Jules Verne, Zamorin, John Da Cruz and Paravas

Maddy has the amazing tale of John (Joao) Da Cruz, a boy from Calicut in 16th century who achieved the following: Became Zamorin’s envoy to Lisbon, became a horse trader in Travancore, got St. Xavier to convert pearl collecting Paravas of Tuthukudi and finally accelerated the decline of Zamorin’s power.

The mass conversion got noticed in Europe and Jules Verne wrote about the pearl collectors in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

So who are these fishermen? They are the Bharatar or the Paravas. Parava pearl (incidentally pearl fishing was done only for 20-30 days in March, every year) fishermen inhabited the sandy coast from Kanyakumari to Rameswaram in South India, concentrating around Thoothukudi – Tuticorin. Early in the 16th century, they were virtually reduced to slavery by Muslim rulers who took over the pearl fishing rights, and the Hindu rulers who did not quite support their cause, till finally the Portuguese came to their salvation. They were the first to embrace Christianity in the 16th century, and the path to their conversion by St Xavier was laid by a horse trader John (Joao) Da Cruz

The moral: Don’t scorn Malayalis, for the damage they can inflict is tremendous.