THE JOOTHAKULAM (JEW POND) OF MADAI (MADAYI) AT MADAYIPARA, KANNUR

Joothakulam or Jew Pond of Madai

 

Madayipara Plateau

Introduction

A few years ago I wrote about the legendary ‘Jew Pond’ of Kodungallur in central Kerala (see here, here, here and here). In this post, I will take you through another so-called ‘Jew Pool’, which is located in Kannur, a northern district of Kerala. Unlike the Joothakulam (Jew Pond) of Kodungallur, whose Jewish connection is long forgotten and even the name has been replaced by a modern title ‘Kunnamkulam’, the Jew Pond of north is still known as Joothakulam. The ‘Jew Tank’ of Kannur is located in the ‘Madai’ Panchayat (Village Council) near the township of Pazhayangadi (Payangadi). This pond is located on a beautiful laterite hillock named ‘Madayipara’ (i.e. Madai Rock or Madai Hill), a rich biodiversity center on the northern bank of Kuppam River, north of the city of Kannur. Spread across an area of above 700 acres, Madayipara is an ecological paradise for the nature lovers. I visited Madai way back in early March of 2016 with the main purpose of seeing the Jew Pond, and that was almost a year before I traced the Joothakulam of Kodungallur in February, 2017, so I must admit that it took me a long time to blog about this trip.

Madai-A Jewish Colony in the North Kerala?

Usually, when one refers both historically and currently to the Jewish settlements in Kerala, the area of study is essentially confined to the central districts of Kerala, i.e., Ernakulam and Thrissur. However, in this case, we are dealing with a region far away, about 300 km north of Cochin, the present-day Jewish epicentre. In comparison to the remnants of Jewish heritage in central Kerala, what is left in the northern Kerala is only sparse traces, but Joothakulam of Madai is a rare exception, and perhaps a ‘Jew Street’ in Kozhikode (Calicut) can be counted as well. What do we know about the Jewish settlement in Madai? How big was the Jewish colony in Madai? How long did the settlement flourish? What happened to the descendants of Madai Jews in Kerala? Are there any other historical relics or socio-cultural elements from Madai Jews that have survived today? These are just a few questions one might ask out of curiosity.

Jewish Madai in Early Accounts

Interestingly, Madai appears among the earliest Jewish settlements in both the Paradesi and the Malabari oral traditions (Jussay, 2005). Although, it comes in early records as a historical place, the first mention of a Jewish presence specifically at Madai is by the Portuguese writer, Duarte Barbosa. In his ‘Livro de Duarte Barbosa’ (or ‘Book of Duarte Barbosa’), originally written in Portuguese about 1510s, there is a direct reference to the Jews living in Madai. I believe it’s worth quoting two independent English translations of the passage here:

“After passing this place along the coast is the mountain Dely, on the edge of the sea; it is a round mountain, very lofty, in the midst of low land: all the ships of the Moors and Gentiles that navigate in this sea of India, sight this mountain when coming from without, and make their reckoning by it. When they are going away the ships take in much good water and wood. After this at the foot of the mountain to the south is a town called Marave, very ancient and well off, in which live Moors and Gentiles and Jews: these Jews are of the language of the country, it is a long time since they have dwelt in this place. There is much fishery in the neighbourhood of this mountain of Dely: which at sea is seen at a great distance by the ships that are trying to make it”. (Henry E J Stanley, 1866 English Tr., 2009 ed.- Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar by Duarte Barbosa).

“After passing this place further along the coast is the Mount D'Ely, close to the sea, a mountain of great height and round, in the midst of low land whither all the ships of both Moors and Heathen steer, and from it they make their reckoning when they are about to sail. From this mountain flow many springs where the ships take in their water; on it is much wood among which is abundance of wild cinnamon. Close to its foot to the south is a place called Maravel, an old town prosperous and well furnished with food, peopled by Moors, Heathen and' Jews, who speak the country language and have long dwelt there. In this place, and around the Mount D'Ely there is a great fishery.” (Mansel Longworth Dames, 1921-The Book of Duarte Barbosa, volume 2).

