KALABHRA INTER-REGNUM
REWRITING THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
KALABHRA INTER-REGNUM
Post-Sangkam Period - 300 A.D. to 600 A.D.
The people who controlled South India during this period is
referred to as Kalabhas. But nothing of their origin,
character, religion or social structure is known. One even wonders
whether these were intentionally destroyed. Blotting
out names and history was an age-old method practiced in ancient
cultures. Historians affirm that this is
exactly what happened in the case of South India as a whole until
the fifth century. In Kerala this period extended until the eighth
century.
Kalabhras
were the South Indian dynasty who between the third and the 6th
century C.E. ruled over entire Tamil country, displacing the
ancient Chola, Pandya and Chera dynasties. Information about
their origin and details about their reign is scarce. They did
not leave any artifacts or monuments. The only source of
information on them is the scattered mentions in Buddhist and
Jain literature. They were displaced around the 7th century by
the revival of Pallava and Pandya power. .
Kalabhra Interregnum - With the ending of
the progressive Sangam Age that was beamed with the literary
advance in South Indian literature, the light faded and
Kerala underwent a dark phase that lasted almost for four
centuries. This epoch is known as ‘Kalabhra Interregnum’ and has
been referred as the Dark Age in the history of Kerala.
The Kalabhra Kings created mayhem and disrupted the social and
political order of the South Indian Peninsula by overthrowing
and deracinating the Adhirajas of Chera, Chola and Pandya
dynasties which were a part of present day
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These valorous
Kalabhra Kings ruled with an upper hand, relentlessly for almost
three hundred years from 300 AD to 600AD. The reign of Kalabhras
of South India finally came to an end in the 8th Century AD when
the Pallavas, Pandyas, Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas extirpated
them from South India.
http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/kerala/geography-and-history/history-of-kerala.html
Most historians think that there was a group of Buddhist or Jain
marauders who were anti-Brahminic anti-ritualistic who forcefully
occupied the land during this period and whose identity is not
known. These people are called Kalabhras. Thus we have the
Wikipedia statement:
”Historians
speculate that these people followed Buddhist or Jain faiths and
were antagonistic towards the
Hindu
and Brahminical religions adhered by the majority of inhabitants
of the
Tamil region during the early centuries C.E. As a result Hindu
scholars and authors who followed their decline in the 7th and 8th
century C.E. may have expunged any mention of them in their texts
and generally tended to paint their rule in a negative light. It
is perhaps due to this reason, the period of their rule is known
as a ‘Dark Age’ – an “interregnum”.
Vaishnava epigraphists either destroyed the history of
Kalabhras or twisted it beyond normal understanding of common
people.
It is referred to as Kalabhra interregnum- the Dark Ages of
Kalabhra Period. It is called a dark age, not because it was
anything evil or dark, but because of the lack of
information about the period. It is as though somebody took
a marker and covered these pages with black ink. It is an age that
has been blacked out by some body because they did not like the
Kalabrahs and their ways. However identification of who this
Kalabhra has remained a problem.
There had been a number of attempts to identify the Kalabhras
based on the etymology of the word.
Some attempts in Identification Kalabhras
The identification of the Kalabhras is difficult. They have been
identified with the line of Muttaraiyar of Kondubalur (eighth to
eleventh century C.E.). Others regard them as Karnatas on the
strength of a reference in Tamil literature to the rule of a
Karnata king over Madurai. A third view is that the Kalabhras
were Kalappalar, belonging to Vellala community and referred to
in Tamil literature and inscriptions. But the most satisfactory
theory identifies the Kalabhras with the Kalavar, and the
chieftains of this tribe mentioned in Sangam literature are
Tiraiyan of Pavattiri and Pulli of Vengadam or Tirupati. The
latter is described as the cattle lifting robber chief of the
frontier. The Kalavar must have been dislodged from their
habitat near Tirupati by political events of the third century
A.D., viz. the fall of the Satavahanas and the rise of Pallavas,
resulting in political confusion in Tondaimandalam.
While there is no doubt that Buddhism and Jainism (coexisting with
Vedism and local religions) existed in Kerala since second century
BC (at the least); why should there be a sudden change in their
attitude in the first century AD that they are considered
heretical during that period (heretical to what? Were they not
heretical before?) cannot be explained . The very basis of
Buddhism and Jainism are extreme non-violence and respect for
life. (This is the principle of Ahimsa – they are not
allowed even to kill an insect) and no where in India they have
ever attacked another religion or kingdom. In fact Asoka
became a Buddhist on seeing the bloodshed he has caused in war.
