KOTTAKKAL: KERALA

Marakkars, India’s unsung naval heroes

Malabar’s unique geological features may be a tourist guide’s delight, but they also formed the base of one of the most successful naval guerilla operations that the country has seen: between the Samoothri Rajas and the Portuguese .

Text & Photographs: RAJIV THEODORE

 

I stepped into a virtual battlefield that was once soaked with blood, deceit and courage. Almost 400-years-ago, this was the terrain, as beautiful as ever, where the famed ‘Malabar pirates’ roamed and ruled. It was where they dealt with their Portuguese attackers with impunity and sent them back again and again into the sea from where they had come, until greed and stupidity of the local rulers – the story that our history is witness to – allowed external forces to make inroads into the sub-continent.

It is an area where I can virtually feel the presence of someone who today is recognised as one of the country’s first heroes against marauding invaders from the sea, the Kunjali Marakkars. There were four of them, some say three, who led the first successful defence of India’s coast against a European sea power. And an aside here, a little known fact is that former President APJ Abdul Kalam can trace his origins from the Marakkar family.

Mohammed Kunjali Marakkar (also known as Kunhali Marakkar) was the Muslim naval chief of the Samoothri Raja, Manavikraman, a Hindu king of Kozhikode (anglicised to Calicut) in 16th century Kerala. The Samoothri Rajas were more better known by the name Zamorin, a name apparently given to them by the Europeans. The Marakkars are credited with organising the first naval defence of the Indian coast, specially against the Portuguese, who had arrived in India in 1498..

Centuries later, I stood on the outskirts of the village of Kottakkal, named after the construction of a Kotta (fort) by Kunjali Marakkar III, the third descendant in the chain of hereditary admirals of the Zamorin. And, I could not help but wonder how the little-known naval hero had confronted the might of the Portuguese almost 400 years ago, plotting and waging battle after battle from this spot.

As I enter the village, I realise that it was the peculiar geological features of this place that might have influenced the Zamorins to select this spot to construct the fort. The peninsular shape that protrudes to the sea on one side and the river Kottappuzha (also called Moorad) on the other made it a strategic point for him to execute his hit-and-run tactic against his enemy – the Portuguese.

As I look around in the village, I imagine the small ships (what we know as destroyers today) anchored in the river mouth that would have silently but swiftly snaked into the sea and dealt a decisive blow to any passing enemy and made their exit before any counter-attack could be executed. In addition, its proximity to Iringal Para, a quarry situated at an altitude and to Velliankallu, a massive rock structure in the sea, served as surveillance centres for the early detection of the movement of potential enemies.

It was in this village, where a 100 years after the Portuguese had landed, that the third Marakkar nearly rid his land off the foreign rulers. But a twist of fate changed the scenario in favour of the firangis, as the shortsighted Zamorin ruler joined hands with the Portuguese against his own Admiral. By 1600, the stage was set for the end-game. The Zamorin attacked from land and the Portuguese bombarded them from the sea. Left with no choice, the Kunjali Marakkar surrendered to Zamorin on a solemn promise of pardon.
The story that unfolded, as common folklore has it, was:

‘Kunjali was dragged through the village tied in chains, his body bleeding profusely from the beatings that his guards had given him. Screams and wails of women and children could be heard in the background, but Kunjali and his band of trusted followers were oblivious – it was not as if they could do something about it. Some were already dead and the others were half dead. Kunjali was then taken to the Portuguese stronghold in Goa, where his captors first nurtured him to full strength. Then, his screams could be heard all over Goa as he was dismembered piece by piece, starting from leg upwards. Later, the body parts of Kunjali and his followers were mixed and hung around – a lesson for those who dared to defy the imperial order.’
‘’In a span of 100 years, from roughly 1500 AD to 1600 AD, there were three Marakkars by the same name. It was Kunjali Marakkar II who handed out a sound bashing of Portuguese, one of the best naval forces of the time. And his descendant, Marakkar III, resisted the European force from making inroads via the sea until he was overpowered by deceit and killed,” explains Putheeyaveetil Basheer whose family has been living in Kuttichira for centuries.

After the defeat of Kunjali the same joint forces razed the fort to the ground. However, a thatched structure remained, surviving the destruction and it is believed that it was the ancestral home where Kunjali lived. It came under the patronage of the state government only in 1976. The structure, on the verge of dilapidation, and its adjoining 19 cents of land was taken over by the government from the four heirs and was later entrusted to the state Department of Archaeology.

