Slavery as a Social Institution Gleaned from Tarisappalli Copper Plates

Slavery as a universal social evil had its origins in time immemorial. Slavery was a part of the social life of Kerala society until the second half of the nineteenth century. According to the mythical story embodied in Keralolpathi, Parasurama reclaimed Kerala from the Ocean by throwing his axe. On this divine gift of the Arabian Sea, Parasurama settled the Brahmins as the lords and brought the indigenous people as cultivators and enslaved people. The story is indicative of the origin of agrestic slavery in the land. Several documents discovered from various parts of Kerala throw light on the existence of slavery in Kerala. The first inscriptional evidence of slavery as a social institution in Kerala belongs to the ninth century (AD 849). It is named the Tarisappalli Copper Plate, Syrian Christian Copper Plate, and Kollam Copper Plate. This inscription is the only document from ancient Kerala that gives proper knowledge about the existence of ‘Adimakasu’ or slave levy. The Venad Raja Ayyan Adikal Tiruvadikal granted certain privileges to the Nasranis or the Syrian Christians of Quilon. The institution of slavery existed among the Syrian Christians, and the origin of the slave levy can be traced from these copper plates. The Tarisappalli plates are, of course, not only crucial for the Syrian Christians of Kerala but hold an essential position in the history of Kerala because it is one of the oldest records with detailed evidence of the existence of slavery and also about the extensive trade with Arabs, Portuguese, Persians, and Jews. This article attempts to trace the institution of slavery from the early records of the Tarisappalli copper plate.