Indian Antiquary Vol 52

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 173

JUNE, 1923 ]
A CHRISTIAN DYNASTY IN MALABAR
157
me at any rate. Here we have again a characteristio of this book, a tendency to criticise on insufficient data, so that on points of observation it supplies evidence only. It does not supersede the work of former observers.
(To be continued.)
A CHRISTIAN DYNASTY IN MALABAR (Being an Enquiry into Local Christian Tradition).
BY T. K. JOSEPH, B.A., L.T. The Muhammadan royal house of the Ali Rajas of Canannore is fairly well known. Not so the Christian dynasty of Villiyârvattam near Cochin, which became extinct some time before the advent of the Portuguese to the Malabar Coast. Reliable evidence for its existence has not yet been forthcoming.
Malabar Christian tradition has it that this line of kings dates from the time of the famous merchant Thomas of Cana who colonized Cranganore (Kodungallor, Kotunnallur) along with a large number of Christians from Baghdad, Nineveh and Jerusalem in 345 A.D. But there is absolutely no historical evidence to support this. When in 1502 Vasco da Gama came to Cochin for the second time, some Syrian Christians from Cranganore presented him with a sceptre which, they said, once belonged to their ancient Christian sovereigns.
The Kerala Palama, a history of the Portuguese in Malabar, written in Malayalam after 1662. refers to this incident in these words :-“The Syrian Christians came from Cranganore with fowls and fruits and presenting them said, we are all very glad of your coming. In older times there was in this land a king in our own community. Here we give you the soeptre and the writ of kingship granted to him by the ancient Perum Aļe. We, about 30,000 of us, are all of one accord. Henceforth let the King of Portugal hold sway over us.'... The sceptre was red in colour and had two silver rings with throe silver bells on one of them."
"These St. Thomas' Christians then," says Adriaan Moens, Dutch Governor, in his Memorandum on the Administration of Malabar (1781), "being favoured with privileges, increased, it is said, in influence, power and number among the nations of the country, became bold through these advantages and desired, just as the Israelites of old, a king over them and did in fact appoiut one, by name Balearte (Villiyârvattam), and gave him the title of king of the St. Thomas' Christians. His descendants are also said to have succeeded him on the throne until at last one came to die without offspring. In his place was elected with the common consent of the people a king, who was at the same time king of Diamper or Odiamper (Udayamperur), which is distant 3 (Dutch) miles from Cochin to the south in the present territory of the king of Travancore....When the kings of this dynasty also had died out altogether, the kings of Cochin are supposed to have got posseseion of that kingdom." Vide Galletti's Dutch in Malabar, p. 174. (Madras, 1911.)
Moens gives also the subsequent fate of this kingdom of Villiyârvattam (Balearte). "The little old kingdom of Valliavattam also belongs to him [i.e., to PAliyat Achohan, here. ditary prime minister of the king of Cochin). It is an island, a little to the north from here (Cochin) near the southern extremity of Paru (Parûr). He got this in ancient times from the king of Cochin, who had inherited it from a Nair chief." Ibid, p. 120. .
J. V. Stein van Gollenesse also says to the same effect in his Memorandum of 1743 : "He (P&liyat Achchan) possesses also a right to the old state of Villiar Vattatta; this however is merely nominal." We have it on the authority of the author of the Cochin State Manual that the royal family of Villiy Arvattam" became extinct about 1600 A.D., and it is stated