Legend of Cheraman Perumals

The legend of Cheraman Perumals is the medieval tradition associated with the Cheraman Perumals (Chera kings) of Kerala.[1] The sources of the legend include popular oral traditions and later literary compositions.[1] The time of origin of the legend is not known to scholars.[1] It seems the legend once had a common source well known to all Kerala people.[2]

For the historical Chera Perumal rulers of medieval Kerala, see Chera Perumals of Makotai.

The validity of the legend as a source of history once generated much debate among south Indian historians. The legend is now considered as "an expression of the historical consciousness rather than as a source of history".[3] The legend of the Cheraman Perumals exercised significant political influence in Kerala over the centuries. The legend was used by Kerala chiefdoms for the legitimation of their rule (most of the major chiefly houses in medieval Kerala traced its origin back to the legendary allocation by the Perumal).[4][5]

Popular written versions of the legend are infamous for inconsistencies and contradictions (in names of the kings and dates).[1] Even the dates of their compositions are problematic.[6] The Cheraman Perumals mentioned in the legend can be identified with the Chera Perumal rulers of medieval Kerala (c. 8th - 12th century AD).[7]

The ghost of the [Cheraman] Perumal haunted the land [of Kerala] in many ways...Each of the large number of principalities that came into existence on the ruins of the Chera[/Perumal] kingdom claimed to be not only a splinter of the old kingdom but also deriving its authority from the donation of the last Cheraman Perumal...Many of these rulers also claimed to step into the shoes of the Perumal in claiming to be the overlord of Kerala. Thus the ruler of Venad or the Zamorin or the raja of Cochin staked this claim in various ways...

— Veluthat Kesavan (historian), History and Historiography in Constituting a Region: The Case of Kerala (2018)

Sources of the legend

Different written versions of the legend can be found in several literary sources.[1] Most versions contain interpolations and omissions in favour of some special interests and communities (religions and castes).[2]

  • Keralolpatti chronicle[1][6]
  • Duarte Barbosa (1510)[1]
  • Joas de Barros (16th century)[1]
  • Diogo de Coute (1610)[1]
  • Lusiad[1]
  • Sheik Zeinuddin (c. 1583)[1]
  • Canter Visscher (c. 1723)[1]
  • Van Adriaan Moens (1781)[1]
  • H. H. Wilson, Mackenzie Collection
  • Jonathan Duncan (1798)
  • Francis Buchanan[1] (1807)
  • William Logan (1898)
  • G. A. Kohut (1897)
  • C. A. Innes (1908)
  • E. Thurston (1909)
  • Calicut Granthavari[1]
  • Cochin Granthavari[1]
  • S. N. Sadasivan (2000)[8]

Major themes

The Cheraman Perumals were the kings of Kerala/Chera kingdom.[1] The first Cheraman Perumal was "brought" from a country east of the Ghats to Kerala by Nambudiri Brahmins (four select Brahmin settlements were empowered to choose a khastriya king).[2] Sister of the first Cheraman Perumal was married to Brahmin and it was decided that the son/daughter would be a Kshatriya (and the successor to the throne).[6] The Brahmins arranged that each Perumal should rule for twelve years.[9][10]

Cheraman Perumals

The Cheraman Perumals of the legend are generally associated with the establishment the Kollam Era (Malayalam Era), inauguration of the Onam Festival, introduction of the matrilineal system of inheritance in Kerala, settlement of different castes in Kerala, and foundation several temples, churches and mosques in Kerala.[1]

The following is a list of Cheraman Perumals found in the tradition.[11]

