In recent times, an alarming narrative has emerged within the Malaysian blogosphere, suggesting a historical event that appears to be a misinterpretation or perhaps a deliberate misinformation campaign. The claim revolves around a so called Malay prince named Manabharana from Srivijaya, purportedly attacking and conquering the Chola kingdom. This misleading story has gained traction and is spreading like wildfire across various social media platforms. The need to address and rectify such inaccuracies is crucial not only for the sake of historical accuracy but also for fostering a responsible and informed online community. To delve into the matter, it is essential to clarify that historical records reveal the existence of multiple individuals named Manabharana throughout history. However, a nuanced understanding reveals that all these figures were Tamils (Damila) hailing from the Pandya kingdom, with references to their exploits documented in Tamil inscriptions and Sri Lankan chronicles
Part 3: Tamil Militarism – The Code of Suicide
by
D.
P.
Sivaram
[courtesy:
Lanka
Guardian,
June
1,
1992,
pp.13-15
and
24;
prepared
by
Sachi
Sri
Kantha,
for
the
electronic
record]
"You
are
to
know
that
in
this
land
of
Malabar,
there
is
another
caste
of
people
called
the
Nayres
who
have
no
other
duty
than
to
serve
in
war,
and
they
always
carry
their
arms
wither
so
ever
they
go…they
all
live
with
the
King
and
the
other
great
lords;
nevertheless
all
receive
stipends
from
the
King
or
from
the
great
lords
with
whom
they
dwell.
None
may
become
a
Nayre
save
he
who
is
of
Nayre
lineage.
They
will
not
touch
anyone
of
low
caste…The
most
part
of
these
Nayres
when
they
are
seven
years
of
age
are
sent
to
schools
where
they
are
taught
many
tricks
of
nimbleness
and
dexterity…and
when
they
are
fully
accomplished
in
this
way
they
teach
them
to
play
with
weapons
to
which
they
are
most
inclined.
All
Nayres
are
mighty
warriors."(1)
observes
Duarte
Barbosa
in
his
account
of
the
Zamorin’s
domain
(a
division
of
the
old
Chera
kingdom)
–
one
of
the
earliest
records
made
by
the
Portuguese
within
a
few
years
of
their
entry
into
the
Indian
Ocean.
The
feudal
military
system
described
by
Barbosa
was
common
to
those
parts
of
South
India
known
to
the
Portuguese
as
Malabar.
In
its
southern
and
south
eastern
parts
the
military
castes
were
known
as
Maravar,
Kallar
and
Ahampadiyar;
of
these
the
Kallar
and
Maravar
had
kingship
traditions.
This
feudal
military
system
was
found
in
Jaffna
as
well
when
the
Portuguese
arrived.
The
Palk
Strait
was
known
to
them
as
the
Marava
Bay.
The
Tamil
country
was
divided
into
a
number
of
feudal
domains,
called
Palayams,
which
literally
means
‘military
camps’
(2),
the
chief
of
which
was
the
Palayakarar
–
the
commander
of
the
camp.
Most
of
the
Tamil
Palayakarar
were
Maravar.
Each
maintained
a
body
of
Kallar,
Maravar
and
Ahampadiyar
warriors
who
"served
on
the
battle
field
and
in
times
of
peace
engaged
in
hunting
and
training
in
the
military
arts,
nourishing
a
rugged
and
practical
character",
and
serving
as
village
guards
(kaval)
for
a
contribution
(3).
In
Jaffna
"the
Maravar
had
to
learn
the
art
of
war
from
the
age
of
sixteen
till
they
were
twenty
four
years
of
age;
then
they
had
to
become
village
kaval-karar,
live
on
land
given
by
the
King
and
return
to
military
service
whenever
the
king
required
them
to
do
so."(4)
The
military
system
of
the
Tamil
country
was
yet
a
dream
in
eighteenth
century
Europe;
its
armies
were
in
the
process
of
developing
methods
and
regulations
which
"got
rid
of
the
peasant"
in
the
new
recruit
and
"gave
him
the
air
of
a
soldier."
J.Servan,
an
18th
century
French
military
theoretician
wrote
a
treatise
on
the
‘soldier
citizen’
(1780).
He
"dreamt
of
a
military
machine
that
would
cover
the
whole
territory
of
the
nation
and
in
which
each
individual
would
be
occupied
without
interruption,
but
in
a
different
way
according
to
the
evolutive
segment,
the
genetic
sequence
in
which
he
finds
himself.
