According to both epigraphic and non-epigraphic sources, the earliest contact between Hindus and Muslims in Kerala starts from the arrival of Islam in Kerala through Arab traders.
Regarding the arrival of Islam in Kerala, many are of the opinion that the Last Kulashekara-Chera king named Cheraman Perumal converted to Islam via contacts with Arab traders and went to Mecca for pilgrimage after dividing the kingdom to various local chiefs. As per the belief of Kerala Muslims, he is said to have met the Islamic prophet Mohammed later in Arabia allegedly after having the dream of witnessing the miraculous splitting of moon into two halves.
Cheraman Juma Masjid at Kodungallur, the former capital of Chera kingdom, is considered as the first mosque ever to be built in India by the advice of Cheraman Perumal and is considered as one of the earliest mosques in the world. But is there even an iota of truth to these tales? Let's examine.
.jpg)
As documented in the works of veteran historian MGS Narayanan, the base of this mosque is only dated to 12th century, which is way after the time of Islamic prophet Mohammad. However MGS does hold the popular view thatbthe last Chera Perumal converted into Islam during 12th century, but we cannot agree with this view since there is no contemporary evidence nor any local epigraphic evidence mentioning the event.
On the other hand, in fact we have evidence from contemporary Chola realm that the last Perumal, who is counted as among the 63 Nayanars or Shaivite Bhakti Saints, went on a pilgrimage to Kailasa along with his close friend Sundarar after forsaking his kingship as narrated in 12th century Tamil work Periya Puranam by Bhakti poet Sekkizhar which details life of Shaiva saints.
There is a Chola era mural in the Thanjavur Brihadheesvara temple where this episode is depicted, it is thus dated to Chola period.
Hence, we can conclude that the legend of Shaivite Chera Perumal was also widespread in neighbouring Chola kingdom. The later Islamic legend about the conversion and pilgrimage of Chera Perumal to Arabia could only be a later day twisted version of the original Shaivite legend. It is also to be noted that here exists a legend about another Perumal who first converted to Buddhism named Pallivana Perumal. So it is clear that the king was a very important figure in Kerala history and many religious sects claimed him as theirs.
The most brief, authentic, widespread and the earliest account of the king is of course from contemporary Tamil sources on Cheraman Perumal Nayanar from 12th century Tamil work Periya Puranam. So in conclusion, there is no need to go by the later day myths spread by the populous lower class converts to Islam.
Comments
Post a Comment