Zamorins and the Political Culture of Medieval Kerala

Title: Zamorins and the Political Culture of Medieval Kerala

Author: Haridas V V

Publisher: Orient Blackswan, 2016 (First)

ISBN: 9788125061281

Pages: 366

Kerala was a small political unit nestled under the protective canopy of the Western Ghats which shielded it from political hegemony by outside powers. At the same time, it was not impervious to trade or cultural contacts. With a vast sea in its backyard, Kerala engaged in a rich trade with Arabia and Eastern Africa from time immemorial. The assimilating mores of Hinduism and reformative principles of Jainism and Buddhism came in through passes in the mountain ranges. In spite of this, the country stood unconquered for most of its existence. The Cholas and the Muslim sultans of Mysore engendered the greatest challenges of conquest, but Kerala shook them off. It was only the British who could make a lasting dominance over the local kings and that too, without actually fighting them – local magnates like Pazhassi Raja and Veluthambi Dalawa were exceptions rather than the rule. The Zamorins of Calicut and kings of Kochi and Travancore were the three major rulers who remained in their thrones when India obtained its independence in 1947. This book examines the political culture of medieval Kerala under the Zamorins of Calicut and is the PhD thesis of the author. V V Haridas is an assistant professor of history at the University of Calicut.

Like any academic product, the author begins with a survey of existing literature and how his paper is markedly different from previous works which are brilliantly researched, yet had some flaws which are rectified in his own work. In the present book, much of the research is based on the Kozhikkodan Granthavari (palace chronicles of Calicut). The period covered by this volume is the five centuries from 1200 CE when Perumal rule ended to 1766 CE when Hyder Ali invaded Malabar. Scarcity of research material pertaining to this period is very acute, but a study by K V Krishna Ayyar in 1938 is the most pertaining one. Clearly, a fresh study was required to iron out the creases in that earlier work. The origin of the Zamorins is shrouded in mystery and some of the tales narrated indicate acquaintance with similar hagiographic stories elsewhere. One such anecdote speaks about Manichan and Vikkiran, who were two brothers employed in the Cheraman Perumal’s army. These so called Eradi brothers are said to have fought against Krishna Rayar of Anegundi (p.247). This more than casual allusion to the founding of the Vijayanagara state by the brothers Harihara and Bukka is noteworthy. Impressed by their courage, the Perumal is said to have handed his sword, entreating them to die and kill to annex. The Zamorins used only three names – Manavikrama, Manaveda and Viraraya. However, the chronology is simply not available. The senior most female member in this matrilineal family was known as Neduvirippil Mootha Kovil. Seniority was the sole criterion to achieve kingship among the three clans (thavazhi) of the royal family. This implied that a person could ascend the throne only at a very advanced age.

The Granthavari from which the findings of this book flows, is a compendium of accounts, payments and receipts at the local treasuries. The historian is thus compelled to weave the political culture of the dynasty from the heads and amounts of payment. This is as difficult as reconstructing a family’s history from its bank statement! Scarcity of material from which scholars could draw inferences is a serious hurdle in the historiography of medieval Kerala. It is an accepted fact that Indians were not very partial to writing history. The earliest extant text of Rajatarangini is sourced only from the twelfth century, which is very recent as compared to India’s vintage in culture, philosophy and literature. Kerala was even more loathe to write history. Unlike other South Indian rulers, Zamorins did not even carve their own sculptures in wood or stone. Paintings of them of an early period have not survived. Paucity of material resources of the kingdom is also a factor that must be considered here. Living in houses with tiled roofs and the ability to perform fireworks were privileges only the nobility could manage in Kerala.

