1

CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................ 3-11

Chapter 1
Melting Jati Frontiers ................................................................ 12-25

Chapter 2
Enlightenment in Travancore ................................................... 26-45

Chapter 3
Emergence of Vernacular Press;
A Motive Force to Social Changes .......................................... 46-61

Chapter 4

Role of Missionaries and the Growth of

Western Education ...................................................................... 62-71

Chapter 5

A Comparative Study of the Social Condions of the Kerala

in the 19th Century with the Present Scenerio ...................... 72-83

Conclusion ............................................................................................ 84-87

Bibliography ....................................................................................... 88-104

Glossary ............................................................................................105-106
2
 3

THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF KERALA IN

THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO TRAVANCORE
PRINCELY STATE

Introduction

In the 19th century Kerala was not always what it is today. Kerala society was

not based on the priciples of social freedom and equality. Kerala witnessed a cultural

and ideological struggle against the hegemony of Brahmins. This struggle was due

to structural changes in the society and the consequent emergence of a new class,

the educated middle class .Although the upper caste Hindus and Christians were

mainly affected by this, the new community including the backward communities

like Ezhavas, was outside the purview of these changes. The attitude of the emerging

middle class towards traditional institutions, beliefs and social relations was quite

critical. While opposing the feudal values they favored the introduction of western

education. The result was the beginning of several reform movements during the

late 19th century and early 20th century.

 4

The Early Medieval history between 9th and 11th century is known as Dark

Age3.This period was one of the vibrant social and cultural transformation brought

about by the rising trend of Brahmin Settlements. In this period we can see Caste

system, Jenmi kudiyan system and Marumakathayam system.

The reform movement in Kerala were initiated and led by the middle class

under the influence of both traditional and western ideas. The reformers of Kerala

came mainly from an intermediate and lower caste background. Their caste

perspective was clear from the nature of the issues they espoused, mainly the

problems of the lower castes casteism, expensive and obscurantist social customs

and practices, education, temperance etc. As the position of women in matrilineal

castes and backward communities was comparatively better, the women’s

emancipation was a part of reform only among Nambutiris and the Muslims.

Religious and Social Practices

The Kerala society in the 19th century was steeped in religious superstition

and social obscurantism .The religious and social practices in Kerala can be divided

into two categories namely, elite culture and popular culture. While the religious

practices of elite culture were beset with superstition, rituals, idolatry, polytheism

and priesthood the religious beliefs and practices of popular culture were a mixture

1
M.G.S. Narayanan,Perumals of Kerala, Cosmo Books,Thrissur, 2013, p 383
 5

of magic with craft, divination and demonology2. The upper caste Hindus, especially

the Brahmans, exercised an overwhelming and delusive influence over the lower

castes. They possessed the right of consecration and interpretation of rituals. The

Brahmans had the exclusive right to reach religious doctrines, to officiate as priests,

and to do function as teachers. Other castes were debarred by religious edits enforced

by the Hindu state from taking to all forms of higher education.

Since the backward communities were not allowed to participate in the

institutionalized pattern of worship followed by the Brahmans, their religious beliefs

revolved around abominable practices like the worship of totems, guardian deities

and demons of destruction with delectable rites and abhorrent practices. Offerings

of fermented drinks and blood of cocks and goats, singing songs about female sex

organs and devil dancing were part of the rituals for the worship of spirits.

Social conditions were equally depressing during this age. The rites and

practices observed at the time of marriage, birth, death, poverty and pregnancy were

absolutely absurd and irrational. The most distressing factor, however, was caste.

The caste system then prevailing in Kerala was much more oppressive than that

prevailing in other parts of India. The practices of untouchability and

unapproachability and unsuitability militated against human dignity3. Government

2
P. Chandramohan, Popular Culture and Socio-Religious Reform:Narayana Guru and the Ezhavas of
Travancore. In studies in History,1987, pp 54-57
3
P.J. Cheriyan, Perspectives on Kerala History, Kerala Gazetteers, Govt of Kerala,1999, op cit, P 460.
 6

offices, schools and courts were not open to the lower castes. They were prohibited

from entering public roads, temples, palaces, etc. Thus the rules and regulations of

caste hampered social mobility, fostered social division and sapped individual

initiative.

The gap between the lower castes and the upper caste became more and more

widened as a result of the rigidity that emerged in the caste system during the medieval

Kerala. The lower castes like Pulayas, Parayas and Cheramar were subjected to

all kinds of persecutions and were destined to live like slaves of the upper people.

The growth of Jenmi system was one of the most important aspects of the medieval

Kerala society. Another peculiar system in Kerala was Marumakkathayam or

matrilineal law of inheritance. Although mainly among the Nairs, a large number of

Ezhavas,a few Nambuthiris of Payyanur and a few Muslim families in Mayyanad

and Paravur areas in South Kerala also followed matrilineal law of inheritance.

According to Marumakkathayam ,a system of inheritance and descend through the

female line, a man’s legal heirs were his sisters children.

Thus religious and social practices among the Hindus during the 19th century

were deeply entrenched in superstition and obscurantism. It was this cultural and

ideological environment that the movement initiated by different reformers had to

do with.
 7

The Renaissance

It was under the British colonial rule that a basic change took place in the life

of Kerala. It was a period of break from the continuity of the past. The colonial rule

shattered the old stubborn structure of economy. Though the production for local

consumption had been gradually giving way to the production for market, it was only

during the British rule that Kerala has been integrated to the world market. This

change deeply affected the feudal structure and subsequently the social and cultural

life.

The economy of colonial exploitation was one that hindered the development

of Kerala as a modern society which was lying shackled in the old feudal relations.

The colonial economic policy resisted the internal development of productive forces.

Actually the colonial rulers were making use of the external forms of the old structure

as a less expensive tool for exploitation. They made the kings the chieftains and the

landlords their servile mediators. As for the former ruling section they were given

back the formal status and privileges and as for the janmis they were made owners

of the land, in the modern sense, and all of them in return accepted the supremacy of

the British ultimately at the loss of the freedom of the people. Thus the colonial

rulers retained feudal disposition as a form devoid of content to make the exploitation

more smooth. Hence this period of feudal-colonial exploitation in which old customs

and faiths were used as ideological state apparatus to exploit the people with their

own consent, is the most complex one in the history of Kerala.

 8

The feudal colonial system which could only function by making use of old

forms for new purposes was naturally full of contradictions. On the one side the

growing market economy was uniting the people of Kerala into a national economy

despite their political and social fragmentation. On the other side the feudal-colonial

system and its administration were trying to perpetuate the political divisions and

social hierarchies. On the one side the process of alienating land as commodity was

gaining momentum and on the other side the clutches of feudal forms were being

accelerated. Thus the contradictions in this period, brought about by the irresistible

formation of new relations and new classes, and the resistance offered by the political

system, were complex.

The Kerala scene from the close of the eighteenth to the close of the nineteenth

century was that of the co-existence of change and changelessness. In those days

Kerala was connected with the modern world as part of the growing world market

but at the same time it was being shackled in the world of the past. It was a society in

which tribal, slave and feudal forms co-existed under colonial domination. The caste,

sub-caste system, untouchability, joint-family, serpent worship, devil worship, witch

craft, evil-eye, all these relics from the co-existing phases of history turned Kerala

a living museum under the colonial protection.

All the elements of feudalism which had been identified with the custom bound

human existence in the past now transformed completely into ideological tools of

the new Janmi-naduvazhi system, re-organized by the colonial rule. The caste,
 9

sub-caste system became a new oppressive apparatus which has been deprived of its

deep relations due to the transformation in the concept of the land ownership. Thus

the nineteenth century Kerala, though it had been connected with global system,

culturally remained bound up far back for centuries. For the resolution of these

extreme contradictions, Kerala had to make a giant leap from the remote past to the

modern present. The history of renaissance in Kerala which laid out the background

for the setting of modern Kerala is the story of this long leap.

So the cultural renaissance in Kerala was a complex and multifarious process

from the close of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century. The

motive force behind this process was the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggles

of the people corresponding to the class relations that took shape in different phases.

During the last years of the first World War, the development of the cultural

sphere, which was related with the renaissance of Kerala passed over to a new phase.

In this phase also social movement was determined and controlled by struggles against

the colonial and feudal systems. But certainly in this phase national movement in

Kerala was able to acquire a clear political nature apart from the social reform

movements.

Both the peasants and the middle class of that time became part of the national

political agitation which got momentum in all India level. In Travancore students

entered into political scene. Similarly, the political activities which was individually

started by Swadeshabhimani K. Ramakrishna Pillai obtained a social character in

 10

Travancore. In Malabar a situation came into being in which Congress Committees

and Tenancy Committees tried to work together. Thus the entrance of the middle

class into the political life of Kerala enabled the people of Kerala who were

leaderless after Velu Tampi and Pazhassi Raja to acquire political leadership through

the national movement.

But the political leaders who were expected to give leadership to the anti-feudal

agitations of the peasants kept aloof so that the colonial rulers are able to suppress

those peasant struggle. This kind of the withdrawal of the leadership strengthened

the hands of the British to subdue the peasant uprising branded as Moplah Rebellion

which began as an anti-feudal, anti-colonial movement but eventually came in the

grip of the religious fundamentalism. This was a set back for the growing democratic

movement which had acquired a clearer political identity than that of Travancore

and Kochi. Subsequent Vaikkom Satyagraha and Guruvayoor Satyagraha helped to

revitalize the Kerala politics.

Meanwhile, changes were occurring in the national movement and in the casteist

organizations. These changes determined the factors of Kerala politics and its cultural

atmosphere. A powerful broad-minded and revolutionary youth wing who were

unsubmissive to the conservative leadership emerged inside the Congress. Inside

the caste and communal organizations a new force of radical youth who challenged

the orthodox hierarchy within their own castes emerged who, began to see social

problems from a political angle. United political struggles developed between

 11

different castes, community groups in Travancore. The activities of T.K. Madhavan,

C. Kesavan and Kesari A. Balakrishna Pillai were the manifestations of new political

culture which broke through the boundaries of caste and creed.

In these circumstances, new streams of thought which were free from the

clutches of religion were formed. Thus apart from the caste-oriented communal

reform movements, there appeared powerful social-reform movements based upon

secular perspective and materialist outlook. Men like Sahodaran Ayyappan’s activities,

which were inspired by the Russian revolution and the socialist ideology, indicate

the changes in the intellectual atmosphere of the period.

 12

Chapter 1

MELTING JATI FRONTIERS

A study of the social and economic life and institutions of the people form an

integral part of the study of our culture. The 20th century witnessed the emergence

of a new social order in Kerala under the impact of diverse social, economic and

cultural influences by colonial agents1. Missionary endeavours, western education,

bureaucratic Government, allopathic medicinal practices, printing, etc functioned

as the agents of colonial modernity2. Before this period, the principles of social

freedom and equality as defined by the colonial masters did not form the basis of

the society of Kerala. However, the nineteenth century colonial intervention in the

princely State of Travancore resulted in the renaissance of the early twentieth century.

1
Colonialism was a psychological state. “………. colonialism cannot be identified with only economic gain
and political power. …. It represents a certain cultural continuity and carries certain cultural baggage”.
(Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy, Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism, Oxford University
Press, Delhi, twelfth Impression, 1998, pp 1&2.)
“India is often imagined to be the land of eternal religion, and Britain the land of modern secularity. In such
an imagination India appears to exist outside history, whereas Britain is understood as the agent of history.
…………… but capitalism in Britain could not develop without India”. (Peter Van Der Veer, Imperial
Encounters, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2001, pp 4 & 9) Here the term ‘colonial agent’ is used to denote the
various institutions such as missionaries, press, education, administrative institutions, architecture,
communication, transport, etc that penetrated into the native social life which accelerated the psychological
process of transforming the natives as the subjects of the Western modernity.
2
“Utilitarian’s were trying to define modernity in terms of utility and rationality, while evangelicals were
trying to define it in terms of Christian morality.” (Peter Van Der Veer, Imperial Encounters, op cit, p 7)
 13

In the societal terrain of the Hindu social order smriti laws had imposed several

restrictions over non-brahmanical jatis. Jati (caste) to then Kerala was the totemic

representation of the occupation of the jati specific. But the lower jatis were

eliminated from the temple centered Hindu social gatherings until the Renaissance

of the twentieth century. Thus the premises of temples were voluntarily opened to

all Hindus in the fourth decade of the twentieth century by the Hindu savarna (upper

caste) psyche. As a result of the labour of renaissance leaders and colonial

intervention through Christian missionaries, the restriction imposed over lower jati

students by the state education department got diluted long before the Temple Entry

Proclamation. Temple Entry Proclamation was the windfall of the culmination of

such a sweeping social undercurrent. In the early decades of the twentieth century

itself subaltern jati organizations opened educational institutions. The educational

status of the upper castes during early 20th century was as follows.

Literates in 1000

Males Females

Namboothiris 695 227

Tamil Brahmins 688 80

Kshathriyas 614 319

Ambalavasis 607 252

Nairs 425 118

(Source: Scale……..)3
3
C. Achuta Menon, The Cochin State Manuel, Kerala Gazetteers, Thiruvananthapuram, 1911, Rpt. 1995, p
383.
 14

The Caste and Varna

The varna system which was prevalent in all other Indian village societies had

never been in existence in Kerala in the same pattern. There are no such groups of

people in Kerala which include themselves perfectly in the four-fold division

of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra. If there is any section of people in

Kerala which fully satisfies the concepts of varna division, it is Brahmans.There is

not separate section of people in Kerala which practiced the varnas

of Kshatriya and Sudras. The gaps of these two varnas came to be filled by

the Nair castes. A section that functioned as the third caste Vaisya is totally absent

in Kerala. The absence of a trader caste in the Kerala model varna system is highly

significant against the background of the minute division of castes and sub-castes

for each minor occupation.

