Michelle Sindha Thomas
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY | THE HOUSE OF TRAVANCORE 1706-1900
III: THE MATRIARCHY
Visitors to ancient Kerala found women in court attendance—the princesses Pietro Della Valle describes were revered by the courtiers and held sway wearing “no covering of any kind except a blue cloth about their loins, their arms, ears, necks covered with ornaments of gold and precious stones.” The tropical stylings of Malayali women dismayed conservative European visitors, and they were further confounded by their implicit freedom, their elevated social status, and by the matrilineal system of inheritance that protected their assets and standing.
The kingdom of Travancore first emerged from the banks of the Narmada River around 820 CE. Engaged in defensive activities from early days, the founding members instituted a rule of matrilineal inheritance as a practical measure: As men were often off at war, their lives put to greater risk, property was held in the name of women and inherited wealth preserved in the female line. Daughters inherited property, were educated as well as their brothers, and held the right to divorce and remarry. The law of matrilineal succession was practiced beyond the Travancore clan, serving as the general custom of Hindu Nairs and other cultural groups in the region. Europeans were by turns appalled and fascinated by the customs of Kerala. James Laurence was inspired to write a twelve-volume novel, The Empire of the Nairs: An Utopian Romance, which was translated to French and German and considered an early feminist work advocating gender parity. Historian K.P. Padmanabha Manon writes:
The position of the woman in Kerala is altogether different from that of her sister elsewhere in India. She is practically mistress of the house, whether as mother or sister of the senior male member. She has a recognized legal position. The principle of Malayali law is that the whole estate property belongs to her and the senior male is simply manager on her behalf. Her general education is on par with her brothers, and her intellectual capacity in the matter of special studies is in no way inferior. There have been and there are ladies of remarkable attainments in Kerala.
In royal matrilineal society, sovereignty passed from maternal uncle to nephew. The kings of Travancore were the sons of queens. A male child inherited the sovereignty, while his mother inherited control over revenues of the estates and power as delegated by the reigning sovereign. The royal Travancore family continued in the female line and where there were no females to maintain the lineage, princesses were adopted from a neighboring royal family. Princesses and queens of the Travancore dynasty inherited their positions from their mothers and uncles—and did not owe their status to fortunate marriage.
And so, upon the mysterious death of Balarama Varma, the kingdom of Travancore was left to his 19-year-old niece Lakshmi. According to native custom, she would rule until she could raise up a male child to take the throne, then continue as queen while he served as sovereign figurehead. By the 19th century, however, the British East India Company interfered in all matters of state, including the line of royal succession, and officials insisted that she could only serve as regent. The British attitude towards women influenced matters; they did not think a young woman could manage Travancore, even if she had been educated and brought up for this very purpose. Until the late 18th century, women in England were considered private property, with little freedom and no rights of inheritance. It is surprising the British government considered the idea of a woman even as a regent, but perhaps they decided an adolescent girl would be more pliant to their will than an energetic young male monarch like Balarama Varma, who could only be stopped by death. The new British resident, John Monro, advocated to crown Lakshmi, even warding off a distant male cousin who arrived in an effort to supplant her legal claim to the throne. At this point, there were no males left in the royal line of Travancore and the resident, who administered British colonial relations, saw great potential in what he saw as a naive local female monarch. A native queen who could maintain status quo under his protection would allow him to concentrate on commercial matters under direct British control while obfuscating Travancore’s actual loss of autonomy. Lakshmi could be his ideal protégé.
In 1811, Gowri Lakshmi Bayi became queen of Travancore. British officials hesitatingly noted the event and considered it temporary; they would only recognize a male heir to the throne. She gave birth to a son in 1813 and was asked to step down and install the infant as king. The British would acknowledge her now only as Maharani Regent, governing on behalf of the male sovereign. Gowri Lakshmi Bayi complied and the Sword of State was placed in the hands of her baby. The British were satisfied that they had a cooperative regent, but the constituents of Travancore knew that she had not surrendered her power. She reigned with unrestrained authority: legislative acts were issued in her name, currency bore her insignia, she took the throne at court. In the matrilineal system, genders were equal, and whoever held sovereignty received reverence.
