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Home , Kappad, Vasco da Gama

Via to the Garden of : Finding the Truth of the Pillar at the Kappad Beach and its Inscription

Parthasarathi P. T.1

1. Department of Islamic History, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, , India (Email: [email protected])

Received: 30July 2017; Revised: 24September 2017; Accepted: 19November 2017 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5 (2017): 479‐485

Abstract: When we think of Kerala history we usually think of Kappad beach and its monument. This monument in our country is connected with landing of Vasco da in AD 1498. It is an established fact that the early Portuguese navigators erected numerous stone pillars in new coastal regions in commemorative of their landing and such pillars that declared their hegemony. It is a historically acknowledged fact that the existing pillar was not constituted by the Portuguese authorities but the British opened this original pillar that held their language which has influenced so many tales across Kerala. As a result of it, historians have varied opinions about the name of the place of Gama’s landing. The pity is that the Kerala historiography tradition either omits the true history of the landing of the Europeans and it is the historians themselves who falsify history to such an extent.

Keywords: Kappad, Spice Garden, , Monument, Pillar, Commerce, Mud‐ banks

Introduction Kappad finds mention in history texts as the gateway to the Kerala Coast; a strip of coastal land along the southwestern coast of the subcontinent, lying between the Western Ghats or Sahyadri Ranges and the Arabian and stretching from Kanyakumari at the tip of India northward for about 360 miles (Robert Eric2003). History stipulated that from time immemorial Kerala was a centre of in and was known as the ‘Spice Garden of India’. Here, the humid air, fertile soil and tropical rain forests nurtures over 500 species of rare medicinal herbs, and in May 1498, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed across and set foot here to begin a new chapter in the history of the world. However, like many other facts in Kerala history, the existing story about Gama’s arrival has also lost its historical value. There is no reason to think that a sea route had been discovered. When Gama waded ashore the sea route had not long been discovered by the Catholic institutions of the . They called it “an important discovery” and said to have been a ‘miracle’ because prior to it the Portuguese had never been indirect connection for so many centuries in a given period of the history of the . Indeed, various waves of people crossed the sea

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and moved down the west coast of Kerala; so far as they knew‐ they were just doing their normal day’s work, as they were making it a visitor’s paradise. For the foreign visitor, Kerala provides one surprise after another. The surprises multiply as one finds Kerala more warmhearted, more fascinating, indeed, more of everything than one had expected. At the same time it was one of those unique places where nearly everybody feels at home immediately. But in recent years the memorial or monument of Gama’s arrival has become a focus of attention among historians of South India, because they believe each monument has, of course, its own history and such histories playa very significant role in the shaping of the existing Kerala history. In that sense, Gama’s landing at Kappad is a subject of overwhelming importance for us. However, the study about the landing of Gama is still in its infancy and its history has given rise to numerous debates amongst historians of Kerala. as a matter of fact, the place, date or even the number of that arrived is yet to be decided amongst specialists ( or scholars). Today a little of the stone monument is left at the Kappad beach or Kappakkadavu; ferry for the ships in the literal sense, to speak of the arrival of the Europeans with the inscription, ʺVasco da Gama landed here, Kappakadavu, in the year 1498ʺ, and eventually propagating the notion that this is where the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama landed on 20 May 1498. It is a baseless argumentation of the early historians who depict the arrival of the Europeans as the harbinger of modernity as well. Yes, the arrival of Gama was a landmark in the history of the world itself and Gama has always been special. However, the historical notes‐ Roteiro‐ obtained later from Alvaro Velho; a diarist or the log book writer of the flag ‐Sao Raphael‐of Gama (Castenheda1824), is a valuable source of information and the period’s authoritative work, which tells with an insight the story of the arrival of Europeans in a different manner. The existing pillar nursed the and it was widely used as symbolic to the landing of Gama. It is five feet high, one square feet wide on the top and two square feet wide at the bottom. It was not the first monument in the area to commemorate the effort of Gama. initially there was a pillar erected by the East Indian Company which was washed away by the sea. Later the Madras Govt. built this pillar in the memory of Vasco da Gama, in 1939 (Sreedhara Menon 1965). This pillar, we believe to be an archaeological object and it is natural for an archaeological object to have tangible links to the real facts. In this sense the story related to the pillar is ahandicapped one and the scholars have not paid proper attention to find out any other archeological remains prior to it. Many believed that there was something special about Kappad beach and many were eager to spread the tale about Kappad amongst people in our country. At the same time all authorities agree that nature has rendered intercourse with Kappad beach and landing at Kappad was exceedingly difficult at that time. This is strange when we consider the historic landing and the prevailing evidence seems to contradict the notion. In that sense this is the story of what history reveals and what history hides.

