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| Kerala - The Land |
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Kerala is a small state, tucked away in the south west corner of India. It represents only 1.18 percent of the total area of India but has 3.34% of the total population of the country. It is separated from the rest of the peninsula by natural geographic boundaries.
The mid land lies between the mountains and the low lands. It is made up of undulating hills and valleys. This is an area of intensive cultivation - cashew, coconut, areca nut, cassava, banana, rice, ginger, pepper, sugarcane and vegetables of different varieties are grown in this area.
The 'Western Ghats' with their rich primeval forests having a high degree of rainfall, form the eastern boundary and extend from the north to Kanyakumari in the south. The entire western border is caressed by the Arabian sea. Between these natural boundaries lies the narrow strip of land extending from Kasarkode in the north to Parasala in the south.
The south-west and north-east monsoons with their accompanying downpour keep the land soaked, for a period of five to six months in a year. The 'western Ghats', which form the eastern ramparts of the state rise from very low altitudes of a few hundred metres upto about 2,000 metre on an average. The 'Anamudi' peak in the high ranges of Kottayam district rises to a height of 3,000 metres and represents the highest point in India, south of Himalayas. 'Agastyakutam' the southern most peak in the Ghats, is 2,044 metres. 'Ezhimala' is a rugged hill jutting into the sea in startling isolation on the Kannur coast. Ghats are served as an effective rampart. The range has many passes which have allowed a controlled interaction between Kerala, and the lands lying beyond the mountains. The 'Peranbadi Ghat' provides access to Coorg, the 'Periyar Ghat' to the Nilgiri district. The Palghat pass, 32 km broad, has played a bigger role in the alarums and excursions of history. In south, the Bodinaikannur pass connects Devikulam and Munnar in Kerala with the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. Other passes linking Kerala with Tamil Nadu are Thevaram, the Kambam, the Kumili and the Aramboly.
Though physically and culturally Kerala is part of India, it is one of the distinctive regions of the area. Historically it has been isolated from the rest of the Peninsula. It is hard for many Keralites to admit that once Kerala was more caste-divided than any other area; it was only here that "untouchability" developed into "unapproachability" and "unseeability"; on the other hand, today it is one of the least caste-conscious and communally tranquil areas of India. Many young Keralites even do not know that the Nair gentry with its matrilinear organization (Marumakkathayam) once practiced polygamy and polyandry, Kerala has a high percentage (22%) of Christians whose traditions go back to St. Thomas the Apostle. The "white Jews" of Cochin are another cultural rarity. The first democratically elected Communist Party came to power in Kerala for the first time in the whole world.
The people of Kerala have always considered themselves Indians first, not only when they live outside India but also when they reside in Kerala. In this case they are significantly different from the other Dravidians like the Tamils who seem to consider themselves Tamils first and Indians next. There are, of course, many reasons for this unique phenomenon of Kerala: one with the larger Indian culture and yet distinct from the mainstream, while receiving much from the rest of India and contributing much to it. The main reason for it is that this once distinct ethnic Munda-Dravidian group of Keralites became Aryanized or Sanskritized to such a degree that they became culturally and racially very Aryan and less distinctly Dravidian like the Tamils who remain more Dravidian and less Aryan. The evidence for this can be easily seen in the physical features of Keralites and particularly in the Malayalam. |
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| Malabar in Kerala |
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The word Malabar used first by Al-Biruni (973-1048 A.D.) and the Arab writers seems to be derived from mala (hill) --Cosmas Indicopleustus (6th century) refers to the Kerala Coast as male-- and varam (country); medieval Tamil writers called the land malainadu (the land of hills). The term Malayalam, which is the language of Malabar, is the indigenous word for denoting the country; it is composed of mala (hill) and alam (land). The word Keralam is found in the Ashoka inscriptions of the third century B.C. The word is formed from Chera (the Kera/Chera people) and alam (land) meaning "the land of Cheras." The second rock-edict of Ashoka (circa 273-236 B.C.) refers to "Keralaputra" along with the Cholas, Pandyas, and Satyaputra as the border kingdoms of the Maurya Empire. In the first century A.D., the Roman historian Pliny refers to Caelobrothas and the author of Periplus of the Erithryan Sea mentions it as Cerobothra; the second-century geographer Ptolemy calls the land Kerobothro. In certain languages and dialects the ch-sound becomes k (the Southern English church is spelled and pronounced as kirk in Scotland), which would explain why Cheralam became Keralam, for instance, in the Kannada language |
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| Origin of Kerala People |
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Man came late to Kerala even though Kerala today is the most heavily over-populated region of India --4% of all Indians live on 1% of India's land. It seems that Stone-Age people deliberately avoided the forests of Kerala infested by Malaria-bearing mosquitoes and man-eating tigers. No relic of the Stone Age, not a single authentic Neolithic implement, has been discovered in any parts of Kerala. Mankind appeared on Kerala soil as an Iron-Age builder of megaliths.
