KANNUR: What remains of the last Thiyya royal dynasty of North Malabar is being left to natural destruction due to negligence. The remains of Mannanar dynasty, which had enjoyed power up to 1902 and was a force to reckon with till 1822, when the upper caste people started taking vengeance against the Thiyya king and his people with the support of the British empire, are slowly disappearing from the land.
“What is left of the great dynasty is only around one acre of land at Poopparamba, known as Mannanar Padi. King Mannanar had ruled acres of land and, at one stage, there were around 23 hills under his control, according to historical documents,” said Baburaj Poopparamba, a local resident, who has been waging a battle to protect the land in memory of King Mannanar.
According to history, Mannanar dynasty had ruled a region of North Malabar with Eruvessy as their headquarters. There were references about King Mannanar in the ‘Pattola’ of Chirackal Kovilakom. Some of the upper caste Nairs and Nayanars had become intolerant because of the support received by Mannanar from Chirackal Kovilakom and the power the king had enjoyed during the dynasty’s prime.
As the British came to India and started charging exorbitant taxes from local kings, things went wrong for Mannanar. In 1822, the British had assigned Karikkattidam Nayanar to charge the land taxes from the areas under Mannanar. With the power given by the British and with the support of Chirackal Kovilakam, Karikkattidam Nayanar started charging exorbitant taxes from Mannanar dynasty which ruined the royal dynasty.
The legal battle between Mannanar and Chirackal dynasty could be seen in some of the historical documents of that period. As the dynasty lost its clout slowly, the last king, Kunjikkelappan Mannanar, returned to his land in 1902 from exile and surrendered his land to the British empire. It was said that he had surrendered around 2,320 acres of land.
After his death in 1905, nothing was heard about the Mannanar dynasty. “Now, what is left as a memorial of the last Thiyya king is around one acre,” said Baburaj. “I am not a historian or a self-acclaimed fighter to protect this historical place. I just want historians and researchers interested in the history of Kerala to have a look into this matter so that the government takes notice of this negligence,” he said.