29. C. Rajaraja Varma quoted in S.A. Pillai, Raja Ravi Varma and his Art, p. 13.
30. Lakshmi Raghunandan, op. cit., pp. 54–55.
31. He was the son of one Rohini-Nal Tampuratti of Kilimanoor by her husband, Attupurathu Nambutiri and was born in 1884.
32. Uma Maheswari, Thrippadidanam, p. 113, and T.N. Gopinathan Nair, Sree Chithira Thirunal, p. 10.
33. Author’s interview with Rukmini Varma.
34. Letter dated 14/12/1929 from Louise Ouwerkerk to her mother (MSS EUR F232/60).
35. Kulathu Aiyar, Her Highness Sethu Lakshmi Bai, p. 5
36. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
37. See letter dated 21/02/1935 from the Resident to the Pol Sec., GOI, and letter dated 21/03/1935 from the Under Pol. Sec., GOI (IOR/L/PS/13/1283).
38. Note dated 23/04/1926 on the Exceptional Political Position of the Senior Rani of Travancore in IOR/R/1/1/1532 (1). Also see Note on Kharitas to Senior Ranis of Travancore in IOR/R/2/900/408. I am also grateful to Lakshmi Raghunandan for showing me all the Kharitas Sethu Lakshmi Bayi received during her time as Senior Rani, down till the Viceroyalty of Lord Mountbatten. The text of a typical kharita, as sent by Lord Irwin on 16th April 1926 to Sethu Lakshmi Bayi goes: ‘My esteemed friend, His Most Gracious Majesty the King Emperor of India, having appointed me to be Viceroy and Governor-General of India, in succession to the Right Hon’ble The Earl of Reading, I write to inform Your Highness that I assumed charge of my office at Bombay on the 3rd April 1926. Your Highness may rest assured of the friendliness of the sentiments which I entertain for you and of my earnest wishes for your continued prosperity. I desire to express the high consideration which I entertain for Your Highness and to subscribe myself, Your Highness’ sincere friend, Irwin (signed) Viceroy and Governor-General of India.’
39. Ibid. The Maharajah was always ‘His Highness Sri Padmanabha Dasa Vanchi Palace [personal name] Kulasekhara Kiritapathi Manney Sultan Maharajah Rajah Rama Rajah Bahadur Shamsher Jang’ while the Senior Rani was ‘Her Highness Sri Padmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Vardhini Raja Rajeshwari Rani [personal name] Sahiba’. The Maharajah had some more titles after his personal name, which were given by the Nawab of Arcot which the Attingal Rani did not share.
40. Instance described in Lakshmi Raghunandan, op. cit., p. 41.
41. Marthanda Varma, Travancore: The Footprints of Destiny, p. 85.
42. Ibid. p. 92.
43. T.N. Gopinathan Nair, Avasanate … op. cit., p. 8.
44. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
45. Letter dated 20/01/1916 from the Senior Rani to Kuttan Tampuran (TRF).
46. John Paton Davies, China Hand, p. 83. This was not necessarily unheard of. In the early seventeenth century, Pietro Della Valle would note about the Zamorins and their ostensible orthodoxy as follows: ‘These Ceremonies of not being touch’d and the like, of which in publick demonstration they are so rigorous, yet in secret, and when they please, they do not exactly observe; and ‘twas told us of this King that he is a great drinker of Wine, though rigorously prohibited by his Religion, and that he hath sometimes eaten and drunk at the same Table with the Portugals very familiarly; and that he is a Man of very affable humour and a great friend to a jovial life, which also his carriage towards us demonstrated.’ See The Travels of Pietro Della Valle in India, p. 376.
47. Junior Rani’s granddaughter at a presentation at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco; video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj6bliCSNbg (accessed 02/01/2015).
48. Simon de Burton, ‘Maharajas of the road’ in The Telegraph dated 08/11/2013 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/motoring/14583/maharajas-of-the-road.html (accessed 24/11/2014).
