The Arrakkal Legacy

The Arrakkal Royal family follows a unique matrilineal system of succession which gives importance to both men & women without discrimination. This way of succession cannot be found anywhere in Indian history as most Royal Family allows only men to succeed on the throne. The eldest member of the family takes over the throne; if it is a man he is called the Arrakkal Raja & if it is a woman she is called Arrakkal Beevi. The Arrakkal Kingdom was not vast as it only held the principality of Kannur & over the period in history was mostly vassals of many other empires. The success of the rule was to have cordial relations with all the other rulers like the Kolathiri, Zamorin & Mysore. They also were in good relations with the Dutch & British when they came to the shores as traders. The Arrakkal rulers held good relations with the Arabs & were more of merchants who influenced the people around the Kannur Mappila bay & around. Their influence extended not to the mainland but also to Lakshadweep which was then quite inaccessible. The Arrakkal family is said to have created the social fabric in Lakshadweep. The trade to this far off land was facilitated by Arrakkal rulers on sea.

The Arrakkal museum in Kannur today is dedicated to the only Muslim Rulers of Kerala. It was opened to the public in 2015 when parts of the palace complex or Arakkal Kotta was opened for people to visit & know about the history of the rulers & why their presence changed the fabric of the Kannur & Malabar region.

There are many stories & legends about the Arrakkal Rulers: It is said that the lineage of the Arrakkal family comes from the great king Cheraman Perumal who in 686 BC embraced Islam & went to Mecca. From Mecca he sent an embassy to Kannur & asked his Nephew Mahabali to convert to Islam & embrace the name of Mohammad Ali. Perumal asked Ali to take over the rule from Kannur. It is this lineage of Ali which still stands & the succession plan of giving importance to both genders was as per the directions of Perumal. Another legend is about an incident where a Kolathiri maiden fell in a pond & a Muslim man around jumped to rescue her. As she drowned the lady lost her mundu the man draped her in his own mundu. As per tradition in the old times, any person who gives a Pudava (or angavasthram) to an unmarried girl is to be taken as her husband. This is termed as Sambandham by the Kolathiris & Nayars. The Kolathiri Raja married his daughter to this man & as per dowry carved a small fief of land for the man. As per custom the lady after marriage converted to Islam & became the first Beevi of the Arrakkal Family. 

Inside the museum you will find individual palaces with long courtyards & halls for performing Namaz. There is a room inside the palace where you can find the lamp lit always with a seating chair & is dedicated to the first ruler Muhammed Ali. One can also find Mosques inside the complex where prayers are still held. The Durbar Hall is where you can find different articles, prizes & gifts belonging to the family. The view of the Mappila bay from the Palace is impressive & still holds its erstwhile charm. 

Arrakkal rulers were mostly hard working traders who worked for the betterment of their people. For centuries they had traded with the Arabs for spices, condiments, honey etc. The arrival of Portuguese traders by the start of the 15th century changed all this as the Portuguese wanted to create a monopoly of trade. The prosperity of the rulers was mostly due to the hold over Lakshadweep in trading coconut & other spices. The Portuguese decided to take control over this trade by levying taxes & this soured the relation further. Actually the relation with the Portuguese never got better till the Dutch took over control. The Arrakkal family were quite shrewd in the manners of trade as they never stayed loyal to any one regime. They gave importance to trade & have made many u-turns in history. The Arrakkal rulers are also criticised for having given the Mysore rulers Hyder Ali & later his son Tipu Sultan opportunity to invade Malabar & control it for a brief period. The Arrakkal Raja was spared in the invasion & made a vassal. 

In 1783 the Kannur fort was taken over by the British from the Arrakkal family; they signed a peace treaty with the British to keep control over Kannur. When it became difficult to pay exorbitant taxes, they joined the Mysore Raja Tipu Sultan in the Anglo war. Post the war when Tipu was defeated, the Arrakkal family again joined the British. This fickle policy of Arrakkal was a point of concern to the British who wanted to keep absolute control of Malabar & so by the start of 19th century took all powers from the Arrakkal Family. They were allowed to keep control of Lakshadweep but were to pay heavy tributes to British. There was a constant bickering between the collectors of British & Arrakkal family over the taxes paid & finally in 1850 the British took control of Lakshadweep too giving the Raja powers only to take care of local trading of Mappilas. By the start of the 20th century, the family lost most of its clout & were reduced to a mere phantom sovereignty on paper. The eldest family member still gets a pension from the Government as per a promise made by British in 1908.

The legacy of the Arrakkal Family is not in how they managed to keep their control over people in Kannur & Lakshadweep; their legacy is the way of life that the rulers followed which gave equal opportunities to all & life of simplicity.