Latest news with #Zamorin
The Hindu
2 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Ancient inscription sheds light on Zamorin's obscure past
Archaeologists have discovered a stone inscription bearing the name of Manavikraman, one of the earliest Zamorins of Kozhikode, at a temple at Avala near Perambra in Kozhikode district. The inscription, according to historians and epistemologists who deciphered it, sheds new light on the early history of the Zamorins, specifically during the 12th or 13th century, a period that has remained somewhat obscure until now. The inscription in Vattezhuthu was found on the 'Balikkallu' (sacred stone) of Kuttoth Sree Narasimha Moorthi Temple at Avala. Vattezhuthu is an ancient script used in Kerala, particularly during the medieval period. 'This find is highly significant,' said K. Krishnaraj, archaeologist in charge of the Pazhassi Raja Archaeological Museum, Kozhikode. 'It is one of the earliest records of the Zamorin and the second inscription to reference Manavikraman.' The earliest known inscription referencing Manavikraman was found at the Rameswaram temple in Kollam, dated 1102 CE. According to historian MGS Narayanan, that inscription reads 'Eranadu Vazhkai Manavikramanana Poonthuraikon,' which translates to 'the illustrious Poonthuraikon of Eranadu, a renowned conqueror.' The three-line inscription at Avala begins with 'Swasti Shri' (Hail Prosperity) and documents the temple's construction. It reveals that the ancient name of Avala was Akavala. The inscription credits the construction of the temple to the Adhikarar of Akavala and his younger brother, a Keezhpadai Nair in the service of Manavikraman. 'It is possibly an assistant commandant in the Zamorin's militia,' said Mr. Krishnaraj, who deciphered the inscription with the help of veteran epigraphist M.R. Raghava Varier. Another inscription discovered in the temple compound documents a temple donation. However, Dr. Varier said that much of it had been worn away due to exposure to the elements. Palaeography dates the inscription to the 12th or 13th century CE. V.V. Haridas, professor of history at Calicut University, pointed out that the Avala inscription was particularly significant as it refers to Manavikraman as a king, and it indicated the expansion of the Zamorin rule to the north as early as the 13th century. 'Inscriptions pertaining to the Zamorin are extremely rare in the medieval period,' said Prof. Haridas. He explained that determining the chronology of the Zamorins in the medieval period was challenging because the rulers repeatedly used only three names: Manavikraman, Manavedan and Veerarajan. Prof. Haridas said that the emergence of the Zamorin of Calicut was shrouded in mystery, except for the traditional account in the Keralolpathi. 'In this context, the Avala inscription is a valuable find that enhances our understanding of the Zamorin's early history,' he said.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
Digital recreation of Portuguese Fort at Chaliyam in final stages
Efforts by the Kozhikode District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) to digitally recreate the Portuguese fort at Chaliyam, which was destroyed by the Zamorin's army in the 16th century, are in their final stages. The Chaliyam Fort holds a special place in the history of erstwhile Calicut under the Zamorins. The Portuguese built the fort at the mouth of the Beypore river around 1530, reportedly with the support of local chieftains opposed to the Calicut kingdom. It was constructed at a strategic location to corner the Zamorin, as the structure was just about 10 km from then Calicut city. The Zamorin's attack on the fort in 1571 followed his alliances with Bijapur Sultan Adil Shah and the Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar for a 'joint enterprise against the Portuguese on the west coast,' writes K.V. Krishna Ayyar in his book Zamorins of Calicut. Official sources said on Sunday (July 27, 2025) that augmented reality (AR) 3D models and software to digitally recreate the Chaliyam Fort for viewers at the beach were ready. 'An interactive signboard will be installed at the site, allowing visitors to access the experience by scanning it with their mobile phones,' they added. 3D model of the fort The AR interface will offer three options— a 3D model of the fort, video descriptions in English and Malayalam detailing its history, and an immersive walkthrough that lets users open the fort's doors using augmented reality. The 3D model was developed by a research team from the State Archaeology Department and Government Arts and Science College, Kozhikode, after examining historical records. Mr. Ayyar, quoting from Zainuddin Makhdoom's Thuhfathul Mujahideen, wrote that it was agreed 'Adil Shah should attack Goa, Nizam Shah should march on Chaul, and the Zamorin should proceed against Chaliyam.' The Zamorin's army, consisting of Nairs and Muslims, bombarded the fort and blocked Portuguese reinforcements. Supplies sent by the Portuguese allies in Cochin and Cannanore were intercepted. Ayyar wrote that the Portuguese were 'compelled to devour dogs.' Soon after, the Portuguese captain surrendered. The Zamorin then demolished the fort, 'leaving not one stone upon another.' The Portuguese efforts to control Malabar ended soon after. The Calicut king later rebuilt the Mishkal Mosque at Kuttichira—earlier torched by the Portuguese—using wooden planks taken from the destroyed Chaliyam Fort.
