UPSURGE OF ALLEPPEY TOWN BY MEANS OF GUJARATIS

UPSURGE OF ALLEPPEY TOWN  BY MEANS OF GUJARATISanjalyb1994@gmail.com

It is believed that 250 years back forty two Gujarati families from Kutch district arrived at Alappuzha for business purpose. They settled in the North-East coastal areas of Alleppey town. The Gujarati community contributed vehemently for the enrichment of trade and mercantile activities of Alappuzha. They established a Jain temple and an Upper Primary school there. At present only six families continued to settle here. This paper enquires the circumstances functioning and present day scenario of the Gujarati communities in Alleppey town.

Travancore was one of the most important dynasties in Indian sub-continent. Shungoony Menon describes its name as “Sreevalumcode” or “Tiruvarumcode.”^[1]The other name was “Vanjibhumi” which means the land of treasureor the land of piety.^[2]Rulers of Travancore were well-versed in administrative affairs. Diwan Kesavadasa, tried his best to make Travancore an eminent administrative power. Kesava Pillai was appointed as the first Diwanof Travancore on the 8^thKanni 964 M.E (22^nd September 1789). ^[3]The Governor General Lord Mornington had good remarks about Diwan Kesava Pillai and in recognition of his ability and prudence and firm attachment to the East India Company, he was conferred the tittle of ‘ Raja ’.

         In the second half of the 18^th   century, English East India Company became an indispensible force in India. During this period Travancore was one of the principal states in South India.  Eventually India was divided in to a number of petty states which were suspicious to one another .Company also made trade contacts between Travancore and other areas and later interfered in their internal affairs. Later its primary aim became colonization rather than trade and commerce. Gradually it tried acquired political supremacy over Travancore.

The British East India Company increased the tribute of Travancore from time to time. When that heavy tribute became unaffordable to Travancore, Raja Kesavadasa feared of a financial crisis in his sphere. As a measure to face this he decided to establish a port at Alleppey to acquire wealth by means of export and import. Business experts like Gujarati’s were invited to this area.

The background of the arrival of Gujarati merchants to Alleppey goes back to the second half of 18^th century. It had two reasons. One was the invitation of business community by Raja Kesavadasa to overcome the financial crisis of Travancore. He assumed that the efforts of a business community would promote income generation of Travancore.

The growing prosperity of Travancore and its relation with English East India Company irritated Tipu Sultan of Mysore. He ordered conversion of all the Hindus including low caste and high caste to the Islamic faith and suggested to acknowledge the divinity of Prophet Muhammad.^[4] Fearing this conversion all the high caste Hindus left from Malabar.^[5] The refugees sought asylum in Cochin. But the Raja of Cochin refused their request as he was a tributary of Tipu Sultan. They begged for protection before Dharmma Raja, the King of Travancore. The migrants including the royal family of the Zamorins of Calicut, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Nairs, Ezhavas etc. who had fled from North Malabar in the wake of Mysorean invasion got all facilities to settle down in different parts of his territory.

Dharmma Raja refused to obey the supremacy of Tipu and his demand to send the refugees back. This issue ended with a peace settlement.^[6] But after some years during the time of Dassara festival Tipu sent his Sirdar to meet Maharaja and to convey the news about his expedition. Maharaja instructed KesavaPillai to meet the representative of Tipu Sultan at Mavelikkara.^[7] The representative carried a letter from Tipu Sultan demanding the immediate surrender of all chiefs of Malabar who had taken refuge in Maharaja’s dominion. Maharaja tried to avoid this unhealthy situation. But unfortunately it led to a war. English East India Company helped Travancore to fight against Mysorean threat. After the death of D’Lenoy the Dutch navigator Raja Kesavadasa was appointed the head of military department. His soldiers defeated Tipu and Treaty of Sreerangapattanam was signed in 1792.^[8]

While by the agreement of 1788, Travancore was forced to station two regiments of East India Company in Travancore for its protection. After the victory upon Mysorean attack the Company demanded rupees seven lakhs for the expenses incurred by the Company’s military expenses in protecting Travancore against Tipu.  Kesavadasa paid the amount by several instalments. Sir Charlse, the new Governor of Madras was not satisfied with this. He demanded rupees ten lakhs as expense of the war. Madras government and Lord Conwalis decided in favour of Maharaja.  As the heavy tribute was paid off to Company the economic foundation of Travancore was shaken.