The most notable characteristic of the caste system in Kerala is the practice of

untouchability which figures even the upper castes as untouchables. Usually the

Brahmans elsewhere in India do not observe untouchability except towards castes

outside the varnas, yet in Kerala the Brahmans observe a form of untouchability

towards the caste even inside the varna system.

Another notable feature of caste system in Kerala is the observance of the

forms of untouchability prevalent among all the low castes including the lowest

ones. Since the consolidation of the agricultural village system, without any

fundamental change except the proliferation of sub-castes caused by the development

 15

of division of labour till the advent of the modern democratic struggle, this caste

mechanism functioned as a political structure. This mechanism was able to perform

different functions according to the different phases of history and thus could survive

the changes in history. If it once functioned as a political structure of an economic

base which combined the relations of slavery and feudalism, at another phase it

functioned as a clear evidence of the feudal-colonial exploitation.

According to Samuel Mateer “missionaries have done a lot for those who have

embraced Christianity in Travancore. They have risen not slowly but with marvelous

rapidity, as soon as the unnatural incubus of their superstitions was removed and the

light of the so-called intelligence and religion shed upon their hearts and upon their

path in life4.”

The credit of introducing western education which was deemed to be scientific,

secular and rational in Kerala goes to the Christian missionaries. The basic interest

of missionaries in establishing and spreading western schooling and education was

to spread Christianity and its noble ideals. The exciting socio-political situation

enabled them to accomplish their objective.5

4
Samuel Mateer, Native life in Travancore, J. Jetley Asia Educational Services, New Delhi, 1883, Rpt.1991,
p 312.
Ward and corner, Memories of a Survey of Travancore and Cochin State, Survey Generals Office, Travancore
Sircar, Trivandrum ,1863, p 140
M.S. Jayaprakash, A Study of the Ezhavas in Kerala, Gurukripa publications, Kollam, 1999, p 142.
Cover file No., 132 107, Education 1904, English Records, Government Secretariat, Trivandrum.
5
K.V. Eapen, Kerala Charithram, Kollett Publications,Kottayam ,1993, p 250.
P Palpu, The Thiyas of Travancore, 1941, Vivekodayam, June, July issue 1914, p 3
Proceedings of the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly, 1919, Government Secretariat, Trivandrum, p 3
 16

The upper jati Hindus denied the rights and privileges of lower jati Hindus

and the latter got themselves converted to Christianity or Islam until the Hindu

Renaissance of the twentieth century.6 Arnold Toynbee, in his Study of History, had

observed “the growing trend for such conversions in the pre-renaissance period in

several parts of India where there was a high proportion of lower castes and

untouchables.”

V. Nagam Aiya in his Travancore State Manual states that “It was during

the regency of the Rani Gouri Parvathy Bai that the English missionaries received

substantial help. Her Highness Rani permitted a few missionary gentlemen to live

permanently in her state and gave them liberal support7. In 1817 Gouri Parvathi Bai,

with the assistance of Diwan Col Munro, introduced a system of free and compulsory

education under state control. Primary schools were set up in all parts of the state

and children between the age of 5 and 10 were sent to school. The work of the

Christian missionaries and the spread of Western Education helped to bring about

radical social changes in Travancore. The special attention bestowed by the

missionaries on evangelical work among the backward classes in Hindu society and

the large number of conversions that took place to Christianity from among the

6
Cover file No. 1627 dated 3rd January 1893, English records, Kerala Government Secretariat, Trivandrum.
Proceedings of the Madras Government, Political Department, 11th September 1896, Association, Kerala
Charitram, Government Press, Ernakulam 1973, p 898
Samuel Mateer, The land of Charity, J.Jetley Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1870, P 344
7
V. Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual Vol I, Gazetteers Dept, 1999, p 475.
 17

ranks of lower castes served to highlight the evils in Hindu social organization and

to create an atmosphere in favour of radical religious and social reforms. They

received royal patronage in their endeavor was the paradox of the state of affair .The

threat of conversion of this kind compelled the Government to give some

considerations to the avarna jatis (lower castes).

Missionaries, especially those of the LMS, helped their converts to bring

cases to the court8. In 1907 a high caste member of the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly

insisted that missionaries were using accessibility to courts as well as education

and medical relief for the purpose of converting the Pulayas9. Nagam Aiya in his

manual published in 1906 stated that “There is no doubt that, as time goes on these

neglected classes will be completely absorbed into the Christian fold10”. But when

the Temple Entry Proclamation announced in 1936 which characterized as the

spiritual Magna Carta of Travancore during the period of Sir C.P., the lower castes

were able to gain access to all temples and their conditions improved.

Kumaran Asan, a well-known Malayalam poet and a member of the

Travancore Popular Assembly had incessantly demanded in throwing open

8
Gladstone has dealt with similar cases. See J.W. Gladstone , Protestant Christianity and Peoples Movement
in Kerala, A Study of Christian Mass Movement in Relation to Neo-Hindu Socio-Religious Movements in
Kerala 1850-1936, Seminary Publications, Trivandrum, 1984, pp 176-77
Cover File No. 132107, Education, 1904, English Records, Government Secretariat, Trivandrum.
9
SMPAP 3rd Meeting, 1907, P 111
10
Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual Vol II, Government Press, Trivandrum, 1906, P 116.
C.Kesavan, Jeevitha samaram , Kaumadi Publications, Trivandrum, 1955, p 110.
 18

Government schools to the children of the lower castes11. In 1904 Royal Government

of Travancore met the entire cost of primary education of backward communities.

Velu Pillai in his Travancore State Manual stated that “It was only in 1912 that the

restriction on the admission of Pulaya boys and girls into the Government schools

was officially removed12”. In 1930 there were about 3628 schools in Travancore in

which they admitted all children irrespective of caste and creed. The Government

schools and mission schools were filled by the lower castes, and the higher castes

were admitted to private schools13. The children of Christian Pulayars, Kuravars,

Vedars and other castes learnt in the mission schools14.

The Revival of Nairs

Another peculiar system in Kerala, especially amongst Nair Jati was

Marumakkathayam or the matrilineal law of inheritance. According to

Marumakkathayam, a system of inheritance and descent through the female line, a

man’s legal heirs were his sisters’ children. The State laws did not legitimize the

11
Kumaran Asan, the great poet of Modern Kerala belonged to Ezhava Community was subjected to humiliating
treatment by some of the members of the high castes. He heralded a new era in the writing of poetry. The
writing of Veena Poovu in 1907 was the beginning of Renaissance in Malayalam literature. He worked for
long as the General Secretary of the SNDP Yogam, (A Sreedhara Menon, Survey of Kerala History, S.
Viswanathan Printers and Publishers, Chennai, 1967 Rpt. 1999, P 331.
Ravindran T.K, Dr. Asan and Social Revolution, Kerala Historical Society, 1972, p XVII )
12
T.K.Velu Pillai, Travancore State Manual Vol III, Gazetteers Department, Thiruvananthapuram, 1969, p 736
13
L.A. Krishna Iyer, Social History of Kerala Vol II, Book Centre publications, Thiruvananthapuram, 1993, p
283.
14
Samuel Mateer, Native Life in Travancore, op cit, p 312
 19

husband or father as the guardian of wife and children15. The Nair Regulation of

1925 gave recognition to the right of the wife and children of the non-nair husband

over his private property16. The prestige which the caste Hindus enjoyed from the

size of their land holdings disappeared consequent to the breaking up of the joint

family and the increasing partition of the older tarawads.

A claim to the division of the joint family property was unheard of till the

passing of Marumakkathayam Act in 1939. With the division of property among

the Nambuthiris and Nairs, the individual shares of land became too small for

cultivation and were disposed of. It led to the disappearance of the large tarawads

(houses) and small families grew up. Many young men of the old tarawads left their

home in the wake of partition and went to urban areas where they came into contact

15
The Mushakavamsham, a Mahakavya in Sanskrit, composed about AD 1100 by Atula, the court poet of the
Mushaka King Srikanta, throws light on the transition from the patrilineal (Makkathayam) to the Matrilineal
(Marumakkathayam) system of inheritance in Kerala. According to Elamkulam Kunjanpillai,
Marumakkathayam started in Kerala as a part of the Chola-Chera war during the age of Perumals. Patriarchal
(patrilineal) System was followed by the Matriarchial(Matrilineal) System in Kerala. The Kshatriyas, the
Ambalavasis, the Samanthars, the Nairs, some of the Ezhavas, the Nanjinad Vellalas and some Muslims
followed this system. In the Marumakkathayam the household or tharawad in the Matriarchal society
was a joint family consisting of all the descendants of a common ancestor in the female line. The mother
and all her children, all grand children by the daughters, all her brothers and sisters and the descendants
of the sisters lived together in the same home sharing a common kitchen and enjoying all the property and
after her death, they shared her property in common with one another.
Prof. Elamkulam Kunjanpillai, Studies in Kerala History, N.B.S., Kottayam, 1970, p 292.
K. Damodaran, Keralacharithram, Prabhatham Printing and publishing company pvt. Ltd.,
Thiruvananthapuram, 1992, p 144
Adoor K.K. Ramachandran Nair, Kerala State Gazetteer, Rpt. Vol. 1, Kerala Gazetteers, Thiruvananthapuram,
1996 p 2
K.Sivasankaran Nair, Nieuhoff Kanda Keralam , Kerala Books and Publications Society, Cochin 1996, p 50
16
G. Krishanan Nadar, History of Kerala, Learners’ Book House, Kottayam, 1992, p 130.
Prof. K V Krishna Iyer, “New Light on old problems” in the History on the March , Kerala
History Association, Ernakulam, 1965, pp 31-32
K.P. Padmanabha Menon, History of Kerala, Vol III, Cochin Govt Press, Eranakulam, 1933, p 186
 20

with the new forces at work in society17. Later these joint families, under the colonial

influence, were turned down as nuclear families18.

The Joint-Family System

The joint family with various forms of polygamy and polyandry were prevalent

in Kerala till recently. Historians have arrived at different conjectures about the

reasons of the continued existence of this institutions till modern epoch in Kerala.

But among these it seems that the more scientific is that based on the studies of the

evolution of family by social scientists like Morgan and Engels. According to this

view the various forms of man-woman relationship in the joint-family systems in

Kerala are the different transitional forms from group marriage to pairing marriage.

The family system and succession of the Kerala Brahmans resist this

conjecture, according to the traditional beliefs. It is the racial interpretation of history

which forcefully identifies blood and culture as an inalienable unity and as a self-

evident natural truth contrary to the fact that blood heritage and cultural heritage are

of different levels and have got their own specific structures and history. If we

consider the structural specificities it becomes clear that all Brahmans in India belong

to the Aryan religion and culture, but racially they may not necessarily be so. Like

17
L.A. Krishna Iyer, Social History of Kerala, op cit, p 162
18
K.N. Ganesh, Keralathinte Innalakal, Samskarika Prasidheekarna Vakupu, Kerala Sarkar,
Thiruvananthapuram, 1990, p 236
P.J. Cheiran, Perspectives on Kerala History, Kerala Gazetteers, Trivandrum, Govt. of Kerala, p 458
 21

any other religion and culture Brahman religion and culture has nothing to do with

the blood of those who owe faith to it.

Following the racial interpretation it is believed that all the people belonging

to different castes in Kerala, except the primitive dwellers, had physically migrated

to Kerala in different times. If it is true the Christians and the Muslims in Kerala

also might be the direct descendants of those who came here with these religions.

In the case of Brahmans in Kerala it is indisputable that the bearers of the

Brahman religion and culture came into Kerala from outside. But as the racial

interpretation of history becomes unscientific the stake of blood heritage itself

disappears over which the scholars have hitherto been making disputes. Just as the

formation of the Brahman caste in the Kaveri delta, where there was an intellectual

group prior to the advent of the Brahman religion who could easily be transformed

into Brahmans under the village system, in Kerala from among the most advanced

tribal groups who came under the village system and Brahman religion, some adapted

themself as Brahman to meet the needs of religious dispensations. In these days

religion was not as spiritualistic in the sense as it is now and it worked as a direct

material force to co-ordinate a definite production relation. The section of the people

who had to take the role of the Brahmans here also had to study and safeguard the

secrecy of the Vedas. So they had to make themselves a group with a difference

while they shared the tribal traits of life in common with others who came under the

village system. The Kerala Brahmans thus acquired a dual cultural existence.
 22

All the institutions of the Namboodiri Brahman culture directly reflect or

suppress and ideologically represent this duality. The family system, the concept of

man-woman relationship, the forms of worship, the rituals and customs

of Namboodiris have got two faces: one that of the Brahman religion in general and

the other that of the tribal culture shared by all the caste Hindus in Kerala.

Though the Namboodiris accepted the concept of chastity and father-right to

make themselves as Brahmans in the strict ritualistic sense, they continued the old

form of joint family. In order to introduce father-right in family system the man-

woman relationship should be modified so as to enable the father to identify his own

offsprings from that of others. So the Namboodiris introduced strict monogamy

for the women. But the men-folk continued polygamy and participation in the

remnants of the group marriage system prevalent in the other castes. Thus the tribal

group who turned Brahman while living in polygamy and participating in the remnants

of group marriage system and continuing the joint-family system as before, they

became the priestly class like all other vedic Brahmans. The contradictions that

emerged from this duality have been found epitomized in certain institutions that

support the Namboodiri family system. The most important one is the ritual trial to

prove the chastity of Namboodiri women - smarthavicharam. The existence of this

unique institution itself tells much about the functional importance of chastity of

the Brahman woman then a moral concept cherished by the society. In a society

where polygamy and relics of group marriage system were the order of the day, it
 23

was natural that chastity had become an element to be safeguarded with such tedious

and prolonged rituals.