49. Henry Bruce, Letters from Malabar, p. 84.
50. Kuppuswamy Aiyangar, The Ranis of Travancore, p. 7.
51. Gouri Parvathi Bayi’s statement to the author.
52. Ibid.
53. Lakshmi Raghunandan, op. cit., p. 64.
54. Letter dated 14/01/1908 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 62).
55. Letter dated 26/10/1911 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 68). As it happened, this youngest sister, Kochu Thankam, became her lifelong companion and aide, even in the years after the Senior Rani renounced life in the palace.
56. Letter dated 08/09/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 75).
57. Author’s interview with Indira Varma, the younger daughter of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi.
58. Author’s interview with Rukmini Varma.
59. I am grateful to Lakshmi Raghunandan, Rukmini Varma, and Shobhana Varma for showing me books from the Senior Rani’s collection. They are all granddaughters of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi.
60. Kulathu Aiyar, op. cit., p. 7.
61. Ibid. p. 9.
62. Letter dated 13/01/1916 from the Senior Rani to Kuttan Tampuran (TRF).
63. See Lucy Moore, Maharanis (Google Books).
64. Letter dated 12/02/1909 from Kochukunji to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 66).
65. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
66. Letter dated 18/02/1909 from Kochukunji to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 66).
67. Gouri Parvathi Bayi’s statement to the author.
68. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
69. Author’s interview with Rukmini Varma. One story tells how Mahaprabha one day, upon her return from Trivandrum, heard from a trusted steward of someone having made offensive remarks about her. ‘She was undaunted and maintained her regal and imposing status. She did not bat an eyelid, nor did she lose her composure. She assured the steward she would deal with it, and when she entered the room where the members of her family were gathered, she directed one freezing look at the offender, which completely unsettled the latter!’
70. Kulathu Aiyar, op. cit., p. 2.
71. Author’s interview with Rukmini Varma.
72. According to Rukmini Varma, Ravi Varma’s elder son, Kerala Varma, had a wife from Thrissur, ‘a very beautiful lady, who till the end of her days after his departure in 1912 maintained a kidavilakku—an eternal lamp—in the hope of his return one day.’ Kerala Varma even had a daughter, who married one of Kochukunji’s sons. It is believed that Kerala Varma might have gone to Goa and converted to Christianity and had a second family there. Rukmini Varma remembers meeting a Goan man with a photograph of Kerala Varma, whom he claimed as an ancestor, sometime in the 1970s.
73. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
74. This descendant of Raja Ravi Varma who spoke to the author does not wish to be named.
75. Letter dated 20/09/1924 from the Resident to the Pol. Sec., GOI (IOR/R/2/884/161).
76. During the author’s interview with Advocate Ayyappan Pillai, he too affirmed that the disputes between the two Ranis began on relatively petty grounds, which in Malayalam are called soundarya pinakkums. The Senior Rani’s daughter Indira Varma also stated that their aunts and relations told of how the rivalry between the cousins began because of such relatively petty issues as beauty and looks. On 23/11/2014 at her speech at the Sethu Lakshmi Bayi Memorial Lecture in Trivandrum, the Junior Rani’s granddaughter would remark that even servants of the latter would sing in Malayalam, ‘Lakshmi Bayi Maharani; Lakshanam Othuru Tirumeni’. Loosely translated, this is an appreciation of the Senior Rani’s queenly demeanour and beauty.
77. R.P. Raja, ‘Tiruvithamkur Rajakudumbathinte Aradhyapurushan’ (Malayalam) in Ayyaguru Mahasamadhi Varshika Smaranika (2003) (Thiruvananthapuram: Ayya Mission), pp. 28–29.
78. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
79. Letter dated 22/02/1929 from the Resident to the Pol. Sec., GOI (IOR/R/1/1/1849).
80. See Chapter 10.
81. Author’s interview with Divakara Varma.
82. This person does not wish to be named.
83. Author’s interview with Rukmini Varma.
84. Letter dated 15/09/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 75).
85. Letter dated 22/09/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 75).
86. Letter dated 08/09/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 75).
87. Ulloor S. Parameswara Aiyar, Progress of Travancore, p. 137.
88. Letter dated 08/11/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 77).
89. In reality he was named Rama Varma and added the ‘Bala’ himself at the time of his accession to power. However, to prevent confusion with the other Rama Varmas in this book, I refer to him by his preferred name of Balarama Varma.
90. Dewan P. Rajagopalachari quoted in Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting of the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly of Travancore, p. 12 quoted in Annexure A, IOR/R/1/1/3371.
91. These were the Vanchiyur Mahadeva Temple, Veerakeralapuram Sri Krishna Temple, Avanavanchery Ayyappa Temple, Nilamelkunnu Sri Krishna Temple, Avaneesvaram Mahadeva Temple, Mampazhakonam Temple, Elampa Siva Temple, Kattayilkonam Devi Temple, and the Chittankulangara Dharmasastha Temple.
92. Kulathu Aiyar, op. cit., p. 8.
93. Letter dated 09/01/1914 from Rama Varma to Kuttan Tampuran (Raghunandan, pp. 82–83).
94. Lakshmi Raghunandan, op. cit., p. 81.
95. See Valiya Koil Tampuran’s letter to the Senior Rani quoted in T.N. Gopinathan Nair, Avasanate … op. cit., p. 41.
96. Kerala Varma’s diary entry dated 29/03/1913 (Raghunandan, p. 88).
97. Kerala Varma’s diary entry dated 15/05/1913 (Raghunandan, pp. 81–82).
98. Author’s interview with Advocate Ayyappan Pillai.
99. Gouri Parvathi Bayi’s statement to the author.
100. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
101. Letter dated 01/12/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 77).
102. Letter dated 25/02/1915 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 90).
103. Letter dated 01/12/1912 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 77).
104. Letter dated 13/02/1914 from Rama Varma to Kuttan Tampuran (Raghunandan, p. 87).
105. Letter dated 29/01/1914 from the Senior Rani to Kuttan Tampuran (Raghunandan, p. 83).
106. Letter dated 29/01/1914 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 84).
107. Ulloor S. Parameswara Aiyar, Essays on Travancore, p. 25
108. Palace letter dated 24th Makaram 1089 Malayalam Era in IOR/R/1/1/3371. The decision was to give 84,000 panams to the Junior Rani, 336,682 panams to the establishment, and 211,300 panams to the Senior Rani, and it was taken by Mulam Tirunal.
109. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 06/04/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 85).
110. Letter dated 10/02/1914 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (TRF).
111. Mahakavi Kumaran Asan quoted in P.K. Narayana Pillai, Kerala Varma, p. 103.
112. Letter dated 05/01/1915 from the Senior Rani to Mahaprabha (Raghunandan, p. 91).
CHAPTER 4: THE SECOND FAVOURITE
1. Letter dated 22/07/1915 from the Senior Rani to Kuttan Tampuran (Raghunandan, p. 97).
2. Appendix to G.O. No. 321 (Political) dated 14/05/1900 (IOR/R/2/892/278).
3. Author’s interview with Rukmini Varma.
4. Letter dated 18/12/1899 from the Elayarajah to the Resident (IOR/R/2/892/278).
5. Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, Progress of Travancore, p. 35.
6. Louise Ouwerkerk and Dick Kooiman, No Elephants for the Maharaja, p. 66.
7. She died giving birth to a son named Nagercoil Sri Narayanan Tampi. He grew up, in what was unusual, not in his maternal home, the Nagercoil Ammaveedu, but at his father’s palace, until he was eighteen when he was granted his own establishment at the Tanjore Ammaveedu.
8. Letter dated 03/04/1882 from Mulam Tirunal to the Valiya Koil Tampuran (TRF).
9. Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, op. cit., p. 205.
