Tag: study of kerala

Owners of devaswam land were called Ooralar . The rulers, Brahmins or the people of the temple did not directly cultivate in this land. They used to give the land for cultivation to middle men called, Karalar.

The Tarisappalli plate is written in the Vattezhuthu script which was prevalent in Kerala during the medieval period. From this document, we get the information about land donation to Tarisappali of Kollam town by the ruler of Venadu, Ayyanadikal Thiruvadikal during the fifth regnal year of Sthanu Ravi, the Perumal who controlled all Nadus of Kerala.

The positions of power that eventually developed in the Nadus after the Perumals were known as Naduvazhi Swaroopams. The Swaroopams were the ruling families with the right of self-rule and they followed matrilineal system of inheritance called Marumakkathayam.

In order to increase their power, the Nadus used to clash with one another and used to join forces against common enemies like the Portuguese and the Dutch. The Swaroopams had their own military. Arisippadijanam of Venadu, Padamalanayanmar of Kolathu Nadu and Lokaru of Nediyiruppu were such armies. By the second half of the 18th century the Sultans of Mysore, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan marched towards Kerala and led military campaigns which created frenzy among the Naduvazhis of northern Kerala. Thus, fearing the attack from Mysore Sultans many Naduvazhis and Desavazhis fled to Venadu.

Many kudis constituted the Ur. The chief of Ur was called Uralar.

The southernmost Nadu in medieval Kerala was Venad. The Nadus were under the Perumals who ruled Kerala with their capital at Mahodayapuram. All the 14 nadus from Kolathunadu in the north to the Venad in the south accepted the rule of the Perumals.

The nadus were the places where the people established their agricultural settlement and consisted of numerous kudis and Urs. The Kudis were the families of occupational groups engaged in agriculture. The chief of Kudi was Kudipathi.

The centralized rule of the Perumals came to an end by 12th century CE. The Nadus became independent. The positions of power that eventually developed in the Nadus were known as Naduvazhi Swaroopams. The Swaroopams were the ruling families with the right of self-rule and they followed matrilineal system of inheritance called Marumakkathayam.

The Nadus were under the Perumals who ruled Kerala with their capital at Mahodayapuram which is presently known as Kodungaloor. Rajasekharan, Sthanu Ravi, Kotakota Kerala Kesari, Adhithyan Kota, Ramakulasekharan were some Perumal rulers who ruled during 800-1122 CE with Mahodayapuram as their capital.

The Perumals had a centralised nature of administration. In the matters of administration the Perumals were assisted by Naluthali. Naluthali was a council of Brahmins.