Raja Kesavadasa decided to strengthen trade and commercial activities by developing the coastal areas in Travancore for overcoming the financial crisis. He visited coasts and sea ports from Cape Comorin to the north.^[9]He renovated the ports of  Kulachal, Poowar, Vizhingam, Purakkad and Alleppey. Alleppey was situated few miles north of Purakkad. It was a sandy strip of land intercepted by lagoons, rivers and canals. This geographical peculiarity was good enough to bring hill products from Western Ghats to Alleppey.

Raja Kesavadasa ordered a survey of the sea by some experienced sea men and found the existence of a good anchorage protected by a band. He resolved to open a port there also. The mud banking system throughout the coast was very suitable for anchoring vessels.^[10]It is the specialty of some part of Kerala coast where sea waves were mild due to the presence of mud deposits in sea water. Under Kesavadasa’s guidance a man -made canal was constructed from Pallathuruthy to Arabian Sea.

Alleppey which was then a mere jungle inhabited by monkeys and jackals and other wild beasts.^[11] The area covered by wild thorny bushes turned in to a port city.^[12] Raja Kesavadasa invited professional merchants like Parsis, Banyas, Hindu Setttis,MuslimSettis andMarvadis. He communicated his friends at Bombay and induced influential Kutch and Sindh merchants and they were given every facility for carrying on a successful trade. To make their stay permanent, a Hindu temple and a Cutchery were built.^[13]

There is an indigenous reason behind the arrival of Gujarati merchants to Alleppey. In those days Gujarat also witnessed many famines.^[14] The revenue reforms of British government in north India also ruined the agriculture and food sufficiency. Failure of monsoon also made their life miserable. Severe famine occurred in Gujarat during this period and the decline of trade and commerce due to it persuaded the Gujarati’s to re allocate them to Travancore.

The King provided many facilities to them. Thus the forty two Gujarati’s arrived at Alleppey from Kutch, Sindh and Halar regions in the eve of the 18^thcentury.^[15]They settled down in the North Western coastal parts of Alleppey. This area is later known as Gujarathi Street in Alleppey. They were also well-versed in spice trade. They knew to face the fluctuations and instability in business. The Gujarati’s were permitted to construct pandikasalas or large godowns on the banks of canal constructed by Diwan from Pallathuruty to Beach. ^[16]Kesavadasa realized that the only sudden measure to overcome the debt was spice trade. The growing demand of Malabar spices on European markets was exploited by him.

Spices like ginger ,pepper ,cardamom ,clove  and commodities like coconut ,copra ,coconut oil ,grains ,sugar ,tea ,rubber ,areca nut and ayurvedic medicines were accumulated in large godowns.^[17] They processed these products. And it also exported to Middle-East and Europe. A pier projecting to Arabian was constructed to upload goods in anchoring vessels from abroad and to bring out goods from them.

The Gujarati merchants converted Alleppey in to an important port city within two or three decades. Two groups from Kutch merchants of Alleppey also went to Kochi and Kozhikkode to develop their business and settled there. Ward and Conner in their ‘Memoir of The Survey of The Travancore and Cochin States’ stated that in that period “Alleppey was a well-designed town and there were government godowns on the beach and there were canals through the town bridges across these canals and roads on the banks and there was a fort with twelve bastions on the North –East part of the town.  ”

The Gujarati gentle-men with their families began their lives at new dwelling. They moulded the area around them in Gujarati style. They constructed large houses in a linear pattern. Each and every house was constructed in Gujarati style. They had large ground floors with various rooms for storage and other purposes. They used the upstairs for residential purposes and ground floor for business. The back guards were common for adjacent houses. Each and every house was inter-connected with a long varanda.

They founded an Upper Primary School namely Gujarati Hitavardhak Vidyasala in Gujarati street .This attempt was meant for the education of their children approximately in the 19^th century. Through this institution they popularized the Gujarati medium of education. ^[18] They also learned Malayalam and English. This school taught both Gujarati children and local students. The building was very spacious and highly ventilated. The school walls were thicker and decorated with arches. The roof was made with seasoned timber and tiles. The compound was separated with large walls in Gujarati style.

