Travancore State Research Articles

Unsung Swadeshi Militant Nationalists of Tamilnadu

The Swadeshi Movement and the emergence of the extremist leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, B.G.Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Feroz Shah Mehta impinged a great change in the history of freedom struggle. It gave concrete and determined objectives which comprised of economic and political ideology. Swadeshi and its boycott programmes were clarified definite shape to freedom struggle. The British Government did not expect such an agitation and alarmed at the success of the Swadeshi Movement, the government took strong measures to suppress the movement. It passed series of Acts such as Public Meeting Act, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, the Seditious Meeting Act (1907), the Explosive Substance Act (1908), the Newspaper (Incitement and Offence Act 1908) and the Indian Press Act (1910) were passed to suppress extremist activities. The Swadeshi Movement spread throughout India. The word ‘Swadeshi’ implies use of goods made in one’s own country. The boycott of foreign made goods and the promotion of swadeshi enterprise the twin pillars of the Swadeshi movement saw various activities in Madras Presidency. G. Subrahmania Iyer played a key role in spreading the ideas of Swadeshi. His lectures in Madurai aroused powerful nationalist feelings among the students of Madurai Native College in 1906. In November 1897, Hawett, Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department instructed the Chief Secretary of Madras to forward any information “regarding matters of political or administrative importance or events which have excited public interest”. During the anti-partition agitation of Bengal, the Madras Government closely watched the activities of its servants. In 1907, Parameswaran Iyer, a Government Chemical Examiner was asked to explain his ‘inflammatory speech on the subject of Swadeshi’. Thus, the Madras Government made it clear that it did not approve of government servants attending political meetings. Vanchi Iyer, born at Shenkottah in Travancore State in 1880 was the son of Ragupathy Iyer. He was employed as a forest guard at Punalur in the then Travancore state. He was one of the members of the secret society called Bharatha Matha Association, organized by Nilakanda Brahmachari . Other members of the society were Sankara Krishna Iyer of Krishnapuram, Madathukadai Chidambaram Pillai of Tenkasi, Dharmaraj Iyer and Harihara Iyer of Shencottah, Madasami pillai of Ottapidaram and Arumugam Pillai of Tuticorin. The aim of the society formed by Vanchi and Nilakanta Brahmachari was to kill all European officers of the district to intimidate European officials and discourage them from coming to serve in India which would pave the way to obtain Swaraj.

Colonialism and Public Goods Provision: Qualitative Evidence from India

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 neighboring 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.

A page from Dalit history in Kerala: The Pulaya Movement in Travancore–Cochin in the pre-Communist phase

The Pulayas of Kerala were a depressed caste, subject to acute discrimination and humiliation. This article traces the initial stirrings among the Pulayas’ leaders in the princely states of Travancore and Cochin, and the response of the upper castes and of the administrations of the states, prior to 1947 by which time the Communists began to acquire ascendancy over the lower-caste movement.

Existence of Untouchability towards Maari Theyyam<br/>—A Traditional Art Form of Kerala

The renaissance movement led by Vaikundam Swamikal, Sreekumara Gurudevan, Ayyankali, Chattambi Swamikal, Dr. V. V. Velukkutty Arayan, Sahodharan Ayyappan, Swami Vakbhadananda and Swami Anantha Theertha was helping to eradicate untouchability from Kerala. The Temple entry proclamation by the erstwhile king of Travancore late Sri Chitra Thirunal Rama Varma Maharaja on his 24th birthday (12th November 1936) proclaimed that all Hindus by birth or faith, despite their caste will be allowed enter to all temples under the governance of Travancore state. The Temple Madayi Kavu1 is traditionally owned by Kolathiri King of Chirakkal. But it is controlled by the Malabar Devaswam Board, an authorised body of Government of Kerala. The goddess of this temple is the family deity of Travancore royal family. Maari Theyyam is a traditional ritual performance of Madayi Kavu. This ritual is not allowed to be observed in the premises of Madayi Kavu. All other Theyyams are allowed to be performed in the premises of the temple. Maari Theyyam is performed away from the temple premises. It is a kind of untouchability towards Maari Theyyam. Here, we try to examine the pros and cons of the untouchability of the ritual Maari Theyyam.