Military
life
would
begin
in
childhood,
when
young
children
would
be
taught
the
profession
of
arms
in
military
manors;
it
would
end
in
these
same
manors
when
the
veterans
right
up
to
their
last
day
would
teach
the
children,
exercise
the
recruits,
preside
over
the
soldier’s
exercises…and
finally
make
order
resign
in
the
country,
when
troops
were
fighting
at
the
frontiers."(9)
The
ideal
Palayam
was
Servan’s
military
machine;
the
Kallar,
Maravar,
Ahampadiyar
and
Nayar
were
its
‘oldest
citizen’.
The
Palayam
was
sustained
by
a
codified
martial
culture.
As
we
shall
see
later
the
practice
of
martial
suicide
was
most
prevalent
in
the
Kongu
region
of
Tamil
Nadu,
which
had
a
very
large
number
of
Palayams.
Early
Europeans
who
studied
the
military
system
of
the
Tamil
country
were
inclined
to
read
therein,
some
of
the
ideals
embodied
in
the
celebrated
regulations
of
the
Prussian
infantry
that
the
whole
of
Europe
imitated
after
the
victories
of
Frederick
II.
The
18th
century
British
military
historian
Robert
Orme’s
description
of
the
military
castes
of
the
Tamil
country
is
typical.
He
says, "They
are
tall,
well
made
and
well
featured.
Their
arms
are
lances
and
pikes,
bows
and
arrows,
rockets
and
matchlocks,
but
whether
with
or
without
other
weapons
every
man
constantly
wears
a
sword
and
shield.
In
battle
the
different
arms
move
in
distinct
bodies,
but
the
lancemen
are
rated
the
most
eminent,
and
lead
all
attacks.
This
weapon
is
eighteen
feet
long.
They
tie
under
the
point
a
tuft
of
scarlet
horse
hair,
and
when
they
attack
horse,
add
a
small
bell.
Without
previous
exercise,
they
assemble
in
a
deep
column,
pressing
close
together
and
advance
at
a
long
steady
step,
in
some
degree
of
time,
their
lances
inclining
forward
but
aloft,
of
which
the
elasticity
and
vibration,
with
the
jingle
and
dazzle
scare,
the
cavalry;
and
their
approach
is
scarcely
less
formidable
to
infantry
not
disciplined
with
firearms."(6)
The
boomerang
-
or
Valai
Thadi
in
Tamil
–
was
another
weapon
that
"played
a
considerable
part
in
the
Poligar
(Palayakarar)
ars".
The
Kallan
and
Maravan
warriors
plied
it
with
deadly
effect
and
"could
at
one
stroke
dispatch
small
game
and
even
man."(7).
Like
the
Japanese
Bakuhan
system,
the
Palayam
system
was
based
on
a
feudal
class
structure
of
warriors,
farmers,
artisans
and
merchants
where
the
distinctions
between
the
caste
statuses
of
the
constitutent
classes
were
strictly
enforced.
To
symbolize
this
society,
the
Tamil
warriors,
like
the
Japanese
samurai,
wore
swords
in
everyday
life
because
the
system
was
maintained
by
their
military
power.
Mr.
Lushington
who
was
sent
as
Collector
to
Palayakarar
(Poligar)
country
in
1799,
desirous
of
wresting
control
of
the
vast
revenues
of
the
land,
described
the
Palayam
(Pollam)
system
of
Tamil
feudal
militarism
as
extremely
evil.
"When
this
contribution
(Kaval
dues)
is
not
quietly
submitted
to,
torture
and
the
whip
are
applied,
the
whole
people
of
the
village
put
into
confinement,
every
occupation
interdicted,
the
cattle
pounded,
the
inhabitants
taken
captive
to,
and
not
unfrequently
murdered
in,
the
Pollams…and
such
is
the
dread
which
they
have
inspired
into
the
cultivators
of
the
circar
lands
by
remaining
armed
in
the
midst
of
a
country
otherwise
in
profound
peace,
that
these
requisitions
are
never
resisted."(7)
A
fierce
and
ancient
martial
culture
and
religion
was
nurtured
by
the
military
castes.
As
in
the
other
martial
regions
of
India,
traditional
militarism
permeated
several
levels
of
society.
Therefore,
despite
the
great
temple
centres,
the
heroes
and
godlings
of
Tamil
martial
culture
were
worshipped
widely
throughout
rural
Tamilnadu.
In
Japan,
the
Samurai
nurtured
the
values
of
kyuba-no-michi
(the
way
of
the
bow
and
horse).
