The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c13: Chapter VII. The Nayaks of Madura
The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c13
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Chapter VII. The Nayaks of Madura
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SUMMARY—1. Idea of the Nayakship of Madura.—2. Erection of the Palaiyams.—3. War against the five Pandyas.—4. Officers of Visvanatha. 1 His minister Ariyanatha Mudaliyar.—5. Rama Raya Vitthala appointed Viceroy of the South. His campaign of 1544 against Travancore.—6. St. Francis Xavier stops the Telugu army.—7. Consequent friendship between St. Xavier and the Travancore ruler.—8. Peace between Travancore and Vijayanagara.—9. First expedition of Vitthala to the Fishery Coast.—10. Vitthala’s Viceroyalty in the South. Relations with Visvanatha Nayaka.—11. Campaign of 1549 against Coromandel. Murder of Fr. Criminali.—12. Campaigns of 1551 and 1552.—13. A combined attack with the Muhammadans of Calicut against Punney Kayal in 1553.—14. Conflict of Travancore and Vijayanagara on the Fishery Coast.—15. End of Vitthala’s Viceroyalty. A criticism of it.—16. An expedition of Visvanatha against Punney Kayal in 1560.—17. Accession of Krishnappa Nayaka I and death of Visvanatha. A criticism of his reign. His relations with the Empire.—18. Krishnappa’s wars against Tumbichchi Nayaka and the King of Kandi.
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CONTEMPORARY SOURCES—1. Hindu inscriptions and grants.—2. Taylor’s Telugu Manuscripts, *Singhala dvipa Catha*.—3. Letters of St. Francis Xavier, *Selectae Indicarum Epistolae*.—4. *Processus de Sanctitate et Virtute S. Francisci Xaverii*, *Chronicon Societatis Jesu*,—5. Sousa, *Oriente Conquistado*; Bartoli, *L’ Asia*; Du Jarric, *Thesarus*; Guzman, *Historia de las Misiones*; Tursellini, *De Vita Sti. Francisci Xaverii*; Maffei, *Historiarum Indicarum Libri XVI*.—6. Couto, Faria y Sousa.
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THE foundation of the Nayak kingdom of Madura was laid by the Emperor Achyuta Raya of Vijayanagara towards the end of his reign, when Visvanatha Nayak had become “the master of the kingdom of Madura”, as the Vellangudi plates of Venkata II read ¹. Accordingly his full title was to be in time to come "Maharaja Mahnie Raja Sri Visvanatha Naayane Ayelugaru". The Krishnapuram plates of Sadasiva inform us that his Queen was named Nagama 1. His kingdom extended from Urrattur and Valikondapuram in the North to Cape Comorin in the South, and from Coimbatore, Erode and Dharapuram in the West to Remeswaram and the sea in the East 2.
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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, XVI, p. 320. I do not know why the date 1558-9 is assigned for the foundation of the Nayak or semi-independent rule in Madura. This theory invented by Nelson, *The Madura Manual*,
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¹ Ep. Ind., IX, p. 341, vv. 46-57.
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It has been asserted that "the Nayak regime developed first into a governorship which become hereditary, and then into what was practically a hereditary monarchy" 3. This is incorrect. Visvanatha was, after Chandra Sekhara Pandya's death, appointed by Achyuta real King of Madura, subject to the empire. This subjection practically consisted only in the payment of an annual tribute of 30 to 45 laks of rupees 4. The Pandya King himself had nominated him his successor, as he had no legitimate offspring; and Visvanatha himself wanted to be considered as the rightful successor of the Pandyas. One of his coins, in the Bangalore Museum, shows on the obverse a sceptre between two fishes, the racial sign of the Pandyas, and above them the Tamil legend, Pandiyan; on the reverse it bears the name Visvanatha, in Tamil-Grantha characters. 5.
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2. One of the first acts of Visvanatha after taking possession of his new kingdom was to divide it into Palaiyams or counties, for the better administration of the country and to repay the faithful services of many of his officers who had help- p. 87, and followed by Sewell and his successors, is perhaps concocted to explain the appointment of Vitthala as Viceroy in the South in 1543-4. When the time of his governorship was over, then, they suppose, Visvanatha's rule began. But the above mentioned chronicles say that the Pandya died a few months after Visvanatha's expedition against his father, and that Visvanatha was then appointed king. To my mind the foundation of the Nayakship dates from the last year of Achyuta Raya.
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² Mrtyunjaya MSS., Taylor, O.H.MSS., II, p. 117.
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³ Ep. Ind., XVI, p. 90.
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⁴ From Fr. A. Vico to Fr. A. Laerzio, Madura, August 30,1611 Bertrand, La Mission de Madure, II, p. 124.
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⁵ Hultzsch, South Indian Copper Coins, Ind. Ant., XXI, p. 325 No. 16.
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ed him in his former campaigns. There is no doubt that this was one of the first deeds of Visvanatha after his accession to the throne; because the History of the Karnataka Governors records that the reign of Visvanatha lasted twenty-six years after this settlement ¹. The towns and the villages belonging to each of these Palaiyams were specified from the beginning, in order to avoid quarrels among their petty lords. These Palaiyams were held in military tenure, and the Palaiyakaran, or Polegar as he was afterwards called, was responsible for the defence of each of the seventy-two bastions of the Madura fort: the very title of Palaiyakaran shows the basis which the power of these chieftains rested upon, because it means 'a holder of an armed camp'. The Palaiyakarans were theoretically at the disposal of their sovereign ².
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¹ Taylor, O.H.MSS., II, p. 21.
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² Ibid.
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Prof. Sathyanatha Aiyar seems to question the number of Palaiyams created by Visvanatha ³; but the said History categorically states that Visvanatha "divided the whole of the countries acquired into seventy-two Palaiyams".
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³ Sathyanatha Aiyar, History of the Nayaks, p. 58.