It must be noted that in the original Portuguese printed text, the name given is Maranel. This place variously read as Maranel, Marave or Maravel and described close to Monte Deli or Mountain Dely or Mount D’Ely (modern Ezhimala) is identified with Madai. If Barbosa’s account is taken into consideration literally, Jews were still living in Madai during the early 16th century, and since they used the vernacular tongue they must have settled there for centuries. Surprisingly, as noticed by the Indologist Sternback Ludwick (1945), none of the mediaeval travellers such as Marco Polo (d. 1324), Abulfeda (d. 1331), Ibn Battuta (d. 1368/9), Nicolo Conti (d. 1469) etc., who quote Mount Deli, do not mention Madai and Jews dwelling there or in Mount Deli. 

Jewish-Indian Merchants and the Region of Madai

It is well known that the region acted as an important maritime commercial centre, active at least since the 9th to 10th century AD, and traders from different quarters including Jews from the Middle East began to flock to the region. No doubt, the oral tradition woven around Joothakulam have strong legendary elements, but the presence of Jewish traders in the region from 11th to the 13th century AD is indisputable. The region is often mentioned in the Cairo Geniza documents, that include numerous letters of Jewish merchants from West Asia and North Africa. Their commercial activities peaked across the Indian Ocean in the Malabar area during the 12th and 13th centuries. The most famous and frequently cited merchant in these Geniza records is a Tunisian Jew named Abraham Ben Yiju. He stayed in South India for nearly two decades from 1132 to 1149, particularly in ‘al Manjarur’ or Mangalore, where he had a bronze factory, which was also his permanent residence in India. However, his business engagements took him to Fandarayna or Flandrina (today: Pantalayini Kollam near Quilandy), Dahbattan (today: Valapattanam), and Jurbatan (today: Sreekanadapuram)- all these places are on the Malabar Coast not far from Madai region (Goitein and Friedman, 2008)-see the map below. Strangely, these Jewish Indian traders disappear from the Geniza documents after the mid-13th century. 

Courtesy: Google Maps

The Travels of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela (1165-1173 AD) has an account of Jews residing in Khulam which says: “And throughout the island, including all the towns there, live several thousand Israelites. The inhabitants are all black, and the Jews also. The latter are good and benevolent. They know the law of Moses and the prophets, and to a small extent the Talmud and Halacha” (Adler, 1907). There is no consensus regarding the exact location of Khulam. To many it is the Quilon (Kollam) of the South Kerala, but for some it is Panthalayani Kollam (or Flandarina) of the North Malabar. Scholars such as Sternbach Ludwick (1945) takes the latter viewpoint to be more plausible and consequently speculates a Jewish community in Maravel (Madai) existed in the Middle Ages, at least from the 11th century AD onwards. A Jewish presence specifically at Flandarina is also attested by Friar Odoric of Pordenone (1316-1330) (Yule, 1866). Close to a century after Barbosa, a Portuguese Jew from Amsterdam, Mosseh Pereyra de Paiva, who visited the Jews of Cochin in November, 1686 and wrote the famous report, ‘Notisias dos Judeos de Cochim’ (1687), reiterates this tradition while citing Maday as one of the three oldest Jewish settlements in Kerala (Koder, 1968).

Decline of the Madai Jews

We don't hear any more of Jews in Madai after Barbosa's report, so what happened to them after the 16th century is unclear. It is recorded in the early Portuguese accounts that the port of Madai was accessible via the 'Rio Marabia' (River Marabia). For instance, we learn that in 1529 A. D., the Portuguese Governor Lope Vaz de Sampaio sent his nephew Simon de Mello to burn the Muslim ships in the River of Marabia and at Mt. D’Ely (Barros, 1707). The port became probably silted by mid-16th century, leading to the decline of Madai and ultimately the end of Jewish life. According to Sternbach Ludwick (1945), Madai Jews disappeared under the Portuguese rule in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the hypothesis that there were Jews in Madai until the 18th century is far-fetched without any supporting evidence. Over the course of time, it is plausible that many Madai Jews might have assimilated with the local community with whom they had social and cultural interactions. Those who resisted the native influence probably migrated to Cochin area where a strong Jewish community was flourishing. This would explain why the Malabari Jewish community in central Kerala had several members with the surname Madai. To the best of my knowledge, Madai is still retained as a family name among the Cochin Jews living in Israel.

