നൂറ്ററുപതു കാതം ഭൂമിയെ ഉണ്ടാക്കി, മലയാളഭൂമിക്ക് രക്ഷവേണം എന്നു കല്പിച്ചു . . . ബ്രാഹ്മണരെ ഉണ്ടാക്കി, പല ദിക്കിൽ നിന്നും കൊണ്ടുവന്നു കേരളത്തിൽ വെച്ചു. അവർ ആരും ഉറച്ചിരുന്നില്ല; അവർ ഒക്ക താന്താന്റെ ദിക്കിൽ പോയ്ക്കളഞ്ഞു.
Having created 160 kadam of land, decreeing that the land of Malayala needs protection, brahmins were “created,” gathered from many lands, and brought to Kerala. Yet, none of them stayed; they went each their way.
During the reign of pharaohs of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2500 BCE), when the Great Pyramids at Giza were being constructed on a never-before seen scale in human history, Egyptian ports on the Red Sea became hubs for long-distance oceanic voyages to gather exotic goods from far-away lands. The Egyptians had already discovered Punt sometime during Pharaoh Khufu’s reign around 2580 BCE possibly on one of their exploratory ventures into open seas. It is reasonable to presume that they must have found Kerala too around the same time. Archaeobotanical evidence indicates agriculture began in the southwestern regions of India towards the latter half of the third millennium BCE, suggesting a possible timeframe for Kerala’s first human occupation.
The people who manned these marine expeditions were contracted (corvee, bonded) workers, like those who built the Great Pyramids. They were ordinary citizens, men and women, not slaves, but certainly not nobility. The corvee was a form of taxation in labor rather than money; citizens were obliged to supply labor for a temporary period of time in large-scale pharaonic projects. They were recruited by contract, and they were free to return home once their allocated period of contractual labor was completed. One of the Egyptian words for such workers, particularly cultivators, was min, and br.t-m-min meaning ‘contract-for-worker,’ i.e., contract worker, was likely pronounced bremmin, which is so similar to Sanskrit brahmin that brahmin scholars who transcribed Kerala’s oral history into written form thousands of years later mistook the label for their own community.
For the ancient Egyptians, the journey to and from the new land was fraught with the dangers of a voyage on open water. The land itself, although unpopulated, was wild, marshy, and teeming with snakes and wild beasts. While they could dismantle and stow their ships in Egypt until it was time for the next expedition, their camps back in Kerala would be left unprotected to the elements during their absence of at least a few months. On the other hand, if they stayed in Kerala during the monsoons, they had to pack too much dry rations from Egypt to survive the months of rainy weather, for they could not grow anything on the marshy soil yet. It must have become evident over course of time that, owing to seasonal wind patterns and currents in the Indian Ocean, in order to sustain reliable transport of goods from Kerala, a permanent colony must be established there not only to protect and maintain working camps but also to support sailors during lulls in travel. Yet, agriculture needed months of preparation, intense labor, and good storage facilities, none of which were available in the inhospitable swamps of their new land. But how could the expeditions be abandoned just like that? the treasures of the land were simply too immeasurable and irreplaceable.
എന്റെ പ്രയത്നം നിഷ്ഫലം എന്ന് വരരുത് എന്നു കല്പിച്ചു, ശ്രീ പരശുരാമൻ ഉത്തര ഭൂമിയിങ്കൽ ചെന്നു, ആർയ്യപുരത്തിൽനിന്നു, ആർയ്യബ്രാഹ്മണരെകൊണ്ടുപോന്നു. അവിടെ നിന്നു പരശുരാമൻ ൬൪ ഗ്രാമത്തെയും പുറപ്പെടീച്ചു കൊണ്ടുവന്നു… ൬൪ ഗ്രാമം ആക്കി കല്പിച്ചു ൬൪ലിന്നും പേരുമിട്ടു … അതിന്റെ ശേഷം ആറുപതുനാലിന്നും പൂവും നീരും കൂട . “നിങ്ങൾ അനുഭവിച്ചു കൊൾക,” എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു കൊടുക്കയും ചെയ്തു.
Desiring that his efforts should not be for naught, Sri Parasurama then went to northern lands, and from the town of Aryapura, he brought Arya brahmins. He persuaded sixty-four villages to emigrate. He formed sixty-four villages [in Kerala] and named them all … He gave [the emigres] the 64 villages with flower and water libations, saying, “Enjoy the land.”