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Again the same History shortly after: "In case of attack or siege, these seventy-two Palaiyakkarans were each one to have charge of a particular bastion with a connected portion of the wall, and to defend the same with his retainers against all assaults" ⁴. One of the Mackenzie MSS., translated and published by Taylor, gives a List of the seventy-two Palaiyams appointed to guard the bastions of the Pandyan Capital, as they were in the time of Tirumala Nayaka. They are divided into nine sections, of which the first contains the kingdom of Malayalam (Travancore), and the principalities of Ramnad, Sivaganga and Pudukkottai. "These three last," says the list," are like adopted children of the Madura government". Then the second section, without heading, contains the Palaiyams of Ayalur. Nainar, Turaiyur-Rettiyar, Iluppur, Kulattur, and Kattalur; and thus, successively, the third section numbers eight counties attached to the Manapadu Taluk; the fourth gives the names of fourteen attached to the Dindigul Taluq; the fifth has thirty nine, the rulers of which were called Kamban Gudalur Rajas; the sixth contains one attached to Koyambutur; then in the seventh come two Palaiyams attached to the Salem District; and finally two more, the Mannimai Palaiyam and the Raja Palaiyam, each forming a separate section by itself ¹.
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⁴ Taylor, l.c.
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¹ Taylor, o.c., II, p. 161-3.
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Although the system was not completely new, in asmuch as we find some Palaiyakarans in the southern country before the enthronement of Visvanatha ²; nevertheless to him was due its institution as a permanent and efficient body for the administration of the country and for the defence of the capital, to which they had to pay their tribute annually. Moreover, the fact that Tamil and Telugu chiefs were indiscriminately appointed Palaiyakarans, was supposed to foster the necessary union for establishing a lasting peace between both the subjects and their foreign rulers. This was by far the most important political event of the time, in spite of the fact that it fomented ambitions in these petty chiefs and weakened the royal authority of Madura, of which they were too independent from the very beginning. Had they been more systematically attached to, and dependent on, the central power, Madura might have been saved from many of the troubles caused by the Palaiyakarans.
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² Cf. ch. VI, No. 9.
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3. The first of these troubles came soon after. In the country lying to the south there were five kings who had been tributaries to the Pandya. These now joined together and refused to pay tribute to the new foreign ruler at Madura. The *History of the Karnataka Governors* ³ does not say who these five kings were. The *Mrtyunjaya MSS.* call them merely "five independent princes of the South, who acknowledged no earthly superior" ⁴. But according to the *Genealogical Narrtaive of the House of Appiya Nayak*, the Palaiyakaran of Kannivady, (one of the MSS. of the Mackenzie Collection), they were collateral descendants of the ancient Pandya race ¹. Who, then, were these five collateral descendants of the Pandya family? Mr. Rangachari seems inclined to believe that this uprising was headed by the Pandya of Tenkasi himself, Tirunelveli Kulasekhara Perumal ²; the other four Pandyas being four of his close relatives, who perhaps shared with him the honor of royalty ³. But it seems to us more probable that the chief of this rebellion was the brother and predecessor of Tirunelveli Kulasekhara Perumal, named Perumal Parakrama Pandyadeva, alias Kulasekharadeva. He was crowned in Tenkasi in 1543, and his Singottai inscription of three years later calls him "the unrivalled hero of the world, the light of the Chandra-kula, the lord of the three worlds" ⁴. These titles, so unusual in the inscription of the Pandyas of those days, do certainly bespeak a man who refused to acknowledge any earthly superior. In this case, the rebellion of Perumal Parakrama Pandyadeva with his four partners in the throne took place after the year 1546; and if we suppose that he was the Pandya finally killed by Visvanatha, we must place the war at about 1552, since his successor was crowned in 1553.
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³ Taylor, o. c., II, p. 17.
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⁴ Ibid., p. 111.
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¹ Ibid., p. 168. Subramania Sarma, *Short History of the Panyya Kingdom*, p. 9, says that they were sons of Chandra Sekhara Pandya and Kamestri.
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² Rangachari, *History of the Naik Kingdom*, *Ind Ant.*, XLIV, p. 37.
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³ It seems that there were five Pandyas actually ruling together from the most ancient times. The *Mahavanso*, ch 82, v. 23 speaks of the five fierce Tamil tyrants routed in open battle by Vatta Gamani of Ceylon in about 200 B. C. Cf. *The Mahavanso* (Translation of L. C. Wijesinha), p. 229; Diwan Bahadur L. D. Swamikannu Pillai, *New Dates on Pandya Kings*, *Ind. Ant.*, XLII, p. 166. According to the last Pandya ruler of Madura all the Pandyas of Tenkasi were illegitimate descendants of the former Pandyas. Cf. *Tanjavuri Andhra Rajula Charitra*, S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, *Sources*, p. 322.
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⁴ T. A. S. I, p. 104.
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On receiving the news of this revolt, Visvanatha sent his prime minister against the five Pandyas; but this officer 'was not strong enough to meet them', says the History of the Kar- *nataka Governors*¹. The Pandyas were in the fortified town of Kayatattur, and for some time successfully resisted the Madura army. Ariyanatha and the Palaiyakarans who were with him were defeated, and "they actually retreated in disgrace to Madura"². Visvanatha himself then went in person with the rest of the army to meet those insurgents. The war was carried on for the space of six months, but the five Pandyas could not be reduced: "a great many men on both sides fell", says the *History of the Karnataka Governors*, "and the lamentations of the families of the deceased, alike in the camp and the country around, being heard by Visvanatha Naicker, he reflected within himself how many families were absorbed in grief merely that he, a single person, might enjoy undisturbed prosperity; and, in consequence, wrote a letter to the five opponents, which he sent by a herald; of which letter the contents were the following:—
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¹ Taylor, *O. H. MSS.*, II, p. 17.
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² *Genealogical Narrative of Appiya Nayak*, Ibid., p. 108.
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'You are five persons, and I am one: for our sakes so much grief and lamentation is caused. Let it not be thus; but, withdrawing the two armies and restraining all attacks, let a stone pillar be erected midway between both armies, and an agreement be written and placed in it; then advance and meet me alone in personal encounter; if I conquer you, than you must depart with nothing more than the garments you wear; relinquishing your countries with all treasure and appurtenances to me; and if I am conquered, than I give up to you, in like manner, my country and all my possesions. Let a solemn vow to this effect be made, and let the agreement be recorded in a copper-plate and placed on the stone pillar; after which we will engage in combat at its foot and decide the question between us".
