Calicut Heritage

CK - Continue this splendid effort at demystifying...

2009-12-20T17:33:32.216-08:00

CK - Continue this splendid effort at demystifying history,sifting myths and legends from facts and letting the world know of a corner of India that people everywhere need to know.Look forward to your next 'big one!' Uday

All those who came searching for pepper to west co...

2009-12-20T15:45:29.906-08:00

All those who came searching for pepper to west coast of India and Malabar where short sighted and there vision seems to be bluurred due to greed and the eagareness to convert the native people to Christanity.

The India house in Lisbon did create all kinds of ...

2009-12-20T06:47:24.239-08:00

The India house in Lisbon did create all kinds of stories & aura about the locations they were entrenched in to collect capital from the wealthy traders.

Good lesson on a less talked about subject.

some years back i wrote a somewhat ill researched blog on the words spoken by Castaneda when they reached calicut

http://maddy06.blogspot.com/2007/05/thus-spake-castaneda.html

Many thanks, Maddy and Premnath for the comments. ...

2009-12-20T02:10:46.508-08:00

Many thanks, Maddy and Premnath for the comments. After Plassey and the establishment of Calcutta as the seat of the government, historians focused more on their northern and eastern adventures and neglected the southern part - except, of course, where the British had won spectacular victories as, for example, against Tipu and Pazhassi. So while Jhansi Rani is remembered, poor Abakka is not!

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2009-12-08T22:49:40.209-08:00

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A big congratulations CKR for the story of Abakka...

2009-12-06T05:28:56.358-08:00

A big congratulations CKR for the story of Abakka Rani.Our lack of sense of history once again painfully remind us that many a facts have been buried deep under .Hope these gold mines will be rediscovered.

That was a great one, CKR - AHF. Abakka's story is...

2009-12-06T05:01:44.015-08:00

That was a great one, CKR - AHF. Abakka's story is certainly interesting and if you wade through many of the references, you can weave a nice tapestry of her life, like the beevi. her relationship with her husband is also a story by itself!!

yes, CKR, that is right & I agree. many of the pro...

2009-12-06T04:56:36.268-08:00

yes, CKR, that is right & I agree. many of the problems rose from the rules in selection of the thampuran and if at all he was able in body & mind to rule..

Thank you, Madhu, Premnath and Maddy. Zamorin did ...

2009-12-05T07:14:31.977-08:00

Thank you, Madhu, Premnath and Maddy. Zamorin did not have a standing land army but was drawing on the local chieftains (Naduvazhis) to provide help during offensive or defensive wars. Battle at sea was first introduced by the Portuguese, as the sea was till then a calm place for quiet trade (there are not many references to pirates before the Portuguese came on the scene!)
It was natural that the Moplahs who managed most of the maritime trade would take up arms to defend their economic interests. The success of the Zamorins was in legitimising this use of naval force by organising the Marakkars into a navy. Without a ruling power to back them, the Moplah sailors would have been decimated by the Portuguese. When war broke out, the Zamorin's Nair forces worked in tandem with the naval forces in attacking Portuguese forts and factories. You may be right, Maddy, in assuming that Marakkars might have acted autonomously in some of these battles without express orders from the Zamorin, but the facts appear to be much more complicated. In analysing Calicut history, we sometimes treat Zamorin as one ruler, but individual approaches, their inheritance system and even the age at which the rulers ascend have all affected the course of history.

Thank you, Jaipee for your interesting comment. 'G...

2009-12-03T04:01:42.811-08:00

Thank you, Jaipee for your interesting comment. 'Gujaratis' are not foreigners in the sense French or Portuguese are. They have their own caste and other prejudices like the rest of us Indians. But, the foreigners were not too insulated - many of them had local wives and children and mixed freely with the locals. Robert Adams the English agent in the early 18th century used to speak Malayalam fluently and go about as a Malabari. I agree, however, that the Jews were rather segregated but that was probably because their religion is founded on the dream of returning to the 'promised land'.
Yes, Premnath, Kerala is fast becoming a 'Dead Sea' what with all the xenophobia spread by petty politicians who want to enslave the local population to some decrepit ideology of the 19th century.
Thanks, Maddy for clarifying the issue raised by Jaipee.
Yes, Swansong, there is great merit in keeping peace even if it demands a certain segregation. But, we cant generalise on these issues as we find several exceptions. Please visit Maddy's site www.historicalleys.blogspot.com to see many such instances of locals willingly converting themselves to the religion, culture and mores of the visitors like Portuguese.
Finally, a big thank you to PNS for the encouragement!

At times I have wondered if this was really carrie...

2009-11-27T08:05:16.709-08:00

At times I have wondered if this was really carried out at the behest of the Zamorin or if the Marakkars took matters into their own hands. And then it could have been that the Zamorin got furious hearing about the unilateral actions and decided to punish Kunjali..Nevertheless,it provides a window into those events, otherwise not well recorded.

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2009-11-25T02:44:20.204-08:00

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Could somebody enlight all about the success of th...