While the eldest son in the Namboodiri family was allowed to marry from his

own caste the younger ones were prohibited to do so. And according to the custom

the younger ones had to receive ascetic life and they had to consider the eldest

brother’s son as their own in principle to perform their funerary rituals. The

ghosha system of the Namboodiri women towards their husband’s brothers had been

considered as a very important custom failing which might even lead to a chastity

proving trial. This prohibition and understandings that prevailed inside

the Namboodiri joint family inevitably leads to the consideration of the emergence

of the Namboodiri family system. It may be suggested that the

Namboodiris emerged from a group of people who practiced fraternal polyandry

which is one form of group marriage system in the tribal society.

Thus the family system of Namboodiri being only a modified one among other

forms of joint-family system, it does not offer resistance to the conclusion that the

joint-family system prevalent in Kerala till recently was nothing but a manifestation

of different transitional forms.

The Matriarchal Joint-Family System

The matriarchal joint-family system is another institution peculiar to Kerala

which attracted wide attention due to its continuity despite the social changes. Among

the Nairs and among most of the caste Hindus except Namboodiris this system was
 24

prevalent till recently. As mentioned above according to a theory this system was a

re-introduction by Namboodiris in the medieval period among Nairs and other

castes supplanting their original patriarchal system. But whatever may be the

interpretation this theory of re-introduction or super-imposition cannot stand the

widely accepted scientific formulation regarding the evolution of family and

society.

If we take all the forms of joint family among all the caste Hindus, altogether

it becomes clear that they are nothing but definite articulations of a total system.

While comparing the different forms of joint- family system with one another the

determining structural factor which unites this forms as a total system gets emerged.

It is that of the pre-Aryan tribal group marriage system. Engels when he refers to the

marriage system of the Nairs in his famous book Origin of Family touches upon

this basic nature of the matriarchal joint family in Kerala.

But the apparent differences of all these family systems, ranging from that of

the Brahmans to the Nairs,are basically due to the levels of social stratification in

which they have been deployed by the division of labour set by the new mode of

production i.e., the plough agricultural economy. This means the difference in the

degree of adaptation of the group marriage system according to the difference of

the level might be behind the diversity of the joint-family system of the caste Hindus.

The Brahmans being at the highest in the hierarchy their family system had to adapt

the most and the Nairs being at the lowest had to adapt their’s the least.
 25

The above mentioned mode of adaptation and preservation which is peculiar to

the form of Kerala culture is not confined only to the realm of caste and kinship.

But this extends to the complex form of worship, rituals, art forms, superstitions

and popular customs. Form of worship in Kerala is an archive in which the combined

forms of Aryan and primitive styles are preserved at the various levels of their

evolution. Serpent worship and Kali cult in Kerala are two significant forms in this

respect, since the genealogy of which specifically reflect the evolution of cultural

form in Kerala through the process of adaptation, symbiosis and preservation.

 26

Chapter 2

ENLIGHTENMENT IN TRAVANCORE

In Kerala the religious awakening was piloted by Sri Chattambi

Swamikal (1854-1924), Ayyankali (1863 -1941), Swamy Vagbhadananda (1884

- 1939) and Sri Narayana Guru (1856-1928). Their revolutionary interpretation

of the Vedas and the Upanishads caused the basic changes in the outlook of

people 1

Chattambi Swamikal born in a Nair family at Kannanmula, Trivandrum

revolted against the existing social order in which the Brahmins enjoyed the

monopolistic position. Swamikal undertook a reinterpretation of Hindu beliefs

in such a way as to mould a religion which will give salvation to all and

destroy the caste system.2 He was aptly called ‘Vidyadhiraja’, and one of

his books ‘Vedadhikara Nirupanam’ challenged the monopoly of the

1
P.V. Velayudan Pillai, Navothana Samskaram Keralathil, International centre for Kerala studies, University
of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, 1998, p 45
2
Genevieve Lemercinier, Religion and ideology in Kerala (trans), Yolanda Rendal, 1983, pp 279-280.
 27

Brahmins in the study and practice of vedic knowledge and their domination

of the cultural and spiritual life of the age3 . Chattambi Swamikal worked in

close co-operation with Sri Narayana Guru in the common cause of Hindu

social and religious regeneration.

The resistance against the evils of caste had taken an organized form

on a rational foundation under the enlightening leadership of Sri Narayana

Guru, ‘the loftiest spiritual leader of Kerala’4 He was born in an Ezhava

family and was highly educated, even taking higher studies in Sanskrit. Through

meditation and concentration he developed and directed his intellectual urge

and spiritual quest for the alleviation of the sufferings of his fellowmen and

to create a new just society in Kerala.

Louise Ouwerkerk in his book No Elephants for the Maharaja described

that “he became a practical reformer, a great founder of institutions, and a

propagandist for a better way of life for the poor. His central inspiration

remained religious and was primarily concerned with the purification of

Hinduism, the abolition of superstition, evil practices and the abolition of

caste”.5

3.
Chattampi Swamikal followed the footsteps of Thunjat Ezhuthachen, famous poet in Malayalam, in claiming
for all persons the right to learn the Vedas. He asserted that never prevented the Sudra caste from learning
them. There are many instances of Sudras learning Vedas and promoting the study of Hindus Scriptures,
G. Krishnan Nadar, Histroy of Kerala op cit, p 267.
4
S.N. Sadasivan, Administration and Social Development in Kerala, Indian Institute of Public Administration,
New Delhi, 1988, p 72
5
Louise Ouwerkerk, No Elephants for the Maharaja, Manohar Publisher, New Delhi, 1994, p 54.
 28

Narayana Guru was the reformer who took the battle against Brahmin

hegemony to the masses through his consecration of a Sivalinga at

Aruvippuram in 1888. After Aruvippuram consecration he forbade the worship

of evil spirits and consecrated 64 more temples in different parts of

Kerala.6 His simple message of one caste, one religion and one God for man

was the result of his reinterpretation of Sankara’s Advaita (monism). In 1903

Sri Narayana Guru founded an association for the propagation of his

philosophy, the ‘Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam’ popularly known

as the SNDP Yogam. The role played by Guru for the revival of nationalism

among the people of Kerala was also noticeable7.

Guru’s consecration of mirror in the place of idol is the clear indication

of the recognition of Advaitam. Sri Narayana called upon the weak and the

subjugated to gain “strength through organization and freedom through

education.” He was a tower of strength behind the historic Vaikom

Satyagraha8. Sree Narayana Guru personally trained and motivated Kumaran

6
He wanted to intervene in the institutionalized pattern of upper caste worship, which was denied to the
backward communities and the practices like the worship of evil spirits with blood sacrifices of goats and
cocks. (P.J. Cherian, perspectives on Kerala History, Kerala gazetteers, Govt of Kerala, 1999, p 460)
T.K. Gangadharan, Evolution of Kerala History and Culture, Calicut University Central, Calicut, 1998, p
289.
7
S. Mohandas, Viswaguru, S.N. Club, Thiruvananthapuram, 1998, p 7.
8
Vaikom Satyagraha (1924) the biggest ever campaign organized by T.K. Madhavan for realizing the right of
the under-privileged to move through the public highways. A Sreedhara Menon, Survey of Kerala History,
op cit, p 315.
Nataraja Guru, the word of the Guru, Paico Pubishing House, Ernakulam, 1968, p 61.
 29

Asan. 9 Realizing that religious conversion was not a solution to the

strengthening of depressed classes, Kumaran Asan took the mission of social

liberation.10 By the time of his death the social revolution started by the Guru

had gathered great strength.

Ayyankali, a contemporary of Sri Narayana Guru devoted his life to the

encouragement of the most subjugated and depressed section of the society,

the Pulayas in Kerala. Ayyankali emerged as a saviour of the Pulayas and

other similar castes.

His main aim was to make his men self-respected and self-confident

individuals. In 1893 he challenged the restriction imposed on the Pulayas to

travel through the public road by travelling in a luxury bullock cart (villuvandi)

through the public road in Trivandrum.11 His subsequent endeavor was to

get admission for the Pulayas in Government schools. He warned “If you

do not allow our children to study, weeds will grow in your fields”12 Ayyankali

advocated free and compulsory education. He also demanded facilities for

9
Kumaran Asan’s immortal contributions ‘Chandalabhikshuki’ (untouchable Nun) and ‘Duravastha’
(miserable plight) have epitomized a power philosophy for a major social transformation in Kerala.
S.N.Sadasivan, Administration and Social Development in Kerala, Indian Institute of Public Administration,
New Delhi, 1988, p 74
Sathya Bai Sivadas and P. Prabhakara Rao, Narayana Guru The Social Philospher of Kerala, Bharatiya
Vidhya Bhavan, 2002, p 123
10
K. Jayaprasad, Kerathile Hindu Samooham Neridunna velluvilikal , Ayodhya printers, Kochi, 2004, p
117
11
Rosamma Mathew, Making of Modern Kerala, Learners Digital Publishers Kottayam, 2010, p 83
12
The Hindu, March 30th, 1930. Mumbai.
 30

peasants and workers.13 Thanks to his earnest efforts, the Government granted

the Pulaya Community free education, employment in Government service,

housing facilities etc.14

The improvements in education not only influenced the upper caste

Hindus or Christians but also the backward communities like Ilavas and

Pulayas. While the percentage of literacy of Pulayas and Ilavas were 0.09

and 1.57 respectively in 1891, it arose to 17 and 46.5 percent respectively in

1941.15 These reforms made the Pulayas to form a new organization for

their boost up.

In 1905 Ayyankali founded an organization called the Sadhu Jana

Paripalana Sangham in the line of SNDP Yogam for the social emancipation

of the Pulaya community. The Government appointed him as representative

of the lower castes in the Travancore Legislative Assembly in December

1911.

Vagbhadananda was one of the stalwarts of social and religious reform

movement in the early decades of 20th century. He was against the social

evils prevalent in society and his aim in life was relentless struggle against

unrighteousness, ignorance and idolatry. He was a member of the

13
T.H.P. Chentharassery, Ayyankali, Thiruvanathapuram, 1989, pp 37-44.
14
P.Govindha Pillai, Kerala Navodhanam Moonnam Sanchika Yugasanthathikal Yugasilpikal, Chintha
Publishers, Thiruvananthapuram, 2009, p 75
15
Census of Travancore Report,1941, p 162
 31

Theosophical Society16. He founded the Atma Vidya Sangham in 1917 with

his ideals of mutual understanding, mutual love, peace and co-operation.

The teachings of Vagbhadananda helped to strengthen the base of the

nationalist movement in Kerala.

Brahmananda Sivayogi was the founder of the Sidhasramam at Alathur

in Palaghat district. He condemned caste barriers, penance, pilgrimages, idol

worship etc. practised by the Hindus. He laid stress on non-violence, peace,

acquisition of knowledge (Jnana), social equality, happiness etc. as being

essential for the welfare of mankind.

Vagbhatananda Gurudeva (1885-1939) born at Vayalore village near

Koothuparampu in North Malabar, played a deceisive role in the social reform

movement in modern Kerala. He founded the 'Atma Vidya Sangham' in

1917 in order to propagate his teachings of mutual understanding, mutual

love, peace and co-operation. He published a monthly called 'Abhinava

Keralam' to popularize his ideals. In 1920 he published a daily

'Atmavidyakahalam'. He denounced caste barriers and idol worship and

exhorted his followers to adjure such practices.

16
The Society was founded by Madame H.P. Blavastky and Colonel M.S. Olcott in the United States in 1875.
In 1886 the headquarters of the society was shifted to India at Adyar, an outskirt of Madras. The Society
from the very start allied itself to the Hindu revival movement. Swamy Dayananda had united both the
leaders to visit India. It was Mrs.Annie Besent an Irish lady who came to India in 1883 became the moving
figure behind the society. It was a movement which helped the Indian society to recover their self confidence
and get rid of social evils. (R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Ray Chaudhari, Kalikinkar Datta, An Advanced History of
India, Macmillan India Ltd, 1946 Rpt. 2001, p 876).
 32

Vaikunta Swami (also known as Muthukutti Swami) was born at Thoppil

in the present Kanyakumari district. A man of progressive social outlook, he

founded in 1836 an organisation called "Samatva Samajam" in order to fight

for the redressal of the grievances of the Avarnas as well as against the

shortcomings and lapses in the state administration. The swamikal severely

criticized the Brahmins and the temple maintained by them. He advised the

people to give up expensive rituals and ceremonies in temples. He wanted

the low caste people to come out of the superstitious practices. He advised

them against devil worship and animal sacrifice. Thus swamikal was considered

as a saviour by low caste people.

One of the most important of the Muslim social reformers was Vakkam

Abdul Khadir Maulavi. He exhorted the Muslims to discard all un-Islamic

practices, to get English education in increasing numbers and to play an

active part in modern progressive movements. Abdual Khadir Maulavi also

popularised Arabic-Malayalam by publishing an Arabic-Malayalam monthly

called 'Al Islam'. The progress of the Muslim community of Kerala in the

educational and social fields is largely due to the pioneering work done by

the Maulavi Sahib.

