Kerala - History - Twelfth Century

The beginning of the 12th century marked a period of troubled times for Kerala. The attack by the combined forces of the Cholas and the Pandyas and internal conflicts in the Chera kingdom made Rama Kulasekhara the Perumal, decided to leave the country in the company of some Arab Muslims. He is believed to have been converted into Islam and have died at a place called Sapher in Arabia. This event has been referred to as the partition of Kerala.

In the absence of a central power, the divisions of the Chera kingdom soon emerged as principalities under separate chieftains. These were crucial events which shaped the destinies of Kerala, for many centuries to come. In this period, Kerala was chiefly a land of agricultural villages. Society had a feudal complexion with a graded hierarchy, hereditary occupations and well-defined duties and responsibilities for each class of people. Proprietorship of land was closely related to political power and administration.

A peculiarity of the social system in Kerala which comes to notice in the epigraphic and literary records of this age is the matrilineal form of inheritance. In spite of the predominantly agrarian character of society, trade and commerce flourished. Hill products from the Western Ghats carried down, by the many rivers, to the natural harbours on the Arabian Sea secured an expanding market in West Asia and Europe. A number of Jewish and Christian traders exploited this situation with the help of the monsoon. The native chieftains overlooked the differences in faith and race and extended them religious tolerance as well as social equality. These merchants were not inclined to or capable of disturbing established order. In fact, Syrian Christian and Jewish leaders like Mar Sapir Iso and Joseph Rabban came to the rescue of Chera kings in times of war and thereby earned their gratitude in full measure.