The lectotypification of Syzygium bourdillonii (Gamble) Rathakr. & N.C. Nair (Myrtaceae)

Based on two collections of Thomas Fulton Bourdillon (1849–1930) (nos. 596 & 859), made during 1895 on the Merchiston estate in the erstwhile Travancore State, James Sykes Gamble (1847–1925) erected a new species, Jambosa bourdillonii Gamble, in 1918. Rathakrishnan & Nair (1983) later proposed the combination, Syzygium bourdillonii. There was no other collection made until the rediscovery of the species from Agasthyamala of the Kerala region after 94 years. Subsequently, Murugan & Manickam (2006) recorded its occurrence in Tamil Nadu. Neither Gamble nor any subsequent authors designated a lectotype from the two known syntypes preserved in K (T.F. Bourdillon 596 & 859) and MH (T.F. Bourdillon 596). The Kew sheet of 596 (K000793900!) is designated here as lectotype and the duplicate at MH as an isolectotype.

Ruling Classes, Missionaries, Non-state Agencies and Health Issues in Travancore in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

The article broadly deals with the initiatives on the part of the government and the non-government organisations in Travancore on health related issues. It would be argued that though the ‘enlightened’ government in the princely state of Travancore realised the importance of developing health programs to cope up with public health issues, particularly because of the frequent incidence of famines, their efforts remained half hearted and the investments remained far low. On the other hand, the missionaries were more active in setting up hospitals and dispensaries and these prove to be beneficial for the ‘lower castes’. However, though the missionaries and the ruling circles in Travancore remained divided in matters related to religion, there was some element of cooperation between them in this respect. The health related issues moved in new dimension altogether when there were active interventions on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation and the proponents of Ayurveda in early twentieth century Travancore.

The guns of Travancore or how much powder may a Maharaja blaze away?

The main focus of this article is the chequered history of Travancore state's gun salutes. After the somewhat unexpected award of a prestigious dynastic salute in 1866, all later efforts to rise in the hierarchy of guns remained in vain. What were the grounds on which gun salutes were claimed by the rulers of Travancore, and granted or withheld by the British-Indian government? A related question is the paucity of documentary evidence that both parties had to cope with. What kind of knowledge did both parties actually posses when invoking the sanction of immemorial custom in support of their claims?

Religion, social space and identity: the prathyaksha raksha daiva sabha and the making of cultural boundaries in twentieth century kerala1

This paper seeks to analyse one of the social movements of twentieth century Kerala that tried to engage with the problems of material and spiritual progress in the context of modernity by investigating the rise of the Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (hereafter PRDS). The movement originated within the framework of missionary Christianity, but moved beyond the limits of the missionary project and eventually offered a critique of it. The introductory part of the paper discusses the social and economic transformation of the erstwhile Travancore State during the colonial period, focusing on the transformation of the local caste structure. The problem of colonial modernity is then dealt with, as the issues analysed in the paper bear testimony to the transformation that modernity brought about. This is followed by discussions on the problems of caste, Christianity and the transformation of Dalit (formerly untouchable) communities in Travancore. Issues such as myths and histories of appropriation, notions of history and new bodily and physical practices, along with questions of identity formation, are taken up later on to delineate the trajectories of change. 1An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Conference of Subaltern Historians in 1998. I am grateful to Gautam Bhadra, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Gyan Pandey and Susie Tharu for their valuable interventions. Thanks are also due to Nizar Ahmad, T.M. Yesudasan, Partha Chatterjee, Anjan Ghosh, Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya and Raziuddin Aquil. A stimulating and prolonged discussion with Saurabh Dube helped me to reconsider some of the problems posed in the paper.