Madai Jews and Cochin

Following are a few Jews documented from Kerala with the surname Madai:

1) Abigail Madai: Hailed from the Jewish community of Thekkumbhagom in Mattancherry, she is the owner of the oldest dated notebook (1876) of Jewish-Malayalam songs. These biblical ballads are estimated to be composed no later than the 15th century A. D., and they resemble the more popular ‘Payyannurpaṭṭu’ (Payyannur Ballads), also considered from the same period (Gamliel, 2010 and 2017). Interestingly, there is an allusion to Jews in the Payyannurpattu when it mentions about the non-Indian Medieval West Asian Merchant guilds, Anjuvannam and Manigramam. Also, it must be remembered that Payyannur town is only approximately 15 kilometres North of Madai.

2) Moses Elia Madai: A Malabari Jew of Cochin, who was engaged as Hazan and Shohet (that is, cantor and ritual slaughterer of food animals) of the synagogue at Revdanda, Alibag in Raigad district, south of Mumbai City, in the late 19th century A. D. (Mandelbaum, 1975).

3) Elias E. Madai: One of the two trustees of Thekkumbhagom synagogue of Mattancherry (The Jewish Year Book-5666 (1905-06)). 

4) Elias Moses Madai: One of the four trustees of Kadavumbhagom synagogue of Mattancherry (The Jewish Year Book-5666 (1905-06)).

5) Eliyahu Itzhak (Isaac) Madai: An influential figure from the Thekkumbhagom community of Mattancherry in the late 19th century (Johnson, 1975-quoted in Gamliel, 2009).

6) Elea (Elias) Madai, Abraham Madai, &c of Cochin, and Isaac Madai of Chenotta (Chennamangalam): Malabari Jews from the Madai family listed in the early 19th century A. D., in a letter from Thomas Jarrett of Madras (The Jewish Expositor and Friend of Israel, 1819). In the same letter, the author gives an interesting note that the Jews declared their origin from Media (old Iran) and hence the name Madai!

7) Sarah Elijah Madai: The name is inscribed in one of the tombstones stacked to the northern boundary wall of the Paradesi Jewish Cemetery of Mattancherry. Her date of death given is 1810 A. D.  (See my previous blog post and look for the tombstone 8, here).

8) Mosheh Madai:  A hazzan (cantor) for the synagogue in Karachi from the Kadavumbagam community of Mattancherry (Daniel, 2001). David Hai Mosheh Madai was the Cantor of Magen Shalom Synagogue of Karachi for 30 years from 1923.

The names Elijah Madai and Moses Madai are strikingly repeated in this list, so there could be overlap between the individuals.

Madai-A Historical Site

Madai appears frequently in historical records as a suburb of the better-known port city, Mount Deli or Ezhimala, the capital of the ancient Mushaka Dynasty and Kolathiri Rajas from the medieval period. Joothakulam of Madai is less than 10 km east of Ezhimala. Similarly, not far from Joothakulam (ca. 1 km) is the Madayipalli of Pazhayangadi, a historic mosque commemorating a foundation date of 518 Hijra (1124 A.D.) or 5 Hijra (627 A.D.) according to the traditional view. The date is derived from an Arabic inscription engraved on a black wood, which is still preserved in the mosque. In the origin myths of Malabar Muslims, a mosque was established by Malik ibn Habib at Hayli-Marawi in the 7th century A.D., often identified with Madaipalli (Sheikh Ahmad Zainuddin Makhdoom II, 1583-See English translation of Nainar, 1942). Adjacent to the mosque (ca. 250 m south-west), in the southern part of Madayipara plateau, are the ruins of an old fort or palace and further north the traces of many walls and buildings believed to be related to the reign of Kolathiri Rajas, which was abandoned in 1887. The fort was perhaps the Canarese redoubt captured by the British in 1736 says Sreedhara Menon (1972). The fortification is trapezoidal and about 100 m x 90 m wide, with four square towers at the corners and a 'pincer' gate on its northern side (Moderato, 2021). Thiruvarkadu Bhagavathi Temple (Maday Kavu) and Vadukunda Shiva Temple in Madayipara are important Hindu shrines in the region. The whole group of pottery fragments and numerous pieces of common ware detected from the ‘Madai Hill’ area (Pond, Mosque and Fort), highlights the long occupation of the region, with a first peak of activity around the 9th-10th century A. D., indicating a probable river trade linked to the sea, with the area around the so-called Jew Pond yielding most of the fragments (Moderato, 2021).

