‘Eda’ means ‘middle’. Kara means ‘land’. Therefore, Edakkara means ‘land in the middle’ in Malayalam, the mother tongue of Kerala. It refers to 100 acres of land settled by my forefathers between the Meenachil River and its tributaries. It’s known for its flash floods, heavy undercurrents, and wood fragments it carries from the Western Ghats mountain range. 78km long, it flows through Kottayam, Poonjar, Teekoy, Erattupetta, Bharananganam, Pala, Mutholy, Cherpunkal, Kidangoor, and Kumarakom before emptying in Vembanad Lake. This is the backdrop of the Edakara family.

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John Augustine Edakara (1933-), my uncle, had his DNA analyzed by the National Geographic Genographic Project. According to his results, the Edakkara family are members of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup H1a1-M52. This branch first appeared about 25,000 years ago in the second great migration to the Indian subcontinent during the Upper Paleolithic (Late Stone Age). These early humans moved to north India from the Middle East and Iran. Almost a quarter of Indians today belong to this genetic marker. In genetics, a haplogroup is a group with a combination of similar DNA sequences traced to a common ancestor. Each paternal haplogroup is named with a letter indicating the major cluster of branches to which it belongs, followed by the name of a mutation shared by a subset of the major cluster. Haplogroups are traced through the Y chromosome, passed from father to son, and remain mostly unaltered across generations, except for small traceable mutations in DNA.

His interest in our genealogy prompted me to analyze my own DNA through 23andme. All human paternal lineages share a most recent common male ancestor approximately 275,000 years ago: the common ancestor of haplogroup A (known as Y-Chromosomal Adam). Current evidence suggests he was one of thousands of men who lived in eastern Africa at the time but over time only his lineage gave rise to all other haplogroups that exist today, meaning we are all related.

For more than 100,000 years, our paternal-line ancestors gradually moved north, following available prey and resources due to the shifting climate at the end of the Last Ice Age. Around 60,000 years ago, a small group (haplogroup F-M89) ventured across the Red Sea and deeper into the Arabian peninsula in southwest Asia. About 54,000 years ago, haplogroup H-L901 entered prehistoric India by following rivers. Our paternal line originates 40,000-50,000 years ago on the Indian subcontinent with haplogroup H-M69. My paternal haplogroup, H-Z4507, traces back to a homo sapiens man who lived less than 43,000 years ago (1,720 generations ago).

Each generation, females pass down copies of their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to their children. While most of your genome exists in 23 pairs of chromosomes that exchange pieces between generations in a process called recombination, mtDNA is transmitted unshuffled. Because of this unusual pattern of inheritance, mtDNA contains rich information about maternal lineages. We all share a most recent common female ancestor approximately 150,000 to 200,000 years ago from haplogroup L (known as mitochondrial Eve). Maternal haplogroups are named with sequences of letters and numbers that reflect the structure of the human family tree and how the branches relate to one another.

Haplogroup L3, which arose from a woman who lived in eastern Africa between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago, ventured east across the Red Sea, likely across the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb into the tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Haplogroup U moved to India around 47,000 years ago and my maternal haplogroup, U1a3, traces back to a woman who lived approximately 13,500 years ago (540 generations ago).

Throughout this history, which covers two millennia, the names of places and peoples change and evolve constantly.

• Chaliyar: River that bordered land settled by the Edakkara family. Also known as Chulika, Nilambur, or Beypore.

• Kerala: modern-day state in South India that encompasses all the regions mentioned in this genealogy. Also known as Keralaputra (ancient), Cheralam, & Malabar.

• Malabar: Northern coast of Kerala

• Malayalam: mother tongue of Kerala. Evolved from two ancient languages, Tamil and Sanskrit, and part of the Dravidian language family of South India.

• Perumal: Title for emperors of the legendary Chera dynasty that ruled ancient Kerala

• Raja: Sanskrit term for monarch. Maharaja means ‘great king’.

• St. Thomas Christians: Ethno-religious Christian community based in Kerala, tracing their baptism to St. Thomas. Also known as Nasranis or Syrian Christians

• Tamilakam: South India & Sri Lanka, comprising the modern-day states of Kerala, Tamil Nad, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, with major Dravidian languages Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu, and Kannada.

