![Quilon Syrian copper plates (849 AD)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Quilon_Syrian_copper_plates_%28849_AD%29.jpg)
Kollam/Quilon Syrian copper plates, also known as Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, or Kottayam inscription of Sthanu Ravi, or Tabula Quilonensis record a royal grant issued by the chieftain of
Kollam
Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...
(Ayyan Adikal) to a
Syrian Christian merchant magnate (
Mar Sapir Iso) in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. The royal charter is engraved in
old Malayalam
Old Malayalam, inscriptional language found in Kerala from ''c.'' 9th to ''c.'' 13th century AD, is the earliest attested form of Malayalam. The language was employed in several official records and transactions (at the level of the Chera Perumal ...
in Vattezhuthu (with some Grantha characters) on six copper plates. The document is the oldest available
Chera Perumal
Chera Perumals of Makotai, also known as the Perumal dynasty of KeralaThapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 331-32., or Cheraman Perumal dynasty of MahodayapuramNoburu Karashmia ...
inscription.
The charter is dated to the 5th regnal year of the Chera Perumal ruler
Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara (849/50 AD). The sixth plate contains a number of signatures of the witnesses to the grant in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
(Kufic script),
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
(cursive Pahlavi script) and
Judeo-Persian
Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by the Jews living in Iran and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish com ...
(standard square Hebrew script). Until recently (2013) it was believed that the six plates formed two separate grants (dated separately) issued by Kerala rulers to the
Syrian Christian merchants.
One part (four plates) of the copper plates is kept at the Devalokam Aramana of the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serve ...
while the other (two small plates) is at Poolatheen Aramana (Thiruvalla) of
Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church
The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...
. The copper plate also mentions about the
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s of Kerala in the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
(Kufic script),
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
(cursive Pahlavi script) and
Judeo-Persian
Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by the Jews living in Iran and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish com ...
(standard square Hebrew script) parts.
Summarised prescription
![Quilon (Venatu) insignia from Syrian copper plates - Plate 5 (c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Quilon_%28Venatu%29_insignia_from_Syrian_copper_plates_-_Plate_5_%28c._883_CE%29.jpg)
The grant is dated the 5th regnal year of king Sthanu Ravi, 849-50 AD (old Malayalam: Ko Tanu Ravi). It was drafted in the presence of
Chera Perumal
Chera Perumals of Makotai, also known as the Perumal dynasty of KeralaThapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 331-32., or Cheraman Perumal dynasty of MahodayapuramNoburu Karashmia ...
prince
Vijayaraga
Vijayaraga (''fl. c.'' 849—895 AD) was the Chera Perumal ruler of Kerala from ''c.'' 883/84—''c.'' 895 AD. The reign of Vijayaraga probably witnessed the expansion of Chera Perumal influence into the neighboring Ay and Mushika countries (sou ...
,
Venad
Venad was a medieval kingdom lying between the Western Ghat mountains and the Arabian Sea on the south-western tip of India with its headquarters at the port city of Kollam/Quilon.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Is ...
chieftain Ayyan Adikal Thiruvadikal, junior chieftain Rama Thiruvadikal, other important officers of the chiefdom (the adhikarar, the prakrithi, the punnathala padi, and the pulakkudi padi) and the representatives of merchant guilds
anjuvannam
Anjuvannam (in Tamil and Malayalam, from Persian anjuman, and hanjama or hanjamana in Telugu or Kannada or hamyamana) typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders (ethnic Persians and Arabs), primarily active ...
and
manigramam
Manigiramam, or manigramam, typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, organised by itinerant ethnic Indian traders, primarily active in south India.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' Ne ...
.
The charter grants land to
Mar Sapir Iso, the founder the Kollam trading city (the nagara), to build the Church of Tarisa at
Kollam
Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...
. The land, evidently a large settlement with its occupants, is donated as an "attipperu" by Ayyan Adikal.
Sapir Iso also recruited two merchant guilds (the
anjuvannam
Anjuvannam (in Tamil and Malayalam, from Persian anjuman, and hanjama or hanjamana in Telugu or Kannada or hamyamana) typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders (ethnic Persians and Arabs), primarily active ...
and the
manigramam
Manigiramam, or manigramam, typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, organised by itinerant ethnic Indian traders, primarily active in south India.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' Ne ...
) as the tenants of the nagara (the karanmai). The Six Hundred of
Venad
Venad was a medieval kingdom lying between the Western Ghat mountains and the Arabian Sea on the south-western tip of India with its headquarters at the port city of Kollam/Quilon.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Is ...
, the
Nair
The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histor ...
militia of the chiefdom, was entrusted with the protection of the nagara and the church. The charter also granted serfs to the nagara and the church. This included personnel like agricultural laborers (the vellalars), carpenters (the thachar), toddy tappers (the ezhavar) and salt-makers (the eruviyar).
The charter granted Sapir Iso several titles, rights and aristocratic privileges. All revenues from the donated land and its occupants were 'exempted' (which perhaps meant that these were to be made over to the church).
Witnesses to grant
The vertical plate contains a number of signatures of the witnesses to the grant in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
(Kufic script),
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
(cursive Pahlavi script) and
Judeo-Persian
Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by the Jews living in Iran and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish com ...
