A Comprehensive Historical Analysis of Tattamangalam in Cochin State

Tattamangalam today looks like a quiet agrarian village near Chittur in Palakkad district. But if you step back into the 19th and early 20th century, this same place appears inside a very different political map – as a small but clearly recognised town in the princely state of Cochin, under British suzerainty but with its own internal administration.

This article brings together what we actually know from colonial records, gazetteers, census reports and later studies, and also highlights what we still do not know. It is meant both for local history lovers and for researchers trying to trace Tattamangalam’s past in a messy colonial archive.

1. Where Exactly Was Tattamangalam In The Old Political Map?

To understand Tattamangalam’s history, we must place it correctly inside the layered political structure of Kerala under British rule.

• Tattamangalam lay inside the Kingdom of Cochin, a princely state that existed from around the 12th century till it joined independent India in 1949.
• Unlike the directly ruled British territories, Cochin had its own ruler and internal administration, though British influence became very strong after 1795, when the British East India Company took over from the Dutch.
• Around it lay the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency to the north and west, and Travancore further south – both under British control in different ways.

So, Tattamangalam was never part of Malabar District as many people casually assume today. It was a town in Cochin State, but its wider economic and political life was strongly linked to the Madras Presidency.

2. Administrative Position – Tattamangalam in Chittur Taluk

For archival research, one question matters more than anything else: “Under which taluk did Tattamangalam fall?”

Historical records clearly show that:

• Tattamangalam was a town under Chittur taluk in Cochin State.
• Cochin was divided into seven taluks between roughly 1860 and 1905:
  Chittur, Cochin, Cranganore (Kodungallur), Kanayannur, Mukundapuram, Talapalli and Trichur (Thrissur).
• The taluk headquarters for this region was Chittur.

So any old revenue, land, police or municipal records relating to Tattamangalam will most likely be stored or indexed under:

Cochin State → Chittur taluk → Tattamangalam

This sounds simple, but it is a big deal for historians. It narrows the search from “somewhere in old Cochin” to a very specific administrative filing route.

Municipal institutions were still evolving at this time:

• Fort Cochin got municipal status in 1866.
• Mattancherry and Ernakulam town councils were formed only in 1896.

So during much of the late 19th century, local governance in places like Tattamangalam was still largely handled at taluk level and through traditional village structures, not modern municipalities.

3. Tattamangalam vs Malabar District – Why The Distinction Matters

Geographically, Tattamangalam sits close to regions that were part of the Malabar District, which was ruled directly by the British under the Madras Presidency.

The problem is, many people (and sometimes even lazy writers) mix up:

• Malabar District – directly ruled British territory
• Cochin and Travancore – princely states under British suzerainty

The famous Malabar Manual by William Logan (1887) is a key source for Malabar, but it mainly covers the directly ruled areas. For places inside Cochin, like Tattamangalam, the Malabar Manual can at best give regional context, not detailed local administration.

More direct information on Tattamangalam appears in:

• Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908)
• Other Madras Presidency gazetteers and census volumes

So anyone researching the history of Tattamangalam has to carefully juggle:

• Cochin State records (internal administration)
• Madras Presidency records (for wider regional, economic and strategic context)
• And avoid assuming that every “Malabar” source automatically covers Tattamangalam in detail.

4. The Confusing Spellings – Tattamangalam or Tattamungalum?

Another very practical headache in archival work is spelling.

In the early 19th century, Tattamangalam appears with the spelling:

• “TATTAMUNGALUM” in:
  • Clement Cruttwell’s New Universal Gazetteer (1808)
  • Joseph Emerson Worcester’s Geographical Dictionary (1823)

By the time of:

• 1901 Census
• 1908 Imperial Gazetteer of India

the spelling “Tattamangalam” becomes standard.

So, if you are searching in old books, maps or digital archives, it is wise to try both:

• “Tattamangalam”
• “Tattamungalum”

This kind of nomenclature shift is common, but if you ignore spelling variants, half the sources will simply never show up. Many researchers have already got nicely confused and fled the field at this point.