Madai-the Origin Myths

One of the earliest references to Madai is in ‘Mushika Vamsa’, a Mahakavya in Sanskrit composed about 1100 A.D., by Atula, the court poet of the Mushaka king Srikantha. According to this epic poem, Mushika King Vallabha II is believed to have built two capital harbour towns for his country at Marahi (present Madai) and Vallabhapattana (present Valapattanam), and according to historian M. G. S. Narayanan (2010) this might have happened in the 10th century A. D. Another early record where Madai appears is in the Roman map called Tabula Peutingeriana (ca. 1200 A.D.), at the end of the map before Muziris and Tondis (Tyndis) is a place called ‘Elymaide’, probably referring to the Ezhimala-Madai region. 

Section of Tabula Peutingeriana (ca. 1200 A. D. ) with Malabar Region The yellow circle that highlights 'Elymaide'

Herman Gundert (1844) while commenting on the contents of Kerala Mahatyma (Origins of Kerala) an old Sanskrit work, mentions about Nasamipapuri, a town and chapel built by a Buddhist prince at the time of the 11th Kolathiri King, and it is identified as Maday or Payangadi, south of the ‘sevenhills’ (Ezhimala). He further adds that the first Buddhist vihara or palli (chapel, mosketi) existed at the same place. In Keralolpatti, another work on the origin myths of Kerala, there is mention of a fort called Madaezhikotta (or Matayeliankotta) built by brothers Mada Perumal and Eli Perumal (Keralolpatti, 1868). The fort and palace may be on or near Madai, however we cannot entirely rely on this account as Keralolpatti is often considered as a pseudo-historical account by many, and variously dated between the 17th to the 19th century.

Madai in Historical Records

When you arrive at the Portuguese period (16th and the 17th centuries), there are frequent references to Madai. It is interesting to notice how diverse the name Madai appears in various documents. Thus, Madai becomes:

Marabia (Gaspar Correa, 1510; Diogo de Couto, 1602; Vincenzo Maria Murchio, 1672);
Maranel, Marave and Maravel (Duarte Barbosa, 1514; and notes in the English translations);
Murlariom, Madayid and Marlarjanj (Tom Pires, 1515);
Marauia, Maravia and Rio de Marauia (Fernao Lopes de Castanheda, 1550s);
Rio Marabea and Rio Marabia (Joao de Barros, 1563, Rio=River);
Heribalca (Giovanni Baptista Ramusio, 1563).
Hayli-Marawi or Hili-Marawi (Sheikh Ahmad Zainuddin Makhdoom II, 1583).

The modern and contemporary scholars from the end of the 19th century onwards who have studied the aforementioned documents and carried out independent research have also come up with other forms of the name Madai like: 

Madavi and Maudoy (Yule, 1871; Sewell, 1882);
Madayi (Dames, 1921);
Madia and Reo Marabia (Aiyer, 1922);
Marawia (Ludwick, 1945);
Matayi and Morabia (Bouchon, 1988);
Morave (Segal, 1993);
Maday (Koder, 1968);
Matay (Gamliel, 2010);
Mathy and Muraini (Moderato, 2021).
The only other Jewish settlement in Kerala with this many spelling variations is probably Thuruthor (see here). 

The Joothakulam or Jew Pond of Madai

Joothakulam is an abandoned laterite quarry inside the Madai plateau. The rectangular pond actually has the shape of a hand held mirror measuring a total length of 50 m; a maximum width of 20 m; and a maximum visible depth of 3.5 m. There are narrow rock-cut steep steps leading to the pond from all the four sides, but the steps from the main entrance is much wider in dimension. The following image gives you a rough dimension of the pond (the estimates are mine, based on Google Map’s measure distance tool).