Our story revolves around an area in the Southern tip of the Indian coast known today as the state of Kerala. As far as recorded history goes, around the 3rd century BCE, Brahmins from north India migrated south to Keralaputra, during the rule of Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who had consolidated control over most of India in the two generations after the 327 BCE invasion of Alexander the Great. Brahmins constituted the highest Hindu varna (caste) and predominantly were teachers and priests. Kerala was then ruled by the Perumals (emperors) of the Chera dynasty.

The main language in South India at the time was Tamil, the oldest of the Dravidian family, and one of the oldest continuously spoken classical languages in the world. Even though Sanskrit-speaking Brahmins had settled in the south, Sanskrit was used primarily as a religious language. Sanskrit would later mix with Tamil and form Malayalam, the main tongue of Kerala in the medieval period. The Cheras were one of the three thalassocratic Tamil-speaking empires (including the Pandyas and Cholas) in Tamilakam (South India) during the Sangam period (600 BCE-300 CE) of South Indian history. These warring dynasties were involved with the Kerala region until the medieval period and this area remained under constant change of kingdoms.

Out of the three empires, the Chera country was strategically positioned to benefit from maritime spice trade with the Middle East and Greco-Roman regions facilitated by the extensive Indian Ocean networks because it lay on the western coast closest to Europe which had monsoon winds that easily carried ships and because of all the rivers in it which made transport from inlands easy. During the Iron Age (600 BCE to 300 CE), the Cheras established themselves at Kuttanad in Kerala, with key harbors located at Muchiri (Muziris), Thondi (Tyndis), and Kongunadu. Their governance extended over the Malabar Coast from Alappuzha in the south, Kasaragod in the north, and Coimbatore inland, which served as the gateway to the Palakkad Gap, the main trade route linking the western Malabar Coast with Tamil Nad on the east. A biodiversity hotspot, the Malabar Coast comprises tropical rainforest highlands, rugged and cool mountains of the Western Ghats, central rolling hills; and western coastal plains crisscrossed by backwaters.

This little southern tip of India would play a pivotal role in world history.

Known as the Spice Garden of India, Kerala was a significant exporter of spices to the Arabs, Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Chinese, & Assyrians since 3000 BCE, as evidenced by Sumerian records. Words like cash, ginger, jackfruit, mango, sugar, and orange, all originate from Dravidian languages. The West had plenty to take from Kerala—elephants, cinnamon, pepper, coconut, pearls, diamonds, sapphires, ivory, Damascus steel, tortoise shells, and bananas. Ancient Kerala was quite cosmopolitan due to all this international trade, home to India's earliest churches, synagogues, and mosques.

Several Jews from Israel had settled in Kerala before the Brahmin migration. The Bible mentions King Solomon (circa 900s BCE) trading with the port of Ophir, a wealthy region identified with Poovar, Kerala. Others were deported during the Assyrian invasion of the Kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE, when the Assyrian king Sargon II defeated King Hoshea of Israel and forcibly moved 27,290 Israeli citizens past the Euphrates River in his effort to assimilate and integrate conquered peoples. In 587 BCE, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, conquering the Kingdom of Judah, and bringing the Jews into captivity. Jewish exiles again found their way to India. After the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 by the future Roman emperor, Titus, Jews came in greater numbers to Kerala, settling in the port of Kodungallur. They came to be known as the Cochin or Malabar Jews and flourished as traders. The Romans brought in gold coins, peridots, thin clothing, figured linens, multicolored textiles, sulfide of antimony, copper, tin, lead, coral, raw glass, wine, realgar, and orpiment and established garrisons for their soldiers, and even consecrated a temple to Augustus Caesar in the area.

Thoma (Thomas), an Aramaic-speaking Jew from Galilee, Judea, was handpicked as one of the Twelve Apostles by the messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth. He is known for questioning Jesus’s resurrection until he touched the stigmata (crucifixion wounds), at which he confessed his faith by exclaiming “My Lord and my God”. After the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven as Christians believe, the disciples started to spread the faith across the world, becoming missionaries for a fast-growing religion. Thomas traveled east, through Syria, Mesopotamia, Parthia, and Persia. He might have visited one of the Magi (three wise kings who brought gifts to Jesus on his birth) in North India and then headed south to Kerala.

