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160
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(AUGUST, 1926
On this rather extensive catalogue of subjects our geographical names like Zanzibar and the Soubah author is necessarily very unsafe guide. The of Ma'bar (constituted by Mahommed Tuglaq). social customs, usages, and political institutions of The origin of the word is clearly Arabic. Malabar are so peculiar that even those who have many of the Notes included in this volume are taken Special pains and devoted a life time to their entirely unconnected with history and could by study are liable to be led into serious mistakes ;
no stretch of imagination find admittance in a
volume purporting to deal with the history of and Visscher, whose experience of Malabar extended
Kerala. Full 16 pages are devoted to the details only to five years of stay at the Dutch settlement,
of rice cultivation, the kind of soil required for it, could hardly be expected to do anything more
the varieties now in use, and a discussion as to than repeat the vague notions current on these
whether the grain was known to the Greeks-subjects subjects among his countrymen. Nor is he parti.
which may be of interest to the student of agri. cularly reliable when he describes matters affecting
culture, but are out of place in a historical work. the Portuguese, the traditional enemies of his
Almost a whole chapter (34 pages) is devoted to state. Yet, his letters are not without value to
a description of indigenous diseases, and about 12 the careful atudent, as giving a picture of the political
pages are taken up with a description of the mud. and social conditions of Malabar as it appeared
banks in certain places. Customs at deaths to an educated and observan* foreigner.
and coronations" take about twenty pages, and The value of these "Letters" was first recognised
about 10 pages are devoted to a discussion as to by Major Heber Drury, who was assistant Resident at whether an
whether animal food is permitted to the Hindus the Court of Travancore in the fifties of the last
according to the Vedas. century. Major Drury translated and edited
The reader who, misled by the name, opens this the book, and the present edition is based on it." History of Kerala" to know something of the Mr. K. P: Padmanabha Menon who is the author molitical aunlution at that annntry. will thue ha of the voluminous Notes published along with the
greatly disappointed. Even so far as ordinary text, was a scholar of some aptitude and great appli. editing is concerned, the book leaves much to be cation, and published in Malayalam & History of
desired. Many inaccuracies of an obvious Cochin'in two volumes. The present volume, though character have crept in, which do not reflect credit called by the editor the History of Kerala, has no on the editor. The Rt. Hon'ble Syed Amir Ali such pretensions, as Mr. Padmanabha Menon himself is alluded to as Sir Amir Ali. The names of books refers to it as his "Notes on Visscher's Letters.' cited are
cited are incorrectly put down and the spelling The Notes and discussions which form the body of places and names has no uniformity. Vasco of the work are of varving merit and interest. Mr. I da Gama is spelt Vasco de Cama in certain places. Padmanabha Menon's method of historical discussion It is to be hoped that in the two more volumes is rather an old fashioned one and consists mainly which are promised, the editor will take greater in quoting the contradictory views of previous care about these matters, and also use his discrimiwriters, without discussing either their reliability nation in the selection of Notes likely to be useful as historical material or the conclusions to be to the historical student.
K.M.E. drawn therefrom. On every question, however | A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF SARMAD, by KHAN unimportant, Mr. Menon makes a display of extracts SABIB MAULAVI 'ABDUL-WALI. JASB., N.S., from old travellers, and navigators, without arriving vol. XX, 1924, No. 3. at any kind of a definite conclusion. For this
In this Journal, vol. XXXIX, Maulavi 'Abdu'l. kind of scholarship the publications of the Hakluyt Wali published & preliminary account of the Sun
ciety attord ampio scopo, and mr. menon seerns Saint known as Sarmad, and in vol. LII, a letter of to have depended entirely on them. Whenever he
Dârâ Shikoh to him. In this pamphlet he gives ventures on an independent conclusion, he goes
us a more detailed account of the saint. He has astray, sometimes even in most elementary things. in fact hunted up all the authorities. Sarmad seems Thus the discussion on the origin of the word to have been a Jew converted to Islam, and to have Malabar leads him to the conclusion that it is become A nude ascatin And A doet with very important derived from Mala-varam, the valley of the hills, influence. He was a personal friend of Dårå Shikoh ato which conclusion he was evidently misled by and is said to have prophecied the succession of that a similiarity of sounds. Malabar is a name which prince to the Mughal throno at Delhi. He would the Malayalis have so far refused to use for their clearly then come under the ban of Aurangzeb, and country except in English. The indigenous population on enquiry, under that Emperor's orders, by call the land Kerala, or Mala ned or Malayalam, orthodox divinen, he was put to death for beretical but never either in literature or in common perlance opinions soon after Aurangzeb's accession in A.H. Malavaram. The first use of the word Malabar 1071 or A.D. 1661-62. He is an important poet, and is by Al-Beruni, and following him the Muhammadan his tomb in Delhi is still venerated with offerings of travellers and geographers used its variants. That flowers and lighted candles. The Khan Sahib has the suffix 'bar' of Malabar has nothing to do done well to put together all that is known of him. with 'varam' is clear from other Muhammadan
R. C. TEMPLE.
