indian historical studies

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ISSN 0973-2713
INDIAN
HISTORICAL
STUDIES
Published by
PG & Research Department of History
St. Joseph's College (Autonomous)
(‘A’ Grade by NAAC and College with Potential for Excellence)
Tiruchirappalli - 620 002
Tamil Nadu, India.
________________________________________________________
Half Yearly
Vol. X
No. 1
October 2013
Patrons
Rev. Dr. S. John Britto, SJ
Rector, St Joseph's College
Rev. Dr. S. Sebastian, SJ
Secretary, St Joseph's College
Rev. Dr. F. Andrew, SJ
Principal, St Joseph's College
Chief Editor
Dr. M. Arockiasamy Xavier, SJ
Head, Department of History, St Joseph's College (Autonomous)
Editorial Board
Dr. N. Rajendran
Dr. T. Sundararaj
Bharathidasan University, Trichy
Former HoD, St. Joseph‟s College, Trichy
Prof. B. S. Chandrababu
Dr. S. Chandni Bi
Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Dr. B. Sobhanan
Prof. Syed Ayub Ali
Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram Kakatya University, Warrangal, AP
Dr. Antony Paul Gnanasekar
Dr. C. Thomas
Arul Anandar College, Karumathur
Periyar E.V.R. College, Trichy
Advisory Board
Dr. J. Santosh Kumar
Rev. Fr. S. Arul Doss, SJ
Dept. of History, St. Joseph‟s College
Dr. J. Biju Joseph
Mr. S. Manikandan
Dr. S. Xavier
Mr. M. Britto Stalin
Periyar E.V.R. College, Trichy
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
St. Joseph's College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli - 620002
Ph: 0431-4226396, Fax: 0431-4226501
E-mail: [email protected],
WEBSITE: WWW.SJCTNI.EDU
INDIAN
HISTORICAL STUDIES
(A Biannual Research Journal)
Vol. X, No. 1
ISSN 0973-2713
October 2013
Chief Editor
Published by
PG & RESEARCH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS)
(Nationally Accredited with „A‟ Grade (3rd Cycle) by NAAC
College with Potential for Excellence)
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI - 620 002
TAMIL NADU, INDIA
THIS
JOURNAL
THE
INDIAN COUNCIL
(ICHR). THE
HAS BEEN FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY
OF
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE ENTIRELY OF
THE AUTHOR AND NOT OF THE ICHR.
Indian Historical Studies
__________________________________________________________________
Vol. X, No. 1
ISSN 0973-2713
October 2013
__________________________________________________________________
EDITORIAL
“History is a science no less and no more” stated J. B. Bury, the Irish historian, in 1902.
Systematic attempts were made since the time of Nicholas de Condorcet and H.T. Buckle
to make history as a science. Having understood the scientific nature of the subject and its
importance they attempted so. Of course one cannot attain the exact objectivity and
absolute veracity in historical researches as in other empirical sciences. Science depends
on observation and experimentation to prove the validity of its premises. History pursues
it by indirect observation viz. through eye witnesses or through others who have heard of
it or by other methods. A scientist verifies his / her conclusions through repeated
experimentation. A historian comes somewhat closer to it through corroboration of
several sources so that he/ she can check the veracity of one reference with another.
Historians Barthold Georg Niebuhr and Leopold Von Ranke developed such historical
methods which analyse the source materials with microscopic criticism. Any professional
historian is expected to follow such scientific approach in his / her historical pursuits. For
the very root word Istoria means collection of information obtained as a result of
scientific enquiry.
For scientific enquiry in history one needs primary sources without which a historical
research cannot take place. Primary sources are of varied categories. Traditionally
archival sources do play a vital role. Inscriptions, manuscripts, dispatches, travelogues,
memoirs, diaries, records, palm leaves, archaeological artefacts, architecture, coins,
sculptures, seals, stamps, paintings, photographs, etc., are considered to be valuable
primary source materials. Till recent times scholars mostly relied on the government
archival sources as the only authentic sources. Again, the plethora of private original
records and documents in privates archives and libraries have added value to the research.
Researchers now duly acknowledge the value of private (primary) sources. This
phenomenon is mainly due to the recent developments in the historiographical fields!
Among the private documents the Jesuit sources serve as a veritable mine of information
for the construction of the history of late medieval and modern society in India
particularly in Tamil Nadu. Their writings embody copious information about the socio,
cultural and political situation of the country. Historians today affirm that the Jesuit
sources are one of the reliable sources to write history as they were recorded objectively.
“Though the Jesuits‟ objective was mainly professed by religions, society as a whole
attracted their attention, consequently a flood of light is thrown on political, social and
economic condition of South India”, says R. Sathiyanatha Aiyar, a renowned historian.
From the inception of the Order the Jesuits were and are known for their annual letters.
One of the secretaries of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Order, Fr. Polanco
drew up a set of “rules which are to be observed in the manner of writing by those of the
Society who are scattered outside Rome.” Among them three aspects deserve attention,
namely, what to write, how to write and with what diligence to write and dispatch to
Rome. One of the Superior Generals of the Jesuits Fr. Mutio Vitelleschi who was in the
office from 1615 to 1645, wrote to one of his Jesuits in England, “You must make a
selection out of all the news available, and then communicate to us what you have
ascertained to be more authentic and of great consequence”.
The missionaries in India sent to Europe accurate data and information regarding the
fauna, flora, ethnography, religions, customs, traditions and the history of the land where
they had laboured. St. Francis Xavier (1506- 1552), the first Jesuit missionary of the East
proved himself as the fore-runner of excellent letter writers from India. He set an eloquent
model for his successors in India for writing numerous and compendious letters of high
quality and depth to their head quarters in Rome. The letters of Frs. Balthasar da
Costa , Em. Martin and Noël de le Bourzes are revealing examples to this. The Jesuits
also played the role of historians while recording events. The annual letters of Fr.
Balthasar da Costa from Trichinopoly gives evidence to this effect. “..Without claiming
to pass judgement on the nature or the cause of these happenings, I confine myself to my
role of a historian, and simply relate things which I have seen with my own eyes,” says
Da Costa in one of his annual letters in 1643. As asserted by Documenta Indica Vol. I,
these missionaries were to relate whatever was worthy of being known and speak about
such thing as the climate, diet, customs, and character of the native peoples of India. The
Jesuit letter writers had naturally to describe the background in which their missionary
work was developing and circumstances mission faced. While engaged in briefing
mission work they supplied valuable materials which today serve us sources to trace the
history of the above period. Thus the Jesuit letters act as „contemporary sources‟ standing
in chronological proximity to the events they deal with. They contain in many instances,
the reports of eyewitnesses of the events described, and even some of them being
participants in them, and are hence „primary sources.‟ However one should corroborate
these sources with other similar sources for obtaining greater objectivity.
The celebrated historian Vincent A. Smith rightly stated that “the Jesuits, are highly
educated men trained in accurate observation and scholarly writings. The Jesuits are
noted for their veracity.” John Lockman, the protestant editor of the Travels of the Jesuits
says, “I believe it will be granted, that no men are better qualified to describe nations and
countries than the Jesuits.” The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, himself a
historian par excellence, reflects in the same vein in his volume Glimpses of World
History , “I cannot however resist giving you some more quotations from the accounts of
the Portuguese missionaries. Their opinions are of far greater value than those of
countries.” These sources are mostly in Portuguese, French, Latin, English and Tamil.
One can always refer to such sources in Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu in Rome,
French Jesuit Archives, Vanves in Paris, Jesuit Archives of Madurai Province at
Shembaganur, Kodaikanal, Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Goa and in other
places. A few researches are now being carried out in Tamil Nadu availing these sources.
Surely these valuable Jesuit sources will help historians to construct a comprehensive,
modern and contemporary socio-political history of South India.
Chief Editor
CONTENTS
1. S. John Britto SJ
Ancient Historical Perceptions on Cheras from
Sangam Classical Literature
2. T. Jayaraman
Tamil Ethno-National Historiography
3. C. Thomas
Tiruvalluvar‟s Concept of State Formation and
its Effects on the Politics of the Sangam Age
(Tamil Academy)
4. A. Maria Arul Raja SJ Printing Living Orality to Reach Out
to the Least: Pioneering Efforts of Henrique
Henriques
5. Ichhimuddin Sarkar
Bhakti, Humanism and Quest for Social
Harmony
6. G. Indirajith
Jainism in Kanchipuram
7. Keneth O. Ogot SJ
The Pathology of Ethnic Identity and
Democratization of the Kenyan Nation-State
8. Babu Paul, SJ
Jesuit Contributions to Historiography of
Kerala
9. T.Selvamuthukumaran The Labour Movement of the Communist
Party of India in the East Tanjore District:
An inquiry into the Agitations led by the
Tamil Nadu Farmers‟ Association
10. Prabha Ravi Shankar Indian Opinion (Tamil Edition) and its
Contribution to Indian Agitation in South
Africa
11. A. Akila
Bishop Azariah‟s Contribution to Dornakal
Mariathangam
Diocese
12. S. Kamini
Indian Forest Administration During the First
Five Year Plan (1951-56) with Special
Reference to Coimbatore - A Study
13. T. S. Lancelet
Demographic Strategies of Managing Solid
Waste - A Theoretical Approach
14. M. Raziya Parvin
Women Empowerment in India - A Focus on
Gender Budgeting and Women Component
Plan
Book Review:
T. Sundararaj
„Indian Catholic Christians & Nationalism‟
by Dr. Mary John
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S. John Britto, SJ
~1~
ANCIENT HISTORICAL PERCEPTIONS ON CHERAS
FROM SANGAM CLASSICAL LITERATURE
___________
Dr. S. John Britto, SJ
Former Principal, St. Joseph‟s College (Autonomous),
___________________________________
Introduction
The historic period of Tamil Nadu began from the Sangam age. Sangam age is
the period during which the poets of the third Sangam joined together and did
research on Tamil. This period lasted for 400 years from B.T. 200 to A.T 200.
Some considered that it was between B.T. 300 to A.T. 300 (BT - AT was
calculated based on the birth year of Thiruvalluvar i.e. 31 B.C. According to the
decision taken by the Tamil scholars that time can be calculated considering
that Thiruvalluvar was born 31 years before Christ. This was accepted and
announced by the Government of Tamil Nadu.) The Sangam literatures, what
we got now are Ettuthogai and Pathupattu. The poem in these literatures was
written by Kapilar, Paraner, Auvvaiyar, Nakkeerar and hundreds of poets. With
the help of these we can understand the civilization, customs, culture and
political of Tamilians.
Tolkappium which was pride to Tamil literature originated before the third
Sangam. Tamil literature would have developed a few thousand years ago. It
was a pride to Tamil, that Thirukkural, which was hailed by all the religious
originated during the Sangam age. The national poet Bharathiyar says,
„Valluvan thanai ulakinukae thanthu vanpugaz konda Tamil Nadu‟. Our mother
tongue Tamil which is adaptive to grammatical norms and is called Senthamizh.
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa excavated in the Northern hemisphere were
examples of town civilization. They examined thousands of things. It was
proved that it had connection with the Southern Tamilians for more than fourfive thousand years ago. This showed that in those days Tamilians were not
only in the south but also in the north.
Chera Dynasty
Chera dynasty, ruling from before the Sangam Age (3rd century BC to 3rd
century AD) until the 12th century AD, is one of the most ancient ruling
dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas they formed the
three principal warring southern kingdoms in the early centuries of the Common
Era known collectively as Three Crowned Kings. They are also referred to as
Keralaputras (sons of Kerala) or Keralas. The Cheras were in continuous
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Indian Historical Studies - Vol. 10, No. 1
~2~
Ancient Historical Perceptions on Cheras
conflict with neighboring Cholas and Pandyas. Some Chera rules are said to
have defeated the combined armies of the Pandyas and the Cholas and their ally
states. They also made battles with the Kadambas of Banavasi and the
„Yavanas‟ (Romans) on the Indian coast.
During the time of Mauryas in northern India (c. 4 th century BC to 3rd century
BC) the Cheras (along with the Pandyas and the Cholas) were in a late
megalithic phase on the western coast of ancient Tamil land. The cultural
exchange with the northern India and the flourishing trade with the Roman
Empire later contributed to the state formation. The kingdom, at its zenith,
spread over most of the modern day Kerala and Coimbatore, Salem and
Dharmapuri districts of modern day Tamil Nadu. Some records suggest the
possible annexation of Nagapattanam (southern part) and Thiruvarur districts of
Tamil Nadu.1
The Tamil poetic collection called Sangam literature describes a long line of
Chera rulers. It records the names of the kings and the princes, and of the court
poets who extolled them. Uthiyan Cheralathan, Nedum Cheralathan, Palyani Sel
Kelu Kuttuvan, Narmudi Cheral, Selva Kadumko Valiathan, Chenguttuvan
Cheran, Perum Cheral Irumporai, Illam Cheral Irumporai are some of the rulers
referred in the Sangam poems. Senguttuvan Cheran, the most celebrated and
powerful Chera king is famous for the legends surrounding Kannagi, the
heroine of the legendary Tamil epic Silapathikaram.2 After second century AD,
the Chera power decayed rapidly with the decline of the lucrative trade with the
Romans. The domination of first Chera dynasty lasted till circa fifth
century AD.
The later Cheras ruled from the ninth century. Little is known about the Cheras
between the two dynasties. The second dynasty, Kulesekharas ruled from a city
on the banks of River Periyar called Mahodayapuram (Kodungallur).3 Though
never, regained the old status in the Peninsula, Kulasekharas fought numerous
wars with their powerful neighbours and diminished to history in 12th century as
a result of continuous Chola and Rashtrakuta invasions.
The Chera Kingdom owed its importance to the trade with the Romans. The
geographical advantages, like the abundance of black pepper and other spices,
the navigability of the rivers connecting the high mountains with the Arabian
Sea and the discovery of favourable trade winds which carried sailing ships
directly from the Arabian coast to Chera Kingdom in less than forty days,
combined to produce a veritable boom in Cheras‟s foreign trade. Muziris, the
famous sea port with two Roman regiments, was in the Chera kingdom and
throughout the reign of the Cheras, trade continued to bring prosperity to their
kingdom, with spice, ivory, timber, pearls and gems being exported to the
Middle East and to Southern Europe.
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S. John Britto, SJ
~3~
Etymology
The word Chera is derived from Cheral, a corrupted form of classical Tamil
word, Charal, meaning „declivity of a mountain‟.4 The Chera Kings were called
Chera-alatan (alatan means „lord‟).5 Cheras are sometimes referred to as
„Keralas‟ among historians. The word „Kerala‟ is possibly the Canarese
variation of the Tamil word „Cherala‟.6 The name „Kerala‟ first ever finds place
in a historical document as Kedalaputho („Keralaputra‟) in Asoka‟s Edicts (261
BC).7 Historians consider „Keralaputra‟ (Sanskrit for „son of Kerala‟ or „son of
Chera‟) as an alternate name of Cheras.8 The Graeco-Roman trade map Periplus
Maris Erythraei refers to this Keralaputra as Celobotra. Pliny the Elder, the
Roman commander who visited India in the 1 st century AD, also describes
Cheras as „Calobotras (Caelobothras)‟. The Greek Ambassador Megasthanes
(4th century BC) as „Charmae. He says that the force of the rulers of the
„Charmae‟ is highly depended on their 60 war elephants. 9
Literary Sources
The primary literary sources available regarding the early Chera Kings are the
anthologies of Sangam literature, created between the years c. 300 BCE to 300
CE.10
The earliest extant Sangam literary works, such as Kalithokai, mention a
mythical and supposedly submerged continent called Kumarikandam, which
was believed to have been located to the south of the present-day Kanyakumari
tens of thousands of years ago, between the then Kumari and Pakhruli Rivers.
Pandya kings such as Chenkon, and the Cheras, supposedly ruled this country.
Sangam literature further says that they fought and defeated the Nâga tribes.
Kalithokai again mentions a war between the combined forces of Villavars and
the Meenavars (perhaps the Cheras and the Pandyas respectively), and the
Nâgas, their arch-enemies, eventually losing the war.
Pathitrupaththu, the fourth book in the Ettuthokai anthology of Sangam Age,
mentions a number of rulers of the Chera dynasty. Each ruler is praised in ten
songs sung by the Court Poet. The rulers (many were heirs-apparent) are
mentioned in the following order11:
1. (King) Nedum Cheralathan - Kumatturk Kannanar
2. (Prince) Palyane Chel Kezhu Kuttuvan -Palaik Kantamanar
3. (Prince) Narmudi Cheral - Kappiyarruk Kappiyanar
4. (King) Senguttuvan Chera - Paranar
5. (Prince) Adu Kottu Pattu Cheralathan - Kakkaipatiniyar Nacellaiyar
6. (King) Selva Kadumko Valiathan - Kapilar
7. (Prince) Perum Cheral Irumporai - Aricil Kilar
8. (King) Ilam Cheral Irumporai - Perunkunrurk Kilar
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~4~
The Cheras, the Pandyas and the Cholas are the three ruling dynasties of the
southern region (Bharathavarsha) in the Hindu epic Ramayana.12 Cheras are
possibly mentioned in Aitareya Aranyaka, and Mahabharata, where they take
the sides with the Pandavas in the Kurushetra War. 13 However, historicity of
these enthusiastic claims are challenged as the great war of Mahabharata is
dated as early as 3102 BC, about 3 millenniums before the establishment of
Chera dynasty.
Chronology of Cheras
Sangam literature is rich in descriptions about a lot of Chera kings and princes,
along with the poets who extolled them. However, these are not worked into
connected history and settled chronology so far. 14 A chronological device,
known as Gajabahu synchronism, is used by historians to help date early Tamil
history.15 Despite its dependency on numerous conjectures, Gajabahu
synchronism has got wide acceptance among modern scholars and is considered
as the sheet anchor for the purpose of dating ancient Tamil literature. 16
The method depends on an event depicted in Silappatikaram, which describes
the visit of Kayavaku, the king of Ilankai (Sri Lanka), in the Chera kingdom
during the reign of the Chera king, Senguttuvan. The Gajabahu method
considers this Kayavaku as Gajabahu, who according Mahavamsa, a historical
poem written in Pali language on the kings of Sri Lanka, lived in the latter half
of the second century AD. This, in turn, has been used to fix the period
Senguttuvan, who ruled his kingdom for 55 years (according to the
Pathitruppaththu), in 2nd century AD.17
Origin
It is possible that the Cheras reigned an independent kingdom in the 4th century
BC.18 Along with the Pandyas, Cholas and Satyaputras, Cheras („Keralaputras‟)
in the late megalithic phase are also mentioned in the inscriptions of Mauryan
Emperor Asoka in third century BC. According Asoka inscriptions, the Cheras
lived on the borders of the Maurya empire. An expression in the ancient Tamil
grammar work, Tolkappiam, suggests that the Cheras were the first to establish
the kingdom compared to Pandyas and Cholas. However, the Chera Kingdom
possibly rose to prominence on the fall of Pandya sovereignty.19
Rulers
In early Tamil literature the Chera rulers are referred to as Cheral, Kuttuvan,
Irumporai, Kollipurai or Athan. Chera rulers were also called Kothai or
Makothai. The nobility among the Cheras were called „Cheraman‟ in general.
The Chera, Chola and Pandya were the three ancient Tamil rulers of southern
India, called „Tamilakam‟20. The Cheras ruled western Malabar Coast, the
Cholas ruled in the eastern Coramantal Coast and the Pandyas in the south-
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S. John Britto, SJ
~5~
central peninsula. There were also numerous small vassal kingdoms and citystates called „Vels‟.
The Cheras ruled over major part of modern Kerala, and Coimbatore and Salem
districts of modern Tamil Nadu.21 Tamil was the language of entire region;
Malayalam, the language of Kerala developed in a later stage only. 22 Their
capital was at Vanchi (also known as Vanchimutur). 23 The location of the
historical city Vanchi is generally considered near the ancient port city of
Muziris in Kerala.24 However, Karur in Tamil Nadu is also pointed out as the
location of the capital city of Cheras.25 Another view suggests that the reign of
Cheras from multiple capitals.
The monarchs of the Chera dynasty were involved in regular marriage with
other groups or tribes and conflict with the Cholas and Pandyas for hundreds of
years. In ancient Tamil writings, it was mentioned that the Chera monarchs
were Kuttuvan, Cheral, Kollipurai, Irumporai, or Athan. The kings were known
in names like Makothai or Kothai. The upper class among the Cheras were
known as „Cheraman‟ as a whole.
Vanavaramban and Irumporai Families
King Uthiyan Cheralathan, his sons and grandsons were members of one
division of the Chera Regal family known as the „Vanavaramban line‟. Prince
Antuvan Cheral and the sons and grandsons of Prince Antuvan Cheral were
members of another division which was known as the „Irumporai line‟.
Antuvan Cheral, the famous Chera prince, is the father of the monarch Selva
Kadungo. On certain occasions, Antuvan Cheral is recognized with the younger
brother of King Uthiyan Cheralathan, Palyani Sel Kelu Kuttuvan. This was
mentioned in Purananuru by Madamisyar.
There was a city named Karur which served as the administrative centre of
Prince Antuvan Cheral. Ay Antiran, the Ay monarch was a senior person who
belonged to the same period of Prince Cheral. It was believed that the Ay kings
possibly had more strength in comparison to the Cheras at the period of Ay
Antiran‟s regime. Prince Cheral and three other rulers of the same descent are
considered as people belonging to the same period as Nedum Cheralathan and
his sons. There was a remarkable event in the chronicles of the Chera Dynasty.
King Nedum Cheralathan and King Selva Kadumko Valiathan tied knots with
two sisters.
Other Reigning Families
Other than the two above mentioned families, there were some other Chera
rulers and the names of these monarchs were mentioned in the Sangam
literature. All of them were not members of the principal descent of the Chera
Empire. Yanaikatchai Mantaran Cheral Irumporai is one of the major names
among these monarchs. In all likelihood, Yanaikatchai Mantaran Cheral
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~6~
Irumporai was the son and heir of King Illam Cheral Irumporai. He was also the
idol of the cast off 10th decennary. Another Chera monarch, Kanaikkal
Irumporai, has been mentioned in the Sangam verses. Perum Kadungo, who
was also known as „Palai Paitiya‟, was a monarch of this dynasty who reigned
from the Vanchi city. In the Sangam literature, Kothai Marpan with Tondi as its
capital has been cited.
Perumchottu Utiyan Cheralatan was overpowered by King Karikalan, the
famous Chola monarch. Cheralatan committed suicide following the loss at the
conflict of Venni. It is noteworthy that Cheraman Perumal, the last recognized
monarch of the Chera dynasty, switched to the religion of Islam. He was also
responsible for constructing the oldest Islamic shrine in the country. By 8 th
century AD, this dynasty gradually disappeared from history.
The early Cheras reigned over Kongu Nadu, Kerala, Dharmapuri and Salem.
They possibly annexed the southern part of Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam
districts following the wedding of the 2 nd monarch of the first Chera Empire
with the regal clan of the Cholas.
Earlier, Vanchi Muthur served as their capital and it was situated in the
Kanthallur-Kizhanthur area in the district of Idukki, Kerala. However, they
shifted their governing centre to Karur Vanchi or Karur in 2nd century AD. The
2nd Chera Empire reigned from the fringes of Muziris, lying on the riverbanks of
Periyar.
List of Chera Monarchs
Given below is a list of the Chera monarchs. They can be divided into three line
of descent and they are the Vanavaramban line, the Irumporai line, and the
second Chera monarchs.
Vanavaramban Line
 Nedum Cheralathan
 Uthiyan Cheralathan
 Narmudi Cheral
 Palyani SelKelu Kuttuvan
 Adu KottuPattu Cheralathan
 VelKelu Kuttuvan
Irumporai Line
 Selva Kadumko Valiathan
 Antuvan Cheral
 Illam Cheral Irumporai
 Perum Cheral Irumporai
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S. John Britto, SJ
~7~
King Uthiyan Cheralathan (2nd century BC)
The first of the known rulers of the Chera kingdom was „Vanavaramban‟
Perumchottu Uthiyan Cheralathan. He had his capital at a place called
Kuzhumur in Kuttanad. He expanded the kingdom northward and eastward
from their original home in Kuttanad. Uthiyan Cheralathan was a contemporary
of the Chola ruler Karikala Chola. Mamulanar credits him with having
conducted a feast in honour of his ancestors. In a battle at Venni, Uthiyan
Cheralathan was wounded on the back by Karikala Chola (Pattinappalai).
Unable to bear the disgrace, the Chera committed suicide by starvation26. His
queen was Veliyan Nallini.
The Sangam work, Purananuru has a reference to Uthiyan Cheralathan, which is
widely misinterpreted as he feeding the two rival armies of the Mahabharata
war. The event, however, is possibly related to the Chera war with the
Satavahanas, and hence the period of Uthiyan Cheralathan could be assigned in
the 2nd century BC.
King Nedum Cheralathan
Uthiyan Cheralathan was succeeded by his son „Imayavaramban‟ „Kudakko‟
Nedum Cheralathan. He ruled for 58 years as a Crown Prince first and as an
absolute king later. Nedum Cheralathan probably consolidated the Chera
kingdom, and literature and art developed highly during his period. Nedum
Cheralathan is praised in the Second Ten of Pathitrupaththu composed by his
court poet Kannanar. Nedum Cheralathan, famous for his hospitality, even
gifted a part of Umbarkkattu (Anamalai) to Kannanar.
The title „Kudakko‟ (King of Kudanad) proves that the Cheras had by this time
brought Kudanad under their sway. During the reign of Nedum Cheralathan five
junior princes helped him in the military expansions and conquests. They were
Antuvan Cheral, Palayanai Sel Kelu Kuttuvan, Selva Kadumko Valiatan,
Narmudi Cheral and Vel Kelu Kuttuvan. The greatest enemies of Nedum
Cheralathan were Kadambas of Banvasi. He also won another victory over the
„Yavanas‟ on the coast. The chief of the Yavanas was captured and paraded in
public with hands pinioned to his back and head poured over with ghee. Later,
this Yavana was released on ransom. Mamulanar refers to a sea coast township
called „Mantai‟ and the exhibition ornaments and diamonds captured by Nedum
Cheralathan there.
Nedum Cheralathan was killed in a battle with a Chola ruler. But, the Chola
ruler was also killed in the battle by a spear thrown at him by Nedum
Cheralathan. Imayavaramban Nedum Cheralathan is claimed to have even
conquered Bharatavarsha up to the Himalayas and to have inscribed his royal
emblem on the face of the mountains. Cheralathan cut the mango tree which
symbolised Surrabadhman exhibiting his valour (Pathir 11: 16) ‘NUil
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KGKjš’ also Murughu: 59-60. Kadamba tree of the enemies was also felled,
(Pathir 11: 12-16).
The same is referred to in (Aham 127: 3-4) „nruyhj‹ K¨Únuh£o¡ fl©gW¤J‟
Other references are (Pathir 12: 1-3). He destroyed the wooden gates made
„fiza ku«‟ (Pathir 15: 1-5; 16: 1-7) of the mighty citadels of the enemies. He
crossed the seas and conquered the enemies by destroying their Kadamba trees
(Pathir 17: 4-5; 20: 2-5; Aham 127: 3-4; 347: 4-6 Silapathi 28: 81). He was
generous to the poor and the artists (Pathir 12: 9-14; 15: 35-40) Owing to his
righteous ruling his kingdom was very fertile (Pathir 13: 25-28). His bravery
was exceptional as proved in the defeat in seven other kings and converting
their crown and to golden garland in (Pathir 14: 11-12; 16: 16-17)
Palyani Sel Kelu Kuttuvan
„Puzhiyarkon‟ Palyani Sel Kelu Kuttuvan, a brother of Nedum Cheralathan,
spent 25 years as Crown Prince and never became a king. He helped his brother
in the conquests of northern Malabar. At least a part of northern Malabar came
under the Chera rule in this period as is proven by the title „Puzhiyarkon‟. He
later led the army and conquered Kongunad Pathir 22: 15) (Palyani Sel Kelu
Kuttuvan is also called „Karuvureriya Olavalko Perum Cheral Irumporai‟,
Kongunad had earlier conquered by Ay Antiran with capital at Vanchi on the
banks of Periyar).
In the later years of his life, Palyani retired from military life and spent time in
arts, letters, gifts and helping Brahmins. He conquered Poozhi country and its
chieftain called ayirai (Pathir 21: 21-23; 21: 28-29). As he conquered the
enemies by destroying their fortress he cut down the guardian known as
Kanaiya maram and Thula maram (Pathir 22: 21). He vanquished the fort
ahappa (Pathir 22: 26; Narr 14: 3,4; Silipathi 28: 144). He encourage the temple
priests in their worship and service to Gods (Pathir 23: 6-8). „mWtif¥g£l
gh®¥gd¥ g¡fK«‟ (Thol puram 20). He also annexed to his kingdom Umbur
Kadu as mentioned in pathigam. He worshipped also Kotravai which protected
him. Towards the end of the rains which lasted for 25 years he renounced the
world and became an ascetic.
Narmudi Cheral
„Kalangaikkani‟ Narmudi Cheral (son of Nedum Cheralthan; never became the
king, was a Crown Prince under his father for 25 years) is praised in the 4 th set,
written by Kappiyanar. He, famous for his generosity over the defeated, won a
series of victories of the enemies. After an attack by Nannan of Ezhimalai on
Punnadu (in Kodagu), the Chera army under Narmudi Cheral marched against
the Mushika forces. In following battle of Pazhi, Narmudi Cheral was defeated.
However in the battle of Vakai-perum-turai Narmudi Cheral defeated and killed
Nannan, annexing Puzhinad. (Pathir 73: 11; 90: 27).
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On account of this victory he was honored by the title „óêa® nfh’ (Pathir 21:
23; 84: 6) He well known for his forbearance even to his enemies (Pathir 32:
16-17). His victory over Nannan his considered significant (Pathir 38: 4; 40: 1415). It is also said that he use to refer to the Unnam tree (Pathir 40: 17) which
with dense foliage would indicate his victory over enemies. When the tree is
leafless it would indicate his possible defeat in the battle. He reigned for 25
years.
King Selva Kadumko Valiathan
Son of Anthuvan Cheral and the hero of the 7th set of poems composed by
Kapilar, Selva Kadumko ruled Chera kingdom for 25 years. His residence was
at the city of Tondi. He married the sister of the wife of Nedum Cheralathan.
Selva Kadumko defeated the combined armies of the Pandyas and the Cholas.
He is sometimes identified the Athan Cheral Irumporai mentioned in the
Aranattar-malai inscription of Pugalur. He is compared to Pari, one of the seven
generous Kings. His consort is as beauteous as Kollipavai. Pari defied the
customary interpretation of the fertility of Uunnam tree.27
King Vel Kelu Kuttuvan (Senguttuvan)
Vel Kelu Kuttuvan, son of Nedum Cheralathan, ascended the Chera throne after
the death of his father. Vel Kelu Kuttuvan is often identified with the legendary
Kadal Pirakottya „Senguttuvan Chera‟ - the most illustrious ruler of the early
Cheras of the Sangam Age. This warrior king is said to have ruled for 55 years,
from 170-166 AD,28 defeating many chieftains. Under his reign, the Chera
kingdom extended from Kollimalai in the east to Tondi and Mantai in the
western coast. The queen of Senguttuvan was Ilango Venmal (the daughter of a
Velir chief). The son of Senguttuvan Chera was Kuttuvan Cheral. It is not clear
whether Prince Kuttuvan Chera ascended the throne or not. During Senguttuvan
Chera‟s reign, Perum Cheral Irumporai, Ilam Cheral and Adu Kottu Pattu
Cheralathan helped him in his expansions as Crown Princes or Junior Princes.
In his early years of rule, Senguttuvan successfully intervened in a civil war in
the Chola Kingdom. The civil war was among the Chola princes and the Cheras
stood on the side of their relative Killi. The rivals of Prince Killi were defeated
in a battle at Neriyavil, Uraiyur and he established firmly on the Chola throne.
The land and naval expedition against the Kadambas was also successful. The
Kadambas had the support of the „Yavanas‟, they were routed in the Battle of
Idumbil and Valyur. The Fort Kodukur in which the Kadamba army took shelter
was stormed and the Kadambas was beaten. In the following naval expedition
the Yavana supported Kadamba army was crushed. He is said to have defeated
the Kongu people and a warrior called Mogur Mannan.
Ilango Adigal (probably the brother of Senguttuvan Chera) wrote the legendary
Tamil epic Silapthikaram sitting at a Jain monastery at Kunavayilkottam
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(Trikkanamathilakam) near Vanchi. Silapathikaram describes Senguttuvan
Chera‟s decision to propitiate a temple (Virakkallu) for the goddess Pattini
(Kannagi) at Vanchi. According the Silappadikaram, an astrologer appeared
in the court of King Nedum Cheralathan and predicted that Ilango, the
younger son of the king, would become the ruler. The prediction displeases
Prince Senguttuvan. In order to respect the sentiments of his elder
brother, Ilango abdicated all his claims to the throne and took to the life of a
Jain ascetic.
Senguttuvan Chera was perhaps a contemporary of King Gajabahu of Sri
Lanka. King Gajabahu, according to the Sangam poems, visited the Chera
country during the Pattini festival at Vanchi. 29 He is mentioned in the context of
King Gajabahu‟s rule in Sri Lanka, which can be dated to either the first or last
quarter of the 2nd century AD, depending on whether he was the earlier or the
later Gajabahu. His Kingdom extended from Mount Himalayas to the Cape
Comorin.30 He shared the treasures of his conquered with soldiers, the poor, the
artisans and poets.31 He defeated the chieftain Pazhian to support his friendly
King Arugai by destroying the guardian tree Vembu (Pathir 44: 10-15).
Adu Kott Pattu Cheralathan
Adu Kott Pattu Cheralathan was a Crown Prince for a long 38 years. Trade and
commerce flourished in the Chera kingdom during his rule. He is said to have
gifted some villages to Brahmins in Kuttanad. 32 It means that though his
country did not have poverty he sent his chariot to countries elsewhere to bring
the poor to feed them in his Kingdom. He was known for celebrating his victory
over enemies.33 His victory dance was referred to as Thunangai.34 From the land
of Thandakaranya he brought the mountain sheep to the sea port called
Thondi.35
Perum Cheral Irumporai
„Tagadur Erinta‟ Perum Cheral Irumporai (son of Selva Kadumko, Crown
Prince under Vel Kelu Kuttuvan). He defeated the combined armies of the
Pandyas, Cholas and that of the chief of Tagadur. 36 He destroyed the famous
city of Tagadur which was ruled by a powerful ruler Adigaman Ezhni. His
battle of Tagadur is referred to by Sangam poets. 37
He is praised poets to have long life undiminished fame just like Kotravai of
Ayirai hill.38 He is also called as „the lord of Puzhinad and Kollimala‟ and „the
lord of Puhar‟. Puhar was in fact the Chola capital. Perum Cheral Irumporai also
annexed the territories of a minor chief called Kaluval. He reigned for
17 years.39 His richness of this Kingdom his bravery, generous gifts to his
people were prized by all. His country‟s wealth and prosperity are by the ever
flowing river Kaveri. He has in his possession a fleet of mighty elephants which
are comparable to the herd of cows of the Kongu Kingdom. 40
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King Illam Cheral Irumporai
Illam Cheral Irumporai (son of Perum Cheral Irumporai, probably succeeded
Vel Kelu Kuttuvan). He also defeated the Pandyas and the Cholas and brought
immense wealth to his capital at a city called Vanchi. 41 He is said to have
distributed these treasures among the Pana poets. He fought against Mallar and
other kings.42 He is praised by Sangam poets to have one day as a one month
and a month to become a year and the year one yuga/epoch and that becoming a
deluge. Let the life of the king be ever on the rise. 43
King Yanaikatchai Mantaran Cheral Irumporai
King Yanaikatchai Mantaran Cheral Irumporai preserved the territorial integrity
of the Chera Kingdom under his rule. But, by the time of Mantaran Cheral the
decline of the kingdom had began. The Chera ruled from Kollimalai in the east
to Tondi and Mantai in the western coast. He defeated his enemies in a battle a
place called Vilamkil. The famous Pandya ruler Nedum Chezhian captured
Mantaran Cheral as a prisoner. But, the Chera was managed to escape and
regain the lost kingdom.
Kanaikkal Irumporai
Kanaikkal Irumporai said to have defeated a local chief called Muvan. The
Chera then brutally pulled out the teeth of his prisoner and planted them on the
gates of the city of Tondi. The later Kanaikkal Irumporai was captured by the
Chola ruler Sengannan (Kalavali by Poygayar) and he later committed suicide
by starvation.
Government and Society
Monarchy was the most important political institution of the Chera kingdom.
There was a high degree of pomp and pageantry associated with the person of
the king. The King wore a gold crown studded with precious stones. The king
was an autocrat, but his powers limited by a counsel of ministers and scholars.
The King held daily durbar to hear the problems of the common men and to
redress them on spot.The Royal Queen had a very important and privileged
status and she took her seat by the side of the king in all religious ceremonies.
Another important institution was the „manram‟ which functioned in each
village of the Chera kingdom. Its meeting were usually held by the village
elders under a banyan tree and they helped in the local settlement disputes. The
manrams were the venues for the village festivals as well.
Succession
In the course of the imperial expansion of the Cheras the members of the royal
family set up residence at several places of the kingdom (at Vanchi, Karur and
Tondi). They followed the collateral system of succession according to which
the eldest member of the family, wherever he lived, ascended the throne. Junior
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princes and heir-apparents (crown princes) helped the ruling king in the
administration.
King Uthiyan Cheralathan and his sons grandsons belonged to one branch of the
Chera royal family called „Vanavaramban line‟. Prince Antuvan Cheral and his
sons grandsons belonged to another branch called „Irumporai line‟. The prince
Antuvan Cheral mentioned below is the father of King Selva Kadungo. He is
some times identified with Palyani Sel Kelu Kuttuvan (younger brother of King
Uthiyan Cheralathan) as is evidenced by Madamisyar in Purananuru. Antuvan
Cheral had his seat at a city called Karur. The Ay ruler Ay Antiran was an elder
contemporary of Antuvan Cheral. The Ays were probably more powerful than
the Cheras during the time of Ay Antiran. Antuvan Cheral and three others in
his line are regarded as contemporaries of Nedum Cheralathan and his sons. It is
important to note that King Selva Kadumko Valiathan and King Nedum
Cheralathan married two sisters.
Apart from these two clans, are also some other Chera rulers who figure in
Sangam works. These rulers did not belonged to the main Chera line. One of the
most important of them is Yanaikatchai Mantaran Cheral Irumporai. Probably,
he is the son and successor of King Illam Cheral Irumporai and the hero of the
last 10th decade. Another Chera ruler Kanaikkal Irumporai is also referred in the
Sangam poems. „Palai Paitiya‟ Perum Kadungo was a Chera ruler based on the
city of Vanchi. Kothai Marpan with capital at Tondi also figure in the Sangam
literature.
Ezhimalai Konkanam Nannan (approx. 3rd century BC, sometimes approx 1st 5th century AD) was a south Indian ruler of the Mushika Kingdom and was a
suspected contemporary of Mauryan emperor Bindusara, in the Sangam period.
Ezhimalai Nannan, a celebrated hero in the Sangam literature, is famous for his
military expansions and battles against their powerful neighbors, the Chera
kingdom.
Under Nannan, an able military commander also, Mushika kingdom
transformed into a force in South India, and stretched into Wynad and Gudalur
Districts in the foothills of the Western Ghats, and the northern parts of present
day Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu. Eager to expand his kingdom, Nannan
waged war against the Cheras, and successfully defeated the Chera commanders
at the Battle of Pazhi.
It is believed that Nannan buried an immense treasure of coins in the foothills of
Ezhimalai. Sangam literature gives us a vivid picture of the life of people at
Ezhimalai. Paranar, the court poet of Nannan, describes the victory of Pazhi in
his works. The victories of Nannan over the Cheras and other neighbouring
chieftains are alluded to in the Agananuru, Nattinai and other works.
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But the Chera king, Narmudi Cheral, defeated him at the Battle of Vakaipperum
Turai and consequently the Mushika kingdom passed into the hands of the
Cheras.44
Kolathiris of Kolathunad traces their ancestry back to the ancient Mushika
kingdom of the Tamil Sangam Age. After king Nannan of Mushika dynasty was
killed in the Battle of Vakaipperum Turai against the Cheras, the history of the
dynasty is obscure. However, it is generally agreed among the scholars that
Kolathris are the descendants of king Nannan, and later literary works point
towards kings such as Vikramaraman, Jayamani, Valabhan and Srikandan from
Mushika dynasty. Kolathunad was the northernmost province of the Later Chera
kingdom and had considerable autonomy during 12th century.
Dominions
Provinces and ports
The traditional Chera Kingdom was generally divided into five divisions on the
basis of topography.
1. Puzhinadu- former Ezhil Malai kingdom (the sandy land)
2. Kudanadu (the western land)
3. Karkainadu (the impregnable rocky land, east of Kudanad)
4. Kuddanadu/Kuttanadu (the land of lakes)
5. Velnadu
The main ports in the Chera Kingdom were: Tondi on the banks of Makkali
river, south of the Lueke Island, Bramagara, Kalaikkarias, Muziris on the banks
of Chulli / Pseudostomos river, Podoperoura, Semne, Koreoura/Kothora, and
Bakarei at the mouth of river Baris. In land cities between Tondi and Muziris
were, Naroulla, Kouba, and Paloura. In land cities between Pseudostomos and
Baris were, Pasage, Mastanour, Kourellour, Pounnata, Aloe, Karoura,
Arembour Bideris/Videris, Pantipolis, Adarima Koreour.
Military
The Cheras had a well-equipped army which consisted of infantry, cavalry,
elephants and chariots. There was also an efficient navy. The Chera soldiers
made offering to the War Goddess Kottavai before any military operation. It
was tradition that the Chera rulers emerged victorious in a battle to wear the
anklets made out of the crowns of the defeated rulers.
Foreign trade
Chera trade with the foreign countries around Mediterranean can be traced back
to the pre-Christian era. They were in contact with the Satavahanas, Greeks and
Arabs. In the 1st century of Common era, Romans conquered the Egypt and that
helped them to establish a monopoly in the Arabian sea trade. Many
documentary and archaeological evidences of legendary port of Chera empire,
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Muziris, correspond to this period; Periplus of the Erythraean Sea portrays the
trade in the kingdom of Cerobothras (Cheraputras) in detail. Muziris was the
most important port in the Malabar Coast, which according to the Periplus,
abounded with large ships of Romans, Arabs and Greeks. Bulk of spices, ivory,
timber, pearls and gems were exported from the Chera ports to Mesopotamia,
Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenicia and Arabia. 45 The Romans brought vast
amounts of gold in exchange of pepper.46 Hoards of Greek, Roman and Arabic
coins unearthed from Kollam, Kottayam, Eyyal, and Kodungallur corroborate
these ancient trade relations. 47 Chera coins were also excavated from various
locations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, such as Pattanam (probably the location of
Muziris), Karur, Namakkal, Erode and Coimbatore.
Roman ships reached the Chera kingdom through two ways. First through the
ports of northwest India from Indus to the Tamil lands and the second directly
from the Gulf of Aden to southern India. Most of the Chera ports had begun as
large fishing villages where territorial product could be collected and
exchanged. Then these villages became more urbanized and commercial as a
response to growing trade contacts. 48
The Chera trading stations of Naura and Tyndis began as busy fishing villages,
but later the presence of large number of pirates posed a major threat to the
Roman ships and Roman merchants had to resort to more southerly ports of
Muziris and Nelcynda. Roman ships did not sail further east during this period.
Consequently, the Chera ports became more significant for Romans. Hundred
of Romans possibly spent months in the Chera kingdom awaiting favorable
conditions for returning to Europe while some Roman officials were entitled to
stay throughout the year to make arrangements on behalf of sailors arrived
seasonally.
These Roman agents conducted trade dealings with the locals and Peutinger
Table marks the presence of a Roman Temple (of Augustus) in the Malabar
coast for the use of these visitors. According to Periplus, special consignments
of grain were sent to places like Muziris. This was probably to support the
resident Romans who needed something to supplement the local diet of rice.
Black Pepper is known as „Kari‟ in Tamil literature.
It was not possible to deep-hulled ships to reach Muziris (the port was situated
upriver). The Romans were forced to wait at the edge of the lagoon while their
cargoes were transferred upstream on smaller crafts. Muziris was a large
settlement owed its prosperity to shipping from the Roman empire and northern
India. Black pepper from the inland hills was brought to Muziris by local
producers and stacked in warehouses to await the arrival of Roman merchants.
By the time of Pliny‟s writing Muziris too was full of pirates. Chera-Pandya
war during this time further exacerbated the conditions and diverted Roman
trade away, causing the decline of both the kingdom and its dynasty.
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Coinage
A number of coins belonging to Chera rulers have been discovered from both
Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Silver coins with the portrait of a Chera king and
legend „Makkotai‟ written in Tamil-Brahmi script have been found near Karur.
There are also coins with legend „Kuttuvan Kotai‟ and „Kollipurai‟ along with
the Chera symbols of bow and arrow.
Life during Chera Dynasty
The people ruled by the Chera Empire were not split into groups and socioeconomic classes. The Varna system did not materialize distinctly.