On November 21st, 52 CE, Thomas arrived in Kodungallur by ship, accompanied by a Jewish trader named Habban. The Chera kingdom at the time was ruled by Chozha Perumal of Meliapor. Thomas stayed as a guest of the local Jewish merchants, preached the gospel for twenty years, and founded ‘seven and a half’ churches in Kerala, known as the Ezharapallikal. Despite their external similarity with Hindu temples, the structuring of the interior space of these churches followed the East Syriac (Assyrian) architectural theology. Churches were arranged east-to-west, with the interior structured into three levels: the madbaha (sanctuary on the eastern side representing Heaven with the altar, protected with rails, draped with a red curtain, and lit with an oil lamp to represent the presence of God), the qestroma (choir), and the haykla (central nave). Worshipers stand before the altar, with separate seating for men and women. The main entrance is on the western side of the building; a vestibule and pillars adorn the front end, and a flag mast stands in the front yard. One or two bells are installed in the backyard to signal the timing of ritual services, the death of a church member, or to inform the public of calamities.

Kerala thus became the bastion of Christianity in India. The ancient seven and a half churches are show below:

At this time, Palayur was a port with a sizeable Jewish community. Thomas arrived here in 59 CE by boat in the backwaters from Kodungallur. Here he visited the Jewish merchants at Judankunnu, ‘the hill of the Jews’. At the communal tank, Thomas witnessed the sight of Hindu Brahmins offering prayers by chanting mantras and hymns to Surya the sun deva (solar deity) by throwing water into the air. He challenged the Brahmin caste, stating that their god did not accept the water they offered, as it was falling back into the tank. He made a deal with them stating that his God would accept his offer of water if he threw it up the same way as they did, as the water would not fall back. He performed this miracle (summoning the Holy Trinity, completing the sign of the Cross, and throwing water up into the air, which remained suspended in the air). Witnessing this miracle, many Brahmins and Jews converted to Christianity, which was not abnormal given that Kerala was religiously diverse. He baptized converts in the water tank but many Brahmins did not convert, cursing the place and purifying themselves in Vembanad Lake. Even today the area is known as Chavakad, meaning ‘cursed forest’.

These converts were Nambudiris (upper-class orthodox members of the Brahmin caste), and their conversion was considered remarkable. The Nambudiri clans of Kalli, Kalikavu, Kaliyankal, Koikara, Madapoor, Muttodal, Kottakara, Nedumpilly, Palackal, Panakkamattom, Kunnappilly, Vazhappilly, Payyappilly, Maliakkal, Pattamukku, Thaiyil, Pakolamottam, and Shankarapuri, were among thirty-four families baptized by Thomas. Thomas would suffer martyrdom in 72 CE in Mylapore, in present-day Tamil Nad. The Pakolamottam and Shakarapuri families were given priestly status by Thomas, integrated Hindu Brahmin traditions with Christianity, and played pivotal roles in the history of the Kerala church. They are one of the oldest surviving Christian communities in the world.

These families went on to found St. Mary’s Forane Church at Kuruvilangad in 105 CE, under the rule of Chera Perumal Uthiyan Cheralathan Vanavaramban (55-130 CE). The Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to children here and instructed them to build a church. The Kalli and Pakolamottam families lived on the north side, while the other families resided on the south side of the church. Eventually, the Pakolamottam family name became Vadakkedethu, ‘north side’, and the Shankarapuri family name became Thekkedethu, ‘south side’. 

In the second century, during the rule of Chera Perumal Cenkuttuvan Katal Pirakottiyavan (188 – 243), several people from these families traveled north from Palayoor through Angamaly and Kadathuruthy and reached Ettumanoor. The temple authorities of this town did not allow them to stay and instructed them to move to Kalikav, about five miles away. Kalikav was said to be haunted by rakshasas (demons) and yakshas (vampires), the abode of the Hindu goddess of death and destruction. The settlers did not know these superstitions and settled there. Government documents show that survey plots for 460/5, 460/6, and 519/8, belong to these families. Today a chapel covers the area and to the east of it, five members of the family are buried.

By 900, some of the Shankarapuri family had settled in Aruvithura (Pala), under the rule of Chera Perumal Kerala Kesari Goda Goda (895-905) & his son Goda Ravi (905-943). Around 1100, the Alakkal branch of the family received land in Nilackal and started trading with the neighboring Tamils. One member was nicknamed Kapittan ‘the Captain’ because he was a famous trader. But because the Tamil Pandya & Chola Empires defeated Rama Kulasekhra (1089–1123), the last Chera Perumal, the family moved back to Aruvithura, bringing a statue of St. George slaying a dragon. The family also commissioned a statue of Mother Mary to the Old Church in Kanjirapally in 1449.