The pharaoh persuaded sixty-four villages in Egypt to move all together to Kerala. Men, women, and children packed up and left their homeland for a new world in service of their gods for whom they would be harvesting precious ebony and spices from across the sea. Moving so many people for such royal projects was, in fact, a hallmark of ancient Egypt — the project of the Great Pyramids at Giza housed more than twenty-thousand people in a settlement nearby. Similarly, according to Pierre Tallet, the “scale and ambition and sophistication of [the harbors at Ayn Soukhna and Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea coast] . . . all of it has the clarity, power, and sophistication of the pyramids, all the characteristics of [pharaoh] Khufu and the early Fourth Dynasty.” That these ancient ports were once used for long-haul boats in trans-oceanic voyages ca. 2500 BCE has been established from archeological evidence. A papyrus unearthed from Wadi al-Jarf even suggests that the Egyptians were building a stone monument, jetty, or such other pier structure in a faraway marsh. While the papyrus perhaps relates to the marshy Nile delta, it may equally well relate to the fledgling Egyptian colony in the marshes of Kerala. Conversely, “Aryapura in the north country” mentioned in Keralolpatthi could well be aerya-per-ra, the city of Heliopolis, spiritual capital of the Old Kingdom, located north of Memphis, in the Nile delta, and the “Arya brahmins” were arre-bremmin, vineyard cultivators from the area, probably experts in draining swamps for agriculture.
ഭൂമി രക്ഷിക്കേണം എന്ന് കല്പിച്ചു “നിങ്ങൾക്ക് ആയുധപ്രയോഗം വേണമെല്ലൊ അതിന്നു എന്നോട് ആയുധം വാങ്ങി കൊൾക” എന്ന ൬൪ലിലുള്ളവരോട് ശ്രീപരശുരാമൻ അരുളിചെയ്താറെ … ൩൬൦൦൦ ബ്രാഹ്മണരും കൂട ചെന്നു … ശ്രീപരശുരാമനോട് ആയുധം വാങ്ങി, അവൻ ആയുധപ്രയോഗങ്ങളും ഗ്രഹിപ്പിച്ചു കൊടുത്തു.
Ordaining that the land needs protection, Sri Parasurama said, “You should learn the use of weapons from me.” … 36,000 brahmins went to Parasurama and learnt the use of weapons from him.
The new settlers established themselves in sixty-four villages between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. Over time, 36,000 workers were recruited from amongst them and trained in the use of weapons no doubt by the pharaoh’s professional soldiers who were part of the expedition. The men demurred initially; but perhaps the threat of violence from the wilderness finally overcame their hesitation. With everyone’s approval, these simple workers, trained cursorily in weapons, became the first rulers of the land. The new settlers declared their new colony as communal property to be enjoyed and worked in common. Then with their axes, hard labor, and agricultural knowledge, they set about transforming the marshy land of Kerala into “God’s own country.”
അതിന്റെ ശേഷം ആയുധപാണികൾക്ക് കേരളത്തിൽ ൧൦൦൮ നാല്പത്തീരടി സ്ഥാനം ഉണ്ടാക്കി, അനേകം കളരിപ്പരദേവതമാരെയും സങ്കല്പിച്ചു, അവിടെ വിളക്കും പൂജയും കഴിപ്പിച്ചു, സമുദ്രതീരത്തു ദുർഗ്ഗാദേവിയേയും പ്രതിഷ്ഠിച്ചു, മലയരികെ ശാസ്താവിനെ പ്രതിഷ്ഠിച്ചു, നാഗവും ഭൂതവും പ്രതിഷ്ഠിച്ചു.
Afterwards, 1008 and 40 odd feet worth of land was created and given to the wielders of weapons so the gods of martial arts could be worshiped with lighted lamps and offerings. On the coast were built temples consecrating Durga Devi, on the mountains were built temples consecrating Shastav, and then snakes and ancestors were propitiated.
Kerala was not the first of Egypt’s colonies; that distinction belonged to the Levant. Kerala certainly would not be Egypt’s last colony either; that distinction would belong to Nubia. If that latter colony was anything to go by, the colonization appeared to consist of planned townsites, complete with residences, magazines, workshops, and most significantly, temples, as corroborated by Keralolpatthi. For safe passage on their frequent voyages across the sea to their homeland, the new emigres established temples to goddess Hathor along the coast. She was their patron goddess of sailors and navigators, and the guardian of ships on the sea. Under the pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty, she had just become prominent, replacing all others as the foremost among the gods. Similar to other Egyptian colonies, the fledgling Kerala colony too naturally echoed the arrangement of temple cult in the homeland. In the manner of the later Amun temples in Nubia built by Amun-worshiping pharaohs of the New Kingdom, the Hathor temples in Kerala declared Egyptian hegemony over the land more powerfully than any military fortress could.