There was no place for withdrawnness and social restrictedness. Groups of
people like the Kuruva, Pana, Veta and Paraya were respected by the monarchs.
These communities imparted knowledge and benefited from social
independence and egalitarianism. A number of renowned bards of the Sangam
era were Panas. During the Chera dynasty, women were given a superior
position in the society. They went to school and did not hide their faces.
Auvvaiyar (circa 500 AD) was the most famous bard during this era. Child
wedding was unheard of and there was no restriction on widow marriage.
Society and religion
The Chera population was not divided into castes and communities. The Varna
system had not taken a clear shape. Social exclusiveness and un-approachability
were unknown. Communities such as the Pana, Kuruva, Paraya and Veta were
held in high esteem by the rulers. These people educated and enjoyed social
freedom and equality. Many great poets of the Sangam age were Panas. Women
enjoyed a high status in the Chera realms. They educated and never covered
their faces. Auvvaiyar was the most outstanding poet of her age. Child marriage
was unknown and widow marriage was permitted.
Most of the Chera population followed native Dravidian practices. The worship
of departed heroes was a common practice in the Chera kingdom along with
tree worship and other kinds of ancestor worships. The war goddess Kottravai
was propitiated with complex sacrifices. The Cheras probably worshipped this
mother goddess. Kottavai was later on assimilated into the present day form of
goddess Devi.49 There is no evidence of snake worship in the Chera realms and
till 7th century AD there is no proof of Ganesh worship either. Perhaps the
Brahmins came to the Chera Kingdom in the 3rd century BC following the Jains
and Budhhists.
It was only in the 8th century AD, the Aryanisation of the Chera country reached
its climax. A small percentage of the population followed Jainism, Buddhism
and Brahminism. These three philosophies came from northern India to the
Chera kingdom. A small Jewish and Christian population also lived in the Chera
territories.
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Decline of Early Cheras
Kalabhras controlled large parts of southern India in the 5th and 6th centuries
AD. The fourth and fifth centuries witnessed the decline and fall of the Western
Roman Empire. Also in the post-Sangam, the Chera kingdom was invaded by a
number of northern powers. A Kadamba record of the 5th century at the Edakkal
cave in Wayanad bears testimony to the Kadamba presence in the deep south.
Chera Kingdom seems to have affected by the Kadamba upheaval in the 5 th and
6th centuries AD. According to Buddhist works, Kalabhra ruler Achuta Vikkanta
kept the Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers in his confinement and established
control over large portion of southern India. The Kalabhras were defeated
around the 6th century with the revival of Pallava and Pandya power.
The Chalukyas of Badami must have conducted temporary conquests of
Malabar. An inscription of King Pulikesin I claims that he conquered the Chera
ruler. A number of other inscriptions mentions their victories over the kings of
Chera kingdom and Ezhil Malai rulers. King Pulikesin II (610-642) is also said
to have conquered Chera, Pandya and Chola kingdoms. Soon the three rulers
made an alliance and marched against the Chalukyas. But the Chalukyas
defeated the confederation. King Vinayaditya also subjugated Chera king, and
made him pay tribute to the Chalukyas. King Vikramaditya is also said to have
defeated the Cheras. King Simhavishnu and Mahendra Varman are first Pallava
rulers to claim sovereignty over the Chera kingdom. Narasimha Varman and the
Pandya ruler Sendan (654-670) also won victories over the Cheras. King
Nandivarman-II of the Pallavas allied with the Cheras in fight against the
Pandyas under Varaguna-I. Rashtrakutas also claim control over Cheras. King
Dantidurga and Govinda-III is said to have defeated the Cheras.
The Ay Kingdom, situated south of the Chera kingdom, functioned for long as
an effective buffer state between a declining Chera kingdom and an emerging
Pandya Kingdom. Later, the Pandyas conquered the Ays and made it a tributary
state. As late as 788 AD, the Pandyas under King Maranjadayan or Jatilavarman
Parantaka invaded the Ay kingdom and took the port city of Vizhinjam. But, the
Ays does not seem to have submitted the Pandyas and fought against them for
almost a century.
Second Chera Kingdom (Medieval Cheras)
The Chera power re-emerged into light c. 9th century AD under King „ Alwar‟
Kulasekhara Varman, who succeeded his father Thidaviradhan in 800 AD. By
this time the Chera capital was at Tiruvanchikkulam (Mahodayapuram) near
present day Kodungallur. He established the „Second Chera Kingdom‟ from the
new capital at Mahodayapuram. But his sovereignty was constrained by the
pre-existing power of the Aryan-Brahmin settlements across his kingdom and
the hereditary chieftains called „Naduvazhis‟. The Second Cheras allied with the
Cholas against the Pallavas, and with Pandyas against the Cholas between 8th10th century AD. By the last centuries of their rule, Kulasekharas became an
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active ally of the Pandyas and Lambakannas of Sri Lanka, against the raising
Later Chola power. In 805 AD, Rashtrakutas conquered the Later Cheras and
during a brief period between 855 and 865 AD Rashtrakutas continually ruled
over them.
Endnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Menon, A Sreedhara, A Survey Of Kerala History, Kerala, India, 1967.
“India - Britannica Online Encyclopedia”. Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
Ancient name, Chully ref: Aham. 149.
Menon, A Sreedhara op. cit.
Sivaraja Pillai, The Chronology of the Early Tamils - Based on the Synchronistic
Tables of Their Kings, Chieftains and Poets Appearing in the Sangam Literature.
Vincent A. Smith , The Early History of India,. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN
978-81-7156-618-1. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
Keay, John. India: A history. India: Grove Press, 2001, ISBN 0802137970.
A. Sreedhara Menon. Political History of Modern Kerala. D C Books, 1987.
p. 13. ISBN 978-81-264-2156-5. Retrieved 1 August 2012. Also Cf. Durga
Prasad Dikshit (1980). Political History of the Châlukyas of Badami. Abhinav
Publications. pp. 130-. GGKEY:PW8B49QWQ4H. Retrieved 28 September
2012. Also Cf. Bharati Ray. Different Types of History. Pearson Education India,
2009. pp. 37. ISBN 978-81-317-1818-6. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
Robert Caldwell. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian
Family of Languages. Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1998. p. 92.
Kamil Veith Zvelebil, Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, p.12
Also Cf. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India, OUP, 1955. p. 105.
Subodh Kapoor. The Indian Encyclopaedia. Cosmo Publications, 2002. p. 1449.
ISBN 978-81-7755-257-7. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
“The Ramayana and Mahabharata: Book VII: In the Nilgiri Mountains”. Sacredtexts.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16. Also Cf. V.Jayaram (2007-01-09). “The
Ramayana Kishkindha”. Hinduwebsite.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
“Britannica Article on Dravidian”. Ccat.sas.upenn.edu. 2004-01-09. Retrieved
2011-03-16. “Mahabharata: The Great War and World History”. Bvashram.org.
Retrieved 2011-03-16.
Barbara A. West. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase
Publishing, 2009. p. 781. ISBN 978-1-4381-1913-7. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
V. Kanakasabhai. The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago. Asian Educational
Services, 1997. ISBN 81-206-0150-5.
Zvelebil, Kamil (1973). The smile of Murugan: On Tamil literature of south
India. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 37-39. ISBN 90-04-03591-5. “The opinion
that the Gajabahu Synchronism is an expression of genuine historical tradition is
accepted by most scholars today” Also Cf. Pillai, Vaiyapuri (1956). History of
Tamil Language and Literature; Beginning to 1000 AD. Madras, India: New
Century Book House. pp. 22. “We may be reasonably certain that chronological
conclusion reached above is historically sound”
___________________________________________
~18~
17. Kamil Zvelebil. Tamil Literature. BRILL, 1975, p. 45. ISBN 978-90-04-04190-5.
Retrieved 4 October 2012.
18. Subodh Kapoor. The Indian Encyclopaedia. Cosmo Publications, 2002, p. 1449.
19. Ibid., p. 1448.
20. J. Allan, T. Wolseley Haig, H. H. Dodwell. The Cambridge Shorter History of
India. Cambridge University Press, 1934, p. 179.
21. Angelina Vimala (1 September 2007). History And Civics 6. Pearson Education
India. pp. 107. ISBN 978-81-317-0336-6. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
22. A. Sreedhara Menon (1987). Political History of Modern Kerala. D C Books. pp.
22. ISBN 978-81-264-2156-5. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
23. Angelina Vimala. History and Civics 6. Pearson Education India, 2007, p. 107.
24. A. Sreedhara Menon (1987). Political History of Modern Kerala. op. cit., p. 22.
Also Cf.Miguel Serrano (1 January 1974).
The Serpent of Paradise: The Story of an Indian Pilgrimage. Routledge and
Kegan Paul. pp. 76-. ISBN 978-0-7100-7784-4. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
25. K. Krishna Reddy. Indian History. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 1-. ISBN
978-0-07-132923-1. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
26. A. Sreedhara Menon (1987). Political History of Modern Kerala. D C Books. pp.
22. ISBN 978-81-264-2156-5. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
27. Pathir 61: 5-7. Also Cf. “Xt¤j‹d bfhšè éaDil tiu¥Ã‰
ghit a‹d f‰wbjho cfëª‛ (Puram 251: 1)
“kltª bkšèaª bršèD¦ flt‹ ghç ift§ikna” (Puram 106: 4-5)
He is known for obedient and honoring the service rendered by the temple
priests.
‚ÏiwŠRf bgUk ã‹ br‹å Áw¨j
eh‹ kiw Kåt nu¨Jif baÂnu” (Puram 6: 19-20)
28. Kamil Zvelebil. Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature. BRILL,
1992, p. 111. ISBN 978-90-04-09365-2. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
29. See Mahavamsa - http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/. Since Senguttuvan (Kadal
Pirakottiya Vel Kezhu
Kuttuvan) was a contemporary of Gajabahu I of Sri Lanka he was perhaps the
Chera King during second century AD
30. Pathir43:6-7 “Mçaª Jt‹¿a ngçir Ïka©‛
Pathir 11: 23-24 ‚bj‹d¦ Fkç bahlhæil‛
31. “ giftU© òfœ¨j M§ik” (Puram 375: 35)
“ mça btšyh bkëÂå‰ bfh§L
cça btšyh nkh©ghJ ÅÁ‛ (Madurai Kanchi 145-146)
“ e‹fy¦ fë‰bwhL e§zh
nuªÂ tªJ Âiw bfhL¤J
tz¦»dª tê bkhê¨J‛ (Aham 121:1-2)
___________________________________________
S. John Britto, SJ
~19~
32. “ Fltª nfhnt bfho¤ njª m§zš
thuh® MæD« Ïuty® nt©o
njç‹ j¨J, Mtª¡F Mª gj‹ ešF©
eir rhš thŒ bkhê Ïir rhš njh‹wš‛
(Pathir 55: 9-12)
33. “ ty« gL Kur© Jit¥g thŸ caª¨J
Ïy¦F© óz‹ bghy¦ bfho cêiPa‹
... Å¨J cF nghª¡fs¤J ML© nfhnt‛
(Pathir 56: 4-8)
34. “ Jz¦if Moa ty© gL nfhkh‹”
(Pathir 57: 4)
35. “ j§lhuâa¤j¡ nfh£g£l tUilia¤ bjh§oÍŸ j¨J”
“ éw‰ nghª¡F£Lt‹, bj§oiu gu¥Ã‰bwh§o”
(Aham 60)
36. “ bfhšè¡ T‰w¤J Úª Tª Ûäir gšntš jhid mÂfkhndhL
ÏU bgU nt¨jiuÍ© cl‹ ãiy bt‹W‛
(Pathir 8: 5-7)
37. “ btšnghª Mltª kw© òç¨J fh¡F© éš gæš ÏW©Ã‹, jf^ª ü¿
ngv k‹w ÃwH neh¡F Ïatª”
(Pathir 78: 8-10)
“ jf^ª bu¿¨J beh¢Áj¨ bjŒÂa,
mU¨Âw byhŸëir¥ bgUŠ nruèU© bghiwia M©‛
(Pathikam 9-10)
38. “ kil vÂªbfhŸsh mŠRtU kuÃ‹ flÎŸ mæiuæ‹ ãiyÏ,
nfL Ïythf, bgUk ã‹ òfnH‛
(Pathir 79: 16-19)
39. “ FW©gš ahzª¡ Fuit maU© fhéç k§oa nrŒéç td¥Ã‹
òfhmª¢ bršt óêaª bkŒ© kiw
fiH éç¨J vGjU kiH jtœ beL¦ nfh£L¡ bfhšè bghUe!‛
(Pathir 23: 11-13)
40. “ nr§ guš Ku©Ã‹ <ª© gil¡ bfh¦fª M gu¨ j‹d bryé‹, gš
ahid fh§gš, mt‹ jhidahnd‛
(Pathir 77: 10-12)
“ M gu¨ j‹d ahidnah‹ F‹nw”
(Pathir 78: 4; Puram 5-12)
41. “ éšbfG jhid é¢Áaª bgUkf‹, nt¨jbuhL bghUjPh‹iwÍ©”
(Kurunthogai 328: 5-6)
“ nfhênahnd nfh¥bgUŠnrhH‹, bgh¤Âd§ Ã‰ bgh¤ÂbahL bfÆÏ, thahª
bgUeifitfY© ek¡nf‛
(Puram 212: 8-10)
42. “ ö vÂª¤J bgwhm¤ jh Ïš kŸsbuhL
bjhš kU¦F mW¤jš mŠÁ, mu§ bfh§L
JŠrh nt‰jU© JŠRf‛
(Pathir 81: 34-36)
___________________________________________
~20~
43. “ ã‹ ehŸ Â¦fŸ mida Mf Â¦fŸ
ah©L Xuiza Mf ah©nl Cê mida Mf Cê
btŸs tu©Ã‹ Mf vd cŸë
fh§F e¨ÂÁ‹, ahnd‛
(Pathir 90: 51-55)
44. Balarama Digest, Malayala Manorama Group, India, March 24, 2007.
45. Hermann Kulke. A History of India. Psychology Press, 2004, p. 105. ISBN 9780-415-32920-0. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
46. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.
htm&date=2007/01/28/&prd=th&
47. History of Ancient Kerala. Government of India. Retrieved October 06, 2012.
48. Raoul McLaughlin, Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the Ancient
Lands of Arabia, India and China. Continuum International Publishing Group,
06-Jul-2010
49. Indian Anthropologist: Journal of the Indian Anthropological Association by
Indian Anthropological Association. p. 104.
_____
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~21~
TAMIL ETHNO-NATIONAL HISTORIOGRAPHY
___________
Dr. T. Jayaraman
HoD & Associate Professor (Retd)
AVC College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai
___________________________________
Historiography is the history of historical writing. Now, it is a branch of
knowledge as any other science or art. Though intellectual populace of Indian
sub-continent had made excellent contributions to ideas, philosophy, literature,
grammar, science and the manifestation of arts, they lacked in historical writing.
When historical writing began in modern India, it was influenced by colonial
interests and Indian nationalistic aspirations. In the twentieth century, the
identity politics of the ethnic nations also contributed to historical writing. The
ethnic nations, identified by their languages in the Indian sub-continent,
attempted historical writing as a part of their efforts to trace and preserve their
national identity. This kind of historical writing in ethno-national perspective
shall be called ethno-national historiography.
Defining Ethno-National Historiography
The terms „ethnicity‟ and „ethnic group‟ derived from the Greek word „ethnos‟
generally translated as „nation‟. In the 19th century, the meaning for the term
„ethnic‟ emerged to express the notion of „a people‟ or a „nation‟. The term
„nationality‟ depending on context may either be used synonymously with
ethnicity or synonymously with citizenship (in a sovereign state). 1
In 1950, the UNESCO statement, „the Race Question‟, signed by some of the
internationally renowned scholars of the time (including Ashley Montagu,
Claude Levi- Strauss, Julian Huxley, etc.), suggested that:
National, religious, geographic, linguistic and cultural groups do not
necessarily coincide with racial groups; and the cultural traits of such
groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits.
Because serious errors of this kind are habitually committed when the
term „race‟ is used in popular parlance, it would be better when
speaking of human races to drop the term „race‟ altogether and speak
of ethnic groups.2
Ethnic-nations are defined by „shared heritage, which usually includes a
common language, a common faith and a common ethnic ancestry‟. Tamils are
a nation as it conforms with the definitions of nation. 3 Hence, Tamils may be
identified as an ethnic-nation of long historical existence and a rich cultural
heritage.
Unlike several European nations where the consciousness of nationhood is of
recent origin after the French Revolution of 1789, Tamils had long been
___________________________________________
~22~
cherishing their separate identity through the ages. So, it may be identified as an
ethnic-nation in modern political parlance.
India is a multi-ethnic or multi-national state, where several nations exist. These
nations or nationalities are more concerned about preserving their identity. The
ethno-national diversities in India have already been recongnised and analysed
by researchers. An analysis of the Indian situation made by A.M. Diakov, who
wrote „The Nationalist Problem in India Today‟(1966), underscores this point.
He says:
By virtue of the fact that India has for two hundred years been a
colony of England in the eyes of the outside world, India appears as
something unified and its entire population as one people...The
presence in India of a powerful national liberating movement, in which
all the peoples living in India participate in this or that degree still
further strengthens this illusion of a national unity of the entire Indian
people. It is more or less broadly known that in India there is a number
of castes, but few know that in India there is a number of large
peoples, each of which is no less numerous than the English, the
French, or the Italians; that these people are distinguished by their
individual culture, language, literature, have their own mores and
customs, their national character, have passed a long road of historical
development. The colonial position of India which made its peoples
slaves of English imperialism has depersonalized it in the eyes of the
outside world.4
These peoples have a long history and their history must be written in the ethnonational perspective. It is more appropriate to designate the historiography of
these ethnic groups and nationalities as ethno-national historiography.
Ethno-National History all over the World
Every nationality, which has a nation-state or even without it, attempts to keep a
national history of its own. The late-comers to the nation-state model, such as
those arising in the Near East and South Eastern Europe out of the dissolution
of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires as well as those arising out of
the former USSR, have got their ethno-national history. All these nationalities
were constituents of empires till recently. But, their national history does not
start abruptly after their formation of a nation-state. This consciousness and the
awareness found in all these nationalities have made them maintain a history of
their own.
The eighteenth and the nineteenth century saw the resurgence of
national ideologies. In Germany, historians and humanists, such as
Johann Gottfried Herder and Johann Gottlieb Fichte, identified a
linguistic and cultural identity of the German nation, which became
the basis of a political movement to unite the fragmented states of the
German nation‟.
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~23~
A significant historiographical outcome of this movement of German
nationalism was the formation of a „Society for Older German
Historical Knowledge‟, which sponsored the editing of massive
collection of documents of German history, the Monumenta
Germaniae Historica (MGH). The sponsors of the MGH defined
German history very broadly; they edited documents concerning all
territories where German-speaking people had once lived or ruled.
Thus, documents from Italy to France to the Baltic were grist for the
mill of the MGH‟s editors.5
The German example was followed by several ethnics in Europe.
The Colonial and Nationalist Historiography in India
The process of modern historiography of India began with the British colonial
administrators and the Indian nationalists. Both these two historiographies had
their own political agenda. The colonial historiography attempted to write the
history of India so as to help in legitimising the European rule over India. The
Utilitarian school of historiography believed that the Indian society lacked
rationality and individualism and so the European intervention was needed to
make the stagnant Indian society progressive. This school created the concept of
„Oriental Despotism and anarchy‟ and required the rule of the British for the
welfare of the Indian people. So, it may be understood that the colonial
historiography had a political agenda of legitimising the alien rule in India.
The nationalist school of historiography emerged at the end of the 19 th century,
as a part of anti-colonial movement. A strand of this historiography attempted to
establish the superiority of the past over the present and the golden era of the
Hindu civilization. This resulted in religious nationalism. As a reaction, Muslim
historiography developed. But, both the imperialist and the Indian nationalist
historians had their political agenda. When the former wanted to justify the
alien rule over India, the latter wanted to nourish Indian nationalism and
national unity. Indian nationalism was essentially Hindu nationalism showing
affinity to Aryan race and aspiration for the revival of Sanskrit.
Historiography committed to Indian Nationalism
Historiography takes into account the ideological, philosophical, economic and
social forces that operate in a political society. As a result, historiography of
new types emerged. In India, different schools of thought, revolutionary,
rationalist, nationalist and Marxist, have contributed to historiography. But,
there is a tendency and an advocacy to write the histories of the peoples having
independent cultures and identity, to suit or fit within the „Indian nationalistic
framework‟. Such a tendency continues till date. These nationalist historians
call the traditional homeland of the nationalities in India as „regions‟ and every
nationality as a group. K. M. Panikkar, a historian of South India, says in 1966,
„Every region in India has contributed to the evolution of the Indian people,
every group added to our common heritage‟.6
___________________________________________
~24~
M.G.S. Narayanan, former Chairman of ICHR, accepts the fact of a lopsided
development in South Indian History and opines:
The spade work done by the European scholars in the nineteenth
century was followed by native scholars. To their lot fell the tedious
and difficult task of sifting truth from legend, setting straight the
chronological tangle, reconstructing the dynastic history and placing
the whole thing in Indian historical perspective. 7
M. G. S. Narayanan defines that South India is the region south of the Deccan
and says in his work „Reinterpretation in South Indian History‟ (1977),
Geographically and linguistically, and therefore, to a large extent in
political, social and cultural terms also, this region had its own
peculiar, if not separate development. As such it deserves to be treated
as a sub-unit of historical study within the field of Indian History.8
R. Champakalaxmi, a renowned historian, says:
The danger, however, lies in the pendulum swinging to the other
extreme, in which regional histories are given a disproportionately
large share of importance arising out of regional and linguistic
chauvinism, leading to distortions in history i.e., isolated studies
whereas the general trends in Indian historical writing and comparative
research in non-Indian contexts, which have relevance to the study of
local, regional and national histories, are completely ignored.9
Thus, the writing with a commitment to Indian nationalism denies legitimacy to
the independent history of linguistic nationalities. Regional chauvinism is a
convenient word to belittle a work, when that work does not conform to the
stereotype set by the Indian nationalist historians.
Defining the Tamil Ethno-national Historiography
It is not a special genre of historiography. It is only a „perspective-based‟ name
given to plethora of historical writings that appeared right from the 1920‟s. We
may assign two reasons for labelling those works as Tamil ethno-national
historiography. First of all, they are not written in the Indian nationalistic
perspective. Instead of treating Tamil Nadu as a region in India, it considers it
as the traditional homeland of a people, Tamils, who are a primordial entity,
with a unique culture, a primary classical language and a history running into
remote past. Instead of treating as a component of Indian culture and Indian
people, and keeping at the periphery of Indian historiography, Tamil Nadu is
centered in research and treated as an entity in entirety, with all the borrowings
and lendings to other cultures. Hence, all the historical works in this perspective
centering on Tamil, Tamils and Tamil Nadu can be labeled as Tamil-ethno
national historiography.
Tamil ethno-national historiography focuses on the ethnic domains of Tamil
society, Tamil culture, Tamil language, Tamil political life, both ancient and
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~25~
modern, and their politics of identity. It aims at reconstructing the Tamils‟
history by examining the aspects of Tamil ethno-national importance, which has
been so far misunderstood, misconceived and misinterpreted. It is not in any
way in conflict with scientific history.
Early attempts in the South
The South Indian History was neglected before 1947. The renowned historian
R. G. Bhandarkar wrote a good historical work, Early History of Deccan in
1884, in which Tamil country was ignored. The early attempts of the South
Indian historians only threw light on the raw materials for future research.
The first prominent South Indian Historian, S. Krishnaswamy Iyengar (18711953) wrote The Beginning of South Indian History (1918), South India and her
Mohammadan Invaders (1921), Contributions of South India to Indian Culture,
Manimekalai in its Historical Setting (1928) and the Evolution of Hindu
Administrative Institutions of South India. S. K. Iyengar and his lineage did the
spade work for the construction of South Indian History.
There was no historical writing in Tamil Nadu before the 18th century. The
tradition of historiography of Tamil Nadu begins from Robert Orme (b.1728),
the official historiographer of the British East India Company. After the AngloMysore War of 1799, Lord Wellesley constituted three separate surveys of the
Mysore territories under Colin Mackenzie, Francis Buchanan and Benjamin
Heyen. They made significant contributions to build a knowledge base about
South India. The ingredients for the future claim of the Tamils for an
independent indigenous identity were supplied by the early writings of the
Europeans.
Whyte Ellis, the Collector of Madras (1810), founder and senior member of the
Board of Superintendence of the College of Fort St. George, became a reputed
Tamil scholar, found out the manuscripts of the Jesuit scholar Beschi‟s works
and had them published. In 1816, Ellis contributed „A Note to the Introduction‟
to Campbell‟s „A Grammar of Teloogoo Language‟ (1816), and he had stated
that the South Indian Languages are of one family and different from the IndoEuropean family of languages. This was the first notable contribution to the
future Tamil ethno-national conceptual construct.
Bishop Robert Caldwell (1819-1891), in his celebrated work „Comparative
Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages‟ (1856), made
it clear that the Dravidian language family is different from other families.
Robert Caldwell spoke of the high antiquity of the literary cultivation of Tamil,
the Dravidian languages as being independent of Sanskrit, the political and
social relations of the primitive Dravidians to the Aryans, the Pre-Aryan
inhabitants of Northern India and about how the Dravidians became Sudras.10
This work supplied the seeds for the Tamil revivalism and Dravidian
Movement. When history-writing was attempted, there emerged the ethno___________________________________________
~26~
national historiography of the Tamils. It was initially known as Dravidian
historiography. The word Dravidian was recognised only as the name of a
family of languages and Dravidianism did not take roots in other South Indian
states except Tamil Nadu. It took the shape of Tamil ethno-national
historiography.
P. Sundaram Pillai was the first to point out that the South had been neglected
in historical writing. He said; „The scientific historian of India ought to begin
his study with the basin of Krishna, of the Kaveri and of the Vaigai than with
the Gangetic plain as has been now long, too long the fashion‟. 11 Following
him, V. A. Smith pointed out in his Early History of India (1912) that it was
time to pay due regard to the non-Aryan element in writing history.
The Tamil ethno-national historical writings came into being in four phases
successively.
The First Phase
In the First Phase, the English education and the spirit of Tamil revivalism
combined and inspired the South Indian historians to contribute to Tamil
historiography.
The first work on Tamils‟ history was „The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years
Ago‟ published in 1904 by V. Kanakasabai Pillai. It ascribed a Mongolian
origin to the Tamils and so it was unacceptable to many historians. But it was
the first historical work on the social life of the Sangam Tamils. The
significance of the work is that it identified the first century AD as the Sangam
age. His work cannot be considered as a trend setting one.
Following Robert Caldwell, philological researches were undertaken by many
Tamil scholars. An early philologist, Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar wrote
„Mozhi Nool‟ (Philology) in 1913. Of the three parts of the work, Exordium,
Grammar and Derivation, the first part contains his arguments in favour of the
hoary antiquity of the Tamil language and its priority to Sanskrit‟. 12
M.S.Purnalingam Pillai has given the „Introduction‟ to this work and in this,
Purnalingam Pillai calls the author a „precedent-breaker and original
researcher‟. Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar exhibits ethno-national fervour in the
„Payiraviyal‟ of this work. He explains how Tamil philological study would
equip one with the necessary tool to do research on other languages. He argues
that Tamil is very ancient and Sanskrit is comparatively a recent one.
Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar‟s study based on philological findings appeared
in 1913. It was he that spoke for the first time that Tamils were indigenous to
Tamilagam and they migrated to other parts only from Tamilagam. He also
called Tamil language a naturally born language. His work anticipated the
works of P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Sesha Iyengar and V. R. Ramachandra
Dikshitar, whose works were based on archaeological findings. Makaral
Karthikeya Mudaliar may be considered the trend-setter and it will not be
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~27~
wrong to consider that the historians who immediately succeeded him
elaborately did it in historical writing.
The early historians established two facts
1. They denied a foreign origin to the Tamils, while others considered the
Tamils as immigrants and contended that the Tamils spread to North and
North-West only from Tamilagam.
2. The Iron Age began in South India much earlier to the coming of the
Aryans.
These theses were important contributions to the Tamil ethno-national
historiography.
P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar is considered a trend-setter, for he had the spirit of
scientific temper and exhibited it in his historical writings. He was a nationalist,
but he held the view that the Tamils were indigenous to the land and the Tamils
had spread over entire India. He viewed that „people speaking dialects allied to
Tamil once inhabited the whole of India and not these people must necessarily
have come into India from outside the country. 13 On the basis of artefacts and
relics discovered in South India, he contended that there was a regular evolution
of culture from the lowest paleolithic age to the latest age of metals and it might
be taken as fairly certain that the Tamils were indigenous to South India. 14 He
ridiculed the theory of the Tamils‟ foreign origin, stating that „some writers
conduct the ancient Dravidians with the self-confidence of a Cook‟s guide
through the North-Western or North-eastern mountain passes of India and drop
them with a readymade foreign culture on the banks of the Kaveri or Vaigai‟. 15
He denied the view of V. Kanakasabai, who, in his work The Tamils Eighteen
Hundred Years Ago (1904), had attributed a Mongolian origin to the Tamils. He
argued that he could prove that „the Iron Age began in Tamil country when the
Tamil had not come into any kind of contact with Sanskrit, the linguistic vehicle
of Vedic culture.‟16
T. R. Sesha Iyengar made his contributions in a similar line. He viewed:
“Among most writers on this subject, it has been the fashion to give to the IndoAryans the credit for all that was best in Ancient Indian culture... 17
He viewed that the Indian civilization resulted from the mixture of Dravidian
and Aryan. He endorsed the theory that „the Dravidians were living in South
India from the remotest antiquity. 18 It is quite possible that Dravidian traders
might have carried their culture from South India to the Mediterranean area. 19
He criticised Chatterji who says „The Dravidians look like being a
Mediterranean people coming out of Crete and passing through Asia Minor and
Mesopotamia... Then they came into Sindh, when they spread into the interior
of India‟. Sesha Iyengar raised the question: “Why should this have been so?
Could not an exactly reverse process have taken place?”20
___________________________________________
~28~
V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar is the third one contributing to the ethno-national
paradigm. He stressed that „South India must have pre-paleolithic people who
were the aborigines and sons of the soil‟. 21 E.Maclean had viewed that „the
ethnic and other affinities between South India and the Mediterranean basin
must be due to the fact that Southern India was once the passage ground by
which the ancient progenitors of northern and Mediterranean nations proceeded
to the difficult parts of the globe‟ and this view gets endorsed by Ramachandra
Dikshitar.22 He made bold assertions on the basis of the then available
archaeological and linguistic evidences.
M. S. Purnalingam Pillai was different from the other three, because the
ideological basis of his works was clearly Tamil ethno-nationalism. He did not
share the Indian outlook as others did. He said: „The Tamils or Tamilar were the
sons of Tamilagam itself. They were indigenous. When one deluge after another
overcame Tamilaham and when the Tamils dispersed in different
directions to save their lives... the Tamil emigrants passed over the jungles and
sandy deserts and found their homes in Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt and in
European countries...‟23
Second Phase
In the second phase, a new host of historians started contributing to Tamil
historiography in the 1940‟s. These historians extensively used literary and
epigraphical sources. Some historians used copious inscriptions as primary
sources in their study and evolved some theoretical framework
Another class of historians used the epigraphical and literary sources to
strengthen their ideological framework of Tamil history. Na. Si. Kanthaiya
Pillai, Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy and Ka. Appadurai belong to this school.
The historical works of these scholars were purely ethno-national in their
content and ideological framework. In the second phase, the Tamil ethnonational historians had set a goal before them. They had identified anti-Tamilian
endeavours that manifested in the purposeful act of sidelining the Tamil history,
giving prominence to Sanskrit, North India and Aryan race and denying
anything that would strength Tamils‟ antiquity and identity.
The Jaffna based historian, Na.Si. Kanthaiya Pillai in his work Tamilagam
(1934) writes:
It has become a very natural one to the intellectuals of the day to
attribute the Tamils‟ language, religion and culture to the Aryans. This
wrong concept has been indelibly imprinted in the hearts of many, like
a nail pinned to a living tree. Only the culture of Tamil Nadu spread to
other countries; it is the truth that cannot be hidden”. 24
In his work Tamil Indhia (1945) he has extensively used the valuable historical
and research works published till that time. Geological, archaeological,
anthropological and philological studies have been used in this work. The
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~29~
Lemurian theory and the spread of the Tamils to other parts of the world, the
coming of the Aryans to South India after the period of Mantras and the PreAryan culture are discussed in his work. 25 The subject matter and treatment
make this work an ethno-national one. In his work, Indhu Samaya Varalaru
(1960), he makes it clear that the Hinduism was not the religion of the Tamils
and he traces the history of the Tamils‟ opposition to Vedic religion through the
ages.26 This work is an attempt of the historian to find out the roots of Tamil
cultural institutions.
Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy was generally known as „Araichi Perarignar‟
meaning „great intellectual known for research‟. He spent fifty years in research
activities and wrote thirty works including historical works and forty valuable
articles on history. He wrote four of the ten articles in the book Tamilnattu
Varalaru (Sanga Kalam - Arasiyal), published by the Government of Tamil
Nadu. He was a member in the Committee of Experts constituted for writing the
History of Tamil Nadu (1971-1974 and 1975-1979). Seeni Venkatasamy was
the first researcher to look at history in the light of anthropological and
sociological studies and was objective and bold enough to speak out the truth.
He states:
The researchers should present the findings of their research, whatever
be it they, without likes and dislikes, on the basis of evidences. Even if
the findings happen to be against their conviction, they should state
only the truth, unbiased.27
Natana Kasinathan, an archaeologist, assesses his personality as a historian: „If
any historian or literary scholar speaks slighting Tamil language, Tamil people
or Tamil Nadu, he would rise high and humble him with his eloquent
arguments‟.28 His contribution to history is greater. „Kalappirar Atchiyil
Tamilagam‟ and „Bouthamum Tamilum‟ are his popular works.
Another major contributor to Tamil ethno-national historiography is Ka.
Appadurai (1907-1989), who was popularly known as „panmolippulavar‟, as he
knew 18 languages and was well versed in five languages. Ka. Appadurai has
written 200 works and all of them are contributions to Tamil language, Tamil
culture and Tamil history. His work Kumarikkandam or Kadalkonda Thennadu
(1941) is a work based on the Theory of Lemuria. He was a member of the
Committee for writing the History of Tamil Nadu, constituted by the
Government of Tamil Nadu (1970). His writings are clear contributions to
Tamil nationalism. He was praised as „Travida Iyakkattin Gnanasiriyan‟ (The
theoretician of the Dravidian Movement). He was a strong advocate to the
theory of Tamils‟ origin in the lost Lemuria. He viewed that Sanskrit originated
only from Tamil. His work, Tennattupporkkalankal (1971) is considered to be
the best of his works. But it suffers from serious defects like improper
documentation and omitting footnotes.
___________________________________________
~30~
Pure Tamilists’ Contribution to Ethno-National History
Right from 1940‟s, Pure Tamilists made their contributions in this regard. The
Pure Tamil Movement founded by Maraimalai Adikal developed into a greater
movement. Maraimalai Adikal wrote Tamilar Matham (1941) or Tamil religion
and stated that there were only Tamils and other Dravidians inhabiting the
whole of India before the coming of the Aryans. The Tamil ethno-national
historiography has been greatly enriched by philologist-historian
Devaneyappavanar. His elaborate linguistic study helped him to contribute to
Tamil history. Devaneya Pavanar wrote more than 35 works, based on his
philological researches. In these works he had attempted to corroborate three
premises.29
1. The human race had its origin in the submerged landmass
Kumarikkandam,
2. The first language of the world was Tamil; and
3. The mother of all Dravidian languages and the source of origin of Sanskrit
(Ariyam) was Tamil.
His important contributions to Tamil historiography are Oppian Mozhinool
(1934), Tiravidattai (1944), Palantamilatchi (1952), Mutalthaimozhi (1953)
Pandai Tamil Nagarikamum Panpadum (1966), Tamil Varalaru (1967),
Vadamoli Varalaru (1967) and Tamilar Varalaru (1972). The ethno-national
Tamil historiography was enriched, following his example, by his followers like
Elankumaran, Thirumurugan and Thamizhamallan, notable Tamil scholars.
Third Phase
In the third phase, established historians made their contribution to ethnonational historiography.
K.K. Pillay, a reputed historian of Tamil Nadu, did not subscribe to ethnonationalism, but his contributions have ideas that strengthen ethno-nationalism.
A Social History of Tamils (1975) and Tamilaka Varalaru: Makkalum
Panpadum (1972) are his most important works.
K. K. Pillay views that the Tamils have developed a separate culture and it has
spread over several countries. He strongly feels that the north-Indian historians
like R. G. Bhandarkar have ignored Tamil Nadu deliberately while writing
history. K. K. Pillay accepts the theory of sea engulfing Pahruli river and
Kumari continent and thereby endorses the theory of the antiquity of Tamil
people. He refutes the arguments of K. N. Sivaraja Pillai who argues that
Tolkappium belongs to a later period as it makes a mention of all the three
Tamil rulers, the Chera, the Chola and the Pandya. K.K. Pillay argues that the
three rulers are mentioned in Hathigumpha inscription itself (second century
B.C) and so Tolkappium cannot be assigned a later date.30 Thus, he corroborates
the arguments in favour of Tamil antiquity and thereby strengthens the hands of
ethno-national historians.
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~31~
K. Rajayyan‟s works contribute to ethno-national historiography. He calls
Tamil Nadu the homeland of the Tamils and views that, in the remote past,
Dravidians lived in India throughout.31 He says that though the Tamils met with
several calamities, disorders and foreign inroads, „the people cherished their
own cultural identity to the present day‟. 32 According to him, the Aryans
introduced to the Dravidians their Brahmanic religion, Sanskrit language and
caste system. He views that several ethnic groups moved into Tamilakam and
the interaction that followed these developments affected Tamil identity
considerably.33 However, he did not fall in line with ethno-national historians in
all respects. He did not accept the existence of three Sangams and called it a
mere myth.34 He considers the expeditions of Sri Rama to the land of Ravana as
the attempt of the Aryan power to conquer the Tamils.
When the north Indian historians and Hindutvaites call the Sepoy Mutiny of
1857 „the First War of Independence‟, K. Rajayyan calls the struggle organised
by the South Indian Poligars against the English as the first war of
independence in his work South Indian Rebellion (1800-1801) the First War of
Independence (1971). He stakes the claim of the Tamils to the credit of having
first begun the war of Independence. The second edition of this work (2000) is
„dedicated to the cause of equal rights for which the Tamils of Lanka struggle
on‟.35 Thus, his works exhibit ethno-nationalism.
T.V. Sadasiva Pandarathar was known for his love for Tamil language and
Tamil nation. Pirrkala Cholar Varalaru (1949), Pandiyar Varalaru, Muthar
Kulottunga Cholan, Tamililakkiya Varalaru (Irunda Kalam), Tamililakkiya
Varalaru (13,14 & 15 centuries) and Kaveripoompattinam were his works that
filled the gaps in the history of Tamil Nadu. Sadasiva Pandarathar views that
„our Tamil Nadu was peerless under the rule of the Chera, the Chola and the
Pandyas, before it was subjected under the alien rule‟. 36 He laments over the
lack of patriotism towards the motherland, Tamil Nadu. His was a greater
contribution to Tamil Historiography, though there are no direct advocacy to
ethno-nationalism. Another notable contributor, K.Nambi Arooran has dealt
with the beginning of the Tamil Renaissance, the origin of Dravidian Movement
and Dravidian Nationalism.37 His work, the Tamil Renaissance and Dravidian
Nationalism 1905-1944 (1980) helped further researches on ethno-national line.
N. Subrahmanian‟s contribution to Tamil historiography is greater and
significant. His Sangam Polity (1966), Social and Cultural History of Tamil
Nadu (1336 AD) published in 1973 and Social and Cultural History of Tamil
Nadu (1336-1984) published in 1991 are valuable contributions. But his works
could not be set within ethno-national framework.
V. T. Chellam, besides several works on the History of Tamil Nadu, published
Tamilakam: Varalarum Pannpadum in 1995. He views that the Indus culture
was a Tamil culture. He places arguments to prove the existence of the three
Sangams during the Sangam Age. He vividly describes the Poligar wars and
___________________________________________
~32~
South Indian Rebellion (1800-1801) against the English and strengthens the
view of K. Rajayyan and credits Tamil Nadu to have risen first against the alien
rule.38 The Tamil national ideology finds reflected in his work.
Fourth Phase
In the fourth phase, Tamil historiography branched out into many on the basis
of perspectives. Generally, Marxian historians of India are Marxian in approach
and ideologically Indian nationalistic. But a new version, „Marxian approach in
Tamil Nationalistic framework‟ is found to have emerged.
1. Na.Vanamamalai has studied the Tamil literature and history in the
Marxian perspective. In his work, Tamilar Varalarum Panpadum (1966),
he has lamented over sidelining the great Tamil culture, Tamil literature
and the Tamil race that produced them. He insists that the Tamil history be
written in the Marxian approach with the tool of dialectical materialism. As
Vanamamalai considers Tamils „a people‟ with ancient glory and culture
which must be protected,39 it may be stated that he is Marxian in approach
and ethno-national in perspective.
2. Right from 1980‟s more valuable works came from Marxists, who made a
move towards ethno-nationalism. A prominent contributor is Guna of
Bangalore, a Marxist intellect and Tamil activist. His studies are based on
materialistic conception of History. His work Tamiliya Poduvudaimai
(1985) studies the history of Tamil national question. 40 Mannurimai
(2000), which speaks how Tamils lost their right over their homeland and
independent kingdoms, is an extensive study, using all the recent
epigraphical findings and historical works. It criticises the Dravidian
polities, studies how the Tamil society was recast on Varna basis under the
Pallavas and places arguments against the Aryan-Dravidian theory. 41 His
work, Chakkaravala Kottam (2005) traces the scientific advancement in
the ancient Tamilagam.42 Guna has attempted to retrieve the history of the
science of ancient Tamils. His work Valluvathin Veezhchi (1996) discusses
the Tamils‟ anuviyam or atomic science of ancient Tamils. 43
3. Another contribution in the Marxist perspective came from Ko. Kesavan,
who in his work, Tamil: Moli, Inam, Nadu (1998) studied the Tamil
society, caste and religion during the Pallava and Chola periods. He
defined „Tamilar‟ as a people and the role of the Tamil language as the
symbol of identity of the Tamils. He recognises Tamils as a nation in this
work.44
Ko. Thangavelu‟s Tamilnila Varalaru (2002) and Tamilaga Samuka Panpattu
Varalaru (2002) are significant works in Tamil national perspective. His works
have been written in chaste Tamil and evidently aim at preserving Tamil
national identity.
Ka. Pa. Aravanan, former Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar
University, is another contributor to ethno-national historiography. His Tamilar
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
~33~
Prantakam (2003), Tamilarin Tayakam (1987), Tamil Makkal Varalaru (2005),
Tamil Samuka Varalaru (1994) and several other works are of Tamil national
perspective.
The Linguistic study with Tamil Ethno-national ideological understanding is
carried on now by Pa. Aruli, who is compiling the Etymological Dictionary in
the Tamil University of Thanjavur. He has brought out several volumes, the
fruits of his long time linguistic study, which bear testimony to Tamil linguistic
and cultural heritage. He has brought to light that many technical and scientific
terms in use several world languages are of Tamil origin. His research reveals
that Tamil language is a primary classical language and Sanskrit is much
indebted to Tamil.45Attempts have been made to retrieve the Tamil
philosophical tradition. Ka. Nedunchezhian of Tamil University, Thanjavur, has
made considerable contribution in this field. Tamilar Iyankiyal: Tolkappium
and Saraha Samhita (Tamil) (2000), Asivikam Ennum Tamilar Anuviyam,
Tamilarin Adaiyalankal (2006), Sangakala Tamilar Samayam (2006) are his
works tracing the Tamil philosophy. Tamilarin Tattuva Marabu (2004) of
Arunan, the Marxist writer, is another work in that direction.
Works on Tamil Identity
Such studies are also undertaken by academics and non-academics. A lawyer by
profession, Ku.Sa.Ananthan records the struggle of the nationalities in India
including the Tamils in his work, Indhiyavil Desiya Inankalum Tamil
Desiyamum (1997).46 B.S.Chandrababu makes an ethnographical approach in
his work, Land and people of Tamil Nadu in Ethnographical Study (1996).
The doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Madras by T. Jayaraman,
„The Question of Tamil National Identity: A Study in Historical and Political
Perspective (1938-1991) (1997) studies the efforts of the Tamils through the
ages for preserving their ethnic identity. His work, „Erupatham Noorrandu
Indhiya Varalaru: Thagarnthupona Thannatchi Kanavukalum, Desiya
Inankalin Thannurimai Payanamum‟ (2004) makes a study of the struggle of all
the nationalities in India for preserving their identity and their demand for the
right of self-determination.47
Strength and Weaknesses
An integrated approach is adopted in the recent period in the ethno-national
historiography. The inter-disciplinary approach adopted by the historians helps
write a more authentic history. The findings of the researches in various fields
relevant to ethno-national history are properly used to ensure authenticity.