Haridas has made some valuable contributions to knowledge about the period under consideration. It was widely established that the pathinettara kavikal (literally, eighteen and a half poets) was a group of nineteen poets who adorned the Zamorin’s court as a showcase of literary grandeur. The author casts doubts on the historicity of this claim. He terms it to be an invented tradition dating back only to 1907, when an anonymous author wrote that the scholars who received kizhi (a sachet containing money) for the Revathi Pattathanam literary festival were the pathinettara kavikal. William Logan and Herman Gundert, who had written their treatises much before this year were notably silent on this point. Even the Granthavari, on which Haridas leans so much, does not mention it. This crucial finding has its impact on one of the widely believed literary traditions of the Malayalam language too. The author’s research also dwells on the description of chavers (suicide warriors) who attempted to assassinate the Zamorin while presiding over the Mamakam festivities at Tirunavaya on behalf of their master, the lord of Valluvanadu. It is distressing to learn that in the year 1683 alone, 55 young Hindu fighters tried to break through Zamorin’s security cordon comprising of battle-hardened and trusted veterans only to get skewered to pieces in a style eerily reminiscent of fidayeen attacks. Their only hope of redemption was the glory gained from ballads composed for extolling their martyrdom. Haridas also gives a detailed account of the rituals of mamakam and taippuyam celebrations.

A notable feature the readers observe is the mobility of castes, at least in the upper half of the hierarchy. The Zamorins belonged to the Shudra class being Eradis, but could assume kingship of the country. They claimed the status of Samantha Kshatriyas later, in an effort to claim legitimacy. It was too late for them to demand full kshatriya status by professing descent from Surya or Chandra vamsa. So they made do with Agnikula instead. To reiterate their raised position, they reduced the number of days on which pula (ceremonial pollution caused by the decease of a close relative) is maintained to 14, one day less than Nairs who were Shudras. There were other nobles in the state who were functionally subordinate to the Zamorin but born in a higher caste such as the Vettom Utaya Mutha Kovil, who was the second in the political pecking order. As a king, the Zamorin was entitled to mete out punishment to Brahmins also. He degraded the Namputiris of Panniyur as Moosads in early eighteenth century on account of some malpractices in the local temple. They were reinstated to their earlier position in 1760 after they paid a fine of 23,000 panams to the royal treasury. Many designations and titles solidified into caste names later. Tarakkal Iremma Menon was the title of an aristocrat who in fact belonged to Variyar caste. Over time, the term ‘Menon’ came to be a surname used only by the Nairs.

A serious drawback of the book is the total silence on the role Muslims played in the political culture of Calicut. This is unexplainable as the Zamorin’s prominence among the rulers of Kerala was indebted in no small measure to the wealth he generated from maritime trade with the Arabs facilitated by Muslim intermediaries. They excelled in naval warfare and it is probable that they moonlighted as pirates of the western coast – keep in mind that it was the time of Francis Drake, the sea captain, explorer and naval officer of Queen Elizabeth I who doubled as a pirate and slave trader. The Portuguese put a stop to piracy, which infuriated the Muslim sailors. This in turn led to unrest among them that ultimately boiled over as an invitation to Hyder Ali of Mysore to come and invade the kingdom of the infidel Zamorin. We are clueless in this book on all these aspects. The USP of the book is its comprehensive use of the Kozhikkodan Granthavari, a collection of palm leaf documents, which have not been put to good use so thoroughly before. On the other side, there is practically little coverage of the pre-Portuguese period. Tall claims of the history of five centuries notwithstanding, it effectively envelops only two and a half centuries after Vasco da Gama’s arrival at Calicut.

The book is surprisingly interesting to read, considering its pedigree as a PhD thesis. Evidently, the author had imbibed the face of a hapless reader on his mind. However, he is not so generous with the transliteration of Malayalam terms. The scheme he uses is more amenable to Tamil. Even people whose mother tongue happens to be Malayalam find it an exceedingly uphill task to get a hint of the meaning. I had had to repeat a word three or four times in my head to get a clue of what it sounded like. The book is provided with an impressive bibliography and a very good index.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star

Roads to Freedom

Title: Roads to Freedom – Prisoners in Colonial India

Author: Mushirul Hasan

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2016 (First)