So Jain or Buddhist groups could not really be the Kalabhras.
So we have to look elsewhere for the real “Kalabhras”.
It may be legitimately assumed that it came out of the epithets
"Cerobothras' of the Periplus. Pliny the Roman
historian of the first century calls them as
Caelobothras.
These may be the foreigner’s effort to pronouce what Asoka named
as "Keralaputra" referring to the Sons of
Kerala. All other given explanations are clearly forced.
54. Tyndis is of the Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is a
village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same
kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia,
and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis
by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the
shore twenty stadia. Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river
and sea about five hundred stadia, and is of another Kingdom,
the Pandian. This place also is situated on a river,
about one hundred and twenty stadia from the sea.
Page Number: 50-59. Author: Periplus. . Ancient History
Sourcebook
Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First
Century
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html
The king of Muziris, at the date of
publication, was Caelobothras.
Ancient History Sourcebook:
Pliny: Natural History 6.96-111. (On India)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pliny-india.htm
The Muthuraja of Tamilnadu, the Mudiraja of Karnataka and
Mudiraj of Andhra Pradesh are one and the same people having the
same blood and professional background.
Mudiraj people are believed to be the descendants of
Kalabhra
kings of South India
who invaded South Indian Peninsula and uprooted the kingdoms
ruled by Adhirajas (Great Kings) of Chola, Chera and Pandya
dynasties. The kalabhra kings who played a great havoc in South
Indian Penensula by snacthing away the kingdoms of the then
ADHIRAJAS declared them as the real GREAT KINGS (MUDIRAJAS).
Christians in Kerala are still known as MAHAPILLAI (Sons of the
Kings)
MUNDA LEGEND
“The Cheras of the Chotanagpur region, the ancestors of
Keralites, had a great king called Bali who governed the
Dinajpur area; he was an asur, who did not worship Vishnu, the
Aryan God. He continued to worship the native Munda god, Lord
Shiva. After being defeated by the Vaishnavites the Mundas were
forced to settle down in Kerala. The Mahabali-story of the
Keralites, in the Munda-Chera tradition, indicates the triumph
of the Vaishnavite brand of Aryans over the Shiva-worshipping
Munda-Cheras. Bali/Balia is a common personal name among
the Mundas.”
“In Tamil Sangam-work, Puram, Maveli appears as the
Vellala chief of Milalaikurram. There are documentary evidence
that there was a Christian Church among them.”
Dr. Zacharias Thundy, Northern Michigan University
This was the Kingdom of Mahabali in South India.
Speculation of the Indian historians always left out the impact of
St.Thomas and his ministry. A similar willful
neglect on this historical reality is also seen in every modern
Hindu History. All Hindu historians agree that for some
reason Vedic gods got extinct and new gods of Hinduism came
in during the first century AD. But there is no reason
given!. A sudden change for no reason? They also agree that
St.Thomas came to India and had his ministry from North India to
South India. But they refuse to see the connection.
There is an intentional blacking out or ignoring of the Christian
presence and influence anywhere in India. This is really the
basic
Kalabhra Interregnum. What I am suggesting is that the
period referred here as “Black Age” is the epithet given to the
Christendom in South India by the later Gnostic Brahminic
historians. It was simply a period which they did not want
to remember.
Christianity was indeed the religion that supplanted Vedism. But
this was soon followed by intense conflict between
Christians of Thomas and the Gnostic heresies which came from
Syria (Aryan – Persian) by the second century AD. Mani came
to India and China taking the Silk route and hence his ministry
was concentrated initially in the North India. In the North
India this conflict easily resulted in the destruction of
Christian churches soon after the fall of Taxila kingdom.
Most Christian Churches went underground as a result of
persecution and others fled to Syria where the Syrian churches
gave them refuge. In the South India the story was
different. All the three regions of Dravidia – the Chola, Chera
and Pandya were ruled by Christians –in the Indian myth - by an
Asura King called Maha Bali. It is this period when Maha Bali
ruled that came to be the Dark Ages of South India
which will explain all known facts. All information on this period
was wilfully destroyed by the new religious leaders of India.
