4. Political Dimensions in Annadatri-carita

Even though Annadatri-carita is a minor drama, it contains some political significances of the period. It can be undoubtedly assert that this drama is a royalist work admiring the Travancore kingship. The author depicted the story of Udayavarmakulashekhara, an ancestor of the contemporary king Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma. Not only that, the author influenced by the story about the Cera king Utiyan Ceralatan and the personality of Chittirathirunal Balramavarma and he connected both the kings with a thread of ancestry of Travancore kingship. The interesting fact is that, the Venatu kings were originally the Samanta Kings of the Kulashekharas of the Mahodayapura who were belongs to the second Ceras.

Utiyan Ceralatan was belongs to the primitive Ceras and they had not any ancestral connection with the Travancore kings. In fact, the Venatu region was under the control of Ay Vels at the time of primitive Ceras. Here the author connected a primitive Cera period myth with the Travancore dynasty and also used the surname of “Kulashekhara”with it, which belongs to the second Cera dynasty. Actually the dramatist used a mysterious mixing of the history and myth of the Ceras with the history of Travancore dynasty. Hence, it is not an irrelevance if look, a glance at the history of Venatu and Travancore dynasty.

1. A brief history of Travancore dynasty

The long night^[1] of Kerala history after the Sangam period changed into a bright dawning approximately in the 800 C.E, with the establishment of the Second Ceras of Mahodayapuram. In the period of their governance, the king was addressed by the name of Perumal (Kulashekhara Perumal or Ceraman Perumal)^[2] and he was the top most link on the administrative chain. They were the only dynasty, which ruled the entire Kerala under a single governance system. For the easiness in administration, they divided the country into different domains and Venatu was the southernmost domain of the kingdom. It was consisted of the regions of Kollam, Kottarakkara and Chirayinkeezhu Taluks and some portions of Thiruvananthapuram-Nedumangadu Taluks of modern Kerala^[3] and the ruler of Venatu was a dependency of the Kulashekharas.

Till the beginning of the ninth century, the Thiruvananthapuram and its southern regions were under the reign of Ay kings. In the ninth century Venatu was a small territory located between the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. Kollam was its capital city.^[4] Even though it became an independent kingdom in the twelfth century after the decline of the Kulashekharas,still it was a branch of the Kizperrur Svarupa^[5] only. In the second half of the century, a branch of Ay kingdom capitalized on Trippappur and another branch of Atanturutt or Cirava was dissolved in the Venatu dynasty. After this merging of both dynasties, the King of Venatu was addressed in the name“Cirava Muppan” and the junior king was called as the “Trippappur Muppan”.

According to the believable historical evidences Ayyantikal Tiruvatikal was the first king of Venatu kingship. He had an evergreen position in the history of Kerala with the “Tarisappalli Copper plates (Ceppetu)”^[6] in the year CE 849 (the fifth year of Sthanuvarma Kulashekhara’s governance). With reference to the Mampilli Pattayam of 974 CE,^[7] Shrivallabhan Kotai was the next ruler of Venatu kingdom. He was succeeded by Govardhanamarttandan. He was documented as one of the witnesses of the Jewish Copper Plates^[8] of Bhaskara Ravivarma-I in 1000 CE Govardhanamarttandan might be helping the Bhaskara Ravivarma-I in a war against the Colas and probably his demise also occurred in this war.

The history of Venatu as an independent kingdom was started with the king Ramavarma Kulashekhara. He was documented as the establisher of Venatu dynasty. Moreover, the addition of the honorary name “Kulashekhara” of Mahodayapura Ceras with the Venatu kings also began with his name. The modern history of Travancore dynasty was started with enthrone of the Anizham Tirunal Marttandavarma in (1729-1758) and it extended up to the reign of Chittirathirunal Balaramavarma.

2. Chittirathirunal Balaramavarma

Chithiratirunal Balaramavarma(7/11/1912-19/07/1991) of Travancore dynasty had a remarkable identity in the Kerala history. He was the 54^th king of the Travancore Ceras and the final ruler of Travancore kingdom until 1949. After Indian Independence, he was appointed as the first and only Rajapramukh^[9] of the TravancoreCochin Union (1/07/1949-31/10/1956).In 1971, government of India stopped the “Privy purse”^[10] of royal families. Though he lost his ruling power, various contracts and other government legal documents signed by him existed with authenticity. Hence, he became only the “Titular king” of Travancore. The full name of Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma was Shri Padmanabhadasa Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma and his official name was Major General His Highness Sri Padmanabhadasa Vancipala Sir Balaramavarma Kulashekhara Manney Sultan Maharaja Rajaraja Bahadur, Shamsher Jang Maharaja of Travancore GCSI GCIE^[11]. He was the eldest son of Junior Queen Mulamtirunal Sethu Parvati Bai and Ravi Varma of Kilimanur Palace. Balaramvarma was the successor of Regent Queen Sethu Lakshmi Bai,^[12] who ruled after the demise of Moolamthirunal Rama Varma (4^th August 1885-7^th March 1924).

2.1 Popularity of Chittiratirunal

Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma had an enormous popularity among the common people of Travancore. His reign made a multidimensional progress in the country. He was the establisher of University of Travancore in 1937, which is nowadays known as University of Kerala. Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma invested fourty percentage of income for academic purposes. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, Travancore Public Transport Department now renamed as Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Pallivasal Hydroelectric Project, Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) were the major contributions by him. Divan C.P Ramaswami Iyyer established The State Bank of Travancore with the support of Chittira Tirunal Balaramavarma and hence the SBT documented the king as their founder in Kerala. Moreover these, he is still renowned for the famous Temple Entry Proclamation^[13] held in 12^th November1936.

2.3 Sethu Parvathi Bai

Mulam Tirunal Sethu Parvathi Bai (1896-1983), popularly known as “Amma Maharani” was the junior Queen of Travancore. She was the mother of Chithira Thirunal BalaramaVarma. In the year 1900 due to the absence of heirs,she wasadopted by Travancore royal family alongwith her elder maternal cousin Senior Queen Sethu Lakshmi Bayi(later Regent Queen of Travancore). Both of them were the grand-daughters of the renowned artist Raja Ravivarma of Kilimanur Kovilakam. She was a bold and rival woman in character.

She was the first Pro-Chancellor of University of Travancore (19371949), Life Member of Senate of Andhra University and Vice-Patron of Sri Mulam Club Trivandrum (1940-1983). Moreover, Sethu Parvathi Bai was a Veena artist and a promoter of Carnatic Music. She took an effort to unveil the creations of Svati Tirunal, the former ruler of Travancore into limelight.

Sethu Parvathi Bai was always keen to hold the supremacy of Travancore under the control of her son Chithira Thirunal. When her elder sister ruled Travancore as a Regent of Chithira Thirunal because he was a minor in age, she opposed that decision and worried about the domination of her son. Consequently this made a rift between the sisters. Sethu Parvathi Bai made plans to enthrone her son as the Travancore king. In order to this,she requested the help of C.P Ramaswami Aiyyer to retain the power of Chithira Thirunal BalaramaVarma. C.P Ramaswami arranged a meeting of Chithiratirunal Balaramavarma with Lord Wellington the Viceroy, at Shimla. As a result of this meeting, the Viceroy impressed by the characteristics, knowledge and politeness of the prince and he appointed Chithiratirunal Balaramavarma as the King of Travancore by stopping the Regency rule in the year 1931 and C.P Ramaswami Aiyyer appointed as the Legal and Constitutional Advisor of the king.

