When T. Madhava Menon translated Kerala Palama by Rev. Gundert the reference there to Keraloolpatti made him to translate that also. Whatever he undertakes he does a thorough job unmindful of the many manhours spent by him on the work.
Keraloolpatti is a source book, cited by all historians of Kerala more for rejection as a 'mythical' 'imaginative' concocted narrative to preserve and nurture the Brahmin domination in Kerala. Though many of the historians have the negative view, a few have quoted it for corroboration, the information in Keraloolpatti being used to stress their point of view.
Keraloolpatti is a folk history narrated and later reduced to writing by Nambudir Brahmins to preserve their interest.
Folk history could be made use of cautiously if its information is confirmed by old literary or inscriptional documents or by the practices of the societies living in that region. The Russian Scholar Alexander Kondratov, in the "Riddle of the Three Oceans", has successfully made use of the information in Iraiyanaar Akapporul of Tamil to confirm the sea swallowing a large portion of the continent south of Cape Comerin. All folk traditions or narrations cannot be dismissed as figment of imagination: but caution is needed to make use of them. Corroboration is the acid text for accepting the statements of folk history. Keraloolpatti is a folk history, which should be corroborated for acceptance or rejection.
On the other day a French researcher's count that Kerala had forty-four kingdoms simultaneously functioning in Kerala, was quoted by a friend. This is confirmed broadly now. Though small kingdoms enable the people to develop in all spheres under the tutelage of the Kings. larger achievements like those of the imperial Cholas in conquest were not possible in Kerala. Keralites flourished in competition and opposition, not in unity and collaboration. It is a national characteristic, which still survives. History has relevance to gauge the characteristics of modern Keralites. That is obvious from this oral history.
The layout of Calicut matches with Madurai of Tamil Nadu. So also the influence of Chetties in port towns, and Vellala overlords in four principalities are found in Keraloolpatti. This information is intriguing. The Cholas and Pandyas have taken brides from Kerala. Raja Raja had his favourite wife from Kerala; so also Rajendra. He himself was the son of a Kerala princess who was a favourite of his father. The fights against the Cheras by the Cholas and Pandiyas were with other Chera kingdoms, not with their fathers-in-law.
The translation of T. Madhava Menon is flowing and easy to read and will be welcomed by Scholars interested in Kerala and in its history. What is immediately needed is the description of the Communities in Kerala. This is important and T.M. Menon's translation urges for such studies.
It is a pleasure again to offer this translation of Mr. T. Madhava Menon as a publication of the International School of Dravidian Linguistics.
A Farrago of Nonsense: "Historians of the Orthodox School in Kerala and elsewhere relied till recently on the different versions of the Malayalam work Keralolpatti and the Sanskrit counterpart, Kerala-mahatmayam in reconstructing early Kerala history, but both these works are of doubtful or no historical value." (Sreedhara Menon, A, A Survey of Kerala History, Reprint 1976, National Book Stall, Kottayam, p. 13). This, in spite of the fact that Logan, in his famous Manual of Malabar, had delivered considered judgment a century back, in the following well-known words:
"What is substituted for the real history of this period in these traditions is a farrago of legendary nonsense, having for definite aim the securing to the Brahmin caste of unbounded power and influence in the country. The land was miraculously reclaimed for their benefit; the whole of it was made over to them with the "blood-guilty water of possession"; they were the first inhabitants; the kings were appointed and the land was governed by them; and the only allusion to prior occupants is an obscure allusion to the "serpents", from fear of which the first immigrants fled back to the country whence they came. This allusion to the serpents, who protected the land, contains perhaps an allusion to Jaina immigrants, worshippers of the twenty-third Jaina, Tirthamkara Parsva or Parsvanatha, whose symbol was a hooded snake. That the Perumals were originally of the Jaina persuasion is not at all improbable... regarding the style of religious architecture still prevalent in the land" (Reprint 1981, p. 283).
Ulloor Parameswara lyer opined that there was much more to be rejected than accepted in the various versions of the work. However, Narayanan MGS found that several recitals in Keralolpatti accord with customs recorded elsewhere, and therefore, it is not to be rejected outright, but used with caution. The statements there should not be accepted at their face value. However, they contain references which supplement and clarify evidence obtained from other sources of intarmation, though it reflects interest and prejudice, and suffers from interpolation as well as misinterpretation" (Perumals of Kerala, p 20).
Gundert's Interest. In 1840, Gundert wrote to his father that he had completed translating portions of Keralolpatti. According to his reports to Basel Mission headquarters, throughout 1841, he tried to collect various versions. In 1843, he could get a copy printed from Mangalapuram (Mangalore) (Frenz & Zachariah 1991: Dr. Herman Gundert parudisayile bhashapanditan, DC Books, Kottayam, p 93). Logan had referred, with considerable appreciation, to Gundert's contribution in MJLS XIII, parts I, and ii, reviewing Kerala Mahatmyam, but I could not get a copy.
Versions: It is well known that there were many versions of Keralolpatti, each with minor alterations in order to please local patrons on whom the Brahmin authors depended. In the version Gundert used, (hereinafter, "our version"), the Zamorin is highly praised, and references indicate that the author was his sycophant. Basically, all versions agree that "Keralam" was miraculously formed by Parasuraman throwing his axe, in expatiation of sin of killing Kshatriyas, and his further munificence in gifting the reclaimed land to Brahmins, whom he had, rather forcibly, to ab-duct from their native lands! There is difference regarding the source from which the Brahmins were recruited; according to one version, it was from the banks of the Krishna, Logan's version indicated that it was one sole individual, a poor Brahman, who had eight sons. According to our version, Parasuraman "created" (undakki) Brahmins and gathered them from several locations. It might have been this version that became responsible, later on, for the myth that Parasuraman actually recruited local fisher folk, and conferred Brahminhood on them, before bringing them in to populate the new lands.
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