Cheraman Perumal Original home of the Perumal Date (AD) Residence
Keya/Kerala Perumal[10] Keya/Keralapuram[10] 216-225 Kodungallur
Choya/Chola Perumal[10] Choya/Chola Mandalam[10] 225-236 Kodungallur
Pandi Perumal[12] Pandi Mandalam[12] 236-245 Kodungallur
Bhutarayar Pandi Perumal[12] N/A 245-257 Kodungallur
Keralan[12] Choya Mandalam[12] 257-269 Trikkata Matilaka[12]
Pandyan or Chennar[12] Pandya country[12] 269-281 N/A
Choyiyan[12] Choya country[12] 281-293 N/A
Bana Perumal[13] Banapuram[13] 293-297 Kodungallur
Tulubhan Perumal[14] Northern country[14] 297-303 Kotiswaram[14]
Indra Perumal[14] N/A 303-315 Kodungallur
Arya Perumal[14] Aryapuram[14] 315-327 N/A
Kannan Perumal[15] Eastern country[15] 327-339 Kuntivaka[15]
Kotti Perumal[15] N/A 339-340 Kottikkollam[15]
Mata Perumal[15] 340-352 N/A
Eli Perumal[15] 352-364 Matayiel
Komban Perumal[15] 364-368 N/A
Vijayan Perumal[15] 368-80 Vijayankollam
Valabhan Perumal[15] 380-391 Valarbhattukotta
Harischandra Perumal[15] 391-403 Purali
Mallan Perumal[15] 403-412 Nallurmallan
Kulasekhara Perumal[15] 412-430 N/A

The last Cheraman Perumal

Rayar, the overlord of the Cheraman Perumal (Kulasekharan) in a country east of the Ghats, invaded Kerala during the rule of the last Perumal. To drive back the invading forces the Perumal summoned the militia of his chieftains (like Udaya Varman Kolathiri and Manichchan and Vikkiran of Eranad). The Cheraman Perumal was assured by the Eradis that they would take a fort established by the Rayar.[9] The battle lasted for three days and the Rayar eventually evacuated his fort (and it was seized by the Perumal's troops).[9]

The last Cheraman Perumal divided the Kerala or Chera kingdom among his chieftains (kingsfolk) and disappeared mysteriously. The Kerala people never more heard any tidings of him.[1][4][5] The Eradis, or the later kings of Calicut, who were left out in the cold during the allocation of the land, was granted the Cheraman Perumal's sword (with the permission to "die, and kill, and seize").[5][9]

The story of Tajuddeen

According to the Cheraman Juma Mosque:[8][16][17] "Once a Tamil king Cheraman Perumal probably named Ravi Varma[17] was walking with one his favoured queen's at a late night stroll in the palace where he lived with her, when he witnessed the splitting of the moon,however, no one else in the palace and in rest of the Indian subcontinent saw this. Shocked by the splitting of full moon many years before the migration of Muslims to Medina. Cheraman rushed back to ask his chain of Hindu astronomers to note down the exact time of the splitting of the full moon because astronomers should've forecasted the lunar eclipse using the Hindu mathematical system. Astronomical date and time for this event remains uncertain. Therefore, when some Arab merchants from Banu Qurayash tribe visited his palace for unknown reasons, he asked them about this incident which should have happened in the Eastern sky.Hindu astronomers should've calculated exact time and coordinate of the Astronomical event. On their request the King went to pray at the temple of Moon god and Shrine of Qurayash idols at Kaba Mecca. After visiting Kaba he met Islamic prophet Muhammad and spoke Arabic before Bilal converted him to Islam. Muhammad named him Tajuddin or Thajuddin or Thiya-aj-Addan meaning "crown of faith ".[8][16][18][19][20] The king then remained in the services of Muslims. Nearly 120 years later his letters arrived to his kingdom in Kerala. Then Malik Deenar(748 CE) was preaching Islam and Kerala Hindu kingdom slowly followed the teachings of Malik bin Deenar.[16][21][22] Al-Tabari of the 9th century in his Firdousul Hikma and Ferishta in his Tarikh Ferishta agree with this.[23][24]

This story is found in a Muslim account recorded by Sheikh Zeinuddin. The story has been retold countless times by the Portuguese, Dutch; the court chronicles of Calicut and Cochin begin with this narrative. According to the Legend of the Cheraman Perumal Mosque, the first Indian mosque was built in 1508-68 AD at Kodungallur with the mandate of the last the ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of Chera dynasty, who left from Dharmadom to Mecca and converted to Islam during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632).[25][26][27][28] According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayani, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in Indian Subcontinent.[29]