The weakness of the ethno-national historiography may also be analysed. The
search for national identity even leads to deficiency of historical propriety. This
is because not all the ethno-national works so far published can claim to be
scientific or authentic. Some Tamil nationalist writers find everything good in
the Tamilagam of the ancient past. For example, the glorification of the Sangam
___________________________________________
~34~
Age is to be tempered with scientific enquiries which are found lacking in the
writings of a few non-academics who attempt historical writing. There has also
developed a Tamil Romanticist School of Tamil historical writing. Some writers
of Tamil history, imbibed with a sense of tradition of Tamils‟ greatness, view
the past with sympathy and admiration. This is prone to subjectivity and so
suffers from deficiency of historicity.
Identity formation and cultural construct have taken place all over the Indian
sub-continent. The search for identity is a natural phenomenon that touches
every sphere of activity of a people. So ethno-national historiography also gets a
new impetus. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, ethno-national historical
writing has been going on right from the first quarter of the twentieth century
and it has gained more attention now, after the rise of the Tamil identity
politics. It is a welcome development as the horizon of Tamil historiography
gets widened. Any historiography must be objective. Nationalist historiography
is an acknowledged subjectivity, which is as much a crime as „Regionalism‟.
Nationalist historiography is a committed historiography, prone to subjectivity
and bias. Distortion of history is to be condemned and carefully averted at all
levels, so that historical research could be made meaningful.
It may be understood that the Tamil ethno-national historiography is not a genre
of history. It recognises the Tamils as „a people‟, makes a systematic study to
unearth their past and thereby helps preserve the Tamils‟ identity at present. The
Tamils‟ religion, Tamil philosophical tradition, Tamil medicine, Tamils‟
engineering and town planning, Tamils‟ science and technology, Tamil
materialism, ancient Tamils‟ ideas on atom, etc. -are the new areas the ethnonationalists are presently working on. A highly critical attitude combined with
systematic efforts and scientific approach will make ethno-national
historiography more authentic and enable it gain acceptability among the
historians as the right perspective to study any „People‟. Historical writing must
be taken ahead, adopting an approach more scientific, guided by the principle of
uncompromising objectivity, towards the goal of bringing out the historical
reality.
Endnotes
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group. Retrieved 26 February2013; The word
„ethnic‟, an adjective, has also been used as a noun in this article for want of an
appropriate technical term in English to denote a large ethnic nationality like the
Tamils.
2. Ibid.
3. According to Bluntschli, nation is “a union of masses of men bound together
especially by language as customs in a common civilization which gives them a
sense of unity and distinction from all foreigners quite apart from the bond of the
state” and “it is of an ethnic unity, inhabiting a territory of a geographic unity”.
When a nation forms a state it is a nation-state. “Thus not every state is a nation
and not every nation a state”. Quoted in Madan Gopal Gupta, „Modern
___________________________________________
T. Jayaraman
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
~35~
Governments Theory and Practice, Central Book Depot, Allahabad, 1969,
pp. 24-25.
Quoted in, Murasoli Maran, Manila Suyatci (State Autonomy), Puthaka Cholai,
Chennai, 1974, p. 456.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_and_nationalism. Retrieved 26 Feb
2013.
Quoted in, V. Manickam, On History and Historiography, Clio Publications,
Madurai, 2003, p. 143.
Ibid., p. 147.
Ibid., p. 149.
R. Champakalaxmi, „Historiography of South India - New Directions‟,
Presidential Address, Historiography Section, Proceedings of the South Indian
History Congress - Seventh Session, Madras, 9-11 January 1987, p. 5
Robert Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian
Family of Languages (1856), Trubner and Co., London, II ed. 1875, Introduction.
P. Sundaram Pillay, „Some Milestones in the History of Tamil Literature‟, Padit
D. Savariroyan (ed.), The Tamilian Antiquary, AES, New Delhi, (1909) 1986.
Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliyar, Molinool, (Philology), Tamil University,
Thanjavur, (1913) 1985.
P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, History of the Tamils, New Delhi: Asian Educational
Services, New Delhi, (1929) 1989, p. 2.
Ibid., p. 3.
Ibid., p. 2.
Ibid., pp. 4-5
T. R. Sesha Iyengar, Dravidian India, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi,
(1925) 1982, p. xi.
Ibid., p. 61.
Ibid., p. 57.
Ibid.
V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, Origin and Spread of the Tamils, The South India
Saiva Siddhata Works Pub. Society, Madras, (1947) 1971.
Ibid., pp. 3-4.
M. A. Purnalingam Pillai, Tamil Indhia (Tamil India), (Tamil), The South India
Saiva Siddhanta Works Pub. Society, Tinnevelly, (1927) 1945, p. 18.
Na. Si. Kanthaiya Pillai, Tamilagam (Tamil Country), (Tamil), Kazhagam,
Tirunelveli, (1934, 1948) 1955, Introduction.
Na. Si. Kanthaiya Pillai, Tamil Indhiya (Tamil India), (Tamil), Kazhagam,
Tirunelveli, (1945, 1949) 1959.
Na.Si. Kanthaiya Pillai, Indhu Samaya Varalaru (History of the Hindu Society),
(Tamil), Vizhuthukal, Chennai, (1960) 2003.
Natana.Kasinathan and Ma. Chandhiramurthy (ed.), Pandaithadayam (Ancient
Evidences), Collection of Articles, (Tamil), Manivasakar Veliyeedu, Chennai,
2005, p. 227.
Ibid., p. 228.
___________________________________________
~36~
29. Devaneya Pavanar, Oppian Molinool (Comparative Linguistics), (Tamil),
Kazhagam, Tirunelveli, (1934) 1971; Tiravida Thai, (The Mother of Dravida),
(Tamil), Thamizhmann Pathippakam, Chennai, (1944) 2000.
30. K. K. Pillay, Tamilaga Varalaru: Makkalum Panpadum (History of the People
and Culture of the Tamil Country) (Tamil), International Institute of Tamil
Studies, Chennai, (1972) 2000, pp. 111-112.
31. K. Rajayyan, Tamil Nadu - A Real History, Ratna Publications, Madurai, 2005,
p. 17.
32. Ibid., p. 16.
33. Ibid., p. 20.
34. Ibid., p. 32.
35. K. Rajayyan, South Indian Rebellion 1800-1801: The First War of Independence,
Ratna Publications, Madurai, (1971) 2000.
36. Sadasiva Pandarathar, Pirkala Solar Varalaru (History of the Later Cholas),
(Tamil), Annamalai University Publication, Annamalai nagar, 1974, Introduction.
37. K. Nambi Arooran, The Tamil Renaissance and Dravidian Nationalism 19051944, Koodal Publishers, Madurai, 1980.
38. V.T. Chellam, „Tamilakam: Varalarum Panpadum‟ (History and Culture of the
Tamil Country), (Tamil), Manivasakar Pathippakam, Chennai, 1995, Chap.3 & 4.
39. Na. Vanamamalai, Tamilar Varalarum Panpadum (History and Culture of the
Tamils), (Tamil), NCBH, Chennai, 1966, pp.1-9.
40. Guna, Thamiliya Poduvudaimai (The Tamilistic Communism), (Tamil), Forum
for Research on Tamil Nadu, Bangalore, 1985.
41. Guna, Mannurimai (The Right over the Homeland) - Vol.1(Tamil), Thamizhaka
Ayvaran, Bangalore, 2000; also see, Guna, Tamilar Varalaru (History of the
Tamils), (Tamil), Tamilaga Ayvaran, Bangalore, (1994), ed.III, 2011.
42. Guna, Chakkaravalakkottam, (Tamil), Verkal, Trichy, 2005.
43. Guna, Valluvathin Veelchi (The Decline of Valluvam), (Tamil), Ayvaran,
Bangalore, 1996.
44. Ko. Kesavan, Tamil: Moli-Inam-Nadu (Tamil: Language - Race - Nation),
(Tamil), Alaikal Veliyeettakam, Chennai, 1998, p.36.
45. Pa. Aruli, Nam Semmoli (Our Classical Language), (Tamil), Veriyam,
Puducherry, 2005.
46. Ku.Sa. Anandhan, Indhiyavil Desiya Inankalum Tamil Desiyamum (The Nations
in India and Tamil Nationalism), (Tamil), Kobichettipalayam, 1997.
47. T. Jayaraman, ‘Erupatham Noorrandu Indhiya Varalaru: Thagarnthupona
Thannatchi Kanavukalum, Desiya Inankalin Thannurimai Payanamum‟ (20th
Century History of India: The Shattered Dreams of State Autonomy and the
March of the Nations towards National Self-determination), (Tamil),
Manibharathi Pathippakam, Chidambaram, 2004.
_____
___________________________________________
C. Thomas
~37~
TIRUVALLUVAR’S CONCEPT OF STATE FORMATION
AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE POLITICS OF THE
SANGAM AGE (TAMIL ACADEMY)
___________
Dr. C. Thomas
Associate Professor, Department of History, Periyar EVR College (Autonomous),
___________________________________
A „State‟ is a political association with effective sovereignty over a geographic
area. State is an organization that claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of
physical force within a given territory. The Tamilagam of the Sangam Age
witnessed the transformation of tribalism to state formation over the ages.
Tamilagam was rich in natural and manmade resources. Tinai concept that
evolved in Tamilagam, together with the bio-diversity that available in the
different parts and the intellectual contribution of Tiruvalluvar led to the State
formation. In this paper an attempt is made to discuss the background for
theoretical concept of the State by Tiruvalluvar and its effects on the politics of
Tamilagam in the Sangam Age. This paper is prepared based on primarily the
ancient classical Tamil literature.
Geography of Ancient Tamilagam
Tholkappiyam speaks about the boundary of Tamilagam.1 According to the
author of Tholkappiyam the Tamilagam was extended from Venkata hill in the
modern Tirupati in the north to Cape Comerin in the south, Bay of Bengal in the
east and Arabian Sea in the west. Tamilagam was a nation state of the Tamils
because it possessed six important elements to be required for a nation i.e., (i) a
defined boundary (ii) a government (iii) cultural homogeneity (iv) possession of
a Tamil literary heritage (v) common habits and customs and (vi) the social
heredity.2 The rulers and people accepted Tamil as a common language and
hence they gave regional names to their dominions - the Cheras, the Cholas and
the Pandyas and minor powers. It is said that nearly 300 kings including the
major and chieftains existed in Tamilagam. These crowned rulers and the
chieftains patronized and promoted Tamil language. 3 The people who lived in
this region had same Aham and Puram ethics of life as prescribed by the Tamil
literature.4
Tamilagam was divided into thirteen Nadus or Provinces. They were Pandi,
Thenpandi, Kuddam, Kudam, Karka, Van, Pooei, Panri, Aruva, Aruva-Vadatali,
Cheetham, Maladu and Puna-nadu.5 The important seaports on the eastern coast
were Kaveripumpattinam, Korkai and Kayal on the east coast and Muziri and
Tondi were on the west coast. The Cape Comerin was a sacred bathing place. In
the former days the mountain called Kumarikkodu and a large tract of country
___________________________________________
Tiruvalluvar‟s Concept of State Formation
~38~
watered by the river Pahruli had existed in the south of Cape Comerin. During
the violent eruption of the sea, the mountain Kumarikkodu and the whole of the
country through which flowed the Pahruli had disappeared. 6
Formation of the Thinai and Evolution of the Bio-power States in
Tamilagam
Geographically Tamilagam was separated into several zones by mountains,
forests, river valleys, seashores and the land not suitable for regular system of
agriculture due to lack of sufficient water resources. The social life, fine arts
and folk songs were differed from one division to another. So that the Tamil
literature developed with the influence of the geographical factors of a
particular division and progressed into five types of Tinai literature, known as
Kurinji, Mullai, Marudham, Neythal and Palai. The term Tinai is basically
referred to either behavioural or physiographic, it includes the social ethics of
the people, family life, welfare and external life. 7 This situation is
conceptualized in the form of symbols of various biodiversity. The Pandya zone
is symbolized by fish, indicating the bio-diversity of the sea including the
fishes, pearl and sea resources which decided the economy and eco-bio power
of the zone. The Pandyas were the pioneers in the promotion of coastal and
international trade. The symbol of the Cheras, the bow and arrow represents the
conceptual bio-power form of the economy of the hilly region. The hilly
products such as species and ivory were having high demand in Greeco-Roman
world. The international trading centres in the Chera region, Karur and Port
Muziri played an important role in the eco-power associated with bow and
arrow. Tiger symbol is equated with eco-zone of Mullai or pastoral and fertile
region of Tamilagam, commanded by the Cholas.8 The symbols of the
traditional monarchs such as the Fish, Bow and Arrow and Tiger are depicted
through their coins. These coins were not only the royal insignias of the royal
dynasties but also the symbol of the ecological bio-power of their countries.
They were not born out of any religious beliefs. The coins of the Sangam rulers
were unique one because they are the first series in the whole of India to
allocate one side of the coins solely reserved for indicating the country‟s
symbols.
Origin of the State in Tamilagam
There are different views about the existence of the state in the Tamilagam of
the Sangam Age. M. G. S. Narayanan and K. A. Nilakanda Sastri of the opinion
that the state was never existed in Tamilagam of Sangam Age. 9 According to C.
E. Ramachandran, the Cholas under Karikala, the Pandyas under
Neduncheliyan and the Cheras under Senguttuvan attained imperial status by
defeating other rulers of the south. The rock edit of Asoka would make it clear
that the three kingdoms were independent and powerful enough to be treated as
friendly states.10 V.Manickam in his work Tamizhar Vazhviyal said that during
the Sangam Age the tribal character changed into a state. He also claims along
___________________________________________
C. Thomas
~39~
with other scholars that as the Tamil form Ko is referred the king and it is taken
from “Kon” refers to cowherd (aayar) , the state in Tamilagam was originated in
the Mullai region. This region was geographically suitable to build fortress.
According to him the sheep and cows were protected by persons known as
Milainger and they were safely protected at Kurumba and Milai . The stick used
by the cowherd became sceptre of the king. Therefore the state formation
originated in Mullai region.11 The Iron weapons which were largely
manufactured in the Iron Age also helped the Tribal Chieftain to turn as a heroic
leader. Subsequently the leader retained the control over the excess of
production of the places where the port, the palace and industries existed
became an urban centres and the agricultural region remained as rural areas. 12
Generally the Tamil terms Kilan, Mannan, Velir, Ko and Vendan refers to the
leader.13 However the term Vendan was used to refer the crowned king of the
Chera, Chola and Pandya dynasties. 14 They occupied a vast territorial area
including different ecological segments like hills, fertile land, ports, mineral
resources and trading centres.
In the course of time the Marudam became the core region of the state
formation because in those days the agriculture was the major occupation of the
people and the main source of income to the government. In this way the
Periyar river, Kaveri river and Vaigai river played an important role to the
Cheras, Cholas and the Pandyas. Theoretically speaking the social contract
theory based state formation occurred in ancient Tamilagam. According to
V.Manickam in the beginning there was a tribal character of the society. Due to
change in the fertile land, the state formation occurred in Tamilagam during the
3rd century B.C. He supported it with the evidence revealed in Asoka‟s
inscription in the 3 rd century B.C. about three ruling dynasties of Tamilagam. 15
The collaborative evidences based on the archaeological excavations may help
to fix the approximate date of origin of the state in the Tamilagam. Nearly 300
inscribed potsherds were unearthed in sixteen archaeological sites which prove
that the Tamil-Brahmi scripts were used by the different strata of the society in
the rural and urban areas.16 The letters found in them reveal the literary
progress, polity and social formation of the people. K.Rajan believed that the
evolution or the origin of the Tamil script right go well beyond 3 rd century B.C.
During the 3rd century B.C the literary advancement was prevailed throughout
the region of Tamilagam because the script was found in various places. The
urn burials excavated from the various places and the carbon testing help to
understand the social organizations in Tamilagam. The radio carbon date of 785
B.C got from the excavation at Korkai, a port in the Pandya kingdom on the
mouth of Tamirabarani on the east of Adichanallur.17 The latest excavation held
at Adichanallur in 2004 A.D. brought out a motif, Tamil Brahmi scripts in
seven letters inscribed inside the urn, habitation site and a fortified town with a
separate potters‟ quarters.18 Based on the artefacts found in the recent
excavation, C.Sathyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist and the Director of
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the excavation argued that the Adichanallur iron age site could be dated from
B.C.1000 to B.C.300.19 The excavation of an urn burial site at Mangadu in the
Chera kingdom, presently located in the Kerala state yielded the radio carbon
date as the first millennium B.C. 20 These excavations reveal the social
formation existed in these regions. The evolution and development of social
formation led to the political organization.
The hoards of Roman coins found in the different parts of Tamilagam and the
availability of the local coins indicate the amount of the maritime contact and
the external trade between Tamilagam and the Roman empire prior to the 3 rd
century B.C.21 Further, the Tamil-Brahmi script bearing potsherds revealing the
names of the Tamil merchants like Kanan, Catan and Korrapuman were found
on the Red Sea coast particularly at Quseir al -Qadim and Berenice and the
Papyrus written in Greek language on Muziri- Alexandria Trade contact help to
understand Tamils‟ contact with the foreign countries much earlier. Besides, the
Dravidian words like tuki, oryza and zingiber found in the Old Testament
indicates the Tamils had a widespread contact with the rest of the world through
the ports like Korkai, Kaveripattinam and Arikkamedu managed by the well
established state system. According to K.Rajan this trade contact gives immense
example of a state in Tamilagam well before 3rd century B.C.22
The epigraphic evidence also helps to understand the existence of a strong
political authority in Tamilagam during much earlier. Karavela, the king of
Kalinga in his inscription at Hathihumpa Cave (Elephenta Cave) mentions that
when he visited Tamilagam during 165 B.C, he found that an agreement had
been in force since 1300 years ago. As per the agreement if any outsider
attacked Tamil region all the kings would join together and drive away
the enemy.23 Thus the transformation from tribalism to state formation
occurred much earlier than the date in which Asoka made reference about the
three rulers in Tamilagam. They were very powerful and strong enough during
the 3rd century B.C. at the time Asoka referred about them in his Rock
Edict-XIII.
The state formation in Tamilagam occurred around B.C. 1000 in the Iron Age
before the beginning of the Tamil Academy or Sangam Age. The period of
Tamil Academy is about between B.C. 5th century to 3rd century A.D.24 In the
beginning there were many chieftains and lesser ones. As the role of the
chieftains became hereditary, three families – the Cheras, the Cholas, and the
Pandyas became powerful. They took the responsibility of protecting the estates
or kingdoms, the people and their property. As they were the Tamil origin, they
had a league among them. The socio-political formation reached its completion
in the hey days of the Sangam Age, when the three families of rulers - the
Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas took reigns of the state as the crowned
kings.
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C. Thomas
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Date of Tholkappiyam and Tirukkural
According to Devaneya Pavanar, the Tholkappiyam was written in the 7th
century B.C. Before writing Tholkappiyam there were hundreds of grammatical
works and thousands of literary works. 25 Devaneyar also fixed the date of
Tirukkural approximately 2nd century B.C.26 According to Ilampuranar, who
wrote commentary to Tholkappiyam Chollathikaram, Tolkappiar lived before
6th century B.C. Tholkappiyam was written a few centuries before Tirukkural
was written.27
Thamizhannal in his monograph Tholkappiar wrote that the Tholkappiyam
mentioned about 230 earlier authors of the works. Therefore, he wrote
grammatical works after studying the previous works. 28 It shows that there was
a literary progress in Tamilagam prior to Tholkappiyam was written. The
scientific grammatical approach was given in Tholkappiyam. Thamizhannal
argued that when Tholkappiyar had lived Kumaricode and Kumari river existed.
They were submerged by sea water in the second deluge. Therefore the
remaining Kumarimunai (Cape Comerin) exists. Hence Tholkappiyar lived
between the first deluge and the second deluge. Thamizhannal said that
Tiruvalluvar in the Kural 292, used the term puraitheerntha (unsullied) which
he adopted from Tholkappiyam. Further he argued that Tholkappiyam provided
muppal concept, which deals with the three aspects of life, namely, aram, porul
and inbam to Tirukkural. Therefore Tirukkural was written after
Tholkappiyam.29 He said that if the upper age of Sangam period is fixed as 5 th
century B.C., Tholkappiyam was written about 1000 B.C. or before. Therefore,
Tholkappiyam was written before the Sangam literature were prepared. 30 He
also said that Tirukkural had written a few centuries before Silappathikaram
and Manimekalai were finalized because a lot of influence of Tirukkural was
found in Silapathikaram.31 Hence, Tirukkural was written prior to finalising the
works such as Silapathikaram, Pattinappalai, Purananuru, Manimekalai and
other Tamil literary works which describe about the ports, trade, foreign
contacts, fortresses, army, judicial system, territory, revenue and people that
contributed for the development of the state system in Tamilagam. Tirukkural
explains the concept and elements of the state and other post – Tirukkural
literature reveal the effective implementation of those elements.
Tiruvalluvar’s Concept of State Formation
There were a lot of texts which refer to the elements of the state. Prior to
Tiruvalluvar, there existed the tribal form of the states in Tamilagam. Therefore
Tiruvalluvar visualized the concept of the state to create strong kingdoms in
Tamilagam. Tiruvalluvar visualised for having seven elements for a state. He
explained these seven elements in the chapters 39 and 74. In chapter 39, poem
381 he traces the six elements of the state namely the army, people, wealth,
council, allies and fort.32 In chapter 74 he enumerates details about the country
and said that it should be managed by an efficient and good ruler. 33 Thus he
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identified seven elements of the state which should be revolved around the
King.
While highlighting the essential of the ruler, Tiruvalluvar advised that a king
should possess four kingly characters namely daring, liberality, wisdom and
perseverance.34 He attributed unswerving righteousness, steering clear of things,
protecting his subjects, learning, resoluteness, unfailing volour, guarding
honour,35 pleasant speech and benevolent grace are the essential characters
required for a ruler. He said that a good king would devise mean to enrich
treasury, protect it and spent it without wasting money for the prosperity of the
people.36 In other poem, he said that those who possessed magnificent,
benevolent equitable and caring for others would be considered beacon among
the kings. In Kural 388 and 541 tracing the importance of a just ruler and
justice, he said that a just ruler is the one who examines the cases in
consultation of his advisors and deliver justice in an impartial way. If any ruler
who protects his subjects with just rule, he will be considered as the God on the
earth.37 If the ruler is unjust and gives torture to the subjects, such ruler is worse
than a murderer.38 Thus Tiruvalluvar expects that the King should possess
wisdom to discriminate between right and wrong and good and evil. Therefore,
Tirukkural considers learning and wisdom of the king would help him to run the
state smoothly. With regards to the responsibility of the ministerial office, its
members should possess five important qualities namely the resoluteness,
nobility of birth, caring heart, strength of learning and perseverance. A minister
must be impartial, should understand the pros and cons of the events, must be
precise in his expression and deavour to create public opinion in his favour.
Tracing the importance of the army and the qualities to be possessed by the
soldier, in the Kural 770 he said that the army should be led by an able and
efficient commander.39 In the poem 766, he traces that valour, honour, walking
the path of tradition glorified and clean goal were the four characters of a good
soldier.40 In the poem 774, he said that a good soldier would stand in the battle
field till all the bows were exhausted and he would feel happy to receive the
wound on the chest by piercing the bows of the enemy. Tiruvalluvar in the
poem 776 said that for a good soldier, the day is not an auspicious day in which
he did not receive wound on the chest. 41 Thus Tiruvalluvar expected that the
army should consist of trained and dedicated soldiers possessing the patriotic
spirit of protecting the country.
Tiruvalluvar traced the general aspects of the fortification. A fort should have
open space, hills and lovely shaded woods. The walls of the fort should have
loftiness, expansiveness, solidity and impregnability. 42 A fort should have
enough stock of provision guarded by the soldiers, fitted with weapons and the
facility to attack the enemy from inside. Tiruvalluvar said that inspite the fort
possessed all the things discussed above, if there had no able ruler to manage it,
having such a strategic fort did not have any benefit to the public. 43 Tirukkural
also enumerated the need for a permanent source of revenue to the state and
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C. Thomas
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well planned expenditure. The income from the estates of the persons to whom
there was no legitimate heir, taxes from the land and commerce, and the tributes
from the defeated and subordinate princes should be source of revenue to the
state.44 Tirukkural insisted that a ruler might spend the state revenue for the
security and the prosperity of the people.
Tiruvalluvar also considered the role and importance of a country (territory) in
the state formation. Tiruvalluvar said that the possessing a lake, tank, river,
canal, big mountain, rainfall and fort are the important requirements for a
country. Tiruvalluvar further added that free from epidemics, possessing riches,
production, happiness of the people and security measures are the five jewels of
a country. Besides, a country should be a self contained with enormous
agricultural production.45 The people in the country should pay a regular tax to
the government 46 to meet all the essential expenses and work hard to make it a
self contained and prosperous one. Tiruvalluvar said that even though if a
country possessed all these things, if there is no strong ruler, the existence of
remaining gifts has no value.47 Thus Tiruvalluvar considered the country should
also a part of a state which should possess a strong ruler to regulate its
resources, protect the people and coordinate the subjects to make it a self
contained one. Tiruvalluvar expected that the people should be duty bound by
paying taxes and involving in the production of agricultural products. Yet the
people in a country could be happy under a genuine, just, sincere and able ruler.
Though Tiruvalluvar highlighted the seven elements of the state, he considered
the king should be the centre and pivotal of the state. Hence, Tiruvalluvar
treated the king himself as the state who could control and manage the seven
elements for the sustainable development of the people. When Tiruvalluvar
mentioned about occupation, he gave importance to the development of
agriculture because in those days the agriculture was the main profession of the
people and expect the metal processing industry, most of the other occupations
depended on the progress of agriculture. And he gave priority to agricultural
economy.
Though Tirukkural has not dealt with the theories of the origin of the state it
simply envisages a well established kingdom with a righteous and powerful
king as the head. Tiruvalluvar‟s concept of state is associated with social
contract theory of the state formation. As per the contract, people should be
involved in hard work for the improvement of the productive force and they
should pay regular tax to the government, in return the ruler should provide
protection to the subjects and their property.
As regards to the concept of the state revealed by Tiruvalluvar, V. Manickam
argues that Tirukkural focused on six elements alone namely the army, people,
wealth, council, allies and fort.48 In fact, Tiruvalluvar said that the country
should be managed by an able and efficient and just ruler. So, along with the
country Tiruvalluvar considered seven elements required for a state.
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Tiruvalluvar‟s concept of state is differed from Kautilya‟s Saptanka Theory of
the state. In the case of the latter, the king was treated as one of the elements of
the state. The seven elements of the state according to Kautilya are swami
(King), amatya (council), janapata (territory and population), durga (fort), kosa
(treasury), danda (army) and mitra (allies).49 Hence Tiruvalluvar and Kautilya
are differed in tracing the theoretical framework of the state. Based on this
Sivapathy argues that the concept of state conceptualized by Tiruvalluvar was
not a matured one because he expected that the state machinery should function
depending on the performance of the king.50 In fact the Tiruvalluvar‟s concept
of the state according to Sivapathy which was not a matured one was not
realistic. Tiruvalluvar when he contemplated the concept of the state, the tribal
elements of the states were existed in Tamilagam. Therefore, Tiruvalluvar
visualized for a strong state in the respective region, under an able ruler. Further
Tiruvalluvar visualized to have a ruler who might be the representative of the
people. Hence, Tirukkural excluded the king from the elements of the state.
Regarding the concept of the state, N.Subramanian and R.Rajalakshmi argue
that the six aspects (the army, the populace, the economic resources, the
advisory body, the allies and the defences) mentioned in the kural, 381 are the
anga or the limbs of the king and there is no concept of the state mentioned in
the Tirukurral. But the king was treated as absolutely superior element apart
from anyone or all these angas.51 Tirukkural wanted to see that the king or the
ruler should be a separate organ and he should be the representative of the
people to form and control the state. So Tiruvalluvar excluded the ruler from the
elements of the state. In fact, Tiruvalluvar laid the idea for the foundation of a
strong representative executive form of government, vested the ruler with
sovereignty to control the country, people, army, economic resources, advisory
body, allies and fort.
Relevance of Tiruvalluvar’s Concept of State in the Sangam Polity
The relevance of Tiruvalluvar‟s concept of the state formation is revealed
through other post –Tirukkural Tamil literature of the Sangam Age. A few
poems of Purananuru, Silapathikaram and Pattinappalai speak about the
development of the states in Tamilagam with seven elements conceptualized by
Tiruvalluvar. In the Purananuru poems there were references about the
importance of just rule of a ruler. The poem 55, said that the real justice and just
rule was a good character of a king. 52 In another poem 186, it is written that
even though a country possessed a vast water resource and agricultural
resources particularly paddy, its growth depended on the just rule of a king. 53 In
another poem 10 it is said that in the case of criminal cases, the king should
deliver justice with deep analysis without accepting the views of the unjust
persons.54
Poems in the Purananuru and Silapathikaram mention the Fort of Pandiyan
Nedunchezhian, the ruler of Madurai. The fort was very height and surrounded
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by high towers and the moat was filled with water and different types of fishes
such as Valai, Aral, Varal and Keliru.55 The moat was surrounded by a thick
jungle of thorny trees. There were four gates to the fort. The roads leading to the
gates were wide enough for several elephants to pass abreast. On the walls of
both sides of the entrance, there were all kinds of weapons and missiles
concealed ready to be discharged on an enemy. The gates of the fort were
guarded by the Yavana soldiers.56 The principal streets in the city were the royal
street, the market street, the streets of the courtesans and dancing girls and the
streets where dwelt the goldsmiths, corn dealers and merchants and jeweler‟s
market.57 Another important fort was found in Vanchi, the capital of Chera
Kingdom. The flags were flying on the fort. Arms and ammunitions were kept
inside the fort. The crocodiles were found in the moat which surrounded the
fort.58
There are references in the Sangam literature, about the emporium of
Kaveripumpattinam in the Caveri delta region during the reign of Karikalan
Chola alias Tirumavalavan (A.D. 50-95). As Kaveripumpattinam became an
international trading centre, horses, sandal woods, pearls etc. were brought for
trade. There was a custom house in which the custom duty was collected. After
clearing the custom duty, the goods were kept in the ware houses, godowns and
docks and pions stamping with tiger emblem. 59 Kaveripumpattinam became an
urban and commercial centre in which the people who spoke different
languages were settled there.60 The sources of crop reaped from the hills in the
Chera region together with the strategic location of Muziri and Tondi ports on
the western coast contributed for the international trade. Muziri, located near
Periyar river was a thriving town where the beautiful large ships of Yavanas
bringing gold and in return laden with pepper. Tondi was another flouring
seaport, located on the banks of Makkali or the big salt river which is known as
Agalapulai.61 Besides, the development of pearl fishing contributed for the
development of international trade with Pandya kingdom. There are references
in the accounts of Strabo and Pliny about the trade contact between India and
Rome. Strabo in his account dated A.D.19 wrote that nearly 120 ships started
from Mayes-Hermos port in the Red Sea to trade with India. Pliny in his
account highlighting the trade between India and Egypt, which was the part of
the Roman empire wrote that every year nearly five-and-a half sesterces
(Ancient–Greeco-Roman coin) i.e., 4,86,979 English gold coins were taken to
India for trading purpose. In return, valuable goods were taken from India and
which were sold for 100 times more than the actual price.62 Of which a
considerable portion of trade was done with Tamilagam. Besides, Karikalan
built high banks along the both sides of the Kaveri river and constructed check
dam with sluices and canal to distribute and regulate water supply.63 It is still
known as Kallanai which stands as one of the international master pieces. The
irrigation system of the territory watered by Kaveri was improved and the grain
sown there yielded a thousand-fold.64 After the establishment of the British
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colonial rule in Tamil country in 1804 A.D. by Captain Caldwell repaired the
grand anicut (Kallanai) and provided dam stone over the previous granite check
dam erected by Karikala Chola. 65 Besides, Silapathikaram reveals about
Kannaki‟s attempt to seek justice from the Court of the Pandya ruler following
the murder of her husband, Kovalan. Thus the practice of seeking justice
directly from the king‟s court was also existed.
Tiruvalluvar‟s conception of state was a welfare state under the charge of a
righteous ruler. Tiruvalluvar emphasized that the practice of righteousness is
entirely depended on proper performance of duties and responsibilities of the
king and his officials and the people. He also highlighted that proper
discharging the duties and responsibilities by the king and the officials would
lead to the creation of a prosperous, peaceful and welfare state. The Kural does
not deal with the theories of the origin of the state but simply envisages a well
established kingdom with a righteous and powerful head at the top. Tiruvalluvar
advocated for strong representative ruler because those who has possessed a
certain qualities could continue as a ruler with the will of the people. The
political philosophy of Tiruvalluvar laid down that the qualifications and
functions of a ruler. Tiruvalluvar considered that when a just and benevolent
ruler emerged he would not play a role of autocrat and should not torture the
subjects. Hence Tirukkural was the first text in India which conceptualized the
idea of representative head of the state. Tirukkural envisages the ruler must be a
law-abiding person. Hence Tiruvalluvar may be called as the Father of Concept
of Constitutional Executive in India.
Thus the bio-diversity in Tamilagam particularly, the agricultural products in
Chola region, marine resources of the Pandya kingdom and hilly products of the
Chera country contributed for the emergence of the bio-power state formation.
Before Tiruvalluvar conceptualized the concept of state, there had been no such
strong state existed in Tamilagam. Tiruvalluvar‟s ideas of state also reflected
through other works of the Sangam literature. When the states were emerged
powerful in Tamilagam each state was identified with an emblem i.e., Fish for
Pandyas, Bow and Arrow for the Cheras and Tiger for the Cholas. As there had
not been existed friendly relations among these three kingdoms due to frequent
battles together with other factors these states were declined in the 3 rd century
A.D.
Endnotes
1. tlnt¦fl© bj‹Fkç Mæil¤ jäœ TW© ešYyf¤J , Tolkappiyam, Payiram, 1.
2. P. Nedumaran, Manitakulamum Tamil Thesiyamum, Vallinam, August 3 to
January 4, No.6-7 (Tamil), p.33.
3. Ibid., p. 33.
4. Ibid., p. 34.
5. V.Kanagasabhai, The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Tinnavelly, 1966,
p. 12.
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C. Thomas
~47~
6. ‚ g~Wë ah‰Wl‹ g‹kiy aL¡f¤J¡ Fkç¡ nfhL© bfhL¦flš bfhŸs‛
Cf. Silapathikaram, 11: 19-22.
7. Thamizhannal, Tolkappiyar, Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, 2009. p. 69.
8. T. Sundararaj, Social and Cultural Aspects of Aspects of Tamil Nadu, Sundar
Publications, Tiruchirappalli, 2006, p. 25.
9. M. Kandasamy, Symbols of the Three Ancient Tamil Dynasties, (Manuscripts),
Oct 1998, Quoted in T. Sundararaj, op. cit., p. 25.
10. C. E. Ramachandran, Ahananuru in its Historical Settings, University of Madras,
Madras, 1974, p. 22.
11. V. Manickam, Tamizhar Vazhviyal, Clio Publications, Madurai, 2010, pp.
358-359.
12. Ibid., 360.
13. Ibid., 361.
14. Ibid., 366.
15. Ibid., 369.
16. K. Rajan, “Sangam Age: An Archaeological Perspective”, Indian Historical
Studies, Vol.I, Issue 1, Tiruchirappalli, October 2004, p. 7.
17. Ibid., p. 4.
18. www.http://en.wikipeidia .org/wiki/Adichanallur. Accessed on July 10th 2013
19. The Hindu, Friday, May 25th 2007.
20. K.Rajan, op. cit., p. 4.
21. Ibid., p. 11.
22. Ibid., p. 12. Moreover, the date of Tamil letter „Va yi ra‟ written on the base of
the pot found in Porunthal, a recently excavated place near Palani in Tamil Nadu
last year, is fixed between 790 B.C. and 490 B.C. after scientific analysis using
Accelarator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) by the Beta Analytic Lab (USA).
23. M. Kandasamy, “One thousand three hundred years of „Mooventher Kotpadu‟ –
Tredenial kings agreement (1465 B.C to 165 B.C)”, Indian Historical Studies,
Vol. I, Issue 2, April 2005, p. 12.
24. For details see K.Sadasivam, “Age of the Sangam:An Archaeo-Historical
Perspective” Indian Historical Studies Vol. IX, No.2, April 2013, p. p. 78-95.
25. Devaneya Pavanar, Tamilar Varalaru, Tamilmann Publications, Chennai, 1972,
pp. 39-41.
26. Ibid., p. 135.
27. Ilampuranar, Tolkappiam - Chollathikaram, Tamilmann Pathippagam, Chennai,
2003, p. 45.
28. Thamizhannal, Tolkappiyar, op. cit., p. 23.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid., p. 31.
31. Ilampuranar, op. cit., p. 5.
32. Tirukkural, 381.
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~48~
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
Tirukkural, Chapter 74.
Tirukkural, 352.
Ibid., 383.
Ibid., 385-390.
Ibid., 388 and 541.
Ibid., 551.
Ibid., 632 and 770.
Ibid., 766.
Ibid., 776.
Ibid., 743.
Ibid. Thiruvalluvar speaks about fortress of safety in this whole chapter. All the
ten couplets, from 741 to 750, are dedicated to this topic.
Ibid., 756.
Ibid., 737-739.
Ibid., 733.
Ibid., 740.
V.Manickam, op. cit., p. 370.
R. S. Sharma, Aspects of political ideas and institutions in Ancient India, Delhi
1996, pp. 31-39.
V. Manickam, op. cit., p. 371.
N. Subramanian and R. Rajalakshmi, The Concordance of Tirukkurral (With a
Critical Introduction), Ennes Publication, Madurai, 1984, p. c.
Purananuru, 55.
Ibid., 186.
Ibid., 10.
Ibid., 18.
Silapathikaram, 14, 62-67.
Ibid., 14: 143-218.
Ibid., 26: 62, 30:51.
Pattinappalai, 135 and 40.
Ibid., 215.
Ibid., p. 16.
K. Appathurai, (trans.), V.Kanagasabhai‟s Ayirathonnuru Andukatku Murpatta
Tamilagam, Poompukar Publication, Chennai, 2003, pp. 62-63.
Silapathikaram, 10: 108-111.
V. Kanagasabhai, The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Madras, 1966, p. 68.
A. Mohanakrishnan, Selected Papers on Irrigation, IMPI, Madurai, 1990, p. 105
_____
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
___________________________________________
A. Maria Arul Raja
~49~
PRINTING LIVING ORALITY TO REACH OUT
TO THE LEAST: PIONEERING EFFORTS
OF HENRIQUE HENRIQUES
___________
Dr. A. Maria Arul Raja, SJ
Research Guide, IDCR, Loyola College, Chennai
___________________________________
Intervention in the Divided Society
The 16th century Christianity encountered in Tamil soil the following religious
tenets: unorganized popular religious practices centred around some of the folk
deities, and the organized elite religious practices centred around the Saivite and
Vaishnavite temples. The minority of the elite were controlling the majority of
the ordinary folk through various mechanism of monopoly over land ownership,
proximity with the feudal landlordism, self-proclaimed superiority of their
status expressed through their own linguistic uniqueness, aesthetics, or worship.
The poetic expressions composed by the leisurely class were counted as the
privileged means of communication with the humans as well as with the divine.
Those who could not have access to such poetic expressions were looked down
upon as the inferior creatures incapable of attaining communion with the divine.
Against this background, one has to place the venturing initiative of Henriques
to print the Christian doctrines in the spoken Tamil of the ordinary folk in the
Fishery Coast. His conviction seems to be that the mission could effectively
reach out to the last and the least of the society in printing the living orality of
the common folk. An attempt is made here to have some glimpses into the
impact created by the introduction of the press in Tamil Nadu, through the
following three sections:
 Monopoly of Privileged Minority vs. Reach-out to the Least
 Supremacy of Poetic Literacy vs. Centrality of Living Orality
 Caste-based Communities vs. Inclusive Communities
This could inspire us to evolve some community-building paradigms in the
present context of marginalization perpetuated by casteism, patriarchy, and
globalization in the 21st century.
Monopoly of Privileged Minority Vs. Reach-out to the Least
In the 16th century Tamil country, both Saivism and Vaishnavism were the
organized religions wielding lots of political influences upon the ruling elite
with the ownership of large estates and agricultural lands. The sramanic
traditions like Jainism and Buddhism were negligible in their grip over the
people at large.
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Printing Living Orality to Reach out to the Least
The large majority of the manual labourers denied permission to enter the
major temples and minor worshipping centres of Vaishnavism and
Saivism were treated as Sudras within the system of discriminatory caste
hierarchy. And sizeable number of the vast populace was excluded from the
mainstream of the society as untouchables (atisudras) as the untouchables, and
unhearables.
Both the sectors of the Sudras (Backward castes) and the atisudras (Dalits Scheduled Castes) were exploited by the Brahmins (temple authorities playing
the role of leisurely class ideologues), the Kshatriyas (weapon wielding
administrative feudal lords) and the Vaishyas (the mobilisers of the economic
resources). The literacy and leadership in the worship in the organized religions
(Vaishnavism and Saivism) were monopolized by the Brahmins.
The Sudras and Atisudras have been denied the right of temple entry with the
killer ideology of untouchability meticulously and vehemently practiced. When
such casteist norms were sought to be questioned by the so-called untouchables,
they were ill-treated with deadly accusations with grave consequences. There
were no traditions of communitarian worship. Only the individuals from among
the elite thriving out of their land-grabbing and commercial activities were
permitted into the temples with their large contributions (ubayam) and fat
donations (mandahappadi) as the godly patrons (dharmakartha) well-advertised
in the premises of the temple. The sacred mantras sung in Sanskrit and
Sanskritized Tamil by the traditionally trained Brahmin priests were deemed to
be the only language understood by the deities installed in the sacrosanct of the
temples.
This Brahminic claim of monopoly of proximity with gods and goddesses had
been in constant complicity with the caste claim of high degree of purity,
pleasures, or possessions heartlessly grabbed by the land owners and rich
merchants. All these privileges were accumulated by plundering the fruits of the
hard manual labour of the landless labourers, daily wage coolies, fisher people,
sweepers, and scavengers with negligible pittance thrown upon them. In short,
there was a sense of an utter contempt heaped upon the human dignity of the
men and women of the „untouchable‟ and the sudras by the caste people
claiming to worship their deities in the temples.
Along with the culture of caste exclusion prevailing in the Tamil country, there
had been another type of persecution of the people living in the Pearl Fishery
Coast.1 There had been growing commercial domination and organized political
persecution unleashed by the profit-triggered Muslim merchants dwelling in the
local areas against the Parathavars drawing the rich harvest of costly pearls
from the depths of the sea.
But the Parathavars had been resisting the exploitative tricks of the merchants
throwing only a pittance for their dangerous occupation of pearl fishing with its
concomitant hazards to life. And hence each of the Parathavar‟s heads hunted
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A. Maria Arul Raja
~51~
was rewarded with by the merchants and elite rulers controlling the local
commercial activities in Tamil Nadu, for the throw away amount of just five or
even two panams.2
With the confluence of the religio-cultural exclusion from the native Hindu
ethos and politico-economic exploitation from the Muslim merchants,
the people of the Pearl Fishery Coast were seeking the protecting shield
for their basic survival with dignified living with an assurance for their daily
livelihood. That is why the people approached the commercial, military
and religious establishments initiated by the Portuguese migrants based in
Cochin.3
In this context, there had been a phenomenal and massive movement of
conversion of very large number of the Parathavars towards Christianity in the
Pearl Fishery Coast during the phase of 1532-1542. With the intervening efforts
of Fr. Michael Vaz and St. Francis Xavier, a large number of people have been
baptized and protected them from the multi-pronged oppression of various
forces.4
By and by the Christian priests under the leadership of Henriques felt that in
spite of a large number of conversions to Christianity, the people‟s rootedness
in Christian creed, code, and cult had been quite regrettably superficial. And
hence there arose a felt need for them to create a systematic approach in
gradually catechizing them in Christian mythos, logos, and ethos through the
help of native helpers and local language.
The new Christians were the ones kept illiterate for ages by the powers that be
for perpetuating the systems of exploitation they had been subjected to. But at
the same time there was the need felt by the Christian priests to gradually
enable the simple but illiterate the new Christians to recite the communitarian
prayers during common worship, to learn the basic Christian doctrines at every
stage of receiving the Sacraments (First Communion, Confirmation, matrimony,
Anointing of the Sick), and to have direct access to the religio-cultural
resources. And now the challenging task ahead of the missionaries was this:
How to empower the new but illiterate Christians in all the walks of life through
the medium of the culture of literacy? It is here we could take stock of the
pioneering efforts of Fr. Henrique Henriques in the fine art of democratization
of literacy as the Father of the Tamil Press. 5
Supremacy of Poetic Literacy vs. Centrality of Living Orality
Down the centuries, the traditions of grammar and literature in Tamil have all
along been documented in the palm leaves. They have been preserved by a
handful of intellectuals and owned by a minority of the rich folk. Quite often
they were under the custody of some of the temple-based store rooms. Writing
on the palm leaves with nails was a hard task.