The Hindu
01-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
It's rejuvenation time for jumbos of Guruvayur Devaswom
The annual rejuvenation therapy for elephants under the Guruvayur Devaswom began at the Punnathur Kotta elephant sanctuary on Tuesday. Revenue Minister K. Rajan formally inaugurated the month-long wellness programme by feeding medicinal rice balls (oushadha chooru) to tuskers Vinayakan and Junior Vishnu. The initiative, aimed at promoting the health and vitality of temple elephants, continues with all elephants receiving similar treatment. The event was presided over by Guruvayur Devaswom chairman Dr. V.K. Vijayan, with MLA N.K. Akbar as the chief guest. 35 Years of Wellness The Guruvayur Devaswom has been conducting this scientific wellness regimen for over 35 years. Though the practice existed during the Zamorin era, it was formally structured into a scientific programme in the 1990s. The therapy includes a specially prepared herbal and nutritional diet, physical exercises, and Ayurvedic treatments tailored to each elephant's specific condition. Blood and dung samples are collected for lab tests to assess liver and kidney function, and pre-therapy purgation medicines are administered. The regimen also involves regular massages and bathing rituals. A team of veterinary experts, including Dr. P.B. Giridas, Dr. T.S. Rajeev, Dr. M.N. Devan Namboothiri, and Dr. K. Vivek, supervise the programme. Veterinary specialists have noted significant health improvements among the elephants following therapy, with visible changes in skin condition and a weight gain of up to 300 kg in some cases. The Guruvayur model is now considered a benchmark in elephant care and wellness, according to devaswom sources . Therapy budget The estimated cost for this year's therapy is ₹12.5 lakh, covering the needs of 36 elephants. Key ingredients include 3,240 kg of rice, 1,080 kg each of green gram and finger millet (ragi), 108 kg each of turmeric powder and Ashtachoornam, 270 kg of Chyavanaprasam, along with minerals and purgative herbal formulations.
New Indian Express
16-05-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Kondotty Nercha: A festival of harmony amid attempts to divide
MALAPPURAM: 'It's our festival and we celebrate it together.' The words by Ramesan, a resident of Kondotty, aptly sum up the feelings that people of the town in Malappuram attach to Kondotty Nercha. Celebrated in the memory of the late Sufi saint Muhammad Shah, the first Kondotty Thangal, Kondotty Nercha is a festival in which people of all faiths take part. The celebrations, centred around Shah's Mughal-style tomb (Qubba), are returning after a 14-year gap caused by a family dispute over the sthananeeyan (spiritual head). For the residents, its timing could not have been better what with efforts being made from various quarters to create division in society. For them, the Nercha is not just a ritual, but also an agricultural festival with ceremonies held in the fields after harvest, and sale of crops carried out during the week-long celebrations. Moreover, the Nercha is also a confluence of various art forms, such as pooram kali, chavittukali, cheenimuttu and the like. 'In the past, this was also a market for residents to buy household items. In our childhood, our parents would buy things like knives, mats and other items from this market,' said Abdurahman, another Kondotty resident. The Nercha officially commences with the hoisting of a white flag in the town. Later, cannons kept in the AR camp nearby are brought to the Nercha field. The story goes that around 200 years ago, the then local kings, with the support of the Zamorin, fought Muhammad Shah. After losing the war, the Zamorin lost the cannons. These later became part of the Nercha.