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi first addressed corruption, dismissing the sitting British-appointed prime minister and appointing Resident Munro in his place, encouraging him to take on a dual role of Resident-Prime Minister. She welcomed Resident-Prime Minister Munro into the palace, extending to him freedoms no European predecessor enjoyed; Munro was an accomplished linguist, familiar with French, German, Italian, Arabic, Farsi and several Indian languages. He was an intellectual with a universally acceptable sense of morality and apparent care for the welfare of Travancore; he earned her respect and she generally welcomed his advice. She had an open, cosmopolitan mindset, and while she was cultivated within the shelter of the palace, she had the discernment and ability to resist unwelcome exertion of influence. When Munro advised that her consort, Raja Varma Koyil Thampuran, should live separately from her, she sternly refused his direction. She often sought the counsel of her consort, a poet and translator of Sanskrit, English, and Malayalam with a sense of public duty and concern for matters of state. She dignified and elevated him at a time when the male consort was expected to have no part in the kingdom’s administration, forbidden even to travel by the same vehicles or to be seated next to their royal spouse. She resisted Monro’s attempts to push her husband out of her sphere, appreciating him, celebrating him, even building a palace for his family in their hometown of Changanassery.
In time, Gowri Lakshmi Bayi received due honor from Monro and their cordial personal relationship and mutually beneficial political alliance inspired unprecedented waves of progress that would shape the modern state of Kerala. Over five years, they embarked on a sweeping reform of the kingdom.
To curtail growing corruption, they restructured the police and reorganized the government to remove magisterial power from village and district officers, making them subject to trial in case of misconduct. They established a modern judicial system, including a court for the trial of government servants, a court of appeal, and five district courts across the state. Each court was made up of a Hindu scholar and two judges—at least one of them Christian, emphasizing their values, restoring their social status, and encouraging them to pursue positions in public service. A secretariat system was initiated and local officials were assigned to focus on revenue collection, while the revenue department was cleared of corruption, making the collection workflow more predictable, smooth, and organized.
In an abundance of social reforms, archaic taxes were cut, oppressive taxes on festivals and inheritance of property repealed. Temple corporations that controlled land and wealth were disbanded, over 300 temples appropriated by the government and placed under a Temple Board for management. In 1812, Gowri Lakshmi Bayi abolished slavery by royal proclamation, granting immediate independence, and those oppressed by the caste system were declared independent from their lords. By 1813, a vaccination department was established in Travancore. The queen first vaccinated herself and other members of the royal family to reassure her people.
Monro held deep Anglican convictions, and moved Gowri Lakshmi Bayi to donate 20,000 rupees, timber, and 16 acres of tax-free land in Kottayam for a Church Missionary Society (CMS) school and seminary—the first theological seminary in Asia. He invited Anglican missionaries to train the Jacobites, native Christians of the Malankara Church who had long withstood the pressure of Portuguese Catholicism. Monro was fascinated by their resistance and wished to bolster them—especially because they were not Catholic. In 1814, the British East India Company began to establish evangelical Anglican missions. Seven missionaries arrived in India: two stationed in Madras, two in Bengal, and three in Travancore. A CMS School was also instituted in Alleppy. This network of schools led the way in education and laid the foundations for enduring levels of high achievement in Kerala.
The relationship between the CMS missionaries and the Jacobites was initially cooperative and mutually acceptable as the missionaries, led by earnest reverends Benjamin Bailey and Henry Baker, taught the Bible and biblical languages in the seminary. The relationship soured, however, with the arrival of later missionaries who introduced Anglican doctrine to their teaching, which led to disputes that escalated to litigation. These missionaries were officially separated from the Jacobites and went on to establish the Anglican Church in Kerala. A number of local Christians preferred their reformed, liberal ideologies and joined the Anglican Church, growing the diverse expression of Christianity in Kerala.
