Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

subordinates and other nayars. The migration of Parappanad family, a subordinate to the
Samuthiri was also presumably a result of this occupation. There is no evidence that there
was a Swarupam or ruling house existing previously to the occupation of the Samuthiri.
Instead, the only term that has come down to us is the term Cheranad, an obscure term
that does not seem to appear prominently in the early documents. The meaning of the
term is also obscure. The term could be cher-nad or marshy region or cheral-nadu or nadu
which was attached to eranadu (chernna- belonged to). It is likely that the latter meaning
was probably used, but it should be remembered that a part of the Tirurangadi, the low-
lying areas was indeed marshy, and as we have seen, the coastal area was subject to
changes, through changes in the course of the river, and more probably, the activities of
the sea. We have pointed out that the terrain is undulating and partly rocky, which along
with the marshy character of the lowlands made the region less attractive to the early
chiefs in search of areas which generate a steady surplus. It was probably these
geographical features of the region that prevented the area from developing a political
entity of any kind, until Samuthiris occupied the region as an already powerful
swarupam. When did Samuthiri come to occupy the region is another matter. According
to legendary information, the first serious campaign of the Samuthiri to the south was to
capture Tirunavaya and an army under the nayars and a naval force under the kozhikkottu
koya moved to Tirunavaya capturing the nadus and nagarams on the way (Krishna
Ayyar1938, 1999; 92). The names of these nadus are not specified, Cheranad might have
been a part of them, so also Kadalundi nagaram.
Rise of a Hierarchical Social Order
The expansion of cultivation in the region is also a matter on which we have no direct
information. Construction of temples along the Kadalundi River probably facilitated the
expansion of cultivation, as shown by the existence of Trikkulam, Ullanam, Pappanur,