Malabar History journal

Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar was born to Kunhakkam Amma and Puliyappadappu Harodasan Somayajipad, an upper caste brahmin near Kuttoor in Payannur in Kannur. He was born into an aristocratic Nair family which was a big landlord household. His family owned land in thousands of hectares, including forest land, making them a significant landlord family in the 1800s in Malabar. He is regarded as a social revolutionary who fought for the common masses in spite of hailing from such a big landlord family. He was taught in sanskrit early on, and later on he went to an English school. He finished his matriculation from the Kerala Vidyashala at Calicut and went on to study in the government college and later on the Saidampettu Agricultural College in Calicut. It was collector Logan who recommended that he pursued his studies in the agriculture. He was a member of the Malabar District Board. He was also elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly as representative of the landlords from Kozhikode and Kanara in 1912. He was married to Kalyani amma.

His writings and associations were with a diverse set of periodicals including Kerala Patrika, Kerala Sanchari, Vidya Vinodini, Kerala Chandrika as well as an English one named Malabar Spectator. His writings written under the pen name Kesari made him very famous. He also wrote against untouchability and the caste system. ‘If one writes, they should write like Nayanar’ were the words told by O Chandumenon, Kerala’s first novelist about Vengayil. Another famous poet compared him to Mark Twain. He not only practiced scientific agriculture, but also wrote about traditional knowledge traditions around brick making and weaving. His major writings were sheetukali, Kerala janmi sabha, vaidyam etc and some of his stories were ente anubhavam, oru potabhagyam, kadhayonnumalla etc. His writing, ‘Menokiye Konnatharu’ is considered the first work of detective fiction in Malayalam literature. This was published in 1892.

He also wrote a lot of education of girls. He said specifically that women should not just be educated but also enter into paid employment. In 1910, he wrote this in Kesari and also argued the same in Janmi sabha and the assembly.

He died while addressing the assembly in 1914.

References

• “Malayala Cherukathayude Pithavu Kathavasheshanayittu Oru Noothandu.” Madhyamam Online, 12 Nov 2014. https://www.madhyamam.com/literature/literature-articles/2014/nov/12/…. Accessed on 27 October 2022.
• Mathew, Justin. “Kesari Nayanarkku 160 Thikanju.” Manorama Online, 26 Nov 2021. https://www.manoramaonline.com/literature/literaryworld/2021/11/26/…. Accessed on 27 October 2022.