Quick Summary – Administrative Identity of Tattamangalam

Feature	Description
Current location	Near Chittur, Palakkad district, Kerala, India
Historical political unit	Kingdom of Cochin (princely state)
Administrative sub-division	Chittur taluk
Colonial-era jurisdiction	Under overall Madras Presidency system
Old spelling variants	TATTAMUNGALUM (early 19th century)
Modern spelling	Tattamangalam

This framework shows that Tattamangalam was not some random hamlet. It was a clear, recorded town within a complex but well-structured colonial landscape.

5. What Did Tattamangalam Look Like In 1901?

The first serious, synchronous census across India was held in 1881. By 1901, the census system was fairly stabilised, and we get a sharp statistical snapshot of Tattamangalam.

According to the 1901 Census of India:

• Total population: 6,222
• Religion:
  • Hindus – about 79%
  • Muslims (“Musalmans”) – about 20%
  • Others – roughly 1% (smaller communities not detailed)

This immediately tells us two things:

1. Tattamangalam had a strong Hindu majority, but
2. The Muslim community was not tiny – it formed a substantial one fifth of the population.

So the town was not a mono-religious settlement. It was a shared space with at least two powerful religious communities shaping its social and economic life.

For comparison, modern census data (2011) gives a population of around 7,306, but detailed religious breakdown for the village level is not easily available in the same neat format.

6. “A Place Of Some Trade” – The Economic Role Of Tattamangalam

The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908) gives a short but very important description of Tattamangalam:

• It calls the town “a place of some trade”.
• It also notes that trade is primarily conducted by the Muslim community.

This one line quietly reveals an entire economic structure:

• The Muslim minority appears as the commercial class – traders, merchants, intermediaries.
• The Hindu majority likely dominated other sectors such as agriculture, local labour, artisanal work and service occupations.

So Tattamangalam was:

• An agrarian hinterland with
• A local trade centre, where
• Muslim traders played a key role in moving goods, money and information.

Expressed differently, the census gives us the who, while the Gazetteer hints at the what they did. Together, they allow us to imagine a living town rather than just a population number on paper.

7. How Reliable Are These Colonial Numbers?

Now, a bit of cold water. Colonial census figures were not a divine truth. They were produced by a goverment machine with its own biases, and a very patchy grassroots reality.

Some key problems:

• Caste enumeration:
  • Proper caste listing was brought in systematically only by the 1901 census.
  • The number of castes recorded exploded from 1,646 in 1901 to 4,147 by 1931.
  • Many communities tried to claim higher status (Brahmin, Rajput etc.) to gain prestige and advantages.
  • Result: there was a lot of “creative social engineering” on paper.
• Religious labels:
  • Terms like “Musalmans” were broad administrative categories.
  • They could include different ethnic, linguistic and internal sect groups under one simple label.
• Age data:
  • Many people did not know their exact age.
  • Social pressures (for example, not wanting to show daughters as “too old” and unmarried) affected the answers.
• Temporary machinery:
  • Every 10 years, a huge temporary administrative structure was created to run the census, then dismantled.
  • Methods could vary slightly from decade to decade.

So, while the 1901 census is absolutely crucial and probably the most serious quantitative window into Tattamangalam’s past, it should be read carefully, not worshipped blindly. It gives us a frame, not the full photograph.

Snapshot Table – Population And Character

Census year	Population	Hindu share	Muslim share	Short description
1901	6,222	~79%	~20%	A place of some trade, trade led by Muslims
2011	7,306	Not available	Not available	Modern grama panchayat village, mainly agrarian

8. Cultural Landscape – Temples, Folk Arts And Festivals

Official statistics are dry. To understand the soul of Tattamangalam, we have to look at culture, festivals and shared practices.

Modern descriptions and local memory show:

• Tattamangalam sits in a fertile agrarian belt, supported by the Chittur Puzha and the broader Palakkad plains, often called the “granary of Kerala”.
• The village has several temples, which remain central to its religious and social life. Temples are not just worship spaces. They act as cultural hubs, meeting points, art stages and memory archives.