അതിന്റെ ശേഷം ശ്രീ പരശുരാമൻ ൬൪ ഗ്രാമത്തെയും വരുത്തി, വെള്ളപ്പനാട്ടിൽ കൊണ്ടുവന്നു വെച്ചു. ൬൪ ഗ്രാമത്തിന്നും ൬൪ മഠവും തീർത്തു, ൬൪ ദേശവും തിരിച്ചു കല്പിച്ചു. ഒരൊരൊ ഗ്രാമത്തിന്നു അനുഭവിപ്പാൻ വെവ്വെറെ ദേശവും വസ്തുവും തിരിച്ചു കൊടുത്തു. ഒരു ഗ്രാമത്തിനും വെള്ളപ്പനാട്ടിൽ വസ്തുവും തറവാടും കൂടാതെ കണ്ടില്ല. അവിടെ എല്ലാവർക്കും സ്ഥലവുമുണ്ടു, ൬൪ ഗ്രാമത്തിന്നും വെള്ളപ്പനാട പ്രധാനം എന്നു കല്പിച്ചു.
After that, Sri Parasuraman called the 64 villages and established them in Vellappanad. He decreed 64 ‘mathom’ for the 64 villages and delineated 64 ‘desham.’ Each village was given its own ‘desham’ and land. Every village was also given land and property in Vellappanad. Everyone had land there, and thus Vellappanad was declared of prime importance to the 64 villages.
At first reading, the above passage reads like gibberish: why, after creating and naming each village separately, would they now be brought together to a different place, and given land and property there? Besides, what it did mean to decree 64 mathom ‘houses’ to each village? Nothing in the passage makes sense, the sentences do not tie together, the semantics is all wrong. But read in the light of ancient Egyptian colonization, the puzzle begins to fall into place: The colony formed of the 64 villages was established under the jurisdiction of velapa-niwt, a locality in Egypt, in or near the capital city of Memphis, seat of the Egyptian pharaoh. velap was also the name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt; Vellappanad thereby translates to “province of the Red Crown.” Thus, the passage in Keralolpatthi could well be describing Egyptian hegemony over the new colony, in the establishment of the rule of Egyptian law called matt in ancient Egyptian, and delineation of tesh ‘boundary’ ‘region’ of each village. matt was translated wrongly by later Sanskrit scholars as mathom ‘home,’ rendering the text nonsensical, and tesh was likely the etymological root of desham ‘district.’ Interestingly, every village was given a stake in the form of land and property in coveted velapa-niwt in Egypt, suggesting that this was likely the enticement given by the pharaoh to enlist the earliest settlers and get them to move to Kerala. Whether anyone actually returned to Egypt to enjoy the gifted Memphite land, is of course, unknown.
ഇക്കേരളത്തിങ്കൽ വാഴുന്ന മനുഷ്യർ സ്വർഗ്ഗവാസികളോട് ഒക്കും ദേവലോകത്തിന്നു തുല്യമായ്‌വരേണം എന്നും സ്വർഗ്ഗാനുഭൂതി അനുഭവിക്കേണം എന്നു വെച്ചു ശ്രീ പരശുരാമൻ … പല ഈശ്വരന്മാരെ കുടിവെച്ച കാവല്പാടുകളിലും സ്ഥാനങ്ങളിലും, ഊട്ടും പാട്ടും കഴിപ്പാനും ഉത്സവം, വേല, വിളക്ക, തീയാട്ടം, ഭരണിവേല, ആറാട്ടു, കളിയാട്ടം, പൂരവേല, ദൈവാട്ടം, തെയ്യാട്ടു, ദൈവമാറ്റു, തണ്ണിരമൃതം, താലപ്പൊലി, പൈയാവിശാഖം, മാഹാമഖ, മാമാങ്ങവേല എന്നിങ്ങനെ ഉള്ള വേലകൾ കഴിപ്പാൻ … കല്പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.
Parasurama desired that those living in Kerala should live like the gods in heavens and enjoy … [To this end,] the following rituals were ordained in holy shrines: utt (offering of food), patt (offering of songs), vela (lesser ceremonies), vilakk (lamp ceremony), tiyatt (fire ceremony), bharani (festival of the goddess), aratt (dip ceremony), talappoli (processions), kaliyattam (dance rituals), puram vela (processional festivals), daivamatt (divine rituals), tannir amrit (purification with water), vaikasi vaisakhom and mahamakhom (grand festivals celebrated once in twelve years when Jupiter enters Cancer) and mamangavela (fair celebrated once in twelve years).