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The reply of the five Pandyas was as follows:—
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"For you being one, to meet us five together, would not be equitable; but one from among us will come, and do you come and meet him".
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The valiant Visvanatha did not want to be defeated by the chivalry of his five opponents; accordingly the Madura Sovereign answered to this effect:—
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“You, being five persons, are at the head of five countries, which I, being one person, have come in order to subjugate to myself alone; and therefore it is quite right that all five of you should meet me at once.”
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“They however would not consent”, adds the said *History*, “but selecting the bravest of their number, clothed him in body armour, and mounting him on horseback, being duly furnished with a sword, they conducted him to the appointed arena of combat”.
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The fight did not last long. When both Visvanatha and the Pandya champion were ready, the former invited the Pandya saying:—
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“Do you strike first”.
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The Pandya did so, but Visvanatha parried the blow with his sword. The Pandya then bade Visvanatha strike, but the Madura ruler declined, and three times bade the other strike. The Pandya champion did so. Then Visvanatha Nayaka, addressing his rival, said:—
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“Now, for the rest, take good care”.
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And he “struck the king, cutting him into two pieces, falling to the ground”, says the *History*.
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The victory of Visvanatha over the Pandyas was decisive¹. The four kings gave their countries to the Madura Sovereign, according to the agreement, “and departed as emigrants, or solitary wanderers into other lands”² As a matter of fact, we hear no more about the institution of the Five Pandyas as in former times; so we may suppose that the victory of Visvanatha marked the end of it. Nevertheless, the appointment of a member of the Pandya family as subordinate king in Tinnevelly, was politically the best means to establish union between Tamilians and Telugus; and accordingly we find several Pandyas ruling at Tenkasi after this event. It was probably then that Tirunelveli Kulasekhara Perumal, the younger brother of Perumal Parakrama Pandyadeva, was crowned in 1553 "in the presence of the lord of the Universe at Tenkasi" ¹. He took on this occasion the title of Vira-vel, a title suggestive of a subordinate rank ², probably to the king of Madura. His son Ativirarama Pandya Alagan, who is mentioned together with Visvanatha in an inscription of 1558 ³, also took on his coronation day, in about 1564, the name of Sivala-vel, ⁴ which has the same connotation. In their incriptions there are no boasts like those of Perumal Parakrama Pandyadeva, whose defeat had been a good lesson for the Pandyas. Neither Vira-vel nor Sivala-vel thought any more of rebellion and war, but devoted themselves to poetry and literature. The former, according to the inscription of his coronation, "feeling that flower garlands would all fade away, put on a garland of verses in the venba metre sung in praise of him by the poets" ⁵. Was this not a fruit of the experience of his brother Perumal Parakrama, whose glory and pride faded suddenly before the sword of Visvanatha Nayaka?
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¹ It is very strange that Wheeler, *History of India*, IV, pt. III, p. 574, in the *Hindu Annals* compiled from the Mackenzie Manuscripts, after saying that Visvanatha defeated and slew his Pandya opponent, states: “After this Visvanatha died upon the field of battle, and a monument was built to his memory”. It cannot but be a misunderstanding of the text, because the *Mityunjaya* MSS. state likewise that Visvanatha “conquered the five independent Princes of the South, who acknowledged no earthly superior”. Taylor, *O. H. MSS.*, II, p. 111.
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² Taylor, o.c., p. 17-21.
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¹ Tenkasi inscription of his coronation, T. A. S., I, p. 105.
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² Ibid., and p. 57.
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³ 273 of 1908.
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⁴ Tenkasi inscription of his coronation, Ibid., p. 106.
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⁵ T. A. S., I, 105.
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4. In these and other affairs of administration Visvanatha was aided, no doubt, by the agents he had throughout his dominions. According to an inscription of 1550, one of these agents, named Uddandar, remitted certain taxes due to the king, for offering cakes daily to the God for the merit of Visvanatha ⁶. According to another inscription at Kiranur (Madura) Kalahastiyappa Mudaliyar, Visvanatha's minister, granted the village of Kondarinji Karanur as a free gift to the Brahmins ⁷. In the genealogy of Ramabhadra Nayaka of Periyakulam, this chief is said to have exercised the office of fouzdar, or military chief and collector of revenue, during the time of Visvanatha¹.
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⁶ 609 of 1916.
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¹ Rangacharya, II, p. 1023, 265-E.
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His son, Krishnappa Nayaka, was also a great help to Visvanatha in the government of his state. He is often mentioned in the inscriptions of his father's reign. This fact proves the importance and influence of the Crown Prince at the court of Madura. According to an inscription of 1546, in the kitchen of the Bripadamba temple at Devikapuram, North Arcot, Surappa Nayaka made a gift of ghee to the temple for Krishnappa's merit²; in 1550 the latter is mentioned along with Chinna Bomma Nayaka³; in 1553 he granted a piece of land for worship and for repairs in the Tyagarajasvamin temple at Ambasamudram, Tinnevelly⁴; in 1555, his agent Ekambara Mudaliyar granted another piece of land for a flower garden of a temple⁵; and two gifts of land made by him in 1562 to some temple are also recorded⁶.
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² 391 of 1912.
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³ 417 of 1905.
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⁴ 497 of 1916.
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⁵ 530 of 1916.
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⁶ 121 of 1894; 494 of 1915.
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But the most efficient of his officers was his Dalavay and Pradhani, Ariyanatha Mudaliyar, "his second in power", according to the *Mrtyunjaya MSS*⁷. His *Biographical Notice*, translated by Taylor, is full of marvellous accounts, but contains nevertheless several facts that appear historical. He came from the Kanjivaram district, according to the *Royal Line of the Karnataka Princes*⁸, and was presented to the Emperor at Vijayanagara by Nagama Nayaka; later on, he aided Visvanatha in his campaign against his father⁹. The importance of Ariyanatha in Madura was so great, that an inscription of 1560 records the grant of twelve villages by Visvanatha, "the pious son of Kotyam Nagama Nayadu" and "Mandaraputtaneri Ariya Nayaka Mudaliyar"¹⁰.