In 1125, after the fall of the Chera Empire, the Chempakaserry Thampuran (a ruler near Ambalapuzha), was about to embark on a journey, but his horses wouldn’t budge. Consulting his Vedic astrologer, he was informed that the land he was on was an ancient battleground. Following the astrologer’s advice, he invited five Nasrani (the term for Kerala Christians, derived from Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus) families, Mukkunkal, Chakkunkal, Palathunkal, Thekkedem, and Vadakkedem to build St. Mary’s Church at Kudamaloor at the site.

The ancient Tamil dynastic empires of the Chera (500 BCE - 1123), Chola (3020 BCE - 1279), and Pandya (300 BCE - 1618) slowly declined as Kerala entered the medieval period. Kerala split into several city-states ruled by feudal lords called Naduvazhi, from the Nair caste (Kshatriya matrilineal warriors), rajas, and chieftains, many whom claimed ancestry from the ancient Chera Perumals.

These city-states (similar to Renaissance Italy) continued their warfare and diplomacy from the Tamilakam period, and as such it is difficult to identify clear rulership for any given period since it was always changing and many kingdoms had confusing leadership such as being vassal or tributary states. Important city-states that evolved from ancient Chera ports included:

• Kadathanadu: Ruled by the Vazhunnavar Rajas of the Porlathiri dynasty. Also known as Vatakara and Badagara.

• Kasaragod: The Land of Seven Languages, ruled by the Kumbla dynasty.

• Kochi (1200s-1949): The Queen of the Arabian Sea and home to the first European settlement in India, ruled by the Perumpadappu Swaroopam royal family.

• Kodungallor: Major port in Kerala vital to the international spice trade. Also known as Muchiri (Tamil), Muziris (Greek), Muracippattanam, Cranganore (Portuguese), Mahodayapuram (Sanskrit), Shingly, Vanchi, Muyirikkode, Jangli, Gingaleh, Cyngilin, Shinkali, Chinkli, Jinkali, Shenkala, and Cynkali.

• Kolathunadu: North Malabar region. Ruled by the Kolathiri royal family of the Mushika dynasty with a capital at Ezhimalai. Also known as Cannanore, Kannur, & Chirakkal. This dominion emerged into independent 10 principalities: Kadathanadu (Vadakara), Randathara or Poyanad (Dharmadom), Kottayam (Thalassery), Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu (Panoor, Kurumbranad) under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissension. It eventually came under Muslim rule and Kannur became the head of the Arakkal Sultanate (1545 -1819).

• Kollam, Venad (800s - 1729): Oldest settlement in Kerala that served as the capital of the Kulasekhara dynasty of the Venad kingdom (which claimed ancestry from the ancient Ay dynasty), and the succeeding Travancore kingdom. Also known as Quilon, Desinganadu, Elancon, Kaulam Mali (Arab), Coilum (Venetian), Chulam (Jewish), Polumbum (Italian), Nelcynda (Greek), Columbum (Florentian), and Mahali (Chinese)

• Kozhikode (1124-1806): The City of Spices and capital of British Malabar in Kerala. It was ruled by 147 generations of Samoothiri Rajas (Zamorin) and was also known as Calicut (Arab), Kallikkottai (Tamil), Kalifo or Quli (Chinese) & Tyndis (Greek).

• Mahé (1724-1954): The colony of the French East India Trading Company.

• Palakkad: Ruled by the Tharur Swaroopam family, and the entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the entrance to Tamil Nad and the east.

• Tanur (1200s-1793): The Kingdom of Light, who had rulers convert to Christianity under the Portuguese. Also known as Vettathunadu, Vettom, Tanur Swaroopam, and Prakashabhu.

From Aruvithura, the Alakkal family moved to Vallichira near Palai.

The Edathi Thamburan (ruler) of the city state of Vadakamkur ruled from nearby at Vellilappally, next to Ramapuram. The local rulers worshipped at the Ettumanoor Temple and journeyed through Vallichira during such pilgrimages. The family lived at Edattu Vattaparambil, and often entertained the local rulers during their travels. The rulers were impressed with the capabilities of the family and invited one member to live at Thayilthundathil, near the capital at Vellilappally. By 1300, the family lived right next to the royal palace without paying taxes. Untouchability was prevalent at the time, and it was a widespread belief that a person could be purified by touching a Christian, which established the family’s prominence. In 1340, a year before the Periyar River flooded and destroyed the ancient port of Muziris, the family moved to Cholapilly and a member became the first patriarchal Sajeevan (chief minister) of the Vadakamkur royal family. 

