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“Valley of History”
Behind The Present
Till the beginning of the second quarter of the 20th century, Attappady had been inhabited almost exclusively by hill tribes. Of the several factors responsible for non-interventions in this area by outsiders, the most important had been the availability of adequate cultivable lands in the low and midlands around. Hence the area remained little exploited by outsiders and land degradation was marginal. Almost all the areas in this virgin region were, before the intervention began, under thick forests and inhabited by tribesfolk engaged in slash-and-burn cultivation. As the area was under thick forest and infested with blood-sucking leeches and wild animals, accessibility to this area became difficult for early settlers . An interview with Tamil settlers conducted in 1994 showed that the early comers succumbed in large numbers to severe malaria infestation and faced attacks from wild animals. In the absence of transport and communication facilities, even census enumerators could not reach the tribesfolk settlements. Hence, limited accessibility resulted in false census estimates. Until the early 1950s, the agents of Zamorins of Kozhikode used to be the main source of information. These Chieftains did not have any dependable source of detailed information regarding the size of families of tribesfolk and their other dependants. A monograph of the 1961 census series makes the following observation about the Kurumbas of Attappady: “Inhabiting as they do, in the interior dense forest regions accessibility to them is ordinarily difficult” and notes that they had, therefore, been left out from the detailed (ethnographic) study (Kunhaman, 1983). Inaccessibility to the forest areas owing to lack of infrastructure and attack of wild animals and availability of lands in the plain areas discouraged in-migrants to settle in Attappady. However, growth of population and rising demand for land for cultivation pushed succeeding generations of in-migrants into this area. Government policies also werehelpful to settlers to make this area their destination.
By the early 18th century, Attappady had become the jenmom property of the Zamorin of Kozhikode. The Zamorin entrusted the administration of this area to three Nair Chieftains, Mannarghat Moopil Nair, Palat Krishna Menon, and Eralpad Raja , Moopil Nair got the larger portion of this area by pleasing. Once, the Zamorin of Kozhikode happened to stay at Moopil Nair’s house. Being pleased with Nair’s hospitality, along with MoopilSthanam (the title of Mooppil), a vast area of land was given to him. Inthis way Moopil Nairgot large areas of land in Mannarkad, including forest areas of Attappady. Nair was given an area approximating to the distance that a horse can cover in a day . However,Moopil Nair and other Jenmis were not much interested in cultivation of the leech-infested forest areas of Attappady. Their interest in this area remained to capturing elephants from the dense forests for use in temple festivals. Capturing of an elephant from Attappady wasconsidered prestigious for the family and was in those days great news . The chieftains had been given the right to collect land revenue atrates ranging from Rs 0.50 to Rs 1.25 per acre of land and forest produce by way of landrevenue from Irulas, Mudugas, and Kurumbas. The tribesfolk had become tenants of these Jenmis, the chieftains. The tribesfolk enjoyed the right to cultivate as much area as each was able to manage at the prescribed rates of land revenue. In practice, however, they were heavily exploited by the Kariasthans (Managers) of the Jenmis . In the meantime the Jenmis managed to get Jenmom (Freehold property) rights of these lands from the Zamorin. These three Chieftains were the oldest Jenmis of the Attappady Valley. As these landlords owned large tracts of land in the plains below, Attappady valley remained virtually intact and untouched by outsiders for a long time. The tribesfolk cultivated these areas in their conventional ways such as shifting cultivation, hunting, and collection of forest produce. Jenmom right gave the landlords the inheritable right to collect usufructs and rent. These landlords had also the power to give their land on lease. Moopil Nair alone held 70 percent of the Attappady land. In the first half of the 20thcentury, a few new landlords were given lease rights on the western part of Agali; about 6000 acres were givenon lease to one Kunhammed Sahib of Mannarkad .