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
A profound shift in the global order
India is at another inflexion point, reminiscent of Vasco De Gama sailing into Kozhikode in 1498 and of a complacent Zamorin lacking strategic intention. Instead of trade routes, global value chains are being reshaped by force. The stakes are high for India which is in line to be the third largest economy. The 75-year-old post-colonial order, labelled as globalisation, characterised multilateralism imposing rule-based restrictions on all for the common good. Its conceptual foundation of a world divided between 'donors' and 'recipients' became obsolete with China 'overtaking' the United States as the largest donor, and in the share of manufacturing and global trade. The World Trade Organization and the United Nations and Treaties lost their utility to the proponents, leading to U.S. withdrawals. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the G-7 scrambling to corner medicines, oblivious of the plight of others. Now, the G-7 is splitting leaving a vacuum and global institutions such as BRICS will soon have more requests for membership. U.S. President Donald Trump is not whimsical. He is responding to a more equal world moving out of the colonial frame that is attempting to hold on to fading benefits. Bilateral deals are forcing countries to subordinate their interests and the way tariffs have been described and defined arbitrarily based on trade imbalance intrudes into how national laws should be changed. Least Developed Countries no longer have privileges. The U.S. is restructuring its approach to prosperity and power and so should the others. A post-WTO frame The 'breakup' of the G-7 and G-20 now leaves global agenda-setting open. Since 2020, the U.S., China, the European Union and India have together contributed nearly three-quarters of all growth, with the U.S. and China accounting for almost half. There is also a decline in the relative power of the U.S. Russia has become an Asian power, increasing energy links with China and India. Asia will soon again have two-thirds of global wealth and power (as had been the case throughout civilisation except for the age of colonialism). Geopolitics has returned to its natural state of co-existence sharing prosperity. India has to be strategic to grasp new opportunities with the 'dismantling' of the WTO just as China used its entry into the WTO for its rise. The U.S. and China are pretty much evenly balanced in terms of influence, trade, technology, defensive military capacity and playing tit-for-tat on tariff levels. The challenge is to manage trade relations with the U.S. pushing its agricultural and energy surplus and to build on the rapprochement with China. The future direction has been set in the recent statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that this is the Asian Century. The turmoil within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an opportunity to jointly work towards an Asian common market, with bilateral concessions to share prosperity. As the WTO's 'most-favoured nation' clause of non-discrimination withers away, it is in India's longer term interest to propose a new cooperative architecture to ASEAN and the African Union, as their potential consumption will exceed current consumption in the U.S. and Europe. India's world-class diplomats should be given the task of coming up with a new type of principles of global governance for a more equal world. Gaining from global value chains that are dependent more on technology than on tariffs requires laying out a new type of rules that reduce non-tariff barriers and treat linkages between goods, services, investment and infrastructure as part of composite agreements, with a review of national impacts annually. Trade and innovation neglected Emerging from colonialism, India framed foreign policy in terms of a balancing between the great powers, relying on tactics than on strategy. The first challenge to the post-colonial world was the Bandung Conference of newly independent Asian and African countries in 1955. Jawaharlal Nehru moved to the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, shifting from economic development to peace in a divided world, becoming a darling of the West while India remained poor. The best diplomats are still sent to negotiate resolutions in the United Nations, ignoring rights and opportunities through trade. India also ignored what other leading powers were doing — technological innovation in partnership with academia and industry, which is the other side of the coin of trade. Now is the time for hard decisions to be taken to develop a national consensus between political parties and States on how to nurture talent and focus on skills and employment in order to regain our technological edge, wealth and global status. The West developed on the foundation of colonialism unlike the East. New policy groups need to engage and seek complementarity with China, ASEAN and Africa as value chains get restructured. There will no longer be global goods and treaties to which others can subscribe; the smaller countries that have been hit hardest by the new order are looking for an alternative to choosing sides India has the endogenous capacity to aim for global technological leadership by developing open source software that will shape future multilateralism and international cooperation. Huawei, which was sanctioned by the U.S. for spreading telecommunication networks worldwide, is manufacturing 7-nanometer (7nm) chips just behind global technology leaders. The DeepSeek open source AI model is cheaper than and as good as the best in the U.S.. Fifteen years ago, a World Bank study noted that China has reached global scale in the hardware industry but not in software. India had achieved the reverse, then faltered. Lesson from China The most important lesson in China's re-emergence is national consensus on endogenous pathways to achieve prosperity, and not looking at socio-economic growth through the modelling prism of the West. Patents are a better indicator of future prosperity than GDP. Reducing the price of assured electricity is the most effective incentive for a restructuring of the economy, and prosperity is the optimum adaptation to adverse effects of climate change. India needs to formulate grand challenges with academia and industry to leverage its world-class human talent, vast data and proven digital stack to build the best large language models in the world, which would make India a formidable cyber power. In the digital world, the foundation of wealth and influence is AI, which is reminiscent of India clothing the world for millennia relying on skill and not monopoly. Mukul Sanwal is a former UN diplomat