In
the
Tamil
country,
Maram
was
the
martial
ethos
of
the
warrior
castes.
There
are
three
characteristics
of
Tamil
feudal
militarism
which
set
it
apart
from
other
pre-modern
military
cultures.
They
are,
(a) the detailed codification of the modes of war, the warriors’ martial life and rituals etc.; known as Purath thinai.
(b) the rejection of divine participation and perfidy sanctioned by religion in the conduct of war. The great medieval Tamil commentator Naccinarkiniyar says that norms which sanction "killing through perfidy and by virtue of divine powers given by gods" are to be disregarded and that modes of war involving gods are to be rejected and refuted as modes not belonging to the Tamil speaking good world."(8)
(c) the classification of war with flowers; and a practice of wearing a particular flower when engaging in the mode of war, denoted by that flower. The author of Ramayana had noted that, "the southerners wore flowers for war."
Codified
Tamil
feudal
militarism
was
nurtured
and
transmitted
as
the
Purath
thinai
division
of
high
Tamil
Senthamizh
poetics
and
grammar.
Tolkappiyam,
the
earliest
Tamil
grammar,
the
Buddhist
grammatical
treatise
Veerasoliyam,
the
saivite
Ilakkana
Villakam
(17th
century)
and
Swaminatham,
written
in
early
part
of
the
last
[i.e.,
19th]
century
are
works
which
contain
treatises
in
which
Tamil
martial
culture
is
codified
and
annotated.
The
perfecton
and
codification
of
Tamil
martial
culture
through
the
ages
was
paralelled
by
the
thematization
of
several
narratives
of
military
gloty
in
Tamil
culture
through
epics,
inscriptions,
minor
forms
of
poetry
etc.
An
observation
is
made
in
the
British
Indian
army’s
recruitment
handbook
on
the
Sikhs
that,
"all
sikh
traditions
whether
national
or
religious
are
martial;
in
times
of
political
excitement
the
martial
spirit
reasserts
itself."(9)
The
culture
and
class
interests
of
Japanese
feudal
militarism
which
survived
the
Meiji
restoration
partly
impelled
and
characterized
Japan’s
militarist
nationalism
and
its
growth
as
a
modern
military
power.
Similarly
it
can
be
said
that
the
culture
and
structures
of
codified
‘high
Tamil’
and
folk
forms
of
Tamil
feudal
militarism
partly
impelled
and
characterized
Tamil
nationalism
when
it
became
militant.
Therefore
two
aspects
of
Tamil
feudal
militarism
which
has
been
reasserted
in
Tamil
revivalism
and
militarism
will
be
briefly
examined
here.
They
are,
(a) narratives of Tamil military might, thematized in Tamil culture. The most important of these can be reduced to the basic form – Tamil King defeats the Aryans of north India and causes his emblem to be carved on the Himalayas. The Pandyan king Neduncheliyan bore the title ‘He who overran the Aryan army’. All three Tamil dynasties – Chera, Chola and Pandya – are distinguished by this feat in a wide range of texts and inscriptions. These narratives, like the kamikaze – divine wind – legend of Japan’s war with Mongols, have played an important role in the growth of Tamil nationalism.(b) Codified practices of Tamil martial life.
1. Moothinmullai: the duty of the warrior mother to inculcate the martial ethos and to urge her sons to attain martyrdom in heroic battle. The concept of the warrior mother’s duty was central to the genesis of Tamil militarism and later in militant Tamil nationalism. It is a salient theme in LTTE’s current literature as well.2. Avippali, Thannai, Verttal, Vallan pakkam, Pun Kilithu Mudiyum Maram and Marakkanchi: the forms of martial suicide and suicidal battle of the warrior as the ultimate expression of his loyalty to his commander. These six forms of martial suicide are defined as described by the works referred to above.
Pulla
Vazhkai
Vallan
Pakkam
–
the
martial
attitude
of
the
warrior
who
goes
forth
into
suicidal
battle
is
mentioned
by
Tholkappiyam.
The
other
works
refer
to
it
as
Thannai
Verttal.
Duarte
Barbosa
describes
the
practice
among
the
Nayar
(of
the
Chera
kingdom).
It
was
later
noticed
by
British
officials
as
well.
It
was
also
prevalent
among
the
Maravar
(of
the
Pandya
kingdom)
from
whom
the
suicidal
Aapathuthavi
bodyguard
was
selected.