CMS College in Kottayam was the first Western-style, formal institution of higher learning in India. Reverend Benjamin Bailey served as the first principal, and the first subjects offered were Malayalam, Sanskrit, Syriac, English, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, mathematics, history, and geography. The Government of India sanctioned and welcomed the new college as “a place of general education hence any demands for the state for officers to fill all the departments of public service would be met.”
Satisfied with his contribution, Monro stepped down to make way for a Malayali prime minister and resumed his original post as British Resident, allied as always with the queen. While revolutionizing Kerala, Gowri Lakshmi Bayi also gave birth to three children: Gowri Rukmini Bayi was born in 1809 and the heir, Swathi Thirunal, born in 1813, would grow up to become a prolific musician and artist. She started losing her health after the birth of Uthram Thirunal in 1814, and passed away in 1815.
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At age 13, Gowri Parvati Bayi succeeded her sister as Maharani Regent—governing on behalf of her nephew. She continued and amplified the reforms initiated by her sister, slingshotting the kingdom into the future. She received counsel from her brother-in-law, Raja Varma Koyil Thampuran, and her husband, Raghava Varma of the storied royal house of Kilimanoor. She maintained a good relationship with Resident Monro, who sent word to British officials of her “intelligent, liberal, and ingenuous mind,” and she was soon allowed to raise an army in Travancore for the first time since the reign of Balarama Varma. The native army had been disbanded and reduced to 700 nominal guards assigned to palace security and royal ceremonies. In just two years, she convinced the British government to permit her to grow her army to 2,100 strong.
Gowri Parvati Bayi approved radically progressive acts that merit direct credit for the economy, educational system, political spirit, and general quality of life in Kerala today. She encouraged cultivation of coffee beans, tobacco, rubber, and other latent agricultural industries to boost commerce. She placed high importance on education, making it accessible—and compulsory—by means of a royal rescript for universal education issued in 1817. It states:
The state should defray the entire cost of the education of its people in order, that there might be no backwardness in the spread of enlightenment among them, that by diffusion of education they might become better subjects and public servants and that the reputation of the state might be advanced thereby.
She herself was scholarly, studied Sanskrit, spoke fluent English, and engaged with the intelligentsia. She understood the importance of education for both societal good and individual self-improvement, as state historian R.P. Raja notes, "The women of matriarchal Kerala were voracious readers, adept at music and arts and never wasted their time. Even those that stayed home had the zeal to acquire knowledge.” The Rescript of 1817 made Travancore the first government in the world to provide a free, entirely state-sponsored education for all children. Gowri Parvati Bayi’s proclamation of 1817 is praised as the “Magna Carta of Education” in Travancore, the first formal recognition of the citizen’s right to education from public revenue. Even from an international perspective, this was a groundbreaking concept: In most countries, universal education was unavailable and most certainly not considered a basic human right, especially for girls. Schools in Travancore were expected to adhere to a systemic curriculum, encouraged by the placement of two state-funded teachers in every school. In the following years, social and religious groups competed with one another to establish countless schools, making Kerala forever famous for near 100% literacy and waves of brain drain as the overqualified candidate pool escaped the oversaturated local market for Africa, North America, or, most recently, “Gulf.”
