Travancore State Research Articles

Vaidya Brahmasree O. Kesavan Nadar Swami: The pioneer who has elevated the prominence of Marma Sastra in the curriculum of Ayurveda

Abstract This article aims to bring up the professional reminiscences of the great Ayurvedic luminary Brahmasree O. Kesavan Nadar Swami. He was an outstanding Kalari (one of the martial arts of Kerala) and Marma (traditional science dealing with vital energy points of the body) practitioner who lived in the Indian princely state of Travancore of southern India during the era of His Highness Maharaja Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma. He flourished to be an eminent scholar of Agasthya Marmasastra. Considering his excellence as a Marma practitioner, he was appointed as a “Granted physician” to the Royal family of Travancore, and he continued his journey as a Marma Vaidya (physician) of the Government Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram, and retired as the Chief Marma physician. The anecdote collected through his descendants is being published to shed light on his life profile and bring this eminent personality’s memoir to the mainstream.

MARSHAL NESAMONY’S EFFICACY IN SRI MULAM POPULAR ASSEMBLY

Various political, social and religious reformers contributed for the upliftment of the oppressed communities in the Travancore region. Among them, Nesamony, fondly called ‘Nesamony Raja’, ‘Marshal Nesamony’ and ‘Kumari Thanthai’ (Father of Kanniyakumari District) stands distinctive for his exemplary achievements towards the liberation of the oppressed class and their resurgence. Nesamony occupied a unique place in the minds of the Tamils of Travancore. As a popular leader, Nesamony became the Chairman of the Nagercoil Municipality in 1942. He was elected to the Sri Mulam Assembly of Travancore State in 1944 from the Kalkulam cum Vilavancode constituency. Till 1956 the present Kanniyakumari district was a part of the erstwhile Travancore State. The political activities of the people of the region were mainly influenced and guided by the Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress founded by Marshal Nesamony. This article elaborates his valuable services during his tenure as member in Travancore Legislative Assemblies.

Education and Womens Identity: Missionary Initiatives and State Intervention in Early Twentieth Century Kerala

The intervention of missionaries in twentieth-century Kerala offers fascinating insights into the intricate relationship between education and the reordering of social norms in late colonial India. Comprising of the former Princely states of Travancore, Cochin, and British Malabar, the region witnessed significant strides in administrative modernization and educational advancements by the early decades of the twentieth century. Several factors including the progressive nature of the princely state and the influence of Marxist ideologies, the role of the christain missionaries and the prevalence of matrilineal practice among caste groups were attributed for the advancements made in education and health. Yet what distinguishes Travancore, was the presence of a strong indigenous Syrian Christian group, whose presence attracted Western Protestant missionaries into Travancore. Missionary intervention extended byond the realm of religion and shaped had an important bearing on education, including women's education in shaping individual perceptions of sanity, morality, and hygiene, leading to the reconfiguration of social and community relationships.

A forgotten famine of ’43? Travancore’s muffled ‘cry of distress’

AbstractMass disease and starvation in the princely state of Travancore during the Second World War claimed some 90,000 lives. However, this episode has never received much prominence, especially when compared to the simultaneous crisis in Bengal. It is, in many ways, forgotten. Instead, Travancore’s wartime food management apparatus appears in some accounts as a success story. How did this happen? Integration into the world economy, the reordering of a rigid social structure, and popular political pressures on an autocratic princely regime created a unique set of conditions that left Travancore vulnerable to food scarcity and conflict during the Second World War. A particularly draconian princely regime that suppressed civil liberties prevented the gravity of the situation from being understood. This culminated in vastly unequal suffering and disease-related deaths. But the story is not merely one of despair. The Indian communists took advantage of war conditions to bring together agricultural and factory labourers and contribute to improving the food situation in this ‘People’s War’, while mainstream nationalists sought to obstruct the war effort and have the British ‘quit’ India. Wartime activities would shape the unique post-colonial politics of what became the state of Kerala in 1956. Intervening at the intersection of the historiographies of food and the princely states, this article adds a regional perspective to the nation-centric social history of the Second World War in South Asia. Hunger was a constitutive experience of this period across various parts of India, but the post-colonial political legacies of war could be regionally distinct.