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~52~
Taking copy of any writing was time consuming. If it was done by the less
literate and the unskilled, then they ended up with variant readings leading to
confusions of wrong interpretation and misunderstanding. Lack of careful
preservation of the manuscripts of such literary productions in palm leaves for
ages quite often led to their being moth-eaten and destroyed. Sometimes they
are wiped out inadvertently and sometimes annihilated deliberately. 6
Only those who had the leisure and resources for paying the expenses for copy
writers as a full time profession could afford to patronage such ventures. Even if
some people wanted to buy the written works, they will be sold with exorbitant
prices. In addition to these complexities, those who hated other religions or
school of thought had been indulging in destroying the literature of other people
deemed to be inimical to them. Also there had been cases of interruption by the
third or fourth hand against the sequence of the original works.
Moreover, with the prevalence of casteism and practice of untouchability,
education was grabbed as the monopoly only of the minority of a few people
claiming to be of the upper castes. This culture obsessed with caste prejudices
denied education to the common folk hailing from the so-called lower caste
groups of people.
There has been an awareness of the need for the implied language (thiri sol),
regional idioms (thisai sol), northern language (Sanskrit) for enriching the
standard classical language (iyal sol) of Tamil.7 When Henriques (1520-1600)
worked in the Pearl Fishery Coast from 1547 till his death, he found that the
infant Catholicism could effectively serve the people through the active use of
the spoken Tamil of the locals. Hence he inaugurated the culture of printing of
books on Christian Doctrine in Tamil. Apart from being the first to produce a
Tamil-Portuguese Dictionary, he set up the first Tamil press and printed books
in Tamil script.8
The first such book printed in Tamil script was Thambiran Vanakkam (1578), a
16-page translation of the Portuguese “Doctrina Christam”. It was followed by
Kirisithiyaani Vanakkam (1579). These were works of catechism, containing
basic prayers of Catholicism. He also printed Flos Sanctorum in Tamil (1586).
This book contains the lives of saints (Adiyar Varalaru).
With his efforts Tamil became the first non-European language to be printed in
a printing press in South Asia (even before China -1584, Japan - 1590,
Philippines - 1593, Russia - 1593, Constantinople - 1727, Greece - 1821).
Hence, he is sometimes referred to as Father of the Tamil Press. He is the
first known European Tamil scholar. Some of his works in Malabar
Language (that is, Tamil) are no longer extant including a work on grammar,
a dictionary, a booklet for confession and a religious history from Creation
to Ascension.
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A. Maria Arul Raja
~53~
Cartilha (1554)
Henriques informed (31st October 1548) St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Superior
General about the easy manual he was planning to write as instructed by
St. Francis Xavier for enabling the new missionaries to learn Tamil while
ministering to the local people.9 He again kept St. Ignatius informed
(13th November 1549) that he had completed his manuscript requiring a little
more editing before getting it printed. He affixed the raw manuscript to Rome
along with this letter.10 This Portuguese book A Arte da Lingua Malabar was
ready to be printed in 1566.
Though one is not sure of having the printed version of the book, its manuscript
titled De Cartilha de Litura Doctrina in Lingur Tamule Portugues was located
in the National Library at Lisbon by Fr. Xavier Thaninayagam in 1954.11
Perhaps, this is first attempt at writing the grammar for the branch language 12
of the Malabar (Tamil) evolved in the course of interaction between
the Parathavar‟s living traditions of the oral order of Tamil and the
Portuguese missionaries labouring to minister to them through their „broken‟
(Tamil).
Thambiran Vanakkam (1578)
The next book printed in Tamil type was Tambiran Vanakkam (the worship to
the Lord) containing the basic prayers of the Christian communities. This
booklet with 16 pages carried the Ten Commandments, The Primary and
Prerequisite Rules of the Church, The Penitential Prayer, and Prayer of Hail
Mary. The Tamil typesets were moulded perhaps either in Goa in 1577 or in
Cochin in 1578. The notable feature of this small booklet is the print form of the
living oral language of the contemporary Parathavars.
Chrisitiani Vanakkam (1579)
This was the dynamic adaptation of the original work in Portuguese titled
Doctrina Christam (Christian Teachings) authored by Fr. Marcos Jorge. It is
presented in the form of question and answer between the teacher (guru) and the
student (shisya). The term Chrisitiani referred to Christian and Vanakkam to
prayer or worship.
Perhaps, Henriques was not satisfied with the aspect of „Teachings‟ as found in
the original Portuguese work and would have felt that the Vanakkam in Tamil
could effectively articulated the much desired integration between the word
(prayers) and the deed (ethics).13 The Portuguse words transliterated in Tamil
have been meticulously differentiated with the special sign T as follows:
„T……T‟. Out of the 119 pages of the whole book, only 7 pages have the
introductory remarks. The rest is divided into 12 chapters.
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~54~
Confessionairo (1578)
It is surmised by Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, the historian of Christian Tamil
Literature, that the typesets in the Tamil press in the Pearl Fishery Coast were
made of wooden planks. He is also not sure of the list of the books printed
here.14 But Francesco de Souza in his book titled Oriente Conquistado has the
following to share with us:
Fr. John de Barya seems to be quite predominant in the annals of 1578. His
efforts to establish in Punnaikayal the first press in Tamil with advanced
technology is quite commendable. Having molded the metal typesets in Tamil
for printing purposes, he printed The Lives of the Saints, The Manual for making
Confession, The Catechism and other books.15 With these metallic typesets the
manual Confessionairo was printed with the Jesuit emblem in a circle
sandwiched by the Portuguese and Tamil titles. It has 107 pages with the size
9  13.5 centimetres.16 It is further corroborated by the letter of Fr. Gaspar
Alvaraz (10th January 1580) from Cochin addressed to the Superior General of
the Jesuits.17
Adiyaar Varalaaru (1586)
The second Tamil book printed in Tamil soil is Adiyaar Varalaaru (Lives of
the Saints). It is the Tamil adaptation of the hagiographic accounts in Spanish
titled Flos Sanctorum dynamically designed as the didactic discourses
suiting to ethico-cultural needs of the Parathavars of the Pearl Fishery Coast.
This book running for 669 pages contains the biographic details of 49
saints renowned for working great miracles and establishing religious
congregations. The introduction explicitly states that „it was printed in the
Malabar language called Tamil for the sake of Malabar Christians living in the
Fishery Coast‟.18
Books not Extant
Some of the books supposedly written by him as referred to by himself or others
could not be traced. For instance, the book titled Contra as Fabulas dos Gentios
in Tamil was supposed to refute the false beliefs and fake hopes of the gentiles.
This was indicated in the foreword of Adiyaar Varalaaru (1586). The story of
creation (Criacao do Mundo em Lingua Malabar) and the life-story of Christ
(Vida de Christo nosso Senhor em Lingua Malabar), the Tamil-Portuguese
Dictionary (Vocabulario da Lingua Malabar) authored by him could not be
located anywhere.19
Caste-based Communities vs. Inclusive Communities
In the book titled Chrisitiani Vanakkam one could identify the humanitarian
concerns articulately expressed by Henriques through the language of the
people. Under the title „Udalukkaana Ezhil‟ (the elegant beauty for the human
body), he enlisted the following seven practices of as the way of life: 20
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A. Maria Arul Raja







~55~
Meeting those confused and worried
Feeding the hungry stomachs
Quenching the parched throats
Emancipating those imprisoned
Roofing the roofless broken houses
Restoring the refugees with honour
Burying the dead with respect
Observing the chronic ailments of the people, he established a hospital in
Punnaikayal in 1550 followed by 7 other health care centres in various villages
of the Pearl Fishery Coast. They catered to the needs of all people irrespective
of their creed or caste.
Encouraging the neo-Christians of the Fishery Coast to get involved in
charitable and reconciliatory activities, Henriques evolved an Association
(Confraternity of Charity)21 after the model of the Jesuits working around the
town of Cambrai in France. The draft of the rules of this organization having
13 sections were sent to Rome in 1578 and after receiving some feed-back he
amended a few sections of it in 1586.
This Confraternity has the basic orientation for undertaking charitable and
reconciliatory efforts based on the love of God and the love of the neighbour
transcending all barriers of creed or caste (section 1). Referring to the Biblical
text of radical egalitarianism based on belonging to Christ (Galatians 3:28),
its membership is open to all irrespective of one‟s gender (female or male)
or status (slaves or citizens) (section 3).
On the basis of the Biblical teachings of reaching out to the least and the lost
(Matthew 25:35-37), it seeks to initiate relief and rehabilitation measures for all
those, Muslims or Hindus or Christians, who were affected by accidents in the
sea and epidemics on the land (section 5).
The children were said to have focused attention with decent education and
good habits (section 10). This Confraternity inspired by the town of Cambrai
(France) and initiated by Fr. Henriques is actively alive through Komberi Sabai
(Association of Combrai) functioning in some of the Catholic parishes in the
contemporary Pearl Fishery Coast.22
After his death in Punnaikayal, he was buried in the Church in Thuthukudi
where he was honoured by Christians as the powerful intercessor. His holiness
was honourably celebrated by the Hindus by downing the shutters of their
business and commercial activities. The Muslims of Kayalpattinam fasted for a
few days as part of their homage paid to him.23
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~56~
Community-building Paradigms Today
Even from the cursory glimpses into a few pastoral interventions made by
Henrique Henriques in the 16th century, one could evolve some of the
constructive community-building paradigms in the contemporary context of the
21st century.
There is a need to reach out to the vast majority of the marginalized lots of
people especially in listening to their typical linguistic expressions. Such living
expressions of the common folk are systematically sidelined both in the printmedia or electronic media.
They are excluded from the main line society with the claim of protecting the
pristine purity of the classical languages by the learned pundits. They are
dismissed as the „indecent‟ expressions of low class people deemed to be
unworthy of the „decent‟ expressions of the minority elite elevating themselves
to the high pedestals of the caste-ridden society. The prejudices based on caste
eliticism, cultural supremacy, and economic dominance seek to exclude a large
number of working class people quite often relegated as the inferior caste
people along with their rich cultural heritages frequently perpetuated through
the collective memory of the oral traditions.
Such religio-cultural resources of the subaltern people are deployed solely for
the cheap entertainment especially in the movies. This deliberate callous
attitude against the religio-cultural resources of the marginalized people
expressed in the oral order helps only the dominant people to perpetuate the
systems of slavery with all their ramifications.
The attitude of learning from religio-cultural resources of the orality of the
marginalized with reverential outlook could be learnt from the model of
Henrique Henriques who reached out to the marginalized of his time. This could
lead us to approach the subaltern religio-cultural resources with systematic
documentation and methodical research in scientifically approaching the oral
traditions and linguistic expressions of the common folk. Such open-minded
ventures free from native classicism and western modernism could empower the
marginalized to strengthen their on-going struggles for building up inclusive
communities and demolishing the imposed systems of slavery perpetuated by
the evils of casteism, patriarchy and globalization.
Endnotes
1. The following areas could be counted together constituting the Pearl Fishery
Coast: Rajakka Mangalam, Koothankuzhi, Uvari, Periya Thaazhai, Puthukkarai,
Manappaadu, Aalanthalai, Thiruchendur, Veerapaandipattinam, Thalambuli,
Punnakkaayal, Pazhaiyakaayal, Thuthukkudi, Vaipparu, Vembaaru, and
Mukkuru.
2. A. Sivasubramanian, Tamil Achchuththanthai Henrique Adihalaar, (International
Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai, 2003), pp. 14-15. For further details see:
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A. Maria Arul Raja
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
~57~
S. Arunachalam, History of Pearl, Fishery Coast, Annamalai Nagar, 1952, p. 89;
K. A. Nilakanda Shastri, Culture and History of the Tamils, Madras, 1964, p.
156; Georg Schurhammer, SJ, (Trans.) M. Joseph Costelloe, SJ, St. Francis
Xavier and His Times in India, Vol. II, The Jesuit Historical Institute, Rome,
1977, pp. 431-432.
Ibid., pp. 1-20.
Cf. Antony D‟Costa, The Call of the Orient, Mumbai, 1999.
Cf. J. Castets, Fr. Enrique Enriquez, Indian Catholic Truth Society, Trichi, 1926;
D. Ferroli, The Jesuits in Malabar, Vol. I, Bangalore, 1939; George
Schurhammer, „The First Printing in Indi Characters‟, Harvard University
Library Bulletin, Vol. VI (2), 1952; X. Thaninayagam, Tamil Manuscripts in
European Libraries, Tamil Culture, Chennai, 1954; X. Thaninayagam, The First
Books Printed in Tamil, Tamil Culture, Chennai, 1958; Joseph Wicki, „Father
Henrique Henriques, S.J.‟, Indian Ecclesiastical Studies, IV(5), April 1965;
S. Rajmanickam, „Padre Henrique Henriques: The Father of the Tamil Press‟, The
Proceedings of the Second International Conference of Tamil Studies,
International Association of Tamil Research, Chennai, 1971; A. Francis,
Evangelization of the Pearl Fishery Coast Under Fr. Henrique Henriques,
Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 1999; S. Jeyaseelan Stephen, „The
Portuguese Contribution to Catholic Tamil Literature in the Sixteenth Century‟,
Indica, Special Jubilee Volume, Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture,
Bombay, 2001.
A. Sivasubramanian, op. cit., pp. 34-35.
Ibid., pp. 51-52.
Ibid., pp. 30-33. Here the contents of the annual letter of the Jesuits addressed to
the Superior General on the committed life and dedicated mission efforts of Fr.
Henriques is briefly summarized.
Ibid., pp. 52-53.
Jeanne H. Hein, „Father Henriques‟ Grammar of Spoken Tamil-1548‟, Indian
Church History Review, 1977, pp. 136-137.
X. Thaninayagam, Tamil Manuscripts in European Libraries, Tamil Culture,
Chennai, 1954, p. 220. Perhaps it was the manuscript sent to the Superior General
in 1548.
Cf. Jeanne H. Hein, op. cit., p. 147.
S. Rajamanickam, Vanakkam, Tamil Literary Society, Thuthukudi, 1963, pp. 1-2.
Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Kristhvamum Tamizhum, Meyyappan
Tamizhaaivaham, Chidambaram, 2000, p. 47.
Cf. S. Venantius Fernando, „Thamizh Achchu Pirasura 400-vathu Aandu Vizhaa‟,
Gnana Thoothan, February, 1978, p.4. Also cf. S. Venantius Fernando, The
Impact of the Portuguese Padroado on the Indian Pearl Fishery Coast, Doctoral
Thesis, Urban University, Rome, 1977.
Cf. B.S. Kesavan, History of Printing and Publishing in India - Part I, National
Bank Trust, Delhi, 1985, pp. 150-154.
S. Venantius Fernando, op. cit., p. 5.
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~58~
18.
19.
20.
21.
A. Sivasubramanian, op. cit., pp. 59-60.
Ibid., p. 55.
Ibid., p. 48.
Joseph Wicki, „The Confraternity of Charity of Fr.Henrique‟, Indian Church
History Review, 1967.
22. S. Rajamanickam, Adiyar Varalaru, Tamil Ilakkiya Kazhagam, Thuthukudi,
1967, p. LXV.
23. A. Sivasubramanian, op. cit., pp. 32-33.
_____
___________________________________________
Ichhimuddin Sarkar
~59~
BHAKTI, HUMANISM AND QUEST FOR
SOCIAL HARMONY
(Reflections on Bengal Vaishnavism vis-à-vis Chaitanyanism)
________
Prof. Ichhimuddin Sarkar
Department of History, University of North Bengal, Darjeeling
__________________
Vaishnavism is a very popular religion not only in Bengal but all over India.
The worshippers of Vishnu are called Vaishnavas. Krishna and Rama are said to
be the incarnations of Vishnu. But Vaishnavism of Bengal is different from the
original form of Vaishnavism. Infact the worship of Rama and Krishna was
modeled with Vedic rights and was full of rituals. But with the advent of
Chaitanya, the Vaishnava religion became simpler in form and approach and
virtually the various rituals were mostly discarded; devotional prayers became
more popular than mere performing of rituals.
Sixteenth century Bengal witnessed a new wave of bhakti cult known as
Vaishnavism which seems to have had a long tradition in Bengal. Jaydeva‟s
immortal lyrics Gita Govinda1 the melodious padavali and Srikrishna Kirtan of
Chandidas2 and the padavalis of Vidyapati had familiarized the people with it
long before the birth of Chaitanya. But the new form what Chaitanya had
preached was based on intense love of and devotion to one „Supreme Being‟
and absolute surrender to Him as being the only way to salvation. Though an
orthodox Brahmin, Chaitanya condemned the domination of the priests and at
the same time he was free from ritualism, outward forms of religion and
ceremonies. He sought to realize God‟s presence in ecstasy by nama-sankirtan
or musical recital of His name- „Hari or Krishna‟ accompanied by song and
music in which anybody could join irrespective of sex, caste, creed and so on. 3
By emphasizing that love of Krishna for Radha was divine, not physical; he
stuck a new note in the philosophy of Vaishnasim and thereby sought to achieve
moral uplift of the society. Chaitanya, in fact, did not found a philosophical or
theological system nor did he write any scripture excepting his shikshastaka
(eight teachings). The whole matter that he tried to popularize was simply a
devotional faith with deep feelings, humility and self resignation to God. 4
Vaishnavism came to Bengal as a mighty spirit, sweeping over Bengal and
carrying everything before it. Its origin and growth can be understood only in
the background of the contemporary socio-religious condition. The orthodox
and self-centered Brahmins sought to revive the traditional and strict socioreligious injunctions of religious and legal literature based on shastras. They
had no concern or cordiality with the lower classes in society who virtually
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~60~
Bhakti, Humanism and Quest for Social Hormony
believed in local cults like manasha, chandi, and popular faith with mystic
ideas popularized so to say by Islam. Infact, Muslim political domination in
Bengal established its influence of Islamic ideas and practices with growing
conversions. The pure intellectualism of the Brahmanical mind reflected in the
Navya Nyaya5 did not satisfy the common people and so Chaitanya and his
followers preached the path of devotion. The Vaishnavas believed that
Chaitanya was born to establish and popularize bhakti cult and to reconcile
some conflicting elements in Bengali Hindu society.6
The culture of a people consists of various aspects – religious rituals, work
habits, beliefs and ideologies etc. which at length form a whole system and
interrelated aspects. The literary product of medieval Bengal particularly that of
Chaitanya era bears eloquent testimony to the fact that religion predominated
the culture of medieval Bengal with reference to the radical upheaval in the
religious belief of North India during 15th century. We have already mentioned
that one of the earlier literary evidences on the prevalence of the RadhaKrishna cult in Bengal was provided by Jaydeva in his devotional poem Gita
Govinda. He flourished in the second half of the 12th century and enjoyed the
patronage of Lakshman Sena, the last independent ruler of Bengal. The Gita
Govinda as a poem bears allegorical interpretation and became a symbol of the
adventures of union between human soul and God. The theme of the Gita
Govinda was elaborated in the songs of two important literary figures
i) Maitheli poet Vidyapati and ii) the Bengali poet Chandidasa. Infact, these
literary exercises were reconciled in the bhakti cult known as Bengal
Vaishnavism by Chaitanya.
Fact remains that Chaintanya was born in Nabadwip, a great centre of learning
in 1486 A.D. He is said to have been educated in Sanskrit literature, Nyaya,
grammar and other branches of philosophy. He also proved his intellectual
eminences in various dialectical debates with the scholars all over the country. 7
A tour through eastern Bengal was a turning point of his life. The most
important event during his teaching career was perhaps his receiving initiation
in Krishnamantra from Ishwara Puri, a disciple of Madhabendra Puri of the
Madhaba School or sect which had carried its devotional ideas from South
India to Bengal. In the beginning of c.1510 A.D. he was initiated into Sanyasa
by Keshaba Bharati. From the Chaitanya Bhagavata we come to learn that after
this he left his home and profession and started preaching the religion of
Krishna-bhakti everywhere.8
Importance of Chaitanya’s South India Visit (1510-11 A.D)
The visit of Chaitanya to South India brought him in contact with the Madhaba
scholars of Udupi.9 This contact gave him an insight into the Madhaba thought
process and finally with Madhabacharya. It was the orthodox line of thinking of
the Madhaba School and the emphasis of the varnashramadharma for
observing Vaishnavism. Krishnadasa Kaviraj has emphatically established that
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Ichhimuddin Sarkar
~61~
this disagreement seems to have inspired Chaitanya to break completely with
the said school.10
Consolidation of Chaitanya’s Personal View
This doctrinal differences, in fact, consolidated Chaitanya‟s view points as to
the ideas of Vaishnavism. Later on, these ideas served as the foundation of the
„Vaishnava system of Philosophy‟ namely “Achhintya - Bheda - Bhedaveda”
associated with Chaitanya school.11 It may be noted that Chaitanya was in need
of a more egalitarian social gospel in the midst of the caste ridden Hindu society
of Bengal and Orissa.
Chaitanya’s Realization in Favour of Popular Monotheistic Movement
Religion in India through the centuries had become a monopoly right of the
higher castes even before the advent of the Turks in India. After the initial
success in attracting the masses, Islam lost its popular character and failed to
meet either the ideal or the material need of the common people. Even the
revivalism school failed to meet up the needs of the masses which were
becoming acute with the changing scenario of the socio-economic conditions.
The need for an ethical interpretation of the unequal distribution of wealth or
fortune among men increased with the growing rational conception of the
terrestrial world. Therefore, beneath the revivalist movement there developed a
popular monotheistic movement. The medieval Indian society was divided into
castes and sub-castes and it not only decided one‟s social dignity but generally
the profession also. The exploitation of the ruled by the ruling classes was thus
not merely economic but also social and cultural.
Chaitanya’s Ideas of Social Equality
Chaitanya has not left any written account about his teachings. The general
view is that these are correctly set forth and explained in the works of the
contemporary standard biographies of Chaitanya 12 and the theological works of
six Goswamis13 of the Chaitanya School. According to Krishnadas Kaviraja‟s
Chaitanya Charitamrita, as early as in 1509 Chaitanya had declared publicly
that he was endeavoring to build up a new Vaishnava society based on the
principles of social equality.14 After his south India tour, as Krishnadas Kaviraj
writes, Chaitanya declared the need to leave varnashrama dharma and he made
this principle as prerequisite to worship Krishna. It seems Chaitanya thus began
to propagate socially rebellious thought far from the tradition of the
varnashrama dharma. Thus the social objective of Chaitanya became different.
Ultimate Social Objective of Chaitanya’s Vaishnavism
Further differences between Madhava School and that of Chaitanya can be
noticed regarding the pramanas i.e. authorities of sources of knowledge. The
Madhaba School relies on three things – perception (pratyaksha), inference
(anuman), and verbal (shabda) testimony. Madhaba School holds that the rest
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of the pramanas are dependent on either of them or all of them. But the
Chaitanya School accepts shabda as the only pramana and nothing else. 15 For
Madhaba the ultimate object of worship is Narayana , while Chaitanya says Sri
Krishna remains the ultimate object of worship. Narayana is considered by
Chaitanya as partial manifestation of Krishna. Chaitanya also propagated that
varnashrama dharma should be considered as an obstacle for attaining
blessings of Krishna.
Chaitanya’s Concept of Equality and Freedom in Religious Life
Chaitanya professed and articulated equality and freedom in religious life for he
taught that man of all classes could come to God by uttering His name with pure
faith which leads a man to a perfect righteous life. Chaitanya converted some
Muslims to his faith such as Yavana Haridas and Bijuli Khan among others.
One Qazi named Maulana Sirajuddin, grandson (daughter‟s son) of Husain
Shah, ruler of Bengal, tried to crush his movement, but the Qazi is said to have
succumbed to Chaitanya‟s personality and spiritual influence. 16 Through the
example of the numerous disciples of Chaitanya such as Haridas and
Shyamananda who were born outside the pale of the upper caste,17 the idea
definitely gained ground that had the spirit to transcend caste barriers through
purity of one‟s devotion (bhakti). In this respect one may recall here the karcha
of Govinda Das who used to take daily notes of Chaitanya. Govinda Das wrote:
“Chaitanya never cares for caste, he is a sea of compassion and embraces
chandalas and other low castes with tear in his eyes.”18 A similar sentiment has
been reflected by Balaram Das: “He weeps, embracing the fallen, the destitute
and low”19. Chaitanya is believed to have proclaimed that: “He who eats a meal
cooked by a Dom (an untouchable sect) becomes pre-eminently entitled to the
grace of God”.20 He further laid emphasis that: “If a muchi (cobbler) prayed to
God with devotion I bow a hundred times to his feet.”21
The Essence of Chaitanya’s Teachings
The above mentioned teachings of Sri Chaitanya and his style of functioning
were antithetical to caste philosophy. On the one hand it aimed at striking at the
roots of priestly vested interests and liberating the common men from the
tyranny of the priests. On the other hand he attempted to bring the numerous
lower castes Hindus and Muslims into the single platform of Krishna-bhakti.
Chaitanya’s Concept of Hari Samkirtan for Social Uplift
The priestly section formed an integral part of the dominant class of the society.
Both the Brahmins and the Ulemas got land grants from the state and thus
formed a pillar of the existing state system along with the nobles and the
Zamindars. The satellite character of the priestly sections combined with their
urge to retain the ritualistic dominance in religious matter had made Chaitanya
distrustful of them. He, therefore, preached that it is possible to attain unity with
God by simple recitation of the name of Hari or Krishna with profound faith,
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Ichhimuddin Sarkar
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profession is not a bar between them and God. This particular idea cultivated by
Chaitanya shows his conscious attempt to vibrate confidence in the mind of the
low born people by Hari samkirtan (chanting the name of Hari) for their social
uplift. He thus established bhakti or devotional love directed towards a personal
God as the highest goal of man.
The Idea of Nam Samkirtana and Social Harmony
The devotional principle in the name of bhaktism was popularized by many
poets and theologians. But Chaitanya‟s mechanism was something unique
because to open the storehouse as it were making it accessible to all men,
women and child. Though Sri Chaitanya trained theologians, yet he himself had
left to the world only eight Sanskrit verses and one of them is so valuable that it
bears the inner philosophy of Nam Samkirtan (chanting of the names of God).
This is as under “glory to the Sri Krishna Samkirtan which cleanses the heart of
all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life of
repeated birth and death. This Samkirtan movement is the prime benediction for
humanity at large - because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon.” 22
Vaisnavism and Islamic Mysticism
In view of understanding the philosophy of Nam Samkirtan, scholars have
doubted as to the emotional philosophy of Islamic mysticism and Gaudia
Vaishnavism vis-a-vis Nam Samkirtan. There are scholars23 who find similarity
between the two but there are others24 who do not find any casual connection
between Islamic mysticism and Vaisnavism. Anyway, this is a different debate
and requires some further investigation.
Whatever may be the fact more directly in dharma-ridden and caste-ridden India
Chaitanyaism tried to abolish and ignore the barriers of caste in matters of
worship by the free and unritualistic recitation of the name of Hari that is
Divine Lord from the lips of a brahmin, mlechha or chandal, a man or a
woman. It has been said above how the group samkirtan comprising all caste,
high and low, brought together to a pitch of ecstatic communion, was also a step
towards a new „democratic brotherhood‟ in the Indian society as a whole.
Chaitanya did welcome Rupa and Sanatana, former converse to Islam according
to tradition, and Raghunath Dasa, a Kayastha Hindu by birth, for the
propagation of the faith. His companion and disciple, Nityananda also took the
unprecedented step of admitting man of all caste into the religious order.
Nityananda‟s further step to include women in the religious propaganda was a
new dimension of bhaktism in Bengal. Wife of Nityananda named Jahnava
became a leading figure in preaching the ideas of Vaishnavism in Bengal.25
Thus the emphasis of Chaitanyanism was placed on a maxim of „universalism‟,
the mainstay of „creation‟ (srishti) which in many occasions Rabindranath
Tagore had emphasized in admiring the dignity of women. 26 Thus in a way the
belief that “The lord‟s highest spot is the human and his human form in His
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essential manifestation (swarupa)” was popularized. Along with this humanism
which has been given lyrical expression by Chandidasa (Man is the supreme
reality, there is nothing above him), the Chaitanya cult also strikes a modern
note in asserting the supremacy of the present age over the past. Perhaps, this
had won for Chaitanya the well deserved title of the “Savior of the fallen”
(bratyajana paritrata).
Gospel of prema or love which arises spontaneously through complete
surrender to the Divine touched the least and the lowliest in society whose very
ignorance, sinfulness or perversity make them vehicles of God‟s grace. For this
reason, perhaps Rabindranath recognized Chaitanya and his philosophy as
enlighting (jyotirmoyee) Bengal as a whole. Infact, whatever the quest that
Chaitanya sought for was nothing but „the soul of India‟ and this conclusion
may find its relevance if one is to visualize the history of Bengal during the
Chaitanya era when comparatively a new religion vis-a-vis a darshan
(philosophy) i.e. Goudiya Vaishnava Dharma could flourish and touch the mind
and thought process of Bengalis as a whole. In this darshan Radha got the place
as a women and the supreme figure was Krishna, a lord of the manfolk.
Through the recognition of Radha the dignity of women was established
particularly at the period when the status of woman was a serious question.
Chaitanya realized it in 16th century and he is identified with our consciousness
which again finds its meaning in the form of Bengali culture.
A question may naturally arise in any mind regarding the legacy of Chaitanya to
the world. In another way what did he teach to the human society at large? For
all the answers of such questions, one may look to the actual life he lived, - a
life out of which he gave profusely to the world which can be called „lovereligion‟ that stands for a life itself a gift to the humanity. In short Chaitanya is
supposed to have come to this world with the singular gift of the „love of God‟
in his hand and he gave it with unbounded charity to all without distinction of
caste, creed or colour-barriers that have divided man from man from the time
immemorial.
He preached love, he breathed love, he practiced love, he lived in love – pure
and selfless which could be given freely to others. It was in fact a creative
power with him and he could use it with tremendous force, magical in its
effects. Chaitanya did not, however, preach any new formula of „lovereligion‟
which developed as a „cult‟ but has its origin in the old Vedas, the Upanishads,
and in the discourses known as rasa-shruti or ananda-shruti, where it is taught “God is all sweet, all bliss”, and “from bliss emanate all beings, by bliss are
sustained all beings and into bliss entire all beings in the end”.
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Ichhimuddin Sarkar
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Endnotes
1. Tr. William Jones, Collected Works, London, 1807; Edwin Arnold, The Indian
Songs of Songs, 1875.
2. R. C. Majumdar (ed), Bangladesher Itihas (Madhyayuga), Third Edition, 1985
B.S. pp. 361-365.
3. Adi Lila, Krishnadasa Kaviraja in Cultural Heritage of India, Vol. 2, pp. 131-153,
4. Krishnadasa Kaviraja, Antya, xx, pp. 358-360.
5. Navya Nyaya or Neologic. The Study of this subject actually had started in
Mithila where Gangesa Upadhyaya wrote the celebrated work Tattva Chintamoni
in 13th century. It was introduced by Basudeba Sarvabhauma. For details see
A. K. Majumdar, Chaitanya –His Life and Doctrine-A Study in Vaishnavism,
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1969. p. 88.
6. Dharma Puja in Muhammad Shahidullah, Introduction to Shunya Purana, pp.1213, 36-38; also cf. Manasa Puja:Manasa Mangal by Vijaya Gupta; Dinesh
Chandra Sen, Banga Bhasa O Sahitya, pp.11-12; see also Manasa Vijaya,
Sukumar Sen (ed.), 1953.
7. Abdul Karim, Social History of the Muslims of Bengal Down to A.D.1538, Dacca,
Asiatic Society of Pakistan, 1959. pp.153f.
8. Vridavan Dasa, Chaitanya Bhagabata, Calautta, 1946, Adi, ch.x.
9. Ibid.
10. Krishna Dasa Kaviraja, Chaitanya Charitamrita (ed.), S. C. Majumdar, Calcutta,
1941, Madhya, ch. ix.
11. Ibid.
12. Chaitanya Bhagabata, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Chaitanya Mangal, Prema
Bilasa.
13. Six Goswamins of Chaitanya‟s school were Rupa, Sanatana, Raghunat Bhatta,
Raghunath Dasa, Gopal Bhatta and Jiva. For the detailed account see S. K. De,
Early History of Vaishnava Faith and Movement of Bengal, Calcutta ,1961.
14. Krishnadasa Kaviraja , Madhya, ch. xxii .
15. S. K. De, op.cit, p.13.
16. Ramakanta Chakraborty, Vaishnavism in Bengal (1486-1900), Calcutta, 1985,
p. 69.
17. Vridavan Dasa, op.cit., Madhya, ch. xv.
18. Dinesh Chandra Sen, Chaitanya and His Age, University of Calcutta, 1922,
pp. 22-83.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid., p. 279.
21. Ibid.
22. For details see Steven J. Rosen, Essential Hinduism, London, 2006, p.223.
23. A few scholars like Tara Chand (Influence of Islam on Indian Culture, Allahabad,
1946, p.92), Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi, The Muslim Community of the IndoPakistan Subcontinent 610-1947, reprint, New Delhi, 1985, p.129, Muhammad
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Enamul Haq, A History of Sufism in Bengal, Dacca, 1975, p. 269, etc. have
sought to trace possible and emotional influence of Islam on Vaishnavism.
24. Scholars specially Jagadish Narayan Sarkar, however, refutes the view and argues
that there cannot be any relation between dasha and hal (ecstasy), zikr and
Krishnanama and even kirtan and sama (sufi musical gathering). For details see
Jagadish Narayan Sarkar, Thoughts on Trends of Cultural Contacts in Medieval
India, Calcutta, 1984, p.109. About mystic cults see Jagadish Narayan Sarkar,
Islam in Bengal (Thirteenth to Nineteenth Century) Calcutta, 1972, pp. 34-37.
25. Sutapa Mukhopadhyaya, Vaishnav Jibani Sahitye Nari Samaj, Calcutta, 1403.
p. 74.
26. Sri Madan Mohan Goswami, Rabindrabhachan Samuchchya (Bengali book, year
and place of publication are not mentioned), p. 43.
_____
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G. Indirajith
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JAINISM IN KANCHIPURAM
________
G. Indirajith
Assistant Professor, History Wing, DDE, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar
__________________
Kanchipuram - Origin of the Name
Kanchi, was one of the best-known South Indian cities in the past. The antiquity
of Kanchi is very difficult to ascertain. However, literature, epigraphy and the
archaeological evidences prove its existence. The recent excavations carried out
by the Archaeological Survey of India, University of Madras and the State
Department of Archaeology, have revealed that Kanchipuram was an ancient
habitational site having artifacts dating from the Megalithic period. The earliest
phase at Kanchipuram consists of black and red ware, black polished ware and
the associated red ware.
The next phase is associated with the historical period from the 3 rd century B.C.
to the 2nd or 3rd centuries A.D.1 Early Tamil literature and inscriptions referred
to Kanchipuram as Kachi, Kachipedu, Kanchi, Kanchinagara, Kanchimanagar
and Kanchipuram. Of these, Kachi seems to be the earliest name. It also
had several other names such as Kamakottam. Kamapeetham, Pralaya Sindhu,
Shivapuram, Brahmapuram, Indupuram, Tundirapuram, Mummurteeswaram,
Dandakapuram, Thapomayam, Sakalasiddhi, Kannikappu, Satyavrata Kshetra
and Bhulokakailasam. Here it is useful to know the expression Kanchi. There
are several explanations for the word Kanchi. Probably, the most ancient is
found in Perumpanatruppadai2 and Manimekhalai, Kanchi is name of a tree,
which abounded in this area, after which it came to be called Kanchi. Besides,
„ka‟ means Brahma and anchi means worship. Hence, Kanchi is the place where
Brahma was worshipped. In Sanskrit, the word Kanchi meant a girdle, and the
city was like a girdle to the earth. Perumpanatruppadai3 states that the Kanchi
was a beautiful walled city. There were high brick walls enclosing the army
barracks, and a thick, protective forest. The roads were deep with ruts due to the
constant plying of heavy and strong chariots. There was a busy market place
where businessmen were always engaged in business. It was a city unequalled,
in which the people engaged themselves in enjoying the festivals of different
religious sects.
Early Jainism in Kanchipuram - The Epigraphical Sources
The existence of the Jain faith in Kanchipuram from 3 rd century B.C. to 2nd
century A.D. is confirmed by the occurrence of a Tamil-Brahmi cave inscription
near the city at Manandur4 Historically, the inscription is important as it gives
us a hitherto unknown Chiefs name, Kaniman5. This name can be compared
with that of Tondaiman. It is possible that he belonged to the clan of Tiraiyar
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who ruled Tondaimandalam before the advent of the Pallavas i.e., from 3rd
century B.C. to 2nd A.D., in that region. Alternatively, Kaniman could be a
Sangam Chera chieftain viz., Malaiyaman and Ariyaman who ruled over the
adjoining territories. However, in the absence of any literary record, we are in
the realm of speculation6.
This inscription is the earliest epigraphic record of a battle in the Tamil country.
The inscription states that Kaniman took Tenur. We do not know the exact
location of this place was or other detail of the battle. The endowment of the
rock-shelter was probably made as a votive offering after victory. Besides we
do not know to whom the rock-shelter was given. Both Buddhist and Jain
monks used caverns as shelter in the rainy season. Kanchipuram was a special
centre for both these faiths. However, it is more probable that the offering was
to a Jain monk as the Tamil-Brahmi cave inscriptions in the Tamil country do
not provide any Buddhist association while many of these sites were continued
to be occupied by the Jains, as the later Vatteluttu and Tamil inscriptions and
Jain sculptures testify from this we can surmise that Kanchi became a strong
hold of the Jains during days of early Christian era.
The third phase characterized by the occurrence of Pallavan Koil copper plate.
It is evident from the Pallavan Koil copper plate that the Vardhamana temple at
Tirupparuttikunram was considered a holy place for the Jains as early as the 6 th
century A.D. Ghatika was the famous university of Kanchi, a unique one of its
kind. Kanchi was a seat of higher learning, and it was one of the great centres of
learning along with Takshashila, Varanasi, Vallabhi and Nalanda. Patanjali
refers to Kanchipuram, or one who is from Kanchi, in the 2nd century B.C. The
Ghatika is also referred to frequently in inscriptions from the 4 th century A.D.
The Kadamba king, Mayurasharman, of the West Coast (Goa) entered the
Ghatika at this time, while Kakutsthavarman Kadamba, in tracing the origin of
his line at its Ghatika. Tamil poet Appar also refers to Kanchi as a town of great
knowledge and learning.
In addition to the seat of learning Kanchi, the ancient city of the south, is also
described as one of the seven religious cities of India. The others being
Ayodhya, Mathura, Gaya, Kasi, Avanti and Dwaraka. It is significant to note
that except Kanchi, the other six cities are situated north of the Vindhyas.
Amongst these cities, Kanchi was a political, religious and cultural centre. From
the dawn of civilization to the present day, this city has witnessed the rise and
fall of many dynasties, paving the way for learning's of various ruling families
can be observed through their reminiscences.
The Medieval Jinakanchi - Structural Evidences
Kanchi continued to become a stronghold of the Jains in the medieval period
and developed to be so for several centuries. A regular colony of the Jains came
into existence at the place popularly known as Jinakanchi. It is locally also
known as Thirupparuttikunram. The Pallavas of Kanchi were tolerant in their
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G. Indirajith
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religious outlook and some of them extended patronage to Jainism. Kanchi
developed into an important seat of Jain religion during the period of
Simhavarman. He enriched the Jaina temple at Kanchi with a number of land
donations. A grant of the village Amanserkkai and some lands in Tamar was
made to the Jaina monk Vajranandi of Thirupparuttikunram for conducting
worship of Lord Jina7. There are two Jaina temples at Thirupparuttikunram, one
is dedicated to Vardhamana Mahavira, the twenty fourth Tirthankara and the
other is to Chandraprabha, the eighth Tirthankara. The Vardhamana temple was
considerably enlarged with additional shrines and a huge pillared hall added in
later times. Besides, next to the Pallavas we have a few inscriptions of the
Chola kings of this dynasty which describe the various gifts given by them. One
of the shrines in the same temple built in the Chola period is dedicated to
Dharmadevi. The temple was enclosed by a prakara wall by one
Alagiyapallavan, who is identified with the Kadava chieftain, Kopperunjinga. In
the subsequent period Vijayanagar rulers maintained close contact with Kanchi.
Several inscriptions of this rulers are available at various sites in Kanchi. They
record the gifts to various temples including Vardhamana temple made by the
rulers by their officials.
The Sangeetha mandapa of the Vardhamana temple complex was built in 138788 A.D. Irugappa, the famous general of the Vijayanagar king, Bukka II8. The
ceiling of the mandapa contained two layers of paintings, one executed during
the Vijayanagara rule, the other in the Nayak times. The earlier paintings have
disappeared due to the ravages of time. The Nayak paintings depict incidents
connected with the life of Rishabhanatha, Neminatha, Mahavira and
Dharamadevi. The balalilas of Krishna, such as the lifting of the Govardhana
hill, Kaliyamardhana, the killing of the elephant asura, fighting the wrestlers,
killing Kamsa, etc., deserve special mention. Short label inscriptions in Tamil
narrating these events are found below the paintings. 9 The entire temple
complex came to be called Trikodabasti. Besides the Chandraprabha temple is
of modest proportions and is said to have been built by Rajasimha Pallava. It
has a shrine and a small mandapa in front. The first tala was converted into a
shrine installing an image of Chandranatha. However, the rampant yalis at the
cardinals of the shrine are reminiscent of the Rajasimha style of architecture. 10
In addition to the above two temples, one more is known to have existed in the
vicinity of Kanchipuram known as Mahilampalli. An epigraphic record of
Narasimha Pallava II (708-709 A.D.), re-engraved in the 9th century A.D. The
epigraph states that Queen Lokamahadevi was affected by a brahmarakshasa
and mentions an Acharya of Mahilampalli. He probably had some part in
alleviating the Queen's affliction from the evil spirit. It also seems to register a
gift of land to the temple of Arhar. 11 The Mahilampalli epigraph does not exist
now. It is not possible to locate this Jaina temple, as the fragmentary inscription
referring to it is engraved on a loose slab lying in the lumber room of the
Kamakshi temple.
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Grants to the Jain Institutions
Apart from these Jaina temples, here it is highly useful to understand the
Landgrants and other endowments to Jaina institutions. The Jaina institutions of
Kanchi received the patronage of the members of the various ruling families and
the pious devotees. The earliest epigraphic record referring to the Jaina
settlement at Thirupparuttikunram is the famous Pallavankoil copper plate
issued by the Pallava King, Simhavaraman (556 A.D.). An epigraph of
simhavarman records that the king granted the village Sramanasrama alias
Amanserkkai in Perunagar and some lands in Tamar as Pallichchandam to the
Jaina monk Vajranandi of Nandi sangha for conducting the worship of Lord
Jina. The copper plate also states paruttikunru as the Dharma-tirtha or sacred
place of Lord Vardhamana.12 In due course during the reign of Kulottunga
Chola I (1116 A.D.), 3000 kuli of land were purchased from the assembly of
Kitaduppur by the monks of Thirurpparuttikunram for digging a channel for
irrigational purposes 13. Some lands were sold to the temple by the assembly of
Vilasar.14 From the epigraph it is clear that the south Indian form of local
government was to have its origins here till it reached its maturity under the
Cholas. Not only the mahasabha or local assembly promoted the welfore of the
society but also the Jaina monks received endowments from the ruling class and
enhance the life style of the people.
A similar grant of Pallichandam was also made to the temple and it was
entrusted to one Arambanandi in 1135 A.D. 15 Twenty Keli of land in the village
Ambai was endowed at the instance of Kulottunga Cholakaduvetti, for the merit
of his proctor Chandrakirtidevar and on the bhattars of Thirupparuttikunram. 16
Endowments such as the gift of the village Kanipakkam as Pallichchandam to
God Semporkunralvar (mahavira) at Paruttikunram. The assignment of income
from the tax kadamai for food offerings had been made during the reign of
Rajaraja III17 in addition to the Jaina institutions it is worthwhile to known the
Jain Sangahas and the propagation of Jaina principle in Kanchipuram. In an
instance an epigraph states Perunagar and Tamar (Damal) received by Jain
Sanghas as donation to preach the principles of Jainism. The reference to the
Nandi Sangha and the hermitage is of great importance. There was a monastic
order at Jinakanchi named Nandi Sangha, in which lives a horde of virtuous
teachers, one of whom was Vajranandi, who was well-versed in all sacred lore.
The Jaina recluses formed themselves into various Sanghas for the propagation
of their religious principles. Four types of such orders, viz., Nandi Sangha, Sena
Sangha, Deva Sangha and Simha Sangha, are mentioned among the Digambara
Jains of the south. Among them, the Nandi Sangha seems to have been very
popular in Tamil Nadu. The presiding monk of the order had his name suffixed
with the epithet Nandi. Lithic records form Thirupparuttikunram bear testimony
to the fact that the Nandi Sangha continued to be there for a long time under the
succession of several Jaina acharyas.18
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G. Indirajith
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The Vardhamana temple was also patronized by Vijayanagar rulers. The records
of Krishnadevaraya register the transfer of the village Kotugai belonging to the
Jain temple in lieu of another known as Uvachcheri for the benefit of the
residents of the Tirumalai Devi agrahara. 19 Besides, a sale of some land and
house sites was made by the gurukkal and the stanattar of the temple to one
Harihara Gurukkal of Kanchipuram.20 Later inscriptions found in the temple
register the grant of 2000 kuli of land as saramanya for conducting regular
worship in the Trailokyanatha temples. 21 The gopura of the temple was
constructed in the 14th century A.D. by the sage Shri Pushpasena Vamanacharya
who was the disciple of Mallisena Vamanasuri22 Salutations are paid to these
two stages of the Jaina order in a lithic record. 23
Here it is worthwhile to understand the Jinakanchi mutt and its acharyas.
