Kollam/Quilon Syrian copper plates, also known as Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, or Kottayam inscription of Sthanu Ravi, or Tabula Quilonensis record a royal grant issued by the chieftain of Kollam (Ayyan Adikal) to a Syrian Christian merchant magnate ( Mar Sapir Iso) in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The royal charter is engraved in old Malayalam in Vattezhuthu (with some Grantha characters) on six copper plates. The document is the oldest available Chera Perumal inscription. The charter is dated to the 5th regnal year of the Chera Perumal ruler Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara (849/50 AD). The sixth plate contains a number of signatures of the witnesses to the grant in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

(Kufic script),

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

(cursive Pahlavi script) and

Judeo-Persian Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by the Jews living in Iran and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish com ...

(standard square Hebrew script). Until recently (2013) it was believed that the six plates formed two separate grants (dated separately) issued by Kerala rulers to the Syrian Christian merchants. One part (four plates) of the copper plates is kept at the Devalokam Aramana of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church while the other (two small plates) is at Poolatheen Aramana (Thiruvalla) of

Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

. The copper plate also mentions about the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s and Muslims of Kerala in the

(Kufic script),

(cursive Pahlavi script) and

(standard square Hebrew script) parts.

Summarised prescription

Mar Sabor and Mar Proth East Syriac Persian Saints of the Malabar Church

Quilon (Venatu) insignia from Syrian copper plates - Plate 5 (c

The grant is dated the 5th regnal year of king Sthanu Ravi, 849-50 AD (old Malayalam: Ko Tanu Ravi). It was drafted in the presence of Chera Perumal prince Vijayaraga,

Venad Venad was a medieval kingdom lying between the Western Ghat mountains and the Arabian Sea on the south-western tip of India with its headquarters at the port city of Kollam/Quilon.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Is ...

chieftain Ayyan Adikal Thiruvadikal, junior chieftain Rama Thiruvadikal, other important officers of the chiefdom (the adhikarar, the prakrithi, the punnathala padi, and the pulakkudi padi) and the representatives of merchant guilds

anjuvannam Anjuvannam (in Tamil and Malayalam, from Persian anjuman, and hanjama or hanjamana in Telugu or Kannada or hamyamana) typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders (ethnic Persians and Arabs), primarily active ...

and

manigramam Manigiramam, or manigramam, typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, organised by itinerant ethnic Indian traders, primarily active in south India.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' Ne ...

. The charter grants land to Mar Sapir Iso, the founder the Kollam trading city (the nagara), to build the Church of Tarisa at Kollam. The land, evidently a large settlement with its occupants, is donated as an "attipperu" by Ayyan Adikal. Sapir Iso also recruited two merchant guilds (the

and the

) as the tenants of the nagara (the karanmai). The Six Hundred of

, the

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...

militia of the chiefdom, was entrusted with the protection of the nagara and the church. The charter also granted serfs to the nagara and the church. This included personnel like agricultural laborers (the vellalars), carpenters (the thachar), toddy tappers (the ezhavar) and salt-makers (the eruviyar). The charter granted Sapir Iso several titles, rights and aristocratic privileges. All revenues from the donated land and its occupants were 'exempted' (which perhaps meant that these were to be made over to the church). Quilon Syrian copper plates (849 CE) plates 1 and 4

Quilon Syrian copper plates (849 CE) plates 1 and 4

Witnesses to grant

The vertical plate contains a number of signatures of the witnesses to the grant in

(Kufic script),

(cursive Pahlavi script) and

(standard square Hebrew script). Quilon Syrian copper plates - plate 6 (9th century AD)

Arabic signatures ― Kufic script * Maymun, son of Ibrahim * Muhammad, son of Manih * Sulh, son of Ali * Uthman, son of al-Marzuban * Muhammad, son of Yahya * Amr, son of Ibrahm * Ibrahim, son of al-Tayy * Bakr, son of Mansur * al-Qasim, son of Hamid * Mansur, son of Isa * Ismail, son of Yaqub Middle Persian signatures ― Pahlavi script * Farrox, son of Narseh, son of Sahraban * Yōhanan, son of Mašya, son of Wehzād * Šāhdōst, son of Mardweh, son of Farroxīg * Sēnmihr, son of Bayweh * Sīnā, son of Yākub * .. son of Mardweh * Marōē, son of Yōhanan * Farrbay, son of Windād-Ohrmazd * Mard-Farrox, son of Bōyšād * Āzādmard, son of Ahlā Judeo-Persian signatures ― Hebrew script * Hasan Ali * Sahaq * Samael * Abraham Quwami * Kurus Yahiya

Mention of Thomas of Cana

Thomas of Cana copper plates dated between the mid 4th and early 9th century are a lost set of copper-plate grants issued by an unidentified Chera Perumal king to the Christian merchants in the city of "Makotayar Pattinam" (present day

Kodungallur Kodungallur (; also Cranganore, Portuguese: Cranganor; formerly known as Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Th ...

). Translations of the Quilon plates made by the Syrian Christian priest Ittimani in 1601 as well as the French scholar A. H. Anquetil-Duperron in 1758 both note that one of the Quilon plates mentioned a brief of the arrival of Thomas of Cana. However, the presently available Quilon plates do not mention this episode. It is generally assumed that this was a notation of the previous rights bestowed upon the Christians by the Chera king (and the abovesaid plate was missing). Translation by A. H. A. Duperron (1758):

“The history of the founding of the town of Cranganore when Pattanam was the City, (he) visited, revered and requested the Emperor and the Minister at Kolla Kodungalloor for a marsh where thickets grow. Measured by Anakol (elephant kol) 4,444 kols of land was granted in the year of the Jupiter in Kubham, on the 29th of Makaram, 31 the Saturday, Rohini and Saptami (7th day of the moon),' the palace, great temple and school at Irinjalakuda also were founded. The same day that place was called Makothevar pattanam (the town of the Great God), and it was made the city (capital). From there privileges such as drawbridge at gates, ornamented arches, mounted horse with two drums, cheers, conch blowing, salutes were granted in writing to the Christian foreigner called Kynai Thomma with sacred threat and libation of water and flower. The sun and the moon are witnesses to this. Written to the kings of all times.”

Re-engraved plates

Some recent studies suggest that the original text of the Thomas of Cana plates once might have been part of the Quilon plates collection. Scholar

István Perczel István Perczel (; born 1957) is a Hungarian scholar of Byzantine history and early Christianity and a hyperpolyglot. He is a professor at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. He holds a doctorate from the Hungarian Academy of Sci ...

theorizes that at one time the Quilon plates and the Thomas of Cana plates, or parts of them, were re-engraved together (and thus the text of both grants were present on a single set of plates).

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * *

Summarised prescription

Witnesses to grant

Mention of Thomas of Cana

Re-engraved plates

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading