Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

mention migrations from Tanur, Vailathur and other areas. The British records refer to
parappanangadikkaran, Thanurkkaran etc showing such migrations into the British
period.
There is nothing to indicate that all such migrants were landholders and traders. A
number of kammala families were brought and settled as necessary assistance to
agricultural activities by the landlords. Many Kammala families could remember the
migration of their ancestors from nearby areas such as Valanchery, Tirur, Kuttippuram
and other areas. Similarly menial laborers, including pulayas and parayas were brought
and settled. Muslim families accompanying the landlords and traders in search of
opportunities might have been converted to laborers or tenants in the fields of the
landlords. These are apart from the conversion of the local people as laborers and tenants
of the landlords, either by force or persuasion.
There are indications of conversions to Islam as a part of this process. People’s memories
clearly indicate the process of conversion. However, there is nothing to show that forced
conversions were practiced as a routine. We shall discuss the cultural features of the
conversions later. There are indications that the laborers and tenants under a powerful
Muslim landlord were converted to Islam. There are memories of such conversions, for
example from Kaduvallur, Chiramukku, and Parakkadavu. However, conversions do not
seem to have altered the material life of the people, and the converted people continued to
be laborers and tenants.
Eighteenth Century
The process of expansion of cultivation, trade, migration and settlement lasted several
centuries. The occupation of the areas around Kadalundi River, conversion of the water-
logged areas into paddy fields, and the spread of cultivation of cash crops, brought into
being the Cheranad that came under the British during the end of eighteenth Century. As