During her 14-year reign, Gowri Parvati Bayi made unprecedented strides in eradicating discriminatory laws based on status and religion. Christian tenant farmers were freed from services connected with Hindu religious ceremonies and exempted from work on Sundays in order to attend to their own religious duties. While growing opportunities for all to better themselves through honest work and enterprise, she addressed the oppressive traditions codified in legislation that kept people locked into visible class distinctions. She removed laws that prevented Hindus of low castes from wearing gold or silver; she likewise removed the paid licenses required of Hindus of high caste for their use of gold and precious ornaments. The queen made it clear that her people had the right to adorn themselves as they pleased. Beyond fashion, an individual’s religion and status was made manifest by laws controlling the minutiae of daily life, including the forms of transportation and architectural styles legally available to them. She passed a proclamation allowing anyone in her kingdom to tile the roofs of their houses—a shocking decision, as previous rulers did not even permit vassal nobility to tile the roofs of their palaces. She removed restrictions on the types of homes individuals were allowed to build for themselves; previously only Hindu Nairs were permitted a Nalukettu-style pillared house, and that too only after paying a prohibitive tax. Ettu Kettu, Panthrandu Kettu and other “Hindu” architectural styles were also subject to high taxes and required licenses. She abolished these taxes and granted all communities access to these exclusive architectural plans. The right to travel in palanquins, atop elephants, and in carriages was permitted to anyone as their tastes and budgets dictated.
She supported the Christian missionary enterprise and, like her sister before her, donated land for new places of worship. This tolerance encouraged parallel advances: In 1821, Benjamin Bailey established the first printing press in Kerala. This small press went on to produce texts in English, Tamil, Sanskrit, Syriac, and other languages.
By age 27, Gowri Parvati Bayi had been married three times, suffering the death of two husbands. While she did not have her own children, she raised her sister’s children with great affection and attention to their education and cultivation as future rulers. She was well versed in music and encouraged the natural talent of the heir, Swathi Thirunal. She arranged his studies so that he became fluent in Sanskrit and Malayalam by the time he was six years old, in English by the time he was seven, and while they lived under British domination, she brought him up to value Eastern culture; he went on to learn Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, and Farsi. He was talented in geometry, amazing his teachers and guests from abroad. Visitor Colonel Welsh describes the young Swathi Thirunal:
He took up a book of mathematics and, selecting the forty-seventh proposition of Euclid, sketched the figure on a country slate, but what astonished me most was his telling us in English that geometry was derived from the Sanskrit, which as ‘jaw metor’ (jyamiti) to measure the earth and that many of our mathematical terms were also derived from the same source such as hexagon, heptagon, octagon … This promising boy is now, I conclude, sovereign of the finest country in India for he was to succeed to the musnud (throne) the moment he had attained his 16th year.
In 1829, Swathi Thirunal turned 16 and indeed inherited the throne. Her obligations fulfilled, Gowri Parvati Bayi willingly concluded her regency on his behalf and invested him with full sovereign powers. He honored the legacy of his mother and aunt, enacting legal reforms, refining the court system, instituting new colleges and schools, the first government-funded printing press, new land surveys, and the first official census. He championed modern medicine, marrying the best of Eastern and Western methods. Such cross-referencing was a running theme in his endeavors—finding commonalities between Western astronomy and Eastern astrological understanding of the universe, he founded an observatory with the purpose of comparing their findings. He funded an engineering department and commissioned a series of bridge building projects. He opened the State Central Library and Oriental Manuscript Library, a museum, and a zoo. He penned hundreds of Carnatic musical compositions and remained a faithful patron of the arts, even inviting musicians and artists to live in his palace. Gowri Parvati Bayi supported and applauded the nephew she raised as her own son, until she died in 1853. A hundred years later she was remembered reverentially in The Travancore State Manuel:
Her Highness was an enlightened and thoughtful ruler who illumined her reign by many humane acts of good government, the memory of which gladdened her last days [. . .] she used to refer with pride and satisfaction to her various acts of administration for the amelioration of her people [. . .] for many acts of redress of public wrongs had been either carried out or inaugurated during her reign. This was no small achievement for a Travancore queen when we remember that in the early years of reign of Queen Victoria of England, the condition of women in England was far worse than in Travancore.
Further Reading:
A History of Travancore by P. Shangoonny Menon, 1878.
Col. John Munro in Travancore by R. N. Yesudas, 1977.
“Reforms In Modern Travancore: Contributions of Regent Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai” by I. B. Chinthu, from International Journal of Research, vol. 5(4), 2018.
The Travancore State Manual by T. K. Velu Pillai, vol. 2, 1940.