ISBN: 9780199458837

Pages: 276

India’s prison system was in the news recently in England. This was when the Indian government tried to extradite Vijay Mallya, who was absconding from legal proceedings related to his company’s defaulting on loans worth thousands of crores of rupees. Mallya sought the mercy of the British court, pointing out the horrible conditions in Indian jails. When the court demanded a response from Indian authorities, there were tit-for-tat comments in social media regarding the proper reply. Some keen wits remarked that we would provide a prison atmosphere for Mallya, who is neck-deep in financial impropriety, which would be far better than what the British government doled out to our national leaders including Gandhi during the freedom struggle. Evidently, prison life was harsh then, as it is now. This is what makes it a deterrent for people from indulging in crimes. But, political prisoners are a class apart from the normal customers of a prison. This book describes the saga of the freedom fighters who transformed the narrow road that led to a prison cell into a highway to freedom. It dwells upon the physical infrastructure of the penitentiary, its harsh rules and even harsher implementation; the emotional disconnect the inmates feel toward their loved ones and the strengthening of their resolve to sacrifice themselves on the quest for regaining national honour. Prison offered no deterrent to them, since they were ready to break the law again that would put them back in jail as soon as they are released. Indian literature has also somewhat got enriched by the contribution of the prisoners. Mushirul Hasan is a distinguished Indian historian who had served as the vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi and as the director general of the National Archives of India.

Hasan discerns three stages in the genesis of political prisoners in colonial India. These include the Wahhabi conspiracy, the post-1857 phase and the Gandhian era. See the effortlessness with which the Wahhabi zealots and non-violent Gandhians are put inside the same bracket! The ethos of the prisoners also varied sharply in these periods. Flogging of prisoners and applying fetters on them were common to crush their will. The worst part of it was the injunction that the inmate shall polish the iron rings round his neck. As can be imagined, this book deals only with the political prisoners. Extrapolating the argument towards the post-independent era, the author wants the status of political prisoners to the Maoists too (p.4). This is strange, coming from a person who adorned some of the highest academic and establishment positions in the country with government salary. He also raises the demand by an international committee for the unconditional release of all political prisoners. Extending the liberties to an organization bent on subverting the constitution and the nation itself is naïve and ill-advised. Hasan widens his argument with the contention that banditry and criminality are forms of protest in class-divided agrarian societies. The state coercion in Telengana is also questioned, where an armed uprising of the communists in the latter half of 1940s was firmly put down. It is intriguing to watch the revolutionary vacillations of the author whose credentials speak loudly of a career solidly rooted in Islamic orthodoxy.

The two most renowned leaders of the independence movement who had to undergo long prison sentences were Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Anecdotes and surveys from their time in prison are included in the narrative. What is strange is the author’s inclusion of the leaders of the Khilafat movement also, under the sweeping generalization of freedom movements. Khilafat was solely concerned with restoring the Turkish sultan who was deposed by the British at the end of World War I. Since he was also the Islamic caliph, Muslims in all countries came out in his defence, but the fact that it did not have anything to do with India’s struggle against the colonial masters is plain to see. If it had been the Germans who had usurped the Ottoman throne in place of the British, the Khilafat would still have taken birth and perhaps sided with the British! Hasan takes an anticipatory bail here, by claiming that the description of the tenure of Mohamed Ali, a prominent Khilafat leader, in prison is only to understand, rather than endorse, his passion and commitment. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s endorsement of the Gandhian doctrine of mingling religion and politics is notable in the path it opened for him to prison. Another point to observe in the context of Khilafat is the confluence of fundamentalists in the revolutionary fold. Hasrat Mohani, who chaired the first conference of the Communist Party of India at Kanpur in 1925, actually campaigned for a republic of Hijaz in Arabia, so that the holy cities of Mecca and Medina would not fall under British dominance. For Mohani, Islam and Communism complemented each other, and they conflicted only when their followers trespassed the limits of their fields and methods of action. This communist leader also performed the Hajj eleven times, including one overland trip that was extremely hazardous. However, to do justice to his memory, it must be remembered that Mohani also sang in praise of Hindu gods.

This book makes a focus on the influence of prison sentence in literature. Unfortunately for the readers, Hasan stops to take stock of the situation in Urdu language only. In that literature, zindan (prison), qaidkhana and dar-o-rasan (scaffold) are emblems of subjugation. Assuming inspiration from this concept, Bismil Azimabadi and Josh Malihabadi wrote motivating poems urging the people to achieve martyrdom. Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan produced a collection of poems (habsiyat) while languishing in Montgomery Jail in 1926. A shift in literary activity clearly became evident in the period. Creative writing was reassigned to be the servant of a cause, a beacon to poor humanity’s afflicted will, and not merely a display of ornamental skill. It had wide appeal. Parsi theatre in Bombay staged Urdu plays. A detailed narration of Nehru’s effort in writing such masterpieces as Glimpses of World History and Discovery of India is also given.

