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An orthodox king who presided over the founding of the Kerala Model

Oct 05, 2024 11:32 AM IST

Authored by - Mahendranath Sudhindranath, senior research fellow, department of humanities and social sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

“So many who were remembered already forgotten, and those who remembered them long gone,” remarked Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations. This expression suits the case of Maharaja Sri Moolam Tirunal Ramavarma of Travancore, whose death centenary on August 7 went largely unnoticed. The Maharaja, who reigned over the princely state of Travancore from 1885 to 1924, nearly four decades, presided over the metamorphosis of the socio-political-ecological sphere of his state – which forms the parts of present-day Kerala and Tamil Nadu states. It is also interesting to figure out the trajectories of modernity his reign unleashed, immensely contributing to the much-praised Kerala Model of development.

Maharaja Sri Moolam Tirunal Ramavarma (Raja Ravi Varma)
Maharaja Sri Moolam Tirunal Ramavarma (Raja Ravi Varma)

Born into an ancient dynasty, Moolam Tirunal had a duality of learning – Sanskrit and English – as did many of his contemporary princes. The orthodoxy partly emanated from the devotion to the tutelary deity, Sree Padmanabha, on whose behalf the dynasty ruled the state (a political strategy founded by the creator of modern Travancore, Marthanda Varma). Orphaned in his early childhood, the prince spent his formative years under the protection of his uncles – Ayiliam Tirunal (r. 1860-80) and Visakham Tirunal (r. 1880-85). While a scholar in Sanskrit, he excelled in the study of English and enjoyed his evenings playing tennis. With the untimely passing of his uncle, he ascended the throne of Travancore at the age of 28.

The reigns of his uncles were hailed as ‘progressive’ by the colonial masters. This progress emanated from the sagacious advice of their able dewans, like Sir T Madhava Rao. It lacked originality as many of those reforms seemed to have been copied from the British. Despite being hailed for establishing the Maharaja’s College in Trivandrum, Ayiliam Tirunal lamented that he had to lay the foundation for anarchy. The administration of Sri Moolam Tirunal had an aura of originality and was an exemplification of princely modernity. The progressive touch of Moolam Tirunal was evident in the education, agriculture, and public works sectors. The comparison of annual allocations to these sectors from the beginning to the end of his reign shows the priority he attached to it. The allocations jumped from 1,00,000 to 35,00,000 for education and 9,00,000 to 30,00,000 for public works.

Travancore witnessed an educational revolution during his reign. With 896 schools with less than 50000 students, the state amplified its performance to 3426 schools with 4.5 lakhs enrolled students. The progress must be attributed to introducing universal free primary education to students irrespective of caste, gender, and religion at the beginning of the 20th century. Moolam Tirunal favoured vernacular education in Malayalam and Tamil, along with English education. The education sector was structured with the institution of a directorate of public instruction for the first time. The state also endowed formal education to Namboothiri Brahmins, Muslims, and depressed classes. Such a direction amidst Travancore's rigidly segregated caste dynamics was a welcome step. Still, it also must be noted that the socio-religious reformation movements had already been ploughing the social milieu for a long time.

The princely modernity established under Moolam Tirunal was institutionalising the ancient knowledge systems that existed from time immemorial. Through technical training institutes and industrial schools, vocational education was introduced, and specialised skills like the famed ivory crafting practised in Travancore were institutionalised. In 1889, he established a Sanskrit College and a Patasala to teach Ayurveda (soon known as Ayurveda College – the first state-sponsored study centre for Ayurveda in India) in Trivandrum. The regeneration of Ayurveda in India is very much indebted to this Maharaja as he gave the state legitimisation to Ayurveda amidst the swing of allopathy. It also helped to establish state-aided vaidyasalas across Travancore that provided more access to education. By establishing an Oriental Research Institute and Manuscript Library in 1908, Moolam Tirunal ensured the preservation of ancient texts in private possession. With the leadership of its first curator, Ganapati Sastri, the major success of this institute was preserving the lost plays of Bhasa, thus enriching the history of literature in India.

Agriculture was another important sector that received generous patronage, which sustained most of the population. It was Moolam Tirunal who established an agriculture department in 1908. Rather than roping in a British graduate in agricultural sciences to start a department, he sent a native, Kunjan Pillai, with a state-funded scholarship to Edinburgh and Leipzig to study agricultural science. Upon Pillai’s arrival, the department was set up to introduce scientific farming to enhance agricultural production. From its inception, the department acquired a scientific character with expertise in mycology and entomology. The public outreach of this department was very advanced, especially through its demonstration farms. With a vernacular agriculture journal supported by proactive agricultural officers, the department could build rapport with farmers directly. Establishing a public lecture committee to disseminate scientific and useful knowledge was another pathbreaking initiative of the period. This was supplemented by establishing a public library in Trivandrum and aided libraries and reading rooms across the state.

The origins of the state's legislative history have to be traced to the reign of Moolam Tirunal. In 1888, the Travancore Legislative Council was formed. Sixteen years later, in 1904, the Sri Moolam Popular Assembly became India's first representative legislative body. Though it represented minuscule minorities by members who constituted mostly elites, it also comprised social activists like Ayyankali who fought for equal rights of the depressed classes. The national consciousness developing throughout India, along with social changes emanating from English education and social reforms, left an indelible mark on the legislative evolution of the period.

Estimating the ecological consequences of Moolam Tirunal’s reign will be timely when disasters like floods or landslides have become a regular occurrence in Kerala. The significant parts of the lush green tropical vegetation of the Western Ghats were appropriated by the colonial economy for the plantation of commercial crops. The massive ecological devastation was also caused by dams, especially the controversial Mullaperiyar Treaty, which was signed and the dam constructed during his reign. Apart from that, the massive reclamations of rice land from the backwaters, especially the Kuttanad region, have resulted in another set of ecological concerns – though this was an attempt to achieve food security. It is thus difficult to envisage Kerala's environmental policy without analysing the reign of Moolam Tirunal.

Despite the progressive face of his administration, Moolam Tirunal had a very orthodox and controversial personal life. He was surrounded by a coterie that wielded unbridled freedom in administration. Whistleblowers like journalist Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishnapillai had to face the wrath of the state and was eventually deported to British Malabar. The non-violent Vaikom Satyagraha (demanded access to prohibited public environs around the Vaikom temple) was handled with an iron fist. Widespread public agitation occurred against the state’s disinterest in appointing depressed castes in certain public employment (the case of Dr Palpu being the most important). Known for his frugality and simplicity in his personal life, Moolam Tirunal was ostentatious regarding his religious life. He had undertaken a royal pilgrimage to Kasi and Rameswaram (1890), followed by the rituals of Tulapurushadana (donation of gold equal to the weight of the sovereign to Brahmins) and Hiranyagarbha to assume the title Kulasekhara Perumal. These were to sustain the Brahminical legitimisation of Travancore as the Dharmarajya. The birthplace of Adi Sankara was traced and restored to the Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham during his reign. His orthodox reservations in removing a decayed tooth resulted in septicaemia, the immediate cause of his death.

The popularly accepted narrative of princely states as backward and regressive has recently started to change through scholarly works. Revisiting the legacy and times of one of the country's longest-reigning Maharajas opens new avenues to understand princely modernity. It provides fresh perspectives on modern Indian history.

This article is authored by Mahendranath Sudhindranath, senior research fellow, department of humanities and social sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

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