Delannoy: Dutch sea captain, Maharaja’s army chief, people’s Valia Kappithan.

The interesting story of a remarkable man lies buried in the obscure pages of Kerala history. In available data, there is confusion about his name, nationality and designation. I understand that my brother Professor Emeritus PKM Tharakan in Brussels has an ongoing research project on this subject. That, when completed, should provide clarity.

I have chosen the name Delannoy from the versions of it given by different writers. Delannoy was part of, or commanded an assault fleet of the Dutch East India Company in early 1740s to Colachal (Kolachal). The objective was to capture the port in the south western corner of India and the hinterland that was rich in pepper and therefore important to the Dutch commercial interests. Their adversary was the king of Venad who later became famous in history as Marthanda Varma Maharaja of Travancore.

The Dutch marines stormed the beach and advanced almost to the outskirts of the Venad palace. Then a surprise counter attack by the king’s Nair soldiers from the flank routed the Dutch. It is said that this was the first occasion when an Indian ruler defeated a western naval force. Delannoy and some of his men were captured alive.

The force that vanquished the Dutch had been raised in 1703 as bodyguards of the Venad raja. Today it is the 9^th Battalion of the Madras Regiment, perhaps the oldest unit in the Indian Army, with uninterrupted service for over 300 years.

In spite of Delannoy’s defeat, Marthanda Varma was quick to appreciate the man’s military acumen. He offered Delannoy and his men freedom in exchange of training the Travancore soldiers in modern weaponry and warfare. Thus started Delannoy’s association of nearly 37 years with Travancore.

Delannoy transformed the local army into an elite fighting force well-trained in the use of muskets. This contributed immeasurably to Marthanda Varma’s success in the several wars that he waged.

One of Delannoy’s great achievements was the designing and building of Nedumkottai, a 48 km long fort to defend attacks from the north. This bulwark was to play a crucial role when the Mysore forces attacked Travancore during the second half of the 18c.

There is no clarity about the Delannoy’s official designation in Travancore. Several writers refer to him as Captain. He was perhaps a naval captain at the time of Colachal War. He was made the chief of the state’s armed forces, whatever the designation was. With affectionate respect the people called him ‘Valia Kappithan’ which means big captain or admiral or great naval chief.

Delannoy’s status seems to have been that of a Nair Lord (madambi) or slightly above that. He stayed at the old Udayagiri Fort, which Marthanda Varma had renovated, till his death in 1777. It came to be known as ‘Dillanai kota’ (Delannoy’s fort).

Delannoy sleeps eternally in a chapel at Udayagiri. His wife and son were also buried there, on either side of his tomb.



Photos of Udayagiri Chapel and the Delannoy tombs are reproduced under GNU Free Documentation License. Click for enlarged view

Ends.

Also see: Indian who could have been the King of France?

History of conversions to Christianity in Kerala – an overview

This article takes a brief look into the history of conversions to Christianity in Kerala. The Christians of the State can be broadly categorized into three: Syrian Christians who are believed to have been converted from the upper castes (whether such distinction existed at that time is not clear) by Apostle St. Thomas in 1c, Latin Christians who were converted mostly from lower classes by St. Francis Xavier in the 16c and Dalit Christians who were converted in the 19c by the Anglicans and in the 20c by the Catholic denomination of the Syrians. The labels Syrian and Latin came about because of the respective languages that were used in liturgy. (See: Jewish names among Syrian Christians.)

The Syrian Christian community is referred to by historians as Malabar Church and St. Thomas Christians. This congregation was, till the intrusion by the Western Christianity with the arrival of the Portuguese, a distinctive Eastern Church with the Pope of Rome as a hazy father figure at the far end of a thin long line.

Being a Syrian Christian is a matter of birth and inherited religious convictions. Therefore, conversion to that community is an anomaly. In all its known history till the 20c, the Malabar Church never undertook any missionary work. The theology of the community was that every human being achieved salvation through his own religion; a conclusion that modern Christian theology is increasingly accepting. Spreading the Word of Christ and induced or forced conversions to Christianity are two totally different things. As a result, the Syrian Christians remained an exclusive community to which outsiders had no entry.

