Sankara Variyar, Sankunni Menon and Govinda Menon – Dewans of Cochin
Ikkavamma the poetess
Many families produced illustrious bureaucrats, but only one
produced three dewans. They were Sankara Variyar and his sons Sankunni Menon
and Govinda Menon who served as the Dewans at Cochin
during the second half of the 19th century. Today there are
buildings and roads named after them, but it will still be hard to find people
who know about these stalwarts, the seminal architects of modern Cochin. The
Thottekat family was connected to so many great people, and at one time, they
owned large swaths of land, much of it given away since then or sold, a part of
it to the Maharaja’s College. I am sure several readers would be interested in
this story, yet again one of the rags to riches. Towards the end, you will find
a small personal connection to yet another stalwart of this family, the
well-known poetess, Ikkavamma.
Cochin until the time it was absorbed in the Kerala state
was a kingdom ruled by Maharajas originating from the Perumbadappu Swaroopam.
While the principalities of Kolathunad and Calicut fell to the British,
Travancore and Cochin continued as Kingdoms until the 20th century. Today,
Cochin is a vibrant and bustling city, home to an active port and a main entry
point for most tourists coming to visit ‘God’s Own Country’, as Kerala is
termed.
A note about Dewans- Dewan (also spelled as Diwan) was a powerful
government official or Chief minister of a princely state. From the 19th
century onwards, the Dewan or Chief Minister was an administrator selected by
the Raja under advice from the British Indian Government and assisted by a
secretariat. While the king had all the authority, the Dewan was the chief
executive who exercised this authority over all governmental departments. The
Dewan was also in charge of the Raja’s bodyguard and remained the Chief
Magistrate.
The three Dewans who laid the foundations of modern Cochin, covered
today are T. Sankara Variyar (1840–1856), T. Sankunni Menon (1860–1879), and T.
Govindan Menon (1879–1890). The three Dewans, father and sons, were responsible
for the successful administration of the State during 1840-1890 (barring a
short period of 1856 –1860 when a Venkata Rao was in charge), a period
distinguished by high principles of personal conduct and loyalty to their
State.
The Thottekat family traces their roots to Poomangalam in
Trichur, then part of the Aiylur Swaroopam.
The Thottekad Taravad
TK Krishna Menon provides us with a glimpse of Tharavad’s
setup. Near Karupatanna, where the Perumals went during the summer, is located
Poomangalam, within which is the desam called Vellanganellur. This was where
the Ayilur Swarupam was located and lorded by the Vazhapilli Nambudiuri. A
well-to-do officer of the Nayar brigade married Kochulla Amma from
Vellanganellur and moved to Ernakulam. His house was near the palace fort and
covered some 10 acres. It is the Cochin homestead of this family which goes by
the name Thottekat similar in meaning to Poomangalam – a forest of flowers.
Kunjipilla Amma from Thottekat got married to Sankara Variyar. Over time, from 1837-1844,
the old premises owned by the family were expanded and rebuilt and encompassed
a sizeable area of today’s Ernakulam town.
Sankara Variyar
Sankara Variyar served under and for five Kings of Cochin
and no part of his career proved to be easy. Facing continuous intrigues, and tremendous
resistance from some Rajas or mostly their corrupt advisors, he tread along a
difficult and stressful path throughout his career. An upright man, he insisted
on complete honesty and brought about many changes, heralding a new era in
Cochin’s administration and development. Though he was a deputy in the
sovereign’s (Rama Varma 1828-38) reign, it was in the next Raja’s reign (Rama
Varma 1838-44) that he became a Dewan following the commotion arising from the
disagreement over the provisions for the previous Raja’s consort (See
this link for details if interested).
Variyar was reluctant, but the Raja, interceded and assured him
that he was in support of the arrangement, and that was when the 42-year-old Variyar
became the Dewan of Cochin in 1840. As a person of outstanding morals and great
character, he had the support of the many residents who followed such as
Maclean, Douglas, and Cullen. A prosperous period followed, the financial
conditions of the state improved, public works improved, expenditure was controlled,
and the treasury had a surplus for the very first time. Roads, canals, waterways,
culverts, lodges, and canals (drainage and irrigation) were constructed, in
tune with the improvements being carried out in Malabar by Collector HV
Conolly.