Voyage through the Known Route There is a most prevalent misconception in the history of the voyage of Gama that they

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reached India through the unknown waters. It is not true. The first part of Gama’s voyage was made along coasts most of which had already been explored and mapped in detail in at that age. In short, Gama’s voyage was entirely with precedent; it really was a venture in to the known. There were Pedro de Alenquer, who had already steered Bartholomew Diaz’s flagship in the discovery of the in May, 1488, and Nicolas Coelho, a close friend of Vasco da Gama and perhaps the best seamen in the fleet (Crone 1972). It would be of great interest to note that when Vasco da Gama sailed to India, another of Bartholomew Diaz’s brother was purser on the flag ship. It is a historically acknowledged fact that their ships had to often halt again and again. They stopped at Sao Thiagio in the archipelago on the 27th July, there took in wood, provisions and water and bade farewell to Bartholomew Diaz, who had accompanied him to show the way. The next halting place was at St. Helena Bay, on the 7th November. On November 18 they sighted the Cape of Good Hope, which they rounded after three attempts. Because the ocean currents flowing west around southern Africa clash with storm waves moving east, building up colossal “rogue waves” up to 20 m. high, such waves may be dangerous (Francesca 2010). The expedition at last succeeded on 22 November (Crone 1972), then sailed closely along the coast east of Africa. Three days later they decided to break journey again and the ships dropped anchor in the Bay of S. Braz; now called Mosal Bay (Madan 1998). They anchored at the estuary of the Limpopo and on the 24th January they halted in the estuary of the Kiliman or Quilimane River (Jayne 1997). The next halting place was reach on 2 March (Edward 2007), and the Sheikh or the ruler of the region received them amicably. Now, very quickly, relations developed between them, and having secured two Arab pilots (Sunjay 1997), they departed from Mozambique and on 7th April they reached the out skirts of . The Portuguese anchored close to the shore, however, owing to a mishap at the entrance of Mombasa the native pilots escaped by jumping overboard (Crone 1972). On 15th August, they cast anchor at the port of Melindi, now situated in on the east coast of Africa. We have seen that the pilots from Mozambique had been lost at Mombasa and the Portuguese thus cast about for other pilots, because Vasco da Gama had a specific task in this voyage, namely to make contact with not a region but a commercial city, that of . So he wanted to find a pilot, Basically, he needed to have the service of someone to advise him of where the fleet lay when landfall was made on the Indian west coast. They spent nine days in Melindi; from 15th to 23rd of April 1498, on the 24th they departed for Kozhikode under the guidance of local pilot, given by the king of Melindi. Ravenstein certifies that from Melindi to Kozhikode is about 2340 miles, or 682 leagues (Ravenstein 1898).

There appears to be some confusion regarding the name of pilot arranged by the ruler of Melindi to guide Gama. Readers Digest states it was a Gujarati Muslim known to Vasco da Gama as Molemo canaqua ‐ a corrupt form of the Arabic for ‘pilot‐astronomer’ (Readers Digest 1996). According to Sanjay Subrahmanyam, the popular legend of Vasco da Gama having been guided by Ibn Madjid (Sunjay 1997) ‐ none other than the most celebrated navigator and theorist of the fifteenth century, Shihab al Din Ahmad

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Ibn Madjid al Najdi ‐ who was reputedly an Arab from (Sunjay 1997). He had a chart of the west coast of India, marked in the manner of the and was familiar with the use of the quadrant and the Kamal. It is a simple instrument of horn or wood for measuring and checking the altitude of certain celestial bodies using the same principles as the astrolabes. The fact that Vasco da Gama reached India with the help of an Arab sailor is corroborated by the Potuguese and the Arab authorities. it is opined by Arabs that Ahmed Ibn Madjid led Gama to India after getting intoxicated. According to Europeans, Ahmad did so for the sake of a reward.

Joao Nunes ‐ First Portuguese Sailor Disembarked on Indian Soil After Melindi the flotilla remained for the next 23 days at sea with no land in sight and during this period the vessels had a vast span of uncharted ocean in front of them with only the local pilot from Melindi to steer them across. It is said that, the geographical peculiarities of the Kerala Coast were better understood by the Arab pilot, particularly the habit of the mysterious Kerala mud‐banks and the headlands. These well‐known mud‐banks afforded a protected sea area which served as good anchorage for ships visiting these ports. Similar to the mud‐banks, Ezhimala, the mountain head also played a significant role as a land mark‐a head land‐a point of land jutting into the sea‐ was the main attraction for ships voyaging towards the coast of Kerala (Shritti Nath 2000). This 260 meters mountain lies in Ramanthali village, near Payyannur in district of Kerala. It is a conspicuous, isolated cluster of hills, forming a promontory 38 km north of Kannur town, can be seen from approximately 35 km out of sea (Margret Frenz 2003). The hill was once known as Mount Delly by the English or Monte D’Ely by the Portuguese (Thurston 1913), and Battuta called it as Hili (Gibb 1953).