We will be able to identify them from history that followed this
period.
Considering the history of South India, it appears that
Kalabhras can be identified with the Mahabali’s Christian
Kingdom,
Caelobothras,
which covered the three worlds – Chola, Chera and
Pandya at the first century. We will take up this story in
the next chapter. Kalabhra Interregnum (The Dark
Ages) was the result of an attempt
to obliterate the Christian Period of Caelobothras.
The Possible extent of Kalbhra Empire - Mahabali Empire
A good look at the time line of south Indian history will
give lots of insight. The Time line goes like this:
In Chola and Pandya regions of South India
Even though history was blanked out, we still have the secular
Tamil literature created in Tamil by the association of poets
called Sangam. They give some insight of the period as
a golden era.
This period is designated as Kalabra Interregnum and we have a
blank page in South Indian history. Some how even the very
nature of the Kalabra has been radically wiped out and we do not
know who they are. Even though this period is called a
dark age by many political historians, it was definitely a period
of prolific literary writing many of which still remain as Tamil’s
cherished literary treasure. Note the description of
the period by Prof. Velupillai.
Religious Traditions of the Tamils
Prof. A. Veluppillai
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5180/tamil.html
”Politically in this period, the Tamils were under foreign
kalabhra domination. Their political history is characterized by
many historians as a dark period. Buddhism and Jainism appear to
have prospered during this period. Some notable literary works
are assigned to this period. The early Tamil kAppijangkaL,
(epics) are assigned to this age, as for examples,
cilappatikAram, a Jaina epic and manhimEkaly, a Buddhist epic.
aRam, the equivalent of Sanskrit dharma , becomes the main theme
of literary works. Eleven didactic works were written in this
period. Their main purpose seems to be reformation of the
society - bringing back values which were reversed during the
Heroic Age.
tirukkuRaL the most outstanding work in Tamil, belongs to this
period. This sets the tone of didactic works. According to
Albert Schweitzer's evaluation in his book, Indian Thoughts and
its Development, tirukkuRaL represents a synthesis of much of
the best in Indian thought up to that time with a positive
approach to life. The positive approach to life , also called
life-affirmation, seems to owe its influence to the literary
traditions of the Academy period. varnAcirama dharma, the
central concept of the Brahminical religion, prescribing
different rules for the four-fold castes and for the four stages
of human life, has not even been mentioned in this work. This
work is of universal appeal. The Tamil society never had the
varnha system. There was no cattiryjAs, and the vycijAs. The
ruling kings and their ancestors, were sometimes eulogized and
flattered as the cattirijAs, but there was no consequent
development from this position. The non-Brahmin high caste
Tamils resented the term - cUttirAs, the name of the fourth
caste. So, what we get in the Tamil works, equivalent to the
Sanskrit dharmasastras, is sAmAnija dharma applicable to every
human being. Religious affiliation of the author is not known.
ThiruvaLLuvar, the author, has kept himself clear of external
trappings of different religions. The Hindus, the Jains, and the
Buddhists have claimed this work as their own. Many Christian
missionaries and British administrators have praised this work,
even tracing Christian influence in the work. This work,
consisting of 1330 verses, has been translated into many
languages. Other didactic works, follow the lead by tirukkuRaL.
The authors are identified as Jaina or Brahminical, mainly by
their invocation verses. Otherwise, there are no deep
differences in the contents of these works.
NAladijAr the second most important work with 400 verses,
ascribed to Jaina authorship and with a noticeable slant to
life-negation, had been translated into English by G.U. Pope
almost a century ago. tirukkuRaL and NAladijAr can be said to
constitute the ethical core of the religious traditions of the
Tamils. It is important to note here that varnAcirama dharma had
not been brought into Tamil literature. Though the Tamils also
developed an evil and pernicious caste system, in certain
respects, quite distinct from the varnha system, in subsequent
periods, that system had no sanction either in Tamil or in
Sanskrit texts.”
Evidently something strange was happening during this period.
Some one has been deliberately deleting the documents with
absolute details so that we have been left with no clue to who
and what were the Kalabrahs. We have the following
characteristics of the Kalabrah Kingdom
1. They were not enemical to Jains or Buddhists.
2. They clearly and actively supported the growth of
intellectualism and literature.
3. They were certainly against the caste system of the
Brahminic era.
