What happened to Kottapparamba after the 1766 suicide?

Hyder Ali marched into Malabar from the north in 1766, leading to general panic in the area. Soon he was knocking at the gates of the Zamorin territory. There are several versions of what took place between Hyder and the Zamorin before the unfortunate event of self-immolation. The version relied on by Logan and Krishna Ayyar suggests that Hyder had sent Ali Rajah by sea to Calicut as advance party and it was he and his forces which had initiated the siege of the fort.

Logan states further that the Zamorin himself met Hyder Ali at Kurumbranad and offered to deliver the whole of his treasury and all his property but this did not satisfy Hyder who demanded a crore of gold mohur as compensation. Hyder, it seems, had even seized and imprisoned the Zamorin after break down of the talks. He was sent under the guard of 500 horse and 2000 infantry to the fort of Calicut; the Raja was confined in his own house without food, and was strictly prohibited from performing the ceremonies of his religion; and as he thought that Hyder might inflict some further disgrace upon him, either by causing him to be hanged, or blown from a gun, the Raja set fire to the house with his own hand, and was consumed by it.' (Logan, page 463)

What followed was bedlam. The Eralpad who had accompanied the women from the Calicut fort to the safety of the Ponnani kovilakam, took over as the new Zamorin and lost no time in exhorting the Nairs loyal to the Zamorin to wage a guerrilla war against the Mysore forces and their aliies from Cannanore. This was followed by the valiant revolt led by Prince Ravi Varma of Padinjare Kovilakam.

When at last Tipu attacked Travancore, the English woke up to the threat and appealed to all the rulers of Malabar to join hands in facing the common enemy. A cowlnama (agreement) was signed between General Meadows, the Commander-in chief of the East India Company forces and the Eralpad which recognised the right of the Zamorin to collect revenue etc.

It was perhaps in pursuance of this authority that the members of the ruling family started selling off bits and pieces of the great Palace and Fort of the Zamorin. Thus it was that Aiysumma of Koilandy bought a piece of the Kottapparambu and consequently the present Moideen Palli came up on that plot. Thus it was too that Kandan and Beeran got proprietary rights over plots of land where Abdul Razzak and Vasco da Gama had been received and feted.

The fascinating story of how the transfer of this prime real estate took place was revealed with the help of polichezhuthu documents by the eminent historian Prof. M.R. Raghava Warrier at the Febuary 2010 meeting of the Calicut Heritage Forum. Please read the full report at

http://calicutheritageforum.googlepages.com/meeting9232