From Mission to Movement: Nair Service Society

The paper is a study of transformation that the Nair society underwent in Travancore in the state of Kerala in India,in the latter part of nineteenth century under the impact of education,a cash economy ,increases in social assertiveness and political aspiration among the educated class in Travancore.The spatial distribution of the Nair community was altered around Travancore state with the advent of Colonialism.

Book reviews

Peter de Valk, African Industry in DeclineJean‐Pierre Lachaud, The Labour Market in AfricaHolger Bernt Hansen and Michael Twaddle (eds), Religion and Politics in East Africa: The Period since IndependenceTimothy D. Sisk, Democratization in South Africa: The Elusive Social ContractAshutosh Varshney, Democracy, Development and the Countryside: Urban‐Rural Struggles in IndiaNicolas Hall, Rob Hart and Diana Mitlin (eds), The Urban Opportunity: The Work of NGOs in Cities of the SouthMaggie Black, Children First. The Story of UNICEF, Past and PresentRoger Jeffery and Alaka M. Basu (eds), Girls' Schooling, Women's Autonomy and Fertility Change in South AsiaLouis Ouwerkerk (edited and with an introduction by Dick Kooiman), No Elephants for the Maharaja: Social and Political Change in the Princely State of Travancore (1921–1947)Anuradha Basu, Public Expenditure Decision Making: The Indian ExperienceNiels Hermes and Robert Lensink (eds), Financial Development and Economic Growth: Theory and Experiences from Developing CountriesFrances Stewart, Adjustment and PovertyJustin Yifu Lin, Fang Cai and Zhou Li, The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic ReformAidan Cox et al., How European Aid Works. A Comparison of Management Systems and EffectivenessAidan Cox et al., Understanding European Community AidJan Joost Teunissen (ed.), Can Currency Crises be Prevented or Better Managed? Lessons from MexicoPercy S. Mistry, Resolving Africa's Multilateral Debt Problem. A Response to the IMF and the World BankJonathan Rigg, Southeast Asia. The Human Landscape of Modernization and DevelopmentSusanna Davies, Adaptable Livelihoods: Coping with Food Insecurity in the Malian SahelGaim Kibreab, People on the Edge in the Horn: Displacement, Land Use and the Environment in the Gedaref Region, SudanTushaar Shah, Catalysing Co‐operation. Design of Self‐governing OrganisationsKatar Singh and Vishwa Ballabh (eds), Cooperative Management of Natural ResourcesW. J. Assies and A. J. Hoekema (eds), Indigenous People's Experiences with Self‐GovernmentJoske F. G. Bunders, Bertus Haverkort and Wim Hiemstra (eds), Biotechnology: Building on Farmers' KnowledgeTony Marjoram (ed.), Island Technology. Technology for Development in the South Pacific

What the Statues Tell: The Politics of Choosing Symbols in Trivandrum

C1A THERE IN THE WORLD, asked Malayala Manorama on 4 June V V 1948, statues guarded by the police? It answered its own question: in Trivandrum, the capital of the princely state of Travancore on India's southwestern coast. Since March 1948 Travancore had rejoiced in its own popular government, elected by universal adult franchise. Yet statues of the hated Dewan (minister) of the ancien regime still remained, protected by a police guard from possible assault. Why? The question conveniently opens up the subject of political statues (in this paper, a political statue is a publicly displayed representation of a real person who is not credited with supernatural powers), why men and women erect them and how they come to choose the people to be embodied in bronze or stone. It would probably be an exaggeration to suggest that every statue represents an implicit political statement. But it is the argument of this paper that most do, and that social scientists may wring a good deal of significance from political statues and the circumstances in which they are raised or destroyed. The paper attempts to proceed inductively. It begins with a brief history of political statues in Trivandrum as a way of illustrating the contentiousness of statues. Two aspects of statues seem to me important. The first is an examination of the first time a group or society proposes, or erects, a statue. Something in the community has almost certainly happened to provoke such an initiative. The second class of question relates to the controversy that surrounds the erection of-I suspect-most statues. One person's hero may well be another's villain, as we shall see. The second part of this paper attempts to make some tentative generalizations, based on Trivandrum and random other examples, about what statues mean and what they can be made to tell us about the societies that erect them.