But S. N. Sadasivan, in his book A Social History of India, argues that it was the king of Maldives, Kalimanja, who converted to Islam. Mali, which was known to seafarers then, might have been misunderstood as Malabar (Kerala) and this might have given rise to the tale of Tajuddeen in the Cochin Gazetteer.[21]

References
  1. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 31-32.
  2. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 52-53.
  3. Kesavan Veluthat, ‘The Keralolpatti as History’, in The Early Medieval in South India, New Delhi, 2009, pp. 129–46.
  4. Noburu Karashima (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 146-47.
  5. Frenz, Margret. 2003. ‘Virtual Relations, Little Kings in Malabar’, in Sharing Sovereignty. The Little Kingdom in South Asia, eds Georg Berkemer and Margret Frenz, pp. 81–91. Berlin: Zentrum Moderner Orient.
  6. Veluthat, Kesavan. "History and Historiography in Constituting a Region: The Case of Kerala." Studies in People's History, vol. 5, no. 1, June 2018, pp. 13–31.
  7. Ganesh, K. N. (2009). Historical Geography of Natu in South India with Special Reference to Kerala. Indian Historical Review, 36(1), 3–21.
  8. Sadasivan, S. N. (2000). A Social History of India. APH Publishing. p. 306. ISBN 978-81-7648-170-0. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  9. Logan, William. Malabar. Madras: Government Press, Madras, 1951 (reprint). 223-240.
  10. Logan, William. Malabar. Madras: Government Press, Madras, 1951 (reprint). 223-224.
  11. Ayyar, K. V. Krishna. The Zamorins of Calicut. Calicut (Kerala): Norman Printing Bureau, 1938. 54-55.
  12. Logan, William. Malabar. Madras: Government Press, Madras, 1951 (reprint). 225-226.
  13. Logan, William. Malabar. Madras: Government Press, Madras, 1951 (reprint). 226-227.
  14. Logan, William. Malabar. Madras: Government Press, Madras, 1951 (reprint). 228-230.
  15. Logan, William. Malabar. Madras: Government Press, Madras, 1951 (reprint). 229-230.
  16. Kumar, Satish (2012). India's National Security: Annual Review 2009. Routledge. p. 346. ISBN 978-1-136-70491-8. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  17. Singh, Dr Y. P. (2016). Islam in India and Pakistan - A Religious History. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-85505-63-8. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. Ampotti, A. K. (2004). Glimpses of Islam in Kerala. Kerala Historical Society.
  19. Varghese, Theresa (2006). Stark World Kerala. Stark World Pub. ISBN 9788190250511.
  20. Kumar, Satish (27 February 2012). India's National Security: Annual Review 2009. Routledge. p. 346. ISBN 978-1-136-70491-8.
  21. S.N., Sadasivan (January 2000), "Caste Invades Kerala", A Social History of India, APH Publishing, p. 303,304,305, ISBN 817648170X
  22. Mohammed, U. (2007). Educational Empowerment of Kerala Muslims: A Socio-historical Perspective. Other Books. p. 20. ISBN 978-81-903887-3-3. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  23. Samad, M. Abdul (1998). Islam in Kerala: Groups and Movements in the 20th Century. Laurel Publications. p. 2. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  24. Kurup, K. K. N.; Ismail, E.; India), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (Calcutta (2008). Emergence of Islam in Kerala in 20th century. Standard Publishers (India). ISBN 9788187471462. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  25. Jonathan Goldstein (1999). The Jews of China. M. E. Sharpe. p. 123. ISBN 9780765601049.
  26. Edward Simpson; Kai Kresse (2008). Struggling with History: Islam and Cosmopolitanism in the Western Indian Ocean. Columbia University Press. p. 333. ISBN 978-0-231-70024-5. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  27. Uri M. Kupferschmidt (1987). The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam Under the British Mandate for Palestine. Brill. pp. 458–459. ISBN 978-90-04-07929-8. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  28. Husain Raṇṭattāṇi (2007). Mappila Muslims: A Study on Society and Anti Colonial Struggles. Other Books. pp. 179–. ISBN 978-81-903887-8-8. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  29. Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98.
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