Jinakanchi was considered one among the four sacred vidaysthanas of the
Digambara Jains. A monastic establishment presided over by a succession of
reputed monks existed at this place. But it is not possible to trace the history of
the mutt and its learned pontiffs. The origin of the monastery, though shrouded
in mystery, may be pushed back to the 4th century A.D., as we find mention of
Vajranandi of the Nandisangha in whose favour land grants were made by the
Pallava king, Simhavarman.24 The Rishisamudaya (group of monks) of
Thirupparuttikunram wielded considerable influence over the administration of
the temple and received land endowments during the reign of Kulottunga
Chola I. Chandrakirtidevar is said to be the Jaina preceptor in the last quarter of
the 12th century A.D. It was for his merit and for the other monks of Jinakanchi,
that one Mandiyankilan granted 20 veli of land in the village Ambai.25
Pushpasena, the preceptor of the Vijayanagara minister Irugappa, seems to have
been in charge of the monastery at Jinakanchi. He instigated the minister to
build the sangeetha mandapa in the temple and make liberal endowments. 26
Theshpasena Vamanacharya and Mallisena Vamanasuri were two important
acharyas who are glorified in the epigraphical records of the temple. 27 They
could have headed the mutt in the 15th century A.D.
The Mackenzyen Manuscript adds that the Jinakanchi mutt at
Thriupparuttikunram was once adorned by pontiffs like Samantabhadra,
Shivakotiacharya, Pujyapada, Akalanka, Nishkalanka, etc., but due to the
anarchy and confusion that prevailed in the country after the reign of
Krishnadevaraya, the Jinakanchi mutt came to an end.28 The Pontifical seat was
then transferred to Chittamur in South Arcot district and the Jinakanchi mutt
was re-established by Virasenacharya in the 16th century A.D. Even to the
present day, the official pontiff of the Jaina sect in Tamil Nadu functions from
the Jinakanchi mutt at Chittamur.29
Thus Kanchipuram was the home of the various religious movements of India.
Southern Buddhism and Jainism reached their zenith here, Saivism and
Vaishnavism had their beginnings at Kanchi. The various cultural streams met
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here - Aryan and Dravidian, Vedic and non - Vedic, Hindu, Buddhist and Jain.
It was a seat of education, of religion and philosophy and of art. Thus, the
development of Jainisim in Kanchi began in the early centuries of the Christian
era, reached its zenith in Vijayanagar period. It was the centre of Jaina seat of
learning and Jaina faith paving the way for the existence of a common culture.
Endnotes
1. Natana Kasinathan, The Recent Archaeological finds in and around
Kanchipuram, Kanchi a Heritage of Art and Religion, p. 53.
2. Perumpanatruppadai, V. 397-420.
3. Ibid.
4. Iravatham Mahadevan, Corpus of the Tamil Brahmi Inscriptions in Seminar on
Inscriptions (1966), Madras. 1968, p. 71.
5. ARE of 1939-40, p. 171.
6. Iravatham Mahadevan, op. cit., p. 72.
7. ARE, A/10 – 1958-59.
8. ARE, 42 – 1890.
9. T. N. Ramachandran, Tirupparttikunram and its Temples, p. 16.
10. A. Ekambaranathan, Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. II, p. 324.
11. ARE, 360 – 1954-55.
12. TASSI, 1958-59, p. 41.
13. ARE, 382 – 1928-29.
14. ARE, 381 – A/1928-29.
15. ARE, 381 – B/1928-29.
16. SII, Vol. IV, No. 366.
17. Ibid, No. 367.
18. V. Raman, Traditional Cultures Jainism in Tondaimandalam, 1974, pp. 13-23.
19. SII, Vol. VII, No. 398.
20. Ibid., No. 368.
21. ARE, 97 – 1923.
22. ARE, 98 – 1923.
23. ARE, 100 – 1923.
24. ARE, A/10 – 1958–59.
25. SII, Vol. IV, No. 366.
26. ARE, No. 41-42 – 1890.
27. ARE, No. 98 & 100 – 1923.
28. Mackenzie, Mss. No. 68.
29. A. Ekambaranathan, Chithamoor Varalaru, pp. 78-79.
_____
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Keneth Otieno Ogot, SJ
~73~
THE PATHOLOGY OF ETHNIC IDENTITY AND
DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE KENYAN NATION-STATE
________
Hekima College-Jesuit School of Theology, Peace Studies and International Relations,
Nairobi, Kenya
__________________
Introduction
Over a century ago a number of ethnic nations were created and forcefully
married together by the British colonialists to form the polyethnic Kenyan
nation-state and its leadership handed over to western educated ethnic elites and
„petit bourgeois‟ in 1963. Ever since the different ethnic elites and petit
bourgeois in the Kenyan nation-state have been perpetually embroiled in
political power, economic and resources struggles these ethnic elites have
perfected the art of survival using their respective ethnic masses as ladders for
self-aggrandizement and bargaining chips in the highly competitive and volatile
game of politics. Hence, this paper will argue that ethnic identity or ethnicity
and liberal democracy are smokescreens that have been utilized by these elites
to entrench themselves at the expense of the poor masses. Essentially, what is at
play is perpetuation of class hegemony by these ethnic elites and petite
bourgeoisie. The first part of this paper will deal with ethnicity and liberal
democracy while the second part will suggests ways forward out of this
quagmire.
Definitions
„Ethnicity‟ is a very fluid and ambiguous term in intellectual discourse with
scholars having divergent opinions. For example, African scholars contend that
negative ethnicity in Africa should not be called tribalism because colonialists
invented and labeled African ethnic communities as „tribes‟ to denote their
lesser evolution, development, static, homogenous, without a culture and
government so as to justify colonialism. 1 Also, ethnic identities were shifting
categories2 as the different communities were always mingling and
„contaminating‟ each other. Further, ethnicity according to Frederick Barth “is a
form of social organization in which the participants themselves played a
primary role in determining and maintaining their identity. It is a dynamic
interactive process, reflecting social cleavages and material competition.”3
Claude Akewhen writing about ethnicity defines „political ethnicity‟ as “the
politically articulated insistence of a group of its uniqueness, interests and
rights. What makes the group ethnic in this context is that it perceives itself as
timeless and defines its membership categorically in terms of some „natural‟
status.”4
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The Pathology of Ethnic... Kenyan Nation
In essence, ethnicity per se is neutral and not necessarily negative. Oxford
Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary defines ethnicity as “the fact of belonging to a
particular race”5 this definition can be expounded to include nations, or „tribes‟
that shares cultural tradition(s). Also, “ethnic community refer to a group of
people sharing a common ancestry, language, belief, myth, custom, history,
kinship, territory, and other distinct attributes.”6
Historical Background
The proclamation of the East Africa Protectorate by the British in 1895 which
eventually evolved into the Kenyan state in 1963 led to the balkanization and a
conscious formation and edification of ethnic groups and ethnicity. The British
used ethnicity and ethnic identity as a tool for divide and rule and hence
consciously invented these ethnic groups giving them perceived permanent
structures. Ogot notes that: “In furthering the policy of a gradual extension of
British influence outwards of established colonial stations and forts, the new
rulers established internal borders and district boundaries that were supposed to
coincide with “tribal” or linguistic units. Their efforts were vitiated by the
definition of ethnic groups as “tribes”, a concept that was racist and a historical
in the sense that it regarded the various nationality groups as being static,
exclusive and homogenous... These imagined, inward-looking, self-regenerating
and exclusive units were then to be encased in district boundaries in order to
avoid contamination from neighbouring, but culturally and linguistic different
peoples.”7
Therefore, these „tribal‟ demarcations brought to a halt the dynamic interactions
that existed among the different clans, lineages and peoples which had led to
creative evolution, assimilation and synthesis of diverse elements and cultural
integrations because before colonialism “the frontiers were porous and ethnic
groups were malleable,”8 consequentially, “there were no pure ethnic groups.”9
Further, since “individuals could no longer move to new areas nor could people
form or reform. A relationship was thus established between ethnic identity and
socio-geographical space... Consequently, cultural development was fossilized
at a particular time in history, and from then on the colonial anthropologists
could only write about „the ethnographic present‟.”10
To further their agenda the colonialists‟ recruited indigenous people who were
trained to emphasize the uniqueness of their „tribe‟ and ethnic communities
were then created. Also, the demarcated boundaries which were done among
„tribal‟ lines were to be governed in the native languages. Ogot observes that “in
other words, ethnic exclusiveness was strengthened by the introduction of the
new local government institutions, with the result that even the „tribal‟ groups
which were previously the most loosely organized developed a strong feeling of
local „tribal‟ patriotism.”11Therefore, the deliberate colonial policy of promoting
„tribal nationalism‟ as a buffer against nationalist politics catalyzed tribal
consciousness and „tribalistic‟ political orientation, 12 thus, the enduring legacy
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of the colonial state as the cradle of ethnic consciousness and politics has ever
since remained.13
Post-Colonial Kenya
Kenyatta Presidency (1963-1978)
At independence with a lack of a clear cut ideology the ethnic group became the
main rallying point for political mobilization and Kenyatta 14 used it to entrench
himself in power and the ethnic elites around him. Succinctly, “From his
position he (Kenyatta) was both the undisputed paramount chief of the Kikuyu
and the chief patron of the Kenyan nation, to who all leaders of the ethnic
groups, but not necessarily the people themselves, owed allegiance.”15
The ruling party at the time of independence KANU (Kenya African National
Union) was an alliance of the big ethnic communities: Kikuyu (including their
cousins the Embu and Meru) and Luo. From the beginning there was
competition among these ethnic elites and capitalists for the state resources.
Therefore, “Kenyatta was called upon to deal with the legitimate expectations of
the various other factions of Kenya‟s ethnic sub-nationalist elites who had
supported KANU‟s bid for power and whose continued support was necessary
for the survival of the regime,” 16 asserts Muigai. Furthermore, “in order to
contain the sub-nationalism of the other communities and provide legitimacy to
his regime, Kenyatta set up an elaborate patron-client system, with himself as
the chief patron. From the various communities he identified and supported
individuals who owed personal allegiance to him. On the other hand, he
systematically eliminated from the political field those who were opposed to
him or his protégés.”17 For instance, in recognition of the Luo as a significant
voting block he appointed Oginga Odinga as vice-president. Additionally, to
win the Kalenjin support he appointed Moi to the cabinet and eventually vicepresident after the fall out with Oginga Odinga.
To cement his leadership as the undisputed chief of Kikuyu sub-nationalism he
co-opted into his government the sons of loyalists, home guards and former
colonial chiefs within the Kikuyu community. These became his trusted
lieutenants and advisors (his kitchen cabinet). It is this group in his later years
that ran the state without reference to him. 18 Moreover, Wamwere observes “the
next step Kenyatta took to mobilize negative ethnicity was to create a ruling
elite that was by and large Gikuyu, though sprinkled with members of other
ethnic communities. This ruling Gikuyu elite was kept happy with leading jobs
in the civil service, big former settler farms, and untrammeled corruption, as
long as they weren‟t exposed.”19 This alliance with former collaborators
essentially alienated the ex-Mau Mau and their sympathizers and until his death
many of the poor and peasant Kikuyus considered Kenyatta had betrayed the
Mau Mau.
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In exploiting and entrenching the negative ethnic, with his knowledge and
connivance oathing of the Kikuyu was accelerated in 1969 in the aftermath of
the killing of Tom Mboya though it had begun a year earlier. 20 Accordingly,
Muigai notes that “the oathing was justified to the ordinary Kikuyu folk on the
basis that they had to be prepared to protect the presidency in the „house of
Mumbi‟.21 This event unmasked Kenyatta and the Kikuyu elites scheme of
utilizing negative ethnicity as a tool to protect their power from other nonKikuyu elites. However, “because ethnic elites did not share the spoils of
African capitalism equally, they all embraced negative ethnicity as the ideology
of their ethnic struggles against one another for resources and profits.” 22
Essentially, at the heart of all this is the perpetuation of class hegemony.
Moi Presidency (1978-2002)
After the death of Kenyatta in 1978, the then Vice-President Daniel arap Moi
took over the mantle of leadership promising to follow in the Nyayo (footsteps)
of his predecessor. Hence, he sort ethnic alliance across the country in order to
protect his presidency especially from: (1) GEMA23 inspired change the
constitution clamoring group which had conspired to prevent him ascending to
the presidency in the eventual death of Kenyatta. (2) Loss of power.
Immediately after Moi assumed power and the failed coup attempt of 1982 the
tide in the political landscape changed from Kikuyunization to Kalenjinization
in the cabinet, civil service and the provincial administration. The 1982
attempted coup also led to increase in the number of Kalenjin in the armed
forces both in the lower ranks and in the top echelons. African Confidential
claimed that “the Kenya army used to be Kalenjin at the bottom and Kamba at
the top [but]….it is now Kalenjin at the bottom, Kalenjin at the middle and
Kalenjin at the top.”24
Following in the footsteps of Kenyatta, Moi also set to establish himself as the
paramount chief and the disburser of privileges to political elites both from the
Kalenjin ethnic group and other ethnic groups that toed his line and the
marginalization and destruction of those that opposed him. Lynch asserts that:
“Moi was happy for people to “do well” only if it was through his patronage.
Independent economic bases were construed as a potential source of
independent political power, and mass accumulation of wealth was limited to a
small number of Moi‟s close allies, most notably Biwott, Hosea Kiplagat,
Joshua Kulei, his children, and a number of non-Kalenjin allies (including
Simeon Nyachae and George Saitoti).”25 Also, the “disproportionate benefits
accrued by “the Kalenjin” were associated with the continuing marginalization
of other communities, most notably the Luo, and decline fortunes of othersnamely, the Kikuyu.”26
Therefore, the Kalenjin contrary to the popular discourse did not benefit
substantially and many walloped in marginalization and poverty just as other
Kenyans did across the country. Thus, “while many non-Kalenjin complain of
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general state bias, many Kalenjin complain of a bias toward certain subgroups
and prominent individuals”27 and “in practice, the greatest benefits were accrued
by a small group of Kalenjin elites, with Moi reaching the top of Kenya‟s rich
list, having built up business empire that branched into practically every major
sector of the Kenyan economy.”28 Therefore, the Kalenjinization project was a
scheme to perpetuate class hegemony of both the Kalenjin political elites and
other ethnic elites associated with the Moi regime. In his two decade rule Moi
perfected the art of negative ethnicity whenever his power was threatened
marshaling the Kalenjin masses against their perceived enemies in and outside
of Rift Valley leading to the ethnic clashes witnessed in 1992 and 2002.
Democratization of the Kenyan state
Liberal Democracy, Class Structure and Multi-Party System in Kenya
Democracy can be categorized into three types with their genesis in different
parts of Europe and at different epochs due to political, industrialization and
socio-economic impetus. The three types of democracies are: Liberal
democracy, Social democracy and Socialist democracy. Due to the importance
of liberal democracy to the present discourse, I will examine it in-depth
compared to the other two forms of democracies.
Liberal Democracy: It is the earliest and oldest form of democracy which
became dominant in the 17th century and was stabilized in Britain, then France
and finally Germany. It was driven by the bourgeoisie class which by the end of
the 19th century had attained prominence as the most powerful economically
and dominant political class.29 The struggle in Europe by the different social
classes such as the landless peasants, urban working class and middle class was
eventually won by the bourgeoisies who eventually established and entrenched
liberal democracy as the dominant form of democracy. The essential tenet of
liberal democracy is the protection of property right (notwithstanding all its
consequences), prominence of the individual and not the collective and
substitution of the sovereignty of the people with the sovereignty of the law. 30
Essentially, “liberal democracy which, through manipulation and exercise of
power, ensures the sustainability of economic and political domination of the
society by this powerful class of bourgeoisie; it also ensures the individual
rights of the growing middle class, a class which played and has continued to
play a critical role in running the state structures, the military and the education
system of the countries with liberal democracies and dominated by the
propertied (bourgeoisie) class.”31
Liberal democracy is the type of democracy that has been exported to Africa by
western countries especially in the 1990‟s. Hence, this is the form of democracy
ascribed by the Kenyan state.
Social Democracy: This type of democracy was initiated by the unions and
reformist civil society groups to counter the exploitation both economically and
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politically of the liberal democracy. This democracy advocated for
“inclusiveness, participatory democracy and a strong socio-economic safety net
for the majority of the population, the poor and the unemployed.” 32 Though, it
was defeated in England, France and Germany by the end of the 19th century
social democracy began taking roots in Scandinavian countries such as
Denmark, Sweden and Norway.33
Socialist Democracy: This form of democracy was born in Russia after the first
world war and expanded in Eastern Europe and Asia specifically China and
Vietnam after the second world war and eventually collapsed in Europe in 1990.
It has continued to survive and thrive in Asia due to the role of the state in
influencing and guiding their socialist market economy. 34
The oppressive rule of President Moi and the one party KANU finally reached
its climax in 1990 and 1991 during the agitation for a return to multi-party
politics in the country. By the end of 1991 opposition leaders such as Oginga
Odinga, Masinde Muliro, Martin Shikuku, George Nthenge, Charles Rubia,
Kenneth Matiba, Raila Odinga and Paul Muite had forced the government to
repel section 2(A) of the constitution in effect abolishing a one party state. This
opened the democratic space and return to multiparty politics. However, this
period was followed by government sponsored violence and eviction of people
perceived to support the opposition parties especially in the Rift Valley.
Since the introduction of multi-party system in Kenya the brand of democracy
which has been advocated by the ruling class is liberal democracy. The Kenyan
elites have embraced liberal democracy because of its allure of capital and its
obsession with elections as a vehicle for acquiring power and maintenance of
the status quo which is class hegemony. Bujra points out that “throughout its
history, and in all the countries where it became fully established, liberal
democracy buttressed economic, political and social inequalities, and
systematically excluded the masses from participation through manipulation.” 35
Hence, the ruling class in Kenya, it does not matter which political party or
ethnic group they belong to, know that liberal democracy through manipulation
and exercise of power ensures sustainability of their economic and political
domination of the masses.
The two major pitfalls of liberal democracy, that is, obsession with elections
and acquisition of property and capital are advantageous for the ruling class.
First, an election where the winner takes it all is very important, very
competitive and all means are employed in order to win elections as has even
been seen in the just concluded general elections-2013. Ethnic numbers and
ethnicity are important factors in the Kenyan politics as the voting patterns in
1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2013 presidential elections have demonstrated. This
has set the stage for ethnic chiefs and elites wrestling with one another for
political power to mobilise their ethnic masses to sustain them in power. “A
small politicized middle-class surrounded by a large mass of impoverished
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peasantry make politics a zero-sum game, with victors (who will win all
political and economic resources) and losers (who have no alternative avenues
for upward mobility), turning the democratic contest into a “frantic violent
struggle”.36 Therefore, the struggle for the control of the natural resources has
essentially become a voracious ethnic contest.
Acquisition and desire to amass more resources makes Kenyan political contest
a do or die situation for the elites. This is affirmed by Murungi when he writes:
“the Kenyan state has been an instrument for the extraction and distribution of
natural resources. The competition for natural resources, therefore, takes a
political form. It is a struggle to control the political power and the economic
resources of the country. Those who lose in the struggle for state house lose out
on both political power and the economic privileges which go with it; they
become economically marginalized.”37
Majority if not all of the leading political elites and capitalist in the Kenyan
state are British cultured in mannerism and in the thinking process: having been
educated in Mangu, Alliance and Maseno schools and later Makerere university
in the early 1950s and 1960s and others having been employed in the British
colonial services in pre-independence Kenya.38 These are the individual who
inherited the colonial state and its structures and formed the political class
irrespective of which political party they are affiliated to. Their children having
gone to almost the same schools and attended higher education in the country
and abroad have also joined the same class of elites through acquisition of
economic strength and political power by manipulation of the masses.
Therefore, palpably “still the country remains dominated by the relatives and
friends of the Kenyattas, the Odingas, the Mois, the Mudavadis, the Ngalas, the
Balalas, the Wamalwas, the Ntimamas and Konchellas, the Nyamweyas, the
Kibakis, and the Nyagas.”39 Essentially, it is this class with their collaborators
and friends from the civil societies that will continue to rule the country. It is
these elites who are proponent of liberal democracy and the power that accrue
from it both economic and political. It is of utmost importance to give an
example here.
Kibaki Presidency (2002-2013)
President Mwai Kibaki was elected in 2002 on the platform of reforms. It was
the first time that the opposition parties in Kenya had bundled together in an
election against the ruling party KANU under the umbrella of NARC 40 and won
an election. After the election there erupted a conflict between Kikuyu and Luo
elites (the latter being supported by elites of other communities) in government
due to unfulfilled secret Memorandum of Understanding between president
Kibaki and Raila Odinga concerning sharing of power and resources. “A good
deal of politics in post-colonial Kenya has been about elites jostling with one
another to be the gatekeepers, while at the same time trying to mobilise enough
support from below to sustain their position in power.”41
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Part of the reform agenda was the enactment of a new constitution. However,
after taking power the Kikuyu ruling elites immediately brushed aside the need
for constitutional reforms. “At one point John Michuki (a cabinet minister)…
said, Kenya no longer needed a new constitution since Moi was no longer in
power.”42 Wamwere adds: “this statement gave the impression that the top
Kikuyu elites opposed the new constitution which majority of Kenyans saw as a
vehicle of their liberation out of ethnic and selfish interests.”43 Therefore, the
supremacy war was taken to the constitutional making conference at Bomas of
Kenya and the stage was set for the spreading of ethnic hate between the
Kikuyu, Luo, Kalenjin and other communities. The Bomas constitutional
making conference degenerated into an ethnic elite battlefield driven by neverending intrigues and conspiracies. 44 When the constitutional draft named
Wakodraft45 which was being supported by the government was subjected to a
referendum, it was demonized as a Kikuyu constitution and was defeated in the
2005 referendum. After the defeat of the constitution the anti-Wako draft forces
coalesced into Orange Democratic Party (ODM).
In the ensuing power struggle in NARC government and in an effort to
consolidate and protect his presidency Kibaki surrounded himself with Kikuyu
advisors who came to be known as the Mount Kenya mafia. Therefore,
“President Kibaki ethnicized and made the presidency Kikuyu. Increasingly,
Kikuyu elites portrayed government as Kikuyu rather than Kenyan, forcing
other Kenyans to look upon it as an enemy government.”46
Therefore, the 2007 general elections campaigns were fuelled by ethnic hate and
when presidential results when announced the country descended into chaos and
ethnic cleansing. In the Rift valley and Nyanza the Kikuyu‟s and any
community perceived to support the government were murdered and displaced,
while in Naivasha, Nakuru and Nairobi the Mungikimiliatia allied to the Kikuyu
killed and displaced other ethnic communities allied to ODM such as the Luos,
Luhyas and Kalenjins. Each ethnic group was convinced by their ethnic chiefs
and elites that they had a duty to protect their own. Hence, ethnic identities “act
as a pole around which group members are mobilized and effectively compete
for state-controlled power and economic resources. Under the leadership of the
predatory elite, members of the ethnic group are urged to form an organized
political action-group in order to maximize their corporate political, economic,
and social interests.”47
Between December 2007 and February 2008 the country was at a brink of a
civil war until when the former secretary general of UN Kofi Anna stepped in
and brokered a truce which led to the formation of a coalition government or
power-sharing government. The PNU48 side of the government maintained the
presidency and half of the cabinet posts while ODM was given the Prime
Minister‟s post plus half of the cabinet appointments.
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Evidentially after the fracas and post-election violence the ethnic elites from the
warring factions sat together and divided the spoils among them while their foot
soldiers (the ethnic masses) were left with physical and emotional scars and
some are still in internally displaced people‟s camps till today. Machariaaffirms
“the disturbances of 2007 were largely class based; they were mostly disputes
between members of the same class misusing ordinary Kenyans to decide who
is pre-eminent.”49 Moreover, Michela rightly points out that: “in Kenya, as in
most African nations, the moneyed, well-educated upper class forms a
numerically tiny group. The political elite, business elite and social elite are one
and the same thing. Rubbing against one another at private schools, in clubs and
in high society weddings, its members share an incestuous intimacy.” 50
The events of 2007 shows that the elite will always find ways of assuaging the
ego of the lower classes, by incorporating a few of the leaders of the lower
classes into the elite club or by mounting temporary diversions such as
drumming up ethnic hostilities. Class interests, activities, and development,
therefore, control and will continue controlling Kenya given the class interests
are rooted in history rather than, outside history. 51
Having examined the negative ethnicity and liberal democracy in the first part
of this essay, the second part will attempt to suggest the following as the
remedy for this appalling situation: 1) reexamination of the brand of democracy
practiced in Kenya, 2) formation of a new and mature conscience, and
3) emphasis on plural identities as opposed to a single identity.
Democracy and Devolution
Since the introduction of multi-party system in Kenya the brand of democracy
which has been advocated by the ruling class is liberal democracy. Liberal
democracy essentially is a majoritarian democracy where the winner takes all.
There is a need to reevaluated liberal democracy in Kenya. With majoritarian
democracy certain ethnic communities are disadvantaged since they are
minority numerically and hence find themselves unable to attain political power
which in the Kenyan situation means also economic disenfranchisement and
eventual marginalization. This has led to frustration and sometimes unrest every
time there is an election. As Tarimo rightly observes “Ethno-political violence
is a deliberate political strategy created by desperate groups intended to effect
change in the political system that marginalizes them.”52 This volatile situation
necessitates safeguards and in certain instances affirmative action. I am opined
that democracy in Kenya should be home grown and adopted to the prevailing
local circumstances, that is, formulation of contextualized ideology or
ideologies for contemporary Kenya. 53 “Together with localized initiatives
people must be assisted to implement localized strategy geared toward a reform
founded upon institutionalization of broad-based modalities of participation”54
adds Tarimo. For instance, it (democracy) should be inclusive, participatory,
accommodative and should have a strong socio-economic safety net for the
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masses especially the poor and unemployed. The underlying principle of the
democracy ought to be consensus and not winner takes all especially in an
ethnically polarized country as Kenya. “The idea of political consensus can
articulate new perspectives and preferences which will eventually enter into the
balancing process by dissolving ethno-political competition and creating
institutions that can guarantee equal citizenship, participation, and justice” 55
affirms Tarimo.
There is a need to cater for both the individual and the community‟s common
good. This can be achieved through building credible institutions such as the
judiciary, legislature, executive and constitutionalism in order to address
injustices that have not been tackled since attainment of independence.
The promulgation and enactment of the new constitution in 2010 offers a
window of opportunity to turn a new leaf and correct some of these anomalies.
One of the most prominent parts of the constitution provides for devolution and
sharing of power between the central and the county governments. The
objective and principle of the devolved government as envisioned in chapter
eleven of the constitution are as follows: (a) to promote democratic and
accountable exercise of power (b) to foster national unity by recognising
diversity (c) to give powers of self-governance to the people and enhance the
participation of the people in the exercise of the powers of the State and in
making decisions affecting them (d) to recognise the right of communities to
manage their own affairs and to further their development (e) to protect and
promote the interests and rights of minorities and marginalised communities
(f) to promote social and economic development and the provision of
proximate, easily accessible services throughout Kenya (g) to ensure equitable
sharing of national and local resources throughout Kenya (h) to facilitate the
decentralisation of State organs, their functions and services, from the capital of
Kenya and (i) to enhance checks and balances and the separation of powers. 56 It
is hoped that the new constitutional dispensation especially devolution will
address some of the structural injustices. Though, this is in the right direction
there must also be constitutionalism and the respect of law and order for change
to be accomplished. Because “the democratic way means respect for and
openness to all cultures, but it also challenges all cultures to abandon those
intellectual and moral values that are inconsistent with the ideals of freedom,
equality, and the ongoing cooperative experimental search for truth and wellbeing.”57
Formation of New and Mature Conscience
Formation of a new and mature conscience is needed in order to fight negative
ethnicity and to enable the citizenry make informed moral decisions. It is worth
noting that the aim of formation of conscience is not for the purpose of
increasing an individual‟s knowledge of facts, values and skills for resolving
moral dilemma but it must include the fuller texture of an individual‟s
character.58
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Conscience is properly formed in dialogue with several sources of moral
wisdom.59 Our experiences and those of the community, stories and narratives,
images, rituals, cultural practices and language are some of the veritable sources
of moral wisdom available to us. These aforementioned sources can therefore to
an extent determine the kind of conscience that an individual and community
form. Ethnic narratives, language, images and cultural practices have to a large
extent formed the conscience of the different ethnic communities and collective
conscience of the Kenyan nation. Especially, immature and false consciences of
individuals and entire ethnic communities have been buttressed by biased and
derogative images and narratives that have been constructed and invented to
demonize the „other‟ as Sen rightly observes “organized attribution can prepare
the ground for persecution and burial.”60 Wamwere also adds: “to ignite an
ethnic war or genocide, all you need are the sort of hardened ethnic stereotypes
and fallacies that negative ethnicity has put in place since British colonialists
first invented negative ethnicity for the purpose of managing its African
colonies.”61
An example will suffice to drive this point home. Koigi explains that the
aftermath of Tom Mboya‟s assassination in 1969 was followed by the oathing
of the Kikuyu. One day as he was waiting to take the oath a young girl
explained to him that its purpose was to protect the black government against its
enemies. She was thunderstruck to learn those „enemies‟ were black people as
well. Kenyatta knew how to take advantage of ignorance to inculcate negative
ethnicity in young and unsuspecting minds. 62 This example exemplifies how
narratives can be effective tools of forming a false or bad conscience which is a
recipe for negative ethnicity.
Language and culture also plays a great role in conscience formation. For
example, the Luo word Jamwa which they use to describe foreigners, implicitly
also carries the connotation of “uncultured”, “uncivilized” and “inferior
foreigner” and therefore it can be used derogatively to mean an inferior
foreigner or a community they despise. Additionally, the Gikuyu word nduriri
has the meaning of “foreigners” or “foreign nations” but it can also be used to
denote an inferior foreigner.63 Therefore, language can be used to generate
images which shape the imagination and consequently, how individuals and a
community „sees‟.
The need for a proper and well informed conscience which is nationalist in
outlook requires the redesigning of language, narratives, stories and even
culture of the Kenyan people which will shape the vision of the entire country.
Gula asserts, human behavior is a function not so much of the moral
propositions one holds as true, but of the imagination holding the images which
gives us a “picture” of the world. In forming our consciences for the sake of
making moral judgment, then, we need to be critically alert to images at play in
our imaginations.”64
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Plural Identities
The rampart manipulation of negative ethnicity begs the question of whether it
is possible to eradicate this vice. It is my opinion that it is possible to eradicate
negative ethnicity. Ethnicity as a form of identity in itself is neutral and
harmless. However, negative identity can be a source of violence and terror as
has been witness from time to time. Bellicose negative ethnic identity can be
challenged by reasoning and understanding of our other competing and plural
identities.
For the Kenyan nation and people to salvage themselves from the monster of
negative ethnicity we have to come to a cognizance and lucid understanding of
the multiplicity of human identities that cut across all the ethnic communities
and that they are more important than the single identity being peddled by the
ruling class. Additionally, the illusion of a unique ethnic identity is a precursor
for perpetuation of negative ethnic identity and sectarian division. Sen reminds
us that: “violence is fomented by the imposition of singular and belligerent
identities on gullible people, championed by proficient artisans of terror.” 65
What are our other competing and plural identities? In this regard I will divide
identity into two categories namely: (1) identity as a result of accidents of
nature, and (2) formed or acquired identity. First, identity as a result of
accidents of nature are the identities which we do not choose and have no power
over, we just find ourselves having them. For example, my ethnic group,
nationality, gender, parents and family, culture, continent and so on. These
I have no control of, once I am born in a particular place and context I
inherently have these identities. Second, formed or acquired identities are the
ones one makes a choice and has control over. For instance, being a religious,
career, religion, class, politics, food habits, sports, and hobbies just to name a
few. All these identities compete for our attention, therefore, we cannot be
identified or categorized using only one identity in this case ethnicity or ethnic
group. All these identities bestow on people a multiplicity of identities and
therefore one singular categorization is implausible. Hence, “this leads to other
ways of classifying people, which can restrain the exploitation of specifically
aggressive use of one particular categorization.” 66
Responsibility of choice and reasoning is important in this discourse. The
freedom to decide our loyalties and priorities between our different plural
identities competing for our attention is a fundamental liberty and choice which
we have every reason to recognize, cherish, defend and cannot abdicate. This
essentially means that we cannot allow the ruling class to decide for us which
identity is important through their narrow ethnic lenses, narratives and stories.
Furthermore, the need to recognize the role of reasoning and choice in identitybased thinking is thus both exacting and extremely important. 67 Evidentially
“identities are socially constructed, reinforced, renegotiated, and
deconstructed.”68 Hence, it is appropriate and possible “to deconstruct certain
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traditions upon which ethnic identity is built.”69 Reasoned choice is important in
building dykes against the floods of singular identity which can lead to negative
ethnicity for “when the poor abdicate to their elites the right and duty to think,
the people‟s souls and minds wither and die.” 70 Also, “we cannot live in
harmony without propagating a political culture characterized by rational
dialogue, public reason, and mutual accommodation. Transformative paradigms
of this sort require everyone to challenge inherited structures of political
organization.”71
Conclusion
To conclude, ethnic complexities and mobilizations go against the principles on
which the so called modern nation-states are anchored and founded and hence
posit a mammoth challenge to the process of policy making and harmonious
„nation-building‟. Not many states have come out to directly tackle this problem
through established institutions and constitutions and Kenya is no exception.
Some of the underlying causes of ethnic mobilizations and complexities in
general and in the Kenyan nation-state can be summarized as follows:
(1) unequal economic development (2) social and political conflicts among
classes especially among the ruling class and (3) marginalization of certain
communities or ethnic groups in the acquisition and exercise of economic and
political power.
In this paper, I have argued that negative ethnic and liberal democracy are
smokescreens used by the ruling elites as means of gaining political and
economic power. What is at play is perpetuation of class hegemony and
ethnicity is utilized when the economic and political power of these ethnic
chiefs and elites, petit bourgeois and capitalist is threatened. This I have
demonstrated by the examples of Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki presidencies.
However, it is worth noting that ethnicity or ethnic identities are neutral and not
necessarily negative.
I have also suggested pathways for emancipation from the yokes of negative
ethnicity and capitalistic liberal democracy which are: (1) Reevaluation of
liberal democracy and devolution (2) formation of a new and mature conscience
and (3) appreciation of plural identities. Also, it is my hope that the enactment
of the new constitution will help in tackling negative ethnicity, political and
economic marginalization and it (constitution) will be a firm foundation for a
birth of a new Kenya where justice will be our shield and defender as our
national anthem proclaims.
Endnotes
1. B. A. Ogot, „Ethnicity, Nationalism and Democracy - A Kind of Historiography.‟
In: Bethwell A. Ogot (ed.), Ethnicity, Nationalism and Democracy in Africa,
Institute of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Maseno University College,
Maseno,1997, p. 18.
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~86~
2. Edmund Leach, Political Systems of Highland Burma (London, 1954) quoted in
B. A. Ogot, „Ethnicity, Nationalism and Democracy - A Kind of Historiography.‟
In: Bethwell A. Ogot (ed.), op. cit., p. 20.
3. Fredrick Barth (ed.), Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, Universitets Forlaget, Allen
and Unwin, Bergen-Oslo, 1969, quoted in B. A. Ogot, „Ethnicity, Nationalism
and Democracy - A Kind of Historiography‟ In: Bethwell A. Ogot (ed.),
Ethnicity, Nationalism and Democracy in Africa, Institute of Research and
Postgraduate Studies, Maseno University College, Maseno, 1997, p. 20.
4. Ake Claude, „A World of Political Ethnicity‟ In:Rob van Berg and Ulbe Bosma
(eds.), Historical dimensions of Development, Change and Conflict in the South,
Drukkerij-Randstad BVI, Amsterdam, 1994, p. 49-54 quoted in E. S. AtienoOdhiambo, „Reconditioning the Terms of Fact: Ethnicity, Nationalism and
Democracy as Political Vectors‟ In: Bethwell A. Ogot (ed.), Ethnicity,
Nationalism and Democracy in Africa, Institute of Research and Postgraduate
Studies, Maseno University College, Maseno, 1997, p. 77-78.
5. Sally Wehmeier (ed.), Oxford Advanced Dictionary, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 2000, p. 395.
6. Aquiline Tarimo, Ethnicity, Citizenship and State in Eastern Africa, Langaa
RPCIG, Mankon-Bamenda, 2011, p. 2.
7. B. A. Ogot (ed.), op. cit., pp. 17-18.
8. Ibid., p. 17.
9. Ibid., p. 17.
10. Ibid., p. 18.
11. Ibid., p. 18.
12. Kiraitu Murungi, „Ethnicity and Multi-partism in Kenya‟, Thoughts on
Democracy, series 3, February 1995, p. 3.
13. Muigai Githu, „Jomo Kenyatta and the Rise of the Ethno-Nationalist State in
Kenya‟ In: Bruce Berman, Dickson Eyoh and Will Kymlicka (eds.), Ethnicity and
Democracy in Africa, Ohio University Press, Ohio, 2004, p. 200.
14. Johnstone Kamau Ngengi who later changed his name to Jomo Kenyatta was the
first Prime Minister and later the first President of the Republic Kenya in 1963
when Kenya gained independence from Britain.
15. Muigai Githu, op. cit., p. 215.
16. Ibid., p. 211.
17. Ibid., p. 212.
18. Ibid., p. 211.
19. Wamwere Koigi, Towards Genocide in Kenya: The Curse of Negative Ethnicity,
Mvule African Publishers, Nairobi, 2008, p. 189.
20. Daniel Branch, Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2011, Yale University
Press, Yale, 2011, p. 85.
21. Githu Muigai, op. cit., p. 213.
22. Wamwere Koigi, op. cit., p. 21.
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~87~
23. Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association formed in 1971 to champion economic interests
of the mentioned communities.
24. “Kenya: A Presidential Army,” African Confidential, April 28, 1995 quoted in
Lynch Gabrielle, I say To You: Ethnic Politics and the Kalenjin in Kenya,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2011, p. 133.
25. Gabrielle Lynch, I Say To You: Ethnic Politics and the Kalenjin in Kenya,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2011, p. 138.
26. Ibid., p. 138-139.
27. Ibid., p. 137.
28. Ibid., p. 137.
29. Bujra Abdalla, „Liberal Democracy and the emergency of a Constitutionally
Failed State in Kenya‟ In: Abdalla Bujra (ed.), Democratic Transition in Kenya:
The Struggle from Liberal to Social Democracy, African Centre for Economic
Growth, Nairobi, 2005, pp. 6-7.
30. Ibid., p. 7.
31. Ibid., p. 7.
32. Ibid., p. 8.
33. Ibid., p. 8.
34. Ibid., p. 9.
35. Ibid., p. 8.
36. Richard Sandbrook, „Timing the African Leviathan‟, World Policy Journal, Vol.
8, No. 1, 1990/91, p. 68 quoted in Kiraitu Murungi, „Ethnicity and Multi-partism
in Kenya‟, Thoughts on Democracy, series 3, February 1995, p. 9.
37. Ibid., p.8.
38. Macharia Munene, Historical Reflections on Kenya: Intellectual Adventurism,
Politics and International Relations, University of Nairobi Press, Nairobi, 2012,
p. 3.
39. Ibid., p. 9.
40. The National Rainbow Coalition (National Alliance of Rainbow CoalitionNARC) was a coalition of Kenyan opposition political parties formed during the
preparation of 2002 general elections.
41. Daniel Branch, op. cit., p. 22.
43. Ibid., p. 31.
44. Ibid., p. 31.
45. Amos Wako was then Attorney General who had helped in drafting the
constitution.
47. Aquiline Tarimo, op. cit., p. 24.
48. Party of National Unity was a coalition of parties on whose ticket President
Kibaki ran for re-election in 2007.
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49. Macharia Munene, op. cit., p. 9.
50. Michela Wrong, It‟s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower,
Fourth Estate, London, 2010, p. 175.
51. Macharia Munene, op. cit., p. 10.
53. Ibid., p. 21.
54. Ibid., p. 3.
55. Ibid., p. 23.
56. The Constitution of Kenya, (2010), Chapter 11, article 174.
57. Steven C. Rockefeller, Comment: The Politics of Recognition, Princeton
University Press, New Jersey, 1994, p. 92.
58. Richard Gula, Reason Informed by Faith, Paulist Press, New York, 1989, p. 137.
59. Ibid., p. 137.
60. Amartya Sen, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, Penguin Books,
London, 2007, p. 8.
62. Ibid., p. 190.
63. Ibid., p. 97.
64. Richard Gula, Reason Informed by Faith, Paulist Press, New York, 1989, p. 146.
65. Amartya Sen, op. cit., p. 2.
66. Ibid., p. 4.
67. Ibid., p. 8.
69. Ibid., p. 17.
_____
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Babu Paul, SJ
~89~
JESUIT CONTRIBUTIONS TO HISTORIOGRAPHY
OF KERALA
________
Babu Paul, SJ
Former Principal, AKJM Higher Secondary School, Kanjarapalli, Kerala
__________________
History is a dynamic discipline which peeps into the past events of human
society with a sense of scientific objectivity to know the truth for the benefit of
the present and future generations. It is a living subject and the sources for the
historiography are the recorded past which are present today in various forms.
Among the major sources available to trace the past, literature of the time stands
prominent. The Jesuit sources find a very significant place in the historiography
of medieval Kerala. The Jesuits came to Kerala coast in the year 1542 during
the time of Portuguese invasion. “The Society of Jesus one of the largest
Religious Orders of the Catholic Church first set foot on the Indian soil in the
sixteenth century and their advent synchronized with the rise of the Portuguese
in the east. The annals of the missions are filled with edifying witness of their
apostolic labours in India”.1
“History is a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his
facts, an unending dialogue between the present and past”.2 The facts for the
historian is laying in the past and it is the skill of a historian to read the facts in
order to reach the truth regarding the past events. The qualifications of the Jesuit
missionaries as historical observers were very significant. “Their extensive
learning, their knowledge of languages of the regions in which they worked, the
facilities they commanded for accurate observation owing to their long stay in a
particular locality and their association with the various classes of its
inhabitants, qualified them to produce good historical documents. John
Lockman remarks „No men better qualified to describe nations and countries
than the Jesuits.”3 The Jesuits were well trained and instructed to record
everything that happened in the missions for the purpose of future generation
and edification.
The attempt of this article is to make a brief outline on the Jesuit sources
especially the letters and books written by the Jesuit missionaries who worked
in the land. Jesuits used to write personal as well as official letters and the
collection of some of those letters is available in Jesuit Archives in Kozhikode,
Kerala. Though many of them were written in Portuguese some of the major
letters are translated to English and thus they are open for others. The letters and
the historical works are important narration of the historical moments and hence
very valuable source to know the history especially the religious history of the
time.
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Jesuit Contributions to Historiography of Kerala
The Jesuit Letters
“The letters written by Jesuit missionaries who labored in Kerala contain
valuable references to political events and personages of the period. They throw
light particularly on the affairs in the Purakkad kingdom and the principalities
(Muthedeth and Eleyedeth) of the Karapuram Kaimals which now form part of
Allepely district.”4 Jesuits are very particular in keeping records and they have
the practice of writing annual reports to their general in Rome. There were
mainly two purposes for writing the letters – one is for the edification of the
members and secondly to know the condition of the mission. 5 The letters
contained personal matters which were not useful for the public but it had other
elements which could be shown to all describing the work of each mission and
the character of each region and of the people among whom they worked. The
letters written by the early Jesuits are one of the important historical documents
to throw light on the socio political and religious life of that time. “A good part
of the Portuguese sources comes from the letters, reports and accounts of the
missionaries who worked under the Portuguese patronage. But for many years
the only sources of Portuguese mission history available were the following :
the published annual letters of the Jesuit missionaries...”6 The letters not only
speak of the Jesuit mission alone but also the context where the Jesuit
missionaries lived which enables the historians to trace the historical data from
them. Portuguese historian Da Silva Rego remarked “the letters soon became
popular and were much appreciated precisely because they put together events
referring either to a year or to an establishment or to a mission station”. 7
“The letters of Francis Xavier to Mansilhas are our chief source for the war
going on in 1544 between the Vijayanagara and the Chera Kings and Pandyas.”8
He writes, “I went off, after all by land to the Cape to visit those unhappy
Christians who have survived the plundering and cruelties of the Vadugars.