Birth of Jati Organizations

The dawn of the modernizing spirit brought about perceivable changes

in all sections and communities of Kerala society. The rise of caste

 33

organizations in Kerala during the dawn of twentieth century was the centre

of the social reform movements. The most important of these organizations

were the ‘Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam’ (SNDP) and the ‘Nair

Service Society’ (NSS). The Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham started by

Ayyankali later transformed into a caste organisation called Pulayar Maha

Sabha.

In 1908 the Yogakshema movement was started by V.T. Bhattathirippad

for the modernization of the native Brahmins called Namboothiris. Though

the Namboothiris occupied an indisputable position in the social hierarchy

of Kerala they were also desired for a social change. The leaders of the

movement turned their attention to English education and emphasized the

need for the progressive marriage regulations and emancipation of

namboothiri women. The slogan of the Yogakshema Sabha in those days

was “Make Namboothiri a human being.”17

The Nairs were of course the most numerous and also most influential

of the caste Hindu groups. The Malayali sabha was founded in about 1884

with a view to encourage education, reform the matrilineal joint family system

17
In 1929 the social drama Adukkalayil Ninnu Arangathekku (from the kitchen to public life) was staged
depicting the life of young namboodiri widow who cannot remarry and the younger son who do not marry
namboodiri women of the head of a family.(A Balakrishnan Nair, The Government and Politics of Kerala,
Indira Publications, Thiruvanathapuram, 1994, p 10.)
P. Govindha Pillai, Kerala Navodhanam Munnam Sanchika Yuga Santhathiakl Yugasilpikal, op cit 211.
V.J. Varghese, Dr. N Vijaya Mohanan Pillai , Dr. Scaria Zacharia, Anjuru Varshathae Keralam Chila
Arivatayalangal, Current Books, Kottayam 1999, p 101.
 34

and to introduce land reforms. They also founded the Nair Service Society

in 1914.18 It was a young nair school teacher, actor and play writer, Mannath

Padmanabha Pillai formed the Nair Service Society, pledged to serve the

community as a whole and nair in particular. Achutha Warrior, in Kerala

Samskaram stated that the society played a large part in improving the

education of nairs by founding many schools and colleges.19

The Nair Service Society also brought a change in the laws regarding

marriage and inheritance. A prolonged agitation brought about the passing of

the Nair regulation Act of 1925 which permitted the break-up of the old joint

matriarchal family properties and deprived nephews of any claim to the

property of their uncles. It also made polygamy illegal. In addition, the

Muslims in Travancore also became considerably assertive. In 1915 a Muslim

association ‘Lejnathul Mohamadiya Sabha’ was formed in Alleppey.

Vakkom Abdul Qadir Maulavi was a great social and religious reformer.

Moulavi founded the ‘Muslim Mahajana Sabha’ in 1920, devoted itself for

the emancipation of the Muslim community. The Muslims were educationally

a backward class and naturally the Maulavi exhorted his Muslim brethren to

study English and play their legitimate role in the society.

18
Robbin Jeffrey, The Decline of Nair Dominance, Society and Politics in Travancore, op cit, pp 166-169
19
S. Achutha Warrior, Kerala Samskaram, Kerala State Institutes of Languages, Thiruvananthapuram, 2003,
p 204.
Dr. Samuel Nellimukal, Keralathile Samuhyka Parivarthanam, A study of Social History , K S Books,
Kottayam, 2003, p 434
 35

Thus the socio-religious reformers in Kerala realized the fact that religious

reform was an instrument through which changes could be introduced in

society, as religious beliefs and social practices were closely interlinked.

According to the Director, Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR),

P.J. Cherian the backwardness of society was due to the general ignorance

of the people. So the propagation of knowledge became a vital point in their

programme of reform.20 In Kerala, social reform movement was started by

castes, sub castes or religious groups. These caste organizations tried to

secure and establish their separate identity in the social structure. These

communal organizations reformed all the communities with regard to their

age old customs and conventions and their keen competition brought good

results.21

Struggle for Equality

The isolated and unorganized upheavals of the untouchables during the

last decades of the 19th century, turned into a massive struggle for social

justice. With the beginning of 20th century an able and educated leadership

arose; popular support from the savarnas increased, and effective action

that rocked the fortifications of the caste hierarchy were planned and executed.

The apex court of the princely state of Travancore in the early twentieth

20
P.J. Cherian, Perspectives on Kerala History, op cit, p 460.
21
Kurushethra Prakashan, Keralathinte Marunna Mughachaya, op cit, p 165.
 36

century issued a ruling that reads:”The right to enter a temple for purpose of

worship is a civil right”22. It denotes that the state as a whole is prepared for

thorough change. The state of affair was that no body from the lower castes

raised the question before the court.

Vaikom Satyagraha

Vaikom Satyagraha was recognized as the preliminary step towards the

events of opening the temples to the untouchables.23 A movement had set

on foot to demand admission of the certain sections of the people, the so

called “unapproachable” banned from approach into the public roads adjacent

to the famous temple at Vaikom. Conservative opposition was trotted out

with obstinate determination. The feeding of Brahmins inside the temple was

regarded as an important offering to the deity, and uninterrupted custom was

pleaded by those who opposed the movement. It was contended that if the

Avarnas were allowed to come into the approach roads the temple priests

would be polluted and the temple consequently defiled. The forward section

resolved to try the methods of ‘Satyagraha’ and several individuals, a large

number of whom being Nairs and other caste Hindus, organized a “Jatha” to

22
P.P.John , A digest of Travancore Law Cases 1090 – 1095 ME, Subobhini Press , Trivandrum, 1919, p 432
23
The Ezhavas and the Pulayas could not approach the higher castes nearer than sixteen and seventy two
feets respectively . The lower case people were not permitted to travel by the surrounding roads of the
famous Vikom temple. The Vaikom struggle of 1924 was conducted for the permission to all irespectives of
their castes. (T.K. Gangadharan, Evolution of Kerala History and Culture, op cit. p 301. Louise Ouwerkerk,
No elephants for the Maharaja, op cit, p 58.)
 37

lay their grievance before Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bai, the Regent of

Travancore.24

The immediate purpose of the Satyagraha was the opening of the roads

near the Vaikom temple in North Travancore to all avarnas of Hindu society.25

Vaikom Satyagraha was the realization of the revolution against social

disabilities, inequalities, etc. ushered in by enlightened Persons like Sree

Narayana Guru and it began to bear fruit thereupon.26

Several jati organizations in Kerala lent support to the Satyagraha

campaign and conducted intensive propaganda to awaken to savarna

psyche.27 Mannath Padmanabhan of the Nair Service Society collected 25000

signatures and led a Savarna Jatha from Vaikom to Trivandrum on foot.28

Dr. M.E Naidu organized another Jatha simultaneously from Nagarcoil to

Trivandrum for the same cause 29 . Mahatma Gandhiji said:”The anti-

untouchability campaign at Vaikom is providing an interesting study in

24
A Sreedhara Menon , Political History of Modern Kerala , S Viswanathan , Chennai , 1987, p 12
25
Koji Kawashima, Missionaries and a Hindu State Travancore 1858-1936, Oxford University press, New
Delhi, 1998, Rpt 2000, p176.
Sri Mulam Popular Assemply Report 16th session, p 107.
26
P.K.K. Menon, History of Freedom Movement in Kerala Vol II., 1885 – 1938. Regional Records, op cit, p
141.
27
Organisations like the Kerala Hindu Sabha, the Nair Service Society and the kshathriya Maha Sabha
favoured the satyagraha. The Nair Samajams did a remarkable job in propagating thje objectives of the
satyagraha. It was a matter o f happy surprise that the Yogakshema Sabha, the leading organisation of the
nambuthiris, passd resolutions, at their annual confrences, in favour of the opening of temples to the
avarnas. (The Epic of Travancore, Mahadeva Desai, Ahmedabad, 1937, p 11)
28
A.K. Gopalan, Kerala past and present, Lawrence and wishart, London, 1959, p 40.
29
A Sreedhara Menon, Political History of Modern Kerala, s Viswanathan, Chennai, 1987, p 12.
 38

Satyagraha and as it is being conducted in a calm spirit, it must prove of

great use for future workers along similar lines30….” “If you have faith in the

cause and the means and in God, the hot sun will be cool for you. Not a

minute not a grain of rice, not a scrap of paper, was to be wasted as they

belong to the nation31” Later Gandhiji met the Maharani, the regent and came

in to an agreement. According to the agreement the roads used by non-

Hindus around the temple were to be opened to the avarnas but those in the

Sanketham of the temple would continue to remain closed. Gandhiji called

the settlement ‘a bedrock of freedom’. The course of events in Vaikom led

to similar attempts in Suchindram and Thiruvarppu

Guruvayur Satyagraha

The famous Guruvayur Satyagraha is a memorable episode in the history

of the national movement. With the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi the Kerala

Provincial Congress Committee decided to begin Satyagraha before the

famous temple at Guruvayur from 1st November, 1931. It was a movement

for temple entry and abolition of untouchability. The Satyagraha began

accordingly under the leadership of Sri. K. Kelappan. The leaders other than

Kelappan were Mannath Padmanabhan, A.K. Gopalan and N.P. Damodaran.

30
N.K. Gandhi, Satyagraha (Non violent Resistance) p 77
31
Young India dated 19 March, 1925 Gandhiji’s speech at perunchilampu field at Vaikom (Correspondence
relating to Vikom Satyagrapha, Vol VI, Egng Records, Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram)
 39

Guruvayur began to attract the attention of all India. There were certain

untoward incidents during the early period of the Satyagraha. They served to

heighten the tension in the minds of the people who were in sympathy with

the movement. After the movement had run its course for about ten months,

Kelappan entered on a fast before the temple on September, 21, 1932. The

fast electrified the atmosphere. On October 2, 1932 Kelappan broke his fast

in response to Gandhiji’s wishes.32 There after a referendum was held among

the Hindus to find out their views on the question of temple entry. More than

77 percent of the Hindus expressed themselves in favour of temple entry.

The Guruvayur temple was thrown open to Harijans only in 1946. Though

the Satyagraha did not immediately result in the opening of the Guruvayur

temple to all Hindus, the movement helped to create a strong public opinion

in the country in favour of temple entry and abolition of untouchability.

After the Satyagraha, demands for the abolition of theendal

continued. In 1927 T.K. Madhavan 33 became General Secretary of the SNDP

Yogam and promoted Vaikom style Satyagrahas in other towns in Travancore.

The Guruvayur Satyagraha started from Nov.1931 K. Kelappan brought before

the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly a representation for the removal of

32
Prof. PC Menon and Adv. P K Harikumar, Vaikom Sathyagrapha Rekhakal, Dept. of Printing and Publishing,
Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, 2009, p 27.
33
. T.K. Madhavan was a prominent leader of the Ezhava Community and then editor of a Malayalam weekly
‘Deshabhimani’.
 40

untouchability and for the admission of all avarnas to temples. The

Satyagraha was started under the auspices of Kerala provincial congress in

order “to get the Guruvayur temple opened to all Hindus”.34One of the major

incidents connected with the Satyagraha was the assault of A.K. Gopalan on

December 26 by the opponents of the Satyagraha movement.35

The temple entry Satyagraha took a new turn on 13th September, 1932

when Gandhiji announced his decision to fast unto death in the context of

the decision of the Government to have separate electorates for the scheduled

castes in India. Mr. Kelappan, the Director of the Satyagraha at Guruvaur

Temple had impressed on the satyagrahis the importance of their mission36.

The high caste Hindus except the orthodox among them became favorable in

giving access to temples to all the low caste Hindus. On the advice of

Gandhiji the Satyagraha was withdrawn after ten months of struggle in

1932.Though both the Satyagraha had its ultimate object of temple entry, it

was realized only partially. The satyagrahys surrendered unconditionally,

attempts were made to get temples opened for the avarnas.

34
. P. Govindapilla, Kerala Navodhanam oru Marxist Veekshanam, Chintha Publishers, Trivandrum, 2003, p
121
35
. A. K. Gopalan Nambir, Captain of the Volunteers was surrounded near the temple by the reactioaris and was
beaten. This unwarranted action was much resented and the enraged members of the public removed the
fences put by the temple authories. (A Sreedhara Menon , A Survey of Kerala History, op cit. p 316
S. Achutha Warrior, Kerala Samskaram, op cit. p 187)
36
P.K.K. Menon , The History of Freedom Movement in Kerala Vol II , op cit, p 296
 41

Thus the Guruvayur Satyagraha marked the beginning of new epoch in

the realm of the Temple entry movement in Kerala. The hunger strike of

Kelappan opened the eyes of orthodox Hindus. Further Mannath

Padmanabhan, the Nair leader undertook a vigorous campaign in favour of

Temple entry and the abolition of untouchability in Travancore. He wondered

why the Government was against the reform though the Nambuthiri Brahmins

were in favour of it.

The most important fact that contributed to the great change in the

mentality of large number of savarnas was the impact of western ideas and

education. The educated people of India who demanded political equality

with their imperialist masters could not shut their eyes to the problem of

social inequality in their own land. One progressive step taken to solve the

problem of social inequality was to secure elementary civil right for the

depressed classes.37 These temple entry Satyagraha had its culmination in

the famous Temple entry proclamation of 1936 during the period of Sri Chitra

Thirunals.

Nivarthana Movement

The agitation known as Nivarthana (Abstention) Movement was started

37
P. Govindapillai , Kerala Navodhanam Oru Marxist Veekshanam , Deshabhimani Book House , Chintha
Publications, Trivandrum , 2003 , p136
 42

as a protest against the constitutional reforms of 1932.38 The Ezhavas, the

Muslims and a section of Christian community demanded that they should

be given representation in the Legislative of the state in proportion to their

numerical strength. The movement was bound to catch the interest of the

masses when public meetings were held in different parts of Travancore.