2009-11-24T10:43:45.055-08:00

Could somebody enlight all about the success of the Zamorin's army.We are yet to hear about the real and brave stories of thier exploits and heroic deeds.Kunhali Marikkars victories on the high seas were rewarded by unpardonable act of betrayal??.

Exploits of Zamorins overseas are not popular as t...

2009-11-24T06:47:35.092-08:00

Exploits of Zamorins overseas are not popular as that of Cholas. Probably Zamorins never reaped any benefits out of it. Your blog can prompt more research into the migration of people from these two areas and explain some of the similarities that they share in their physical features and language. Thank you for enlightening us.
CKM

"Malayalee" especially the north Malabar "Malayale...

2009-11-21T22:34:04.580-08:00

"Malayalee" especially the north Malabar "Malayalee" has always been welcoming and nice to others coming from out side.I do not think that it was because of the hesitation of the local people here that those who came did not mix those who came- they wanted their cultural identity to be kept and did not want to be absorbed by the local community and be a part of the local society. May be there is nothing strange about that and as long as there are no conflicts it is good in many ways.Variety and diversity is the spice of life, I think.

I am not much of a history buff - apart from comme...

2009-11-09T04:08:33.230-08:00

I am not much of a history buff - apart from commenting on these well researched and documented posts - I can only add one more input to change an opinion about Venice. It is not the only airport in the world where you can step into a boat right after landing. There is a place closer to Kerala and Malabar - Male airport in Maldives :)...

Many thanks, PNS, for your words of encouragement!...

2009-10-19T18:12:11.715-07:00

Many thanks, PNS, for your words of encouragement!

An informative post. Learned readers have enriched...

2009-10-17T22:44:35.494-07:00

An informative post. Learned readers have enriched it further by their comments. Thanks.

Very nice peice. I would say "Open your doors and ...

2009-10-17T22:27:11.115-07:00

Very nice peice. I would say "Open your doors and let the Sun shine"

That was a good one CKR, a good reminder to those ...

2009-10-17T08:32:34.183-07:00

That was a good one CKR, a good reminder to those with closed minds.

Hey jaipee, you are right and partly wrong.From old times, integration was not permitted by society and the caste system was very tight in Kerala. Neither the Jews or any of the Vania castes could mingle with the others around. Also as you may recall, the North Malabar nairs would not marry south of Korapuzha and central Malabar nairs would not cross Trichur. So you can imagine how it was between castes & religions!!

You must believe in give and take. The GOD wants y...

2009-10-17T03:04:25.645-07:00

You must believe in give and take. The GOD wants you to do so.See the "Dead Sea". When things are in one way nothing lives.It is time to drop "ISAMS" and be practical. For 35/40 years the computor was opposed .
what is situation now ?.The people who opposed it cannot go about without a PC!!!

Yes Calicut was always open to foreigners coming ...

2009-10-17T00:44:34.928-07:00

Yes Calicut was always open to foreigners coming settling and doing busines here. But many foreigners led secluded lives. I would say that the Gujaratis never integrated with the local population even after being here for 400 years. Jews never 'belonged' to this place though they were speaking and writing in Malayalam. Isn't that peculiar?

Hari, Yes, of course. I forgot to mention the bril...

2009-10-02T21:52:51.764-07:00

Hari,
Yes, of course. I forgot to mention the brilliant posts by Maddy on the Chinese in Calicut in his http://historicalleys.blogspot.com It is such a mine of information that each sentence can be a full-length book if properly researched! Also forgot to mention Asin Das Gupta, another historian. But all of them have only touched the fringe of the Chinese sojourn in Calicut.

Hari check out these articles that I did on the s...

2009-10-02T08:11:43.795-07:00

Hari

check out these articles that I did on the subject of Chinese in malabar

rgds

http://historicalleys.blogspot.com/search/label/Malabar%20-%20Chinese%20trade

Many thanks, Maddy for the comments. You have adde...

2009-10-01T23:38:35.332-07:00

Many thanks, Maddy for the comments. You have added a new dimension by introducing Pathalayini-Kollom (Fantalaina of the Chinese and Fandaraina of Ibn Batuta). According to Roland Miller, this was an important port in the northern area between Muziris and the Konkani coast prior to the rise of Calicut.Interestingly, Yiju had in one of his letters (232 T-S 20 quoted by Amitav Ghosh at page 227 of his The Imam and the Indian)referred to Panthalayini-Kollom :'...I bought for (al Basara?) from Fandaraina two bahars (of cardamom) as a substitute for 17 mithqals.'
Thanks, Hari Nair for adding a culinary dimension to the debate. There are some studies on the Chinese in Calicut, notably by Prof.Haraprasad Ray. Chinese had monopolised the trade in Calicut and Zheng He died in Calicut on his last voyage and was believed to have been buried at sea off the coast of Calicut. He had erected a memorial stone which is now not traceable. They were supposed to have abandoned Calicut after a massacre of the Chinese by the Moplahs (purely trade war, as both were Muslims). On the culinary side, they have left behind the Cheena chatti (wok), the Cheenabharani and Chhena mulaku!