During the Elaya Raja’s reign (Rama Varma 1844-51) Variyar
had to contend with a difficult monarch who could not stand the sight of the Dewan
and did his best to get rid of him. Complaints were sent regularly to Madras, and
a vexed Variyar decided to retire while the resident Cullen tried to placate
Variyar with an offer to move him to Travancore, which Variyar would not
accept. This continued till the recalcitrant Raja passed away in1851, but not
after attempts were made to assassinate him (intrigued by one JW Harris) – as CA
Menon states ‘with bullet and poison’. It is mentioned here and there that Sivaraman,
a singer, tried to poison Variyar, to earn the favor of the Raja. Strangely
just before he passed away, the Raja called Sankara Variyar and told him that
his fight was on a matter of principle, which was - that the Raja had the right
to hire and fire and was not to be considered secondary to a Dewan.
The next Raja’s reign was short (Vira Kerala Varma 1851-53)
for he passed away while on a pilgrimage to Benares. During the next Raja’s (
Ravi Varma 1852-64) reign, though Variyar got through the promulgation
abolishing slavery, his involvement in the Konkani temple idol smuggling
affair, from Alleppey to Cochin, put him on the wrong side of Resident Cullen.
By then the aged administrator was ailing from the
complications arising from diabetes and eventually passed away in Oct 1856.
Dewan Sankunni Menon
Venkata Rau, who was Cullen’s protégé, succeeded Variyar as
Dewan, and Sankunni Menon was transferred from Veliyangod to Ponnani in
September 1857, and thence to Ernad in January 1858. It was when he was
stationed at Ponnani that he lost his young wife, and soon after his transfer
to Ernad, her only brother. In 1859, he was posted as a Deputy collector to
Tirunelveli. It was not a healthy period for him, for he was beset with malaria
and yearning to go back to Cochin.
Venkata Rau a highhanded administrator from Coimbatore, had
to contend with the intrigues brought about by Sarvadhi Kariakar Parameswara
Pattar of Nemmara and was retired in 1860 by the new resident Matby after
Resident Cullen retired. Pattar tried to short-circuit the decision using the
Raja’s influence and promote a Judge and at the same time appoint Govinda Menon
as Dewan Peishkar, but Matby decided that Sankunni was the man for the job.
Thus, Sankunni Menon became the Dewan in 1860 and had several
issues to sort out as soon as he was appointed. He had to contend with the Konkani populace who
were against succession fees, then the royals due to their using treasury money
for expensive ritual ceremonies and celebrations, and finally with Parameswara
Pattar, a perpetual thorn in his flesh, poisoning the ailing Raja against him.
Eventually, the Raja passed away in 1864 and Pattar was quickly deported to
Chittur. Following Pattar was another irksome and corrupt character named
Cheruvattur Narayanan Nambudiri. He handled most of these with aplomb and
became well-known as a just and honest administrator.
He employed qualified people, replaced customary laws with
English Common law, and carried out many development projects including the metaling
of many roads in the state. During the
reign of (Rama Varma 1864-88) the next Raja, trade relations, customs, and tariffs
were formalized between British Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. Revenues and
expenditures were controlled and new revenue streams were established to create
a good surplus. Though a later Raja implemented the rail link, Sankunni Menon
had mooted the idea. Many schools were opened, supervisors were appointed, and
libraries were started. A gazette was published documenting the state’s annual
report, and in general, one could say that Cochin was quickly posting a new and
modern look.
However, this hectic career was affecting his health and by
1872, he suffered from various illnesses, first with his bowels resulting from poor
eating habits, then problems with his heart and later insomnia, forcing him to
announce retirement plans, which were quickly
thwarted by both the residency and the royalty. His life became a daily struggle,
and he kept asking the Raja to appoint his protégé Sankara Aiyar as his
successor, but the Raja had no confidence in Ayyar and refused to have a
foreigner, a Paradesi Brahmin in power, more so since Aiyar did not quite understand
Malayalam.
The Raja then surprised everyone by recommending Govinda
Menon, Sankunni’s brother as his successor, and Sankunni finally retired in
1879. Interestingly, for all his virtues, he was never an accomplished orator
and avoided public speaking, though quite social when ensconced with his close
circle of friends. Sankunni Menon passed away in Aug 1883, following a
paralytic stroke.
Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State for India wrote “If
all native States in India were administered as was Travancore by Madhava Rao
and Cochin by Sangunni Menon, the British Government would have to look to
their laurels”.