Having devastated the villages near Cape and being unable through lack of
shipping to reach the Christians on their rocky islands the Vadugars turned
north to become a menace to Punnaikayal”.9 The relation and the conflicts
between the Portuguese and the St. Thomas Christians could be understood
from the letters of Francis Xavier. He writes accusing the Portuguese authorities
for not giving due respect for the community, “Jacob Abuna was serving God
and your Highness for forty five years a very old virtuous and holy man … you
should have recommended to the governors and procurators and captains that
they give him the honour and reception he deserves ...”10
The letter of Fr. Laerzio SJ , the first Provincial of Malabar written on 20 th
November 1608 speaks of the difficulties of the Portuguese due to the
mal-administration of the Governor. He mentioned the growing power of the
English and the Dutch. From the letter of Fr. Manuel Roiz to the Fr. Assistant
written on 30th November 1622 we learn that the then viceroy Don Francisco de
Gama was killed by the Dutch in the sea. 11 Thus the letters give us a glimpse of
the political as well as social events of the time. Letter of Fr. Monserrate SJ
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Babu Paul, SJ
~91~
mentioned the affairs in 1579. The letter is a good example to know the conflict
between the Portuguese and St. Thomas Christians and he mentioned it would
be good if this nuncio were a stranger and not a Portuguese. It was written in the
context of a nuncio was being sent to study the conflict. 12
Letter of Fr.Peter Lichetta SJ to Fr. Francis Filipi SJ written on 16th April 1780
the situation of the Jesuits after the suppression is explained. “There were 24
members and two of them were appointed as administers of the Bishop of
Cochin and Cranganore”.13 The letters of Fr. Lichetta written on 20th March
1780 mentions a lot of information regarding the province of Malabar. From
this letter we could know that the Archbishop of Cochin was Don Clemente
Jose and of Cranganore Don Salvadore who were friendly with the Jesuits. He
mentioned on suppression that no stone was left unturned to get hold of Jesuits
as well.14 Those letters enable us to understand the type of conversions that took
place during that time.
From the letters of Arnos Padiri one can get information regarding the tension
between Padraodo and Propaganda in Kerala church. He wrote to a fellow Jesuit
that the struggle between the Propaganda and Padraodo reveals unscrupulous
way of dealing with enemies. His letters also give details on the divisions
among the St. Thomas Christians having two bishops Mar Gabriel and Mar
Thomas.15 Letter of Fr. Antonio Brandolini Brolla (1713) and Fr. Weiss (1716)
who worked in Kerala give us an idea on Travancore and Madurai kingdom.
Brandolini writes on the Nemom Mission which is about 100 leagues in length
and penetrate into the Kingdom of Madurai as far as Vadekankulam. 16 The letter
of Archbishop Rebeiro SJ written on 24th September 1714 describes the
difficulties that he was facing. It narrates the religious conflict that existed
among the Catholic community. He writes: “I am old and sickly, my eye sight is
failing and most of these miseries are due to the innumerable troubles of the
diocese”.17
Regarding the importance of Jesuit letters they are considered as contemporary
sources for history. “The Jesuit letters also are contemporary sources standing in
chronological nearness to the events they deal with. They contain in many
instances the report of eye witnesses of the events described and even of the
participants in them and are also primary sources.18
The Jesuit Works
The Jesuits who worked in the Malabar coast formulated a number of literary
works and most of them are historical importance because the literature give the
narration of the context. There is one limitation for the entry to these abode of
knowledge since most of them are written in Portuguese language. The
historical mind of the Jesuits could be seen in the works of the Jesuits. In a letter
written by Jesuit General Francis Lainez we find, “I shall imitate geographers
who when describing great kingdoms, mighty cities, and the great events of the
world sum up everything within the narrow campus of a map”. 19
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Fr. Alexandro Valignano SJ wrote Historica del Princepioy Progress de la
Compania de Jesus enlas Indus Orientalis and this was a good document on
history of the time.” It draws light on the geography, ethnology and history of
Indian things”.20 Fr. Diogo Gonsalves who knew Malayalam well and he has
written a book named Historia do Malavar. This book speaks of Parasurama
episode, the kings of Kerala, and various customs of the people especially the
Brahmins, the caste system, the administration and religion of the land...21 “The
Historia is a valuable commentary on Travancore and its neighboring countries
composed by a man who lived in the place for two decades understood and
spoke the language and had been an eye witness of several events and
customs.”22 It is said that the book contains a critical view of social and
religious institutions of Malabar. “The book is made up of four parts. The first
one treats the topics such as Parasuraman, the kings of various kingdoms,
description of various customs of Brahmins, the caste system and administration
in general. The second deals with religion of Malabar and the third is describing
the injustice done to the lower caste people and the fourth is narration of the
religious errors”.23 A notable work of the period which furnishes some historical
information is the Historia do Malavar written by Diogo Gonsalves of the
Society of Jesus who worked as a missionary in the Kerala coast and was at
Aruthungal in 1610. In this work written in 1615 the author throws some light
on the political and social conditions of the age. 24
A booklet published by Fr. Francisco Barretto SJ named Relazivne Delle
Missioni e Cristianita che appartegena alla Prov. Del Malavar (on the missions
of Malabar) is a good source to know more about Malabar culture. He described
the culture, the climate, the eating habit, the norms of punishments, the political
situations. According to him “Malabar is the coolest place. The fish is so
abundant ... the kinglets are numerous and almost always at war among
themselves ... the Malayalees are very subtle and quick of understanding ... to
prove the innocence of a women she has to plunge her hand in a boiling oil”...25
The book is written in Portuguese and the book gives a beautiful narration of
the place. Fr. Broz De Azevedo SJ wrote on „The History of Malabar Schism‟
which gives a detailed information on the issues related to Malabar Church.
Fr. Jacoma Fenicio wrote Livroda scita dos Indias Orientais in 1609 which
speaks on Hindu mythology. “It is a guide book for missionaries written by a
man of rare ability, undaunted courage and remarkable gift for language”.26
Fr. Fenicio gives information regarding the land of Todas, the kingdom of salt
outside Calicut. It is true that the works of Jesuit missionaries are written from a
European perspective and so the subjective elements could not be eliminated in
the works of the missionaries but that does not reduce the historical significance
of their works. We cannot claim that they are true to the reality but they throw
some rays of light to the historical events of the time “The early Jesuit histories
are not without faults and defects, as has been pointed out by Jesuit writers
themselves, ever the best critics of their colleagues‟ works. Like the Jesuit
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Babu Paul, SJ
~93~
letters they were curious but also meant to be edifying and they tended to be
hagiographical”.27 Though most of the works were written in Portuguese some
of them are translated into English. The works were written with care and
attention. The subjective element could have been part of the description but in
the narration of the historical events they used to pay much attention to the truth
of the reality.
Thus the Jesuit missionaries who labored in the land left a lot of historical
sources especially in the form of letters and books. Besides these some of them
have written personal diaries from where we could have understood the deeper
and unfolded history of the time but unfortunately most of them were destroyed
and hence we are deprived of such a precious source material to find the truth of
yesterday.
Endnotes
1. A. Sreedhara Menon, A Survey of Kerala History, D.C. Books, Kottayam, 2007,
p. 36.
2. E.H. Carr, What is History?, Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1974, p.30.
3. R. Sathianatha Aiyar, “Some Historical Documents of the Jesuits” St. Joseph‟s
College, Annual Magazine, Trichinopoly, Sep. 1924, p. 107.
4. A. Sreedhara Menon, op. cit., p. 36.
5. John Correia Afonso SJ, Jesuit Letters and Indian History, Oxford University
Press, 1969, p. 92.
6. John Correia Afonso SJ Ed, Indo Portuguese History, Oxford University Press,
1981, p. 2.
7. Ibid, p.18.
8. Ibid, p.2.
9. A.M. George Jegathesen, „Saint Francis Xavier‟, The St. Thomas Christians
Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Trichur, 1973, p.18.
10. D. Ferroli, Jesuits in Malabar, Vol. 1, Banglore Press, Bangalore, 1939, p. 150.
11. Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 4.
12. F.A. D. Cruz, K.S.G., „The Malabar Church and Rome during the early
Portuguese Period and before a review‟, The Catholic Register, May 1934, p.11.
13. D. Ferroli, op. cit., Vol. 2., p. 4.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid., p.322.
16. Ibid., p. 261.
17. Ibid., p. 90.
18. M. Arumairaj, “The Jesuit Contribution to the Historiography of Tamilagam”,
Jesuit Presence in Indian History, Ed. Anand Amaldas, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash,
Anand, 1988, p.26.
19. Ibid.
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20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
D. Ferroli, op. cit., Vol. 2 , p. 403.
Ibid., p. 404.
John Correia Afonsa SJ, op. cit., p. 21.
D. Ferroli, op. cit., Vol. 2., p. 404.
A. Sreedhara Menon , op. cit., p. 36.
Ibid., p.73.
John Correia Afonsa, SJ, op. cit., p. 21.
John Correia Afonso, “A History of the Society of Jesus in India”, Jesuit
Presence in Indian History, Ed. Anand Amaldas, Gujarat Sahitya Prekash,
Anand, 1988, p.7.
_____
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T. Selvamuthukumaran
~95~
THE LABOUR MOVEMENT OF THE COMMUNIST
PARTY OF INDIA IN THE EAST TANJORE DISTRICT:
AN INQUIRY INTO THE AGITATIONS LED BY THE
TAMIL NADU FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION
________
Assistant Professor of History, M. R. Government Arts College, Mannargudi
__________________
Tanjore is located on the South-East coast of the Tamil Nadu between 108 and
11°25, N and 78°47 and 79°52 E and contains an area of 3,259 square miles. 1
The East Tanjore district constituted a good portion of the old Tanjore district.
The Cauvery Delta region comprised of 12 lakh acres of arable land. 2 The
Cauvery Delta region is made up of the districts of Tanjore, Thiruvarur and
Nagapattinam. The old Tanjore district comprised of nine taluks of Tanjore,
Kumbakonam, Mayavaram, Sirkali, Nannilam, Nagapattinam, Mannargudi,
Thiruthuraipoondi and Pattukottai. East Tanjore district was featured by the
feudalistic repression that was not common elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. The
advent of British in India made a dramatic change in the economy that, hitherto,
had been marked by communal ownership. But the British to extract land
revenue from the peasants brought about a drastic change in the rural economy
by introducing individual ownership.
The Emergence of Zamindars and Inamdars
The British introduced land reforms only to entrust lands in the hands of a few
people who constituted a microscopic minority in the society. 3 The British East
India Company sought for easy dealings in the collection of land revenue from
the peasants through an intermediary called Zamindars. This kind of revenue
collection ushered in the ascendency of Zamindars as very powerful people
later. This led to the land concentration in the hands of Zamindars. Also
Inamdars, another kind of intermediary sprang up simultaneously. Temples and
mutts which held thousands of arable tract of land, remained absentee land lords
as they were before the British times but an administrative committee with
intermediary officials looked after the vast assets.4
In the medieval period, kings used to distribute lands to temples and mutts to
serve the needs of the institutions. Inam lands5 were given by the kings to those
who served the government and to those who served the society. Besides, Inam
lands were given for the purpose of charity and philanthrophic activities.
Inamdars6 paid a very little amount either in cash or in kind to the royal
treasury. The Inam lands had been classified under three heads:
i) Inam lands donated by kings to temples and mutt for religious purposes;
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The Labour Movement of the Communist Party
ii) Inam lands given in lieu of salaries to those who served the government or
society; and
iii) Inam lands given for the purposes of charitable endowments. Inamdars
were not the direct tillers of the soil. They engaged agricultural labourers to
cultivate their tract of land and rented out the lands for land tenancy.
Stratification of the society in the East Tanjore District
The society in the East Tanjore district was featured by the following
stratification. The top stratum was occupied by landlords hailing from the
communities of Naidu, Thevar, Vellalar, Brahmin and Vanniyar. They
constituted the land-owning class, enjoyed thousands of acres of land. The
second stratum was constituted by the tenants, small landholders and
Varamdars.7 The tenants used to get lands from landlords for a fixed land
tenure. Landlords rented the lands to tenants and Varamdars for a share as
agreed upon by landlords and tenants. The Varam8 of the Varamdars ranged
from 18% to 20% of the gross produce, yet the landlords got 80% of the gross
produce. Following the second stratum Pannaiyals9, the members of the lowest
layer come.
Pannaiyal means any person engaged by the landowner or by the cultivating
tenants to look after a farm and do cultivation work on the land whenever
necessary in the course of an entire agricultural year, but it does not include
those who are engaged casually only for a specific item of work. The
agricultural labourers were bound to show complete obedience towards the
landlords.10 Even a small mistake made the agricultural labourers subject to the
inhuman punishments like sanipal11 and sattaiyadi.12 The inhuman punishments
like sanipal and sattaiyadi were the unique features of feudalism in the East
Tanjore district.13 They did not exist elsewhere other than the Tanjore district.
However, the efforts relieve these workers from those miseries were taken in
the first half of the 20th century that too by a high caste women to our surprise.
Tamil Nadu Farmers Association
The historical background of the launching of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association
has been traced back to the days of one Maniyammal, a Brahmin woman of East
Tanjore district. Despite a Brahmin by birth, she evinced keen interest for the
ailing lower peasantry of the East Tanjore district. She was given in marriage to
an advocate of Nagapattinam. After the death of her husband in 1940,
Maniyammal returned to her native village Manalur, as she inherited eighty
acres of land from her father. During her stay in the village, she noticed the
pitiable condition of the agricultural labourers hailing from the communities of
Parayar and Pallar.14 She took pity on the children of agricultural labourers and
visited the houses of agricultural labourers.15
For being kind hearted, she was frowned at and spoken ill of by the people of
her community Brahmins. Some Brahmins of the same village used to criticise
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her due to her close affinity with the agricultural labourers and their families.
She did not pay any heed to the criticism leveled against her. She continued her
services for the upliftment of the agricultural labourers. Breaking the traditions
and superstitions, she abandoned the traditional dress of a woman. Instead, she
wore dothi and shawl, as if she were a male. She learnt Silampattam16 for selfdefence.
Finally, she came up with a plan of action and decided to hold a meeting of
Backward Class people living in and around Manalur. She decided that the
venue of the meeting was her house at Manalur.17 As was proposed, the meeting
was held on 14th August, 1938 in the house of Maniyammal. Those attended the
meeting, headed by Sabapathi Mudaliyar, formed it into an association called
Nagai Kisan Committee. It nominated Maniyammal as the President,
V.G.Azhagusundaram Pillai as the Vice-President and Comrade P.Kumarasamy
as the Secretary of the forum. Apart from these functionaries, 15 members were
chosen for the Nagai Kisan Committee.18
This Committee made a resolute stand against, at first, the inhuman
punishments of sanipal and sattayadi. Maniyammal took pain in forming a
Kisan Sabha in Manalur and eventually, she achieved forming it, at the face of
serious oppositions of landlords of the same village. Maniyammal, being a party
functionary of the Congress Party, left the party for the sake of forming Farmers
Associations in different parts of Nagai taluk. Comrade T.N.Ramachandran
took efforts to convene a conference of Nagai Kisan Sabha in Kilvelur in
1938.19
The Conference held in Kilvelur, circulated pamphlets, printed at the press
established at Nagapattinam. The pamphlets pressed the need for unity among
farmers and their Associations and highlighted the demands of the farmers. The
Conference of Nagai Kisan Sabha was attended by Comrade B. Srinivasa Rao,
who rose to be a great leader of farmers in the Tanjore district. Subsequently, on
10th December 1938, Zamin Farmers Conference was held in Kulamangalam
under the chairmanship of C. P. Elango. Comrade T. N. Ramachandran
addressed the conference and Chinnaiyapillai, a Congress Party functionary,
hoisted flag in the conference. It was attended by nearly five thousand
volunteers.20
The need for organising the agricultural labourers at state level was felt by these
leaders. The Communist Party of India took up the task of organising farmers
and deputed Nedunkadu Ramachandiran of Kannanur to organize the peasants
of Tanjore district. Comrade A.K.Gopalan, who had gone underground was also
sent along with Nedunkadu Ramachandiran to assist him in the task of
organising the peasants of Tanjore district.21
Several Communist Party cells were formed in Nagapattinam, Tanjore,
Kumbakonam, Papanasam, Aranthangi, Mannargudi, Muthupettai and
Thiruthuraipoondi. The Communist Party cells comprised of the members of the
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Communist Party of India. The party decided to unite the Communist Party
cells to fight against the repressions of the landlords. A meeting was held at
Thiruthuraipoondi in 1940 to make arrangements to unite all the cells.
Comrades Pondy, Vaithiyanathan, Sundaresan, K. P. Nadarajan, Sattaiyappan
and Manali Kandasamy were the important leaders who participated in the
meeting.
Comrade C. Subramaniyam, the state organiser, took part in the meeting.
Comrades Nedunkadu Ramachandran, C. Subramaniyam and A. K. Gopalan
who led the communist movements maintained secret contacts with the
activists.22 Eventually, Tamil Nadu Kisan Sabha was formed on 14th June 1943,
in the wake of the success of Thenparai Agitation. The Tamil Nadu Kisan Sabha
was formed at Thenparai in Mannargudi taluk.23 The first conference of Tamil
Nadu Farmers Association was held at Mannargudi on 3rd and 4th May 1944.24
Thenparai Agitation
Thenparai, a village in Mannargudi taluk, was the first battlefield of the
agricultural labourers. The village of Thenparai was under the control of
Uthirapathi Mutt. Keeping its headquarters in Hyderabad, the Mutt owned
several thousand acres of lands across the country. The affairs of Thenparai
village were left in the hands of one, Sitaramachari of Uthirapathi Mutt. He
increased the share of the mutt from the farmers who got the lands on tenancy.
The actual share of the Varadars was fixed at 18% of the gross produce, which
was so meager that the share was not enough to run the family of Varadars. The
repeated problems like failure of monsoon and the failure of crops left them
empty handed.25 Tamil Nadu Farmers‟ Association Committee formed on 14th
June 1943 was sponsored by the Communist Party of India came to the rescue
of the peasants of Thenparai and the party activists - P. Venkatesan,
A. K. Gopalan, R. Amirthalingam and A. Ramanujam went to Mannargudi.
After a long discussion, Comrades P. Venkatesan, A. Ramalingam and
R. Amirthalingam went to Thenparai, on 23rd January 1942, to help the agitating
peasants.26
The State Committee of Communist Party of India took a stand on 23rd January
23, 1942. Accordingly, B. Srinivasa Rao was sent by the All India Farmers
Association to rally the tenants of Thenparai.27 Thenparai Farmers Association
was formed and a demand for thirty three Varam or one third of gross produce
was raised. The Association sent a petition to the collector and the pontiff.
Because of the indifference on the part of the officials and mutt authorities, the
peasants decided to meet the pontiff in Hyderabad. „A team of tenants and
peasants went to Hyderabad on 25th January 1943 to demand a hike in Varam
and non-eviction of tenants from land. But the enraged Pontiff said that they
were not the owners of the land and he preferred the lands to be let for grazing
rather than increasing the Varam.28
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On 18th February 1943 Sitaramachari, the agent of Uthirapathi Mutt, prevented
the peasants and tenants from harvesting the lands they cultivated. The
Communist Cell of Mannargudi headed the Thenparai agitation under the
guidance of R. Amirthalingam from Serankulam, Secretary of Mannargudi Cell,
P. Venkatesan from Radhanarasingapuram, Member of Mannargudi Cell and
Thangavelu from Paravakkotai.
The Thenparai Farmers Association took out a procession of peasants and
tenants for the first time, in the history of Tanjore district on 7th March 1943.29
The procession with the banner of Thenparai Farmers Association marched
towards Mannargudi. It distributed pamphlets on the repressions of Uthirapathi
Mutt raising slogans like „Up, Up Revolution‟, „Increase the wages of
agricultural labourers‟ and „Bring down the rate of tenure‟. The procession,
also, raised the slogan „Release the national leaders,‟ since the procession
coincided with the Quit India Movement called by Gandhiji.30
On 28th April 1943, the Uttirapathi Mutt resorted to reactionary measures
against the peasants of Thenparai and left lands uncultivated.31 The mutt filed
cases against the peasants and tenants of Thenparai on the pretext that they had
not paid the rent and debts. The house of Veerasamy, the Secretary of the
Thenparai Farmers Association, was set on fire and the functionaries of Farmers
Association were beaten up by the mercenaries of the mutt.
To defend the functionaries of Farmers Association, a self defense force was
formed. The self-defense force comprised of volunteers of the agrarian
community.32 A good number of women, also, volunteered to assist the
self-defense force whenever need arose. The Inspector of Police of
Thiruthuraipoondi was sent to arrest the functionaries and volunteers of the
Farmers Association. The mission of police failed since the men and women of
the lower peasantry thwarted police from arresting the functionaries and
volunteers. Due to the failures, the mutt was prepared to come to terms with the
tenants and peasants of Thenparai.
As a result of prolonged struggle of the Farmers Association, Mannargudi
Agreement was signed on 15th July 1943.33 Of all the provisions of the
Mannargudi Agreement, important one was the cancellation of all pending
payments of the tenants to the mutt. On 25th July 1943, the Mannargudi
Agreement was accepted by the Deputy Collector of Mannargudi. But the
Uthirapathi Mutt resorted to reactionary measures against the functionaries of
Thenparai Farmers Association. Veerasamy, Secretary of Thenparai Farmers
Association, was severely beaten up and his hands were broken by the
mercenaries of the mutt. Comrades Venkatesan and Ramanujam of Thenparai
were also beaten up. False civil and criminal cases were filed against the
functionaries of Thenparai Farmers Association.
Undaunted by the repressions of landlords, the Farmers Association spread to
other parts of Mannargudi taluk. On seeing the example of Thenparai, the
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peasants of Kalappal and Kunniyur wanted to form Farmers Associations.34
Like the peasants of Thenparai, peasants of Nallur in Mannargudi taluk agitated
against the repressions of Thirukkalar Mutt under the leadership of the
Communist Party of India. Because of the agitations, the membership to the
party went on increasing day by day. To encourage the peasants and tenants, an
office of Kisan Sabha was opened at Chetti Street in Mannargudi. The success
of the Thenparai Agitation, eventually, led to the formation of Tamil Nadu
Farmers Association in 1943.
Kalappal Agreement (1944)
The enrolment of agricultural labourers to the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association
ushered in the next phase of the history of farmers association. Kunniyur, a
village in the present Thiruvarur district, was under the clutches of Sambasiva
Iyer, who grew reactionary against the agricultural labourers since they joined
the farmers association. The peasants, undaunted by the repressions of
Sambasiva Iyer, stood against him. The agitations at Kalappal and Kunniyur
went a long way and resulted in signing an agreement between the landlords
and peasants. This Kalapal Agreement in 1944 is a landmark achievement in the
history of the peasant movement in the old Tanjore District. It provides for the
prohibition of inhuman punishments of sanippal and sattaiyadi, an increase in
the wages of panniyal by two litres of paddy and fixing at three litres of paddy
for the harvest of one kalam of paddy and four litres of paddy as additional
wages during the harvest season. 35
Kalappal Agreement was followed by Mannargudi Agreement in December
1944. The Mannargudi Agreement provided for a hike in the daily wages of
agricultural labourers. Despite the Agreement ratified by Ismain Khan, the then
Collector of Tanjore, landlords were reluctant to carry out the obligations of
Mannargudi Agreement.36
But the farmers association started struggling to carry out the obligations as set
forth in the Mannargudi Agreement, village after village. 37 Because of the
spread of the struggle, the taluks of Mannargudi, Aranthangi, Pattukkottai and
Thiruthuraipoondi had the repercussions of the struggle.38
Konerirajapuram Agitation
Konerirajapuram Agitation was preceded by the third conference of Tamil Nadu
Farmers Association, held at Vandirairuppu on 9th June 1946. It stood against
the exploitation and repressions of Zamindars, landlords and the mutts. The
conference raised a hue and cry for the abolition of fake measure like Marakkal,
Pattamarakkal and Thombaramarakkal that measured larger amount of paddy
than the Marakkal with the government seal were used by the landlords to get
their share from the tenants. Besides, it demanded fifty percent of Varam39 of
tenants. The demands and talks held in the Conference added fuel to the
struggle of tenants in the taluks of Kumbakonam, Nannilam and Mayavaram,
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keeping Konerirajapuram as the centre of activities. The landlords had no option
but to yield to the pressure of the Farmers Association. 40 A meeting was held to
decide the Varam dispute and twenty seven Varam was fixed for tenants.41
Conclusion
Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, since its inception, went a long way in the
successful conduct of agitations, demonstrations and strike for the redressal of
grievances of the lower peasantry of Tamil Nadu. The Farmers Association was
instrumental in enacting Estate Abolition Act of 1948, Tanjore Tenants and
Pannaiyal Protection Act of 1952 and Land Ceiling Act of 1961. It struggled
against the eviction of tenants by the landlords from their lands cultivated by
them. The services and sacrifices rendered by the Tamil Nadu Farmers
Association for the welfare of lower peasantry of Tamil Nadu are quite
memorable forever.
Endnotes
1. F. R. Hemingway (ed.), Tanjore Gazetteer, Cosmo Publications, New Delhi,
2000, p. 1.
2. A. V. Ramasamy, Thanjai Tharaniyil Communist Katchi (Tamil), India
Communist Katchi Thanjai Mavatta Council, Tanjore, 1975, p. 6.
3. Interview with Comrade G. Veeraiyan, Ex. M. L. A., Marxist Communist Party
of India, Thiruvarur on 10th September 2011.
4. G. Ramakrishnan and B. Srinivasa Rao, Bharathi Puthakalayam, Chennai, 2007,
p. 13.
5. Lands given in grant freely by the Kings.
6. Those who held Inam Lands.
7. Those who got land from land lord, agreeing to pay Varam.
8. The share of Varamdars.
9. Agricultural labourers who were appointed by landlords to attend the farm works.
10. G. Veeraiyan, Sangam Padaitha Sarithiram (Tamil), All India Agricultural
Labourers‟ Association State Committee, Chennai, 200, p. 1.
11. Cow-dung solution was poured into the mouth of recalcitrant panaiyal by force.
12. Whipping of agricultural labourers for flimsy reasons.
13. G. Ramakrishnan, op. cit., p. 25.
14. Parayar and Pallar occupied the lowest strata of the society.
15. G. Veeraiyan, Thamizhnaadu Vivasayigal Iyakkathin Veera Varalaru (Tamil),
South Vision, Chennai, 1998, p. 14.
16. Self defence art using stick.
17. G. Veeraiyan, op. cit., p. 15.
18. Agni Puthiran (Tamil), Tamil Nadu Kisan Sabha, Chennai, 2008, p. 31.
19. A. V. Ramasamy, op. cit., p. 13.
20. Ibid., p. 14
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~102~
21. R. Nallakannu, Thozhar Srinivasa Rao Vazhkkai Varalaru (Tamil), New
Centuary Book House, Chennai, p. 46.
22. Fortnightly Report, Public, Tanjore District, 25th April 1943.
23. B. Srinivasa Rao, Thanjai Jillavil Nadappathena?, Bharathi Puthakalayam,
Chennai, 2006, p. 16.
24. R. Nallakannu, op. cit., p. 55.
25. B. Srinivasa Rao, op. cit., p. 13.
26. R. Nallakannu, op. cit., p. 48.
27. G. Veeraiyan, op. cit., p. 17.
29. Agni Puthiran, op. cit., p. 32.
31. Fortnightly Report, Public, Tanjore District, 22nd May 1944.
33. N. Ramakrishnan, B. Srinivasa Rao Adimai Vilangodikka Artheluntha Veeran
(Tamil), Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sanagam, Chennai, 2003, p. 45.
34. Personal interview with Comrade M. Vedaiyan, Marxist Communist Party of
India, Thiruthuraipoondi on 19th November 2007.
35. M. A. Palaniyappan, Amarar B. Srinivasa Rao Mangaatha Vansudar (Tamil),
New Century Book House, Madras, 2004, p. 45
36. Fortnightly Report, Public, Tanjore District, 12th December 1944.
37. Fortnightly Report, Public, Tanjore District, 30th March 1948.
38. Fortnightly Report, Public, Tanjore District, 23rd December 1948.
40. Ibid., p. 26.
41. Fortnightly Report, Public, Tanjore District, 24th March 1947.
______
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Prabha Ravi Shankar
~103~
INDIAN OPINION (TAMIL EDITION) AND ITS CONTRIBUTION
TO INDIAN AGITATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
________
Dr. Prabha Ravi Shankar
Associate Professor of History, S.N.D.T. University, Bombay
__________________
It is well known that from 1896-1914 Gandhi carried out a brave and peaceful
battle against racial discrimination in South Africa during which time the birth
of Satyagraha took place.1 Gandhi realized that it was necessary to have a press
organ to create awakening amongst the innumerable Indian settlers, and to
mould public opinion as regards the injustice of the colonial rule. 2 There was
another reason. The Indian settlers came from diverse cultural background and
belonged to different religions. It was necessary to inculcate in them a strong
sense of patriotism based on an understanding of a unified India as well as
channelizing the energies of people towards a common purpose. „India cannot
cease to be a nation‟, Gandhi rightly said, „because people belonging to
different religions live in it.‟3 Gandhi dreamt that by welding together South
Arica would know of its worthy eastern citizens Madanjit Vyavaharik, a former
school teacher from Bombay and a political worker of Gandhi in South Africa
had established the first press in Durban in 1898. Gandhi inspired him with the
idea to start a weekly. On 4 June 1903 the Indian Opinion was published in four
languages, English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil.4 Gandhi was virtually singlehandedly conducting the affairs of the weekly. This paper was an important
political weapon rather than a commercial enterprise. He kept tight control over
its policy right from the beginning and the paper was intended to expose the
grievances of the Indians, and when he began passive resistance movement, it
was the medium through which he issued instructions about tactics.
In September 1903 when Gandhi decided to inspect the working of Indian
Opinion, then under Albert West,5 Polak saw him off at Johannesburg station
and lent him for the twenty-four hour journey to Durban, John Ruskin‟s book
Unto This Last, the reading of which in Gandhi‟s own admission „brought about
an instantaneous and practical transformation in [his] life‟.6 Gandhi soon
decided that Indian Opinion should be shifted to a farm on which everyone
should labour and help in printing. The scheme was intended to put Tolstoy and
Ruskin‟s ideas into practice. Desiring to realize his aims and ideals, he left his
lucrative legal career, Polak resigned from the Transvaal Critic and joined the
Phoenix scheme, under which the members received just enough to support
themselves in the simplest possible manner. The press was subsequently shifted
to Phoenix in December 1914 and the Indian Opinion came to be published
from Phoenix, Natal.
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~104~
‘Indian Opinion‟ and its Contribution
The Tamil edition of the paper was published from June 1903 to the end of
January 1906. It was revived again in December 1912 and was published until
the middle of December 1914. The very first issue of the paper explained the
need for a Tamil edition which can be summarized as follows: 7
1. The whites do not consider us as their equals although both are settlers in
South Africa.
2. Can we expect anything to be done for us by the [British] King Edward VII
or by the Anglo-Saxon community?
3. We must take note of British ingratitude in not acknowledging the help
rendered by the Indian settlers in South Africa.
4. We are sad with the gross ignorance of second and third generation of
Tamils about their own historical roots, Tamil culture and India‟s
relationship with Britain.
5. We hope to overcome this through learned articles by Tamils on all these
aspects.
6. Our sole aim in beginning [a Tamil edition] is to better the conditions of
our people, and establish „unity‟ among the various Indian communities
settled in South Africa.
The Tamil edition was generally attached to the Gujarati edition and carried one
and on some occasion two pages. One or two issues had four pages. Every issue
of the paper carried a „note‟ which read: „It is your paper published in your
interest and needs your subscription and support‟. It appealed specially to the
Tamils to buy the copy at one rupee cost. It asked for at least four thousand
subscribers. The inaugural issue of the Tamil edition traced the history of Tamil
immigration to South Africa. It explained how the first batch of Tamils arrived
in November 1860 as indentured labourers to work in the sugarcane fields at
Natal. Most of them were illiterates and knew nothing about their work and
conditions of labour. They were the property of his master similar to a slave.
They were followed by Tamil merchants belonging to the Chettiar community
who sold spices, silk and other luxury goods. The Chettiars were bold and
enterprising and showed leadership and intellectual qualities. They settled down
as traders. Other immigrants who followed were called „passenger Indians‟
because they probably paid for their trip to South Africa. Vridachalam Pillai,
one of the immigrant and a school master from Madras showed much courage
when he established his own printing press and founded a Tamil weekly called
Viveka Banu. The editor of Tamil paper Swadesamitran G. Subramania Iyer
ensured that the life and mission of Gandhi reached the farthest corners of
Tamil Nadu through the columns of his paper. It included many letters of
Vridachalam Pillai, a school master, that were a mine of information on the
heroic struggle of Indians under Gandhi in South Africa. Vridachalam Pillai,
S.M. Pillai, G.R. Naidu and others helped to keep alive the rich Tamil culture
through the Tamil edition of the Indian Opinion.
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Prabha Ravi Shankar
~105~
The first issue critically analysed the condition of indentured labourers in South
Africa. It spoke how the Indians through sheer hard work and enterprise
expanded agriculture and even entered trade. But their competitions in trade
could not be tolerated by the white men who sowed seeds of racial antagonism.
It found expression in subsequent anti-Indian legislation such as pound 3 tax
imposed on the Indians. The Tamil edition clearly explained the various antiIndian laws introduced by the government. Immigration Restriction Act of
Natal highlighted the injustice done to the Indian community. This led to the
Indian agitation under Gandhi which was given wide publicity in the Tamil
edition.8
The paper also reviewed the first biography of Gandhi by Reverend Joseph
J.Doke entitled M.K.Gandhi: An Indian Patriot in South Africa, published by
the International Printing Press in London, 1909. It was translated into Tamil by
Narayanaswami Iyer and made available for sale. 9 It also reported how much
interest the Indian people were taking in the problems of Indians in South
Africa especially in the presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.
The paper stood out not only as the vehicle of anti-government‟s agitation and
its propaganda but also contributed to the social and cultural awakening of the
people. For example the paper discussed the lack of schools and colleges for the
education of the Tamil children in the colonies. It regretted that the immigrants
and their children were given no opportunity of studying India‟s old civilization
and its cultural heritage. Social life was the area in which severe discrimination
was practised. The Indian children could not be admitted to the schools run by
the whites. Some of the enterprising Tamilians then began their own schools to
impart primary and elementary education. 10 It is commendable that the paper
carried articles focussing on the need to educate the girl child. It traced the
reasons behind the prevailing patriarchy and pleaded that women should be
given opportunities for education. It wrote that the spread of female education
would remove social evils such as child marriage, problems of dowry and early
widowhood. It reproduced an article on Achalambika Ammaiar, perhaps the
earliest Tamil feminist in the Madras presidency. 11 Ironically, though the paper
carried a crusade for women‟s education, it also urged Tamil woman to give up
anger and malice and devote themselves to the proper upbringing of their
children and render devoted service to their husbands. Such issues were
examples of patriarchal tones.
The Tamil edition of the paper dated 3 rd March 1904 carried detailed
information of the first anniversary of the Saiva Matham, the religious
institution of the worshippers of Shiva, and their subtle message of Bhakti or
love of God and devotion. The chief patrons such as C.K.D. Pillai, S.
Doraiswami, Kandaswami Chettiar, Sayiappa Chettiar and others urged that the
Tamil community must participate in large numbers in such festivals to revive
Tamil culture and its rich historical tradition. It conducted competition for
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~106~
children in reciting „Tevaram‟, a significant chapter in the history of Tamil
Saiva literature. The paper announced that there would be artists from
Nagapatnam in South India who would perform Kathakalashepam, (musical
discourses in Tamil) followed by Nadawaram recital. 12 It gave wide publicity to
the event in which Vridachalam Pillai would also perform „Harikatha‟ or
musical discourses on the divine stories of Lord Krishna.
Most issues of the Tamil edition carried news on such events in the Tamil
temples where Guru Poojai and Mahesvara Poojai [religious rituals] would be
conducted. Interestingly, one of the issues noted how the Goddesses
Mariamman, a popular deity in the Tamil country and her association with a
visit to the house of small-pox afflicted patients. Curiously the paper reported
that one K.Pillai, who believed in this tradition, was arrested and heavily fined
by the police for hiding a case of small pox-affected parents in his home. The
paper carried mythological stores from the Mahabharata where Arjuna, at the
behest of Lord Krishna, created a pond instantly by shooting an arrow, as
examples of supreme faith and devotion. The moral to be drawn is that anything
can be achieved by such faith and devotion. 13
Gandhi felt that the Indian communities should be connected with what was
happening back home in India. He therefore looked for correspondents who
would contribute from India. He wrote a letter dated 13 th January 1905 to
Gokhale whom he considered his master: I am also anxious to secure either
honorary or paid correspondents who would contribute weekly notes in English,
Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil. ... Could you recommend any such correspondents?
The weekly notes should give an idea of what is being done on your side with
reference to Indian question‟.14 Gandhi perhaps received a good response
because the Indian Opinion carried news and articles on Indian issues on
political, social and economic matters and conditions of Indians in Fiji, Malaya,
Burma and other places. The annual sessions of the Indian National Congress,
the speeches of various nationalists and resolutions passed at these Congresses –
all received wide attention. The matters pertaining to Indian social reforms, the
Partition of Bengal, the repressive measures of the British in the anti-Partition
agitation and other matters were given much attention. It gave considerable
importance to the impressive book written by G.Subramania Iyer, a prominent
public man of Madras whose work A Short History of Japan, wherein he urged
the people to be industrious and hard working like the Japanese.15 Referring to a
letter received from Ceylon regarding the request to make Tamil as an optional
language both in Matriculation and other examinations in the faculty of Arts of
the London University, Gandhi wrote:
There should be no difficulty about holding a meeting and adopting a
simple memorial to the External Registrar of the University of
London. Tamil immigrants in other parts of the world have already
sent in their representation and we do not seen why the same thing
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Prabha Ravi Shankar
~107~
should not be done by those in South Africa. Tamil is one of the
greatest of the Dravidian languages and has a vast literature. It is
supposed to be the Italian of India, and is in every way a language fit
to be adopted by the London University as an optional subject. The
London University is recognised to be the most liberal institution in
the world, and seeing that Tamil is spoken by millions of the subjects
of the King Emperor, the University of the Metropolis of the Empire
will do well to grant the prayer of the Tamil memorialists.16
Besides the paper devoted attention to general subjects such as health, diet, cure
for various ailments etc. For example, it gave wide publicity to Dr. William
Pink‟s tablets which was supposed to be a cure for all ailments. 17 Many issues
carried a Panchang or a calendar based on actual dates of Hindu or Muslim or
Parsi festivals and auspicious days meant for auspicious events. The paper
urged the Indian community to remain united under all circumstances. It
highlighted the message of brotherhood by the famous Indian social and
religious reformer Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who said that there would be
no differences of caste or class if all consider themselves as children of the same
God.18
Though Gandhi took much interest in Indian Opinion financially and otherwise,
he found it difficult to continue the Tamil and Hindi editions because of the
shortage of able translators, compositors and editors. It was almost impossible
to get full-time staff. It therefore became necessary for him to discontinue the
Tamil edition. However, the Tamil edition was revived once again in December
1913 which lasted till the middle of April 1914. When the Great March began
and the mass Satyagraha was launched the paper became the chief vehicle of
propaganda as regards Satyagraha. During this period the paper mostly covered
the news were pertaining to Gandhian Satyagraha – the grievances of Indians in
South Africa, various anti-Indian laws and how the Indian people had to resort
to Satyagraha. In fact, the paper became the chief instrument for Gandhi‟s
strategy and planning with regard to Satyagraha. 19 It gave detailed explanation
of the duties expected from passive resisters by Gandhi. The paper also spoke
about G.K.Gokhale‟s visit as well as C.F. Andrews and William Pearson‟s visit
to Africa. It sang the praise of Andrews who, despite the loss of his mother,
decided to stay back in the colony to render service to Indian as he considered
Indian women as his mother.
The issue dated 23 rd February 1914 was exclusively devoted to the services and
sacrifices made by Tamil men and women – for example Valliamma
Munuswamy and Swami Nagappen. Both were from Johannesburg‟s small but
heroic Tamil community. Eighteen year old Nagappan was sentenced to jail
with hard labour for hawking without permit. He is said to have died due to
pneumonia and negligence by jail officers. Nagappan‟s body was bruised which
showed signs of torture. The Tamil paper singled out the participation of
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~108~
women passive resisters as a key element in the Satyagraha campaign of 191314. Angered by a judgement in the Supreme Court in March 1913 in which
Judge Searle refused to recognise Hindu and Muslim marriages, Indian women
joined the struggle for the first time in large numbers. In fact, when most of the
men leaders were arrested it was women who organized the Satyagraha with
remarkable spirit and courage. The paper paid remarkable tribute to Valliamma
for becoming a martyr. It may be recollected here that when Gandhi and
Kasturba returned to India in 1915 and visited Madras, they received a
tumultuous welcome. Gandhi, in his modest speech replied that without the
brave Tamils the campaign would not have succeeded. Millie Polak, wife of
Henry Leon Polak, Gandhi‟s fellow-worker, wrote that „India has many things
to be proud of, but of none more than the part of the Indian women of South
Africa took in the uplifting and recognition of a people here despised‟. 20
The paper may not have produced any worthy literature in the form of poems,
stories or novels or essays but we do get a glimpse of their literary
sensitivities.21 In fact, Gandhi welcomed communication of ideas from his
compatriots and invited general readers to contribute articles, letters etc. It
reflected Gandhi‟s astute leadership qualities of using print media as a vehicle
to reach the masses, and for mobilizing public opinion, a practice which stood
him in good stead when he undertook the leadership of the Indian National
Congress. Further, it supplied plenty of information to the Indian-owned
newspapers in India as regards the Indian self-respect movement in South
Africa.
Throughout the period 1903-1914 when he edited the paper, Gandhi insisted on
the principles of moderation and objectivity which were important for an editor
to follow. His attempt to foster linguistic inclusiveness in the weekly was not a
big success. Financial constraints eventually forced Gandhi to drop Hindi and
Tamil sections, and then reduce the size of the paper from four to two columns
in 1913. The paper stood out not only as the anti-government‟s agitation‟s chief
propaganda instrument but also for its contribution to the political and social
awakening of the people. Without a newspaper it would not have been possible
to educate the local community or in keeping Indians all over the world in touch
with the course of events in South Africa. It was a useful and potent weapon in
the Indian struggle. It played a pivotal role in the Satyagraha campaign in South
Africa. He wrote in his autobiography:
Indian Opinion in those days, like Young India and Navajivan today,
was a mirror of part of my life. Week after week, I poured my soul in
its columns, and expounded the principles and practice of Satyagraha
as I understood it. Satyagraha would probably have been impossible
without Indian Opinion. The readers looked forward to it for a
trustworthy account of the satyagraha campaign as also of the real
condition of Indians in South Africa.22
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Prabha Ravi Shankar
~109~
Endnotes
1. For an idea of Indian grievances in South Africa see M.K.Gandhi, Satyagraha in
South Africa, (Ahmadabad, 1928). Also see M.K.Gandhi, Indian Grievances in
South Africa‟, Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (hereafter CWMG), Vol II,
pp. 1-52 and Pyarelal, Mahatma Gandhi: The Early Phase, vol. I (Ahmadabad,
1965).
2. Uma S.Mestherie, From Advocacy to Mobilization: Indian Opinion, 1903-1914,
in Les Switzer (ed.), South Africa‟s Alternative Press: Voices of Protest and
Resistance, 1880s-1960s, (Cambridge, 1997), pp. 113,119-120. Also see
Ramachandra Guha, „Gandhi, the journalist‟, The Hindu, New Delhi, 8 June
2003. Also see S.N.Bhattacharya, Mahatma Gandhi, the journalist (New Delhi,
2000).
3. Indian Opinion, 4 June 1903, originally published at the Phoenix Settlement in
South Africa reproduced in three CD-Roms by the National Gandhi Museum,
New Delhi.
4. In his autobiography Gandhi incorrectly mentions the date as 1904. The paper
actually began in 1903. See An Autobiography or My Experiments with Truth,
(Navjivan, 1927), p. 213. For the aims and objects of the journal see „Ourselves‟,
CWMG, Vol. III, p. 313.
5. Albert West, a Theosophist and printer who became a settler at Phoenix
settlement along with his family and played an active role in managing the
International Printing Press. His reminiscences appear in the Illustrated Weekly of
India, Bombay, 3-31October 1965.
6. Gandhi was not the first Indian in South Africa to start a paper. P.S. Aiyar began
a journal called the Indian World in 1898. This paper soon folded up but in 1901
Aiyar started another called paper Colonial Indian News, which he operated from
Natal whereas Gandhi began his journal in Johannesburg.
7. Indian Opinion, 4 June 1903.
8. Ibid, 15 October 1904
9. Hind Swaraj was first published in Gujarati columns of Indian Opinion, 11 and
18 December 1909. It was translated into English by M.K.Gandhi, as Hind
Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, and published by International Printing Press,
Phoenix in March 1910. It was soon banned for the reason that it „contain matter
declared to be seditious‟, Home, Political B, May 1910, 4, NAI. The Tamil
translation of Doke‟s biography on Gandhi the book that was reviewed in the
Indian Opinion could not be traced. It is significant that even in India this book
was translated intoTamil but could not be traced. While translating Hind Swaraj,
for example, in a letter to Gandhi dated.28 April 1919 C.Rajagopalachari wrote:
„Hind Swaraj‟s Tamil translation is getting ready – only 30 pages are remaining‟.