Megaliths or huge burial stones carved by iron implements are scattered all along the ghats of Wynad in the north to Trivandrum in the south. My research shows a pattern of distribution for these stones extending all the way from Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh along the Nepal Valley down through the Vindhya Mountains to Tamil Nadu and the High Ranges of Kerala. This pattern indicates that Kerala'searly people were originally from the Northwest of India.
The megalithic types of Kerala -- similar to those of Brittany and Cornwall--are isolated and multiple dolmens, port-hole cists, menhirs, kudakallus or umbrella stones, topikallus or cap stones, and rock-cut caves. In many caves archeologists have found, especially during the Varkala Tunnel construction, old pots of the "black-and-red-ware" variety and human bones. At some sites even terra cotta figurines have been discovered. Topikallu and kudakallu are sepulchral monuments under which are found burial urns in pits. The remarkable thing about the Kerala megaliths is that they are not as old as the Harappan culture (2500-1500 B.C.). According to Sir Mortimer Wheeler and many historians, the megalith culture was introduced into Kerala between 300 B.C. and 50 A.D. Megalithic evidence shows that the builders came originally from Northwestern India and entered Kerala's High Ranges around 200 B.C.
Though we are unable to identify these early inhabitants of Kerala with any certainty, we can be certain that their descendants are alive and well in Kerala today. These people, Keralites of Kerala and elsewhere, are, in the view of anthropologists, "an ethnological museum." Several racial strains are easily recognized in the racial composition of the Keralites of different communities. There are still a number of "white" or fair-skinned Brahmins of the Aryan stock; according to the Kannada tradition. King MayuraVarma sent Brahmin families to Kerala from Ahichatra in North India.
Some point out the Negrito element as representing the earliest inhabitants of Kerala; some members of the hill tribes of Kadar, Kanikkar, Uralis, and Paniyar have curly to frizzy hair, black skin, broad noses, thick lips, and round heads that are characteristic of the Negroes of the Andaman Islands, Malay Peninsula, and Africa. However, the Australoids also have similar features; the Australoid group is the major racial element in the Munda or Kolarian population of North and Central India and in the Dravidian population of South India. Some anthropologists even notice distinctive Mongoloid features in Kerala Dravidians. |
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| Race Mixing |
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It is a truism to say that to a greater or lesser extent mankind is a mixture of races. But it is true. Pure races do not exist in the human species. Everywhere racial mixing is taking place just as sex-mixing is taking place among different breeds of cows and dogs. All human races cross easily and produce normal, healthy progeny with generally improved physical and mental qualities.
The history of race-mixing in Malabar is of significant interest for our understanding of the pre-historic race-blending of Keralites. Race-blend-ing was brought about by the open-door policy of the Malabar chieftains who brought the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Arabs, and the Europeans to mingle freely with the indigenous population. The Zamorins of Calicut encouraged the Arabs and the Mukkuvan fisherfolk to mix together socially and sexually, and, as a result, a half-breed Musli'm. population grew up along the Calicut Coast. With the Nairs it has been a case of hypergamy to give their women to the immi-grant Aryan Nambutiri Brahmins who forced it on them. As a result, physically, the Nairs became taller and light-skinned; culturally, they became very Brahminical in their Hindu beliefs and cults; economically, they became pros-perous.
