In 1906, the princely state of Travancore released a landmark three-volume publication titled 'The Travancore State Manual'. Supported by the maharaja of the state, Sri Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma VI, the manual was written by V Nagam Aiya, the dewan of the state. The chapter on the state’s fauna was written by renowned Scottish zoologist and ornithologist Harold S Ferguson.
In the preface, Aiya writes he was appointed by the maharaja to write the book with the simple instruction that “the book was to be after the model of the 'District Manuals of Madras'.” The publication exceeded those it was modelled on, in terms of both the quality and sheer volume of information.
“In the writing of the book, my aim has been to present to an utter stranger to Travancore such a picture of the land and its people, its natural peculiarities, its origin, history and administration, its forests and animals, its conveniences for residence or travel, its agricultural, commercial, industrial, educational and economic activities, its ethnological, social and religious features, as he may not himself be able to form by a 30 years’ study or residence in it,” Aiya wrote.
One hundred and eighteen years later, the three-volume book is one of the best records of Kerala ever published.
One of the most interesting parts of the book is the brief description about the various names that Kerala has been known by. The Kerala government is keen to change the official name of the state in English to Keralam, and there is a history behind this.
“The country from Gokarnam to Cape Comorin has been known by different names at different times, such as, Malayalam, Parasurama-kshetram, Karma-bhumi, Cheram, Keralam, Malanad, Malavaram and Malabar,” Aiya wrote.
The Parasurama name is from the story that Kerala was formed when threw his axe from Gokarna into the sea and it landed near what is now Kanyakumari, with the land rising between the two points forming the state.
Many Malayalis would be surprised that the land making up Kerala was once called Malayalam. “The word ‘Malayalam’ is its (the state’s) Tamil name and signifies ‘mala’ (hill) and ‘azham’ (depth), i.e. the hill and dale country, or the land at the foot of the mountains,” according to Aiya.
The dewan of Travancore had an interesting explanation for another lesser-known name: “The name ‘Karma-bhumi’ signifies that the spiritual salvation of the inhabitants of this land depends entirely on good actions, as contrasted with the East Coast, or ‘Gnana-bhumi’ otherwise ‘Punya-bhumi,’ where a man obtains salvation by mere birth irrespective of his actions, as the land itself is said to be consecrated ground. So far is this believed in, that an Orthodox Brahmin of the East Coast would not wish to die in Keralam, lest he be born an ass in the next birth.”
It’s easy for us to laugh about such beliefs in the 21st century, but there was a time when a section of society took this as the gospel truth.
Aiya wrote Keralam was the name “by which the country was known from the earliest times and one by which the native of the soil always loves to designate it.” However, there have been several theories about the origin of this word.
“The word is supposed to have derived from ‘Keram,’ a contraction of ‘Nalikeram,’ the Sanskrit name for coconut, as this part of India abounds with coconut palms, Aiya wrote. “Another theory is that this country takes its name from ‘Cheruman Keralan,’ a sovereign among the Perumals, who, raised to sway by the people’s will, distinguished his government by a course of wisdom, moderation and benevolence.” Aiya added that the name was in use before the advent of this “legendary Perumal” or the introduction of coconut trees on the Kerala coast.
Then comes a word that many of us love to use, but now mainly signifies the central northern parts of Kerala which were part of the Malabar district of the Madras Province. The great traveller and polymath Al-Biruni, who was born in modern-day Uzbekistan, was the first to use the word Malabar, according to Aiya.
The dewan further wrote the word is an “Arabic corruption from Mala (Vernacular) mountain and Vara (Sanskrit) slope.” He added, “Dr. (William) Robertson in his ‘Historical Disquisition Concerning Ancient India’ derives it from the word ‘Mall’, the name of a port (mentioned by Cosmas Indicopleustes), and says that the word means ‘country of pepper.’”
Aiya wrote there were many other forms of Malabar, such as “Melibar, Manibar, Molibar, Malibar, Minibar, Miniabar, Melibaria.”
We also know that the Syrian Christians used the name “Malankara.”
No matter what name people use for Kerala, the famous lines from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet come to mind:
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
(Ajay Kamalakaran is a multilingual writer, primarily based in Mumbai)