The Government tried to create a split within the united party consisting

of the Ezhavas, Christians and Muslims who called themselves abstentionists

and later on adopted a policy of repression.39 From the time of abstention

movement there has been retardation in the political modernization of Kerala.

With the passing of time, the caste political activities grew and seriously

affected the democratic development. Caste associations have now become

a way of public life. The Government resorted to repression to destroy the

movement. The leader of the movement, C.Keshavan was arrested on the

charge of treason and sentenced for two years imprisonment.

When the Government found it difficult to suppress the Abstention

movement it constituted a public service commission (PSC) to make sure

that backward communities are given reasonable representation in Government

38
Under the new scheme the seats in the State Legislature were entitled on pupulation basis. The Ezhavas,
the Muslims and a section of Christian community would get only a lesser number of seats, in the State
Legislature, while the Nairs being the largest body of tax payers would get more seats than what they really
deserved on the basis of their voting strength, (P. Govindapilla, Kerala Navodhanam oru Marxist
Veekshanam, Chintha Publishers, Trivandrum, 2003, p 136. A Sreedhara Menon , A Survey of Kerala
History , op cit , p 292)
39
P.K.K. Menon, The History of Freedom Movement in Kerala , op cit , p441
 43

services. The voting right was extended by relaxing the limit of the landed

property. Kesari Balakrishana Pillai characterized this movement as ‘ struggle

for civil equality’

A resolution was moved in the Legislative Council demanding the

opening of the temple roads to the Avarna Hindus. But it was thrown out by

a majority of twenty-two against twenty-one votes. A little after this Mahatma

Gandhi visited Vaikom in Meenam 1100(Ch.era-1924), interviewed several

orthodox Brahmins and others, and explained the movement as one which

was calculated to remove social injustice and to advance the cause of

humanity.40 Public opinion in the state was so favorable that the government

threw open the approach roads to the Avarnas. “I call it a bed-rock of

freedom”, said Mahatma Gandhi, “because the settlement is a document

between the people and the state constituting a big step in the direction of

liberty in one respect at least”.

Temple Entry Proclamation

The promulgation of the Temple Entry Proclamation was a reform of

far-reaching importance, not only to the teeming millions of Travancore but

a momentous act of emancipation and hope to the whole of India. The

Proclamation runs as follows:-”Profoundly convinced of the truth and validity

40
T.K Gangadharan, Evolution Of Kerala History and Culture,op cit. p301
 44

of our religion, believing that it is based on divine guidance and on all-

comprehending toleration, knowing that in its practice it has throughout the

centuries, adapted itself to the needs of changing times, solicitous that none

of our Hindu subjects should, by reason of birth or caste of community, be

denied the consolations and the solace of the Hindu faith.”41

His Highness the Maharaja had earlier in his reign commanded the

appointment of a committee to examine the question of Temple Entry for the

Avarnas, to find out the extent of the demand for reforms, to ascertain the

attitude of the Savarna castes, to examine the question in the light of the

Hindu scriptures and formulate proposals as to the lines on which the reform

might be effected. The committee expressed their considered opinion that a

Parishad of learned persons, well versed in the theory and practice of

Hinduism, should be summoned, and that the reform might be affected by

the ruler with their approval. They also suggested certain methods by which

the rigour of the custom excluding the Avarnas from the temple might be

softened. But the Maharaja did not believe in half measures. It was on the

eve of the Maharaja Sri Chitra Thirunals birth day in 1112(1936 A.D.) that

the edict was promulgated. The Proclamation was received throughout India

41
Krishna Chithanya , India the Land and the People , National Book Trust , New – Delhi 1972 , Rpt 1979 ,
p 57
 45

with delight and admiration. It was welcomed by the whole civilized world.

To the Hindus it was matter of pride and fresh hope. The repercussions of

the Proclamation were so great that the Christians and Muslims were equally

warm in giving it a hearty reception. The Proclamation was a unique occasion

in the history of India and especially of Hinduism. Gandhiji expressed the

hope that “all other Hindu Princes will follow the noble example set by this

far-off ancient Hindu State.” The Prime Minister of Madras described the

Proclamation as the “greatest religious reform in India after the time of Asoka”.

The Maharaja gave the biggest charity that any ruler could give to his subjects

in opening the doors to every class and creed.42

42
Mahadeva Desai, Epic of Travancore Navajivan Karyalaya, Ahmedabad, 1937, p 128
 46

Chapter 3

EMERGENCE OF VERNACULAR PRESS;

A MOTIVE FORCE TO SOCIAL CHANGES

The newspapers and periodicals of Kerala had played an equally

important role in serving the cause of social transformation. In the field of

publication, particularly of newspapers, the church has played a constructive

role.1 Apart from formal English education, the press functioned as another

media of popular education and influenced in bringing social changes.

Through these, the ideas of democracy and freedom began to permeate among

the members of the middle class and gradually among the masses. In fact to

a very large extent the press had contributed a great stir in the social, political

and economic life of Travancore. The leaders of the popular movement in

the early days belonged the devoted press; they could not have easily swayed

the masses or imparted political education to them. Malayalam Journalism

had reached a high standard in Travancore in the 19th century.2 At that time

1
Kurushethra Prakashan, Keralathinite Marunna Mughachaya, op cit, p 165
 47

the newspapers did not deal with problems of political interest so much as

those of social and literary interest.

The press which has played a major role in the modernization of

Kerala, was a strong device of information, instruction and propaganda. It

mobilises public opinion on problems of varied nature. It was the Portuguese

who introduced the first printing press in vernacular languages at Quilon and

Vaipinkotta, a suburb of Kochi. In the early stages the press was concerned

with propaganda of Christianity among the illiterate and downtrodden people

of the country. The first newspaper in Malayalam, ‘Rajyasamaharam ’was

published in 1847 from Thellicherry by the Basel Mission under Dr.Herman

Gundert. It gave emphasise to religion. In October 1847 Gundert started

another publication called Paschimodayam. Like its predecessor The

Paschimodayam, too was cyclostyled but it carried articles on geography,

history, natural science and astrology and it had a formal editor, Rev

Fr.Muller.

Journals and periodicals in Malayalam were first started by

missionaries; for propagating religion. Their contribution to the development

of Malayalam prose and journalism, however, has been considerable. The

first printed magazine in the Malayalam language - the Jnananikshepam was

2
Dr. Gundert started the Rajya Samaharam and Paschimodayam in 1847. They are the earliest of the
periodicals and newspapers to be published in Kerala.(A Sreedhara Menon, Cultural Heritage of Kerala,
D.C. Books, Kottayam 1978, rpt 2008, P-184.
A Sreedhara Menon, Kerala Charithrashilpikal, D.C. Books, Kottayam, 1988, Rpt. 2007, p 220).
 48

printed at the C.M.S. Press from Kottayam in 1821. Arch Deacon Koshy

and the Rev George Mathen were behind this new publication which served

alike the cause of propagation of religion and the dissemination of knowledge.

Another periodical was the Vidyasamgraham brought out under the auspices

of the Kottayam College.

Beginning of Newspapers

The first newspaper to be published from Kerala was in the English

language entitled the Western Star .Charles Lawson, who had left England

after completing his studies, took over as the Paper’s editor. Four years

later in 1864 a Malayalam edition of the Western Star started publication from

Cochin under the banner Paschimataraka. Yet another paper,

the Keralapataka, made its appearance from Cochin in 1870. In course of

time these two publications merged to form thePaschimataraka-

Keralapataka.

In 1867 two papers were started from Kottayam. One was in

Malayalam titled Santishtavadi; the other the Travancore Herald, was in

English. Both were printed from the C.M.S. Press. The Santishtavadi was

against the Travancore Government which ordered its closure. Thus, quite

unwittingly, the Santishtavadi created history in Malayalam journalism by

becoming the first martyr to the cause of freedom of the press.

 49

The next in the line of Malayalam papers was the

Satyanadakahalam which started publication modestly as a fortnightly in

1876. An Italian Carmelite Rev.Fr.Candidus designated as its first editor.

This fortnightly featured a wide range of topics from international affairs to

local news. Later its name was changed to Satyanadam. From 1900 it was

issued thrice a month. In 1926 the Satyanadom joined the early ranks of

‘illustrated weeklies’. Later it merged with the Kerala Times.

Keralamithram

The Keralamitram can be hailed as the first “newspaper” in the

Malayalam language. In the initial stages, the paper was issued thrice a month;

later on it was published as a weekly. Due weight was also given for language

and literature, criticism and articles on general topics of public welfare.

The Keralamitram was fortunate in that it had as its first editor was none

other than Kandathil Varghese Mappilai who, later founded the Malayala

Manorama.

Growth of Journalism in Malabar

The development and growth of journalism in the Malabar area was

more or less similar in nature. A English weekly entitled the West Coast

Spectator started publication in 1879 from Kozhikode. It was edited by an

 50

Englishman, Dr.Keys. In later years the weekly was renamed as the Malabar

Spectator and was quite popular. Another significant development was the

publication of the Keralapatrika weekly from Kozhikode. The idea of a

weekly was conceived by Chengulathu Kunhirama Menon, possibly after

attending a conference of the Indian National Association held at Calcutta in

1884. The Keralapatrika was essentially a pace-setter in Malayalam

journalism. To him freedom of speech and expression was a sacrosanct

article of faith. It is recorded that the Maharaja of Travancore was so

impressed by the crusading spirit of the Keralapatrika that he subscribed

for 200 copies for distribution among the officials of his administration.

Chengulathu Kunhirama Menon is sometimes called the, “father of Malayalam

Journalism”.

The Spectator Press of Kozhikode came out in 1886 with a Malayalam

periodical entitled the “Kerala Sanchari”. It was edited by Vengayil Kunhiraman

Nayanar, otherwise well-known by his pen-name “Kesari”. The sharp humour

and witticism characteristics of the new periodical mark a turning point in

journalism. The Kerala Sanchari later on merged with his Mitavadi .

Journalism in Travancore

The year 1886 stands out in the history of Malayalam journalism, with

the publication of the Malayali from Thiruvananthapuram. This new

 51

periodicals was the official organ of the Malayalee Social Reforms League.

Raman Pillai Asan was the able editor of the new magazine. In due course his

mantle fell on C.V.Raman Pillai, yet another literary giant. Though the sheet

anchor of the “Malayali” was social reforms, it spear-headed the crusade for

political and civil rights with equal zest. For a short period in 1911 the

“Malayali” came out as a daily newspaper. The onslaught against the

government was escalated through its columns. A stage came when the

government threw caution and prohibited publication of the paper. The press

and offices were locked and sealed.The Malayali was re-started publication

from Thiruvananthapuram as a daily. Proprietary control of the paper then

passed on to the Nair Service Society and the centre of publication was

moved to Changanacherry. The Malayali ceased publication about a decade

ago.

The second oldest newspaper in Malayalm,the Deepika-was launched

from Kottayam in 1887 under the banner of Nasrani Deepika. Its periodicity

underwent a number of changes over the years to emerge finally in 1938 as a

full-fledged daily. This change in periodicity also coincided with an

abbreviation of its name to the present Deepika.

Malayala Manorama

The Malayala Manorama started publication from Kottayam in 1890,

initially as a weekly. Its first editor was Kandathil Varghese Mappilai who
 52

brought with him the rich experience of his previous association with

the Keralamitram of Cochin. The weekly was transited to a newspaper

quickly and the paper was converted into a daily in 1928. In many instances

the Malayala Manorama actually gave the lead to mass movements of the

period. The authorities were feared of the growing influence of

the Malayala Manorama. In a dramatic move the Government confiscated

the paper in September 1938 and the editor was sent to jail. Later it was

restarted in 1940.3

In 1892 Sujananandini was started from Kollam. Kandathil Varghese

Mappilai and others joined hands to launch the Bhashaposhini in 1897 as

the official organ of the Bhashaposhini Sabha. In the same year the publication

of Saraswathi from Tellicherry was started under the able editorship of

Moorkoth Kumaran.

Swadeshabhimani

Perhaps the one event of the pre 1914 period that deeply stirred

the feelings of the people of Kerala and roused their political consciousness

3
In 1888 the News paper Malayala Manorama was started at Kottayam by Mammen Mappilai. The social
renaissance of Kerala in the first half of the 20th century was characterised by the presence of K.C.
Mammen Mappilai, whose editorials generated a social ferment in Kerala for the well being of man(.P.K.
Menon, The History of Freedom Movement in Kerala Vol II., 1885-1938. op cit , p 582.
Polson Alengadan, Kandathil Varghese Mappila Biographical Studies, Kerala History Association, Cochin
1989, p 120.
 53

was the deportation of K.Ramakrishna Pillai, editor of

the Swadeshabhimani published from Thiruvananthapuram in 1905.4 He

drew his powerful pen to expose the true nature of the palace politics and the

corruption and favouritism rampant in the corridors of power. The Dewan,

P.Rajagopalachari, issued a royal proclamation on September 26, 1910,

deporting Ramakrishna Pillai from Travancore and confiscating his press

.The educated and politically conscious section of the people were against

at this high-handed and undemocratic measure. Ramakrishna Pillai was

thenceforth known and revered by the alias “Swadeshabhimani”.

Ramakrishna Pillai was the author of a biography on Karl Marx, the first one

to appear in any Indian language, and was hence a pioneer Indian to be

inspired by socialist consciousness.The “Swadeshabhimani” Ramakrishna

Pillai died in exile at Kannur in 1928.