Cited in Gopalkrishna Gandhi, My Dear Babu… Letters from C.Rajagopalachari
to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Devadas Gandhi and Gopalkrishna Gandhi
(New Delhi, 2012), p. 24. Rajaji had contributed an article entitled „M.K. Gandhi
and his Message‟, See Indian Review, May 1916, pp. 338-340. This was a
summary of Hind Swaraj. He contributed a preface to an edition of the Hind
Swaraj or Indian Home Rule brought out by Ganesh & Co... Madras in 1921.
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~110~
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Indian Opinion, 9 April 1904
See the article „Good Advice to Women,‟ Ibid.
Ibid., 3 September 1904
Ibid., 9 April 1904
CWMG, Vol. IV, p. 333. Also see Maureen Swan , Gandhi:The South African
Experience (Johannesburg, 1985)
See Indian Opinion, 28 January 1914
Ibid, 22 April 1905
Ibid., 24 December 1904
Ibid., 9 January 1914
The issue is about „Release of our brave Indian Sisters‟ such as Mrs. Thmabi
Naidu, Mrs. N.S. Pillai, Mrs P,K.Naidu, Mrs M. Naidu, Mrs K. Muruganesa
Pillai, Mrs. Perumal Naidu and others. The issue of 25 February 1914 was
exclusively devoted to the role of Tamil men and women in the Satyagraha, in
particular Valliamma and Nagappan. For a brief study of the role of women in
Satyagraha in South Africa see Madhu Limaye‟s article in Women in India‟s
Freedom Struggle, (Bombay 2000), pp. 304-319. For Gandhi‟s tribute to the
Tamil community in Johannesburg see Indian Opinion, 5 August1914
See Millie Polak, „Women and the Struggle‟ in Golden Number of Indian
Opinion, Souvenir of the Passive Resistance Movement in South Africa, 19061914 (South Africa, 1914), pp.23-4
See Makarand Paranjpe (ed.,) , In Diasopara, Theories, Histories, Texts, New
Delhi, 2001.
M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth, p. 214.
______
___________________________________________
A. Akila Mariathangam
~111~
BISHOP AZARIAH’S CONTRIBUTION
TO DORNAKAL DIOCESE
______
Assistant Professor, Department of History, St. John‟s College, Palayamkottai
__________________
Bishop Azariah was a versatile person. His personality was shaped by many
internal and external factors. A human being‟s appearance, height and colour
cannot be altered much but his behavior and attitude can be changed to a great
extent. Patience, perseverance and pluck have made remarkable changes in the
lives of many men of international repute. Hurdles and hassles were there but
they overcame then successfully. Never did they beat a hasty retreat Abraham
Lincoln and Thomas Alva Edison not only achieved great things in their lives
but their achievements have transformed the life of human beings. Their
biographies have been sources of inspiration for many. They had a great impact
on people throughout the world. There is no dearth of such great men in India.
There are many and Bishop Azariah is one of them. This paper examines the
life of Bishop Azariah and social activities in the Dornakkal diocese. It shows
him to be of the architects who modernized education in Andhra Pradesh how
he worked for the upliftment of the poor people by making education free.
Tirunelveli the southernmost district of the Madras Presidency lies between 89
and 943 north latitude and 7712 and 7828 east latitude. It is bounded on the
east and south by the Gulf of Mannar, on the north by Ramnad and in the west
by Travancore1. Vellalanvillai is in the south eastern side of the Tirunelveli
district. It is a small village in Tiruchendur taluk. It is around 15 kilometres
away from the temple town Tiruchendur. Tirunelveli district lies in the rain
shadow region. The rainy clouds are blocked by the western ghats during the
south west monsoon. The rainfall during the north east monsoon is also scanty.2
The Village and the Palmyra Trees
Vellalanvillai, falls under the jurisdiction of Tiruchendur taluk. That region,
especially the Vellalanvillai area, abounds in Palmyra trees. The red soil and the
sandy layer are conducive to the growth of the trees. That kind of tree is a gift of
God because every part of the tree is useful to human beings. The occupation of
the majority of people in those days was toddy tapping. Men climbed up the
trees during the flowering season and crushed the flowers.3 They yielded juice,
which was collected in small earthen vessels exclusively made for that purpose.
The topper bedaubs the inner side of the vessel with lime powder, and prunes
the end of the flowers once or twice a day. The palm juice is tasty. A couple of
cups of this juice were the breakfast for most of the people in those days.
Jaggery, sugar and candy were the byproducts of the juice4. Mats and varieties
of containers were made from the leaves. The palm leaves were also used for
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Bishop Azariah‟s Contribution
roofing and fencing their huts. As the palm leaves do not conduct heat, their
huts were cool inside during the summer season. The trunk of the palmyra tree
was split and shaped and used as rafters. In fine, the palmyra trees satisfied most
of the needs of the people of Vellalanvillai in those days5.
The Socio-Economic condition of the people
Most of the people in Vellalanvillai were wallowing in poverty. They had a
hand-to-mouth existence during the flowering season of the palm trees. They
suffered more during the non-season. They were to blame to some extend for
their pitiable condition. They were not shrewd enough to save for the rainy day.
They were steeped in not only poverty but also ignorance. That situation was
conducive for the few rich people to exploit. The poor people were almost like
the bonded laborers. They were in the clutches of the rich people continuously.
They borrowed money from the rich during the non-season but paid it back
during the season. They spent lavishly on the local religious festivals, which
usually fall in June or July every year. That made them fall into the debt trap
again. It was a vicious circle.
The Advent of Missionaries to Tirunelveli District
The advent of the missionaries from European countries was a turning point in
the lives of the people. During the last decade of the 18 th century, there occurred
a change in lives of the Nadars. They were receptive to the good news. They
thought that the truth would certainly liberate them from poverty and social
ignominy. Their women were forbidden to wear blouses. They embraced
Christianity en masse. There was stiff resistance to the preaching of the gospel
(good news) from the caste Hindus. They established a new organization called
„Vibhudhi Sangam‟ and started attacking the people who embraced Christianity.
Many new convert backslided. But the Christians at Nazareth village decided to
defend themselves. A major clash was about to occur between the Caste Hindus
and the Christians. The then government was in quandary. The British East
India Company government took sides with the majority Hindus because it felt
that any action against the Hindus would jeopardize not only nascent
administration but also the business of the Company. At the same time, it also
felt that it did not swing into action to prevent the clash between the two
religious groups, it would lead to anarchy. The intention of the government to
do something to prevent the showdown between the rival groups and the firm
resolve of the Christians to defend themselves in spite of their small number
made the Hindus retreat6.
Missionary works at Vellalanvillai
CTE Rhenius was the first foreign missionary to visit the remote villages in the
Tirunelveli district. Vellalanvillai was one of the villages visited by him. It was
true that Vellalanvillai was a sandy area. But it was considered to be a rocky
area as far as missionary work was concerned. Rhenius took efforts to convert
them. The seeds of gospel sowed by Rhenius failed to germinate. The people
were dead against the religion. It was against this background John Thomas, a
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foreign missionary whose missionary station was Megnanapuram, visited
Vellalanvillai. The people of Vellalanvillai turned a deaf ear to the gospel
preached by John Thomas. He did not give up his efforts. He sat under the
banyan tree, which was in the heart of the village. A few people of the village
were touched by the gospel. The seeds germinated and yielded fruits. In course
of time many started coming to him. That created ripple in the village. The
staunch Hindus raised their cudgels against John Thomas and the new converts.
The Christians were tortured. John Thomas visited them time and again and
encouraged them. The hatred against the Christians reached the highest point
once. The Hindus held guns in their hands and decided to do away with John
Thomas. The missionary faced them with his only weapon-the Bible. He was
willing to die as martyr. But the Christians entreated him to get back. John
Thomas shed tears. There was a marvelous change among the people at
Vellalanvillai. Almost the entire village embraced Christianity. A church was
built there in 1844.7
Early life of Azariah
Thomas Vedanayagam, Azariah‟s father, was appointed catechist in a local
church. Rev. John Thomas, who was known as „The Apostle of South
Tirunelveli‟ had an eye on Thomas Vedanayagam. He held the view that able
Indian catechists could be ordained ministers after giving them sound
knowledge in English, Hebrew and Greek. There was stiff opposition to his
view but John Thomas overcame it and ordained six Indians. It was a
momentous occasion. One of the six was Thomas Vedanayagam. Azariah‟s
parents were very strict disciplinarians8. Generally, in the primary school at the
village level, the school children used to sit on the floor, and learn to make
letters with fingers on the sand. That was the general practice which was
adopted in the entire village schools in South India. Azariah himself had such a
procedure of learning9. After his primary education at Velalanvillai, he was
admitted to C.M.S. Boarding School at Megnanapuram in 1st January 1885. He
made good progress and was at home at the middle and high school stages.
Matriculating in 1889, he continued his studies in the C.M.S College in
Tirunelveli, where he passed his F.A.10 Azariah had the habit of good reading,
of utilizing every precious moment of time, even on trains and trams and also
acquired the efficient habits of Western people, which enabled him to organize
and administer as a Bishop in the greatest mission field in India. He had
published many articles and books related to Church and Mission 11.
The Founder of Indigenous Missionary Society (1903)
The Young Men‟s Christians Association was one of the well-known
organizations for the Church and mission in the beginning of the twentieth
century12. Azariah first heard John Mott in December 1896 while attending a
YMCA conference in Calcutta. Mott was promoting the Students Volunteer
Movement on a 60,000 mile world tour during a 20 month period from 1895 to
1897, which took him to 22 countries and 144 educational institutions 13.
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Azariah was made YMCA Secretary of India, and worked for 13 years, during
which he earned love and friendship of such great leaders as Sherwood Eddy
and John R. Mott14. Azariah‟s Tinnevelly Indo-Anglican church was more
independent of its parent western domination than many other churches in India.
Local CMS missionaries such as John Thomas had actually put mission theory
into practice by trying to establish self-governing, self-supporting and selfpropagating churches. As the boy Azariah watched his father serving as one of
the Church‟s more prominent leadership. Ecclesiastical models, rather than
political models, gave Azariah a secure belief in the Indian church‟s ability to
manage her own affairs and prompted him to launch India‟s first two major
indigenous missionary societies: The Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly
in 1903 and the National Missionary Society in 1905.
Indian Christians had earlier undertaken internal evangelism indeed, the initial
successes of western missionaries were probably dependent on the forgotten
Indian pioneers and Azariah was conscious of several precedents within the
Tinnevelly diocese15. The Society adopted as its objective‟ the evangelizing of
the unoccupied parts of India and adjacent countries‟, and animated by the spirit
of nationalism in its finest form, decided that its work should be carried on with
„Indian men, Indian money; and under Indian direction‟, Holding loyally to
these principles, the Society, which is essentially a venture of faith, has
prospered, and branches of it are to be found in practically all the Indian
provinces16. He was the general secretary of Indian Missionary Society of
Tirunelveli (IMST) (1903-1908) of which he was one of the founders in 190317.
Call to Dornakal
Azariah received what he interpreted as a divine „call‟ to conduct evangelism in
a specific locality sometime between 1906 and 1909 18. In 1909, he resigned
from both the YMCA and the NMS to become superintending missionary in
Dornakal. The precipitating event occurred just after Azariah had completed an
address on the importance of missionary service at Memorial Hall, Madras,
when a student in the front row whispered, “Why doesn‟t he go as a
missionary!”19. Azariah had been considering doing so and took this as God‟s
message to him. After a proposal to unify the IMS and the NMS failed in early
1909, Azariah decided to offer himself as a full-time missionary to the IMS.
In April, the IMS accepted Azariah‟s offer of missionary service and appointed
him superintending missionary for the Dornakal field.20 Azariah‟s friends were
shocked at his decision. They felt that his departure from the YMCA would
create a vacuum. It could not be filled up by anyone. Finding a man to hold the
post of the Secretary was really a challenge for them. They thought that
Azariah‟s decision was unwise as the Dornakal was a hard area for missionary
work. However Sherwood Eddy thought differently. He was of the view „to live
and die among the poorest of the poor would be a great sacrifice‟. He wished
him well as he thought that he would hardly have a chance to meet Azariah
again21.
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Missionary work in the Dornakal area
Missionary work was launched in the Dornakal area in the 19th century itself.
A few missionary movements ventured to send their representatives there. The
people who lived in the western districts of Andhra Pradesh were backward
both economically and educationally. They struggled for their daily bread.
Azariah‟s decision was final. Dornakal was his destination. It was a bolt from
the blue for his friends and well-wishers. They knew his brilliance, his charm
and his gifts of statesmanship. They felt that it was not advisable for such a
versatile person to go to a remote place in the state of Hyderabad (now Andhra
Pradesh). It was a great loss to the church activities in Madras. They did not try
to prevail upon him because they came to know that it was God‟s plan and he
was going to use Azariah as his instrument in the remote area. He offered
himself to Bishop Whitehead. He was happy to receive him into his fold. The
Bishop advised him to get ordained22. Azariah was already well versed in the
Bible. In spite of it, Bishop Whitehead asked him to stay at his house for further
study. On account of his erudition and sagacity, Azariah had a long jump in the
process of ordination. Generally, a person who is ordained this year will have to
wait for at least one year. But in the case of Azariah, such a custom was waived.
He was ordained Deacon in June and priest in December 1909. After the
ordination was over, Azariah went to Dornakal with his family.
The Azariah moved to Dornakal in 1909. It was an insignificant place in the
railway map. It was a railway station surrounded by forest and arid land. The
forest was the habitat of tigers. The dangerous ambience did not deter his
determination. Their residence was too small for a priest‟s family. Discomforts
were there but Azariah and his wife Anbu faced the situation with fortitude.
Bishop Whitehead was surprised when he saw the „quarters‟ of the Azariah. The
Bishop‟s house reminded of the simple home of the elite Christian Lady Pandita
Ramabai at Poona who led an austere life for the sake of the downtrodden23.
The task ahead of Azariah was to evangelize the non-Christian Telugu villagers
and to supervise the new Christian congregations 24.
Socio-Religious Background of Dornakal
Casteism is a major problem faced by the missionaries in India. Missionaries
like Rhenius, Caldwell and John Thomas did face caste problem in Tirunelveli
region. The situation in the Dornakal region was no different. Madigas and
Malas were the important castes among the low caste people in that region. The
Madigas were very poor people. Most of them were bonded laborers. Like
slaves, they were attached to one master whom they served throughout their life.
Both male and female were addicted to drinking. Their caste titles were Ayya,
Appa and Gauda25. As they were considered to be untouchable, they were
forced to live outside the villages. They were not permitted to use public wells.
They were also forbidden to enter temples. The Malas were also considered to
be untouchables. They were low caste laborers and weavers. They however,
considered themselves superior to Madigas. Their primary occupation was
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~116~
carrying the dead bodies of people belonging to all castes except Muslims and
Madigas to cremation ground. They also acted as messengers on the occasion of
marriages and funerals. As the high caste people depended of their services for
important social function. They detested the Madigas so much that they never
wore leather chappals or shoes just because the Madigas were the leather
workers.
Azariah’s Approach to Evangelization
Azariah had to spread the good news among such people whose caste feelings
ruled high in those days. He had a two-fold aim. On the one had, he should
preach the gospel and on the other hand, he should unite the people divided by
the caste. His immediate concern was to do away with the caste distinctions that
existed between Malas and Madigas. Azariah did preach the gospel to them but
he felt that gospel alone was not enough for them to bring the people together.
He thought that education would bring out a change in the attitude of the people
towards casteism. But he faced problems. People were not willing to accept his
view. They were against establishing schools in the villages. Azariah admitted
that his plan was not successful26.
Azariah gave importance to moral life of the Christian community. He strongly
believed that by their exemplary life Christians could attract people of different
castes to Christianity where no room should be given for discrimination based
on caste. The people who embraced Christianity did not mingle with the
Christians of other low caste. This feeling gradually faded and a sense of
fellowship was found among them later 27. Azariah‟s approach to evangelization
was simple but successful. He visited families in their simple houses and shared
with them the word of God. He also met the group of men sitting in the shade of
the trees and told them the good news. Sometimes, he preached the word of
God to a big gathering in the evening. He spent Sundays in discharging his
duties as priest in churches and among the members of congregations.
Rich Harvest in Dornakal
When Azariah formally joined the mission in 1909, there were approximately
30,000 Indian Christians associated with Indo-Anglican Church in Telugu
regions including Dornakal. Around 3000 persons in that region embraced
Christianity every year. There was a rapid growth after the arrival of Azariah.
He, however, did not believe in number. To him, evangelism means sharing
Good News through verbal and non-verbal means to the world. He expected
that the converted Christians should change their attitude towards their
neighbours.28 Moral purity, witness, tolerance and education are the sources for
indigenous church-growth. Christianity gave them a new way of life. There was
a social, economical and spiritual transformation after their conversion. Men
and women went to church every night. They did not steal nor did they drink
liquor. They had a peaceful life. The knowledge and worship of Jesus Christ
gave them qualitative improvement in their life. Christianity took a strong root
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in the Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh and the growth rate was very high.
Thanks to the silent and dedicated ministry of Azariah.
Education Ministry
There was a shortage of clergy in Dornakal. Azariah felt the need for training
able and devoted men to work in the church. He had a vision of a Divinity
School for Dornakal with, Telugu as the medium of instruction. He therefore,
started the Divinity School at Dornakal in 192029. He preferred this school to
the Theological Colleges in other places because this ambience was conducive
to the village priests. Further, the medium of instruction at this centre was
Telugu whereas it was English in other theological centre. What they preach
must be in the language, which could be easily understood by the uneducated
members of the congregation. His intention was to produce competent priests
rather than eloquent preachers and theologians. It was a humble beginning. He
handled classes for men in Telugu while his wife conducted classes for women.
Medical ministry is part of evangelization. One cannot preach Gospel alone in
isolation. Education and healthcare are the part and parcel of the Ministry.
Azariah was well aware of it. However, Azariah thought of the commitment of
the church to the schemes on education and medical college with a view to
providing quality medical education to men and women and meeting the health
needs of the rural poor. A good scheme but the amount needed for it raised the
eyebrows of Azariah. So he was careful in the church activities. He was of the
view that church activities should not be relegated to the background.
Self awareness, social changes and social upliftment are brought about through
quality education. Education ushers in liberation from ignorance and
superstition. The eyes of the inner man are opened to enable people to see the
true God. Education ministry is carried out with concern to dispel the darkness
of ignorance and to give the people the light of learning. IMS offers free
education to the children of the people of the backward community who are
denied all chances and are very poor in society. Along with secular education,
they have been giving them also spiritual knowledge and pave the way for their
welfare and make them good citizens. In addition to that many schools have
been handed over to the Dornakal Diocese in Andhra Pradesh. They are running
four matriculation schools as well as one high school in five service centres, in
which more than 95 missionary teachers, with their deep devotion and
dedication, teach more than 2500 students. Many students, who received
education in IMS schools, have become missionaries and officers in the
government.
The history and career of Azariah are very inspiring. He had a humble
beginning as a missionary in Dornakal. His remarkable achievements within a
short span were overshadowed by the publicity generated by his meteoric rise to
an Anglican Bishopric in 1912. He became an international figure. His
dedicated services motivated the IMS volunteers to commit themselves for
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development of the downtrodden in the Dornakal diocese. The people of the
area are ever grateful to Azariah for his contribution to the overall development
of the people in Dornakal.
Endnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
A. T. Stuart, Manual of Tirunelveli District, Madras, 1979. p. 1.
Stephen Neill, Bishop Azariah and call to Church Union, London, 1960. p. 52.
Ibid., p. 64 .
J. Z. Hodge, Bishop Azariah of Dornakal, Madras, 1946. p. 52.
Ibid., p. 64.
D. A. Christudoss, Nazereth Mission Charitham, 1974. p.27.
D. A. Christudoss, The Nellai Aposthalan John Thomas, Tirunelveli, 1974. p. 54.
D. A. Christudoss, Azariah Attiyatchar, Tirunelveli, 1974. p. 11.
P. B. Emmet, Apostle of India, Madras, 1974. p.7.
J. Z. Hodge, op. cit.. p. 2.
G. V. Job, Samuel Vedanayagam Azariah, Chennai, 1954. p. 9.
R. Rouse and S. C. Neil (Ed), A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 15171948, Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986. p. 327.
Records of World Tour 1895-1897, 111:117 / 1930-1932, Mottpapers, YDS.
M. Edwin Rao, The Glorious Fifty Years of Ephiphany Cathedral, Hyderabad,
1988. pp. 10-11.
H. M. Tucker, Under His Banner: Papers on the Missionary Work of Modern
Times, London, 1886, pp. 52-53.
Edwin Rao, op. cit.. p. 11.
Celebrate the Birth Centenary of Bishop Azariah, Madras, 1974. p. 82.
Carol Graham, Azariah of Dornakal, Delhi, 1972. p. 22.
Resolution XIII, offers of Secretary V.S. Azariah, 13th April 1909, IMSA
Sherwood Eddy, Pathfinders of the World Missionary Crusade, Nashville,
New York, 1954, pp. 147-148.
Edwin Rao, op. cit.. p. 11.
Mercy Azariah Bishop Azariah of Dornakal - A Play, Madras, 1978. p. 17.
Stephen Fuchs, At the Bottom of Indian Society, Munishiram Manoharlal
Publishers, New Delhi, 1981. p. 213.
Christopher Vijayan, Oivinty Uzhaitha Utthama Perayar, Kanyakumari, 2002,
p. 27.
G. V. Job, op. cit.. p. 38.
Stephen Neill, op. cit.. p. 84.
Christopher Vijayan, op. cit.. p. 55.
The Missionary Intelligence, July 2012. p. 10.
____
___________________________________________
S. Kamini
~119~
INDIAN FOREST ADMINISTRATION DURING
THE FIRST FIVE YEAR PLAN (1951-56) WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO COIMBATORE – A STUDY
______
S. Kamini
Assistant Professor, Department of History,
PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore
__________________
Forest is an extensive tract of land covered with trees and undergrowth,
something intermingled with pasture complex ecological system in which trees
are the dominant life form.1 The word forest is derived from the Latin „foris‟
meaning outside, the reference being to a village boundary or fence, and it must
have included all uncultivated and uninhabited land2 whereas forestry is the
theory and practice of all that constitute the creation, conservation and scientific
management of forests and the utilisation of their resources to provide for the
continuous production of the required goods and services.
Forests are a renewable source and contribute substantially to economic
development. They play a major role in enhancing the quality of environment.
The forest cover in the country constitutes 21.05 percent of its geographical
area. Of these, very dense forest constitutes 2.54 per cent, moderately dense
forest constitutes 9.76 percent and open forest 8.76 per cent.3 A comparison of
forest cover assessment of 2007 with that of 2005 reveals that there is an overall
increase of 728 sq.km.
Importance of forests
The forests of a country are a natural asset of immense value and are a
renewable resource. Indirectly, forests preserve the physical features of the
earth, check soil erosion, mitigate floods and make the streams flow perennially
and thus help agriculture. They also provide shelter to the wildlife which is of
scientific and recreational value. They help to maintain the ecological balance
of nature. A most significant function of forests is the fact that they serve as
storehouses of biological diversity. It also serve as sources of construction
material like bamboo and fodder for the livestock for large fractions of the
population. Forests are the home for a majority of the original inhabitants of the
country, the tribals, who constitute nearly seven per cent of the nation‟s
population.
Forests are home to many of the world‟s most endangered wildlife. They also
protect the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), a major source of
pollution that causes climate change. Forests are essential for life on earth.
Three hundred million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend
on them for their livelihoods. Forests also provide habitat for a vast array of
___________________________________________
~120~
Indian Forest Administration
plants and animals, many of which are still undiscovered. They protect the
watersheds.
Forests are so much more than a collection of trees. Forests are home to 80% of
the world‟s terrestrial biodiversity. These ecosystems are complex webs of
organisms that include plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. Forests take many
forms, depending on their latitude, local soil, rainfall and prevailing
temperatures. Coniferous forests are dominated by cone-bearing trees, like pines
and firs that can thrive in northern latitudes where these forests are often found.
Many temperate forests house both coniferous and broad-leafed trees, such as
oaks and elms, which can turn beautiful shades of orange, yellow and red in the
fall.
The most biologically diverse and complex forests on earth are tropical
rainforests, where rainfall is abundant and temperatures are always warm.
Forests also play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as
a carbon sink-soaking up carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would
otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in
climate patterns.
But forests are being destroyed and degraded at alarming rates. Deforestation
comes in many forms, including fires, ranching and development, unsustainable
logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. This impacts
people‟s livelihoods and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species.
Nearly 58 million square miles of forest are lost each year - equivalent to 36
football fields every minute.4
Forests play a vital role in social, cultural, historical, economic and industrial
development of any country and in maintaining its ecological balance. They are
the resource base for sustenance of its population and a store house of
biodiversity.
Forests through the ages
Man progressed rapidly in historical times, and began to live in organised
societies, constructed shelters using wood bark, etc and soon took to farming
and domestication of animals. Archaeological evidence shows that the
Rajasthan swamps existed till as late as 4000 BC when Harappan culture
flourished in the outskirts of Lothal in Gujarat. The adjoining forest contained
rhinoceroses and crocodiles of which we find replicas on the seals. At this time,
trees must have been felled by axes of flint and bronze, as iron had not yet been
used. The natives of this land, the Adivasis, always lived in the forests and they
loved and protected forests. When the Aryans started invading into India, from
2000 BC they introduced the use of iron for making axes, javelins, ploughs etc.
The chronicles of Chinese pilgrims mentioned dense Indian forests. Records
relating to the invasion of Alexander the Great in 327 BC mentioned the
existence of almost impenetrable forests along the river Indus. The Emperor
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S. Kamini
~121~
Asoka the Great in his rock edicts ordered that useful trees be planted along the
roads and on camping grounds. He also encouraged the cultivation of exotic
medicinal plants.
Shershah Sur planted trees along the Delhi-Patna Highway. The Mughals
created exquisite gardens. Emperor Jahangir introduced the famous Chinar tree
in the valley of Kashmir. The Mughals also maintained large Shikargahs for
hunting. The Ain-e-Akbari records that elephants roamed in the forests as far
west as Mhow near Indore. The Marathas and the Gonds planted mangoes and
other useful trees along the marching routes and halting places, some of which
are still surviving. Soon after, under a somewhat more stable government, the
population rapidly increased and indiscriminate destruction of forests began,
particularly in the basins of important rivers such as the Ganga, Yamuna,
Chambal and Narmada.5
This wanton destruction was further accelerated under British supremacy as
teak and certain other Indian timbers were found very suitable for building
ships for the British navy, and other woods were found suitable for railway
sleepers, needed for extending the railways from the ports to the forests in the
interior. Very soon, however, it became apparent to them that this was against
their long term imperial interests, and the need to work forests scientifically was
felt.
The practice of scientific forestry in India may be said to have begun with Sir
Dietrich Brandis, a German taking over as the first Inspector-General of Forests,
India in 1864. Under his able guidance, Forest Departments were created in
various British provinces. The first task before the new department was to
identify the sources of supply of strong and durable timbers such as sal, teak
and deodar which could be used as railway sleepers. A survey was
commissioned to report on the detailed composition of the hill forests,
particularly those within „reasonable distance‟ of land and water and select sites
for roads and saw mills. The Forest Act of 1865 was the first step towards a rule
of property for the forests of British India. The first responsibility that devolved
on the forest officers were to inspect tree-clad lands and all hilly regions and
then to demarcate survey and map, suitable areas for settlements as reserved or
protected forests under the newly enacted Indian Forests Act 1865. After these
forests were inspected by the Inspector-General of Forests along with the local
officers, general principles were laid down on which they were to be managed.
Brandis was also involved in the formulation of forest working plan.
Forest Policy of 1894
It was at this stage, that Government of India invited Voelcker, a German expert
to examine the condition of Indian agriculture and to suggest how it could be
improved. In his report submitted in 1893, Voelcker discussed the role of
forests vis-à-vis agriculture and stressed the need for formulating a forest policy
with a definite bias for serving agricultural interests more directly than before.
___________________________________________
~122~
Accordingly, the government issued a resolution dated 19th October 1894,
declaring their forest policy. This statement of the forest policy of India later
served as a model for drawing the forest policies of various countries of the
erstwhile British empire and other countries where management of forests on
scientific lines was initiated. Dietrich Brandis held the position of Inspector
General of Forests followed by Wilhelm Schlich, Berthold Ribbontrop and
E.P.Stebbing.
Throughout the tenure of these Inspector Generals, Conservators were
appointed to Indian provinces in the following order. Bombay, Madras and
Burma were placed under a conservator. Then were added the North-Western
Provinces in 1860, the Central provinces in 1860, Oudh in 1861 Punjab, Coorg
and Bengal in 1864 Assam in 1868 and the Berar in 1868. By the end of 1868
the forest department had administrators in every province of the subcontinent
so that by 1885, the Inspector General oversaw ten conservators of forests who
in turn oversaw 55 deputy conservators of forests, 38 assistant conservators of
forests and thousands of forest guards.
The new forest department did not have specially trained forest officers to
accomplish the work, and the appointments were filled by men from other
branches of government service, often those who in some way showed
themselves fit for forest life, sometimes naturalists, military men or sportsmen.
Some personnel were gained by merging previous agencies with the department
for instance in the Madras Presidency, the Jungle Conservancy Department
amalgamated with the forest department. Recruitment also depended upon
„young gentlemen‟ mostly from Britain, who until 1891 were awarded jobs in
local government on a system of patronage given to young men of European
extraction who grasped the situation more rapidly and came into the service in
considerable numbers.
There was some depletion of forest capital during World War I, but this was
more than made up by intensive conservation and management in subsequent
years. But during World War II forests were heavily felled, far beyond their
sustained production, with the result that the forest capital decreased
considerably. This state of affairs changed after independence in 1947.
Vana Mahotsava
After India‟s independence, attention of the government was drawn to the need
for remodeling the management of Indian forests so that they could play an
increasingly useful role in promoting national welfare. As a first step towards
making the people forest-conscious and thus enlisting their willing cooperation
in protecting the forests, the then Union Minister for Food and Agriculture,
K. M. Munshi, conceived a nationwide celebration of an annual saplingplanting festival called Vana Mahotsava. This country wide festival of trees has
been celebrated every year ever since.
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S. Kamini
~123~
Central Board of Forestry (1950)
In 1948, at a conference of the State Forest Ministers, the need for a central
forestry organization was considered necessary. In pursuance of this
recommendation a Central Board of Forestry (CBF) was constituted in 1950
with the Union Minister for Agriculture as its chairman. The primary function
of the CBF is to provide guidance to the state governments in the formulation of
programmes, integration of plans for land use where forestry has to play an
important role and to coordinate research, and review the National Forest Policy
(NFP) enunciated in 1952. The forests emerged as important resources during
the pre-independence period, as the demand for raw materials increased, and a
need was felt to expand the railway network. Forestry was thus productionoriented at that time. However, the basic change in perception was brought by
the National Forest Policy of 1952, from production forestry to focus on
meeting objectives of maintaining ecological balance on the one hand and
meeting the needs of stakeholders in the best possible way on the other. In
March 1980, the CBF was reconstituted and expanded to include representatives
of the Union Ministers of Rural Reconstruction, Finance, Industry and the
Planning Commission, and a representative of the Indian Board for Wildlife.
National Forest Policy (1952)
After Independence, the reconstruction schemes initiated by the Planning
Commission, such as the river-valley projects, development of industries and
communication etc. all leaned very heavily on the produce of forests. Forestry
was no longer regarded as the handmaid of agriculture but was recognized to be
its foster mother. The Government of India proposed the classification of forests
on a functional basis into protection forests, national forests and village forests.
It emphasized the need for evolving a system of balanced and complementary
land-use, under which each type of land was to be allotted to that form of use
under which it would produce most and deteriorate least. This policy made
provision for ensuring progressively increasing supplies of pasture, timber for
agricultural implements and firewood to release cattle dung for use as manure.
National Policy also contrived against the indiscriminate extension of
agriculture.
It laid stress on:
i) weaning the primitive people by persuasion, from the baneful practice of
shifting cultivation,
ii) increasing the efficiency of forest administration by having adequate forest
laws,
iii) providing adequate facilities for the management of forests,
iv) controlling grazing in the forestry, and
v) promoting welfare of the people.
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~124~
Planned Forest Development
Soon after the new Constitution came into force in 1950, the Government
announced the setting up of Planning Commission. One of the functions
assigned to the commission was to formulate plans for the most effective and
balanced utilization of the country‟s resources. Accordingly, to derive the
maximum benefits from them, rehabilitation of the depleted forests of the
country was given special attention in the five year plans and these plans have
aimed at accelerating the pace of forestry development and the expansion of
forestry organization in the country. The two world wars drew heavily on the
forest resources. Therefore the first five year plan focused its attention on
rehabilitating the forest that had been over-exploited during the wars, and
consolidation and settlement of private forests taken over by the government.
A modest beginning was also made to raise plantations of matchwoods and
other economic species.
Forest administration in Coimbatore circle, Madras State during 1950-55
The Coimbatore district was never a political entity and its history is not of
particular interest. Coimbatore and the present districts of Erode, Salem, and
Tiruppur formed the Kongu country. During the ninth century the Kongu
country was brought under the Imperial Cholas, who held it for nearly 200
years. It then broke up into number of principalities during the eleventh century
fell an easy prey to the Hoysala Ballala kings of Mysore. Then Coimbatore fell
under Vijayanagar rulers who retained it till 1565. Coimbatore then came into
the hands of the Vijayanagar deputy at Seringapatam who like his colleagues
had assumed independent powers and shortly afterwards from him to the deputy
at Madura.6
Between 1761 and 1799, it was the scene of incessant marches and counter
marches advances and retreats by the British and the Mysore troops. Later when
the district came under the control of British, they introduced and implemented
the forest policy and acts that they executed uniformly throughout India and
also in Coimbatore till independence. It is one of the few districts of this state
which has some dense forests as distinguished from patches of scrub jungle of
small trees in other districts. These dense forests can boast of having teak,
sandalwood and rosewood besides a variety of other valuable forests trees. In
1927-29, some forests of the district comprising about 50 square miles were
handed over to the Panchayats. But as they were mismanaged, they were taken
back by the Forest Department in 1951. 7
The important change in the trend of forest policy during the period was the
decision to take over by government the forests belonging to the erstwhile
Zamindars. As a result of the additional areas thus taken over, the Salem South
Division was transferred to Salem Circle, and the old Madurai Division was
bifurcated into Madurai East and Madurai West Division with effect from
15th October 1951.
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S. Kamini
~125~
The estate (Zamindari) forests were all in a denuded condition and steps were
being taken to rehabilitate them. Proposals for constituting them as Reserved
Forests under Section No.4 and 16 of the Madras Forest Act after completing
preliminary surveys and thereafter working plans were prepared for working the
forests according to silvi-cultural requirements.
Government sanctioned the opening of a school in Tunacadavu Range of
Coimbatore South Division for educating the children of the hill tribes with
provision for hostel, free boarding and dress for 50 students. The school started
functioning at Sungam on 1st September 1951. A cooperative society mainly for
the benefit of the hill tribes living in Tunacadavu range has been started and the
right of collection of minor forest produce during 1954-55 in Tunacadavu range
has been given to the society. A government dispensary has been opened at
Topslip. The general policy adopted for disposal of timber extracted
departmentally was to reserve good sized teak and hardwood logs for supply to
railways, government departments, government sponsored institutions, local
bodies etc., and to sell only timber to required quantum by the above consignees
to the public. During the last year of the quinquennium supply of sleepers to the
railways was also undertaken and it is programmed to continue the supplies
hereafter. Free removal of fodder grass was permitted in head loads as usual for
bonafide domestic purposes.8
The total area of forests under the control of the Forest Department at the close
of the year 1949-50 stood at 4,122 square miles. The area of reserved lands at
the beginning of the year 1950-51 was 5 square miles and at the end of the year
1954-55 it is 681 square miles. The length of the boundaries of the reserved
forests was kept clear by forest subordinated free of cost. No reserved forests
boundary line was artificially demarcated during the quinquennium and no
survey was undertaken by the Survey of India during the period under review.
Forest Offences
The following statement compares the average number of forest offences for the
period from 1-4-1945 to 31-3-19509
Name of the
Offence
Injury by fire
Unauthorised
fellings
Unauthorised
grazing
Other offences
Total
Average of 5 years
Ending 31.3.1950
Average of 5year
period under review
(1.4.50-31.3.55)
Increase /
Decrease
3
7032
15
7777
+12
+745
735
658
–77
900
8670
920
9370
+20
+700
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~126~
Yield and Outturn
Year
1950-51
1951-52
1952-53
1953-54
1954-55
Timber C. Ft
in Thousand
932.6
770.2
491.8
355.5
324.5
Fuel C. Ft
in Thousand
5818.8
5447.8
3426.6
3428.4
2123.8
Total C. Ft
in Thousand
6751.4
6218.0
4918.4
3883.9
2457.3
The decrease is due to poor yield obtained and also mainly due to the transfer of
Tiruchirappalli and Salem south divisions from this circle to Salem circle.
Revenue and Expenditure10
The figures of Revenue and Expenditure of the year 1950-51 to 1954-55 were
as follows:
Year
1950-51
1951-52
1952-53
1953-54
1954-55
Total
Gross Revenue
in Rs.
3905363
4347444
4076697
3434983
3439385
19203872
Expenditure
in Rs.
1471481
1558465
1755213
1698044
1854615
8337818
Net Revenue
in Rs.
24338832
2788979
2321484
1736939
1584770
10866054
Forest Training
Four foresters and two clerks were deputed during the period for ranger‟s
course. 37 forest apprentices underwent training in Coimbatore South division.
11 foresters form this circle were deputed for the training in the Regional
Foresters‟ School for South India at Coimbatore under the scheme formulated
by the Government of India and it was given at the Madras Forest College,
Coimbatore.102 forest guards and 11 foresters underwent training during the
quinquennium.
Progress of Forest Development Schemes under the First Five year Plan
and other schemes
Regeneration operation such as i) Afforestation of dry fuel forests, ii) Soil
conservation in low hills and iii) Artificial regeneration to clothe the tree-less
area with vegetation were carried out on an extensive scale in the divisions of
this circle. The results obtained were satisfactory. Preliminary works for raising
___________________________________________
S. Kamini
~127~
plantations of softwood to meet the demands of matchwood factories as a term
policy were also started during the quinquennium. 11
The Forest Department continued to look after the welfare of the aboriginal
tribes living in the forests by employing them for departmental works and
paying them the usual wages. They continued to be provided with lands in
suitable localities inside the Reserved Forest for cultivation of dry crops with or
without assessment.
Present status of Coimbatore Forest Division
Coimbatore is surrounded by the mountains on the west, and the reserve forests
on the northern side. The entire western and northern part of the district borders
the Western Ghats with the Nilgiri biosphere as well as the Anaimalai and
Munnar ranges. A western pass to Kerala, the Palghat Gap provides its
boundary. Coimbatore is situated on the banks of river Noyyal. Many lakes and
ponds were constructed near the river during ancient periods.
Coimbatore district is richly endowed with hills, forests, rivers and wildlife. The
Western Ghats of the district are the home of rivers such as Bhavani, Noyyal,
Aliyar, Siruvani which provide the drinking water and irrigation water for the
people and farmers of Coimbatore. The forests of Coimbatore district spread
over an area of 693.48 sq. km against district area of 7433.72 km. The forests
are responsible for the cool weather, the green landscape and clean air of the
district.
The forest tract falls between 10°37‟ and 11°31‟ North latitudes and 76°39‟ and
77°5‟ East longitudes. The greater part of the Coimbatore forest division is
situated in southward extending Western Ghats, with the North-western parts
forming the lower ranges of the Nilgiris. The Coimbatore forest division is part
of the Nilgiri Bioshpere Reserve (NBR) and also forms part of the Core Zone of
the NBR.12
The forest of Coimbatore district is administered by two forest divisions. South
of Palghat Gap lies the Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, which has been
designated as Tiger Reserve during 2008. North of Palghat lies the Coimbatore
forest division. This division is bounded on the North and North West by
Sathiyamangalam, Erode, Nilgiris North and Nilgiris South Forest Divisions,
and on the west and South-west by Palghat Forest Division of Kerala.
Tribal Settlements
Following is the list of settlements along with its area and population is given
below: 13
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~128~
Forest Range
Perianaickenpalayam and Karamadai Range
Sl.
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23a.
23b.
24a.
24b.
25a.
25b.
26.
27.
28.
29.
Mettupalayam Range
Sirumugai Range
Bolampatti Range
Coimbatore Range
Name of
settlement
Mel Pillur
Sorandai
Gundoor
Paraiyancombai
Koravankandi
Sirukinaru
Nellimarathur
Poochimarathur
Sithukuni
Kandiyur
Sundapatti
Veppamarathur
Manar
Gethaikadu
Veerakkal
Korapathy
Muthamankombai
Paralikadu
Thondai
Sethumadai
Neeradi
Kadamankombai
Keel Pillur
Keel chengalur
Uliyur
Vellapathy
Seengapathy
Kalkothi
Sadivayal North
Sadivayal South
Thanikandi
Thevanur
Area
in Ha.
24.00
13.07
13.70
25.69
29.72
9.31
28.81
35.50
30.00
13.35
18.80
12.80
38.00
17.20
16.00
30.00
24.00
26.00
6.72
12.95
24.00
44.90
17.40
10.00
30.00
25.00
35.00
35.00
14.00
20.00
Population
25
100
108
88
55
51
50
60
40
90
57
30
194
104
42
122
10
120
45
60
35
60
111
30
37
41
86
48
20
23
152
116
Conclusion
Forests are the most valuable asset of every nation. Forests and development of
a nation should be balanced otherwise ill conceived ideas must destroy the
precious wealth of a country which cannot be recovered easily. We should learn
lessons from Uttarakand‟s recent deluge and its aftermath. Several reports from
the Inter Governmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC) have repeatedly
warned that extreme weather incidents will become more frequent with global
___________________________________________
S. Kamini
~129~
warming14 but all in vain. To pursue development without concern for the
fragile environment is to invite disaster. Eco sensitive development may mean a
slower monetary growth rate but a more sustainable and equitable one.
The National Forest Policy enunciated in 1982 advocates maintenance of fully
one-third of the geographical area of India under the forest cover.15 Efforts need
to be made to reach this level of vegetation. But working for this growth of tree
cover, the criteria of ecological balance, supporting the rural economy, reducing
rural unemployment and industrial raw materials have to be borne in mind. It is
all the more importance in this age of globalization where over-importance is
given to the industrial growth. Of course we need industries but not at the cost
of our environment. The profit driven multinational industries hardly mind the
ecological concerns which seriously affect the ordinary people very much. The
policy makers and the civil society have to work for the integrated growth of the
nation.
This article reveals about the extracts of the quinquennial forest administrative
report submitted by the Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore circle to the Chief
Conservator of Forests, Madras State. Because of its close proximity to the
Western Ghats, is rich in fauna. This city, being an industrial hub of Tamil
Nadu is prone to environmental degradation than other districts of the state. In
order to avoid the resource depletion of this district, more steps should be taken
by the government and people‟s participation in conservation of the forest is
required.
India today is an environmental basket case; marked by polluted skies, dead
rivers, falling water tables, ever increasing amount of untreated wastes,
disappearing forests. Tribal and peasant communities continue to be pushed off
their lands through destructive and carelessly conceived projects. Ultimately,
one needs to remember that forests can be preserved only through people‟s
participation and by creating in every sector of the population, a vested interest
in afforestation as against the present situation that encourages deforestation. 16
Endnotes
1. Report of National Forest Commission, Ministry of Environment and Forest,
2006, New Delhi. http://www.envfor.nic/division/nft.html
2. K. P. Sagreiya, Forests & Forestry, New Delhi, National Book Trust, 2000. p. 1.
3. http://www.fsi.org.in
4. http://www.worldwildlife.org/habits/forests
5. K. P. Sagreiya, op.cit.. p. 10.
6. Francis. W., Frederick, C. S., Nicholson Middlemiss, C. A. Barber, Gazetteer of
South India, Vol. II., New Delhi, Mittal Publications, 1988. p. 67.
7. B. S. Baliga, Madras District Gazetteer, Coimbatore, Madras, Director of
Stationery & Printing, 1966. p. 272.
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~130~
8. Madras State Forest Administrative Report, Quinquennial Review 1949-50 to
1954-55, Coimbatore Circle, 18-1-1955. p. 129.
9. Ibid., p. 131.
10. Ibid., p. 135.
11. Ibid., p. 139.
12. http://www.coimbatoreforests.org.
13. Ibid.
14. The Hindu, Coimbatore Edition, 25th June 2013
15. Madhav Gadgil et al., Forest Management & Forest Policy in India: A Critical
review. http://www.ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/mg/pdfs/mg051.pdf
16. The Hindu, Coimbatore Edition, 27th March 2013.
_____
___________________________________________
T. S. Lancelet
~131~
DEMOGRAPHIC STRATEGIES OF MANAGING SOLID WASTE
– A THEORETICAL APPROACH
______
Dr. T. S. Lancelet
Associate Professor, Department of Geography,
Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Ernakulam District, Kerala
__________________
Introduction
With the increase in the global population and the rising demand for food and
other essentials, there has been a rise in the amount of waste being generated
daily by each household. This waste is ultimately thrown into the waste
collection centres from where it is collected by the waste workers to be further
thrown into the landfills and dumps. However, either due to resource crunch or
inefficient infrastructure, not all of this waste gets collected and transported to
the final dumpsites. If at this stage the management and disposal is improperly
done, it can cause serious impacts on health and natural environment. The
problems of dealing with greater volumes of waste materials are particularly
acute in developing countries where these changes have not been met by
improvements in waste-management technologies and other infrastructures.