The small town of Thankasserri near Quilon has a large number of Anglo-Indians and Portuguese Indians; the local women whom the Portuguese and British converted and married were mostly Ezhavas and Mukkuvans. It has been pointed out that the Directors of the East India Company encouraged the marriage of local women to the soldiers because they found that the half-breeds were more reliable than the local people to serve the Company as soldiers, commercial agents, and political agents. The half-breeds became Christians and received preferential treatment at the hands of the British administrators. Such is the story of the Ezhava-English Anglo-Indians or the "white Tiyas" found chiefly in Tellicherry and Cannanore. This historical race-mixing experienced in Malabar during the past three hundred years is only a re-enactment of the pre-historic racial blending of Keralites between the Munda and Dravidian and between the resultant Munda-Dravidian and the Aryan. The vast majority of Keralites carry three racial strains in their genetic make-up; Munda, Dravidian, and Aryan.
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| Munda Race and Kerala People |
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The Munda people belong to the Australoid race and speak a family of languages called the Munda family: Korku, Santali, Mundari, Kharia, Saora, Parengi, Gutob, Bonda, and Didey. Today they live in the Chotanagpur geo-graphical region of Eastern India though once they occupied the whole of India, that is, before the arrival of Dravidians and Aryans. A comparative study of Malayalam, the language of Keralites, and the Munda languages that I have done shows the presence of a large number of Munda words in Malayalam. Physical and cultural anthropology shows significant similarities between Keralites and Mundas. A comparative study of Munda and Kerala folklore suggests also numerous similarities.
According to tribal folk traditions, the people of Kerala originally came from the east of the western Gnats through gaps like Palghat, Thamarasserri, and Aramboli. They were known then as Cheras (meaning "men"). Already by the time of Emperor Ashoka, they were settled down south of the Mauryan Empire. But the Cheras, according to their traditions, came from the Chotanagpur region where they lived among other Mundas and spoke Munda languages. There is still a formerly Munda ethnic group southeast of Gorakhpur who are called "Cheras"; today these Cheras speak Indo-European languages as a result of large-scale assimilation with the Aryan immigrants. Members of this Munda-Chera tribe gradually moved south to Tamil Nadu carrying with them their Munda language and megalith tradition.
Having settled down in Tamil Nadu for hundreds of years since 500 B.C., they accepted Dravidian as their spoken language while retaining many Munda words in their speech which later came to be known as Malayalam. During the political upheavals in the eastern plains among the Pandyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Rashtrakutas, during the long period between the fourth and eighth century A.D., thousands of Cheras and related tribes fled west across the Western Ghats and settled down in different parts of Kerala. It is these Munda-Chera immigrants who left most of the megaliths all along their travel route. Thus, I notice a Munda substratum in the Malayalam language and a Munda streak in Keralites' racial features and cultural heritage. |
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| Cheramans |
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Cheramans are styled in the vernacular Cherumakkal. These tribes belong to the agricultural community of whom Pulayas are more in number. They have dark complexion and strong physique. The Pulayas in the olden times were extremely loyal to their masters and worked as slaves in their fields. The word Pulayan is said to be derived from 'Pula' which means pollution. Most of the members of the community do not like to be called Pulayas. They prefer to be called Cheramar. There are a lot of Christian converters among them who were attracted to the Christian faith at a time when the Hindu aristocracy regarded them as untouchables and denied them their legitimate place in the Hindu religious fold. They along with many other downtrodden communities including the Ezhavas were not allowed on the main streets and to enter temples.
The Pulayas had to suffer a lot due to constant conversions and re-conversions thrust on them by the religious leaders of Hindu and Christian faith. They were so confused about their beliefs that they intermittently visited the Christian church and the Hindu temple and belonged to both the faiths or to neither. |
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| Parayas |
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The Parayas are known as remarkable exponents of black magic. In the rural areas they used to be consulted on problems connected with theft and the Paraya magician was supposed to help recover the stolen articles. Some times they would conduct rituals of extremely demoniacal kind and even cause the death to the involved enemies. Their favourite deity which gives them the super natural powers is named 'Purakkutty' whom they propitiate with offerings. The occupation of Parayas was making baskets and mats with bamboo and grass, and umbrellas with leaves of the Palmyra tree. Skinning the animals and selling their hides too was a favourite occupation. The Pulayas and Parayas belong to the labour classes. They were once treated as the sole property of their landlords. They were attached to the soil for all their work. But the owner of the soil had the right to sell them or transfer them to another land owner.