History of an observatory on the Agasthiyar hill top

Remarkable feats of the past often leave behind historical pointers leaving us mesmerised. One such episode is that of the establishment of a magnetic and meteorological observatory on the peak of the Agasthiyar mountain 6200 feet above the sea level on the western Ghats in the year 1855 by John Allan Broun under the princely state of Travancore. It had facilities far ahead of its times representing the commitment to scientific universalism by its patrons. Broun established the observatory on the Agasthiyar mountain peak and undertook a meticulous study overcoming daunting geographical constrains. Broun was awarded the Keith Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for the period 1859–1861. He received the Royal Medal from the Royal Society of London in 1878. He passed away in 1879. Remnants of the magnetic observatory which earned Broun scientific acclaim remain undiscovered, clouded within the Agasthiyar mountains.

Religions, Women and Discourse of Modernity in Colonial South India

Colonial education and missionary discourse of modernity intensified struggles for continuity and change among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity in nineteenth century India. While missionary modernity was characterised by an emphasis on sociocultural changes among the marginalized women through Christian norms of decency, orthodox Hindus used traditional cultural practices to confront missionary modernization endeavours. This article posits that the discourse of missionary modernity needs to be understood through the principles of Western secular modernity that impelled missionaries to employ decent clothing as a symbol of Christian femininity. It argues that missionary modernity not only emboldened the marginalized women to challenge their ascribed sociocultural standing but also solidified communitarian consciousness among the followers of Hinduism and Christianity substantially. Even though Travancore state defended the entrenched customary practices, including women’s attire patterns, with all its potency through authoritative proclamations, it could not dissuade missionaries from converting the marginalized women to missionary modernity.

Kārtikā Tirunāḻ Bālarāma Varma’s Self-portrait in Bālarāmabharata

Kārtikā Tirunāḷ Bālarāma Varma (r. 1758–1798) was the ruler of the South Indian state of Travancore and the author of a Sanskrit treatise on theatrology, the Bālarāmabharata. His reign constituted an important period of patronage of arts and literature, especially in the field of performing arts. The king was not only an outstanding patron but also an eminent scholar and an accomplished author. As the evidence of this great variety of roles, the paper proposes to analyse the opening passages of the Bālarāmabharata where Kārtikā Tirunāḷ Bālarāma Varma presents himself in a self-portrait of sorts: as a ruler, patron, scholar and poet. He inscribes himself in the patronage tradition of the rulers of Travancore as well as in the line of the continuators of Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra while simultaneously showcasing his literary prowess and practical experience in the contemporary tradition of performing arts.

Caste, space, and schooling in nineteenth century South India

ABSTRACT This paper examines the spatial and temporal dimensions of varied schooling agendas for poor and oppressed caste children and adults in the princely state of Travancore in nineteenth-century colonial south India. Schools became socially contested and politically charged spaces in which various subaltern castes, particularly the Dalits and Nadars, articulated a new language of social and religious self-fashioning. British Protestant missionaries played a crucial role in provoking these imaginations and yet, the joint workings of caste and racial prejudices resulted in ambivalent cultural encounters in the educational landscape. Caste was central to these contestations and negotiations in making modern child subjectivities and tended to produce new forms of inequality and reproduce existing ones. I argue that schooling campaigns for the poor resulted in the perpetuation of hierarchised, caste-inflected norms of childhood and produced multiple marginal children in local society. This paper draws upon British Protestant missionary archives to highlight the unstable and violent geographies in which children of subaltern castes navigated the sphere of modern schooling in colonial Travancore and the constitutive function of schools in the making of marginal childhoods.

The Subaltern Voice in Sree Moolam Praja Sabha

Sree Moolam Thirunaal Rama Varma, the ruling Maharaja of the Indian state of Travancore, instituted Sree Moolam Praja Sabha, also known as Sree Moolam Popular Assembly on 1 October 1904. The representatives of Sree Moolam Praja Sabha were selected from every section of society to address their grievances. Sree Moolam Sabha mainly consisted of landlords, merchants and their representatives. Those days, then existing social customs prevented the lower-caste people or the subaltern communities from participating in the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha. In the initial phase, there were representatives from each religion and caste, except the subaltern groups. Later, the Diwan attempted to include Dalits and other minority communities in the process of policy formulation as well as providing them with an essential role in their community development. Mahakavi Kumaran Asan, one of the triumvirate poets of modern Kerala was the nominated member of Sree Moolam Sabha, and he was one of the disciples of Sree Narayana Guru. Ayyankali was nominated to Sree Moolam Popular Assembly in 1912 because of his popularity among subaltern communities in the Thiruvithamkoore Kingdom. He had a record of being a nominated member in a legislative assembly for a consequtive period of 27 years, from 1912 to 1939, even before Independence. Ayyankali was the first Dalit representative who was nominatedto India’s first state (legislative) assembly, especially during the pre-independence period.