Two questions arise here: why then did St. Thomas carry out conversions and, why did he convert only the so called upper classes? The Apostle would have, if one accepts oral tradition, received into the Christian fold only those who came forward willingly and out of conviction. On the question of the claimed class distinction in the conversions by the Apostle, it is necessary to understand the background of his mission. His arrival in Kerala (52A.D.) was before the gentiles were accepted into Christianity. Even the word ‘Christian’ did not exist at that time; it was coined in Antioch around 65 A.D. Till then the followers of Christ were known as Nazranis, a name that continues to be used in Kerala.

It is possible that St. Thomas initially targeted the Jews who were already in Kerala. (Several historians claim that the Jews were trading with Kerala even at the time of King Solomon.) Some of the upper crust local people too, presumably, joined the new faith. Here ‘upper crust’ would mean the educated or enlightened who, according to oral tradition, engaged the Apostle in debates.

The Malabar Church enjoyed an organic growth for fifteen centuries, blending with the social structure and being part of it, conforming to the customs and traditions of the land, maintaining upper class stature, receiving support and recognition from the rulers.

The Portuguese arrived in Kerala at the end of the 15c. They initiated a campaign to convert the local Christians (who followed Syriac liturgy) to the Latin Rite. This met with incessant resistance. The net result in the long run was that the Malabar Church was truncated and split into different denominations. Of these, the Catholic faction was subjugated by the Western Latin Church for three centuries.

The arrival of St. Francis Xavier in the middle of the 16c saw a flourish in missionary activity. This great saint of the Catholic Church converted many people of the lower castes to Christianity. He had the patronage of the Portuguese and the maharajas of Travancore and Cochin. In fact, the Maharaja of Cochin had the title ‘Protector of Christians’.

But there were protests against these conversions from the upper classes not on religious grounds but for social and economic reasons. Accepting Christianity released the converts from their obligations under the fine tuned caste system. This led to several problems. To give an example: the coconut pickers who became Christians were no longer under any compulsion to carry out their traditional duty.

This new congregation came to be known as Latin Christians. Whereas the Syrian Christians always enjoyed upper class status, the Latin Christians were treated as lower caste and there were hardly any social interaction between the two. After Independence, the Latin Christians were officially included in the backward class category.

The next round of conversions to Christianity in Kerala was in the 19c by the Anglicans, now known as Church of South India (CSI), who came to Kerala in the wake of the British in the first quarter of the 19c. This episode covered both Syrian Christians and members of some lower castes. The Anglicans championed major causes of the Dalits, like the right of Channar women to cover their breasts in public, and the abolition of slavery. This attracted lower castes to the new edition of Christianity in Kerala.

Then, in the early 1930s, the Syrian Catholic Church suddenly went on a conversion spree against all traditions of the St. Thomas Christians, focusing specifically on the Pulayas who were among the untouchables. They were bonded labor attached to landlords, both Hindu and Christian. Anizham Thirunal Maharaja abolished slavery in Travancore in the mid -19c, but the practice continued in one form or the other till the World War II. The Pulayas were totally at the mercy of their lords. The prospect of joining Christianity appealed to many of them.

Whether all these conversions were genuine, arising out of conviction is debatable. The details about the activities of St. Thomas in Kerala are shrouded in the foggy past. But by no stretch of imagination could he have had the political, financial or military clout to indulge in coercion. The subsequent conversions are unlikely to pass the test because there was an element of quid pro quo involved, in one way or another.

The present scenario in Kerala is that the label ‘Christians’ covers diverse groups without meaningful homogeneity or integration.

Ends.

Also see:

Vedas, Syrian Christians

Ball Nut Tree (Calophyllum inophyllum).

The ball nut tree (Calophyllum inophyllum), which belongs to the mango stein family, is also called Alexandrian Laurel sometimes though it is not a native of Alexandria. Probably the reason is that its fragrant white flowers look like a bouquet. In Tahiti it is called ati or tamanu, In Hawai the name is kamani and dilo in Fiji. This article deals with the properties and uses of different parts of this tree.

Ball nut tree tolerates different conditions including degraded soil, but grows best in the in sandy coastal areas in the tropics where it may attain 20-25 m height. It branches low and has a rich canopy of thick leaves. The nuts are green in color when young and turn to yellowish brown or red on maturity and about 2 to 4 cm in diameter. Bats love the flesh cover on the nut. They eat it and drop the nut, often into the water which carries them to different locations where they propagate.

