KOCHI: Kumbalam is a serene village that, in recent times, has been dwarfed by its more popular and perhaps more lively neighbour, Kumbalangi. But beneath its seemingly quaint settings, the region boasts a rich, and often tumultuous, history.
Sitting on the palisades of the erstwhile kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore, Kumbalam is the site of a historic battle. In 1504, Duarte Pacheco Pereira, the famous Portuguese captain, fighting on Cochin’s side, crushed the Calicut zamorin’s invasion.
Pereira observed the enemy infantry’s movements from the Vemabanad backwaters and at ‘Cambalao’ ford near Palluruthy, intervened and halted the crossing of 40,000 of zamorin’s soldiers.
It is believed that the Portuguese referred to Kumbalam as ‘Cambalao’. Now, how did the place get this name? Well, according to the villagers here, it has something to do with the island’s shape, which resembles a kumbalam, the Malayalam word for ash gourd.
Backing this theory is the region’s long association with the cultivation of this fruit, also known as winter melon. “Traditionally, it was done by Brahmins in the area. The fruit became so associated with the community that the place itself began to bear its name,” says Krishnakumar T K, a local resident whose family has been living in Kumbalam for generations.
However, V K Muralidharan, the retired headmaster of the local school, begs to differ. According to him, it is the region’s link to trade and maritime networks that led to the name Kumbalam.
“The island might have acquired its name from the Kumbala Idanazhi, a narrow waterway or strait that separated Cochin and Travancore. It was a bustling corridor, facilitating trade and commerce between the two kingdoms. Eventually, the place surrounding the Kumbala strait came to be known as Kumbalam,” says the 86-year-old.
P Prakash, the president of Changapuzha Samskarika Kendram, has yet another theory, a more plausible one. According to him, the place got its name because the region was covered with salt flats.
“There are few places in Kochi with names ending in ‘alam’, namely Perumbalam and Pachalam. Historically, these areas were located near the seashore and they were believed to have formed from the sea. The term ‘alam’, also called ‘uppalam’, refers to salt pans — a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals. Kumbalam used to be one such area,” says Prakash.
“Perumbalam may have derived its name from the words ‘perum’ and ‘alam’, meaning a large salt pan. The smaller area adjacent to it might have been called ‘kunju alam’ (tiny salt pan). Eventually, this may have evolved as Kumbalam.”
The Portuguese connection pops up yet again. Prakash says ‘kumbanji’ was a term used to denote a Portuguese army company. “This could have also played a role in the region getting its name,” he explains.
Interestingly, cumbuca in Portuguese means pot. So does ‘kumbam’ in Malayalam. If one looks at Kumbalam’s map, it does have a pot-belly-like protrusion. Village with a pot belly — that’s another theory!
What’s in a name
Weekly column on the history of place names. Got any suggestions? Write to xpresskochi@gmail.com