Management practices and stakeholder interactions along with sacred groves in Kerala

Various developmental practices and changes in the social fabric threaten the existence of the local forest ecosystems such as sacred groves. A sacred grove, a forest common, traditionally has religious importance and unique management systems in place due to its cultural value. Sacred groves were in the ownership of a family or a community and had multiple stakeholders such as deity, devotees, communities, trusts. However rapid urbanization, increasing demographic demands negatively impact the sacred groves. With increasing stress on commercialization, the role of various stakeholders is changing esp the role of women in the management of Sacred groves has dwindled. The breakdown of ‘ancient joint family systems’ like ‘tharavadu’ has adversely affected the number of sacred groves in the state. The existence of 15, 000 sacred groves in the erstwhile state of Travancore was recorded in 1927 whereas current estimates account for not beyond 2000 sacred groves. As the number of stakeholders reduced, the community involvement in the management of sacred groves has also diminished over time. This paper studies the differential management dynamics in the sacred groves of Kerala, India using case studies of two sacred groves. It analyses how different stakeholders interact with each other using ethnographic methods. The paper argues that management practices of sacred groves should be more inclusive and should promote inter-generational dialogue.

Temples in Travancore: History, Polity and Governance

Temples in Kerala have been all the time, amazing factors in the society for their uniqueness in tradition, customs, rituals, festivals, art, architecture, mural paintings, etc. It is believed that most of the ancient Hindu temples in Kerala have been consecrated by Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to legend, after the departure of Parasurama, the Brahmins became the virtual rulers of the land. They divided the land into several Desams, and in each, they erected a temple, consecrated it and placed an image in them, and performed the prescribed rituals. The ownership of Hindu temples became the bone of contention for the temples that were associated with power in the locality. In the course of the conflict for the ownership of temples, the management of several of them became disorderly, and the state had, in consequence, to assume their control through the exercise of its paramount melkoima right. This paper is a historical analysis of the role of temples in society and the evolution of temple administration in the erstwhile Travancore state.

Mirrors of the Soul

Scenes of avarna castes (slave and intermediate castes) pondering their reflections recur throughout the history of anti-caste struggle in the princely state of Travancore in colonial-era south India. These scenes represent what I will call performative egalitarianisms, which are repetitive enactments in the performance of everyday lives that embody claims to equality against the dehumanizing caste codes of colonial Travancore. In this paper, I will describe three scenes that represent distinct yet intertwined routes for the flows of egalitarian discourses in colonial Kerala. The concept of equality emerged in Travancore, first, via Enlightenment values of the British Protestant missionaries, or soulful Enlightenment; second, as non-dualistic equality of Narayana Guru, or repurposed Advaita; and third, through the discourses and practices of a Tamil religious cult called Ayya Vazhi, or radical Siddha Saiva. In viewing the flows of egalitarian discourse through the lens of performance, I demonstrate the method of intellectual histories in the repertoire which allows us to investigate how particular conceptual frameworks and discursive modes are transmitted, transformed, and embodied by people for whom these ideas are, quite literally, a matter of life and death. The intentional, productive, and empowering relationship between universals such as equality or humanity and the particular claims of anti-caste struggle in Kerala leads to a politics of practice that I describe as repurposing universals. The centrality of the notion of the human in the anti-caste politics of colonial-era Travancore leads me to refer to these flows of egalitarian discourses and the political struggles that they empowered as genealogies of the human. In sum, I analyze the genealogies of the human in colonial-era Travancore by focussing on three scenes exemplifying performative egalitarianisms: soulful Enlightenment, repurposed Advaita, and radical Siddha Saiva.

TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL COORDINATES OF CHASTITY TRIALS

The erstwhile princely states of Travancore and Cochin (which were merged with the British Malabar in 1956 to form the linguistic state of Kerala) witnessed an unprecedented mushrooming of organisations which can generally be described as community-based in the decades around 1900. Most of them used caste as their principal rallying point while a few sought to forge larger religious identities[1].
 
