Fort Kochi has much more than meets the touristy eye — including several historic communities that now lead a marginalised existence
It was a bustling cosmopolitan hub where merchants from across the globe once converged. Centuries have passed, yet this tiny patch of 4.5sq km of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry is home to more than 30 communities conversing in over 17 languages, including Hindi, Gujarati, Kutchi, Urdu, Haryanvi, Tamil, Telugu, Konkani, Kashmiri, apart from Malayalam. It’s as if India, in all its diversity, is condensed into this small, historic enclave. While many of these communities migrated and settled here for various reasons, at least a few were purposefully brought in to serve specific social purposes. Over the years, many have lost their traditional livelihoods and cultural traits, but a few are struggling to keep them alive while being part of a vibrant, ever-changing society.
About 100 families of the Chakkiliyar community live in Rameshwaram colony of Fort Kochi and nearby areas. They occupied the lowest strata of society but provided an indispensable societal service for decades. In 1950, Kochi witnessed an unusual protest by manual scavengers demanding better pay and facilities. The strike continued for many days, and the city began to stink. The then Fort Kochi municipal chairman, KJ Herschel, brought about 50 Chakkiliyar families from Coimbatore to do the job. They continued the service until 1984 when the corporation finally abolished the system of tin box toilets in Kochi.
Today, the descendants of these families live together in Rameshwaram colony. “My forefathers were from Tamil Nadu, and none are alive now. Many of our people still do menial jobs like cleaning for the corporation,” said 65-year-old Palani, who works as cleaning staff with the Kochi corporation. The new generation is averse to this job, and most have taken up other occupations, he says. It’s the same case with Tamil-speaking Vaniyars from Madurai, traditionally involved in oil pressing. Today, there is no trace of a “chakk” (bull-operated oil press) here, though at least 60 Vaniya families live in Pandikudi, Fort Kochi.
But some families have kept their traditional jobs alive for generations despite all odds. Eighty-one-year-old Pratti at Dhobi Khana in Mattanchery Veli vividly remembers walking into Mynathu veli (as it was called then) as a 10-year-old child with her father, and for the last seven decades, she has been coming daily to Dhobi Khana for washing, despite her age and ill health.
After her husband Chudalamuthu’s death a few years ago, her son joined her to continue the family tradition. “The area was spread across 13 acres, and there were 70 ponds around to wash clothes. Today, all of them have been filled, and there is no trace of them,” she says.
In 1720, the Dutch colonial rulers brought Vannars from Tamil Nadu to wash their military uniforms. Now, 180 Vannar families live in nearby Dhobi Street, but only 60 are engaged in this tradition after the GDCA relocated the Dhobi Khana in 1975, says 62-year-old Rajashekharan, whose roots lead him to Chathankulam in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. He is the only family member involved in the job, as his sons and daughters have better education and have landed other jobs.
At least four Thangal families live on Thakyavu Road, tracing their origin to the family of the Prophet’s daughter Fathima in Yemen. Once an influential community known for the well-known preacher and saint Aboobackar Bamb (Sayed Aboobackar Aydrosi), they now live in 250-year-old crumbling houses, reminiscing about their historic role in the life of the Muslim community in Kochi. “Once a popular spiritual centre with people from across the country flocking here for spiritual healing and learning, the area has turned into a desolate place. These dilapidated buildings resemble the current state of the community,” says 70-year-old Sayed Sheiq Jiffri Thangal of Kallarakkal tharavadu in Thakyavu. “It’s believed that the Kochi king invited our forefathers from Ponnani, then a great centre for Islamic learning, to come and live here. It was called the “Yemen of Kochi,” he recalled. The two-story Thykyavu valiya palli, built with traditional Kerala architecture, houses the grave of Bamb who died in 1751.
Kochi had trade connections with the Arab world centuries before the advent of colonial powers. Today, Kochi has at least half a dozen Muslim communities like Kutchi Memons, Pathans, Nainas, Dekhni, Bohra, and Kashmiri Muslims following subtly different customs and practices.
“Like the Thangal family, Fort Kochi has a long list of unsung heroes and untold stories. It was the entry gate for colonial powers, which ruled there for 444 years. It is still known for the non-existent Portuguese fort, Immanuel Fort, and Gama Square. But there is nothing to remember Kunhali Marakkars, who heroically fought against them, and no memorial for TK Pareekutty, who won four national awards for Malayalam cinema,” says Jamal Kochangadi, a senior journalist, native of Fort Kochi, and author of “Ente Kochi”.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/239532
Tags: Chakkiliyar community, Dhobi Khana, Fort Kochi, Mattanchery, Pratti, Thanagals, Vaniyars