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⁷ Taylor, O. H. MSS., II, p. 111.
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⁸ Ibid., p. 117.
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⁹ *Biographical Notice*, Taylor, o. c., II, p. 113-5; *Royal Line of the Karnataka Lords*, Ibid., p. 117.
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¹⁰ Sewell, II, p. 2, 10.
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5. In the meanwhile several events had taken place in the South. In the West, the king of Travancore had withheld the tribute due to Vijayanagara; and in the East the Portuguese, who had taken possession of the Fishery Coast to protect the Paravas, were becoming more and more firmly established. Visvanatha, in the first years of his reign, was engaged in the twofold task of regulating the administration of his kingdom and subduing the rebellious chiefs of his dominions in the South. Hence he was unable to meet those new emergencies. In these circumstances Rama Raya thought it reasonable to send an army from the imperial court under a valiant general to defend the interests of the Empire, which were then at stake. Such was the origin and the purpose of the expedition of Rama Raya Vitthala to the South¹.
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¹ Mr. Rangachari, *Ind. Ant.*, XLIII, p. 231, supposes another inroad of the Travancore king into the Pandya territory; but he does not notice that the inscription he points out as a proof of his statement is dated 1546 and Vitthala's expedition had taken place two years before. Dr. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, *Sources*, p. 17, states also that the Travancore sovereign "had established himself so far successfully in the South that he held Kayal on the Fishery Coast in his possession and appointed a Viceroy", but he does not prove his statement. I think sufficient reason for such an expedition the fact that the tribute was not paid by Travancore.
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It was formerly supposed that Vitthala was the son of the Regent Rama Raya himself²; but it has been proved that he was only his cousin³, and the son of Ramaraja Timmaya⁴. It seems that before his appointment in the South, he had held in Penukonda some kind of authority over that fort and city, in view of the fact that he remitted certain taxes there⁵. He was also, according to Mr. Rangacharya, the one who exempted the barbers from taxes in Namala Dinnah, Cuddapah⁶; but in the year 1543 he was appointed generalissimo of the army of Vijayanagara to conduct a great expedition to the South, having for its object a firm establishment of the authority of the Empire in its most distant corners ¹.
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² Cf. for instance Nagam Aiya, *The Travancore State*, I, p. 229.
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³ *M.E.R.*, 1911, p. 86; 1912, p. 82.
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⁴ 250 of 1910.
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⁵ 346 of 1901.
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⁶ Rangacharya, I, p. 601, 322.
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¹ 146 of 1896; M.E.R., 1899-1900, para 78. Cf. Sewell, II, p. 224.
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The first country that Vitthala invaded was Travancore. Its king was then Bhutala Vira Sri Vira Kerala Varma, alias Unni Kerala Varma, who had ascended the masnad a little earlier ². Visvanatha Nayaka offered Vitthala every facility for carrying out his enterprise, possibly gave him some detachments of his own army, and most probably himself joined the Vijayanagara troops; because it is recorded in the Tamil chronicles that Visvanatha subdued some chiefs of Travancore and levied tribute from them in the name of the Emperor of Vijayanagara ³. Fr. Bartoli and Fr. Sousa also mention the Madura Nayak at the head of this expedition ⁴. Krishnappa, his son, was most likely in the expedition too; since he is described in the Krishnapuram plates of Sadasiva as a man "who by his valour deprived the insolent king of the Tiruvadirajya (Travancore) of the seven parts of his kingdom" ⁵. With Vitthala also went to Travancore Prince Chinna Timma, his brother ⁶, spoken of in the Yadavabhyudaya Vyakhya, as having planted a pillar of victory in token of his conquests in Travancore, near the mountains of Malaya (Malabar)¹. He had been, it seems, governor of Chandragiri². An inscription of Sadasiva of 1542, at Tindivanam, records the gift of a village for the merit of the Mahamandalesvara Ramaraja Chinna Timmayadeva Maharaja³. Another inscription at Narasingapuram, Chingleput District, refers to a remission of taxes by a certain Sankara Nayaka Linganayaka, in 1545, for the merit of Chinna Timmayadeva Maharaja⁴; this was done during the governorship of his brother over the South. Sadasiva Nayak of Keladi was likewise probably in this expedition; in the *Sivatattvaratnakara* he is said to have defeated the Keralas or people of the Malayalam country and to have planted a pillar of victory on the spot⁵. An inscription of Tiruvidaimarudur also mentions a Brahmin of this place named Tiruchchrambala Bhattan, who "joined Vitthala’s army and continued to fight on his side from Anantasayanam in the South to Mudugal (Mudgal) in the North." After the war he was rewarded with two villages⁶.
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² Cf. S. Paramesvara Aiyar, Travancore and Vijayanagar, C.C.M., XXII, p. 188; Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State, I, p. 297. St. Xavier in his letters calls him Iniquitribirim (M.H.S.J., Mon. Xav., I, p. 314, 337, 339, 343, 344, 345 and 349), a name that clearly sounds like a corruption of Unni Kerala Varma. Mackenzie, Christianity in Travancore p. 64, says In quitribirim " stands for Enakku Tamburan, meaning Our Prince. This is vulgar Tamil; but from the words of the Lord's Prayer in Tamil, which Francis gives in one of his letters, it appears that Francis spoke the vulgar Tamil of his fisher converts on the coast; and they, in their rude speech, would call the Maharaja Enakku Tamburan."
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³ 17 of 1912. Cf. Nagam Aiya, o. c., p. 316.
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⁴ Bartoli, Dell' Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu, L'Asia, I, p. 128; Souza, Oriente Conquistado, I, p. 142.
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⁵ Ep. Ind., IX, p. 341, vv. 46-57.