Tattamangalam is closely tied to Chittur in terms of culture. The region is known for strong participation in two folk art forms:

1. Kanyarkali
   A ritualistic dance-drama, usually linked to harvest and the Vishu season. Traditionally performed by sections of the Nair community. It mixes mythological themes with social and moral narratives.
2. Porattu Kali
   A more satirical, earthy performance that targets everyday life and social issues with humour, song and acting. It acts as a social mirror and subtle critique of power and customs.

Tattamangalam’s involvement in these art forms shows that it was never an isolated dot on the map. It was part of a regional cultural ecosystem where villages and small towns were connected through performances, festivals and ritual circuits.

9. Migration And Diversity – How Different Communities Reached Here

The social fabric of Tattamangalam is not purely local. It has been shaped by centuries of movement through the Palakkad Gap, the natural pass in the Western Ghats connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The broader Chittur–Palakkad region has seen migrations from Tamil regions bringing in communities such as:

• Pathans
• Rowthers
• Tamil Brahmins
• Pattars
• Telugu groups
• Tulu people and other communities

These movements make sense historically:

• The Palakkad Gap functioned as a major trade and military corridor.
• People followed routes of commerce, conflict and opportunity.

Tattamangalam, sitting in this corridor region, absorbed and accommodated these different groups. The result was:

• Religious plurality
• Linguistic variety
• Diverse food habits, rituals and life-ways

This background helps explain why, even by 1901, Tattamangalam already had:

• A large Hindu majority
• A strong, economically active Muslim minority
• And traces of older Tamil-linked migration in worship patterns, family names, professions, and local stories.

10. Wider Historical Context – Palakkad, Mysore Rulers And Language

Tattamangalam’s story cannot be separated from the larger history of Palakkad and Chittur.

Key background layers include:

• Ancient period: Rule under the Chera dynasties.
• Local rulers: The Palakkad Rajas, who controlled the region before Mysore and British interventions.
• Mysore period: Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan’s influence extended into Palakkad. The Palakkad Fort (often called Tipu’s Fort) was built by Hyder Ali and later taken by the British.

Culturally, an important marker sits nearby:

• Chittur Gurumadam – associated with Thunchath Ezhuthachan, regarded as the father of modern Malayalam.
• His final days and memorial there anchor the region deeply in the history of Malayalam language and literary culture.

Tattamangalam, while not mentioned as a key political centre in these big events, lies inside this historical field of force. It would have indirectly experienced:

• Shifts in revenue systems
• Military campaigns and associated disruptions
• Changes in trade routes
• Spread of new religious and cultural influences

In the present day, the Tattamangalam.com website and its archived content since 2000 act as a bridge between this long, layered past and the visual, digital present – recording photographs, local issues, memories and updates that tomorrow’s historians will mine.

11. What Sources Do We Actually Have For Tattamangalam?

When we talk about “history”, what we really have are bits of paper (and now pixels) left behind by different institutions. For Tattamangalam, the main kinds of sources are:

11.1 Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908)

The Gazetteer provides a direct entry on Tattamangalam and confirms:

• Location in Chittur taluk, Cochin State
• Population 6,222 (1901)
• Religious composition
• Description as a town of some trade led by Muslims

This is the single most compact and authoritative colonial summary we have.

11.2 Census of India Reports (especially 1901)

The Census reports:

• Give detailed population data at town level.
• Record religion and sometimes caste, occupation and age.
• For Tattamangalam, 1901 is the clearest snapshot.

Later censuses (1911, 1921, 1931, 1941) can be used to track trends, but they need careful handling because of changing categories and methods.

11.3 Malabar Manual (William Logan, 1887)

The Malabar Manual:

• Focuses on Malabar District, not Cochin.
• Still useful for:
  • Land systems
  • Tenancy patterns
  • Mappila issues
  • Environmental and economic background of northern Kerala

It gives strong comparative context even if it does not zoom in on Tattamangalam itself.

11.4 Missionary Records

Some missionary activity is documented in nearby Chittur region – for example, Plymouth Brethren missions and individual converts.

Missionary letters, diaries and reports can sometimes give intimate descriptions of local society, caste, gender relations and conversions.