Here the family became more involved with the church. An old lady from Ramapuram had to walk fifteen kilometers to attend mass at St. Mary’s Forane Church in Kuravilangad and voiced this trouble to priest Auseph Cholapilly of the Pala Church and in 1450, Ramapuram’s first church was built on land given for free by Chief Minister Vellichira Kimal under the Vadakamkur dynasty and consecrated to Mother Mary. The church was spared destruction from the Thekumkur Thampuran (ruler) from Changanaserry by the tacit diplomacy of Auseph. It was rebuilt in 1559 by Portuguese Archbishop Alexis Don Menezes of Goa during the Portuguese Inquisition, and dedicated to Saint Augustine of Hippo. In 1864, the church was rededicated to Mary.

International interest in Kerala remained high throughout this period with travelers from far and wide: Ibn Battuta (1304 – 1368), a Berber from Tangiers, Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi (1413–1482), a Persian, Niccolò de' Conti (1395–1469), an Italian, and Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian.

Zheng He, considered the greatest Chinese admiral of all time, sailed to the Kingdom of Kochi and struck an alliance on behalf of the Ming Dynasty in 1411.

Venetian Marco Polo (1254-1295) also visited Malabar on his travels in service of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan (1215–1294), and his tales of the immense wealth in these lands spurred European imagination, including that of one Christopher Columbus.

In 1453, the city of Constantinople of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), fell to the Ottoman Turks, who closed the Silk Road to trade with Kerala. A sea route to find Kerala was the prime motivation for European expansion, and sure enough, just four decades later, in 1492, Italian explorer Columbus set sail from Spain and ended up landing on a new continent, the Americas, mistakingly calling the natives there ‘Indians’ and discovering immense wealth. The damage was done. Europe was spurred into the Age of Exploration, to globalize and ultimately colonize the world.

Six years later, on May 20, 1498, the Portuguese under Vasco da Gama landed in Kozhikode, Kerala, which they called Calicut, starting a long process of Westernizing Indian names. They brought back goods worth 60 times the expenses of their long voyage around Africa and the race for India was on. A decade later, on February 3, 1509, the Portuguese Armada defeated an alliance of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamluke Sultan of Egypt, and the Zamorin of Calicut (represented by his admiral, the Kunjali Marakkar), at the Battle of Diu, marking the beginning of European dominance of Asian seas. The Portuguese were surprised to find St. Thomas Christians in Kerala (who mainly followed Eastern Christian rites) and launched a violent Inquisition to unify them with Latin rites under the Holy See of the Pope in Rome (today they are considered part of the Latin Catholic Church). This area, which had lived in relative religious tolerance for millennia, faced considerable persecution under the Portuguese and splintered into many denominations. Western education also made its way into the subcontinent, with teachers like St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) starting the tradition of schools and hospitals affiliated with the church.

Despite the Latin liturgical influence, St. Thomas Christian (Nasrani) theology remained that of the East-Syrian Christians of Persia, and their customs and traditions were distinctly Hindu and Jewish. Many tunes of the Saint Thomas Christian worship in Kerala are remnants of ancient Syriac tunes of antiquity. The community maintained original Jewish rituals, such as covering their heads and removing footwear while in worship at Qurbana (Mass), Aramaic for ‘sacrifice’. Holy Thursday is referred to as Pesaha, a Malayalam word derived from the Aramaic or Hebrew word for Passover—Pasha or Pesah—commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus Christ during Passover in Jerusalem. According to the Biblical Book of Exodus, God (Yahweh) commanded the prophet Moses to tell the Israelites to mark a lamb's blood above their doors so that the Azrael, the archangel of death would pass over them while delivering the tenth plague to Egypt. A firm rice cake called Pesaha Appam is consumed after the church service under the leadership of the head of the family. It is made without yeast (unleavened) because the Hebrew slaves left Egypt with such haste that there was no time to allow baked bread to rise. The community observes the fasting period of Lent, locally called noyambu, abjuring all meat, fish, and eggs to commemorate the prophets Moses, Elijah, and Jesus’s 40 days meditating in the desert, resisting the temptations of Satan. All commenced their public ministry after surviving this ordeal.

