Adithya army attacked battle became brahmins british calicut called cananore captured century a. When the king was touring the palani hills, lord murugan came and gave a darshan in his dream. He sent orders to build the mosque while he was away. Palani murugan temple history palani temple history. Historical aspects of the legend of cheraman perumal. This story seems to be a myth propagated in the book keralolpathi. In this historical novel, his poetic writings add so much of flavor. History cheraman juma masjid mosque, kodungallur traveller. D, about 200 years after muhammed thus confirming that all that mecca trip was a fanciful legend.
Tajuddeen cheraman perumal, first indian to convert to islam after the splitting of the moon. The main rulers of this period were cheraman perumal and kulasekara alwar. These insights are filled with interesting anecdotes that makes this book an interesting read, unlike most books on history. The most popular legend dictates that the local ruler responsible for establishment of this mosque was a hindu convert to islam. He was always praying to siva, the dancing lord of. S tudents know that the cheraman perumal mosque was the first mosque in. They migrated from southern mesopotamia to the malabar present kerala coast of cranganore kodungalloor in ad 345 under the leadership of an enterprising merchant thomas of cana knai thomman.
Jul 18, 2010 well done nabeel,i too am a history buff obsessed with cheraman perumals conversion story. Apr 12, 2016 cheraman perumals legend is distorted with questions on his rule and the kingdom in south india there has been a proliferation of perumals, mostly petty chieftains. Julius caesars son in kerala history of egyptcleopatra. It also means that this particular mosque was established before the first mosques in iraq 639 ce, syria 715 ce, egypt 642 ce, and tunisia 670 ce thus the post unraveling the cheraman perumal myth appeared. The oral tradition is that cheraman perumal, when he was convinced of his imminent death, wrote letters to his relatives in kerala among whom he had partitioned his kingdom before leaving for mecca. The cheraman legend says that the last chera emperor cheraman perumal received islam and went to arabia and met prophet muhammed at jeddah. The mosque was constructed in kerala style with hanging lamps, making the historicity of its date claims more convincing. Nov 23, 2019 the most popular legend dictates that the local ruler responsible for establishment of this mosque was a hindu convert to islam. The tuhafatulmujahidin of sheik zainuddin refers about the cheraman legend. But there seems to have been a cheraman perumal, whose history is overlaid by legend. The time of origin of the legend is not known to scholars. Real truth about indias gift to saudi king on the legend of.
Perumalperumal atikalpermati, medieval indian royal title of western ganga dynasty. Cheraman perumal, the last king of kerala and his arabian connection. Apr 10, 2016 on april 3 2016, indian prime minister narendra modi tweeted. Although this story has a lot of mythological elements, a lot historical support also there to held the story as a true incident. Cheraman perumal was an indian king, who legend has it, travelled to visit the prophet during his lifetime. The awestruck king was cheraman perumal, the hindu sovereign of the chera dynasty, one of the three. Knanaya history the archeparchy of kottayam leading the. Munnuttuvar and arunnuttuvar were local assemblies to look after the administration.
Cheraman juma masjid mosque, kodungallur tripadvisor. It is said the king met with the prophet and this was mentioned by balakrishnapillai in his book history of kerala. May 09, 2016 cheraman perumal was an indian king, who legend has it, travelled to visit the prophet during his lifetime. Legend of a king abdicating his throne to vindicate his certitude is a glorious chapter in any history. Kodungallur was also the capital of cheraman perumal, the last chera ruler in the 7th century a. Knai thoma and his people were heartily welcomed by cheraman perumal, the emperor. Cheraman perumal, the reigning king of kerala, with kodungallur as its capital, once. It is believed that cheraman peruamal embraced islam during his stay at perumathura. The knanaya community traces its origin back to a jewishchristian immigrant community. History of cheraman mosque the first juma musjid in india sub. And according to it, the conversion process began when cheraman perumal, who was the reigning of kodungallur, when a group of muslim. The conversion of the legend cheraman perumal to islam is a muchdebated topic both in academics and in public discourse.
