Chekavar (Also known as Chekon or Chevakar, Cekavar) were the warriors belonging to Hindu Thiyya community in Malabar of Kerala. [1] [2] [3] Many Thiyya families today trace their roots to this Chekavar lineage. [4]
Chekavar (Also known as Chekon or Chevakar, Cekavar) were the warriors belonging to Hindu Thiyya community in Malabar of Kerala. [1] [2] [3] Many Thiyya families today trace their roots to this Chekavar lineage. [4]
Exceptionally talented Thiyya practitioners of Kalaripayattu were known as title chekavar or chekon, and each local ruler had his own militia of chekons. The chekons were lined up for combats and duels, representing the rulers in disputes. In short, they were warriors who fought and died for the empire in wars, protecting the country and it's people's life. Chekavar formed the army of the Chera Empire.Some of the Chekavar families migrated from Malabar to Southern parts of Kerala at the invitation of kings, to train soldiers and lead war. [5] [6]
Some of these heroes are remembered and worshipped even today through folk songs like Vadakkan Pattukal; for example, the 19th century Kuroolli Chekon who fought against the British is remembered through folk songs while the Sangam age hero Akathooty Chekavar, Commander-in-chief of the Chera army, was adopted into Theyyam forms and is worshipped as a war deity today. [7] [8]
Chekavar is derived from the Sanskrit words Sevakar, Sevakan or Sevaka, which mean soldiers in service or soldiers in royal service. [9] [10]
Hero stones found in Kerala depict Chekavar engaged in combat, often on behalf of a lord. On the stones, Chekavar are generally depicted by an image of an armed man along with a Shiva Linga.[ citation needed ]
The Malabar chekavars was a warriors. [11] [12] that inhabited present day Malabar and Tulu Nadu. [13] They had their own style of martial arts, although it was influenced by the martial arts of the Chera Empire. [14] [15]
Jacob Canter Visscher's Letters from Malabar says: 'They may be justly entitled soldiers, as by virtue of their descent they must always bear arms. In spite of the fact that Thiyyas were also practitioners of payatt and had a unavoidable presence in the militia of the ruler, they were allowed in the military services.' [5]
Hendrik van Rheede, governor of Dutch Malabar between 1669 and 1676, wrote about Chekavar in Hortus Malabaricus : "[Chekavas] are bound to war and arms. The Chekavars usually serve to teach nayros (nair) in the fencing in kalari school". [16]
According to Indudara Menon, "The songs of the Vatakkan pattu (northern ballads) are about a clan of martial Chekavars who were Thiyyas and masters of the martial arts". [17] According to David Levinson, "The Chekavar families played an important role in the practice of Kalaripayattu in the Malabar District". [18]
According to historian A. Sreedhara Menon:
Northern songs are represented in Malabar where the Unniyarcha and Aromal Chekavars of the Puthuram Veettil house are an important Thiyyar family known for their martial arts. The area of their activities comprised the medieval principalities of Kolathunad, Kadathanad and Kottayam. [2]
Kalaripayattu is an Indian martial art that originated in Kerala, a state on the southwestern coast of India during the 11th–12th century CE.
Kodungallur (IPA:[koɖuŋːɐlːuːr]; formerly also called as Cranganore (anglicised name), Portuguese: Cranganor; Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Thrissur district of Kerala, India. It is 36 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kochi (Cochin) by National Highway 66 and 38 km (24 mi) from Thrissur. Kodungallur, being a port city at the northern end of the Kerala lagoons, was a strategic entry point for the naval fleets to the extensive Kerala backwaters.
Theyyam is a Hindu religious ritual practiced in northern Kerala and some parts of Karnataka. Theyyam is also known as Kaḷiyāṭṭaṁ or Tiṟa. Theyyam consists of traditions, rituals and customs associated with temples and sacred groves of Malabar. The people of the region consider Theyyam itself as a channel to a god and they thus seek blessings from Theyyam.
The term Kerala was first epigraphically recorded as Cheras (Keralaputra) in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka of Magadha. It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the Cholas, Pandyas and Satyaputras. The Cheras transformed Kerala into an international trade centre by establishing trade relations across the Arabian Sea with all major Mediterranean and Red Sea ports as well those of Eastern Africa and the Far East. The dominion of Cheras was located in one of the key routes of the ancient Indian Ocean trade. The early Cheras collapsed after repeated attacks from the neighboring Cholas and Rashtrakutas.
Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, credited internationally as A Northern Story of Valor, is a subplot of Vadakkan Pattukal, a medieval ballad from North Malabar and is often regarded as a classic in Malayalam cinema. The film won four National Film Awards including Best Actor (Mammootty), Best Screenplay (Nair), Best Production Design and Best Costume Design and eight Kerala State Film Awards.
Mushika dynasty, also spelled Mushaka, was a minor dynastic power that held sway over the region in and around Mount Ezhi (Ezhimala) in present-day North Malabar, Kerala, India. The country of the Mushikas, ruled by an ancient lineage of the Hehaya clan of the same name, appears in early historic (pre-Pallava) south India and it is believed that Mushika dynasty has their descents from Heheya Kingdom. Early Tamil poems contain several references to the exploits of Nannan of Ezhimalai. Nannan was known as a great enemy of the pre-Pallava Chera chieftains. The clan also had matrimonial alliances with the Chera, Pandya and Chola chieftains. The Kolathunadu (Kannur) Kingdom, which was the descendant of Mushika dynasty, at the peak of its power, reportedly extended from Netravati River (Mangalore) in the north to Korapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with Arabian Sea on the west and Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.