The temperament of various leaders who had undergone the forced stay in prison is different. Gandhi craved for isolation, reading and spinning charkha most of the time. He was unhesitant to do physical labour and deployed the symbolism of political prisoner in his crusade, and jail as a metaphor to depict India’s enslavement. Hasan again issues a disclaimer here, by marking himself not concerned with the fallacies and contradictions in Gandhi’s message, but rather of his sincerity. He even argues that the Palestinians are encouraged by the tenacity and courage with which Gandhi led the liberation struggle. The readers are left to wonder at the incongruity in equating the terrorist tactics of Hamas with Gandhian ahimsa. However, there were other leaders who could not take prison in their calm stride. M N Roy, an early communist leader, was so fed up with jail that he continuously wrote wishful notes about his desire to escape from the sentence and spend time in some of the hill stations of Europe.

The book is a good effort to portray a little known area of the independence movement. The author should have taken a little more care in selecting the subjects though. A lot of poetic couplets are given in the text, and are provided with a transliteration of the Urdu words as well. This help the reader clearly identify the rhyming pattern. This is one aspect that is totally lost in translation and Hasan’s attention to this detail is commendable. Probably because of the author’s access to the National Archives as a former director general, a lot of files of the political department of British India are examined. This makes the book quite unique.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star

ISIS – Inside the Army of Terror

Title: ISIS – Inside the Army of Terror

Author: Michael Weiss, Hassan Hassan

Publisher: Regan Arts, 2016 (First published 2015)

ISBN: 9781682450291

Pages: 411

The world awoke to a series of horrifying snuff videos in 2014, in which gory images of people actually being beheaded and burnt alive were uploaded by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) who exploited the unsettled conditions of post-occupation Iraq and rebellion-ravaged Syria. Both these neighbours had a unique feature in common – they were ruled by a strongman belonging to a religious minority who was autocratic and iron-fisted. Saddam Hussein was a Sunni who lorded over Iraq which contained 65 per cent Shia, 20 per cent Arab Sunnis and 15 per cent Kurdish Sunnis. Syria was under Bashar al-Assad, a UK-trained ophthalmologist, who was a Shia Alavite but ruling over a population that contained 75 per cent Sunni and 15 per cent Shia. When these dictators were suddenly unseated – Saddam by American occupation and al-Assad’s authority was challenged in most parts of Syria by popular insurrection – the political landscape was ripe for a competition with naked evolutionary zeal – survival of the fittest. Government forces and numerous private militias controlled by religious sects, tribal groups and terrorist organizations entered the fray in an orgy of civil war. Out of this theatre of extinction and metamorphosis, ISIS was formed on June 28, 2014 when its so-called Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced it from the pulpit of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, which was just captured by the group. Michael Weiss is an American journalist, author and a senior editor of the Daily Beast. The co-author, Hassan Hassan is an American journalist of Syrian origin. His work on Islamic groups in the Middle East is widely acclaimed. They look into the origin and growth of ISIS in this book that also delves into the mechanism by which this organization draws its lifeblood from the emaciated body politic of Iraq and Syria.

The origin of jihadism was not exactly in the Middle East. The authors trace its birth to Afghanistan where the mujahidin (fighters of jihad) came together against the communist takeover of that country. This was a pan-Islamic effort freely supported by the West who saw in it a perfect opportunity to embarrass the Soviets for their similar role in Vietnam where the US was at war. Coming as it does at the fag end of communism as a whole, the jihadists were successful in driving out the invaders and hoisting an extremist regime under the Taliban. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian native, founded the Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of the Levant) in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda support. The end of war in Afghanistan was followed by American military presence during the Kuwait war and occupation of Iraq. It was in the US-occupied Iraq that the jihadi militias under Zarqawi came of age. The namesake government was partisan and was tottering even with the deadly US firepower at its back. The country was carved into fiefs by the militant organizations, which comprised all hues of ideology – jihadist, nationalist, tribal or secular. It is heartening to note that civil unrest erupted against al-Qaeda when its puritanical fervor was resented by the native populations. Even though Zarqawi was killed in 2006, sahwa (Awakening) movements proliferated in Iraq. The former Baath party cadres and Saddam’s regime officials were singled out for discrimination in the new administration dominated by Shias. Such a huge well of discontent got channeled into a fierce terrorist organization called the ISIS in 2014.