Till the end of the 19th century, the valley had neither a police station nor a post office. However, a full contingent of village officers was appointed, and beat constables began periodically entering the valley and getting the signature of the Adhikari (Village Officer) in their beat books. During the early decades of the 20thcentury, timber was the main product in the valley. Of the total area, 21 hills in full and another hill in part belonged to the government. The rest of the area was under dispute among the three Jenmis already referred to. The dispute led to frequent disturbances which culminated in actual bloodshed in 1901. A solution was finally reached around 1908 by the Divisional Officer under Section 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Accordingly 44 hills and part of five others were awarded to Moopil Nair, 16 hills and parts of six others to the Eralpad Raja, 10 hills to P.K. Menon, and two hills to another Jenmi . Even after this division most of the areas remained undisturbed by outsiders due to easy availability of land in the plains of Mannarkad and nearby areas
By the early 18th century, Attappady had become the jenmom property of the Zamorin of Kozhikode. The Zamorin entrusted the administration of this area to three Nair Chieftains, Mannarghat Moopil Nair, Palat Krishna Menon, and Eralpad Raja , Moopil Nair got the larger portion of this area by pleasing. Once, the Zamorin of Kozhikode happened to stay at Moopil Nair’s house. Being pleased with Nair’s hospitality, along with MoopilSthanam (the title of Mooppil), a vast area of land was given to him. Inthis way Moopil Nairgot large areas of land in Mannarkad, including forest areas of Attappady. Nair was given an area approximating to the distance that a horse can cover in a day . However,Moopil Nair and other Jenmis were not much interested in cultivation of the leech-infested forest areas of Attappady. Their interest in this area remained to capturing elephants from the dense forests for use in temple festivals. Capturing of an elephant from Attappady wasconsidered prestigious for the family and was in those days great news . The chieftains had been given the right to collect land revenue atrates ranging from Rs 0.50 to Rs 1.25 per acre of land and forest produce by way of landrevenue from Irulas, Mudugas, and Kurumbas. The tribesfolk had become tenants of these Jenmis, the chieftains. The tribesfolk enjoyed the right to cultivate as much area as each was able to manage at the prescribed rates of land revenue. In practice, however, they were heavily exploited by the Kariasthans (Managers) of the Jenmis . In the meantime the Jenmis managed to get Jenmom (Freehold property) rights of these lands from the Zamorin. These three Chieftains were the oldest Jenmis of the Attappady Valley. As these landlords owned large tracts of land in the plains below, Attappady valley remained virtually intact and untouched by outsiders for a long time. The tribesfolk cultivated these areas in their conventional ways such as shifting cultivation, hunting, and collection of forest produce. Jenmom right gave the landlords the inheritable right to collect usufructs and rent. These landlords had also the power to give their land on lease. Moopil Nair alone held 70 percent of the Attappady land. In the first half of the 20thcentury, a few new landlords were given lease rights on the western part of Agali; about 6000 acres were givenon lease to one Kunhammed Sahib of Mannarkad .
Till the end of the 19th century, the valley had neither a police station nor a post office. However, a full contingent of village officers was appointed, and beat constables began periodically entering the valley and getting the signature of the Adhikari (Village Officer) in their beat books. During the early decades of the 20thcentury, timber was the main product in the valley. Of the total area, 21 hills in full and another hill in part belonged to the government. The rest of the area was under dispute among the three Jenmis already referred to. The dispute led to frequent disturbances which culminated in actual bloodshed in 1901. A solution was finally reached around 1908 by the Divisional Officer under Section 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Accordingly 44 hills and part of five others were awarded to Moopil Nair, 16 hills and parts of six others to the Eralpad Raja, 10 hills to P.K. Menon, and two hills to another Jenmi . Even after this division most of the areas remained undisturbed by outsiders due to easy availability of land in the plains of Mannarkad and nearby areas
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Settlements..
It is not clear from the available literature as to who the earliest intruders into this area were. In the opinion of some old settlers the earliest were the Tamil-speaking Gowndans who came to Attappady in the beginning of the 20th century mainly for buying forest produce . However,
“In Malabar Malayalam is the language of 94 per cent of the people ....
Tamil is the language of 4 per cent, made up mostly of East coast Merchants.... and Gowndans and other inhabitants of the Attappady Valley”.
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