Kerala in Crisis

T HE PRESENT POLITICAL CRISIS in the tiny state of Kerala may well affect the entire political development of India and also influence Communist international strategy throughout the Middle and Far East. Kerala, located on India's southwest coast and embracing the former princely states of Travancore and Cochin, and the Malabar coast, is the smallest of the fourteen states of Indiaand has the distinction of being the only one in which the Communist Party controls the state government. In 1957 after the last election, Kerala's fifteen million people gave the Communist Party a substantial plurality (some thirty-five percent of the total votes cast) which its leaders were able to convert into a legislative majority by forming an alliance with independents and several Communist followers in the state parliament. Kerala is in many ways a unique state in India. Heavily populated (about a thousand persons per square mile), approximately fifty-three percent of its people are Hindu, one third Christian, and the balance principally Muslim. Its Christian population includes a Catholic community dating back many centuries, as well as more recently established Protestant groups converted by missionaries from Great Britain, Germany, Canada and the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The liberal outlook of the Maharajas of Travancore and Cochin permitted the Roman Catholic, Syrian Christian, Nestorian Christian and various Protestant sects to flourish in the area. Moreover, Jews migrating to the Malabar region of Kerala found a religious haven there. The Hindus in Kerala have followed traditional South Indian caste lines, the Brahmin group being noted for its conservative orthodoxy in religion and the Nairs for their emphasis upon commerce, education, tolerance and social service. As a result, a significant percentage of the population have either followed or been exposed to the liberal traditions of a JudeoChristian set of cultural values and have fought with zeal to protect what they conceived to be their rightful heritage. Kerala is also different from all other parts of India (with the possible exception of West Bengal) in its marked emphasis on education by the various communities. Approximately seventy percent of the people are literate and newspapers abound. The people, even including those in the lowest rungs of the social and economic ladder, are relatively well informed on the political happenings in the nation. They have decided opinions on political issues and personalities. It is not at all unusual to find the lowly sweeper reading a daily

Potash Status of Nanjinad Soils

Nanjinad is an important rice growing tract which belonged to erstwhile Travancore State but now is in Madras State. The paddy lands in this tract cover an area of 50,000 acres and are mostly double cropped. The soil as a rule is very productive but the strain of bearing an annual crop coupled with inadequate application of fertilizers is bound to result in the gradual depletion of plant foods. Pillai and Iyer (1) who carried out the soil survey of this tract concluded that these soils are well supplied with potash based on total potash content. Some cultivators, have, however, expressed the opinion that satisfactory crop yields were not forthcoming in the absence of systematic applications of potash. This has led them to coin the proverb. Ash in the pot-dung in the hay'. In view of this, an investigation of the potash status of these soils was carried out by the author prior to inclusion of this area in Madras State.

Cheralite, a new mineral of the monazite group

A Green mineral akin to monazite, derived from the State of Travancore in southern India, was investigated chemically during the first world war by the Imperial Institute, London, and was found to be exceptionally rich in thorium and uranium. No description of this unusual 'monazite' has hitherto been published.The high content of radioactive elements in this mineral led the State Geologist, Mr. Venkitarama Mahadevan, to have a deposit opened up in 1945, in readiness for an assessment of the radioactive mineral resources of Travancore. At the invitation of the former Dewan, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E., this assessment was carried out by Dr. C. F. Davidson early in 1946.

Sirkar v. Subramonia Iyen

Protectorates — Nature of — Sovereignty — Attributes of — Sovereign Immunity — Indian States — Paramountcy of British Crown — Travancore.Dependent States — Independence — Internal Attributes of — Whether Diminished by Paramountcy of British Crown — State of Travancore, India.