4. They actively opposed the philosophy of svadharma
promulgated in the celebrated Bhagavat Gita of Krishnites.
Instead they actively advocated the universal equality and the
highest ethical standards against opportunistic philosophy which
absolved lies and cheating for personal and social achievements
of persons and communities. These are reflected in the
literature of the people.
5. There is no mention of a group of people called
Christians who certainly pervaded the chola, chera and pandya
kingdoms during this period. Those references were totally
blotted out.
When it came out of the Kalabhra Interregnum period it was the
Pallavas who were ruling the Pandya and the Chola Kingdoms.
We should be able to assume legitimately that the decimers of
Kalabhras were indeed P
allavas.
Who were the Pallavas?
Pallavas are originaly connected to the Pahlavas of Iran.
This
Pahlava
tribe of Indo-Iranian descent migrated Southward and first settled
in Krishna River valley. This region is called Pallavanadu even
today. Pallavas later extended their territory and established
their capital in Kancheepuram. The Early Pallavas claimed to
be
Brahmins
of
Bharadwaja
gotra.
They styled themselves as Brahma Ksnatriyas ( Brahmins in
Pursuit of arms). Later by the fifth century CE, the Pallavas were
regarded as
Kshatriyas.
They were followers of the Brahmanical religion.
Pallava coin 500 – 675 AD
The earliest known coinage in lead
issued by the Pallavs
dated between 3rd and 4th century AD.
The Early Pallavas claimed to be
Brahmins
of
Bharadwaja
gotra.
They styled themselves as Brahma Ksnatriyas.
They were Brahmins who took arms.
It is easy to see that the Kalabhras were actually defeated and
displaced by the Pallavas of Syrian origin. Though they were
Brahmins they became a terrorist group to take over the Kalabhra
Empire. It was this dynasty who gave refuge to
the Gnostics from Syria and were the architects of modern
Vaishnavism. Pallavas are famed for their temples which are
spread all over Tamil Nadu.
“Bhakti
and temple-building movements went hand in hand after the
Kalabhra interregnum ended. There was a definite paradigm shift
from Vedic yajnas to archa worship in temples and the Velvikkudi
copperplates are eloquent witness to the rejuvenation of the
Vedic-Brahmanic religion in South India.” (The Hindu, Sunday,
Dec 23, 2001 )
However
Kerala survived the assault of gnosticism for another three
centuries.
As a result the Kalabhra Interregnum extended till the eighth
century in Kerala. It ended with
the coming of Brahmins from outside India with Parasurama.
At the end of eighth century we see temples and idols appear all
of a sudden in Kerala.
Thus soon after the Kalabhra interregnum we see an upsurge of
Hinduism specifically of Vaishnavite tradition both in Tamil
region and in Kerala. Thus it is certain that the rewriting
of history was done by these people to blot out the memory of the
vast and powerful history of the Indian Christendom.
Apparently they succeeded.
“At
the end of the eighth century
a.d, South Indian kingdoms such as the Pallavas, the
Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas and the Pandyas succeeded in
overthrowing the Kalabhras.” (http://www.indiasite.com/kerala/history.html)
“The revival of Hinduism from its root during the
Kalabhras
spurred the construction of numerous temples and these in turn
generated Saiva and Viashnava devotional literature.”
The Shore Temple at Mamallapuram, built by the Pallava
King Rajasimha (c. 700 - 728), is the earliest temple in
Southern India. Its three sanctuaries are dedicated to Vishnu
and Shiva.
Bhakti Period 600 A.D. to 1200 A. D.
This is the period when the Brahmins having defeated the Kalabhras
(Kerala Putras) tookover the country. Realizing the
power of devotion to a personal monistic God took over that aspect
and restated Brahmanism in Hinduism as we know today in terms of
Bakthi. Vedas were artificially introduced as the base as though
Hinduism was a continuous outgrowth of the teachings of Vedas and
exhaustive mythical Puranas were written as real history.
Myths were taught and taken as reality.
Thus it
is evident that Brahminism took every advantage of the Christian
teachings and deliberately distorted or rewrote them into Gnostic
Hinduism. In order to cover up this gross reality even
history was wiped out. We can still see these tendencies in
todays Brahminism where an active process of rewriting history is
in process. Sankara united everything in his Advaita where man
became God himself. Attempts of writers to regain faith not
only failed its intent but were absorbed as part of the Hinduism.