 [1]The most noteworthy platform which sought to merge denominations was The Syrian National Union Association. Generally speaking, the Association was a common but abortive platform founded by the Jacobites (Antioch Syrians) and Catholics (Romo Syrians) in the closing decades of the nineteenth century with a view to achieving immediate material goals of upward social mobility through greater numerical strength, modern education, entrepreneurship, financial instruments and cultural innovation and to bring about the eventual merger of the partner communities. The most important role in its formation was played by Fr. Manual Nidhiry, a catholic priest who would later adorn the garb of a pontifically-privileged Vicar General for a brief tenure, and Pulickottil Mar Dionysius, the Metropolitan of the Antioch Syrian Christians. Though the motives behind such a coming together can be understood and interpreted in a multitude of ways, it seems logical to see it as entailed by the developments within the churches under consideration. For a detailed understanding of the movement see George, Mathew and Nidhiri.

Implementation of Press Legislations and Political Control Over the Writings of the Press in Travancore State, 1910-1935

The public opinion was chiefly mobilized by the press in Travancore state very actively since 1910. The press and political literature in Travancore state have contributed much to the political movement against the Diwan of Travancore and also the British Government. The Malayalam Press started writing against the Government of Travancore frequently. Irked by this, the Diwan of Travancore treated these publications as seditious, disloyal and contemptuous statements against them and spread disaffection among the people of Travancore state. The Government of Travancore passed series of legislations to control the anti-British stand of the press from 1903 to 1935. They are a) Press Regulations 11 of 1079(M.E)(1903) b) Section 117 and 145A of Travancore Penal Code, 1923 c) Press Legislations of 1926 d) Travancore Press(Emerging Power) Act, 1930 e) Press Regulations, 1935 The Travancore Press carried in various discussions and deliberations in their papers. They remarked the highhandedness of the Government authorities and continued their stand up to the establishment of responsible Government in Travancore.

Jousting Over Jurisdiction: Sovereignty and International Law in Late Nineteenth-Century South Asia

The article examines the relationship between colonialism and international law by focusing on late nineteenth century debates surrounding the sovereignty of the “princely states” of colonial South Asia. The princely states were ruled by indigenous rulers and were not considered to be British territory, but remained subject to British “influence;” as a result, there were numerous controversies over their legal status. During the course of jurisdictional disputes, a variety of interested players - British politicians, colonial officials, international lawyers, rulers and advisors of princely states - engaged in debates over the idea of sovereignty to resolve questions of legal status, the extent of rights and powers, and to construct a political order that supported their interests and aspirations. I focus on legal texts written by British international lawyers and colonial officials as well as material relating to two jurisdictional disputes (one between the state of Travancore and the British Government and another between the state of Baroda and the British Government) to trace two versions of sovereignty that were articulated in late nineteenth century South Asia - unitary and divisible. In doing so, I argue that international law, and the doctrine of sovereignty in particular, became the shared language for participants to debate political problems and a key forum for the negotiation of political power.

Vaccinating against Vasoori: Eradicating smallpox in the ‘model’ princely state of Travancore, 1804–1946

The social and medical histories of vaccination are increasingly important in the twenty-first century, as anti-vaccination narratives threaten herd immunity across the world. Much of the historical scholarship on vaccination in India focusses on smallpox, largely in the context of the colonial or post-colonial state. This article explores the histories of this policy in the ‘model’ princely state of Travancore. The essay integrates medical and social history as it tracks the introduction and progress of vaccination into the princely state and examines the process as biomedical discourse about disease and public health, and as a set of corporeal practices. The article also examines the broader cultural meanings ascribed to biomedicine in this princely state and the efforts to construct a ‘modern’ corporeal consciousness through direct and indirect interventions. Finally, the article also engages with the question of what exactly the introduction of biomedicine entailed for the average resident of this region in terms of disease control and prevention.

Educational Progress in Travancore: Review on the Role of Travancore Royal Family in Higher Education

“Education is the basic tool for the development of consciousness and the reconstitution of society” -Mahatma Gandhi.
 In Kerala formal and higher education started much earlier than rest of the Indian states. Educational initiatives made the state the most literate one and placed it as well ahead in gender and spatial equity. During the initial phase of educational expansion, education got its prominence for its intrinsic worthiness and played the role of enlightenment and empowerment. Kerala has occupied a prominent place on the educational map of the country from its ancient time. Though there is no clear picture of the educational system that prevailed in the early centuries of the Christian Era, the Tamil works of the Sangam age enable us to get interesting glimpses of the educational scene in Tamilakam including the present Kerala[i]. The standards of literacy and education seem to have been high. The universal education was the main feature of sangam period.
 