Thannai
Verttal
also
refers
to
the
suicide
of
a
warrior
on
hearing
that
his
king
or
commander
has
died
(Purapporul
Venpa
Malai).
Punkilithu
Mudiym
Maram
is
the
martial
act
of
a
warrior
who
commits
suicide
by
tearing
apart
his
battle
wound.
Another
form
of
martial
suicide
mentioned
by
all
the
works
except
Veera
soliyam,
is
Avippali.
Tamil
inscriptions
speak
of
it
as
Navakandam.
Inscriptions
found
in
many
parts
of
Tamilnadu
provide
greater
information
on
the
practice.
Navakandam
is
the
act
of
a
warrior
who
slices
his
own
neck
to
fulfil
the
vow
made
to
korravai
–
the
Tamil
goddess
of
war
–
for
his
commanders’
victory
in
battle.
The
Kalingathu
Parani(10)
–
a
work
which
celebrates
the
victory
of
the
Chola
king
Kulotunga
and
his
general
Thondaman
in
the
battle
for
Kalinga,
describes
the
practice
in
detail.
"The
temple
of
korravai
is
decorated
with
lotus
flowers
which
bloomed
when
the
warriors
sliced
their
own
necks"(106);
"they
slice
the
base
of
their
necks;
the
severed
heads
are
given
to
the
goddess"(111);
"when
the
neck
is
sliced
and
the
head
is
severed,
the
headless
body
jumps
with
joy
for
having
fulfilled
the
vow"(113).
The
epics
of
Chilapadikaram
(5:
79-86)
and
Manimekalai
(6:
50-51)
mention
the
practice.
To
ensure
the
complete
severing
of
the
head,
the
warrior
tied
his
hair
to
a
bamboo
bent
taut
before
he
cut
his
neck.
Hero
stones
depicting
this
practice
are
found
all
over
Tamil
Nadu,
and
are
called
Saavan
Kallu
by
locals.
The
warriors
who
thus
committed
suicide
were
not
only
deified
in
hero
stones
(saavan
kallu)
and
worshipped
but
their
relatives
were
given
lands
which
were
exempted
from
tax(11).
An
area
handbook
(Tharamangalam)
of
the
Tamilnadu
archeology
department
notes
that
"the
Nava
Kandam
sculpture
which
is
found
widely
all
over
Kongu
Nadu
(Coimbatore,
Salem)
is
to
be
seen
at
the
Tharamangalam
Kailasanathar
kovil
also.
The
people
call
it
Saavan
Kallu.
"The
practice
of
Nava
Kandam
existed
in
Kongu
Nadu
till
the
early
part
of
this
[i.e.,
20th]
century."(12)
A
Saavan
Kallu
at
Thenkarai
Moolanatha
sami
Kovil
in
Madurai,
depicting
the
act
of
a
warrior
holding
his
hair
with
his
left
hand
and
slicing
his
neck
with
his
right
–
14th
century
–
is
said
to
be
annually
worshipped
by
the
Conjeevaram
Mudaliyars.(13)
The
Conjeevaram
Mudaliyars
are
Kaikolar,
a
weaving
caste
which
was
militarized
under
the
Chola
empire
and
was
made
into
a
special
military
body;
there
are
indications
that
Kaikolar
warriors
practiced
Nava
Kandam(14).
The
founder
of
the
DMK,
C.N.Annadurai
was
a
Conjeevaram (Kancheepuram) Mudaliyar,
of
the Kaikolar
caste.
Apart
from
these
codified
forms
of
martial
suicide,
a
method
called
Vadakkiruththal
is
mentioned
in
Tamil
heroic
poetry.
It
is
the
act
of
a
warrior
king
fasting
to
death,
if
some
dire
dishonour
were
to
come
upon
him(15).
The
Tamil
teacher,
and
the
Dravidian
propagandist,
turned
the
song
of
the
legendary
Chera
king
Irumborai
who
committed
suicide
when
he
was
taken
captive
by
his
enemies
into
a
compelling
theme
in
Tamil
renaissance.
The
Avippali
form
of
martial
suicide
as
the
ultimate
expression
of
loyalty
to
one’s
commander,
is
deeply
embedded
in
the
Tamil
psyche.
Senchorru-kadan
(the
debt
of
red
rice)
is
a
phrase
that
is
widely
used
today
by
Tamils
as
an
expression
of
loyalty.
One
frequently
hears
of
it
in
a
popular
Tamil
song.