The myth of cheraman perumals conversion varnamvarnam. He was undoubtedly the king of early kulashekhara dynasty 200 bc 436 ad. The legend of cheraman perumals is the medieval tradition associated with the cheraman. Cheraman perumal went to arabia and embraced islam after meeting the holy prophet at mecca. Book your tickets online for cheraman juma masjid mosque, kodungallur. According to the book the chronology of ancient india. Nevertheless they were spread all across and enjoyed royal status for centuries.
The period ranging from the middle of 7 th century to the early part of the 9 th century is known as the post sangham period. Like all mosques, there are specific sections where women are not allowed entry. The cheraman juma masjid at kodungallur, glorified by the moslems of kerala as the most ancient mosque of the world barring mecca is claimed to be the built by the last of the early chera kings, cheraman perumal, who is considered the as the first follower of. Cheraman was the name of the dynasty of chera rulers and perumal meant, the great one. This book provides family tree information starting from 1650 ad. The name perumathura meaning residence of perumal was derived from the late kings name. But later cut and paste historians seem to have forgot to add his disclaimer. This story of cheraman juma masjid is a tradition among the. British called cannanore caste century chera cheraman perumal chetway chola cochin raja death defeated deity. On the way back he died and his tomb is in salala, oman.
Dec 24, 2016 the cheraman juma masjid at kodungallur, glorified by the moslems of kerala as the most ancient mosque of the world barring mecca is claimed to be the built by the last of the early chera kings, cheraman perumal, who is considered the as the first follower of islam by the same sect of people. Cheraman perumal between legend and history heritage. The sources of the legend include popular oral traditions and later literary compositions. After a while, when malik ibn dinar came to kerala. Lakshmi raghunandan for introducing me to this story. Was he a christian, as the christians claim him to be. There is one thing to be noted about cheraman perumal. This was the period when buddhism began to decline.
According to the ancient history of kerala narrated in this poetic work by kunhikuttan thampuran, cheraman perumal the last chera king of kerala relinquished his kingdom and divided the land amongst the various smaller chieftains and gave them independence. Perumal, literally the great one may refers to, perumal, south indian god. For writing books about the existence of perumal they never studied any inscriptions, coins or manuscripts. Some history books say that a temple named arathali was converted to a mosque and named after cheraman in kodungallore. The legend of cheraman perumals is the medieval tradition associated with the cheraman perumals literally the chera kings of kerala. It is better to say that this is a history blended with myths. It was the capital city of malai nadu the present kerala. The written sources were an absence in early history of kerala that i had already noticed, but oral traditions or rumors especially about a mythical hero was particularly important in kerala society. Tourists coming to visit the mosque by road can avail the nearest bus stand, i. Cheraman perumal, the king of early kulashekhara dynasty did not. According to saiva tradition, he had an association with a sundaramurti, the last of the three hymnists of devaram. Cheraman perumals rule, from the important events it contained and from the little direct knowledge we have on the subject, has naturally attracted the attention of many diligent scholars, and many are the traditions that have gathered round his name. The mosque has an ancient oil lamp that is always kept burning and believed to be over a thousand years old.
Well done nabeel,i too am a history buff obsessed with cheraman perumals conversion story. The ruler made necessary arrangements for them to propagate islam. To drive back the invading forces the perumal summoned the militia of his chieftains like udaya varman kolathiri and manichchan and vikkiran of eranad. Chera kings cheraman perumal chola christians congress conquered cranganore dalawa defeated dewan dramas dutch english ezhavas hindus historians history of kerala hyder important inscription kayamkulam kerala history kesava king of venad. One night, a chera king, of the title cheraman perumal, dreamt of the moon splitting into two and no matter how many astrologers he visited after that, none could interpret the dream for him. The history of perumathura dates back from the period of the legendary king cheraman perumal who ruled south india during the 8th century a. Kerala, the southernmost state of kerala has been ruled by the cheran dynasty. Local muslims in kerala believe that king cheraman perumal after whom the mosque is today named converted to islam and traveled to medina. They migrated from southern mesopotamia to the malabar present kerala coast of cranganore kodungalloor in ad 345 under the leadership of an enterprising merchant thomas of cana. Their object in writing such works was to impress the. Examining the historicity of cheraman legend trueindology. Gazing at the stars sparkling above the arabian sea one night, he saw the moon divide into two halves, before it once again merged back into its customary shape.