The rituals listed in the passage above were practiced in ancient Egyptian temples, documented in various descriptions of their several festivals and temple rituals (e.g., lamp festival of Neith, processions and dip ceremonies, dance rituals, fire ceremonies, festival rituals of Hathor, etc.). These rituals are still followed today in Kerala’s temples, suggesting that, incredibly, they are as ancient as human occupation in the land.
പിന്നെ പരദേശത്തുനിന്നു പല വകയിലുള്ള ശൂദ്രരെ വരുത്തി. അവരെക്കൊണ്ടു മാതൃപാരമ്പര്യം വഴിപോലെ അനുസരിപ്പിച്ചു, അവർ ൬൪ ഗ്രാമത്തിന്നും അകമ്പടി നടക്കേണം എന്നും അവർക്ക് രക്ഷ ബ്രാഹ്മണർ തന്നെ എന്നും കല്പിച്ചു.
Then, Parasurama brought many sudra people from foreign lands, ordered them to accept matrilineal ways, live within the sixty-four villages, and look to the brahmins for protection.
The first settlers were from many different regions, not just Egypt. The names of the sixty-four villages suggests that some were from the Hittite kingdom (near modern-day Turkey), Phoenicia (modern-day Syria-Palestine) and Nubia (modern-day Sudan). For these non-Egyptians, it was necessary to abandon their native traditions, accept Egyptian ways and live under Egyptian hegemony. Thus, the Egyptian matrilineal way of life was established; a calendar with two seasons (wet/rainy and dry/summer) of six months each was instituted; administrative divisions called tara for the natives and sanketam for non-natives were established; land tenure laws of atima and kutima were implemented with rights of serfs and tenants declared according to Egyptian law; kanam tenancy was instituted, and tenant-landlord rules were laid down. Eventually, a law-abiding community along the lines of the motherland formed out of the nebulous group of working-class immigrants.
ഇനി മേലിൽ ബ്രാഹ്മണർ തങ്ങളിൽ അന്യോന്യം ഓരോരൊ കൂറു ചൊല്ലിയും സ്ഥാനം ചൊല്ലിയും വിവാദിച്ചു, കർമ്മവൈകല്യം വരുത്തി, കർമ്മഭൂമി ക്ഷയിച്ചു പോകരുത എന്നു കല്പിച്ചു…. പല ദിക്കിൽ നിന്നും പല പരിഷയിൽ പോന്നു വന്ന ബ്രാഹ്മണരെയും ഒരു നിലയിൽകൂട്ടി, അവരോടരുളി ചെയ്തു. “ഇനി സ്വല്പകാലം ചെല്ലുമ്പോൾ, അന്യോന്യം പിണങ്ങും അതു വരരുത” എന്നു കല്പിച്ചു … നാലു കഴകത്തെ കല്പിച്ചു.
From now on, resolving that the brahmins must not fight amongst themselves for insignificant matters and bring sin upon themselves and the land … those who had immigrated from several different places and in different groups were called together and told that to prevent disputes in the future …[they must] establish four councils of authority.
But soon, it became evident that ruling the land thus was no easy matter: The councils created by the settlers, being spread apart geographically, could not live up to their high expectations. In an attempt to manage the people’s welfare in a more practical manner, the councils elected a leader from amongst themselves for a term of three years. The grateful citizens set aside land from their communal property to support their elected leader and his helpers. However, the system collapsed because the leaders proved to be unscrupulous villains who sought only to enrich themselves during their short tenure. After all, they were not seasoned administrators, only mere bremmin, ‘contract workers,’ unaccustomed to such sudden elevation in social power or influence. In the end, they persecuted the very people they were appointed to protect. The councils then tried unsuccessfully to nominate an independent kingly figure in the fashion of the pharaoh; in a portent of events to come thousands of years later, the attempt devolved into acrid fights between the contestants.
Essentially, the people of Kerala were ahead of their time even in 2500 BCE. It was too early in the arc of humanity’s cultural evolution to embark on an experiment in democracy on such a large scale. The land was too extensive, the people were too divided, and the leaders were too corrupt to support such a novel idea. In a sad testament to the human condition, the fledgling democracy of ordinary working-class immigrants failed spectacularly.
ഇനിമേൽ ബ്രാഹ്മണർ നാടു പരിപാലിച്ചാൽ നാട്ടിൽ ശിക്ഷാരക്ഷ ഉണ്ടാകയില്ല. ഇനി നാടു പരിപാലിപ്പാൻ ഒരു രാജാവു വേണം എന്നു നിശ്ചയിച്ചു
If brahmins continue to rule thus, there will be no law and order in the land. A real king is needed, it was decided.
And so began the next phase in Kerala’s ancient history: the era of the perumal.
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