A Cheruman was bound to stand at a distance of 30 feet from a man of the Superior caste. He was not allowed to cross the prohibited distance and approach a village temple or tank, if this rule was broken, 'punyaham' or purification rite would inevitably follow. The Cherumars had to howl to produce a sound when they passed through the village roads, as a warning so that the others could avoid polluting themselves by keeping away.
Pulayas and Parayas enjoy certain strange privileges. One such privilege was known by the notorious name 'Parappeti'. Sanction was given to Paraya by his land lords to enjoy maximum freedom on a particular day in the year i.e. 28th day in the Malayalam month Makaram. On this day the untouchable Paraya was allowed to exercise maximum freedom on the village roads, where his action would never be questioned or retaliated by his master. No female members of the so-called respectable families was allowed by the elders to step out of the home. If any girl accidentally happen to be seen by the Paraya irupathettichar he had the license to carry her away and treat her as his property. Such girls were treated as lost forever by the parents. This practice was in vogue in places like Kuttanadu, where paddy cultivation was the main occupation of the people and the Pulayas and Parayas were to work hard throughout the year to feed the whole country. Now they enjoy a lot of privileges and reservation which they legitimately deserve and they are progressing rapidly.
Certain communities have inherited the legacy of the land and its culture to a high degree, but still remain denominated as inferior because of the Brahmin sponsored caste-system. They are the Pulluvans, Panas and Kaniyans who belong to the community of village minstrels, they sing in the village houses as harbingers of a prosperous culture. Pulluvans sing serpent songs with ardent faith in the superior varieties of serpents which are believed to be protectors of the land as its guardians angles. The Pulluvan and his wife, Pulluvati visit village houses on auspicious days like the first of every Malayalam month or the Aslesha (star) day in the month, which is the birthday of the serpent. They sing a song called 'navarupattu' to cast off the evil eye on the children. While singing, the Pulluvan plays on a small violin like instrument called 'Veenakkunju' (small veena) and the Pulluvati sings along with him providing the rhythm by strumming the kutam (an instrument made by covering a pot with a skin of a calf and fixing a string to it). By pulling the string and plucking with a piece of wood or stone a rhythm with tonal variations is created. They also conduct the ceremony of 'Pampin tullal' to propitiate the serpent gods and get their blessings. The Pullavas are not in a position to eke out a living in the present society and so they now go in search of other jobs. |
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| Panans |
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Panans are described as devil dancers. They make umbrellas with the leaves of the Palmyra tree. Their women used to serve as midwives. They are the descendants of Malayans, the hill tribe, and they go about at the time of harvest from house to house to exorcise evil spirits from the bodies of children. They are known for the melodious music. The Panan and his wife Patti, visit the village houses at mid night and sing 'tuyilunarttu pattu' (awakening song) to the accompaniment of a percussion instrument called Maddalam. The Patti joins him in singing and keeps the beats with a bell metal vessel and with a knife. Shiva and Parvathi are their favourite gods who are said to have bestowed boons on their predecessors to earn their lively hood by adopting music as their profession. They receive gift like paddy, coconut, salt, oil, cloth from the village houses.
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| Velans |
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Velans are also devil dancers. In the northern districts, Peruvannam and Mannan also belong to the same profession. The Vannans, Velars and Malayars of Cannanore district were the original dancers of 'Theyyam' or 'Kaliyattam', which is a highly ritualistic dance with its rare and grotesque make-up and costume, lively foot work, gymnastic fervour and ritualistic vitality. 'Teyyam' represents a glorious period of folk life in Kerala and the souls of the dead heroes of the land and the gods and goddesses are supposed to come in our midst through the medium of the possessed dancers and converse with us on matters of even, contemporary significance.
The Malayans or the people of Mala (mountain) were the early Teyyam dancers. The tribal communities that were the custodians of the art of dancing were known by different names like Mavelon, Velan, Koppalan. Some of them belong to the Tulu country of the present South Karnataka which once formed the contiguous area belonging to the same cultural heritage.