The wood is hard and strong. Polynesians traditionally build boats using it for the keel, and planks of breadfruit tree for the sides. In Kerala, India, (where the tree is called punna), entire boats are made from ball nut tree. These crafts are heavier than the Polynesian ones. Ball nut tree is also utilized for masts, scaffolding, railway sleepers, bridge building, furniture and several other applications.

The nuts are picked and sun-dried for about two months after which the shell is broken and the kernel taken out for further drying. Then tamanu oil is extracted through a cold-press process and is purified under controlled conditions. This product, which is internationally known as nambagura or tamanu oil has great medicinal and cosmetic properties and is used in several beauty formulations particularly in Europe.

According to estimates, a fully mature tree yields up to 225 pounds of nuts from which about 40 pounds of oil can be obtained. After refining, the pure oil availability may be around 10 pounds. The retail price of tamanu oil is about USD20/oz.

It seems that several scientific studies have been made in Europe and USA about this product. The ingredients that tamanu oil contains are claimed to be effective in restoration and regeneration of skin tissues, removal of scars, physical and chemical burn marks, and general toning of the skin. It is said to cure skin diseases, rheumatism and ulcers and to have healing and antibiotic capabilities. It would however be prudent to check with qualified persons before using tamanu oil. Other parts of the ball nut tree also have medicinal and pesticide properties.

There are different species of ball nut trees. The oil from some of them is, according to studies, good for bio-diesel. Planting ball nut trees along the beaches can prevent soil erosion.

All indications are that there is good scope for cultivating ball nut trees commercially.

Ends.

Irish father of Indian cardamom, rubber and pepper planting

The old man, past eighty, was ailing when the letter came from a friend to whom he had expressed a desire to buy a new sophisticated wireless set. The friend had written to say that only one such equipment was available.

From what was considered to be his death bed, the old bachelor replied, “Thank you for your letter. I suppose that at my age and in my condition I should be ordering a harp, not a wireless set.” He would have been reasonably certain about his place in heaven because he was a staunch Catholic and Pope Pius XI had, in 1927, conferred on him the Papal honor Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice for the services he had rendered to the Catholic Church and for his philanthropy.

But the man had great resilience. On this occasion he came back from the jaws of death, so to speak, and immediately sent a telegram to his friend: “cancel harp send wireless.” That was the kind of indomitable spirit he had.

Who was he? An Irishman named J. J. Murphy (1872-1957).

He was born in Dublin into a family of Shippers and Bankers, a seventh month baby who was rather delicate and asthmatic. After private education with Marist Brothers, a Catholic Educational Brotherhood in Europe, and Trinity College, Dublin, J.J. (as he was popularly known) set out to the East. He joined a tea plantation company in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) but shifted to South India to join another. In spite of his independent nature he survived on that job for a few years before being sacked.

That, in a way, set Murphy free, at the age of 29.

And there was the whole wide, wild world before him. How he faced it is a saga, which, unfortunately, has not found its rightful place in history. It would be a worthwhile thesis material for a serious researcher.

The first niche Murphy formed was at Pambadampara in the Cardamom Hills. It was virgin forest. There he did something that no body else before him had tried. Till then cardamom was obtained from wild growth in the forests, or from small peasants. The Irishman cultivated cardamom at Pambadampara on an organized plantation basis. It was the first such estate in India and perhaps the world. An interesting aspect was that since cardamom requires heavy shade, it was not necessary to cut down the trees.

Murphy’s interest turned to rubber. Since 1872 the India Office in London had been trying to introduce hevea rubber plants in India without any success. But Murphy, along with three associates, established the first rubber plantation in the country at a place called Alwaye. Then, in 1904, the man went for his own private rubber plantation at Yendayar, the place that was to be his home till death. When I last visited Yendayar Estate, a couple of decades back, a few of the rubber trees planted by Murphy were still standing.

Murphy’s success attracted major Sterling companies to the field. They closed down, at least temporarily, during the depression years. But with uncanny foresight Murphy held on and replanted the old rubber area with high yielding Malaysian clones. When the demand for the strategically important natural rubber spurted during the World War II, the Irishman was right up there on top.

At Yendayar Murphy planted tea as well, and scored another first by organizing pepper cultivation on plantation pattern. Till the, like cardamom, pepper too was procured from wild growth and small farmers.

The Irishman was an enlightened employer. Once he told the Planters' Association of which he was the Chairman, "So long as we pay fair rates and look after our coolies well, we need not worry much."