In the social stratification of medieval Malabar, Saint Thomas Christians succeeded in relating their social status with that of upper-caste Hindus on account of their numerical strength, influence, and observance of many Brahmin and upper-caste customs. Rituals related to birth, arranged marriage, pregnancy, weddings, astrology, house construction, and death were largely adapted from Hinduism. Engagement and marriage are usually performed together in the same service and unlike Western Christian traditions, there is no direct ring exchange between groom and bride during engagement; rather it is offered by the priest (Kathanar) who represents Jesus Christ, symbolizing that it is God who brings the couple together into marriage. The tying of the Minnu (Mangalasutra/tali) and the giving of the Manthrakodi or Pudava to the bride are the major wedding rituals loaned from Hinduism. Manthrakodi, a silk saree with a golden border is blessed by the priest and is placed by the bridegroom by covering the hair of the bride, symbolizing the wedding ceremony of the Nambudiri Brahmins. The night before the marriage a ceremony known as madhuram veepu, is conducted. The ceremony is conducted separately for the bride and the bridegroom and includes serving the bride and the bridegroom sweets by the maternal uncle.

Saint Thomas Christians widely use nilavilakku (a lighted bronze lamp) and muthukoda (ornamnetal umbrellas) and their traditional dress is the chatta and mundu, a seamless white garment, which is now limited to older female adherents.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, many Saint Thomas Christians were involved in the pepper trade for the local rulers and were appointed as port revenue officers. The local rulers rewarded them with grants of land and allowed them to collect taxes, and several settled in the inland pepper-growing regions. Tax collectors were honored with the title ‘Tharakan’. They had the right to recruit and train soldiers and Christian trainers were gifted the honorary title ‘Panikkar’ like their Hindu Nair counterparts. Like Brahmins, they had the right to sit before the Kings and also to ride on horse or elephant, like the royals. Hindus and Saint Thomas Christians took part in one another's festival celebrations and Hindu temples and churches were built on adjoining sites by Hindu Kings. This union was disrupted by British rule in India, which sought a policy of divide and conquer. They owned several kalaripayat training centers, and the rajas of Travancore and Kochi recruited trained Christian warriors to defend their kingdom. This served as part of my inspiration to study kalari—which may have been well used by my forefathers, and is often used in Christian festivals in dance forms such as Margamkali & Parichamuttukali.

Even though the Saint Thomas Christians had to compromise their social and religious privileges in the aftermath of Portuguese subjugation, they started reemerging as a powerful community from the 19th century onward, playing a pioneering role in banking, commerce, education, and cash crops, and today have the highest rate of self-employment, land ownership, and migration (25% live outside of the state) in Kerala. With changing conditions, they shifted from the agriculture of rice and coconut to plantation-based agriculture and established rubber and pepper estates.

Many Malayali family names are based on geographical origins. When a family settled somewhere, they were known as residents of that area. For example, Attupurathu means ‘by the river’. Modern-day places in Kerala share the names of families, such as Cholapilly, Edakkara, and Vellilapilly. So Edakara Manu would essentially translate as Manu from Edakara.

In Kerala, you are addressed as Mr. Manu, as opposed to Mr. Edakara. Family name comes first (Edakara Manu) on legal documents (family name, father’s name, and personal name).

A naming pattern is followed in Nasrani families where the father names his firstborn after his own father. For example, Augustine would name his oldest son John, after his own father, John. The second son would be named after the maternal grandfather. Common names include Thomas & Mary after Christian saints. Whatever the given name, the child would be given affectionate nicknames throughout his lifetime, which were often used to identify the person instead. Therefore, Ulahannan, baptized as John (the English translation of Ulahannan, the Hebrew-inspired version), could be known in his town as Kunjukuttan, which roughly translates as ‘little boy’. Among these Christian families, the first name would often be Biblical in origin, and closely follows the original Hebrew version, which is the accurate rendition of these Jewish-inspired names, rather than the modern English equivalents.  For example, Jesus would have never been called Jesus in his time—the correct rendering of his name at the time in Aramaic would be Yeshua or in Hebrew, Yehoshua (what we know in English as Joshua). He would be, as Nasrani families are, identified by his hometown; Jesus of Nazareth. This distinction is important for us reading in the Western world who might be confused by some of the names presented here—in a way these are the correct versions.

