History of Pathanamthitta district

This is the history of Pathanamthitta district.

History of Adoor, Pandalam

It is believed that the Pandya kings of Tamil Nadu fled to Pandalam and Adoor in the face of an attack from Cholas^[1] and settled there in the land they bought from Kaipuzha Thampan, a landlord. The Pandya dynasty had provinces on either sides of the Western Ghats. The King of Pandalam helped Marthanda Varma to conquer the Kayamkulam province. In return for this help, Marthanda Varma did not attempt to attack and conquer Pandalam or Adoor, during the expansion of his kingdom. The princely state of Pandalam with Adoor had extended up to Thodupuzha in Idukki district once. Pandalam and Adoor were added to Travancore in 1820.Before the formation of Pathanamthitta district, Pandalam was in Mavelikara taluk of Alappuzha district and Adoor was in the Kollam District.

History of Ranni

The history of Ranni can be traced 5000 years back to the early settlement activity of Adi Dravidans around Sabarimala and Nilackal. The temple at Sabarimala is an early temple of Kerala, dating back to around 2000 years. The deity's sitting posture and resemblance of the prayer 'Sharanam vili' to "Buddham Sharanam / Sangam Sharanam" points to the Buddhist past. Buddhist hermits always prefer to stay in interior jungles for solitary contemplation to attain Nirvana.^[2] The word 'Ayya' is a Buddhist Pali word means Lord/God. A church at Nilackal is believed to be one of the seven churches founded by St. Thomas in AD 54. There was an ancient trade route passed through Nilackal between Kerala and Pandian kingdom.^[3]

History of Thiruvalla

This article is primarily about the history of the settlements in areas of present city around the temple, known historically as Tiruvalla. For the history of the places in Tiruvalla, also refer : History of Niranam, History of Koipuram, History of Kumbanad, History of Kavumbhagom.

Ancient period

There is evidence to suggest that the area had been inhabited since 500 BCE, although an organized settlement only began around 800 CE. The present day areas of Niranam and Kadapra on the western part of Tiruvalla were submerged under the sea before then.^[4] It is one of the 64 ancient Brahmin settlements (brahmana graamams, ബ്രാഹ്മണഗ്രാമം).

Stone axes from the Neolithic Age have been reported from Tiruvalla.^[5] Ptolemy mentions the Baris river, the present "Pamba" river near the city.^[6]

Tiruvalla was also an important commercial centre with the Niranam port, which is described by Pliny as "Nelcynda".^[7] In this light, the "Bacare" could have been modern "Purakkad". The fact that modern western Tiruvalla contains the coastal kind of sand, and several sea shells in the soil despite being land-locked, is evidence that prior to the reclamation of Kuttanad from sea, Niranam and the whole western Tiruvalla could have been a coastal area.^[4]

Growth to the feudal period

Up to the beginning of the 10th century CE, Ays were the dominant powers in Kerala. The Ay kings ruled from Tiruvalla in North to Nagercoil in South. Ptolemy mentions this as from Baris (Pamba river) to Cape Comorin "Aioi" (Kanyakumari).^[6] From the 12th century there are copper plates, voluminous records of the social life around the temple of Tiruvalla.^[6] The Tiruvalla temple had a large Vedic learning school (comparable to a university), "Tiruvalla salai", which was one of the foremost learning centres in Kerala.^[8] The Tiruvalla salai was one of the richest among the Vedic schools of Kerala, and according to the copper plates the pupils of the school were fed with 350 nazhis of paddy every day,^[8] which shows the large size of the student population. Tiruvalla held an eminent position among the spiritual and educational centres in ancient times. The Sri Vallabha Temple was one of the wealthiest temples of ancient Kerala, as is evident from the inscriptions in the plates. The part of the temple land required to 'feed the Brahmins' required 2.1 million litres of rice seeds, and the "maintenance of the eternal lamps" required more than 340,000 litres of paddy seed capacity.^[9] Due to the length, the antiquity and the nature of the language of the Tiruvalla copper plates, they form the "First book in Malayalam", according to Elamkulam.^[10]

Significant contributions to the language and social system came out in this age. The first people to translate Ramayana into (a precursor or relative of) Malayalam were the Niranam poets (Kannassas) who lived in Tiruvalla Niranam in 14th century CE. The Namboothiris enjoyed a very exalted status in this period, and Tiruvalla was one of the great settlements, wealthy and educated in the age.

Medieval period

Tiruvalla copper plates

The rulers of Tiruvalla now belonged to the Thekkumkoor Dynasty, which had one of its headquarters at Idathil near Kaavil Temple. Idathil (Vempolinadu Edathil Karthavu)^[11] was the family name of the Thekkumkoor kings. Today's Paliakara Palace is a branch of Lakshmipuram Palace of Changanacherry, which is a branch of Alikottu Kovilakam of Pazhancherry in Malabar. Similarly, Nedumpuram Palace is a branch of Mavelikkara Palace is an heir to the Kolathiri tradition of Udayamangalam. The Thekkumkoor kings lost their control in the course of time, and Vilakkili (വിലക്കിലി) Nampoothiris were rulers in 1752-53 when Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, seized the city in a bloody battle in which its ruler was killed according to some accounts; others say the surrender was peaceful as the Namboothiris were not naive enough to challenge the mighty army of Ramayyan, the shrewd and sadistic head of Travancore's administration.^[4] The ruins of Vilakkili illam can be seen on the side of Kavmbhagom-Muthoor road.

The Kaavil market, which is no longer in existence, was once one of the most famous markets of Kerala, involved in foreign trade. Even now, the houses in this street are known as "Kaavil" among residents, and the houses in the area which is now Pushpagiri-Thukalassery are known as "Malayil" because they are in an elevated area compared to Kaavil. The Kaavil market was actually situated in the street starting from Erankavu Temple to the Kaavil temple in the present Kavumbhagom. It was also the first settlement area of the early Christians in Tiruvalla. The renowned Poem "Unnuneeli Sandesham" discusses this then famous street and its people. This was the heartland of Tiruvalla up to the 19th century. (East to MC road was forest area. Dens were found in the KSRTC garage area, which are now buried.) The first school in Tiruvalla started sometime in mid 19th century in Kaavil market, along the road to Pallippalam. Still, major religious processions are required to pass through this way, even though new roads have been constructed in parallel.

Tiruvalla Christians were part of the autonomous Indian Syrian Church, which was not affected by the schism which occurred in the 17th century due to the intervention of Portuguese colonists. By 19th century, inspired by the work of the British missionaries, a reformation movement happened which eventually resulted in a schism, leading to the formation of Marthoma Church.

Modern period

Tiruvalla was never under direct British rule, and before India's independence from Britain, it was governed by the Travancore dynasty. The Tiruvalla municipality started functioning in 1919, with Shri M.K. Kesavan Nair as the first Chairman of the Municipal Council. The constitution was officially approved on 8 October 1920. The municipal office has established several public health facilities, libraries and sports facilities.

References