This Gujarati community followed Jainism. A Sreedhara Menon in his ‘A Survey of Kerala History’ opined that “few families of Gujarati businessmen professing Jain faith lived in such commercial canters at Alleppey.” They constructed Sri Jain SweatambarTemple in the Gujarati Street. It is believed that Jainism came to South India especially in Kerala before the Christian era. The Sangham works Chilappatykaram and Manimekhalai also dealt with Jainism. In the 8^th century A.D Jainism begin to decline and in 16^th century it reached its zenith.^[19]

Sri Jain Sweatambar Temple was built by forty two Jain families brought from Kutch district. Earlier they constructed a small temple and it was renovated in 1994. This temple shows their devotion of four Tirthankaras. Icons of 11^thTirthankara Sreyesanatha, 12^thTirthankara, Vasupujya , 15^thTirthankara Dharmmanatha and 24^thTirthankara Parswanatha  are sited there. This temple became a center of meeting and worship of Gujarati’s. A trust elected from the currently residing families looks after the administrative affairs.^[20] Now there are only six families. Even now the temple stands as their spiritual centre, following rigid Jain rites and rituals.

The Jain Temple in Alleppey had its own fascinating style and architectural peculiarities. It is the only Jain temple in Kerala that did not use iron to build and also exhibits flaunt a dome atop. The temple was carefully constructed with Rajasthan stones and White marbles.^[21] One of the striking features of the temple is that it exhibits numerous figurines of Tirthankara’s curved in single marble piece.The statue of 12^th Tirthankara Vasupujya Swami placed at the center. The statue of  Dharmmanatha and Sreyesanatha have been place at the right and left side of Vasupujya. Statue of  Parswanatha was also installed on the upstairs.

The community has a very strict and stern code of rituals and rites. All of them follow it without any hesitation. Every day ‘Sunatrapooja’ and ‘Ekasantrapooja’ is conducted for around one and half hours which is believed to bring spiritual sanctity and Nirvana to their lives. The festival conducted by Jain’s is known as ‘parvaparyushana ’   lasts for eight days and usually celebrated  in August – September. During the time of Parvaparyushana many Jain Saints from Gujarat came to Alleppey. They also read the history of twenty four Tirthankaras during this occasion. Jain followers are pure vegetarians. They are forbidden from consuming alcohol. They do not consume anything that grows underground. According to their religious belief they only eat such food that grows above the ground getting a lot of sunlight.

         The arrival of Gujarati’s to Alleppey was an important incident in the history of modern Travancore. Their presence led to social-economic and cultural breakthrough. Their contribution in the fields of trade and commerce was matchless. This business group played a dominant role in uplifting Alleppey into the level of a central port which is later known as the ‘Venice of the East’. Combination of Gujarati and Kerala style is seen in weddings, festivals, dressing and food habits. After the death of Raja Kesavadasa and the emergence of new ports Gujarati’s of Alleppey lost their power and position. The new system of governance and rise of trade unions retarded. Present day the people doing small jobs like courier carrier, school peons, bakery workers etc. Thus we see deterioration of a brilliant and aristocratic tradition in the long path of time.

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[1]P Shungoony Menon,History of Travancore (Madras,1878),p.1.

[2]Ibid.

[3]Ibid,p.157.

[4]Shangoony Menon,Op.cit.,p.158.

[5]Ibid

[6]Ibid,p.168.

[7]P Nagam Aiya,Travancore State Manuel,Gazetteers Department of Kerala(Thiruvananthapuram,1994),p.401.

[8]Shangoony Menon,op.cit, p.177.

[9]Ibid,p.170.

[10] Interview with Kallelil RaghavanPillai,December 23,2016,5 P M.

[11]P Nagam Aiya,Op.cit,p 404.                                                                                

[12]A Sreedhara Menon,A Survey of Kerala History(Kottayam,2000),p.25.

[13]P Nagam Aiya, Op.cit,p.404.

[14]www.shodhganga.com.

[15]Katchi Dasa Oswal Vasti Pathrak,2016.p.10.

[16]Kattakkada Divakaran ,Kerala Sancharam (Trivandrum,2005) P.373.

[17]Op.cit,Katchi Dasa Oswal Vasti Pathrak.p.45.

[18]Kattakkada Divakaran, Op.cit,.,p.373.

[19]A Sreedhara Menon,Kerala Samskaram ( Kottayam,1978), P.22.

[20]Katchi Dasa Oswal Vasti Pathrak,Op.cit.,p. 46.

[21]Ibid,p.46.

Gujarati Hitavardhak Vidyasala

Gijarati Street

Sri Jain Sweatambar Temple

Gujarati House