Lawson said - The
Rajah in former times used to take what he wanted, upon a verbal understanding
of accounting for the loan on some distant day, the arrival of which, it may be
guessed, was not a wise subject of conversation to a despotic monarch; but now
he receives the fixed allowance, and transfers the entire care of the exchequer
to his Dewan. This minister has, consequently, great influence in the country,
and it is according to his character rather than to the Rajah's that national
prosperity results. The balance at the credit of Cochin in British bonds was
almost wholly saved by Shungra Warrier, the penultimate Dewan, an able, upright
man, whose eldest son, Shungoony Menon, has just been appointed to this
distinguished office amid universal satisfaction.
Dewan Govinda Menon
Though not much talked about, his administration was also
very good, he established the court of appeal, cleared up boundary disputes
with Travancore over the Idiyara matter, and the right for Travancore to
nominate the Tachudaya Kaimal to manage the Koodalmanickam temple, etc. The school
system was better organized, standards were improved, new hospitals were built,
and finances were streamlined. Raja Rama Varma died in 1888, after reigning for
24 years. When Raja Veera Kerala Varma 1888 – 1895 took the throne, Govinda
Menon announced his retirement in 1889 after ensuring that he too left a
sizeable surplus of Rs 10 lakhs (His brother left 16 lakhs, and his father 10.5
lakhs) in the coffers, when he left office. No other Dewan managed to exceed
3-4 lakhs. Govinda Menon passed away in 1901.
The Taravad split
After his third son’s passing, Variyar and his immediate family moved to another house North of Thotekkat, and in 1844, Thotekkat itself was renovated into an 8-kettu with three bathing tanks. At the same time, the family split into two, with one of them building a residence to the East of the house, calling themselves the East Tavazhi. The East Tavazhi wanted a partition of the properties, and Sankunni Menon agreed to the plan, but action was deferred. After his death, Govinda Menon from the West faction and Neelakanta Menon, the Karanavar of the East branch drew up the partition deed in 1884. There are many more details and asides to this but are deliberately not recounted here, as they are family matters of no public interest.
Many other luminaries were part of the family or married
into it over time, such as TKK Menon, Mannathu Padmanabhan, Madhavi Amma, Kollengode
Vasudeva Raja, Naraynana Menon, Chettur Sankaran Nair, etc. just to name a
handful. The TDM Hall is named after them, and roads are named after the family
- Thottekat Road and possibly the Dewans Road. There is so much more to add,
but it would only tire the lay reader.
Thottekkad Ikkavamma, the first woman dramatist of Kerala
Her play was reviewed and introduced to the public with a
foreword by my great-grandfather Vidwan Manavikrama Ettan Thampuran. He says – There
cannot usually be more than five scholars among some 500 contenders, and even
if we did find a hundred scholars, there cannot be more than five among them who
are good poets. Considering all that, is it not astonishing that here we have
among us a great Sanskrit poet among women, a gender generally considered
ignorant?
While CP Achyutha Menon (Ed. Vidyavinodini) thought she
merited the title of Thunchath Ezhuthacchan among women, Chandu Menon commented
that he had not found any work as pleasing and as enjoyable as ‘Subhadrarjunam’, and Kerala Varma Valiyakoyi Thampuran added, “I have absolutely no
reservation in stating that ‘Subhadrarjunam’ excels all other plays written in
Malayalam till now in sheer simplicity and sweetness.”
C Achyutha Menon, the biographer of the three Dewans, concluded
effusively in 1922 - If Cochin enjoys the reputation of being one of the
best governed Feudatory States in India, she owes it primarily to Edakunnni
Sankara Variyar and his son Thottekat Sankunni Menon, who held the Dewanship of
the State from 1840 to 1856, and 1860 to 1879 respectively. The foundation of
the modern administration of the State was laid and its basement was built by
the former, while its superstructure was raised by the latter. The work of
their successors, who were most of them worthy men, was more or less of the
nature of plastering, painting, and decorating and of executing annual repairs.
All in all, an illustrious family, and in many ways the very
pillars of Modern Cochin.
Dewan Sankara Variyar of Cochin – C Achyutha Menon
The Life of T Sankunni Menon-Dewan of Cochin - C Achyutha Menon
The days that were – T K Krishna Menon
The Rajarshi of Cochin – IKK Menon
Cochin State Manual
Maharajas College Handbook
Progress Of Cochin – TK Krishna Menon
Kerala District Gazetteers: Trichur, Ernakulam
History of Medieval Kerala – VKR Menon
Subhadrarjunam – T Ikkavamma
Pictures –
Variyar & Ikavamma – Thottekat family album, rest courtesy C Achyutha Menon.
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