The
phrase
sands
for
the
ritual
of
partaking
of
rice
by
which
Maravar
and
other
Tamil
military
caste
warriors
bound
themselves
to
their
king
or
commander
to
die
in
suicidal
battle
for
him,
or
to
commit
suicide
on
the
day
he
was
slain.
Of
Avippali,
the
Puraporul
Venba
Malai
([verse]
92)
says,
"thinking
of
nothing
but
the
red
(blood)
rice
the
Maravar
give
their
life
as
offering
in
battle."
The
ritual
of
red
or
blood
rice
was
described
by
two
Muslim
travellers
who
had
visited
the
Tamil
country
in
the
9th
century.
"A
quantity
of
cooked
rice
was
spread
before
the
king,
and
some
three
or
four
hundred
persons
came
of
their
own
accord
and
received
each
a
small
quantity
of
rice
from
the
king’s
own
hands,
after
he
himself
had
eaten
some.
By
eating
of
this
rice,
they
all
engage
themselves
to
burn
themselves
on
the
day
the
king
dies
or
is
slain;
and
they
punctually
fulfill
their
promise."(16)
In
modern
times
it
has
been
observed
that
"when
a
Maravar
takes
food
in
the
house
of
a
stranger,
he
will
take
a
pinch
of
earth
and
put
it
on
the
food
before
he
commences
his
meal."(17)
This
act
freed
him
from
the
debt
of
blood
rice.
Foot
Notes
(1)
The
Book
of
Duarte
Barbosa,
1518;
first
published
1812
English
translation
by
Mansel
Longworth
Dames,
1921
Hakluyt
Society,
1866;
reproduced
by
Asian
Educational
Services,
New
Delhi,
1989,
vol.II,
pp.38-40.
(2)
R.P.Sethupillai,
1946:
Thamilaham-
Oorum
Perum,
Palaniyappa
Bros,
Madras,
p.76.
(3)
Robert
Caldwell,
1881:
History
of
Tinnevely,
reproduced
by
Asian
Educational
Services,
New
Delhi,
1989,
p.104.
(4) A. Mootootamby Pillai, 1912: Jaffna History, Navalar Press, Jaffna, p.104.
(5)
Michel
Foucault,
1991:
Discipline
and
Punish,
Penguin
Books,
translation
Alan
Sheridan,
pp.135,
165.
(6)
Quoted
in
R.Caldwell,
op.cit.
p.103.
(7)
Thurston,
op.cit.
vol.III,
p.71.
(8)
Tholkappiyam
Porulathikaram,
Naccinarkiniyar’s
commentary
on
verse
No.68
&
90.
(9)
Maj.A.E.Barstow,
1928:
Sikhs,
Handbook
for
the
Indian
Army,
Calcutta
Central
Publications
Branch,
p.40.
(10)
Parani
–
"A
poem
about
a
hero
who
destroyed
1000
elephants
in
war",
Tamil
Lexicon,
vol.IV.
(11)
South
Indian
Inscriptions,
1943:
Madras,
vol.XII,
no.106.
(12)
R.Poonkunran,
1979:
Tharamangalam,
publication
No.58.
Tamilnadu
Dept.of
Archaeology,
no
pagination.
"Kongunadu
was
well
known
for
its
palayams",
R.P.Sethupillai,
op.cit,
p.76.
(13)
M.Chandramoorthy:
‘Kalvettu’
Quarterly
of
the
Tamilnadu
Dept.of
Archaeology,
no.8,
January
1975,
pp.21-22.
(14)
South
Indian
Inscriptions
1967;
vol.XIX,
no.3.
(15)
Purananooru;
[verse]
212-223.
Kopperun-Cholan
who
thus
committed
suicide
was
apotheosized.
K.P.Aravanan
examines
this
practice
in
relation
to
the
‘Sallehana’
form
of
fasting
unto
death
among
Jain
saints:
The
Other
side
of
Tamils,
1989;
Paari
Nilayam,
Madras.
Cheraman
Peruncheralathan
committed
suicide
thus
when
he
accidentally
received
a
wound
on
his
back
in
battle
which
was
considered
a
great
dishonour
to
a
warrior
(Purananooru:
[verse]
65).
(16)
Thurston,
op.cit.,
vol.V,
p.287.
(17)
Thurston,
op.cit.,
vol.V,
p.32.
Note:
Swaminatham
was
first
published
in
full
in
1975,
by
S.V.Shanmugam,
Annamalai
University,
based
on
a
manuscript
found
in
the
British
Museum
library.
It
refers
to
Avippali
as
Poar
Avikkoduthal,
verse
141,
p.233.
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