It is said that the last Kunjali did not have any direct successor since he had no children. The relatives who were in possession of this structure were not able to undertake the yearly thatching after the introduction of Land Reforms Act. As a consequence of this social reform, the rents they received, either in the form of money or coconut leafing for thatching from the tenants, abruptly stopped. So unable to withstand the torture of heavy rains, portions of this large house began to collapse during the course of time.

After coming into the possession of the government and under an initiative taken by then culture minister T K Ramakrishnan, a compound wall and an outhouse were built and a watchman was appointed. After that the renovation work was undertaken in the year 1998. The thatched roof was supplemented by a tiled one and the granite compound wall by a laterite one to match the Dravidian style architecture of the structure. Electric lights were also installed to go in tandem with the style.

More area was added to the plot by acquiring the adjoining land, using the funds of Payyoli panchayat in the year 2000. A boat jetty and a felicitation centre were built on the river bank about 160 metres away from the structure and a connection road was laid out as part of the execution of the Kunjali Marakkar Tourism Project, utilising block panchayat funds. An additional building was also built and a portion of this has now been fabricated as a museum to exhibit the belongings of the naval hero.

A site near the monument, where the massive Iringal quarry existed, that served as a surveillance centre for Kunjali, was also acquired and a building was constructed there to function as an information centre. The idea was to develop a heritage village on this area of 22 acres of land and for operation of cruise services from there to nearby centres of tourist interest like Kappad beach and Velliyankallyu through the sea, and to Peruvannamoozhi by river. The spot is also representative of a slice of Malabar’s intensely beautiful country-side – a tourist’s delight to say the least.

This is a structure, if one can call it that, with massive half-open, black cast-iron gates that have a sword and shield insignia emblazoned in bronze. Pushing the giant gates open, I am treated to a stunning view of a well-kept garden with bright exotic flowers, a porch and a handsome cottage, and am told that this is where one of the Marakkar’s lived and fought in the halcyon days of the Zamorins—the rulers of Malabar.
Yes, time flies. Now all is left is the structure developed into a museum to exhibit the belongings of the country’s most wily naval tactician. Cannon balls, swords, shields and daggers, which have been excavated from the surrounding areas are on display in this traditional structure.

Today, it is this spartan house of the Marakkars that has traditional red-oxide flooring smoothened with use that appears to catch the attention of anyone visiting the village. I noticed that the house was just functional with some robust aesthetics thrown in the form of glazed walls and a 7ft by 4feet stone bed in the verandah on the sprawling floor.

For any traveller to the region, there is a bonus: en route to the famous Kunjali Marakkar house, mid-way between Calicut is the Elathur river or as the locals call it, Korapuzha. There is a typical palm fringed, sleepy hamlet thrown in the midst of this stunning picture postcard scenic surroundings, which once bristled with activity. History has it that many ships used by Zamorin’s navy and by the Marakkars were built here. One must stop here, as I did, and enjoy a cup of tea, watching the local fishermen haul their shimmering catch across, even as you wonder on the labour, love and ‘patriotism’ that had gone into the ships that gave the Portuguese many sleepless nights.

Also, as you go further north from the Marakkar house, situated in Badagara or Vadakara, as some know the place, is a beach which has a tongue-twister of a name – one that even the local Malayalees find it difficult to pronounce. The beautiful and enchanting dreamlike Muzhuppanangad beach is one of its kind in the Asian sub-continent as it claims to be the only natural drive-in beach in the region. Here, one can take one’s vehicle right up to the deep blue expanse of the ocean and probably pop a wheelie, vehicle acrobatics for a layman.

 

The Indian Department of Post issued a Rs 3 colour stamp commemorating the maritime heritage of Kunjali Marakkar on December 17, 2000, on the 400th anniversary of the end of the Marakkars. The stamp design shows the war-paroe, a small craft used by the Kunjalis, which, manned by just 30-40 men each, could be rowed through lagoons and narrow waters. Several of these craft were deployed at strategic points and they would emerge from small creeks and inconspicuous estuaries, attack the Portuguese ships at will, inflict heavy damage and casualties by setting fire to their sails and get back into the safety of shallow waters. In these guerilla raids, the Marakkars had shown remarkable prowess.