Ezhavas form a major community known as Chovas. In the northern districts Tiyyas also come under this community. They are found all over Kerala basically as a cultivating class. Traditionally they are connected with growing and tapping of coconut trees. The term Chovan is believed generally as a corruption of Sevaka or servant. Ezhavas belong to the working class and they were treated as untouchables. Ezhavas are now a fast improving, gaining strength economically, culturally and politically.
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| Nayars or Nairs |
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Nayars are said to be a Dravidian community who were the military gentry of the land. The most influential territorial unit in the Dravidian set up of administration was a tara which means a ground, a village or a quarter. Nayars include many caste division such as barbers (Velakkittala), washer men (Veluttetattu), oil mongers (Chakkala) temple dependants (Marars), Kiriyam is said to be the highest class. Next is Illakkar who served the Illam or the homes of the Nambootiri Brahmins and then Swapuram who served the Kshatriyas. Nayars were treated as the gentry whose main work was to protect the land both in offence and defence. So they were treated as Kshatriyas. They provide a well-knit national militia for the whole land. This was the famous Kalari system. Kalari was the institution which had kept up the martial spirit of the Nayars. Every organisation and the system of inheritance of Nayars were based on 'Marumakkattayam', a system of matrilineal descent. Ezhavas too followed this system. Women enjoyed social freedom and they were married outside their own community, mostly among Brahmin Nambootiris.
On a broad basis, the accepted caste division of the Hindu community was into four groups the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras and then the lowest, the out castes. The Malayali Brahmins or Nambootiris and the Tamil Brahmins occupied a very influential position in the caste order, but the Nambootiris always held their supremacy as the purest stock of Hindu hierarchy. Their contributions to Malayalam poetry, drama, astrology, astronomy, medicine and arts are indisputable. There are many Brahmin sub-castes like Ilayatu, Muttatu, Unni, Pisharoti, Nambiti Gurukkal many of whom belong to the Ambalavasi class. A Pisharoti does not wear the sacred thread and so also Warrier. Elayatu is the traditional purohit (priest) of Nayars who conduct the after-death rites for them. They wear the sacred thread and do the puja in the temples, but they are not aristocratic as the Nambootiris. Pushpakas and Warriers are temple employees mainly engaged in making flower garlands for offering to the deity. The Warrier community is famous for their learning in Sanskrit literature. Marans who belong to the community of Nayars, are temple musicians who are main custodians of the Sopana system of music or the music of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. They are experts in percussion instruments like Maddalam, Chenda, Edakka. Poduval is another caste of temple musicians.
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Christians |
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Christianity is said to have found its way, to Kerala by the visit of St.Thomas in the first century AD. The first place where Christians landed was Muzuris which was the most flourishing centre of trade and commerce during that time. Christian missionary activities in the Malabar coast started from the early days of the first century AD and the relation of the present Christians to the soil is as deep rooted as that of any other community. The Syrian Christian church is the oldest church in the whole of India. The Christians of Kerala lead a very peaceful life with utmost tolerance and friendship with other communities. There are several denominations of Christians based on doctrinal disputes. All the different sects like Jacobite Syrians, Orthodox Syrians, Marthoma Syrians, Latin Catholic, Syrian Catholics differ on many minor points of their faith and practice, but hold their allegiance to Jesus Christ with utmost enthusiasm and devotion. The Christians form a very rich and influential community, having very great bargaining strength in the political and social life of the state. |
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| Muslims |
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Mohammedans form a flourishing community. They came to the ports of Kerala from Arabia and gained influence mainly in Calicut in the beginning. They grew strong in population and mingled with other communities not only in matters of trade but also in the local customs and usages. They now wield very high political power in spite of their position as a minority and this status quo is maintained in at least a dozen political constituencies enjoying the privileges of a minority. The community is making rapid social and cultural progress.
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| Jews |
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The contact of the Jews with Kerala coast has a long history beginning as early as the time of Moses, the great Jewish-law giver. Their maritime and commercial contacts steadily continued and developed. Jewish settlements came up in many coastal centres, one in Baypur. They paid tribute to the local rajas, who conferred on them certain privileges and ranks. Their earliest settlement was at Cranganore. Later they came to Cochin where they built the famous Jew town and the Synagogue in 1567. Though they form only a negligible minority their contact with the land is long and marked.
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