At last on 18th May, they sighted Ezhimala beyond the horizon about 30 miles away, and the pilot advised them to follow the coast so that he could be sure as towhere they were. It must be kept in mind that for anovice it may seem a little difficult to distinguish it along the stretch of coastline from any other, especially during the rainy season, but there are subtle differences that the experienced and the practical Arabs can easily spot. On 20 May 1498 (Barros 1973), finally when the fleet was close enough to the Ezhimala and that at last they made into their destination, after a journey of ten months and eleven days (Ethel M. Pope 1937). The night was approaching and the ships anchored off near the coastal village called Kappad, about 8 miles north of Kozhikode, between that city and the settlement of Panthalayini . The following day, the same boat; which had come on 20 May to search the visitors’country of origin, came alongside the ships again. This time Vasco da Gama sent ashore with these local people’s boat a member of his entourage named Joao Nunes a convict‐ exile‐not someone of authority in the fleets’ hierarchy. Thus it was on 21st May, 1498 Joao Nunes disembarked at Kappad. From the internal evidence of the Portuguese works it appears that Joao Nunes was the first Portuguese sailor who disembarked on Indian soil. I believes, Gama’s navigational story is dominated by the narrative of how he has been denied the existence of Joao Nunes, less famous, otherwise, the man that we often forget. Joao Nunes’ role in the endeavour was to open negotiations with the .

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On that day Vasco da Gama realized that the ruler of Kozhikode was on a visit to and was not able to land on the shore. On the next day, 22nd May, Vasco da Gama dispatched Nicholas Coelho and another man (Logan1951), as messengers along with the Arabs to the Zamorin to inform the arrival of Gama. Three days later, the Zamorin received the messengers, and invited the Portuguese to trade there, also sent instructions that the Portuguese ships may be anchored off Panthalayini Kollam, which was safer than the place where they were. On 27th May, the fleet being taken to Panthalayini Kollam and anchored some distance away from the shore. The next morning Vasco da Gama set out a team of thirteen of his men for an audience with the Kozhikode ruler. Thus it was on 28 May that Vasco da Gama actually set foot on land, at Panthalayini Kollam (Madan 1998); 5 km away from Kappad and not at Kappad, where the Portuguese ships had actually cast anchor when they reached the Indian soil. However, there, at Kappad stands a pillar making the memory of Vasco da Gama’s visit. I believe this pillar has an imagined space and I ’t know why people glorify untruth? A lot of evidence suggests that places like Panthalayini Kollam, or other coastal regions which Gama visited are not part of our existing history. Historical works suggest that ships of Gama held some pillars of stone, and one or two of marble, most of these wearing a cross and a few displaying Royal Arms, meant to be erected at the spots which might emerge, as the voyage proceed, to become memorable landmarks of the odyssey and as a sign of their territory or the territory of the European Christian world, but such Portuguese pillar was not excavated from Kappad. It is an established fact that the fleet of Vasco da Gama consisting of four vessels (Mansel Longworth1918), at the same time one should also keep in mind that the fourth supply‐vessel ‐Sao Marin‐ which did not go as far as India. When they anchored in the Bay of S. Braz; now called Mosal Bay (Madan 1998) they found the supply ship to have been damaged beyond repairs was broken up and burned; and her contents and men were transferred to other ships. Vasco da Gama was not the first European to visit India, Europeans had journeyed to South before and there was at least one European already in Kerala when Vasco da Gama arrived. Thereafter the credit of extending Portuguese penetration over the Indian soil goes to Vasco da Gama, supposing him to be a legendary figure by the European historians and native historians as well. Gama was the hero of the Lusiad, written by Louis de Camoes; the Portuguese poet who was in Kerala in the fifties of the 16th century (Camoes 1940). K.M Panikkar, observed in his popular work that without doubt Gama’s arrival marks a turning point in the and Europe (Panikkar1961), what he termed “the Gama epoch of Asian history, 1498‐1945” (Panikkar1961). It is a Eurocentric account of the early Portuguese presence, and was pleasing to the Western mind as it enhanced the prestige of Europe in World History (Narayanan 2006).

Vasco da Gama – Pioneer of Portuguese Vasco da Gama’s historical importance lies in the fact that he led the first European expedition to make the journey to India entirely by sea. He was not sailing in uncharted waters but sailing along recognized routes to a country which was situated

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at a known distance from the African coast. There is nothing in Gama’s discovery which entitles him to the claim of Great Explorer or Navigator. But this event would have profound implications for Indian’s future; his ‘historic land’ at Kerala, heralded an age of colonial contest among the West European powers (Leena More 2003). It became the harbinger of modern organised naval power in Indian waters and Vasco da Gama became the first discoverer of the true means of utilising sea‐power as the foundation of colonial power.

Conclusion On the other hand, there are a few scholars who hold the view that the organisation of the Portuguese trade definitely showed great improvement on that of the Asian pattern of trade (Roelofsz 1969). However, there are writers who dismiss the Portuguese trade in the East as insignificant, which did not introduce any new economic element into the commerce of Asia (Van Leur 1960). The Peninsula has been busiest sea route through out and when the Portuguese entered to they found a vigorous commercial network which had been in place for centuries. To speak of pioneering European travelers in Asia as “explorers” is therefore debatable. Europeans had visited Kerala at the height of its prosperity, especially between 500‐1500 AD. Asian continent was adorned with great richness with its growing cities and largest empires in the world (Stewart 2008). Their arrival was not an important element of the increasingly intense involvement of West Coast of India in world trade as a result of its spice exports. But indeed a consequence the Portuguese became the part of the world trade. In other sense, the revelation of a great part of the world previously outside the direct knowledge of Europe‐may be said to have come to an end. Kerala had played such as profound role in shaping global trade relations.

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