The Ivory Throne

                         I had sworn to myself that I won’t be buying any new books or borrowing any from the Eloor lending library until I have finished reading the stuff which already rests in a tidy pile near the bedside and in the bookshelf. I did a quick check of books bought but remained unread. I was astonished by the sheer numbers and also the huge investment it entailed from a Babu’s modest salary. Two things happened recently. A friend gave me a gift of Rs 5000 in the form of Amazon coupons. And here I am buying books of my choice in frenzy, an act that gives me true happiness. Secondly, the Missus handed me a copy of the Ivory Throne written by Manu S Pillai from the Library with an admonition that I ought to finish reading it soon.

   Since the huge tome of 550 odd pages had to be returned in about a fortnight’s time, I decided to read the first chapter which has a gist of Kerala history, a topic of interest to me. I disagreed with the establishment narrative and was about to return the book. I went ahead and read on. And I got totally absorbed in the book and finished it in three days flat in the midst of my hectic work life.

       The book primarily revolves around the women who constituted Travancore Royalty, more specifically, Rani Lakshmi Bayi, who reigned as regent (1924-31) until the prince attained adulthood and her cousin Sethu Parvati Bayi, the mother of the prince. A word about the young author. He is all of 27 years old, a graduate of Kings college London and has worked as Parliamentary assistant to Shashi Tharoor.  He has a very easy and readable style that keeps the reader engrossed in a tale full of machinations, intrigues, twists and the battles for riches and cash allowances to royalty.

      The Travancore kingdom pioneered several progressive measures and legislation. Some of these measures were during the reign of the Regent and some during the reign of Chithira Tirunal Maharajah (the prince who eventually ascended the throne). The central theme of this book is that the Maharani rose above the petty conflicts that plagued the Royal household, and laid the foundation to what became the most progressive state. Whereas the Prince’s mother had many insecurities and even resorted to Black Magic to cut short the reign of her cousin, the Regent. The nephew who succeeded her wasn’t so charitable either, cutting his aunt out of her sources of income as Attingal Rani which eventually led to her leaving Travancore to the cooler climes of Bangalore, shorn of royalty and spending a rich life with children, Grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Regent’s husband was often (unfairly) accused of interfering with the administration. However the Regent introduced a large element of fairness into what was a tinderbox of communal passions where the Nairs, Christians and Ezhavas were fighting for a legitimate share of power. The Regent took many decisions that insulated her from this power play (like appointing an Anglo Indian Dewan) and also encouraged education of the girl child. She also issued the proclamation that opened the roads around the temples to all cases, a forerunner to eventually issuing the temple entry proclamation some years later.

   This reading led me to another book on the life of C P Ramaswamy Iyer written by A Sreedhara Menon (in Malayalam), which has been lying unread for the last one year. Sir CP, was originally the constitutional and legal adviser to the Maharajah Chithira Tirunal (the prince who eventually took over from the Regent) and eventually became the Dewan. He was absolutely loyal to the Maharajah and his mother. He went to meet Lord Willingdon, the then Viceroy with whom he shared a good professional relationship to terminate the Regency earlier than usual and coronate the King. This book gives credit to CP  for piloting the fortunes of the state in the name of the Maharajah.

          According to him the Regent was against issuing the Temple entry proclamation and merely got by with issuing transit rights to all castes on roads around the temples. If the family of the Regent comes across smelling roses in Manu S Pillai’s book, it is CP’s firm and progressive hand that characterized the golden era of Travancore, according to Menon. But the Maharajah hogged the limelight and CP was credited with most things that went wrong. But just a cursory reading of the various initiatives by Sir CP, would lead one to believe that the era of firm and progressive decision making in administration came to an end after Sir CP. The Left narrative has always characterized him as the villain, who has the blood of thousands in his hands as a result of police firing in Punnapra- Vayalar agitation. He also ran the State with an iron hand which stifled press freedom and other initiated many repressive acts that turned Travancore into a Police State. He even tried to retain sovereignty of the State of Travancore at the time of partition and finally advised the Maharajah against it on practical considerations.

          Manu Pillai’s book cites correspondence between the Regent, Dewan, Resident, Viceroy and others. It is educative to know how they used the English language with economy of words and beautiful turns of phrases. Even drab official letters are a study in elegance. This journey into the past was absorbing, to say the least. The bygone era had men and women of character. Even when they erred or failed to assess the pulse of the populace, one could never accuse them of having done it to line their pockets. History is often not fair to these souls who heralded the beginnings of a revolution, in education, equality of opportunity, industrialization and infrastructure.