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⁶ 250 of 1910.
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¹ Rangacharya, I, p. 402, 717.
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² 33 of 1905. Other records of Prince Chinna Timma will be found in Rangacharya, II, p. 915, 60 and 70; p 976, 608.
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³ 250 of 1910.
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⁴ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, *Sources*, p. 210.
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⁵ Ibid., p. 195.
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⁶ 140 of 1895.
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After halting with his army at Madura, Vitthala set out for Travancore in the beginning of July accompanied by all these chiefs. Nagam Aiya says that St. Francis Xavier in one of his letters states that the army of Vitthala entered the territory of Travancore through the Aramboly (Aruvaymoli) pass⁷. I could not find this letter in the critical edition of that missionary’s letters. This, however, seems to be the actual tradition in Travancore, that through that pass the army of Vitthala invaded the country. Fr. Sousa only says that they came down through the mountains in the neighbourhood of Cape Comorin, that divide Travancore from the Coromandel Coast⁸.
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⁷ Nagam Aiya, o. c., p. 297.
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⁸ Sousa, o. c., p. 142. Fr. J. Mahe, S.J., Superior of St. Mary’s High School, Madura, writes to me as follows: “I think Fr. Souza means
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6. When news of this inroad reached Travancore, all the people grew extremely frightened, and a great number of the inhabitants of the villages of the South emigrated northwards carrying with them all their belongings. "I went *via* the Cape by land to visit these miserable Christians, who were coming, persecuted and plundered by the Badagas", says St. Francis Xavier, an eye-witness of these events; "it was indeed pitiful to see them; some had nothing to eat; others had become blind on account of their age and hardships; many were married men, and their wives brought forth their children while *en route*, and there were many other pitiful things; had you seen them you would, I am sure, have pitied them even more than myself. I ordered the poor people to assemble at Manapar (Manapadu)"¹.
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¹ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapar, August 1st, 1544, M.R.S.I., *Mon. Xav.*, I, p. 330.
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Unni Kerala Varma collected an army from all his dominions and was ready to encounter his enemies. When they were approaching the capital he was made aware of the fact that the Telugu army was not only more numerous but also more formidable than his own, on account of their cavalry and equipment. According to Fr. Sousa, the Brahmin Chronicles of Travancore relate that the King at this juncture called Xavier to where he was and asked him for help, since the independence of his kingdom was at stake. Perhaps the Sovereign expected to make an alliance with the Portuguese through the influence of St. Francis; but the holy missionary, who was engaged only in spiritual affairs, answered that the only help he was able to offer him were his prayers, since he was a missionary and not a soldier. No doubt, Xavier fulfilled his promise².
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² Sousa, *o. c.*, p. 142-3.
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that same pass in the passage (of Nagam Aiya) you refer to. That is the only way to Travancore on that side, with the way round by Cape Comorin. Across the hills of Papanasam, near Ambasamudram, there is a way which was probably in good use formerly, for there is there an old fort on the top of a high hill very visible from our property close by." This was likely the way followed by the army of Vitthala on this occasion. *Cf.* Ramanatha Ayyar, *The Aruvaymoli Pass or the Open Gateway of Travancore*, J. I. H., IV. p. 19-20.
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In the meanwhile, Vitthala's army was advancing triumphantly through the Travancore country, and before it the panic-stricken villagers abandoned their homes to seek refuge in the forests. But when the army was only two leagues North of the village of Kottar¹, the vanguard stopped suddenly, unable to take another step further. The officers who were in the rear ordered the soldiers to march on, and then they learnt the reason of that sudden halt. "A tall majestic man dressed in black appeared in front of us", they said, "who reprimanded us and ordered us to retire at once"². The officers of the army, and among them perhaps Visvanatha and Vitthala themselves, could realize then that the fact was true; for Xavier was still standing in front of the army, in gigantic form and dignified countenance, ³ barring the way to the capital. Such an order the valiant commander could not disobey, and accordingly the troops were ordered to retreat. Thus was Travancore saved from the invasion of the Vijayanagara army through the prayers and at the request of St. Francis Xavier⁴.
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¹ Kottar, known to Ptolomy under the name of Kottiare Metropolis, and a town of importance in the Chola period, is a suburb of Nagircoil at present. Fr. P. Martin in a letter to Fr. Le Gobien, dated Camia Naicken Patty, June 1,1700, records the tradition of fifty six years later that pointed out Kotate (Kottar) as the place where this event took place. Bertrand, La Mission de Madure, III, p. 18.
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² These words are taken from the eldest testimonies of note 4, infra. Du Jarric, Thesaurus, I, p. 148, who relates the fact (as also does Fr. Souza), puts in the mouth of Xavier a short invective against the troops, which sounds more like one of the speeches of Livy's heroes than words of the sainted missionary.
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³ These details are given by Souza, o. c., p. 143.
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⁴ This fact, however extraordinary, cannot be denied by critical and impartial history. True, St. Xavier himself does not say a word of it; but this is his way in all his letters—never to mention a case which may be interpreted as a miracle or as something marvellous. But the authorities on whom our narration is based are too numerous and too weighty not to be admitted by impartial historians. We will enumerate them here:— A. Processus de sanct(itate) et Virtu(e) S. Francisci Xaverii Faite Prim(a) e second(a). Manuscript in the Archives of the Society of
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7. It seems that when Unni Kerala Varma was informed by eye-witnesses of the retreat of the Vijayanagara troops at the command of Xavier, he had already set out from his capital Kalkulam, five leagues West of Kottar, and was ready with his army to meet the enemy at any moment. When subsequently the missionary reached the royal camp, the King himself proceeded to receive him and embraced him most affectionately; and after having thanked him, addressed him as follows:
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They call me the Great King (Maharaja), but hereafter they will always call you the Great Father.