Cheraman perumal gave his last four possessions to the samuthiri namely 1 his sword, which was bent inward, 2 a broken conch, 3 the last remaining portion of land which was to evolve later as the city called kozhikode and 4 his faithful servant the ullanat panicker who was known as the palliyara panicker of cheraman perumal. This is the board outside the cheraman perumal juma masjid near present day kodungallur, kerala which proclaims that the mosque was established when prophet muhammad was alive. Cheraman perumal, was the chera king ruling the chera kingdom, the present kerala, from the town tiruvanjaikalam. It was built by malik deenar, persian companion of the islamic prophet muhammad, on the orders of the successor of cheraman perumal tajuddin, the chera king of modernday kerala. Chera chera empire cheraman perumal chief chola christian cochin raja congress cranganore cultural dharma raja district diwan dutch early english ernakulam ezhavas famous government haider hindu. Another picture is a chart which shows that the list of malik ibn dinar s mosques in kerala t ext p 119.
Kerala had rich buddhist history, its likely missionaries arrived time of mauryas. Malikibndinar, an arab trader who frequently visited the kerala coast for trade, is said to have built this mosque as well as eight others on the coast. But there seems to have been a cheraman perumal, whose history is. The temple was believed to be constructed by cheraman perumal a king of the chera dynasty. This book also gives a holistic perspective of events and without going in to intricate details gives insights to the major events that shaped history. Keralotpatti also mentions that cheraman perumal was upset having reigned for a long period the land which was the gift of parasurama and wanted to make amends. The early political history of the thrissur and thrissur district is interlinked with that of the chera dynasty of the sangam age, who ruled over vast portions of kerala with their capital at vanchi. Cheraman perumal went to arabia and embraced islam after meeting the holy. More2011 refers is the first book which systematically recorded the history of.
Btw most accounts say he is burried in shahr al mukalla. The cheraman juma masjid at kodungallur, glorified by the moslems of kerala as the most ancient mosque of the world barring mecca is claimed to be the built by the last of the early chera kings, cheraman perumal, who is considered as the first follower of islam by the same sect of people. There is a popular story behind this mosque which is well known in kerala even today. I happened to pass through hb stall in chennai and never failed to get the book. The main mast flew king davids flag, the second mast flew the roman flag with the cross, and the third flew king abgar of edessas flag. Cheraman perumal sent his brother, ramavarma, and his minister, vettathu mannan, to receive knai thoma and his people. Unlike most of the history books this book is not a western perspective. Cheraman perumals legend is distorted with questions on his rule and the kingdom in south india there has been a proliferation of perumals, mostly petty chieftains. The picture of cheraman perumal is taken from shungunny menons history of travancore published in the 19th century. Like muslims, other religious communities like hindus, christians and jews believe that cheraman perumal converted to their religion. Cheraman perumal s rule, from the important events it contained and from the little direct knowledge we have on the subject, has naturally attracted the attention of many diligent scholars, and many are the traditions that have gathered round his name. There are details about the spices of kerala in the holy books of jews. Perumal perumal atikalpermati, medieval indian royal title of western ganga dynasty. There are a number of regional and tribal variations on the tradition of cheraman perumal, his abdication of throne to convert to islam and subsequent pilgrimage to mecca.
Thachil variyath is the grand father of thachil family who migrated to north kuthiathode. Cheraman perumal rama varma kulashekhara was said to be. Periyapuranam is the oldest source and mentions that cheraman perumal went to kailash and disappeared. That was not the name of a particular king, but a title. Thachil family book published by the efforts of chevalier lona vareed provides in depth history and details of thachil family up to 10 generations. He was born in the royal family of kothayars, otherwise known as the uthiyan family. A mention of the cheraman perumal legend appeared in the 16th century book tuhafatul mujahidin by shaik zainuddin, but he too did not believe in its historical authenticity. The awestruck king was cheraman perumal, the hindu sovereign of the chera dynasty, one of the three ancient tamil royal houses that ruled over southern india. Kerala history history of kerala landmarks in kerala. Cheraman juma mosque can be easily reached from thrissur as there are some private and government bus services available. The story is about the history of cheraman 3, a king who reigned the land of chera those days.
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