The appearance of the Mitavadi from Tellicherry in 1907 marks

the next important milestone in the history of the press in Kerala. Moorkoth

Kumran, who had already tried his hand successfully at other journalistic

ventures,was its editor . Mahakavi Kumaran Asan’s famous poem, Veena

Poovu was first published in the Mitavadi. In 1913, C.K.Krishnan acquired

ownership of the paper and started publishing it as a magazine from

4
Kerala Charithram Vol. II, Kerala History Association, Ernakulam, 1974, p 791
 54

Kozhikode.The Mitavadi was in the fore-front of the movement for social

reforms and the uplift of the weaker sections of society.

Kerala Kaumudi

The origins of the Kerala Kaumudi, one among the leading newspapers

of present day Kerala, can be traced back to 1911. Its founder C.V.Kunhuraman

was a multi-faceted personality-a poet, a brilliant prose writer, historian,

journalist, and politician, all combined together. The paper initially started

publication from Mayyanad. Later, it was shifted to Kollam and then to

Thiruvananthapuram. It was converted into a full-fledged daily in 1940.

T.K.Madhavan who rose to prominence as general secretary of the S.N.D.P.

yogam started publication of the Desabhimani in 1915. The Deshabhimani

pacified the grievances, of the Ezhava community .Through the columns of

the Desabhimani he waged a relentless war against injustice, inequality and

untouchability and for the cause of independence. 5 The Desabhimani’s

contributions to the agitation for temple entry and to the non-co operation

movement were considerable.

5
C.V. Kunhiraman was the editor of the Kerala kaumudi and Malayalarajyam, was a man of deep
enlightenment and forceful logic was noted for his vigor of writing. He was also a poet, literary critic and
prose writer. (P.K. Menon, The History of Freedom Movement in Kerala Vol II., 1885-1938. Dept. of Cultural
Publication Govt of Kerala, Trivandrum, 2001, p 582.
 55

K.Ayyappan was yet another social reformer who wielded a powerful

pen and commanded a powerful vehicle of expression. He published

Sahodaran from Cherayi in 1917. In the movement for responsible

government, for temple entry and for inter-caste marriage the Sahodaran was

always in the fore-front. This periodical, which made substantial contribution

to the renaissance of Kerala, ceased publication in 1956. He was also

associated with two other publications-the Yuktivadi and the Stree. As a regular

columnist of the Mitavadi and the Kerala Kaumudi his writings helped to

create and mould enlightened public opinion.

The Samadarshi which commenced publication from

Thiruvananthapuram in 1918 was a powerful and popular vehicle of public

opinion. A.Balakrishna Pillai joined the paper in 1923 as editor. He paved his

attention on the corrupt and high-handed bureaucracy of Travancore. The

authorities were displeased and the owner of the paper was faced with

difficulties. The management of the paper was not prepared to invite official

displeasure and Balakrishna Pillai had to resign in 1926.

A.Balakrishana Pillai, who had earlier been eased out of editorial

responsibility of the Samadarshi, had in the meanwhile launched a new

periodical entitled Prabhodakan. Within six month of its appearance, this

periodical was banned by the government of Travancore. Balakrishna Pillai

now started the Kesari, later to become famous in the annuals of Malayalam
 56

journalism. The Kesari was shortlived. But its impact on public opinion and

on the development of Malayalam journalism was tremendous, and out of

proportion to its longevity. To Balakrishna Pillai the press was not only a

vehicle to project news; it was also a forum for educating the public by

disseminating knowledge and encouraging free thought and open discussion.

In keeping with this view the Kesari gave equal prominence to news and to

novels, short stories, book reviews and science notes in its columns. With

the “Kesari” banned, Balakrishna Pillai bid good-bye to his chosen

profession.

The Malayalarajyam made a triumphant entry into Malayalam

journalism in 1929. In fact it was the first Malayalam daily to go in for a

rotary press.The daily was edited by K.G. Sankar and a number of leading

writers of the day were persuaded to contribute regular columns. In a short

span of time, the Malayalarajyam became well-known as Kerala’s leading

nationalist daily.

Mathrubhumi

Kozhikode was then the publishing base of four Malayalam and three

English periodicals. The Mathrubhumi started in 1923, with K.P.Kesava

Menon as its editor. At the peak of the civil disobedience movement, in April
 57

1930, the Mathrubhumi started issuing as a daily. As practically it was the

only source of information for the people of Malabar about the developments

in the national movement and its circulation was gradually extended to the

remote villages. An article written by Sanjayan, the well-known humourist,

criticized the high-handedness of British army provoked the Madras

government and banned the daily altogether. A state-wide agitation ensued,

demanding withdrawal of the ban order. The government had no choice but

to withdraw the order. Nine years later in 1947 the Mathrubhumi had made a

triumphant re-entry .

Another significant Kozhikode-based paper of this period was

the Al-ameen which first started publication in 1924 and began issuing as a

daily in 1930. The paper was started by Mohammed Abdul Rahiman Sahib,

the Congress leader. The pro-nationalist stand of the paper infuriated the

authorities. On more than one occasions the Al-ameen was discontinued as

a result of action by the authorities.

The Prabhatham started publication from Shoranur with E.M.S.

Namboodiripad as its editor, was the organ of the newly-formed Congress

Socialist Party. Its license was suspended following, refusal to furnish security

to government consequent, on the publication of a poem on Bhagat Singh’s

martyrdom. The license was restored later. The paper was shifted to Kozhikode

in 1938, but did not survive for long.

 58

The Deenabandu was yet another paper which owed its origin to

the national struggle. It commenced publication as a weekly in 1941 from

Thrissur. The weekly was edited by V.R.Krishnan Ezhuthachan. It was one

of the first periodicals published from Cochin State which supported the

national movement. The Deenabandu had also to face stiff opposition at

the hands of the royal regime in Travancore. After a splendid innings spread

over 21 years the Deenabandu finally succumbed to financial difficulties

and ceased publication in 1962.

The decade preceding independence was a period of consolidation

and growth for the press in Kerala. Journalism was becoming increasingly

politically-oriented. The Chandrika, which started out in 1934 from

Thalassery was a weekly. This organ of the Muslim League blossomed into a

daily in 1939 and was shifted to Kozhikode. The Desabhimani, currently

the organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), began publication on a

modest scale from Kozhikode in 1942 as a weekly. It was converted into a

daily in 1946. The government of Madras banned the paper in 1948;

publication was resumed in 1951. Other publications are

the Desabhimani Weekly and the Chintha, a political weekly.

In the Travancore area the Communist Party started its own

publication, the Janayugam. From modest beginnings this party organ made

rapid strides. The Janayugam Weekly, the Cinerama fortnightly and the
 59

Balayugam monthly are other creditable sister publications. All these

publications terminated publication due to many reasons. Yet another organ,

the Navajeevan, was launched into existence from Thrissur, with Joseph

Mundassery as its editor. In the later sixties, the paper was shifted to

Kozhikode but did not survive for long.

The Powradhwani was yet another Kottayam-based paper started

in 1939 by K.M. Chacko. This daily was always in the struggle for responsible

government but later it stopped its publication in 1955.

The Keralabhushanam was launched from Kottayam in 1944 by

K.K.Kuruvilla.The Prabhatam started out as a weekly from Kollam in 1944,

was soon converted into a daily. The same year saw the birth of

the Express from Thrissur. The paper was edited by K.Krishnan and with its

pronounced nationalist and socialist views, gained extensive circulation in

Cochin State.

The Namboodiri Yogakshema Sabha sponsored two notable

publications, the Yogakshemam and the Unni Namboodiri. V.T.Bhatadiripad,

wielded his powerful pen to the cause of social reform. The Vivekodayam

was the official organ of the SNDP and was edited by Mahakavi Kumaran

Asan. The Atmavidyakahalam edited by Vagbhadananda Guru from

Kozhikode in the late thirties was yet another weekly noted for its sharp
 60

attacks against superstitions and conventions. It was also a powerful organ

of nationalist sentiment.

The following table is according to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010

Quarter 1

Rank Name of the Readership (in

daily lakh)

1 Malaya Manorama 124

2 Mathrubhumi 90.94

3 Deshabhimani 33.06

4 Kerala Kaumudi 13.04

The leaders of the popular movement in the early days belonged to the

devoted press; they could not have easily swayed the masses or imparted

political education to them. Malayalam Journalism had reached a high standard

in Travancore in the 19th century. At that time the newspapers did not deal

with problems of political interest so much as those of social and literary

interest.
 61

Political journalism however began from the days of such intellectuals

as Swadeshabhimani K. Ramakrishna Pillai, Kesari A Balakrishnapillai,

C.V.Kunjiraman and Mammen Mappilai of Travancore.6 In fact the part played

by newspapers and periodicals in the education of the masses is a major

one.

Thus the newspaper and periodicals of Kerala had played an equally

important role in serving the cause of social transformation. In the field of

publication, particularly of newspapers, the church has played a constructive

role. Apart from formal English education, the press functioned as another

media of popular education and influenced in bringing social changes.

Through these, the ideas of democracy and freedom began to permeate among

the members of the middle class and gradually among the masses. In fact to

a very large extent the press had contributed a great stir in the social, political

and economic life of Travancore.

6
A Sreedhara Menon , Cultural Heritage of Kerala , D.C. Books , Kottayam 1978, rpt 2008, p 184
 62

Chapter 4

ROLE OF MISSIONARIES AND THE

GROWTH OF WESTERN EDUCATION

Kerala stands first among the Indian states in the matter of literacy and

education. This is because of the enlightenment policy followed by the

Christian Missionaries and rulers. The growth of Western Education was

associated with the work of Christian Missionaries in Kerala. It was the

Protestant missionaries who took the initiative in this regard. Their aim was

to give western education to all the people irrespective of their caste.

A Prussion missionary namely Ringle Taube started several schools in

Nagarcoil and Trivandrum. In these schools free education was given to

lower caste and poor people. London Mission Society (LMS) and Church

Mission Society (CMS) were the two protestant missionary groups who

started western education in the begining of nineteenth century in Travancore.

Rev. Mead of the LMS devoted his whole energy for educational work. He

established several schools including industrial schools and encouraged female

 63

education. The C.M.S. missionaries started a grammar school in 1817 (later

become C.M.S. College) and a Seminary (now Pazhaya Seminary) at

Kottayam. The first girls school was started at Kottayam in 1821. It was

started by Mrs.Baily, Baker, and Fenn deserves a special mention in this

regard.

In the Cochin area the first school was started at Mattancherry by an

English Missionary Rev. J. Dawson in 1818 with the aid of a grant received

from the Government. In Malabar area the Basel Evengelical Mission

established a school at Kallayi in Calicut in 1848 and at Tellicherry in 1856.

After getting inspiration from Christian Missionaries the state government

also entered into the field of education. In 1817, Rani Gouri Parvati Bai, with

the help of her Diwan Col. Munro, started free and compulsory education

under state control. Primary Schools were set up in all parts of the state and

men with educational qualification were appointed as teachers and paid salaries

from state treasury.

It was Swati Tirunal who started the first English school at Trivandrum

in 1834 with Mr. J. Roberts of the CMS Mission, Nagercoil as Head Master.It

was known by the name “His Highness the Maharaja’s Free School”. In

1866 it was raised to the status of a college. The Trivandrum Maharaja’s

College and the Ernakulam Maharaja’s college were started in the year 1866

and 1875 respectively.

 64

Dr. Herman Gundert, the founder of the Basel Evangelical Mission in

Malabar was the government inspector of schools for Malabar. He compiled

the Malayalam dictionary. The Basel Mission started the ‘Brennen School’ at

Tellicherry in 1862. This school was later taken over by the government

and it was developed into the present ‘Brennen College’ of Tellicherry.

By the second half of the Nineteenth Century Western education got

widespread all over Kerala. Some of the important colleges are the Law

College Trivandrum (1874), the Ayurveda College, Trivandrum (1889), the

Sanskrit College, Trivandrum (1889), the Engineering College, Trivandrum

(1939), the Swati Tirunal Academy,( now college of music) (1939), the

Medical College Trivandrum (1951), the Agricultural College, Trivandrum

(1955) and the Veterinary College, Trichur (1955).

In 1937, the first university was set up at Travancore with its head quarters

at Trivandrum. After the birth of Kerala State in November 1, 1956, the

Travancore University was reorganised as the Kerala University with

jurisdiction all over the state. Then the University of Calicut, the Cochin

University of Science and Technology, the Kerala Agricultural University,

Trichur, the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, the Sree Sankaracharya

Sanskrit University, Kaladi and the Kannur University were established.

The Kerala Government under E.M.S.Namboothiripad introduced the

new education bill. The state government also encouraged professional and
 65

technical education in the state to make education more people friendly, and

to save the field from malpractices. . The Christian Churches, the Nair Service

Society, the Sri Narayana Trust and Muslim Educational Society have a chain

of colleges and schools in the state.

Though the Christian Missionaries were partly motived by religious

propagation, under government supervision education in Kerala has become

thoroughly seculared and also been modernized and diversified in recent

times and this also accelerated the pace of socio-economic change.

Thus the Colonial Missionary interventions played a crucial role in the

making of modern Kerala. Colonial interventions along with Evangelical

activities facilitated the transformation of feudal Kerala into a Modern state.

It facilitated the birth of socio - political consciousness among the people.

The role of the Christian missionaries in the spread of western education

and liberal ideas in Kerala occupies an important place in its history. Under

the liberal patronage of the local rulers Travancore and Cochin, several

Protestant Missions started work in the early decades of the 19th century.