10. Lord Pentland’s speech quoted in ibid. p. 142.
11. Ibid. p. 205.
12. P. Ramakrishna Pillai, Visakhavijaya, p. 149.
13. M.J. Koshy, KC Mammen Maappilai, p. 204.
14. Note dated 25/01/1908 in IOR/R/1/1/1019.
15. Ibid.
16. Note dated 27/02/1907 in IOR/R/1/1/993.
17. Robin Jeffrey, Decline of Nair Dominance, p. 102.
18. As Louise Ouwerkerk states, ‘So strong was the tradition that the ruler stood above the actual business of administration, that although his consent to the carrying out of a death sentence was necessary, the death warrant was always signed by a special palace official, so that the wrath of the gods would not fall on the Raja’. The special officer was the Fouzdar. See Louise Ouwerkerk and Dick Kooiman, op. cit., p. 64.
19. M.J. Koshy, Genesis of Political Consciousness in Kerala, pp. 63–64.
20. Robin Jeffrey, op. cit., p. 146.
21. M.J. Koshy, Genesis … op. cit., p. 64.
22. Letter dated 12/12/1899 from the Resident to Madras Govt (IOR/R/2/892/278).
23. N.P. Unni, Sanskrit Plays of V Krishnan Tampi, p. ix.
24. Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, op. cit., p. 101. His name was Vadasseri Sri Velayudan Tampi.
25. She was adopted into the Vadasseri Ammaveedu along with her family.
26. T.K. Velu Pillai, Travancore State Manual, Vol. II, p. 709. The daughter’s name was Bhagavathi Pillai.
27. The Lady dated 11/01/1912.
28. The story goes that Visakham Tirunal while on tour met the teenaged Sanku Pillai and was impressed by his personality, and took him on his personal staff. His father was from Chittezhathu house in Minnamthottam, while his mother came from Njarakkattu house in Chavara. I am grateful to my friend Sharat Sunder Rajeev for this information, which he collected from a great-nephew of the man.
29. K. Ramakrishna Pillai quoted in A. Sreedhara Menon, Triumph and Tragedy in Travancore, p. 333.
30. M.J. Koshy, Genesis … op. cit., p. xi.
31. Justice T. Sadasiva Aiyar quoted in Robin Jeffrey, op. cit., p. 200.
32. Note dated 27/02/1907 in IOR/R/1/1/993.
33. Robin Jeffrey, op. cit., p. 313. Rumours, interestingly, continue to this day about this in Trivandrum.
34. Ibid., p. 217.
35. Ibid., p. 345.
36. Editor’s Note in Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, op. cit., p. 139.
37. Robin Jeffrey, op. cit., p. 318.
38. Guptan Nair, C.V. Raman Pillai, p. 36.
39. Ibid. p. 33.
40. Robin Jeffrey, op. cit., p. 220.
41. See The Travancore Deportation by K. Ramakrishna Pillai. ‘Ramakrishna Pillai did not spare even the Maharaja for his insane luxuries and extravagant expenses. The Maharaja spent more than a lakh of rupees for the useless and superstitious Thalikettu ceremony of his daughter in Vadasseri Ammaveedu. “Our sense of justice compels us to state that by such luxurious spendings, the rulers make the people lose their loyalty to the Maharaja.” Again: “The palace appropriates a substantial part of the government treasury for itself. The amount is not used for justifiable expenses, but for pomp and luxury, for tours and feasts. A few sycophants and favourites of the Dewan, in addition to their normal salaries amass considerable wealth … while the people are not benefitted in any way.”’ See P.C. Joshi and K. Damodaran, Marx Comes to India, p. 88
42. A number of people in Trivandrum consider poisoning the cause of these deaths.
43. Author’s interview with Divakara Varma.
44. Kerala Varma’s diary entry dated 27/04/1905 (Raghunandan, pp. 42–43).
45. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 17/08/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 86).
46. Ibid.
47. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 15/07/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 86).
48. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 21/09/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 86).
49. Lakshmi Raghunandan, op. cit., p. 85.
50. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 25/02/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 84).
51. Letter dated 20/06/1929 from the Resident to the Pol. Sec., GOI (IOR/R/2/885/175
).
52. Letter dated 19/09/1924 from the Resident to the Pol. Sec., GOI (IOR/R/1/1/1530 (2)).
53. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 03/04/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 85).
54. Letter dated 27/10/1929 from the Resident to the Pol. Sec., GOI (IOR/R/2/885/175).
55. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 23/03/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 85).
56. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 26/01/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 87).
57. Senior Rani quoted in Lakshmi Raghunandan, op. cit., p. 86.
58. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 22/09/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 89).
59. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 18/10/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 90).
60. Author’s interview with Uma Varma.
61. Letter dated 15/09/1912 from the Senior Rani to Kuttan Tampuran (TRF).
62. Kuttan Tampuran’s diary entry dated 01/07/1914 (Raghunandan, p. 86).
63. Swaminathan was the husband of Ammu Swaminathan and the father of Mrinalini Sarabhai and Lakshmi Sehgal. Sarabhai’s husband, Vikram Sarabhai, incidentally died at Halcyon Castle in Kovalam, once a beach palace belonging to Rama Varma.
64. Letter dated 15/07/1916 from the Senior Rani to Kuttan Tampuran (Raghunandan, p. 98).
65. Author’s interview with Dr R.P. Raja.
66. One brother, called Rajan Tampuran, married Mulam Tirunal’s daughter and secured a portion of her fortune when she died. He was also the father of a Malayalam actress called Ambika, a cousin of the Travancore Sisters. Another called Kochurajan Tampuran was in government service in various jobs, including superintending the Trivandrum Museum. A third called Kuttan Tampuran was in Jamshedpur, while one Unni Tampuran was a Port Officer in Alleppey.
67. Their names were Thrikketta-Nal Martanda Varma Tampuran (1893–1964) (who features as the baby in Ravi Varma’s There Comes Papa in Mahaprabha’s arms); Makayiram-Nal Kerala Varma Tampuran (1901–1965); Swathi-Nal Rama Varma Tampuran (1906–1941); Pooram-Nal Ravi Varma Tampuran (1907–1962); and Swathi-Nal Rajaraja Varma Tampuran (1911–1983). The Maharani’s sisters were Asvathi-Nal Bhageerathi (Kutty Amma) Tampuratti (1902–1984) and Thriketta-Nal Uma (Kochu Thankam) Tampuratti (1909–2004). She also had a sister who died named Ammukutty (d. 1908). The Senior Rani’s first brother married a cousin called Manorama from the Edassery Pattaveetil house of Mavelikkara, and whose father was Rama Varma, younger son of Raja Ravi Varma. The second married Meenakshi, a graduate and the daughter of Sir M. Krishnan Nair from his second wife. Meenakshi hailed from Malabar’s famous Parakkat family and it was her brother who was married to the Cochin Jew. The brother who married the Zamorin’s granddaughter Padma was actually offered the principalship of the Zamorin’s College in Calicut after his studies in London, but in the bargain ended up marrying his granddaughter as well. The lady’s father was also a member of the Zamorin family and was known as Collector Tampuran. Padma hailed from the Chengalath family of Malabar. The youngest brother married the daughter of Prabhakaran Tampan, Member of the Madras Legislative Council, and member of the Kuthiravattathu Tampan (Moopil Nair) family who were originally prominent members of the Zamorin’s court and one of the biggest zamindars in Malabar. The brother who was unwell and died in the 1940s was married to Kunjikutty Tampuratti, a Kshatriya lady, whom he wed quite late. She met him at a wedding and insisted she would only marry him. They never had children but she remained an important figure within the family until her demise. I am grateful to Divakara Varma and Prabha Menon, nephew and niece respectively of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, for information on the extended family of the Senior Rani.
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