Malayali Name (inspired by Hebrew) English Equivalent

Agasti Augustine

Akka/Rabka Rebecca

Andreyos Andrew

Ana Anne

Auseph/Ouseph Joseph

Avira Abraham

Chako James

Chandy Alexander

Cyriac/Scaria Zechariah

Devasia Sebastian

Eepan Job

Koshi Joshua

Kurian Cyril

Lukose Luke

Markose Mark

Mathai/Mathu Matthew

Pathros Peter

Pawlose/Piley Paul

Pothan Philip

Thoma/Thommen/Thommy/Oommen Thomas

Ulahannan/Yohannan John

Yacob Jacob

Yeshua Jesus

Around 1650, the Sajeevan (chief minister) of Ramapuram was Cholapilly Ouseph, who served the Edathi Thampuran of Vadakamkur. The ruler had condemned a blacksmith to death after hearing false testimony that some villagers had brought up. Seeing no other solution, the blacksmith’s wife pleaded with Ouseph, who proceeded to prove the blacksmith’s innocence, freeing him from execution, and relocating him to Ambara.

Another Nambudiri minister was jealous of Ouseph’s coveted position and conspired to take it from him. This minister invited the Edathi Thampuran and Ouseph on a hunt. He had secretly tied a cow to a tree in the forest beforehand. Once they neared the location of the cow, he told Ouseph, “It is a sambar (deer)”. Only after Ouseph had shot and killed the animal did he realize that it was a holy cow. The Hindu ruler followed his religious protocol and imprisoned Ouseph for slaying the sacred animal, ordering his execution in eight days.

Ouseph’s wife served him food daily at the prison, and she told the blacksmith in Ambara about the situation. The smith molded a knife for the wife, who hid it in a rice plate when she visited Ouseph. Ouseph received the weapon and broke out, overwhelming his guards, went home to pick up his sword, shield, and son, and relocated to Nadakkal, living under the protection of the Punjar ruler. He is buried at St. Augustine’s Church in Pravithanam, Pala. 

His son, Cholapilly Kurian, became Sajeevan. During this time, the Thekamkur Thampuran, Kerararu Goda Varman Manikandan, sacked and burned the Vellilapilly palace and went to the chief minister, who entertained the army with fruits and coconuts for defeating his father’s enemy. Afterward, the conquerors marched onto the Ramapuram Church but left it alone, because the priest was from the Cholapilly family.

On August 10, 1741, the Thiruvithamcoor Maharaja (great king) of the Kulasekhara dynasty, Marthanda Varma, defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Kulachel and moved on to conquer the Dutch East India Company’s local allies, including Vadakamkur. Marthanda Varma claimed descent from Chera Perumals and employed Dutch soldiers he defeated, including one Frenchman named Eustachius de Lannoy (a forefather of American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt), who modernized the Travancore Army and became its commander. The Edathi Thampuran (ruler of Vadakamkur) fled to Kozhikode to live under the protection of the Samoothiri (ruler of Kozhikode/Calicut). Marthanda Varma proceeded to defeat Kozhikode’s allies: the rulers of Thekamkur, Ambalapuzha, and Kayamkulam, and these territories were annexed by the Dalawa (military and administrative head of Travancore), Ramayyan. 

A treaty known as the Treaty of Mannar (1742) was signed, under which Kayamkulam became a tributary state of Travancore, and a branch of the family settled near Charamood known as Moothantedom. Marthanda Varma declared a state monopoly on pepper in Travancore in 1743 by supporting the St. Thomas Christian traders, thereby delivering a serious blow to the commerce of the Dutch. Following this, Ambalapuzha, Kottayam, Alangad, Karappuram, Kottarakara, Pandalam, Edappally, Quilon, Meenachil, and Changanassery were also annexed to Travancore by 1753. A treaty was concluded between Marthanda Varma and the Dutch East India Company at Mavelikkara on 15 August 1753 and shortly after, the Samoothiri of Kozhikode was also defeated at a battle in Purakkad. Thus ended the Cholapilly family’s era of ministry.

Kurian’s son, Sajeevan Cholapilly Ouseph II, had five sons around 1753. They were known as (home name, last name, first name) Kondatu Velliyil Ouseph, Marangattil Kottirikal Agasti, Vellilapilly Kezhekedethu Thoma (died in his youth in an accident—his pregnant wife and son Varkey returned to his wife's house in Pala. They were called the Ramapuram Family. The son born after reaching Pala became a priest), Cholapilly Chako, and a priest, Mathai. These individuals would be ancestors of several families including Ambechittal, Cherunilam, Kollanparampil, Nidhirikal, and Ponnamattam.

Marthanda Varma’s nephew and successor, Dharma Raja (1724–1798), entered a subsidiary alliance with the British East India Trading Company, which was consolidating power all over India. This eventually made Travancore a princely state of the British Raj, primarily sovereign, with a resident British adviser. The British were predominantly concerned with the central and north Indian provinces, where they faced rebellion and famine.