2.4. C.P Ramaswami Aiyyer

The history of Travancore is incomplete without referring Divan Sacivottama Sir Chetpat Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Aiyyer or in an abbreviate form Sir C.P. (12^th November 1879-26^th September 1966). He was a proficient lawyer by profession. Simultaneously he had an image of a hero and a villain in the history of Travancore. Even though he made many notable contributions for the progress of Travancore, he became more famous by his undemocratic activities. C.P Ramaswami Aiyyer was the brain behind the enthroning of ChithiraThirunal Balaramavarma (1931, Sptember1) by stopping the Regency rule of Sethu Lakshmi Bai. He appointed as the Legal and Constitutional Advisor of the king soon after the devolution. This was the starting of C.P’s epoch in Travancore. On 3 0^th October 1936, he started his career as the Divan of Travancore. The historic Temple Entry Proclamation was declared on 12^th November, 1936 which was the birthday of Divan. In August1942, he retired from the Divan post and joined as a member of Executive Council of Viceroy in Delhi. After two weeks he rejoined in the Divan post by resigning the Executive Council membership. As a result of Punnapra -Vayalar uprising^[14] he again resigned the Divan post; but as a result of the pressure from Travancore royal family he withdraw his resignation and rejoined in the post of Divan. In 1947, the disputable Independent Travancore declaration^[15] caused contradictories against the Divan and he faced a murder attempt in 25^th July 1947, also. After the official withdrawal of independent Travancore declaration by the king, on 14^th August 1947 C.P Ramaswami Iyyer officially resigned the Divan post and returned to his native place in Tamil Nadu.

After the resignation of C.P Ramaswami Iyyer from the Divan post, Chithirathirunal published a note on gazette admiring the contributions of Divan. In this note, he admired the actions made by the divan such as Temple Entry Proclamation, termination of the capital punishment, establishment of University and preservation of natural resources for the future use of the country. In this the king mentioned about his vigilance to gather and proper distribution of cereals would sufficient to defend a scared scarcity in the country.^[16] Probably, this avocation was the inspiration of Prof. K. Balarama Panicker to depict the role of Amatya’s vigilance in the provision of grains in the drama Annadatricarita.

3. Political Intentions

Even though Annadatri-carita is a simple royalist story it not innocent as it seems because, it includes some hidden political intentions. The period of this drama is in 1946 which was crucial time in the history of India. The Indians were just a step behind to the independence. The Travancore government faced the PunnapraVayalar uprising and independent Travancore declaration made the country restless and revolution inside the country.

3.1. Political Background of the Period (1946)

Though the drama Annadatricarita was performed soon after the temple entry proclamation by Chittirathirunal Balaramavarma, the book printed on 1946. In that year Travancore faced up some important political situations. The Punnapra–Vayalar uprising and independent Travancore concept made Travancore into a cynosure in a national level. The image of the king and Divan became fade and they lost their esteem among the citizens. The Annadatri-carita was obviously a tribute to the king, and there was a possibility that the publication of this tribute may a part of regain the lost image of the king and this fact was not a negligible one.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

After the Sangam period the historians are unable to explain about the history of Kerala in the sixth and seventh centuries. There are not any believable evidences to light on that time history. Therefore in the words of historians it was a “long night” in the Kerala history which continued by two centuries.

[2]:

A. SreedharaMenon, Kerala Charitram, (Kottayam: DC Books, 2011 December), 146.

[3]:

Ibid.,144.

[4]:

Ibid.,163.

[5]:

Idem.

[6]:

Tarisappalli Copper plates (Ceppetu) recorded the donation done by the Venatu ruler Ayyanatikal Tiruvatikal to a church in Kollam established by Mar Sapir Iso. It allows the ownership and its administration of a region to the Church. It says “i antil Venatu vazhunna Ayyanatikal Tiruvatiyumudyogasthanmarumprakritiyummanikiramavumancuvannavumpunnattalapat iyum kuti alociccukurakkeni Kollattulla Eshodathapirceyyicca Tarisappillikku Ayyanatikal Tiruvatikal kotuttavituperu.”

