Legend of Cheraman Perumals

The legend of Cheraman Perumals is the medieval tradition associated with the Cheraman Perumals (Chera kings) of Kerala. The sources of the legend include popular oral traditions and later literary compositions. The time of origin of the legend is not known to scholars. It seems the legend once had a common source well known to all Kerala people.

The validity of the legend as a source of history once generated much debate among south Indian historians. The legend is now considered as “an expression of the historical consciousness rather than as a source of history”. The legend of the Cheraman Perumals exercised significant political influence in Kerala over the centuries. The legend was used by Kerala chiefdoms for the legitimation of their rule (most of the major chiefly houses in medieval Kerala traced its origin back to the legendary allocation by the Perumal).

Popular written versions of the legend are infamous for inconsistencies and contradictions (in names of the kings and dates). Even the dates of their compositions are problematic. The Cheraman Perumals mentioned in the legend can be identified with the Chera Perumal rulers of medieval Kerala (c. 8th – 12th century AD).

The ghost of the Perumal haunted the land in many ways…Each of the large number of principalities that came into existence on the ruins of the Chera kingdom claimed to be not only a splinter of the old kingdom but also deriving its authority from the donation of the last Cheraman Perumal…Many of these rulers also claimed to step into the shoes of the Perumal in claiming to be the overlord of Kerala. Thus the ruler of Venad or the Zamorin or the raja of Cochin staked this claim in various ways…

— Veluthat Kesavan (historian), History and Historiography in Constituting a Region: The Case of Kerala (2018)

Sources of the legend

Different written versions of the legend can be found in several literary sources. Most versions contain interpolations and omissions in favour of some special interests and communities (religions and castes).

Major themes

The Cheraman Perumals were the kings of Kerala/Chera kingdom. The first Cheraman Perumal was “brought” from a country east of the Ghats to Kerala by Nambudiri Brahmins (four select Brahmin settlements were empowered to choose a khastriya king). Sister of the last Cheraman Perumal was married to Brahmin and it was decided that the son/daughter would be a Kshatriya (and the successor to the throne). The Brahmins arranged that each Perumal should rule for twelve years.

Cheraman Perumals

The Cheraman Perumals of the legend are generally associated with the establishment the Kollam Era (Malayalam Era), inauguration of the Onam Festival, introduction of the matrilineal system of inheritance in Kerala, settlement of different castes in Kerala, and foundation several temples, churches and mosques in Kerala.

The following is a list of Cheraman Perumals found in the tradition.

Cheraman Perumal	Original home of the Perumal	Date (AD)	Residence
Keya/Kerala Perumal	Keya/Keralapuram	216-225	Kodungallur
Choya/Chola Perumal	Choya/Chola Mandalam	225-236	Kodungallur
Pandi Perumal	Pandi Mandalam	236-245	Kodungallur
Bhutarayar Pandi Perumal	N/A	245-257	Kodungallur
Keralan	Choya Mandalam	257-269	Trikkata Matilaka
Pandyan or Chennar	Pandya country	269-281	N/A
Choyiyan	Choya country	281-293	N/A
Bana Perumal	Banapuram	293-297	Kodungallur
Tulubhan Perumal	Northern country	297-303	Kotiswaram
Indra Perumal	N/A	303-315	Kodungallur
Arya Perumal	Aryapuram	315-327	N/A
Kannan Perumal	Eastern country	327-339	Kuntivaka
Kotti Perumal	N/A	339-340	Kottikkollam
Mata Perumal		340-352	N/A
Eli Perumal		352-364	Matayiel
Komban Perumal		364-368	N/A
Vijayan Perumal		368-80	Vijayankollam
Valabhan Perumal		380-391	Valarbhattukotta
Harischandra Perumal		391-403	Purali
Mallan Perumal		403-412	Nallurmallan
Kulasekhara Perumal		412-430	N/A

The last Cheraman Perumal

Rayar, the overlord of the Cheraman Perumal (Kulasekharan) in a country east of the Ghats, invaded Kerala during the rule of the last Perumal. To drive back the invading forces the Perumal summoned the militia of his chieftains (like Udaya Varman Kolathiri and Manichchan and Vikkiran of Eranad). The Cheraman Perumal was assured by the Eradis that they would take a fort established by the Rayar. The battle lasted for three days and the Rayar eventually evacuated his fort (and it was seized by the Perumal’s troops).

The last Cheraman Perumal divided the Kerala or Chera kingdom among his chieftains (kingsfolk) and disappeared mysteriously. The Kerala people never more heard any tidings of him. The Eradis, or the later kings of Calicut, who were left out in the cold during the allocation of the land, was granted the Cheraman Perumal’s sword (with the permission to “die, and kill, and seize”).

The story of Tajuddeen

According to the Cheraman Juma Mosque and various narratives: “Once a Cheraman Perumal probably named Ravi Varma was walking with his queen in the palace, when he witnessed the splitting of the moon. Shocked by this, he asked his astronomers to note down the exact time of the splitting. Then, when some Arab merchants visited his palace, he asked them about this incident. Their answers led the King to Mecca, where he met Islamic prophet Muhammad and converted to Islam. Muhammad named him Tajuddin or Thajuddin or Thiya-aj-Addan meaning “crown of faith”. The king then wrote letters to his kingdom to accept Islam and follow the teachings of Malik bin Deenar. Al-Tabari of the 9th century in his Firdousul Hikma and Ferishta in his Tarikh Ferishta agree with this.

This story is found in a Muslim account recorded by Sheikh Zeinuddin as well as in the Brahminical narrative, Keralolpathi. The story has been retold countless times by the Portuguese, Dutch; the court chronicles of Calicut and Cochin begin with this narrative. According to the Legend of Cheraman Perumals, the first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at Kodungallur with the mandate of the last the ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of Chera dynasty, who left from Dharmadom to Mecca and converted to Islam during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632). According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayani, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in Indian Subcontinent.

But Sadasivan, in his book A Social History of India, argue that it was the king of Maldives, Kalimanja, who converted to Islam. Mali, which was known to seafarers then, might have been misunderstood as Malabar (Kerala) and this might have given rise to the tale of Tajuddeen in the Cochin Gazetteer.