The size and shape of the Joothakulam of MadaiCourtesy: Google Earth

How this water tank is connected to Jews is not very clear? Traditionally it is believed that the Kolarhiri Rajas gave asylum for Jews in Madai, and the pond was built as a mikvah (Jewish bath for ritual purification). However, it is unusual for a mikvah to have the enormous size and shape of the reservoir in Madai. Moreover, in a land like Kerala, which receives abundant rainfall and has rich sources of running water in form many streams, rivers, backwaters etc., the need for an artificial mikvah is questionable. A different suggestion is that this pond along with many other circular and square cisterns in the region were used by the Jews for their livelihood. There is also a proposition that the Joothakulam is actually derived from the word ‘Joothakalam’ which means literally a ‘Jew Field’, and in this case it refers to the Jewish settlement of Madai (see the same concept discussed for the Joothakulam in Kodungallur/Shingly here). Sewell (1882) conjectures that the tank was constructed by a colony of Jews or Yavanas (Greeks). Anyways it is undeniable that the pond has survived for centuries and locals say the water never gets dried up even in the driest season. 

 Views of the Joothakulam from the four cardinal directions:

 Views of the Joothakulam from the four corners:

 Steps leading to the Joothakulam from the entrance (west)

Laterite walls of the Joothakulam

 The Chathurakulam (Square Pond) near Joothakulam

Accessing the Jew Pond                                                                      

In order to get to the Jew Pond, you have to walk deep into the Madai plateau, but there are no signboards or conspicuous landmarks to locate the site in the large open hillock. The pond is located south of the stretch of Pazhayangadi-Vengara road that extends between the Maria Bhavan Convent and Nursery School (East) and Vaikunda Shiva Hindu Temple (West)-see Map. I walked from the Shiva temple to the pond, which is about half a kilometre east. At the time of my visit to the site on March, 2016, summer was at the beginning phase, and the whole plateau looked like a golden carpet filled with beautiful knee-high dried grass. There are no proper marked paths to the site, but the best pointers to look for is a tall cactus plant and a high-voltage electric tower close to it. The Jew Pond is between these two markers a few feet inside and towards the east. It is also worth observing close to the Jew Pond, a small square shaped (ca. 3 m x 3 m) cistern called Chathurakulam in Malayalam. There was still water left in the pond during my visit, but luckily it was limited in amount, and hence easy to get down to the pool, which otherwise is difficult during the rainy season when the whole quarry will be filled with water and overflowing streams. The nicely carved tall laterite walls and the crude steps leading to the pond were clearly visible from the interior.

Madaipara Plateau with Joothakulam (Jew Pond), Madaipalli (Mosque), Madaikotta (Fort) and Chathurakulam (Square Pond)                           Courtesy: Google Maps

Way to Joothakulam through the Madayipara Plateau

 The markers to identify Joothakulam

 The cactus bush near Joothakulam

 The Maria Bhavan Convent & Nursery School and the Vaikunda Shiva Temple

Conclusion

To sum up, the Jewish connection to Madai can be conjectured from the following observations:

1) An abandoned quarry bearing the name Joothakulam (Jew Pond) at Madai
2) The family name Madai retained among the Jews of Cochin and other Jewish settlements in the central Kerala
3) Old Malayalam-Jewish songs retrieved from the notebook of Abigail Madai of Cochin resembling the Payyannur Ballads (ca. 15th century)
4) Cairo Geniza records suggesting Jewish Indian merchants actively participating in commercial activities in the northern regions of Kerala surrounding Madai during the 11th to the 13th centuries
5) Duarte Barbosa’s reference to a Jewish colony living in Madai in the early 16th century
6) Long occupation of the region with a first peak of activity around the 9th-10th century A.D., based on the pottery fragments detected from the region
7) Oral traditions, both Malabari and Paradesi versions, about an old Jewish settlement in Madai).

Having said so, it should be noted that there aren’t any primary documents or archaeological artefacts available that can be furnished as a direct physical evidence for the establishment of a permanent Jewish settlement or a synagogue ever being built at Madai. Duarte Barbosa (early 16th century), is the only one who reports of finding Jews living specifically at Madai. Nevertheless, in light of the circumstantial evidences, I believe it is safe to propose that Madai had a Jewish presence sometime in the Mediaeval period (11th to the 13th centuries), which ceased to exist permanently sometime after the early 16th century.   

Another view of Joothakulam from the South-East corner 

(All photographs uploaded in this blog-post were taken on 3rd March, 2016 unless specified separately)

References

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19. Moderato, Marco (2021)-Integrating historical cartography, written accounts and satellite images for the reconstruction of past landscapes: the case of Madayi (Kerala, India)
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 An aerial shot of the Joothakulam in MadayiparaCourtesy: keralatourism.org