At one time I used to visit the Mundakayam Club, which Murphy established, rather frequently. I heard the following story there.

When the First World War began, Murphy went to Madras (now Chennai) to enlist. The officer concerned pointed out that the age limit for recruitment was 40. The Irishman was around 42 then. He was upset, but there was nothing any one could do about His Majesty’s regulations.

Murphy told the officer, “Very well, but don’t blame me if you lose the bloody war”, and walked out.

J. J. Murphy died on May 9, 1957. He was buried at Yendayar.

Ends.

Note: For details I have depended on an article “J. J. Murphy 1872 – 1957”, which the late K. L. Kershaw, an eminent planter himself, wrote for the Planters’ Chronicle. This collectors’ item was sent to me by my maternal uncle, Michael A. Kallivayalil, who, among other things, owns the Yendayar Estate.

Cross posted to Song of the waves.

Some Clubs of India

Last week I received a copy of the Platinum Jubilee Souvenir of the prestigious Lotus Club, Cochin. The Committee that brought it out deserves high compliments for the excellent production, which is not only about Lotus but also a good reference book on the history of Cochin.

Though a member of this club for decades, I didn’t know that W. Somerset Maugham was one among the several illustrious visitors to the club including the Maharajas of Cochin and Mysore, and Lord Linlithgow when he was the Viceroy of India.

Linlithgow actually played tennis at Lotus during a visit to Cochin during the early 1940s. Tennis always had a prominent place in the activities of this family club, which used to conduct an All India ranking tournament. By 1990s the interest in tennis waned, but it has been revived recently with the laying of a synthetic court. Last week I was happy to see a group of young children being coached by an expert.

Bridge is another favorite at Lotus. Prof. Robins Jacob, Honorary Secretary of the Kerala Bridge Association writes, “Lotus Club is credited with the unique distinction of hosting the oldest uninterruptedly conducted Duplicate Tournament in India, perhaps in the whole world.”

The souvenir contains an interesting article titled ‘The Club Culture in India’ by David T. Mookken who has the rare distinction of having been President of Cochin Club and Lotus Club. David traces the origin of clubs in India and the transition of the club culture from British times to post-Independence days.

The first club outside Britain was perhaps Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (1792). A year later Calcutta Racket Club was established. Cochin Club was formed in 1821. Some of the other old clubs in South India are Madras Club (1832), Bangalore Club (1868), Coimbatore Club (1873), Secunderabad Club (1878), Coonoor Club (1885), and Kodaikanal Club (1887).

These were known as ‘English Clubs’. No Indian was allowed entry to them. This exclusiveness led to the formation of the Lotus Club by Lady Gertrude Bristow. Her husband, Sir Robert was a representative of the British Government who was entrusted with the task of developing a modern port at Cochin, a job which he completed admirably. But the Bristows were denied admission to Cochin Club because Lady Gertrude was not English born!

The lady was not disheartened, though. With the cooperation of some prominent families of Cochin, she had a suitable piece of land assigned by the Maharaja of Cochin and started the Lotus Club! The Maharaja himself attended the first Club Night of Lotus on September 9, 1932 as Chief Guest.

Lady Gertrude Bristow was the Founder President of the Club, and remained in that position from 1931 to 1941.

Ends.

Some memories of WW II, Cochin and the 1940s.

The Yad Vashem Controversy

The Inside the Vatican Newsflash of May 7, 2007 carries a staff written article titled ‘Nuncio Battles for Truth’ about the Yad Vashem controversy that erupted last month. This piece is scheduled to be published in the May issue of the magazine.

Yad Vashem is Israel’s Holocaust Museum. The problem arose with the rather dramatic protest by sixty-nine-year-old Archbishop Antonio Franco, Papal Nuncio in Jerusalem against ‘inaccurate’ statements displayed at the Museum on role played by the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII during the genocide. The nuncio announced that he would not attend the memorial service for the Holocaust victims on April 15 unless the offending exhibits were removed.

This immediately became a full blown dispute. Earlier, Franco’s predecessor had also protested against the Yad Vashem display in a milder and more diplomatic manner. But the salvo by a seasoned diplomat like Franco surprised many. It also generated apprehensions about the future of the Catholic - Jewish dialogue and the Pope’s to visit to Israel on invitation by their government.

