https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=KeralolpathiKeralolpathi - Revision history2026-07-31T06:57:21ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Keralolpathi&diff=130620&oldid=prev>Subhobrata Chakravorti at 10:23, 2 July 20212021-07-02T10:23:56Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[Image:Keralolpatti_The_origin_of_Malabar_1868.djvu|thumb|right|page=1|Cover page of Keralolpathi]]<br />
The '''Keralolpathi''' ({{lang-ml|കേരളോല്പത്തി}}; [[IAST]]:''kēraḷōlpatti''; {{translation|Origin of Kerala}}) is a [[Malayalam]] work that deals with the origin of the land of [[Kerala]]. P. Shungunny Menon ascribes the authorship of this work to [[Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan]], a 17th-century scholar of the [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]] region of India.<ref>History of Travancore by Shungunny Menon, page 28</ref> [[A. Sreedhara Menon]] dates the work to 18th or 19th century.<ref>Keralacharithram by A. Sreedhara Menon, page 13.</ref> The Keralolpathi is mostly an expansion from an earlier [[Sanskrit]] work known as the ''Kerala Mahatmayam''. That work is classed among the [[Hindu]] [[Purana]]s as an ''Upa Purana'' (or sub Purana) of the ''Bhoogola Purana''.<br />
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The Keralolpathi covers the ancestry of the [[Namboodiri]] Brahmins and other castes of Kerala and is sometimes called the "Kerala Ulpathy". While the "Kerala Mahatmayam" deals with the origin of Kerala and its people alone, the Keralolpathi gives a history of Kerala down to the modern age, including reference to the [[United Kingdom|British]] in Kerala.<ref>History of Travancore by Shungunny Menon, page 37</ref><br />
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==Perumals mentioned in Keralolpathi==<br />
{{Wikisource|ml:കേരളോല്പത്തി|Keralolpathi}}<br />
'''Perumals of Keralolpathi'''<br />
*Keyapperumal<br />
*Cholapperumal <br />
*Pandipperumal <br />
*Banapperumal<br />
*Thulubanperumal <br />
*Indrapperumal <br />
*Aryapperumal<br />
*Kundranperumal<br />
*Kottipperumal <br />
*Madapperumal <br />
*Ezhipperumal <br />
*Kombanperumal<br />
*Vijayanperumal<br />
*Valabanperumal <br />
*Harichandranperumal<br />
*Mallapperumal <br />
*Kulasekharapperumal<br />
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==Criticisms==<br />
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Historians doubt the reliability of this collection of legends as it contains many discrepancies. For instance it states that a certain [[Viceroy]] of Kerala went to [[Mecca]] and met the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Mohammed|Muhammed]] there. However the corresponding date mentioned is such that the prophet was not even born till more than a century later.<ref>History of Travancore by Shungunny Menon, page 63</ref> It also mentions that the King [[Krishnadevaraya]] of the [[Vijayanagara empire]] appointed a Viceroy over Kerala in 428 AD. However the said king reigned between 1509 and 1529 AD.<ref>Travancore State Manual by V.Nagam Aiya, Volume I, page 223</ref><br />
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Likewise even the origins of most of the [[caste]]s and clans of Kerala varies from the ancient Sanskrit Kerala Mahatmayam. Besides, by the 18th century modified versions of the work started appearing, varying from kingdom to kingdom and region to region in Kerala. Therefore, according to Shungunny Menon (a native historian of [[Travancore]], Kerala) one cannot place, in the Keralolpathi, the value of a historical source. Shungunny Menon, stated that: {{cquote|numerous discrepancies and glaring mistakes are visible for we find the authors in their anxiety to prove the correctness of their accounts confusing occurrences of the modern age with those of the ancient...it is obvious that on a work such as the Kerala Ulpathy little reliance can be placed}}<br />
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'''[[William Logan (author)|William Logan]]''', who was the author of the ''Malabar Manual'' also refutes the validity of the Keralolpathi and describes it as: {{cquote|a farrago of legendary nonsense having for its definite aim the securing of the Brahmin caste of unbounded power and influence in the country|author=William Logan}}<ref name=autogenerated1>A survey of Kerala history by A. Sreedhara Menon, page 17</ref><br />
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[[K.P. Padmanabha Menon]], another native historian calls the Keralolpathi:<ref name=autogenerated1 /> {{cquote|an ill digested and uncollated collection of different versions huddled together in inextricable confusion|author=K. P. Padmanabha Menon}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Parasurama]]<br />
* [[Nair]]<br />
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==External links==<br />
*''[https://archive.org/details/Keralolpatti_he_origin_of_Malabar Keralolpathi: The Origin of Malabar]'' at the [[Internet Archive]]<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
{{Commons category|Keralolpathi}}<br />
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[[Category:Hindu texts]]<br />
[[Category:Indian chronicles]]</div>>Subhobrata Chakravorti