EVOLUTION AND PROLIFERATION OF DEEDS- A STUDY OF EARLY MEDIEVAL KERALA
Keywords:
Deeds, Perumals, Non Brahmanical Documents, Literacy, ScribesAbstract
In Kerala, deeds or legal documents as a source of authentication had its beginning during early medieval period, a time that is marked by socio-cultural transformations. The changes in power relations and counter of future claims over the landed properties that led to the proliferation of deeds. Though it is often held in the historical scenario of Kerala that legal documents developed with the spread of Brahmin Settlements and it was only the Brahmanical group which necessitated the written deeds. The assumption was mainly based on the limited epigraphical evidences most of which were temple documents. However, a closer examination of the epigraphical sources reveals that other communities in Kerala, including Jews, Syrian Christians, and Jains, also engaged in the practice of producing written deeds. These documents, while perhaps less prevalent than those created by the Brahmanical community, were often quite detailed. Thus, the evolution of legal documentation in Kerala was a multifaceted process shaped by the interactions and negotiations among various groups.
References
I. Rosalind Thomas, Jack Goody and many scholars express the same view. See Rosalind Thomas, Oral Tradition and written records in Classical Athens, Cambridge, 1989 and Jack Goody, The Logic of writing and the Organisaton of Society, Cambridge, 1986, P.49
II. Elamkulam presupposes that Kerala became a separate cultural entity by 9th century A D and calls the period from 800 ad onwards the Golden Age of Kerala see Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, Studies in Kerala History, Kottayam, 1970, p.217
III. Rajan Gurukkal argues that various factors contributed to the expanding role of literacy in early South Indian society. See Rajan Gurukkal, Social Formations in Early South India, oxford university press, 2009 pp. 178-79
IV. Rosalind Thomas points that writing may have been result of the distrust in an increasingly complex society, Rosalind Thomas, op.cit, p.149
V. Kesavan Veluthat argued that Brahmins found it necessary whereas non Brahmin population did not find the need for it. See Kesavan Veluthat, Early Medieval in South India , New Delhi, 2010, p. 171.
VI. Travancore Archaeological Series Vol II pp 62-76
VII. Travancore Archaeological Series Vol III Part II, p.191
VIII. Swarropams refer to ruling households of Kerala. They became power centres with the decline of Perumals
IX. Puthussery Ramachandran, Keralacharitrathile Adisthanarekhagal, Thiruvananthapuram, 2007 , pp 209-211
X. Gurukkal points that the inscribers were literate and they were often official scribes too. See Rajan Gurukkal p.283
XI. Clanche argues that putting a pen to parchmen was an art in itself M T Clanche, From Memory to Written Records, London, 1993, p.125
XII. See more details on Chitaral, Travancore Archaeological Series Vol II and Vol IV and Kazhukumalai inscriptions in A Ekambaranathan and C K Sivaprakasam, Jain Inscriptions in Tamil Nadu - A Topographical List, Madras, 1987,
XIII. Travancore Archaeological Series, Vol I, pp15-16
XIV. Rosalind Thomas, P.146
XV. Kesavan Veluthat had argued that the language and script to be seen as instrument of state. p.173
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Education and Research Journal (IERJ)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