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Jesus. This volume in folio contains the processes made in India on the life and miracles of Xavier for his beatification and canonization. The first part of the volume deals with processes made at Goa, Cochin, Bassein and Malaca, in 1556 and 1557, at the request of the King of Portugal Joao III, by the local ecclesiastical authorities. In the process of Cochin the witness, Francisco Mansilhas, a Lay Brother of the Society of Jesus, who had worked with Xavier both on the Coromandel Coast and in Travancore, gave evidence of the fact as narrated above. Considering that the process was held only twelve years after the event, his statement is of exceptional value. The same is declared by Thomas de Gouvea in the second part of the volume, which is a summary of the processes of Cochin, Tuticorin and Kalkulam made in 1616 and 1617.
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B. Souza, *Oriente Conquistado*, I, p. 142-3. The authority of this work has already been declared. See *Bibliographical Introduction*.
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C. Du Jarric, *Thesaurus Rerum Indicarum*, I, p. 148. See *Bibliographical Introduction*.
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D. Guzman, *Historia de las Misiones*, p. 31. See *Bibliographical Introduction*. Fr. Guzman gives a concise narration of the fact, but suggests that the invading army was of Moors (Muhammadans).
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F. Bohours, *The Life of St. Francis Xavier*, p. 145-8.
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G. Bartoli, *Dell' Istoria della Campagnia di Gesu, L' Asia*, I, p. 128. See *Bibliographical Introduction*.
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H. Tursellini, *De Vita S. Francisci Xaverii*, l. II, c. XI, p. 109. This is one of the earliest Jesuit authors, who wrote towards the end of the 16th century; the first edition was published in 1594; his work is a compilation of the early traditions of the Society.
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I. Lucena, *Historia da vida do Padre Francisco de Xavier*, II, 17. It also represents the early tradition of the Society of Jesus; its first edition appeared in 1600.
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Accordingly, the King issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom commanding all his subjects to give that title to the Father in the future, and also to obey him as if he were
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J. Acosta, *Rerum e Societate Jesu De rebus Indicis Commentarius*, p. 7.
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K. Maffei, *Vita de S. Francisco Xaverio*, l. II, c. 2. Several other modern authors have admitted this fact:—
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L. Brou, *Saint Francois Xavier*, I, p. 256.
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M. Coleridge, *The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier*, I, p. 214.
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N. Mackenzie, *Christianity in Travancore*. p. 64, regards this fact as a story: "The story that Francis Xavier went to meet the Madura troops, crucifix in hand, and that they retired before him, is told in *Oriente Conquistado*, I, p. 143". Neither in *Oriente Conquistado*, nor in any other of the above mentioned authorities mention is made of the crucifix in Xavier's hand. This is an invention of Mackenzie.
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O. Nagam Aiya, *The Travancore State*, I, p. 298, says as follows: "The Raja of Travancore was indebted to Xavier for deliverance from danger; a panic having, it is said, been produced in the ranks of the Badagas by the sudden appearance of Xavier in front of their host, crucifix in hand; and thus the Badagas failed in their attempt to conquer Travancore." The detail of the crucifix must have been taken from Mackenzie. The fact that no battle is mentioned in the Hindu inscriptions and poems between the forces of Vitthala and the Travancore army confirms also the extraordinary event narrated above. It was a war without a formal battle.
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P. D'Orsey, *Portuguese Discoveries*, p. 130. The author, though an Anglican clergyman, says: "A band of mountaineers had poured down upon the plains of Travancore, and were plundering the possessions. The Rajah's force inferior in number, went out to meet the invaders; but Xavier resolved, if possible, to save their lives by being himself their champion. Raising the crucifix aloft, he rushed forward to meet the advancing foe and exclaimed in a voice of thunder: "I forbid you in the name of the living God, to pass further. Return to your homes, and leave the land in peace." Astounded by this apparition the superstitious multitude broke and fled. We give this story as it is recorded. Though improbable it is not impossible; and there must be some foundation for it, as the Rajah, grateful for this heroic deed did all in his power to further the interests of Xavier and his mission".
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Q. Astrain, *Historia de la Compania de Jesus en la Asistencia de Espana*, I, p. 469-70. See *Bibliographical Introduction*.
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the person of the King himself¹. Xavier does not mention these honours given by the Maharaja. But the extraordinary friendship between Unni Kerala Varma and Xavier which can be gathered from his letters abundantly proclaims the King's gratitude.
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¹ Souza, *Oriente Conquistado*, I, p. 143; Du Jarric, *Thesaurus*, I, p. 148; Bartoli, *Dell' Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu*, *L' Asia*, I, p. 127.
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At the end of August, news was spread that a Portuguese had captured a servant of the King and brought him over to Tuticorin. Xavier in his letter to Mansilhas dated September 2nd, 1544, evinces his interest in ascertaining the truth of this fact, on account of his friendship with the King, who had just then kindly entertained another Jesuit Missionary, Fr. Francisco Coelho : and then he adds: "For God's sake write to the Captain (of Tuticorin) on behalf of myself, saying that I beg him most earnestly not to order nor permit, in any way that any injury be done to the Hindus who belong to the kingdom of the Great King, since they are such great friends of ours "². On the 7th of the same month he wrote again to Mansilhas: "(Fr. Coelho) wrote to me besides that Iniquitriberim was sending me an olla through three or four of his servants, who being somewhat fatigued, were taking some rest in Manapar; and that by these ollas he requested me to go there to meet him, since he wishes to speak with me on certain points of great interest to him. Something else is written to me by Iniquitriberim, *viz.* that the Christians residing within his kingdom are quite safe, and he will always
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² From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapadu, September 2nd, 1544, M. H. S. J., *Mon. Xav.*, I, p. 333.
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R. S Parameswara Aiyar, *l. c.*, p. 190. S. Mr. S. A. Ramanantha Ayyar in his learned article on *The Aruvaymoli Pass*, *l. c.*, p. 18, states that the retreat of Vitthala's army before Xavier "is perhaps reminiscent of a diplomatic mission, which this friend of the Travancore King 'Iniquitribirin' accomplished, and which stayed the punishing hand of the imperial Viceroy from committing much slaughter and shedding much innocent blood." We cannot support this view. The details given by the sources are so many and so characteristic that the account cannot be taken but literally, though no miracle is to be supposed to explain the case.