The Yad Vahsem authorities handled the situation admirably. They insisted that the disputed exhibits represent verifiable facts according to ‘current research’. But they were willing to examine any new documents made available (it is said that there are several secret documents relating to this in the Vatican Archives) and were prepared to go by the evidence. Graciously accepting this as fair enough, the nuncio decided to attend the function on April 15 and the storm blew over.

Was this a conviction based action-reaction situation or is there something more to it? One assessment by Inside the Vatican is: “Franco made a wise choice to try to deal with the Pius issue immediately. As serious as prejudice against Pius is, it does not compare to some of the other complications in the Jewish-Catholic relationship. The injustice against Pius is a manageable problem -- for impartial, fair-minded scholars.” This could very well be true.

The journal presents several points to establish that Pius XII and the Church did, in fact, help in many ways the cause of the Jews under persecution by the Nazis, and that the details are known to the Israelis. If that is so, why did Franco concede to the demand by Yad Vashem for fresh documentation for further study?

The Pope Pius XII-Nazi matter seems to be the greatest PR fiasco ever by the Catholic Church. The accusations against the former Pope have been going around for decades. For some strange reason, Vatican has been apparently defensive on the subject.

Given here is a quote from an article this author wrote some time back: “Notwithstanding all these, terror, undoubtedly, was Hitler’s main weapon for enforcing the kind of control that he desired. Many Germans genuinely supported him. They appreciated the socio-cultural stability that was established. The Church was maneuvered into doing a tightrope act, but retained a considerable degree of independence. When severe practices like euthanasia and the gassing of the Jews came into light the Church did protest. But an unsavory feeling that the Church could have done more to prevent the outrageous events that occurred, remains. This is accentuated by the fact that those who suffered most were not very friendly to the Church.”

When criticism about the role of Pope Pius XII in the unprecedented tragedy surfaced, the Church tried to ward them off by ineffective measures like accusing the Russians of false propaganda to help the expansion of Communism in post-war Europe. These tactics proved futile and we find a strange situation where the man whom the Nazis once denounced as ‘the mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminals’ being accused by the Israelis for abetting the genocide.

Perhaps the Church’s initial reaction to the accusations was influenced by the words of Pius XII himself. Inside the Vatican Newsflash quotes the former Pontiff: "We owe no greater debt to our office and to our time than … 'to give testimony to the truth'…We shall not be held back by mistrust or opposition, by rebuffs or lack of appreciation, nor yet by fear of misconceptions and misinterpretations." -- Pope Pius XII, Summi Pontificatus, October 1939. These words were spoken long before the Holocaust.

Rather belatedly, the Church is taking a more forceful stand on this question. In 2005 Inside the Vatican started an ‘oral history’ project to record accounts by Jews whom the Church had helped to escape the Holocaust. By then most of the refugees involved had died. In the present article the journal comes out with convincing arguments against the display at Yad Vashem. But how many people get to read them?

Archbishop Franco’s protest brought the issue back to public attention and now it is left to the academics to sort out the matter with support from both sides. Fortunately, a stand off like the one between Turkey and Armenia on the 1915 tragedy has been avoided. If Yad Vashem had taken an uncompromising stand on the issue, the nuncio would have been in an unenviable position.

This leads one to think that the whole episode was, perhaps, choreographed with consensus from both Israel and Vatican to pave the way for the Pope’s visit. Inside the Vatican mentions that according to a high ranking Vatican official the Pope may decline the invitation from Israel if the offending exhibits are still on display at Yad Vahsem. This possibly was an impromptu reaction.

Let us objectively analyze the situation. Pope John Paul had visited Yad Vashem but that was before the statements about Pius XII were introduced. If the present Pope were to call at the museum without any publicly known mutual understanding about the exhibits it would have been not only highly embarrassing but also could have led to a major controversy damaging the Jewish-Catholic dialogue.

Franco has changed all that. He has registered his protest, Yad Vashem has agreed to look into the matter positively and the Pope can see for himself what exactly the Holocaust Museum has displayed about Pius XII. May be the Israelis would be more generous during the Papal visit. In any case the dialogue can and would continue effectively and meaningfully.

Strange sometimes are the ways of diplomacy!

Ends.

Also see:

Nazi Era - Looting of Cultural Treasures.

Twin Churches

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at Song of the waves.