The Kingdom of Mysore (A French ally) invaded Malabar in 1766 under Sultan Hyder Ali to access the coasts. This triggered the Anglo-Mysore Wars as the British East India Company fought to defend and consolidate power over Travancore & Malabar. It also marked a 15 year captivity of 60,000 Christians in Seringapatnam, the Mysore capital, under Ali’s son, Tipu Sultan. They suffered ethnic cleansing in the form of torture, molestation, forced conversion, death marches, public execution, starvation, disease, and only 15,000 survived when the British alliance defeated Tipu on May 4, 1799, and took over the South Canara (Kanara) region which included heavy Christian areas like Kasaragod and Mangalore. The British consolidated power over Malabar by 1792, officially making it a district, headquartered at Calicut.

From the Cholapilly family, Agasti moved to Kottirikal in Marangad and married a girl from the Kezhekedethu family. This period was marked by armed resistance and rebellion to British rule in the area, such as from Dalawa Velu Thampi (1765–1809), the Chief Minister of Travancore, and Pazhassi Raja (1753—1805), the ruler of the Kottayam Kingdom in Wayanad. 

Agasti’s sons were Ulahannan I, Kachiramattathil Thommen, Kalarapukkal Ouseph, Chennattu Chako, Mundakkel Mathai, Kottirikal Andreyos, and a priest from Kottirikal. His oldest son, Ulahannan I, moved to Attupurathu. Ulahannan had five sons: Udup (1796-1877), Agasti II, Karialapuzha Mathai, Kanjirakurayal Andreyos, and Ulahannan II. 

Agasti II moved to Edakkara, a place surrounded by water, and became a farmer. Edakkara became the family name. He married Eli from Kuravalingad and had seven kids: Ulahannan III, Devasia, Mathai, Ouseph, Scaria, Mariam, and Eli. 

His eldest son Ulahannan III (died 1876) moved to Kunnumpurathu. He married Thayil Mariam (died 1914) and died after his kids were born. She raised Agasti III, Varkey, and Ouseph by herself, and sent her youngest son, Ulahannan IV, back to his grandfather’s house.

Edakkara Ulahannan IV (~1873 - 1945) moved back to Kunnumpurathu. He farmed several acres of land and cleared jungles, dealing with wild leopards and elephants. He married Nellikatheravil Brigitta (died 1966) and fathered Ulahannan, Mariam, Zacharias (who became a priest), Agasti IV, Outha, Eli, Varkey, Mathai, Devasia, Anna (who became a nun), and Thoma. This time was marked by social reforms led by spiritual leader Narayana Guru (1856–1928) who promoted social equality amongst all castes.

Edakkara Agasti IV (1902 - 1998), my grandfather, married Ezhacheril Cherunilathil Eli. Eli died giving birth to his first daughter Brigitta. He was deeply saddened by her death and even considered priesthood. However, he remarried to Karicheril Chinna (1914 - 2014) and farmed the wildlands of Arakulam. He moved to Chittarikal in the Malabar District of the British Raj.

India (and the world) would go through significant changes during this time, including a strong nationalist independence movement as Indians served in the largest volunteer armed forces in history during the World Wars. Key moments during this period include the Mappila Muslim rebellion in South Malabar in 1921 led by Ali Musliyar and 90,000 deaths from starvation in Travancore due to rice supplies in Burma being disrupted by Imperial Japan.

On August 15th, 1947, India gained independence from the British. On July 1st, 1949, the rulers of the princely states of Travancore and Cochin merged to form Travancore-Cochin, a new state in the young republic. And on November 1st, 1956, this state combined with the Kasargod and Malabar districts of the Madras State to form the present-day state of Kerala. This era marked the first members of the family to immigrate outside of Kerala to other countries and states, and Westernize their naming in the style: first name, Edakara.

Kerala rapidly modernized during this time (attaining the highest levels of literacy, human development index, life expectancy and the lowest levels of impoverishment in the country) and democratically elected a communist government. The Government tried to impose state control on Christian private schools and nearly 150,000 protestors were arrested by the Malabar Special Police (established 1884).

If you made it this far, please read about Edakkara Agasti IV’s oldest son and current Edakara patriarch, John, in his autobiography, Vanishing Kingdoms: An Improbable Journey from East to West, which takes us on his journey starting in colonial India and most major events happening in the world since the Great Depression.