiri had no right to ask them to perform a sacrifice since in the jurisdiction of Perumtrikkovilappan (the deity of the Rajarajeswara temple of Perumchellũr, Taliparamba) the order of any king would not be valid’ (The epithet of the deity rajarajeswara or king of the kings blatantly indicates the royal status assumed by the deity).
Consequently Udayavarman brought 237 Brahmin families (Sāgara Dwijas) from Gokarnam
Gokarna, India
Gokarna is a village in the Uttara Kannada district of the Karnataka state, India. It is a Hindu pilgrimage centre as well as a tourist destination in India. Gokarna is a temple town and is referred to in a number of Hindu historical literature pieces. The main deity is Lord Mahabhaleshwara, a...
and settled them in five Desams. (Cheruthāzham, Kunniriyam, Arathil, Kulappuram and Vararuchimangalam of Perinchelloor Grāmam) . The latter adopted Nambũdiri customs and performed Hiranya-garbhā and conferred Kshatriyahood on the former. Later, on the request of Rājā of Travancore, 185 of these Sāgara dwijans families were sent to Thiruvalla. (Thiruvalladesi Embraanthiris).
Source for adoptions
The Kolathiri family has been a constant source for providing heirs to the Travancore Royal FamilyTravancore Royal Family
The Travancore Royal Family descended from the Venad line of the Cheras and ruled over the Indian state of Travancore until 1947.The Royal family, alternatively known as the Kupaka Royal Family, Thripappur Swaroopam, Venad Swaroopam, Vanchi Swaroopam etc., has its seat today at Trivandrum in...
by permiiting their members to be adopted.The first adoption took place around 1315 whereby the two princesses of the Kolathiri family were installed as Senior and Junior Rāni s of Attingal
Attingal
Attingal is a town and a municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India, bounded by the Mamom and Vamanapuram rivers. It is situated 30 km to the north of state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.-Demographics:...
, with the titles of Āttingal Mootha Thampurān and Āttingal Elaya Thampurān respectively. Adoptions into the Travancore Royal Family followed in 1684, 1688, 1718, 1748 and 1788 until the 19th century. The celebrated Mārthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma , was the founder of the Indian Hindu feudal kingdom of Travancore from Venad SwaroopamHe ruled from 1729 till his death in 1758, having succeeded his maternal uncle Dharma Raja.King Marthanda Varma is usually credited as the "founder of Kingdom of Travancore" from...
the Great was a result of the 1688 adoption and his successor Dharmarājā
Dharmaraja
Dharmaraja refers to several things in Buddhism and Hinduism:* Dharmaraja, the original Sanskrit term for Chogyal, which may refer to a secular ruler of Sikkim or Bhutan, or a higher-ranking monk in Tibetan Buddhism...
who fought and defeated Tipu Sultan of Mysore was an offspring of the 1718 adoption. The weak Balarama Varma
Balarama Varma
Avittom Thirunal Balarama Varma was a ruler of the Indian princely state of Travancore from 1798 to 1810, succeeding Maharajah Dharma Raja. His rule of Travancore was full of disturbances and internal and external problems...
who ruled after Dharmarājā in the early 19th century belonged to the 1748 line. The famous Maharanis Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and Gowri Parvathi Bayi belonged to the 1788 line as did the Maharajahs Swāthi Thirunāl, Uthram Thirunāl, Āyilyam Thirunāl
Ayilyam Thirunal
Maharajah Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma was the ruler of the princely state of Travancore in India from 1860 to 1880. His reign was highly successful with Travancore gaining the appellation of "model state of India"...
, Visākham Thirunāl
Visakham Thirunal
Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma was the Maharaja of the erstwhile Indian kingdom of Travancore from 1880-1885 AD. He succeeded his elder brother Maharajah Ayilyam Thirunal to the throne of Travancore.-Early life:...
and Moolam Thirunāl.
Supersession of the title Kolathiri Rājā
Earlier members of both Udayamangalam and Palli divisions were eligible to assume the title of Kolathiri Rājā based on their seniority in age. The invasion of the domains of Kolathiri family by Rājā of Bednũr / Ikkeri and subsequent settlement between Kolathiri and the invader in AD 1736-37 led to considerable change within the family of Kolathiris .The Udayamangalam branch was shut out from assuming the title Rājā and the title of Kolathiri fell into disuse. The ruling family (Palli division) monopolized the right of succession as Rāja, leading to the supersession of the ancient title of Kolathiri Rājā to the Chirakkal RajaChirakkal Raja
Chirakkal Raja is the title of the senior most king of the Chirakkal branch of the Palli division of the Kolathiri dynasty of the erstwhile feudal state of Kolathunadu in North Malabar, Kerala state, South India. Chirakkal Rajas and Kolathiris traces their ancestry back to the Mushika dynasty of...
.
Cultural depictions
"Kolathiti" appears as a character in a Malayalam film titled UrumiUrumi (film)
Urumi is a 2011 Malayalam historical-fantasy film directed and co-produced by Santosh Sivan and written by Shankar Ramakrishnan. It stars Prithviraj, who was also one of the producers of the film, as Chirakkal Kelu Nayanar, Prabhu Deva as Vavvali, Robin Pratt as Vasco da Gama, Alexx ONell as...
. The film is based on a fictional story about a young Indian who tried to kill Vasco da Gama. The movie was released on 31 March 2011.