(standard square Hebrew script).
Arabic signatures ― Kufic script
* Maymun, son of Ibrahim
* Muhammad, son of Manih
* Sulh, son of Ali
* Uthman, son of al-Marzuban
* Muhammad, son of Yahya
* Amr, son of Ibrahm
* Ibrahim, son of al-Tayy
* Bakr, son of Mansur
* al-Qasim, son of Hamid
* Mansur, son of Isa
* Ismail, son of Yaqub
Middle Persian signatures ― Pahlavi script
* Farrox, son of Narseh, son of Sahraban
* Yōhanan, son of Mašya, son of Wehzād
* Šāhdōst, son of Mardweh, son of Farroxīg
* Sēnmihr, son of Bayweh
* Sīnā, son of Yākub
* .. son of Mardweh
* Marōē, son of Yōhanan
* Farrbay, son of Windād-Ohrmazd
* Mard-Farrox, son of Bōyšād
* Āzādmard, son of Ahlā
Judeo-Persian signatures ― Hebrew script
* Hasan Ali
* Sahaq
* Samael
* Abraham Quwami
* Kurus Yahiya
Mention of Thomas of Cana
Thomas of Cana copper plates dated between the mid 4th and early 9th century are a lost set of
copper-plate grants issued by an unidentified
Chera Perumal
Chera Perumals of Makotai, also known as the Perumal dynasty of KeralaThapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 331-32., or Cheraman Perumal dynasty of MahodayapuramNoburu Karashmia ...
king to the Christian merchants in the city of "Makotayar Pattinam" (present day
Kodungallur
Kodungallur (; also Cranganore, Portuguese: Cranganor; formerly known as Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Thr ...
). Translations of the Quilon plates made by the Syrian Christian priest Ittimani in 1601 as well as the French scholar
A. H. Anquetil-Duperron in 1758 both note that one of the Quilon plates mentioned a brief of the arrival of
Thomas of Cana
Thomas of Cana (Malayalam: Knāi Thoma or Tomman Kinān, Syriac: Knā'nāya Thoma) was a Syrian merchant magnate who arrived to the Chera Dynasties capital city of Kodungallur between 345 A.D. and 811 A.D. Thoma brought with him Jewish-Christ ...
. However, the presently available Quilon plates do not mention this episode. It is generally assumed that this was a notation of the previous rights bestowed upon the Christians by the Chera king (and the abovesaid plate was missing).
Translation by A. H. A. Duperron (1758):
“The history of the founding of the town of Cranganore when Pattanam was the City, (he) visited, revered and requested the Emperor and the Minister at Kolla Kodungalloor for a marsh where thickets grow. Measured by Anakol (elephant kol) 4,444 kols of land was granted in the year of the Jupiter in Kubham, on the 29th of Makaram, 31 the Saturday, Rohini and Saptami (7th day of the moon),' the palace, great temple and school at Irinjalakuda also were founded. The same day that place was called Makothevar pattanam (the town of the Great God), and it was made the city (capital). From there privileges such as drawbridge at gates, ornamented arches, mounted horse with two drums, cheers, conch blowing, salutes were granted in writing to the Christian foreigner called Kynai Thomma with sacred threat and libation of water and flower. The sun and the moon are witnesses to this. Written to the kings of all times.”
Re-engraved plates
Some recent studies suggest that the original text of the Thomas of Cana plates once might have been part of the Quilon plates collection. Scholar
István Perczel
István Perczel (; born 1957) is a Hungarian scholar of Byzantine history and early Christianity and a hyperpolyglot. He is a professor at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. He holds a doctorate from the Hungarian Academy of Scie ...
theorizes that at one time the Quilon plates and the Thomas of Cana plates, or parts of them, were re-engraved together (and thus the text of both grants were present on a single set of plates).
See also
*
Jewish copper plates of Cochin
Jewish copper plates of Cochin (Malayalam: ജൂതശാസനം), also known as Cochin plates of Bhaskara Ravi-varman, is a royal charter issued by the Chera Perumal king of Kerala, south India to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish merchant magnate of K ...
*
Thomas of Cana copper plates
The Thomas of Cana copper plates (Malayalam: Knai Thoma Cheppedu), or Knanaya copper plates, dated variously between 345 C.E. and 811 C.E., are a lost set of copper-plate grants issued by the unidentified Chera/Perumal king of Kerala "Co-qua-ran ...
References
Works cited
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Further reading
* Veluthat, Kesavan, 2009. ''The Early Medieval in South India.'' Delhi: Oxford University Press.
{{Kollam, state=collapsed
9th-century inscriptions
Tharisapalli Plates
Kollam/Quilon Syrian copper plates, also known as Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, or Kottayam inscription of Sthanu Ravi, or Tabula Quilonensis record a royal grant issued by the chieftain of Kollam (Ayyan Adikal) to a Syrian Christian mer ...
Vatteluttu
Tharisapalli Plates
Kollam/Quilon Syrian copper plates, also known as Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, or Kottayam inscription of Sthanu Ravi, or Tabula Quilonensis record a royal grant issued by the chieftain of Kollam (Ayyan Adikal) to a Syrian Christian mer ...
9th century in law
849
Saint Thomas Christians
Chera dynasty
Kerala history inscriptions