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protect them" 1. It was not at all strange that Unni Kerala Varma should want to speak with Xavier on certain points of great interest to him, seeing that Xavier was the saviour of his kingdom.
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This friendship with the King was used by Xavier to protect the poor people who had fled at the approach of the army of Vijayanagara and taken refuge in the rocky islands South of Cape Comorin. "I am going", he says, "with twenty boats of provisions to succour the Christians who are on the rocks near the Cape of Comorin. They fled from the Badagas, and are now dying of hunger and thirst" 2.
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8. But the war was not over. A treaty had to be made between Travancore and Vijayanagara. Unni Kerala Varma was the first to send an ambassador to Vitthala to open pourparlers to establish peace firmly. Xavier took an active part in sending this envoy to the Telugu general at Tuticorin. "Iniquitriberim" says he in a letter of the 19th of August, "sends a Brahman along with a captain to make peace with this people. I do not know what they will do; they are at present here, and will soon leave by sea" 3. Again he wrote on the following day to Mansilhas: "This Brahman now goes there with despatches for the Badagas and for their King Betermemal (Vitthala) 1. For God's sake try to give him at once a boat to go to Tutycurim"2.
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¹ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Trichandur, September 7th, 1544, Ibid., p. 343.
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² From Xavier to Mansilhas, Virandapatanam, June 23rd, 1544, Ibid., p. 327. Cf. another letter from Xavier to the same of June 30th, 1544, Ibid., p. 328. The text of the first is as follows: "Eu me parto para o Cabo de Comorim com vinte tones ou embarcacoens de mantimento a socorrer aquellos pobres christaos, que com medo dos badegas infieis, seus inimigos so meterao pelo mar, e estao dentro d'elle postos pelas pedras e penedos do Cabo ao sol, padecendo grandissima fome e sede e morrendo alguns com ella, que he para haver grandissima piedade." Both Souza, o. c., p. 141, and Du Jarric, I, p. 144, were mistaken in placing this expedition of Xavier to the Christians of the Comorin Cape, after the invasion of the Fishery Coast; for it took place a little after, about the end of July or begining of August. After Souza and Du Jarric several authors have committed the same mistake. See for instance, Historia Chronologica dos Prelados e Fundacoes Ecclesiasticas, O Gabinete Litterario dos Fontainhas, I, p. 112.
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³ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapadu, August 19th, 1544, Ibid., p. 333.
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The making of this peace was by no means an easy task. At that time the army of Vitthala had invaded the Coromandel Coast, as we shall see later on; and the Vijayanagara General was busily engaged in subduing both the Portuguese and the Paravas. Then the terms of Travancore were perhaps not easily accepted by the powerful cousin of Rama Raya. This delay was perhaps the cause of the alarming rumours spread through Travancore in the month of September of the same year, rumours that we find echoed in one of Xavier's letters: "They say that Beterbemao (Vitthala) is going full speed by sea to encounter king Iniquitriberim (Unni Kerala Varma) and to fight with him" 3.
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Peace was also delayed through the demise of Unni Kerala Varma, who must have died soon after the Vijayanagara invasion; for an inscription of his successor Bhutala Vira, of the year 1547, is found at Suchindram 4. There is another inscription of his and of the same year in the Nelliappa temple at Tinnevelly itself 5. Mr. Rangachari believes that this inscription proves another inroad by Travancore into the old Pandya territory 6; but it seems to us that these inscriptions may mark the date of the final peace between Travancore and Vijayanagara. The King of Travancore on the occassion went perhaps
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1. Such is the name given by Xavier to the Viceroy Vitthala, and this is the only place in which he is called king by him; in the other five cases in which he speaks of him, he calls him a captain. The spelling of the name is defferently given in each case: Betebumar (M. H. S. J., Mon. Xav., 1, p, 340), Betimunal (Ibid.), Betermeal (Ibid., p. 342), Beterbemao (Ibid., p. 344), Beterbemal (Ibid., p. 944) besides the form given above.
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² From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapadu, August 20th, 1544, Ibid., p. 335.
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³ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapadu, September 10th, 1544, Ibid., p. 344.
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⁴ Inscription in possession of Mr. Gopinatha Rao, Trivandrum. Cf. Ep. Ind., XVI, p. 304.
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⁵ 120 of 1894.
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personally to Tinnevelly to sign the treaty. By this treaty the district of Tinnevelly was ceded for ever to Vijayanagara, which in return agreed not to molest Travancore. Finally the Travancore sovereign capitulated, and promised payment of an annual tribute; and moreover made arrangements for the celebration, in the Vishnu shrine at Suchindram, of the day of Rohini, the natal star of Vitthalesvara Maharayar ¹.
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¹ Inscription in possession of Mr. Gopinatha Rao of Trivandrum, l. c.
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It was beyond doubt on this occasion that Rama Raya, the powerful Regent of the Empire, gave the Tiruvanidesa to Visvanatha as an amara-nayakam ³.
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³ 17 of 1912.
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Such was the end of the war with Travancore. One of the two objects Rama Raya had in sending Vitthala to the South was already attained.
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9. As to the other, it seems that the Fishery Coast was invaded by the Badagas ⁴ even before the retreat of their army from Travancore. St. Francis Xavier informs us in a letter dated September 7th, 1544, that when he was at Trichendur, Tinnevelly, in the beginning of June, of that year, he heard "of a rising in the country because the Portuguese had captured a brother-in-law of Betermeal (Vitthala), and they (viz. the insurgents) wanted likewise to capture the Christians of the Cape of Comorim" ¹, that is the Portuguese and the Paravas who were under them.
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² 64 of 1896.