Though the basic objective of the western schools was religious propaganda,

it had its impact on the social, economic, religious, political and cultural life

of Kerala. The western education transformed the perspectives of the people.

Western education gave a new status and resource to the lower and neglected

caste in Kerala for the first time. The missionary attempt to educate the lower
 66

caste induced the government to take necessary steps in this regard. The

native attempt to neutralize missionary activity and influence resulted in the

establishment of indigenously managed schools.

The Christian missionaries interventions in the field of education

facilitated the growth of a new social consciousness among the people of

Kerala. Women gradually came to the forefront. The most striking aspect

was the awakening of the lower caste people and their struggles against the

evils of the Hindu Society. Social reformers like Sree Narayana Guru,

Ayyankali, Chattambi Swamikal etc. brought about revolutionary changes in

the social life of the people. The lower classes were liberated from slavery

and they got freedom in the matters of dress. Even the upper castes like the

Brahamins and the Kshatriyas came within the fold of social reform and

advocated radical changes. Thus the western education acted as a powerful

catalyst for social change and helped in reducing the rigidity of caste system.

The colonialists introduced a series of reforms in administration and

society with a view to modernizing Kerala. From the very beginning the CMS

and LMS missionaries advocated the cause of the slaves and tried to create

public opinion in favour of their emancipation. Slavery in two native states,

Cochin and Travancore was abolished through the efforts of missionaries.

The missionaries took care to establish separate schools for the education

of slave children. The missionary activities forced the government to open

 67

schools for Harijan children. Thus the missionaries played a vital role in

awakening the marginalized sections of the society.

Due to missionary and colonial interventions significant changes marked

the system of inheritance and marriage. Owing to education and social

progress the joint family system, polygamy, Marumakkathayam and

Sambandam alliance etc. became outdated and the age old social systems

underwent radical changes.

The western education accelerated the intellectual growth and cultural

development of Kerala.Interestingly Malayalam language and literature made

remarkable progress during this period.

Another area that newly evolved under the missionary impact was

transport network system. It was mainly for commercial, religious and military

motives that a new road and rail transport system evolved during the period.

However, it served as a positive element in the making of modern Kerala

As the colonialists had to interact with the common man of Kerala, it

was essential for the foreigners to study about the life style and traditions of

Keralites. Hortus Malabaricus was a result of such a pioneering endeavor.

The Christian missionaries established medical missionary organizations and

played a vital role in the medical field.

In food, dress, habits, rationality, games, furniture, nature of dwelling

 68

and other major as well as minor aspects of general life, the natives began to

mimic the westerners. The missionary and colonial interventions facilitated a

cultural shift which served as a driving force in the making of modern Kerala.

Role of women in the 20th century

During the early 20th century women played a prominent part in public

life. The position of women in Travancore may be best described in the

authoritative words of Her Highness Maharani Sethu Parvati Bhai in her

presidential address to the tenth session of All India Women’s Conference

held at Trivandrum. “The woman is here recognized as the head of the family,

and succession is traced through her. No restriction on the holding and

disposition of property and no inequalities regarding education, social life

and cultural growth have hampered our sex. The equality of women with

men in the matter of political as well as property rights is today an established

fact. Female literacy in Travancore has attained a high standard.”1 That

standard continues to rise. In 1874-75 the total number of girls under instruction

in the schools was 1,019. In 1934-35 it was 269,444.2 The emergence of

political consciousness among women in Kerala from the late 19th century

up to the 1940’s is linked with the process of social reform, nationalism and

1
Her Highness Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bai’s presidential Address to the All India Women’s Conference.
2
While in the State of Mysore which spends nearly seven lakhs of rupees annually on female education the
number of females attending schools and colleges is only 66, 948.
 69

class struggle. It was with Vaikom Satyagraha that social reform movement

and the national movement entered a new phase in women’s participation in

struggles. Thus according to T.K. Velu Pillai “the women of Travancore

enjoy rights and privileges.”3

Economic Conditions

Kerala is a unique region compared to the rest of the country. In

education, health services, power resources, banking facilities and road

mileage, Kerala stands head and shoulders above the rest of the states in the

country.

Kerala is the most densely populated state in India and its rural territories

are perhaps the most thickly populated rural areas of the world. The growth

of population had its effect on the size of land-holding, choice of food habits

and employment opportunities. The problem of fragmentation of land was

aggravated by its uneven distribution among the various classes of the society.

This problem is more acute in Travancore-Cochin area than in the Malabar

region. The superior castes dominated in ownership of land. The Ezhavas

cultivated more land than they owned and this fact explained their support to

any land reform proposing to determine ownership of land on the basis of

actual cultivator.4

3
T.K. Velu Pillai, Travancore State Manual Vol I, Kerala Gazetteers Department, 1996, p 43
4
A Balakrishna Nair, The Government and Politics of Kerala, op cit, p16
 70

A good deal of business is transacted in the numerous markets distributed

throughout the state. Except rubber, tea and cardamom most of the articles

for export and for local consumption are brought to the markets to be sold.

The work of distribution is in the hands of middle men. 5

The important factor that has contributed to the evolution of a new

society in Kerala in recent decades is the emergence of the new economic

and professional classes and the increasing part they have come to play in

public life. The revolutionary economic and social changes that have taken

place in quick succession in recent decades have brought the new economic

and professional classes.

The disruption of the old joint family and Marumakkathayam of

inheritance, the eradication of untouchability, the spread of western education

and liberal ideas, the increasing entry of the lower classes into the public

services, the introduction of adult franchise, the progress of industrialization,

the decline in the power of the land owning classes, the rise of the new

peasant class with rights in the soil and above all, the disappearance of loyalty

have dealt a fatal blow to the old social order.6

At the same time the industrial workers, the business men, the Government

officials, the teachers, the lawyers, the doctors, the engineers and journalists

have taken the place of the members of the old caste ridden and landed

5
T.K. Velu Pillai, Travancore State Manual Vol I, op cit, p 62
6
A Sreedhara Menon, Cultural Heritage of Kerala, op cit, p 291
 71

aristocracy in Kerala.7 Thus a new and dynamic society is taking its place in

the 20th century Kerala. The historic Kerala Land Reform Act of 1969
abolished the Janmi system in Kerala. The land reforms also introduced
major changes in Travancore, Kochi and Malabar in the sense that they

conferred fixity of tenure, ensured permanent occupancy rights and reduced

the power of Janmis over their tenants. Majority of the tenants got permanent
occupancy. “Land reforms to a certain extent relieved the peasantry of their

sufferings from exploitation and helped to create an economy of small peasant

proprietors and tenants with substantial economic independence.”8

Missionary and colonial interventions also resulted in changes in Kerala

economy. The colonial interventions in the Kerala economy are generally

perceived as negative to the Malayalees. The main aim of these changes was
the economic exploitation of Kerala. The British destroyed the handicrafts
of Kerala and showed no interest in introducing modern technology in

agriculture. The British concentrated on spices and cash crops especially on

tea and rubber estates.

No doubt, western education enhanced the political consciousness of

all classes of people. The Colonial phase witnessed intellectually and

ideologically external interventions in the minds of Keralites. A civil society
was born and its ideological impulses had greatly contributed to the nationalist

movement in Kerala where the Gandhian influence was meager.

7
A Sreedhara Menon, A Survey of Kerala History, op cit, p 414
8
T.C. Varghese, Agrarian Change and Economic Consequences, Bombay, 1970, p 116
 72

Chapter 5

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE

SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE KERALA IN THE
19th CENTURY WITH THE PRESENT SCENERIO

The early decades of 20th century exhibited the beginning of powerful

social reform movements in Kerala. These movements had its impact on the

socio-religious status of the lower and upper strata. They started radical

social reform movements and social legislations in the Kerala society. The

Hindu reform movements under the leadership of Aryasamaj and

Ramakrishna Mission helped to create in the minds of the people an

awareness about the social evils like caste system, untouchability and

unapprochability.

As a part of the socio-economic movement, an agitation for the reform

of the laws of inheritance and marriage was started. The Kerala society

consisted of several castes like Nairs, Ezhavas, Mappilas, Vellalas, etc.

They followed the Marumakkathayam system of succession and inheritance1.

1
Rosamma Mathew & Sumi Roshia, Making of Modern kerala, learners Book House, Kottayam, 2010,
P124-128,
 73

A movement against this law of inheritance was started by the junior members

of the Marumakathayam families. They revolted against the autocratic powers

exercised by the Karnavar in the Taravad. This movement was started in

Travancore under the Nair Service Society. They got the support of all the

higher section of the community. In 1907, the Government of Travancore

appointed a committee to study the matters. A Bill was introduced in the

legislation by the Government and passed it into a law as the Nair Act of

1912. This was also known as the First Nair Act. The law granted permission

half of the self-acquired property of a male to his sons and other half to his

nephews. The second Nair Act was passed in 1925 and provided for the

individual partition of the Nair Taravads to the sons and deprived the claims

to the nephews on properties of their uncles. The Act also prohibited the

practice of polygamy. By these act, Marumakkathayam system came to an

end among the Hindu community.

In Kochi, legislation was passed to amend the law of inheritance and

marriage. The Kochi Nair Regulation of 1919-1920 imposed restrictions on

the powers of Karnavar and facilitated the partition of joint families. It

legalized customary marriages and it was declared that the wife and children

as being entitled to be looked after by the husband or the father. The Cochin

Nair Act of 1937 -1938 abolished the institution of joint families and

Marumakkathayam. The Act provided that every members of Taravadu

 74

could claim his share of properties of the Taravadu by demanding individual

partition. This Act prohibited the marriage of a female less than 16 years of

age and male less than 21 years of the age. It also prohibited the practice of

polygamy.

In Malabar area, the Madras Marumakkathayam Act of 1933 allowed

the partition of Tarawadu property and legalized inheritance from father to

son without the consent of the Karnavar, if the majority of the members

wanted partition. The Act was applicable to all the Hindus of Malabar,

including the Namboothiris of Payyannur Gramam. This Act was amended

in 1933 with a slight change in the Marumakkathayam system. By the Mappila

Marumakkathayam Act of 1933 right claimed for the partition of Taravadu

were conferred2. The repartitioned property acquired was governed by the

‘Shariat Law’. The shariat law was passed by the Central Legislative in 1937

and made applicable in 1949. By this the Muslims in Malabar who followed

Marumakkathayam came to be governed by the Patrilineal law of inheritance.

The Madras Nambuthiri Act of 1930 brought about changes in the Law

of Inheritance in Malabar. It provided that every member of an illam, whether

a male or a female had an equal share in the family property. The junior

members of the Nambuthiri families also got the right to marry within the

caste and thus the children of all junior members of an illam became the legal
2
Census of Travancore Report, p 162, 1941
 75

heirs to the property. The Hindu succession Act of 1956 provided a uniform

system of succession for all Hindus. This Act gives equal rights to men and

women with regard to inheritance of property. In 1975, the Kerala Joint Hindu

Family system Act was passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly. It has

ensured the disintegration of the Marumakkathayam System in the society.

In the field of labour legislation and welfare, the Government of India

passed several acts. It included the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, the

Minimum Wages Act of 1948, the Employees State Insurance Act of 1948

and the Employees Provident Fund Act of 1952. The State government of

Kerala passed several acts, mainly Kerala Maternity Benefit Act of 1957 and

the Kerala Industrial Establishment Act of 1957. The industrial labourers of

Kerala are the beneficiaries of these new schemes. All the people were benefited

by some progressive measures which included the Old Age Pension Scheme,

Pension for destitute widow, physically handicapped persons etc. As a part

of the social economy and educational legislation, the state has made the

primary education completely free and compulsory to achieve the ideal of

total literacy to the Keralites.

In 1812, Slavery was abolished in Travancore by a royal proclamation

issued by Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bhai. Some progressive social reform like the

abolition of the Devadasi System in the temples of South Travancore and the

primitive custom of ending animal sacrifices in temples were introduced by

Rani Setu Lakshmi Bhai.

 76

The’ Channar’ Rebellion was started by the Channar Nadar Community

of South Travancore for getting permission for the women of that community

to cover the upper part of their body like that of a higher caste women. But

no response was being received from the concerned authority in time. In

1859 Col.Munroe, the Diwan issued orders allowing the Channar women to

wear jacket .It was a revolutionary achievement in the social life of the people.

By social legislation, a new page of progressive reforms were started in the

history of Kerala.

EDUCATION

Kerala had the privilege of being the most literate province in the country

and experienced a continuous process of educational expansion. As

mentioned earlier, the Christian missionaries did the spade work in the field

of education. They were the pioneers of English and female education in

Kerala. The rulers of Kochi and Travancore also encouraged education. The

Governments of Travancore and Kochi started vernacular schools in their

respective states in 1817 and 1818. The motive behind the encouragement of

Malayalam education was the creation of a trade of clerk and accountants in

the various Government departments. The grant-in-aid scheme was introduced

by the Travancore Governments in 1868 – 1869 for encouraging private school.

In Kochi, the liberalised grant – in – aid scheme was introduced in 18903.

3
L.A. Krishna Iyer, Social History of Kerala Vol.ll,Book Centre Publications,TVM,1993, p 312
 77

The Basel missionaries started educational activities in Malabar from 1848

onwards. The Brennan school at Talassery Victoria College at Palakkad and

the Zamorins college at Kozhikode began as schools in 1862, 1866 and 1877

respectively. However compared to Kochi and Travancore in the latter

educational history was relatively uneventful. In Malabar, property relations,

internal, political and economic conditions and educational policy appeared

to be more hospitable to educational developments than other parts of Kerala.