Even domestic solid waste has become a health hazard in many developing
countries as a result of careless handling and a failure to organise appropriate
solid waste collection schemes. And although there are appropriate waste
management solutions, the main problem is the global framework that should
put them in place where they are most needed.
The Concept of Waste
Definitions of „waste‟ are rather commonly found in documents as dictionaries,
encyclopedia and technical reports of governments and organizations. For
example, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines waste as
“the unwanted material or substance that is left after you have used something”
while the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles
defines it as “the unusable material left over from a process of manufacture, the
use of consumer goods etc, or the useless by-products of a process”. At the
same time according to the European Council‟s Directive on Waste, waste is
“any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to
discard”. This definition is very broad and does not include materials that were,
for a long time, considered by some participants as not being waste. It appears
to be an emerging recognition that waste collected for recycling purposes
should be defined as a secondary raw material.
Waste is a matter for which a specific owner ceases to have use for it. It is also
any unwanted or discarded matter. It can be in a solid, liquid or gaseous form. A
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Demographic Strategies of Managing Solid Waste
product, material or container is not considered waste until someone throws it
away. Solid wastes include all domestic refuse and non-hazardous wastes such
as commercial and institutional wastes, street sweepings and construction
debris.
Solid waste is non liquid waste arising from domestic, trade, industrial,
agricultural, mining, construction activities and from public services. Or it can
be defined as unwanted material disposed by man, which can neither flow into
streams nor escapes immediately into the atmosphere. These cause pollution in
water, air and soil.
The definition of waste as a thing which its holder has discarded assumes that
waste is already there and that the holder intends to dispose it, i.e. that
something has to be done with it. Waste management in this situation appears to
be simply a reaction to waste. No one single method of waste management can
deal with all materials in waste in an environmental sustainable way. In reality
any waste management is built up of many closely related processes, integrated
together.
Waste Management-Historical Approach
In earlier period, the amount of waste generated by human being was
insignificant due to low population density, coupled with insignificant
exploitation of natural resources. Common waste produced during early human
history was mainly ashes and human biodegradable waste, which were released
back into the ground locally, with minimum environmental impact. Before the
widespread use of metals, wood was widely used for most applications.
However, reuse of wood has been well documented. Nevertheless, it is once
again well documented that reuse and recovery of such metals have been carried
out by earlier humans.
A century ago urban squalor and disease led citizen reformers to demand cities
take action. Cities became responsible for disposing of waste especially
growing housing spectrum.1 But urban refuse was different then. It was mostly
coal, ash and food scraps, with a small proportion of simple manufactured
products like paper and glass. Today, 71% of our waste is thrown-away
products and packaging, some containing toxic components. Garbage has
changed, but our waste management system has not changed at the same rate.
With the advent of industrial revolution, waste management became a critical
issue. This was due to the increase in population and the massive migration of
people to industrial towns and cities from rural areas during the 18th century.
There was a consequent increase in industrial and domestic wastes posing threat
to human health and the environment. The sight of the dustbin overflowing and
the stench rising from it are all too familiar sights and smells of a crowded city.
Often, we look away from it holding our nose as we cross the bin.
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Major reasons behind the beginning of waste generation
Overpopulation
In demography, the term „overpopulation‟ refers to a condition wherein the total
population of a particular region far exceeds the carrying capacity of the region.
Although the term by and large refers to the ratio between population and the
available area, the ratio between the population and available resources cannot
be ignored.2
Overpopulation is one of the major problems the planet is facing today, and it
directly or indirectly fuels a range of other problems affecting the earth, right
from pollution to global warming. It just took us a period of 12 years, between
1999 and 2011, to go from 6 billion to 7 billion. Various estimates show that the
world population would reach somewhere between 9 and 11 billion by 2050. If
this happens, it would be very difficult to keep overpopulation problems at bay
for a long time.
Rapidly growing urban population
The problems associated with solid waste management in a developing country
framework are multi-dimensional and more acute when compared to the
developed nations; the severest of them being the rapidly growing urban
population. The growth in population causes tremendous increase in the
concentration of population in the urban centres due to migration and
immigration of people from rural areas and nearby countries in search of
livelihood. This trend is expected to continue. As urbanization continues to take
place, the management of solid waste is becoming a major public health and
environmental concern in urban areas of many developing countries. The
concern is serious, particularly in the capital cities, which are often gateways to
the countries for foreign diplomats, businessmen, and tourists.
Poor visual appearance of these cities will have negative impacts on official and
tourist visits and foreign investment. Recognizing its importance, a number of
developing countries have requested collaboration of external support agencies,
both bilateral and multilateral, in improving solid waste management in their
cities in the last 20 years or so. Although some projects succeeded in providing
lasting positive impacts on the management of solid waste in the recipient
countries and cities, many failed to continue activities after the external support
agencies ceased their support. This unsustainability of collaborative projects is
due to various technical, financial, institutional, economic, and social
constraints faced by both the recipient countries or cities and external support
agencies.
Influence of modern global world
This modern world functions as a „throw-away society‟. Because, we regularly
purchase things which can use only once, then dispose it with never a worry or
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care. People in the urbanised countries makeup 20% of world population by
consuming 80% world‟s resources and they produce 80% of wastes.3 The
growing problem is how to handle all these wastes that is generated. Precious
space is decreasing. This terrible problem needs an appropriate solution that is
both popular with the public and fast on the clock. All of the multifaceted
obstacles regarding this predicament, which has plagued the human population
of this green earth for centuries, must be overcome. The solution is not just
reducing, reusing, recycling and composting, but also a complete re-education
of how we live.
The Indian scenario of solid waste management
India is one of the first countries to make provisions for environmental
protection. Littering and the indiscriminate disposal of solid waste are widely
practiced, polluting India‟s air, water, soil and inhabitants. Such pollution
impedes India‟s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The Government of India has encouraged the proper management of solid waste
from as early as 1960s when the Ministry of Food and Agriculture gave soft
loans to the local municipal authorities for Municipal Solid Waste Management
(MSWM). Government of India also had given grants and loans to state
governments for setting up MSW composting facilities under the fourth fiveyear plan (1969-74). In 1974 Government of India modified this scheme
making it specific only for cities having a population above 30 lakh. A high
level committee was set in 1975 to review the problems of urban solid waste in
India. This committee covered all aspects of waste management and based on
these recommendations, between 1975 and 1980, ten mechanical compost
plants were set up in the country. A major step by Government of India in the
direction of managing waste happened with the setting up of the National Waste
Management Council (NWMC) in 1990. This council provided financial
assistance to 22 municipalities to undertake surveys to assist them in improving
the MSWM situation. The magnitude of the solid waste management problem
was realised by the government only after the outbreak of the plague epidemic
in Surat. A high powered committee was set up in 1995 which gave many
recommendations for the improvement of MSWM like door to door collection,
setting up of transfer stations, charging user fees, etc. National Solid Waste
Association of India (NSWAI) is the only leading professional non-profit
organization in the field of solid waste management including toxic and
hazardous waste and also biomedical waste in India. It was formed on 25th
January 1996.
Solid waste management in India is generally unscientific; so far the most
widely practiced municipal disposal method has been uncontrolled dumping.
Mostly the dump sites are very near to the cities and it leads to leachate,
percolation and pollution runoff and contamination of soil, ground water,
canals, and river ways. There is very little organized effort towards segregation
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of wastes at the source, collection points, or even disposal sites. High level of
moisture and silt contents and low calorific value makes it possible for the
waste to be turned to composting. However, due to lack of proper marketing for
composts, the cost of composting ends up being much more than revenue
generated from it. Incineration is way too costly due to high organic content of
the waste.
Solid waste management in Kerala
Waste management has come to be serious issue in Kerala as well. A study on
MSW management in Kerala, undertaken with the support of South Asia in
2007, indicated that the total MSW generation in the state is about 8300 tonnes
per day. This study also indicated that 70-80% of the total waste generated is
biodegradable in nature and these putrescible waste needs to be managed within
24 hours. 13% of the waste is generated by the five city corporations, 23% by
the 53 municipalities and the rest by the 999 gram panchayats. The details of
waste generated in Kerala are given in Table-1.
Table-1: Municipal Solid Waste Generated in Kerala
Local Governments
5 City Corporations
53 Municipalities
999 Gram Panchayats
Total
2456618
Per capita
Waste
Generation
(g/day)
400
5810307
23574449
300
200
Population
2001
Waste generation
per day (T)
2001
2006
983
1091
1743
4715
7441
1935
5312
8338
Source: Suchitwa Mission, Kerala, 2006.
From the above table, it is evident that there has been a significant increase in
the waste generation in Kerala in last few decades largely due to rapid
population growth, urbanisation and economic development. As per the 2006
estimates, on an average, about 8000 tonnes of solid waste were generated all
across Kerala, in its 999 panchayats, 53 municipalities and 5 corporations.
Kerala is one of the few states in the country that took some measures to
address the issues of waste management by launching an initiative called „Clean
Kerala Mission‟. The mission was launched in 2002. Objective of the mission
was to create a garbage free Kerala. It was given a task of capacity building
within Local Government Institutions (LGIs) and enabling and preparing them
taking up the challenge of implementing solid waste management projects.
There were efforts to achieve this goal with the participation of NGOs,
Community organizations such as Kudumbasree units across the Kerala. The
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first phase of the project was implemented in 5 corporations and 26
municipalities with the participation of women Self-Help-Groups and
Kudumbasree units. In the second phase of the Clean Kerala Mission another 27
cities and 25 villages were included.
The concept of Solid waste management
Solid waste management is defined as “all the processes which include all the
activities that seek to minimize the health, environmental and aesthetic impacts
of solid waste”.4 It is the process of removing the discarded material from
dwelling places in a timely manner to prevent the spread of diseases and to
dispose the discarded materials in a manner which is environmentally
acceptable. Thus, it is the orderly execution of functional elements such as
collecting, transporting, processing and disposing of solid waste. Instead of
focusing on and comparing individual options, for instance, incineration versus
landfill, an attempt should be made to integrate waste management systems that
can deal with the whole waste stream, and then compare their overall
performances in environmental and economic terms. Without proper waste
management we are not only harming a beauty and health of our environment
but we are also reducing negative effect that waste can have on our own health.
In the developed world, the approaches waste management; regarded as the
most compatible with an environmentally sustainable development is called
„Integrated Waste Management (IWM)‟. This approach consists of a
hierarchical and coordinated set of actions that reduces pollution, seeks to
maximize recovery of reusable and recyclable materials, and protects human
health and the environment. One of the major aims of integral waste
management is to process in a way which is socially desirable, economically
viable and environmentally sound.
Principles of Integrated Solid Waste Management
The most significant definition of Integrated Waste Management (IWM) took
place in 1991,5 when a task force from the Economic Commission for Europe
published a Draft Regional Strategy for integrated waste management that
defined integrated waste management as a “process of change in which the
concept of waste management is gradually broadened to eventually include the
necessary control of gaseous, liquid, and solid material flows in human
environment.”6 The concept of integrated waste management now included all
waste types, the option of using a range of treatment technologies depending on
the situation and overall approach being taken with respect to the analysis,
optimization, and management of the whole system. The relevance of looking at
the whole system could be challenged, since waste management is in most cases
split up into many different compartments. For instance, collection of municipal
solid waste is usually the duty of local authorities, though may be contracted out
to a private waste management companies. Disposal often comes under the
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responsibility of another company and most probably another private company.
Each company or authority only has control of the waste handling within its
operation, so in this case, what is the feasibility of taking an overall systems
approach when no-one has control over the whole system.
Integrated solid waste management puts into a focal matrix the urgent planning
aspects including the environmental, socio-cultural, institutional, political and
legal aspects as well as the important role of stakeholders (like rag pickers, the
informal recycling sector, small-scale enterprises, women heads of household
etc.) and the other elements of the waste management system, such as
prevention, reuse and recycling, collection, street sweeping, and disposal.
Integrated solid waste management involves environmental impact assessment
and public involvement for all new transfer, treatment, and disposal facilities,
and ensures that these facilities are designed to meet environmentally costeffective discharge and impact standards. It also monitors the emissions and
environmental changes related to all waste storage, handling, and disposal
activities and uses systems to track and document hazardous waste.7
To achieve integrated waste management, it requires major system changes
from the present situation. The objective of an integrated system is to be both
environmentally and economically sustainable, which can never be reached,
since it will always be possible to reduce environmental burden further and it
will lead to continual improvements to systems; the process of continually
monitoring performance for ways to improve a system.

Minimizing use or waste of non-renewable resources includes minimizing
waste of scarce mineral resources through reducing use of such resources,
and re-using, recycling and reclaiming waste.
 Sustainable usage of renewable resources which means threshold limit of the
resources need to be maintained.
 Keeping wastes from cities within absorption capacity of local and global
sinks.
Further, sustainable development has also been described as „a process of
simultaneously ensuring continuation of the economic, social and ecological
basis of human life‟. Hence, the paradigm of sustainable development combines
improving the quality of life while controlling or limiting the harmful impacts
of human activities on the environment. 8 The goal of Fullfiling Demographic
Strategies thus, be incorporated in solid waste management as follows:

A decentralized system would be more appropriate to the conditions
prevalent in the developing world, while encouraging self-reliance and
private investment in the communities.
 To protect environmental health and promote the quality of the urban
environment
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
To support the efficiency and productivity of the economy and generate
employment and income to ensure and promote, health, hygiene and
sanitation to people from all walks of life.
Successful use of low-tech approaches and incorporation of informal refuse
collectors and scavengers exist in various cities of Africa, Asia and Latin
America. A decentralized municipal solid waste management system could help
to solve the seemingly intractable problem of municipal solid waste
management in Third World cities in an economically viable, socially desirable
and environmentally sound manner. The improper management of solid wastes
represents a source of air, land and water pollution, and poses risks to human
health and the environment.
Endnotes
1. M. Anji Reddy, Environmental Science and Technology, B. S. Publications
Hyderabad, 2007. p. 261.
2. Arthur B. Gallen, The Urban Pattern, CBS Pubilshers, New Delhi, 1996, p. 315.
3. H. U. Bijlani, Solid Waste Management; Getting the Private Sector Involved
Urban India in Crisis, New Age International, New Delhi, 1992. p. 124.
4. Darshini Mahadevika, Solid Waste Management in Indian Cities, Concept
Publishing Company, 1991. p. 246.
5. Evans Gareth, Biological Waste Treatment, James and James Publishers, 2001,
p. 325.
6. Kanti L. Shah, Basics of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Technology,
Printice Hall, 1999. p. 91.
7. Thomas H. Christensen, Solid Waste Technology and Management, Willey, 2010.
p. 487.
8. Lingaraj Patro, Natural Resources Conservation and Management, Mangalam
Publishers, New Delhi, 2012, p. 136.
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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA - A FOCUS ON
GENDER BUDGETING AND WOMEN COMPONENT PLAN
______
Dr. M. Raziya Parvin
Assistant Professor, Department of Historical Studies,
Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women (Autonomous), Chennai
__________________
The budget is the most important policy instrument of any government because
no policy will be executed without finance. As such, the government budget can
be a powerful tool in transforming the country. A gender-responsive budget is a
budget that acknowledges the gender 1 patterns in society and allocates finance
to implement policies and programmes that will change these patterns in a way
that moves towards a more gender equal society. Gender budget initiatives are
known by a range of different names. They have, for example, also been
referred to as „women budgets‟, „gender-sensitive budgets‟ and „applied gender
budget analysis‟. The achievement of human development in India is heavily
dependent, on the development and empowerment of the 586.46 million women
and girls who, according to the provisional figures of Census 2011 account for
48.46 per cent of the total population2 of the country. These women and girls
not only comprise a large part of the valuable human resources of the country;
they are also individuals in their own right and their socio-economic
development sets the foundation for sustainable growth of the economy and
society as a whole. In spite of these commitments on women‟s development and
empowerment, the present status of women continues to be quite dismal in
terms of human development parameters. Unless the felt needs of women are
incorporated and mainstreamed in the planning and development process it is
apprehended that the fruits of economic growth are likely to completely bypass
women which does not augur well for the future growth of the economy.
Therefore, this paper brings forth the need for Gender Budgeting in India which
can be used to promote women‟s equality and empowerment. It gives the
concept of Gender Budgeting with the universally accepted definitions and
brings forth the evolution of Gender Budgeting with reference to the initiatives
of some countries at the global level. The origin and development of Indian
initiatives along with the practice of Gender Budgeting since 1974 has been
described by giving emphasis on the Mission Statement, “Budgeting for Gender
Equity” adopted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development,
Government of India. The paper gives an overview of the subsequent measures
adopted by the Government of India planning process towards Gender
Budgeting and concludes with certain recommendations for the effective and
efficient implementation of Gender Budgeting in India.
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Women Empowerment in India
Need for Gender Budgeting in India
During the last decade, a number of international meetings have been convened
that have the potential for transforming the reality of women‟s lives. At many of
these meetings government, including Government of India, have committed to
taking action to improve the situation of women. The Government of India has
identified that one of the tools that can be used to promote women‟s equality
and empowerment is gender-responsive budgeting, or Gender Budgeting as it is
more commonly known in India. This is not the only tool that can and must be
used if equality and empowerment are to be realized. Gender Budgeting is,
however, an essential tool because, unless sufficient money is allocated to
implement all the other tools and strategies, they will not be effective. And, it is
based on the modern idea that budgeting is not simply an accounting or bookkeeping exercise. Instead, it is a key part of the planning and implementation
process. Therefore, it has been adopted in the country as an important measure
to ensure gender justice. Gender Budgeting serves varied purposes3 which
include, among others:
 identifying the felt needs of women and reprioritizing and/or increasing
expenditure to meet these needs;
4
 supporting gender mainstreaming in macro-economics;
 strengthening civil society participation in economic policymaking;
 enhancing the linkages between economic and social policy outcomes;
 tracking public expenditure against gender and development policy
commitments; and
 contributing to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).
Gender budgeting initiatives provide a way of assessing the impact of the
mechanism of raising revenue and expenditure by government on women. And
the ultimate objective of gender budgeting is to transform and transcend
traditional perceptions and mind sets towards women and awaken a gender
sensitive consciousness which will not only enable women to come into the
mainstream but also give them their due recognition as equal citizens of the
country.
Gender Budgeting - The Concept
Gender Budgeting is defined as the application of gender mainstreaming in the
budgetary process. It encompasses incorporating a gender perspective at all
levels and stages of the budgetary process and paves the way for translating
gender commitments to budgetary commitments and carrying out an assessment
of the budget to establish its gender differential impact. 5 The most widely used
definition of gender budgeting incorporates the need for developing sensitivity
in those processes and tools aimed at facilitating an assessment of the gendered
impact of government budgets. This presupposes that these budgets are not
separate budgets for women, but rather attempts to analyze the government‟s
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mainstream budget according to its impact on women and men, and different
groups and men, with cognizance being given to the society‟s underpinning
gender relations.6 The United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) refers to Gender Budgeting as budgeting that integrates a gender
perspective and tracks how budgets respond to gender equality and women‟s
rights requirements. This entails examining not only allocations and revenue
raising measures but also budgeting systems, budgeting processes and looking
at the roles of the various actors throughout the process. It also entails investing
in making available mechanisms, guidelines, data, and indicators that enable
gender equality advocates to track progress, benefit incidence and show how
supposedly gender-neutral budgets impact women.
The United Nations Platform for Action (UNPAC) explains “gender budgeting
do not look at whether or not the same is spent on men and women, but rather at
what the impact of the spending is on men and women and whether or not
budgets respond to the needs of both women and men adequately”. 7 UNPAC
agrees with others who maintain gender budgets are not gender neutral. Budgets
can either promote women‟s equality or exacerbate women‟s inequality.
Budgets are but one of the most influential policy documents that the
governments have because without finance a government cannot implement
most of its policies and programmes. Gender Budgeting looks at Government
budget from a gender perspective to assess how it addresses the needs of
women not only in traditional areas like health, education, etc. but also in so
called „gender neutral‟ sectors like transport, power, telecommunications,
defence, etc. It does not seek to create a separate budget but seeks to put in
place affirmative action for meeting women‟s specific needs, thus bringing into
effect gender responsive budgeting.
Gender Budgeting – The Global Scene
“Gender Budgeting” is still in the making in many parts of the world. In the
1970's and 1980's, advocates of women's development spoke of integrating
women into the developmental process. The first attempt of implementing the
concept of Gender Budgeting was made in Australia when women‟s budget
started in the mid-1980s soon after the Labour Party came into power. The
Australian women‟s budgets were produced inside government and they were
coordinated by the women‟s machinery.8 In the 1990's, the emphasis on women
development changed to the institutionalization of gender issues in development
policy and planning, i.e., mainstreaming gender in overall policy planning and
budgetary processes. The Fourth World Conference of Women held in Beijing
in September 1995 emphasized, in its Platform for Action, the need for a gender
perspective in all macro-economic policies of governments.
The Philippines Gender and Development (GAD) budget was led by the gender
machinery, which is called the National Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women (NCRFW). The GAD budget was introduced in 1996 and is very
specific about what government must do. The idea of looking at budgets from a
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gender perspective was raised during the negotiations that led up to South
Africa‟s first democratic elections in 1994. The Women‟s Budget Initiative
(WBI) was set up in mid-1995 by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and
by the NGOs. An NGO, the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP)
was the first to work on gender budgets in that country. In 1998, the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) started funding inside
government gender budget work9 in the Ministry of Finance. The work went
slowly at first, but went quicker from the beginning of 2000. In that year SIDA
and the government recognized that TGNP would be an effective local
consultant to the Ministry of Finance on gender budgeting.
The UK Women‟s Budget Group (WBG) was established in 1989. Most of the
founders were academic feminists. The WBG has mostly influenced the policymaking process through senior public officials and ministers. In 1999 Scotland
got its own independent parliament and executive for the first time. The budget
process of the new government was designed to promote participation,
transparency and a bigger role for parliament. Women‟s groups in Scotland took
advantage of the new opportunities. In May 2000 it formed the Engender
Women‟s Budget Group (EWBG). In 2001, OXFAM agreed to give monitory
assistance to the EWBG and this funding make it possible for EWBG to be
more proactive and to take on more work. In 1994 at Mexico, about 80
women‟s organizations, feminists and academics who had worked together
around the Cairo Population and Development Conference established a
network called Foro. In 1999, Equidad, one of Foro‟s members, organized
public finance workshops for women leaders around the country. Also around
this time, there were changes inside government that provided opportunities for
gender-responsive budgets.10 The 23rd special session of U.N. General
Assembly in June 2000 also explicitly called for attention to the goal of gender
equality in budgetary processes at national, regional and international levels.
And the 2000 United Nations Millennium Development Goals11 had gender
equality as one of its eight goals.
In 2001, UNIFEM launched the first phase of 20-country programme (20012004), creating a momentum among governments, civil society and
parliamentarians to engage in budget-making from a gender perspective. In
2001 some NGO women in Austria formed a women and budget group. This
group published a book called „Women Make Budgets: Government Finance
from a Gender Perspective‟ which explained the concept of gender budgeting
and discussed initiatives of some countries. It also gave specific
recommendations on how to change policies to achieve more gender equality. In
May 2004 the Ministry of Health and Women‟s Affairs set up a gender
budgeting working group as part of its gender mainstreaming process. In
January 2001, the Netherlands government set up an Interdepartmental Working
Party on Mainstreaming and was asked to focus on equal opportunities
spending. In 2005, the second phase of the programme was launched by
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UNIFEM. It aimed at the application of gender analysis to government budgets,
focusing on the use of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) as a tool to
increase accountability, participation and gender responsiveness in national
budgeting.12 Thus, gender budgeting exercises have steadily grown globally in
terms of the number of countries, each of them following different methods and
processes and involving varied type of partners. In 2004, over 60 countries had
introduced gender budgeting initiatives to ascertain the gender impacts of their
government budgets and to ensure adequate flow of funds to women in their
country.
Origin and Development of Gender Budgeting - Indian Initiatives
In India, it was the 1974 Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in
India, “Towards Equality” that gave the initial impetus towards the search for
gender perspectives on public expenditure. The genesis of Women Component
Plan, though officially launched in the Ninth Plan, can be traced back to as early
as in the Seventh Plan (1985-90) when Prime Minister‟s Office (PMO), in
collaboration with the Planning Commission, identified 27 Beneficiary Oriented
Schemes for women. These efforts were further strengthened when the Eighth
Five Year Plan (1992-97) made a commitment stating that the benefits of
development from different sectors do not by-pass women and the flow of
benefits to women in education, health and employment will be monitored. 13
Yet much progress was not made in terms of ensuring adequate flow of funds
and benefits to women. During the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), the
concept of “Women Component Plan” was brought into action as one of the
important strategies by directing both the union and state governments to ensure
that “not less than 30 per cent of the funds/benefits are earmarked in all the
women related sectors”. It also directed that a special vigil be kept on the flow
of the earmarked funds/benefits through an effective mechanism to ensure that
the proposed strategy brings forth a holistic approach towards empowering
women. 14 The Table given below shows that substantial amount of funds have
been allocated to women through both women-specific and women-related
schemes, implemented by 15 Union Ministries/Departments. Of these, the
Departments of Family Welfare, Health, Education and Indian Systems of
Medicine and Homeopathy have contributed to women with as high as 50 to 70
per cent of their Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) in the Ninth Plan. The review
has also brought forth a revealing factor that the Women Component Plan has
created lot of awareness and sensitization amongst the planners, policy-makers
and administrators to ensure that the funds/benefits from other development
sectors do not by-pass women.
In addition, the UNIFEM Workshop on “Engendering National Budgets in the
South Asia Region” held in July 2000 in New Delhi, in which government
representatives including from the Planning Commission as well as from UN
agencies, media, research institutions and members of civil society, was another
concrete step towards gender budgeting in India. The Second Report of National
___________________________________________
~144~
Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), submitted in August 2001,
made a „Post Budget Assessment of the Union Budget 2001-02‟. The Report15
categorized public expenditure into three main types:
 those specifically targeted to women and girls,
 pro-women allocations which are the composite expenditure of schemes with
women component, and
 mainstream public expenditure that has gender differential impacts.
Women’s Component Plan: Some Facts And Figures (Rs. in Crore)
S.
Name of Ministry/Department
No.
(1)
(2)
A.
B.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Ninth Plan
(GBS)
(3)
Women-Specific (Nodal Department)
Women and Child Development
7810.42
Flow to
WCP
(4)
7810.42
Women-related Ministries/Departments
Health
5118.19
2581.25
Family Welfare
15120.20 10541.26
Indian Systems of Medicine &
266.35
133.18
Homeopathy
Education
20381.64 10212.44
Labour
899.12
300.85
Agriculture & Cooperation
9153.82
349.96
Rural Development
41833.87 17415.00
Urban Employment & Poverty
4931.22
403.60
Alleviation
Social Justice & Empowerment
6608.13
814.81
Tribal Affairs
*
60.00
Science & Technology
1497.35
7.50
Information & Broadcasting
680.05
30.00
Non-Conventional Energy
2122.14
401.00
Sources
Small-Scale & Agro-Related
3786.85
868.93
Industries
Youth Affairs & Sports
826.09
12.33
Sub-Total (B)
1,13,225.02 44,132.11
Grant Total (A+B)
1,21,035.44 51,942.53
%
(Col 4-3)
(5)
100.0
50.4
69.7
50.0
50.1
33.5
3.8
41.6
8.2
13.2
*
0.5
4.4
18.9
23.0
1.5
39.0
42.9
*Included in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
The total Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of all Ministries and Departments for the
Ninth Plan (1997-2003) was Rs.203982 crore.
WCP as a percentage of the total GBS of the GOI for the Ninth Plan works out to 25.5.
Source: Government of India, Report of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, Ministry of Women
and Child Development, 2002. p.227.
___________________________________________
M. Raziya Parvin
~145~
The Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07) continued the process of dissecting the
government budget to establish its gender-differential impact and to translate
gender commitments into budgetary commitments. As the process of gender
budgeting has its own limitations in terms of being a post-facto effort to
dissect/analyse and thus offset any undesirable gender-specific consequences of
the previous budget, this was not an effective measure to ensure adequate flow
of funds and benefits for women.16 Therefore, this plan initiated immediate
action in tying up the two effective concepts of Women Component Plan and
Gender Responsive Budgeting to play a complementary role to each other, and
thus ensured both preventive and post-facto action in enabling women to
receive their rightful share from all the women-related general development
sectors.
The National Common Minimum Programme lays down empowerment of
women politically, educationally and legally as one of the six basic principles.
To provide an impetus to this objective, the Ministry of Women and Child
Development (MWCD) during the year 2004-2005 adopted a Mission
Statement called “Budgeting for Gender Equity”. In 2005-2006 the task was to
carry forward this exercise of universalizing gender budgeting exercises in the
union and the states. A strategic framework of activities 17 which has been
implemented by the Government of India are as follows:
a) Quantifying of Allocation of Resources for Women in the Union, States
and Local Administration budgets and expenditure thereof
 Refining and standardizing methodology and development of tools
 Trend analysis
 Analysis of change in pattern, shift in priorities in allocation across clusters
of services etc.
 Variations in allocation of resources and actual expenditure
 Adherence to physical targets
b) Gender Audit of Policies of the Government - Monetary, fiscal, trade
etc., at the Union and State levels
 Research and micro studies to guide macro policies like credit policy, taxes
etc.
 Identification of gender impact of policies/ interventions viewed as gender
neutral
 Micro studies to identify need for affirmative action in favour of women
towards correcting gender imbalances
c) Impact assessment of various schemes in the Union and State budgets
 Micro studies of incidence of studies of benefits
 Analysis of cost of delivery of services
___________________________________________
~146~
d) Analyzing programmes from the perspective of their impact on status of
women as reflected in important macro indicators like literacy, MMR,
participation in work force institutionalizing the generation and
collection of gender disaggregated data
 Developing MIS for feedback from implementing agencies
 Inclusion of new parameters in data collection in census and surveys by
NSO, CSO etc.
e) Consultations and capacity building
 Collation of research and exchange of best practices
 Developing methodologies and tools for dissemination
 Forums and partnerships amongst experts and stakeholders
Further, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has requested the
ministries to set up Gender Budgeting Cells to undertake review of the public
expenditure and policy, guide and undertake collection of gender disaggregated
data, conduct gender based impact analysis, beneficiary needs assessment and
beneficiary incidence analysis. As a result 43 Ministries/Departments have set
up Gender Budget Cells as a nodal agency for all gender responsive budgeting
initiatives. The Ministry of Women and Child Development decided to organize
workshops at regular intervals to sensitize all central Ministries/Departments in
the matter of Gender Budgeting with respect to Gender Based Profile of Public
Expenditure, Beneficiary needs assessment, Impact Analysis, Participative
Budgeting and Spatial Mapping. Following the Union Budget 2005-2006, the
Union Budgets for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 have incorporated enhanced
information on gender budgeting. The Union Budget 2006-2007 had a gender
budgeting outlay of Rs.22852.74 crore under 21 demands for grants with 100%
allocations for women and similar 21 demands for grants with women specific
programmes.18 The outlay for gender budgeting has further increased to
Rs.31177.96 crore under the same demands for grants in 2007-2008.19
The essential component of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12) was to
implement special measures for gender empowerment and equity. The Steering
Committee on Empowerment of Women and Development of Children for the
Eleventh Plan stressed that the Eleventh Plan period will expand Gender
Budgeting Cells to all Ministries/Departments and that each Ministry/
Department of both union and states puts in place a systematic and
comprehensive monitoring and auditing mechanism for gender outcome
assessment. The success of gender budgeting rests on gender-sensitive
implementation of important centrally-sponsored schemes entrusted to the states
and on engendering the state budgets. The Planning Commission has also
instructed all state governments that it should be ensured that gender budgeting
is a part of the planning process of all states as part of the directions issued to
states for the Eleventh Plan period. For this purpose it was proposed to set up a
___________________________________________
M. Raziya Parvin
~147~
cell for Development of Statistical Databases on Women and Child and other
related issues. During this plan period, Women Component Plan has also been
extended to all Ministries and Departments and not confined to those, which
have historically been perceived as “women-related”. Panchayati Raj
Institutions (PRIs) were also instructed to intensively involve in ensuring 30 per
cent earmarking for women. Recognizing that some women suffer greater
deprivation and discrimination, the Eleventh Plan further refined the norms of
the Women Component Plan to prioritize the most vulnerable as beneficiaries,
particularly SC, ST women, Muslim women, Tribal women, single women and
HIV positive women, among others. And the Planning Commission should
arrange regular meetings to review the progress of Women Component Plan as
a part of the annual plan exercise. 20
Recommendations
With the objective of gender mainstreaming as the ultimate aim, gender
budgeting seeks to truly empower women in every respect and enable her to
realize her full potential in all spheres – political, economic, social, cultural and
civil. Towards this end gender budgeting helps to ensure better access of
women to health and education facilities, vocational training, employment
opportunity and social security for women. It expands our concept of the
economy to include things that are not usually valued in money. In particular,
gender budgeting recognizes the unpaid care economy – the work that mainly
women do in bearing, rearing and caring for their families and the people in our
society. Gender budgeting recognizes that unless this unpaid care work is done,
the economy will not function effectively and people‟s well-being will be very
negatively affected. Government therefore needs to find ways of supporting
those who do this unpaid care work, lessening their burden, and ensuring that
the work is done well.
Gender budgeting should, however, not be confined to the „social‟ or „soft‟
areas such as education, health and welfare. It is a tool for gender
mainstreaming in the developmental process as a whole. As such, it needs also
to be applied in areas such as agriculture, power, defence, commerce, and
information technology where the gender implications may not be immediately
apparent. Good gender budgeting relies heavily on data, so that policies,
programmes and budgets can be evidence-based rather than based on myths or
assumptions. Data are also needed to show the impact of the policies and
programmes i.e. whether they have made a difference to the situation of the
people of the country. Gender budgeting cannot be the sole responsibility of any
one ministry or any one sector. It is only through the commitment and efforts of
all sectors of the government, be it at the union or in the states, the private
sector and civil society, can the objective of redressing the inequalities faced by
women be achieved, thus establishing the true essence and spirit of gender
budgeting in empowering women holistically.
___________________________________________
~148~
Gender outcome assessment and evaluation is of utmost importance for
ensuring the success of gender budgeting. For this it is necessary that the gender
fund flow into schemes are properly and correctly assessed. This is due to the
fact that it has been observed that schemes which do not have a 100 per cent
women‟s component found a mention as women specific schemes. Therefore
the first step towards proper outcome assessment of gender budget is that each
ministry/department of both union and state should put in place a systematic
and comprehensive monitoring and auditing mechanism for outcome
assessment. There is a need to collect gender disaggregated data at national,
state and district levels. Standardisation of data is also necessary to facilitate
comparison not only at national but also international levels. The data should
flow on a regular basis and should be compiled, collected and analysed
periodically.
To conclude, there is no single model of gender budgeting and the countries
which have utilized it have diverse models. Nevertheless, the common theme
across all the models is a perspective and approach for gender mainstreaming
that asks: “What is the impact of governmental budgets on women and men,
girls and boys?” International experience with gender budgeting suggests that,
despite its potential contribution to development, initiatives may fall by the
wayside if those who are responsible for doing the work do not understand why
they are doing it, or feel that the added value is not worth the added work.
Government of India‟s plan is that gender budgeting should be institutionalized
as part of the standard budget process. Gender budgeting should be seen as a
way of shaping the main government budget, rather than as an add-on. Since the
concept of gender budgeting is in its early years, there will be extra work as
government officials learn new skills and methods of analysis, and as the lead
agencies – Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Women and Child Development
– perfect the methodology and guidelines. After a few years, however, this
multi-sectoral approach will become a natural and obvious part of good
budgeting practice and reap successful benefits towards the holistic
development and advancement of women.
Endnotes
1. The concept of Gender means “culturally and socially constructed roles,
responsibilities, privileges, relations and expectations of women, men, boys and
girls”. Gender is not another word for women. Gender is also not another word
for sexual difference.
2. Times of India, Major Highlights of the Census 2011, 31st March 2011.
3. Nirmala Banerjee, What is Gender Budgeting? Public Policies from Women‟s
Perspective in the Indian Context, Sachetana, UNIFEM, 2001.
4. Gender mainstreaming is the (re)organisation, improvement, development and
evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender equality perspective is
incorporated in all policies at all levels and all stages, by the actors normally
involved in policy-making.
___________________________________________
M. Raziya Parvin
~149~
5. Government of India, Report of the Working Group on Empowerment of Women
for the Eleventh Plan, Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi,
2012. p.115.
6. Debbie Budlender and Rhonda Sharp with Kerri Allen, How to do a GenderSensitive Budget Analysis: Contemporary Research and Practice, AusAid and
Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 1998.
7. UN Platform for Action Committee, Gender Budget Project, Manitoba, Canada
www.unpac.ca
8. Budlender, D., Elson, D., Hewitt, G. and Mukhopadhyay, T., (Eds), Gender
Budgets Make Cents: Understanding Gender Responsive Budgets,
Commonwealth Secretariat, 2002, www. undp.org/women/CD-Gender-andBudgets-2004/2-overview.htm
9. Winnie Byanyima, Strengthening Parliamentary Governance through Gender
Budgeting: The Experience of Three African Countries, International Workshop
on Gender Auditing of Government Budgets, 2001.
10. Sheila Quinn, A Handbook on Gender Budgeting: Practical Implementation,
Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe, April
2009.
11. Millennium Development Goals include: Goal 1: Eradicating Extreme Poverty;
Goal 2: Achieving Universal Primary Education; Goal 3: Promoting Gender
Equality and Empower Women; Goal 4: Reducing Child Mortality; Goal 5:
Improving Maternal Health; Goal 6: Combating HIV/AIDS; Tuberculosis, and
Other Diseases; Goal 7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability; Goal 8:
Developing a Global Partnership for Development.
12. Janet Gale Stotsky, Gender Budgeting, International Monetary Fund, Fiscal
Affairs Department, 2006.
13. Government of India, Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992-97), Planning Commission,
New Delhi, 1992. p. 243.
14. Government of India, Gender Budgeting Handbook for Government of India
Ministries and Departments, New Delhi, 2002, pp. 226-28.
15. Ibid.
16. Government of India, Report of the Working Group on Empowerment of Women
for the Eleventh Plan, Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi,
2012. p. 116.
17. Government of India, Budgeting for Gender Equity, Annual Report 2004-05,
Ministry for Women and Child Development, New Delhi, 2005, pp. 115-123.
Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi, 2007. p. 120.
Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi, 2008. p.110.
20. Government of India, Gender Budgeting and Women Component Plan, Report of
the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, Ministry of Women and Child Development, New
Delhi, 2012, pp.116-117.
_____
___________________________________________
~150~
Book Review
Book Review
on
Indian Catholic Christians and Nationalism
Authored by Dr. Mary John
Published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi, 2011.
by
Dr. T. Sundararaj
(Former Head, Department of History, St. Joseph‟s College (Autonomous),
Tiruchirappalli)
The work deals with the areas in which Christians responded to the freedom
struggle. On going through the four journals of the time viz., The Examiner, The
New Leader, The Catholic Herald and The Week, the author argued that the
response was not the same way in all times. The journals dealt with nationalism
of Catholic Christians. A group of Christians obeyed the civil authority, the
British power, while the other group joined with the nationalist movement and
opposed the colonial power. The two streams at times behaved in opposite
direction. The author recorded some heated arguments of both parties on the
basis of the information available in the journals. The work deals with the
political thinking and activities of the Catholic Christians of India. The
Catholics especially in urban centres were more outspoken and their
participation and views were expressed by the journals. The views were at times
based upon their subjective interests too. Having discussed the concept of
nationalism in Indian context, the author moved forward the main course of the
discourse. The research mainly depends upon literary sources based on the four
journals. They expressed by and large, the idea of the editors of the journal. It is
basically qualitative and descriptive. The whole study is to bring to light the
Catholic view of nationalism.
The pre-Gandhian era was the age of foreign missionaries who mainly involved
in education and health services of the people. The first fifty years of British
rule, the missionaries had a give and take relationship with the English. The
Bombay Jesuits who came from England were critical towards nationalism
whereas the Calcutta Jesuits who came from Belgium supported the national
movement. It has to be remembered, Calcutta was the launching pad of
nationalism in the pre-Gandhian era. Most of the missionaries held the view that
the British rule was a divine dispensation. The Examiner in 1859, mentioned
that the Catholic community in India was a source of strength to the British.
After the formation of Indian National Congress, the views of Catholic
Christians began to change a little whereas the nationalist Swadeshi movement
looked down upon the Christians as anti-nationalists.
___________________________________________
T. Sundararaj
~151~
But Gandhiji‟s entry into the national movement, made the Catholics slowly to
get into the nationalism. The importance given to the recruitment to Indian
clergy was also a turning point. Some of the foreign missionaries like Heras
respected the native sentiments and Indian culture. Many missionaries and
civilians opposed his ideas. Catholic members of Indian National Congress
exhorted the Catholic members to give up the idea of separate electorate. This
idea was argued by the journals far and against. Each journal takes its own stand
with regard to nationalism. The Examiner pointed out that the Christians need
not confront the British government. The socialist idea of Nehru was not
appealing to the Catholic Church.
Some of the European missionaries and scholars began to question, the concept
of “Nation” and nationalism in the Indian context. When the journals, were
suggesting different ideas-about nationalism the Indianisation of clerical dress
also gained momentum. Gandhi was invited by the priests at St. Xavier‟s
College, Bombay. With regard to a conversion case in Sophia College Bombay,
the Catholic opinion on nationalism again got divided. Slowly the Catholic
opinion and nationalism, which started with fear and suspicion began to grow
towards trust and patriotic spirit. But as per the journals the Catholic opinion
was not unanimous on national matters.
The book opened a new platform for historical research that even individual
journal or press can be taken for historical inquiry and analysis to tell the focus
of such journals on matters of national importance. The author used the
arguments of four journals in a critical way to ascertain the inner motives. The
debate or discourse as the author called for the ideas, expressed by the journals,
sometimes seemed to be one sided. He did not go beyond the arguments and
connect the feelings of the Christians with the nationalistic tempo. On
methodological point of view the work is quite satisfactory. The author strictly
depended upon the task on which he has to deal with analyzing the ideas
expressed by the four journals. But the task of the historian did not end with that
he has to corroborate the ideas with other sources. Had the author done the
hypotheses of the author would have given a different turn. There are works at
present show that the Christians wholeheartedly participated in the national
movement. The positive point of the work is that the author has done full justice
to the subject matter.
The Book is an addition to the nationalist historiography. The language part of
the book deserves appreciation. The style is quite expressive and objective. To a
certain extent the work may help to remove the present misconception of the
fundamentalists about the part played by the Christians in the nationalistic era.
The author deserves an appreciation for his painstaking efforts to work on such
theme which had not been touched by any other historian.
_____
___________________________________________
PG & Research Department of History, St. Joseph's College, Trichy - 620 002
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(NEELAM KAPUR)
REGISTRAR OF NEWSPAPERS FOR INDIA
MGIPRRND-3363&11/2000
RNI No. TNENG/2004/14594, Dated: 27-05-2005
IHS, Vol.X, No.1, October 2013
ISSN 0973-2713
CONTENTS
1. S. John Britto SJ
Ancient Historical Perceptions on Cheras from Sangam
Classical Literature
2. T. Jayaraman
3. C. Thomas
Tiruvalluvar‟s Concept of State Formation and its Effects on
the Politics of the Sangam Age (Tamil Academy)
4. A. Maria Arul Raja SJ Printing Living Orality to Reach Out to the Least: Pioneering
Efforts of Henrique Henriques
5. Ichhimuddin Sarkar
Bhakti, Humanism and Quest for Social Harmony
6. G. Indirajith
Jainism In Kanchipuram
7. Keneth O. Ogot SJ
The Pathology of Ethnic Identity and Democratization of the
Kenyan Nation-State
8. Babu Paul, SJ
9. T.Selvamuthukumaran The Labour Movement of the Communist Party of India in
the East Tanjore District:
An inquiry into the Agitations led by the
Tamil Nadu Farmers‟ Association
10. Prabha Ravi Shankar
Indian Opinion (Tamil Edition) and its Contribution to Indian
Agitation in South Africa
11. A. Akila
Mariathangam
Bishop Azariah‟s Contribution to Dornakal Diocese
12. S. Kamini
Indian Forest Administration During the First Five Year Plan
(1951-56) with Special Reference to Coimbatore - A Study
13. T. S. Lancelet
Demographic Strategies of Managing Solid Waste A Theoretical Approach
14. M. Raziya Parvin
Women Empowerment in India - A Focus on Gender
Budgeting and Women Component Plan
Book Review
T. Sundararaj
„Indian Catholic Christians & Nationalism‟
by Dr. Mary John
________________________________________________________________________
Published by Dr. M. Arockiasamy Xavier, SJ, on behalf of Head, Department of History
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli, Printed by Z. Zeenath Beevi
at The Printing House, 6 Kajamalai Main Road, Kajamalai, Tiruchirappalli - 620 023
Editor: Dr. M. Arockiasamy Xavier, SJ

indian historical studies

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