THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the commissioning of Vizhinjam International port on Friday japed that Gujarat might get upset seeing the Adani Group building a massive port here-something they have not done back home despite being engaged in port construction there for the past three decades.
However, it seems the Prime Minister was oblivious to the fact that ancient Vizhinjam already had a strong Gujarati connection via Ay-vel dynasty, which ruled parts of South Kerala till 10th Century AD and had the port town as its administrative capital. According to Kerala Historian M G Sasibhooshan, the forefathers of Ays were Gujarati princes.
He said two of the Ay rulers, Karunandatakkan and his son Vikramaditya Varaguna, paid special attention to Vizhinjam and the latter addressed himself as lord of Vizhinjam, revealing the strong attachment he had with the place. “Vizhinjam was very dear to the Ay world,” he said.
Gujarati merchants too frequented the harbour those days and as per experts, they played a major role in spreading civilisation to South India and Sri Lanka, Sasibhooshan added.
“There is a saying that history repeats itself. It’s a coincidence that by partnering with Adani, history has repeated the connection it had with Gujarat a 1000 years ago,” Sasibhooshan said.