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⁴ Badagas or Badugas is the name given by St. Xavier and the old Jesuit writers to the soldiers either of Madura or of Vijayanagara. This was another corruption of the name Vaduquer, northener, given to the Telugus because they came from the North. Nagam Aiya, *The Travancore State*, I, p. 297, says that St. Xavier in one of his letters dated March, 1544, describes the Badagas as ‘tax gatherers’ and ‘lawless marauders’. But I could not find such a description among the letters of Xavier in their critical edition, *M. H. S. J., Mon. Xav.*, I. The anonymous author of the life of St. Xavier, quoted above, after describing the city of Vijayanagara, adds as follows: “These people, called Badagas, although having the same complexion and qualities as ths rest of the people of India, are stronger and more powerful in war; because they are rich people aud have much cavalry, and their behaviour is more showy than that of the others. And they have all the cities and villages surrounded with brick or stone walls, with bastions here and there as in our fortresses.” *M. H. S. J., Mon. Xav.*, I. p. 62. Fr. Du Jarric, *Thesaurus Rerum Indicarum*, I. p. 144, describes the Badagas as follows: They are “wild and cruel people, naturally fond of stealing, coming from Bisnaga, foes of everybody, but specially of Christians.” This last note given by almost all the early Jesuit writers needs
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¹ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Trichendur, September 7th, 1544, l. c. Xavier calls Christians of the Comorin Cape all the Christians of both Travancore and Coromandel.
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The latter, after returning from Cochin in 1532, ² had received some slight instruction in the Christians faith and were baptized by Fr. Michael Vaz, Vicar General of India, and by several other priests who had come from Cochin ³. Then the Portuguese established themselves in Manapadu, Punnei Kayal, Tuticorin and Vambar, and took over the civil and some explanation, since it might be misunderstood. The Telugu soldiers and their generals had nothing against the Christians as Christians. Both the Nayaks of Madura and the Emperors of Vijayanagara tolerated and received respectfully into their capitals the Jesuit missionaries. The Telugu armies that invaded the Fishery Coast were so often sent against the Christians, because the latter had put themselves under the protection of the Portuguese, and these had taken possessions of the Coast that belonged to Vijayanagara. Now Madura wanted to retain as her dominion that rich shore. The motive of this first invasion was a little different, as related above. These Badagas must not be confused with the agricultural caste of the Nilgiris, also called Badagas. Cf. Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, I, p. 62-124.
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² Cf. Ch. VI, No. 9.
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³ Souza, o. c., I, p. 130. Dr. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, in his Introduction to Satyanatha Aiyar's History of the Nayaks, p. 13, supposes that St. Xavier converted the Paravas. Again the same is supposed in p. 123, note 43. I have been told that the Paravas themselves maintain they were converted by Xavier. Cf. Castets, St. Francis Xavier's Indian Mission, p. 7-12; Miranda, The Introduction of Christianity into the Heart of India, p. 6. But it is historically evident that the majority of the Paravas were Christians from 1533 or 1534, when St. Xavier was not yet in India. Xavier went there
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criminal jurisdiction of the whole of the coast. Their principal settlement was Punnei Kayal¹.
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¹ Cf. Tinnevelly Manual, p. 43.
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On the 3rd of August, Xavier was sure that the army of Vitthala would overrun the Fishery Coast: "I sent one Father there", he writes from Manapadu to Mansilhas, "in order that the boats might be thrown into the sea in time and the people might embark when the occasion should offer itself; for I feel sure that they will attack and capture these your Christians"². The first news of the invasion of the army of Vitthala reached Xavier's ears on August 19th, while at Manapadu. At the end of a letter written on that date he says: "I am given a letter of Guarim just now, in which he informs me that the Christians have fled to the forest, since the Badagas have robbed them of their property, stabbed two men, one a Christian and the other a Hindu"³. But most of the Paravas, embarking on their miserable boats, sought refuge in the small islands that face the Comorin Cape, leaving their country to the fury of their enemies. Those islands were inaccessible to the Madura soldiers on account of the frequent sand-banks separated by canals known only by the fishers of the coast. But this was certainly not an ideal place for the unfortunate refugees, from the lack of good drinkable water and of trees and vegetables of all kinds⁴. St. Xavier, in another letter of September 5th, tells us that Punnei precisely to accomplish their instruction in the faith. In one of his letters, dated Tuticorin, October 28th, 1542, he says: "We are going through the villages of the Christians, who became Christians about eight years ago. There are no Portuguese in these places, because the soil is not fertile at all and very poor. When arriving at any of these villages, I baptized all the children who are not yet baptized; so I have baptized a great multitude of infants, *quid inter dextram et sinistram intersit ignorantes*." *M. H. S. J., Mon. Xav.*, I. p. 273. The last remarks of Xavier show that the adults were already baptized at the time of his arrival.
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² From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapadu, August 3rd, 1544, Ibid., p. 331. Cf. p. 332.
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³ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Manapadu, August 19th, 1544, Ibid., I, p. 333.
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⁴ Souza, l. c.; Du Jarric, l. c.
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Kayal was one of the cities attacked by the Badagas, while the house and boat of the Portuguese captain of the place were set on fire; and that the aforesaid captain fled to the islands with the rest of the inhabitants of the coast ¹. Tuticorin was also swept away by the Badagas ² and was probably made the temporary residence of Vitthala, since the ambassador of Unni Kerala Varma was sent there ³. In the two above-mentioned letters Xavier orders Mansilhas, who was instructing the Paravas in the North of the coast, to make a collection among the rich people of those places, to succour the poor Christians of the islands who were dying of hunger and thirst; he particularly urges him to carry there many casks full of water; the more, he says, the better. He was at Punney Kayal on August 21, and he wrote from there to Mansilhas that "the Badagas had left the place for Cabecate" ⁴.
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¹ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Alendal, September 5th, 1544, Ibid., p. 341.
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² From Xavier to Mansilhas, Alendal, September 5th, 1544, Ibid., p. 340.
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³ Cf. above No. 8.
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⁴ From Xavier to Mansilhas, Punnei Kayal, August 21st, 1544, Ibid., p. 337,
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We are not aware how long the army of Vitthala stayed on the Coromandel Coast; both Souza and Du Jarric say it remained there quite a long time, though it never reached the villages of the North ⁵. We suppose that one of the reasons why Vitthala retreated was the recovery of his brother-in-law, which took place, no doubt, before he returned to Madura.
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