We do not yet have confirmed, detailed missionary records specifically for Tattamangalam, but this is a ripe area for future digging.

11.5 Early Geographical Dictionaries

Works like Cruttwell’s New Universal Gazetteer (1808) and Worcester’s Geographical Dictionary (1823) record the town as “TATTAMUNGALUM”.

They prove that Tattamangalam was known internationally even before the big late-19th century statistical projects.

Together, these sources give us a multi-layered but still incomplete picture.

12. What We Still Don’t Know – The Gaps

For all this talk, some crucial questions remain unanswered:

• Pre-colonial history: We do not yet know when Tattamangalam first emerged as a settlement. There is almost no documented detail on its role under the Cheras or Palakkad Rajas.
• Land records: Detailed Cochin State land registers, pattas and local survey documents remain to be systematically explored. These could reveal who owned what, which families held power, and how land and labour were structured.
• Internal Hindu–Muslim relations: We know that Muslims dominated trade and Hindus were the majority, but we do not know:
  • How everyday interactions worked.
  • How festivals were shared or separated.
  • How interdependence and conflict played out on the ground.
• Voices from below: Colonial records mainly speak in the voice of the state. Ordinary people’s stories – farmers, small traders, women, labourers – are missing.

So our current history of Tattamangalam is solid, but also very top-down. It needs to be balanced by voices and materials from the bottom up.

13. Directions For Future Research On Tattamangalam

For serious researchers, students, or even motivated local history buffs, the path forward could include:

1. Systematic archival work on Chittur taluk records
   Revenue registers, land survey documents, police station registers, and Cochin Legislative Assembly proceedings (post 1925) can show who paid tax, who owned land and how the local power structure worked.
2. Temple and mosque records
   Temple accounts, festival records, inscriptions and donation lists, plus mosque records and waqf documents, can reveal the economic and social backbone of religious institutions.
3. Missionary and church archives
   Mission reports, letters and personal diaries can provide information on conversions, schools, conflict and dialogue between communities.
4. Oral history
   Interviews with older residents and families whose roots go back generations can capture stories about migration, trade, caste relations, communal harmony or tensions, and changes in agriculture.
5. Literary and artistic readings
   Works like O.V. Vijayan’s Khasakkinte Ithihasam, even though fictional, help understand the mood and social climate of Palakkad region in modern times. Local drama, songs and folk narratives can also preserve fragments of micro-history.

Done patiently, this kind of work can turn our current skeleton outline of Tattamangalam’s past into a full-bodied, multi-dimensional history.

14. Conclusion – A Small Town With A Big Archival Shadow

To summarise:

• Tattamangalam was a recognised town in the Chittur taluk of Cochin State, not an anonymous village on some map margin.
• It appears clearly in the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908) and in the 1901 Census, with a population of 6,222, a Hindu majority and a strong Muslim trading community.
• It was part of a wider colonial-geopolitical framework in which princely Cochin interacted continuously with British ruled Malabar and the Madras Presidency.
• Culturally, it belonged to the Chittur–Palakkad world of temples, agrarian festivals, folk arts like Kanyarkali and Porattu Kali, and long histories of migration through the Palakkad Gap.
• The history we can write today is solid where official records exist, and full of silence where they do not.

The gaps are not a weakness. They are an invitation.

Every old photograph, family story, temple ledger, forgotten diary or yellowed land deed somebody has tucked away in their house at Tattamangalam or Chittur can help fill these blanks. The past is not a fixed monument; it is a puzzle that this generation can still help complete.

15. Sources and Further Reading

You can explore more using these starting points:

• Kingdom of Cochin – basic overview
• Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XXIII (1908) – entry on Tattamangalam
• Census of India – 1901 and later volumes
• William Logan – Malabar Manual
• Articles on missionary activity in 19th century India
• Local portals like Tattamangalam.com and region specific writeups on the history of Palakkad, Chittur and Tattamangalam

Some of these are available online; others need a trip to archives or libraries. Not very glamorous work, but this is how real local history is rebuilt – one dusty page at a time.