In the field of education Kerala went ahead of all other provinces in the

country. However educational facilities were mainly restricted to the privileged

Savarnas of Hindus and Christians. As mentioned earlier, caste prejudices

kept backward communities away from Government schools. The orthodox

and prejudiced Mullas were themselves responsible for their educational

backwardness. Though Islam made education obligatory on every Muslim

both male and female, the Mullas held it as a sin to send their children,

particularly girls, to the school. Thus literacy was limited to the upper castes.

In 1891, the literacy rate of Ezhavas and Pulayas in Travancore were 1.5%

and 0.09% respectively. At the same time the literacy of Brahmins,

Ambalavasis and Nairs were respectively 27.13%, 16.35% and 11.12%. The

reformers who represented the backward communities such as Sree Narayana

Guru, Kumaran Asan, Ayyankali, Vakkom Abdul Khaddar Moulavi and many

of their followers opposed the practice of limiting the knowledge only to the

upper strata of the society. They were the privileged few of the middle class
 78

who were the main beneficiaries of modern education. According to them

the backwardness of the Indian Society, including religious superstitions and

social obscurantism was due to general ignorance of the people. So the

dissemination of knowledge became a vital point in their programme of

reformation. Sree Narayana Guru and Vakkom Abdul Khaddar Moulavi held

the view that education is a must to enlighten and awaken the masses against

oppression and exploitation. The newly emerged educated middle class among

the lower castes realized that the spread of education was essential for

overcoming their economic and social backwardness. They knew that those

who controlled educational opportunities also controlled the avenues of

economic and bureaucratic spheres. Thus education became the symbol of

power and privilege. Therefore their attempt was to ensure better facilities

for education. They petitioned the Government to open all public schools to

every caste and community and demanded better grants in aid schemes.

Ayyankali advocated free and compulsory education. He also demanded

educational facilities for peasants and workers.

Owing to such persistent pressure, the Governments of Travancore and

Kochi started separate schools for backward communities. In 1904 Travancore

Governments took up the entire cost of primary education of backward

communities. In 1911 restrictions on the admission of the Pulaya children to

departmental schools were removed. In 1928-29 all the special schools for
 79

backward communities were included in the general category. In 1945

Travancore government decided to make primary education compulsory. In

Kochi, the indigenous school systems functioned very well. Thus in 1921

there were two schools for every village in Kochi and Malabar which witnessed

considerable development, especially in the fields of higher education. SNDP,

Sadhuparipalana Sangha, Yogakshema Sabha and various Christian

organisations started educational institutions of their own. So education was

comparatively more widespread in Kerala than other States.

The Growth of Political Consciousness Among Women in Modern

Kerala

The emergence of political consciousness among women in Kerala from

the later 19th century up to the 1940 is inextricably linked with the process of

social reformation, nationalism and class struggles. However, its roots are to

be found in the structural changes in the economy due to colonialism and

land relations. The structural changes and political struggles were historically

interlinked, acting each upon the other, and these provide the contexts for

women in rising political consciousness and organised participation in

struggles.

Contemporary Kerala

Kerala is well known for its excellence in the fields of universal literacy,

gender equality, population control, social justice, economic equality, technical

 80

opportunities and so on. Its natural beauty and peaceful co-existence of

various religious groups separate us from other land. That is why Kerala is

known to the world as ‘God’s own country’. Our land has many specialties

and significances due to the introduction of many social, economic and

cultural reforms. In the religious field, there existed mutual understanding

and co-operation between various caste, creed and community. This in-turn

led to the origin of broad, mindedness, happiness and unbiased capabilities.

Kerala as the land of art, architecture, music, painting, and sculpture,

was attracted bymany foreigners and they studied our culture. They studied

about our Ayurvedic Medicine and is practicing it today. From the very

beginning the history of Kerala is the combination of ahimsa oriented activities,

principles of dharma, brotherhood and the dignity of labour. Now a day’s

life has become a struggle of man against man and man against circumstances.

Today human society of any kind is heading towards self-destruction. Selfish

motives of man individually and collectively erode the human values in the

society

In the contemporary Kerala society, education provides highest opportunities

and makes man more pragmatic and selfless in improved through education.

It gave them equal rights in the economic, social, political and educational

fields. The All India women’s Conferences of 1926 condemned the

infanticide, Purdha system, Child marriage, Temple prostitution, Women

 81

illiteracy etc. The widow remarriage was legally permitted from 1856 onwards.

At present as part of the elimination of poverty upliftment of the position of

women, Kudumbashree stand as the bacon of light. It is treated as a part of

women empowerment. Through successive self-employment programmes,

people live below poverty line can overcome the problem of poverty, improve

standard of living, meet the education of children and increase their social

status. Several self-employment programmes were introduced by the

Government from to time to time. These opportunities in education and

employment develop social status, economic life style and generate national

consciousness among people.

Kerala had developed several religious and semi-religious art forms.

They all grow in the atmosphere of temples and later it becomes great centers

of cultural activities. Several forms of temple art and dances have its influence

on the cultural and social aspects of Keralites. One of the chief characteristic

features of Kerala culture is its advancement through artistic developments.

Arts like Mohiniyattam, Kathakali,(the world famous dance drama of

Kerala),Ottam Tullal,(a typical temple art of Kerala which was developed by

the great poet Kunjan Nambiar),the Theyyam, (a unique ritual dances of south

India) and likewise has its influence on aspects of life of Keralites.

‘Athidhi Devo Bhava, the dictum inspires us to be graceful hosts for the

visitors. From time immemorial our majestic tradition, cultural heritage and
 82

geographical position provide a fascinating backup to the tourism. In the

modern Kerala promotion of tourism is vital. Our media provide a substantial

boost to the tourism. It has currently emerged as the backbone of the Indian

economy. Our government and other cultural organizations have been

formulated policies and strategize for the materialization of the Gods own

land. All the Keralites must be aware about our land and be able to protect

the beauty of forest, the rhythmic flow of rivers and various forms of our

heritage to make the state a paradise on earth.

PRESENT OUTLOOK

For more than a decade, the situation of Kerala has been gradually and

steadily deteriorating due to many political and economic factors. The political

aspect is the birth of vote banks. The communist in the early 1950s started

vote banks. This was later copied by the congress and all other major and

minor political parties. Now it has become a watch word of political culture

in Kerala. Another aspect was the coalition among high different parties.

More over communalism acquired legitimization in our state. The flow of

foreign remittances strengthened the economic position of the Keralites

Communities. They trained their young ones to acquire a well placed job in

outside India4. The importance of overseas employment changed the outlook

of the younger generations. They also lose their social commitments and
 83

broad visions. Any slight changes in the outlook of the international

communities can be reflected in the lifestyle of the people of Kerala. Thus

the phenomenon of globalization firstly reflected in Kerala, more than any

other places in India. In Kerala urbanization, introduction of luxuries of life,

Nuclear family set up etc became popular. Now our state has emerged as a

single big metro in the high speed globalization process. Gender paradox

has become the over whelming context for imaging women in Kerala today.

The Kerala model of development, complete literacy and tourism are the

epoch making events in the history of contemporary Kerala.

4
Rosamma Mathew, Making of Modern Kerala, Learners Publications,Kottayam,2010 Pp130-131,,
 84

CONCLUSION

The 19th and 20th century witnessed the emergence of a new social order

in India due to the influence of social, economic and cultural influences.

From the last decades of the 18th century itself notable changes took place in

the socio economic order in Kerala. The Western education spread during

the second half of the 19th century inspired social consciousness among the

people against the evil practices in the society. The most important aspect of

social reform movements in Kerala was the awakening of the lower caste

people against the upper class Hindu society. It also made revolutionary

changes in the life of the people. The contribution of Kerala in the field of

education is substantial in every sense.

A revolution in education was started and becomes a powerful instrument

of social change. The lower castes were completely liberated and the society

became democratised. The Western education caused the decline of the Joint

family system, Marumakkathayam, Polyandry, Devadasi system etc. The

status of women rose in society.

Travancore never witnessed such an enormous industrial and social

 85

progress in its history. The State of Kerala which was criticized as a lunatic

asylum by Swami Vivekananda was transformed into a sacred place.

This Research project studies the socio economic conditions of the

Travancore in the 19th century. It helps to understand the major evils that

existed in the society like Caste system, Untouchability, Joint family system

etc in the 19th century. Socio economic changes brought about under colonial

missionary interaction resulted in the birth of a middle class among all

communities. The middle class consisted of the lower strata of the upper

caste Hindus and the upper strata of the lower caste Hindus along with the

Christian and Muslim communities. The newly emerged educated middle

class among the lower castes realized that the spread of education was

essential for overcoming their economic and social backwardness. They knew

that those who controlled educational opportunities also controlled the avenues

of economic and bureaucratic spheres. Thus education became the symbol

of power and privileges. It also stresses the progressive changes that occurred

in the society which transformed Kerala into a modern State. The development

of democratization, the denial of the social inequalities based on birth, the

decline of the Janmi system, the fall of the joint family and Marumakkathayam

system(matrilenial succession) the growth of the new classes etc prepared

the Kerala society fit to the realization of modernity. However the social and

economic reforms led to the conditions favourable for a period of transition

from the age old feudal system to an industrial one.

 86

Travancore witnessed the emergence of many social revolutions against

caste system and untouchability. It was the suppression of the lower caste

people that compelled many to convert to Christianity, and the Temple Entry

Proclamation changed the conditions of the society. The Temple entry

proclamation of 1936 which Mahatma Gandhi called as the ‘Magna Carta of

Travancore’ was the result of the sincere effort H.H Maharaja Sri Chitra

Thirunal Balarama Varma. The famous Temple Entry Proclamation opened

all public roads, wells, schools etc to all people irrespective of caste and

creed. It was for the first time that such a valiant decision was taken by the

ruling elite to abolish untouchability. It helped all people to attain the right to

walk through the roads and to enter the temples and worship their Gods.

These made the social reformer Sri Narayana Guru’s message of one Caste,

one God one Religion for man in ushering an egalitarian social order in Kerala.

Thus the Temple entry Proclamation brought the feeling of oneness among

the people.

Education had received a great impetus during this period and the

important step taken to make free and compulsory primary education

introduced many people to the realm of knowledge. The report of the

Travancore census 1941 revealed that the percentage of literacy of lower

castes was 1.57 in 1891, it arose to 46.5% in 1941. The Vanchi poor fund,

Beggary upliftment, Sree Chithira Dharmalayam etc were some of the social
 87

contributions to the modernization of Kerala. The social reform movements

which had gathered momentum in Kerala by the modernization of the economy

of Kerala in the agricultural and industrial sectors has received top priority in

modern times. The people of Kerala accustomed to the traditional socio

economic conditions have been awakened from age long slumber and initiated

to a new era of economic development. The agricultural economy of Kerala

has also been modernized and diversified in recent times and this also

accelerated the pace of socio economic change.

There existed many social revolutions and caste organizations with the

objective to attain equality and freedom among the people. There was a

vigorous programme of industrialization which eventually brought into an

industrial and progressive economy. Travancore was modernized through

the communication network of the State and was transformed into an

industrial State and saved it from the bondages of feudalism.

I propose to reinterpret the significance of the socio religious reform

during the early 20th century in Kerala. The coming generation will get a new

perspective and an unbiased view of this important period in the history of

Kerala through this study.

 88

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 92

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 104

THESIS

George, Tharian. K. & Michael, Tharakan. P. K., Penetration of Capital

into a Traditional Economy: The Case of Tea Plantations in Kerala,
1880 - 1950, Studies in History, 1986.
Cherian, P. J., Punnapra Vayalar Uprisings 1946 A Case Study, Unpublished
M.Phil. Thesis, Kozhikode, 1985.
P.K.V. Kaimal, Socio Economic & Political Aspects of Punnapra Vayalar
Uprising (Thesis), Kerala University.

INTERVIEW

K. M. Cheriyan, Son of K. C. Mammen Mappilai. Editor of Malayala

Manorama.
 105

GLOSSARY
1. Avarnas - Low caste Hindus.

2. Brahmaswam - Property owned by Brahmins.

3. Diwan - The Prime Minister to the Maharaja.

4. Ezhava - An untouchable caste by the old social

hierarchical rules.

5. Janmi - The land owning caste or class, the Brahmins

who were supposed to have right of ownership

on land by birth right.

6. Jathi - The Malayalam word for caste; the division of

society according to the old conception of

respectability.

7. Makkathayam - System of inheritance and descent through the

male line.

8. Maruakkathayam - System of inheritance and descent through the

female line, a man’s legal heirs being the children

of his sisters.
 106

9. Nair/Nayar - Savarna Hindus who constituted the warriors,

landed gentry.

10. Namboodiri, Nambutiri- The higher caste in Kerala, especially priests,

advisors of Kings and owners of land.

11. Paraya - An untouchable class, though slaves but not land

bound like Pulayas.

12. Pulaya - An untouchable caste according to the old

hierarchy. They had no right on land and worked

in the field like slaves for the upper castes.

13. Sambandham - Literally “connection”. The simple Nair marriage

ceremony involving the presentation of a cloth

by a man to a woman.

14. Sanketam - Temple Sanctuary.

15. Satyagraha - Non violent struggle, literally means hold firmly

to satyam or truth.

16. Savarnas - High Caste Hindus.

17. Sirkar - Government.

18. Sudra - The fourth of the traditional castes.

19. Theendal - Pollute by touch or proximity.

20. Yogam - Organization /meeting.