Grass Flora of the Travancore State with special reference to fodder grasses

A grass survey of the Travancore State was made by the author between 16th November and 6th December 1941. Though Travancore State is just equal in area to a large district of the Madras Pro- vince, the ecological features exhibited are very diverse, ranging from sub- temperate to tropical. The elevation varies from sea level to about 9,000 feet in. height at Anamudi which is the highest point in South India. The State forms a narrow strip of country between the sea and the ghats. It has a long coast line on the western side and rises gradually to the Western Ghats which form the eastern boundary. The climate in most parts is humid due to the long coast line, presence of backwaters, lagoons, innumerable canals and rivers and also to the heavy rainfall received in the major portion of the State. The high ranges of the State have a semi-temperate climate. One half of the country is covered with mountains and many rivers take their origin from them and fall into the Arabian Sea on the western side. The soil in most parts of the State is reddish being of laterite formation. Due to the undulating nature of the country the land is subjected to both sheet and gully erosion. The fine particles of the soil are carried away by the rain water to the rivers and deposited in the backwaters and the sea. The land is, therefore, comparatively poor and the soil is deficient in mineral contents The substratum consists of gneiss while that of the adjoining British Indian districts except Malabar consists of limestone commonly known as kankar. The soil is, therefore, further deficient in calcium.

Bananas of the Travancore State

The terms banana and plantain are synonymous. Banana is the name used in foreign countries for what is called plantain in India. Nendran (Eththan) which is generally known as banana in Travan- core is called plantain by English speaking people elsewhere. The term banana may, therefore, better be used for all varieties of plantains including Nendran.

Cultivation of Tapioca in the Vizagapatam District.

The cultivation of tapioca is of importance at the pre- sent juncture, when the problem of food production is acute. Next to rice it is one of the staple food crops of the Travancore State and has largely contributed to the food supply there, specially among the poor. In the Presidency of Madras, its cultivation is chiefly concentrated on the West Coast and in the district of Vizagapatam, where it forms a cheap food of the poor class. It is also cultivated in parts of Chingleput, South Arcot, North Arcot and Tanjore districts. It possesses certain commendable features. "The plant is one of the most productive in the world and it has been claimed that an acre of cessava will yield more nutritive matter than six times the same area under wheat". Economically it is a paying crop and added to it the attention required for its cultivation is almost negligible. The green tops of certain varieties serve as fodder for the cattle. Tapioca (Manihot utilissima) belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae and is a native of tropical America. It is a shrubby perennial growing to a height of 6 ft. to 8 it. but an annual under cultivation. The crop is propa- gated by stem-cuttings which produce adventitious roots; these develop into tubers, enriched with starch, with the advance of age.

The myxophyceae of the Travancore State, India

The myxophyceae of the Travancore State, India

Temples and Caste in Travancore

THE decision of the Maharajah of Travancore, announced by proclamation authorizing the opening of the temples controlled by the State to all Hindus, according to a Delhi dispatch in The Times of November 16, has been hailed by progressive opinion in India as “the greatest reform of Hinduism since Ramanuja's days”. By this drastic action, which at once obliterates caste distinction in right of access to the sacred places of religion, and removes one of the most strongly resented marks of inferiority in the outcastes, the State of Travancore has opened a way to political unity which Hinduism at large would do well to accept as a guide and example. The exceptional position of the Rajah in relation to the State religion has endowed him with a power of initiative that was open to few others in India, and perhaps least of all to the British Raj; but whether the example of Travancore will be followed elsewhere will doubtless depend in no small degree upon the religious and political reaction to so serious an innovation. It is said that conservative opinion has already criticized the reform as rash and unsound, while maintaining that the views of Hinduism outside Travancore should have been considereda claim, of which, in view of past events, it would be difficult to vindicate the political wisdom. On the other hand, the Nationalists and leading members of the Congress, with Mr. Gandhi, have hastened to congratulate the head of the State of Travancore on his decision.