The image painted by ISIS in the minds of most people is that of savage brutality and inhuman hatred. I think I am not exactly correct in writing the last sentence. Well, hatred is a distinctly human emotion which no animal can probably emulate. But the meaning of the epithet ‘inhuman’ is somehow required to describe the deeds of this group of zealots. This portrayal was managed by the jihadis who interweaved horrific violence and mass media. It was when the people actually saw those beheadings from the safety of their drawing rooms did the act touched their nerves. Death is macabre enough and Hitler’s gas chambers would have inflicted as painful a death to its victims. ISIS used these videos to shock and awe the world. It also helped many deranged people across the world to convert to Islam and fight in ISIS’ favour in Syria and Iraq. The rewards were disgusting to most, but impressive for the devout. These people relished the sadistic pleasure of killing unarmed people and also the carnal pleasures offered by the employment of sexual slaves forcibly taken away from religious minorities as war booty. As per strict interpretation of the Islamic law, followers of other religions must be subservient to the faithful, because they were given the chance to convert to Islam, but chose not to do so. ISIS brutality is evident in their use of even mentally challenged girls of age three and thirteen as suicide bombers to blow up a police-recruitment line in Iraq.

Okay, ISIS is a terror to live with, but what was the plight of those who had the misfortune to live under their rule? This book tells us that for ordinary people who did not have any political inclinations or membership in any rival militias, life was not so bad after all. At first, ISIS treated civilians gently, fixed damaged roads, planted flowers in the streets and cleaned local schools. Then came Sharia law. Men were not allowed to remove their beards and women strictly prohibited to uncover their face and hair. Hair dressing and shaving were banned. Smoking was made a taboo and women were not allowed to go out of their homes without a male escort. Attending prayers became mandatory. Businesses had to close shops during prayer times. Secular schools were closed and religious madarassas sprang up in their place that parceled out jihadist ideology to kids. In short, if people sealed their lips and obeyed orders like cattle do, they could go on living a mechanical existence. Even the slightest sign of free will was sure to invite the organization’s pathological brutality. It sold antiquities like golden statues and coins to make money, thereby obliterating the history of the land. Its income mainly consisted of sale of oil and gas in its territories, confiscation from enemies and renegades and taxation. Its summary execution of opponents by savage means ensured docility of the people over whom they ruled.

A brief, inadequate glimpse on the ideology of ISIS is given. The organization believed that the mainstream Islam practiced by moderate Muslims was only a few decades old. It thrived by using stories and texts that mainstream clerics have preferred to ignore, either because they deemed it to be too marginal or because they are too difficult or embarrassing to square with modern morality (p.220). But the undeniable truth is that the verses which fueled ISIS’ carnage are very much a part and parcel of the Islamic religion. In fact, there is nothing abnormal or astonishing in this. All religions have such skeletons in their closet. What the others have done is that they have moved such closets out of everyday life by bringing in reformers and enlightenment. Where Islam should concentrate is the facilitation of new religious teachers who would negotiate with the modern world and reposition its ideology in compatible terms with modernity.

The book is thoroughly American. It follows the state policy without fail. Weiss does not even mention the fact that the Afghan mujahidin were funded by covert CIA operatives. In claiming that Iraqi prisons were the breeding ground of jihadism, the authors seek to downplay and legitimize the brutal torture meted out to political prisoners under the US-led regimes. Weiss and Hassan follow a style of diction that owes more to journalism than the rules of a book. Each piece of information is explicitly credited to the source in the main text itself, as in newspapers. A lot of facts are provided in the lengthy narrative, but these are not integrated into a coherent story. The narrative ends in early 2016 when ISIS was still in power. Future editions are sure to bring the account up to date.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star