[7]:

Mampilli Plates was discovered from the Mampilli Matham at Keezhattingal near Attingal. It mentioned that the ruler ShrivallabhanKotai had a meeting with Adichan Umayamma of Tirukkalayapuram, members of the Chengannur temple administration committee at the Panammavil palace in Kollam. The meeting decided the administrative rules for the Ayirur temple and Chitturnata. it also mentioned about a man who donated land to the Chengannur Temple.

[8]:

Jewish Copper plates of Bhaskara Ravivarma-I was a royal charter issued by the king to a Jewish merchant Joseph Rabban (Yusuf Rabban/ Issuppu Irappan). It was a record of some grants and privileges allowed by the king to this merchant. The plate is in the form of old Malayalam using the Granthalipi. It mentioned about several kings from North and South Kerala who was witnessed this particular remarks.

[9]:

Rajapramukh was an administrative title in the independent India until 1956. It was equal to the rank of a Governor of a state in modern India.

[10]:

The Privy Purse was a payment allotted to ruling families of former princely states as per their agreement to first integrate with India in1947 after the independence, and later merged their states in 1949 whereby they lost all ruling rights. This system continued until the 26^th Amendment in 1971.

[11]:

This is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861^th CE. It includes three classes of members: Knight Grand Commander (GCSI), Knight Commander (KCSI) and Companion (CSI). This is the fifth most senior British order of chivalry following the Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Order of St. Patrick and Order of the Bath. The motto of the GCSI was Heaven’s Light Our Guide.

[12]:

Khri Padmanabha Sevini Vancirajyavardhini Puratamtirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bai (19241931) was the last Regent Ruler of Travancore. She took the charge of the country after the demise of Mulam Tirunal Ramavarma because his successor Chithirathirunal Balarama Varma was minor in age. She was the maternal cousin of Mulam Tirunal Sethu Parvatibai and the granddaughter of Raja Ravivarma, the renowned artist. The banning of mactation, vanishing of Devadasi system and the proclamation of permission to Dalit people to travel through the Vaikom Temple Road are the notable merits of her regency rule. Sethu Lakshmi Bai faced many bitter experiences from her sister Sethu Parvathi Bai in this period due to some problems regarding the reign of Travancore. In 1931 August 31 as per the order by the British Viceroy, she quit the reign to enthrone Chithirathirunal Balarama Varma as her successor. The book entitled The Ivory Throne by Manu S. Pillai, is an analysis of the history of Travancore, especially focused on the biography of Sethu Lakshmi Bai.

[13]:

The Temple Entry Proclamation was declared by Chithira Thirunal BalaramaVarma in 12^th November, 1936. This announcement abolished the ban of “low cast” or “Avarna” people from entering Hindu Temples in the Travancore dynasty. It is considered as a milestone in the history of Kerala. Nowadays, the Government of Kerala considered this date as a Social Reformation day.

[14]:

The Punnapra-Vayalar uprising (1946 October) was a communist uprising in the Travancore reign against the Diwan, C.P Ramaswami Iyyer and the government. As a result of this movement, approximately thousand more communists were killed by the army of Diwan.

[15]:

After independence the Travancore king Chittirathirunal Balaramavarma did not want to join the Indian Union and decided to continue as an independent reign. In 1946 June 11, Travancore Diwan C.P Ramaswami Iyyer announced the decision of independent Travancore declaration in a press meeting held on his official house Bhaktivilasa. According to this declaration from 1947 August 15, the Travancore would continue as an independent country and they were ready to co-operate with India and Pakistan in trade and other diplomatic relationships. This made many agitations in the country. After, many discussions and diplomatic movements Travancore accepted to join the Indian Union.

[16]:

“…………Ariyum bhakshyadhanyangalum arjjikkukayum vitanusaranam vitaranam ceyyukayum ceyyunnatil yathakalam addeham kaikkonta natapatikal oru pratisandhighattattil sambhavikkamenu bhayappettirunna kshamattenivaranam ceyyunnatinu paryaptamayirunnu.”—A. Sreedharamenon, Sir C.P Thiruvithamkur Charitrathil, (Kottayam, DC Books, 1999), 56.