 
 196-201
 Evolution and Growth of Cyber Crimes: An Analys on the Kerala Scenario
 S S KARTHIK KUMAR
 Crime is a common word that we always hereof in this era of globalization. Crimes refer to any violation of law or the commission of an act forbidden by law. Crime and criminality have been associated with man since time immemorial.
 Cyber crime is a new type of crime that occurs in these years of Science and Technology. There are a lot of definitions for cyber crime. It is defined as crimes committed on the internet using the computer as either a tool or a targeted victim. In addition, cyber crime also includes traditional crimes that been conducted with the access of Internet. For example hate crimes, telemarketing Internet fraud, identity theft, and credit card account thefts. In simple word, cyber crime can be defined as any violence action that been conducted by using computer or other devices with the access of internet.
 
 202-206
 Myriad Aspects of Secular Thinking on Malayali Cuisine
 SAJITHA M
 Food is one of the main requirements of human being. It is flattering for the preservation of wellbeing and nourishment of the body. The food of a society exposes its custom, prosperity, status, habits as well as it help to develop a culture. Food is one of the most important social indicators of a society. History of food carries a dynamic character in the socio- economic, political, and cultural realm of a society. The food is one of the obligatory components in our daily life. It occupied an obvious atmosphere for the augmentation of healthy life and anticipation against the diseases. The food also shows a significant character in establishing cultural distinctiveness, and it reflects who we are. Food also reflected as the symbol of individuality, generosity, social status and religious believes etc in a civilized society. Food is not a discriminating aspect. It is the part of a culture, habits, addiction, and identity of a civilization.Food plays a symbolic role in the social activities the world over. It’s a universal sign of hospitality.[i]
 
 207-212
 Re-Appraising Taxation in Travancore and It's Caste Interference
 
 REVATHY V S
 Travancore , one of the Princely States in British India and later became the Model State in British India carried a significant role in history when analysing its system of taxation. Tax is one of the chief means for acquiring revenue and wealth. In the modern sense, tax means an amount of money imposed by a government on its citizens to run a state or government. But the system of taxation in the Native States of Travancore had an unequal character or discriminatory character and which was bound up with the caste system. In the case of Travancore and its society, the so called caste system brings artificial boundaries in the society.[i]
 213-221
 Second World War and Its Repercussions: Impetus on Poverty in Travancore
 SAFEED R
 In the first half of the twentieth century the world witnessed two deadliest wars and it directly or indirectly affected the countries all over the world. The First World War from 1914-1918 and the Second World War from 1939-1945 shooked the base of the socio-economic and political structure of the entire world. When compared to the Second World War, the First World War confined only within the boundaries of Europe and has a minimal effect on the other parts of the world. The Second World War was most destructive in nature and it changed the existing socio-economic and political setup of the world countries.
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Re-Appraising Taxation in Travancore and It's Caste Interference

Travancore , one of the Princely States in British India and later became the Model State in British India carried a significant role in history when analysing its system of taxation. Tax is one of the chief means for acquiring revenue and wealth. In the modern sense, tax means an amount of money imposed by a government on its citizens to run a state or government. But the system of taxation in the Native States of Travancore had an unequal character or discriminatory character and which was bound up with the caste system. In the case of Travancore and its society, the so called caste system brings artificial boundaries in the society.[1]

A preliminary study of the hawkmoth diversity (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India

Kanyakumari District is situated at the southernmost tip of peninsular India in Tamil Nadu State and is bounded by the Western Ghats and the coasts of three seas. There are no detailed historical records of the moths of this region, which, before India’s independence, was part of Travancore State. This paper presents a brief account of the 27 species of hawkmoths of Kanyakumari District, recorded during surveys conducted from 2011-2015, and is the first formal record of the hawkmoths of this region. A list of the species from the collection of the Natural History Museum, UK, collected in the erstwhile Travancore State that are likely to be found in the Kanyakumari region is also included.

Colonialism, Landlords, and Public Goods Provision in India: A Controlled Comparative Analysis

What is the impact of colonialism on public goods provision? This article examines India, once the world’s largest colony. While recent studies of the Indian case are divided, they overwhelmingly rely on econometric approaches. This article uses qualitative evidence to provide an important complementary perspective. Using controlled comparisons of the princely state of Travancore with the neighbouring provinces of Malabar and Tirunelveli, I find that colonialism generated less social welfare because British officials empowered landlords. Notably, this occurred despite Malabar and Tirunelveli instituting ryotwari (cultivator-based) land tenure. British rule in India may have promoted landlordism irrespective of land tenure policy.