The Ezhavas, also known as Thiyya or Tiyyar in the Malabar region, are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community. The Malabar Ezhava group has claimed a higher rank in the Hindu caste system than the other Ezhava groups but was considered to be of a similar rank by colonial and subsequent administrations.
Unniyarcha is a legendary warrior and heroine from the 16th century, mentioned in the Vadakkan Pattukal, a set of historical ballads from northern Kerala, a state in southwestern India. She was a member of a Thiyyar community family called Puthooram Veed in Kadathanad. Her father's name was Kannappa Chekavar. She is believed to have lived in the northern part of Kerala during the 16th century. She is a popular character in Kerala's folklore and is remembered for her valour and skills in Kerala's native martial art, Kalaripayattu. According to legend, Unniyarcha was mostly known for her deadly skill with the whip-like urumi, a unique type of sword that originates from Kerala. Like most traditional Kalaripayattu practitioners, she began training at the kalari at the age of seven.
Vadakkan Pattukal are a collection of Malayalam ballads from the medieval period. The genre as a whole represents the sentiment of vira, or the heroic, through its depictions of "valour and sacrifice."
Kurooli Chekon, known as Kadathanadan Simham, was a Thiyya warrior who lived in the 19th century in Vadakara (1869–1913), North Malabar, who fought against the oppression by the British Government and Kadathanad Raja. Vaniyakuruvalli Kunji Chekavar, also known as Kurooli Chekon, was a fierce warrior and farmer who fought valiantly against the barbaric culture, cronyism and cruelty of the colonized region of Vadathanara in Kozhikode district about 100 years ago. Apart from caste and religion, Kuruli Chekon, a close friend and adored man of the Thiyyas, Mappilas, Kurichyas, poor Nairs and all other peoples, became the target of the King of Kadathanad and the noble chiefs.
Itty Achudan , was an Indian Herbalist, Botanist and Physician. He belonged to an Ezhava family in Kerala who practised pre-Ayurvedic systems of traditional medicine. The Kollatt family are natives of Kadakkarappally, a coastal village, north-west of Cherthala town, in Kerala, South India. Itty Achudan was the most remarkable Indian figure associated with Hortus Malabaricus, the botanical treatise on the medicinal properties of flora in Malabar, in the 17th-century. It was compiled by the Dutch Governor of Malabar, Hendrik van Rheede, and Itty Achudan was Van Rheede's key informant who disclosed the pre-Ayurvedic traditional knowledge about the plants of Malabar to him. Hortus Malabaricus was published posthumously in Amsterdam between 1678 and 1693. The preface to Hortus Malabaricus includes a mentioning about Itty Achudan and a testimony revealing his contribution in his own hand writing. Itty Achudan was introduced to Van Rheede by Veera Kerala Varma, the then ruler of the erstwhile state of Kochi.
North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala's present day Kasaragod and Kannur districts, Mananthavady taluk of Wayanad district, and the taluks of Vatakara and Koyilandy in the Kozhikode District of Kerala and the entire Mahé Sub-Division of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Traditionally North Malabar has been defined as the northern portion of the erstwhile Malabar District which lies between Chandragiri River and Korapuzha River. The region between Netravathi River and Chandragiri River, which included the portions between Mangalore and Kasaragod, are also often included in the term North Malabar.
Thacholi Chandu was a warrior and a legendary hero who is believed to have lived during 17 th century in North Malabar region of Kerala, India. He belonged to the Thacholi family of Nair community. Chandu was married to Thayattu Madathu Mattu Kutti. He is praised about in Vadakkan Pattukal. He is the nephew of legendary Thacholi Othenan.
Kalari Panicker / Kalari Kurup is an ethnic group belonging to the Hindu religion, who live in the Malabar and central parts of the Indian state of Kerala. They were known as the masters of Kalari tradition, having their Nalpatheeradi Kalari. They are the people who propagated and practiced Kalaripayattu, the martial art form of Kerala. The National Commission of Backward Classes lists Kalari Kurup or Kalari Panicker under the list of OBCs.
Aromal Chekavar was a warrior believed to have lived during the 16th century in the North Malabar region of present-day Kerala, India. He was from the Thiyyar community and a chief of the Puthooram family and was thus also known as Puthooram Veettil Aromal Chekavar. He was the elder brother of Unniyarcha and uncle of Aromalunni, who were also skilled warriors.
Kathivanoor Veeran is a deity worshiped in North Malabar region in Kerala, India. The word 'Veeran' in Malayalam means 'Hero' in English. According to the myths, the Kathivanoor Veeran is apotheosis of Thiyya warrior Mandappan Chekavar. Mandappan's life and his transformation into god are still active in the folklore of Kolathunadu region, and is practiced as theyyam in various temples in present-day Kannur and Kasaragod districts. Kathivanoor Veeran Theyyam is one of the most popular Theyyams in North Malabar. Women of North Malabar region worship Kathivanoor Veeran to get a healthy husband.
Polarthiri was a royal house which ruled part of Calicut before Zamorin around 1200s and later Kadathanadu in South India. Ruled by the Polarthiries, Kadathanadu garnered renown, particularly for its association with the martial art form of Kalaripayattu, a discipline known for producing formidable warriors.
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