Adivasi Raja Passes Away

Thevan Raja Mannan, the Raja of the Adivasi community in Idukki district, passed away on Sunday morning.

He was 54. The Adivasi Raja died of a heart attack at the residence of his son at Pooppara.

He became the Raja Mannan of the Mannan community, which follow the matriarchal lineage, in 1996. His funeral is scheduled for Monday after the election of the next Raja.

He leaves behind his wife, son and a daughter. Thevan Raja Mannan is considered to be one of two Adivasi Rajas in India, the other being in Tripura.

Traditionally Mannan community had its domain at Mannan Kottai which was under the Raja of Poonjar who used them for cultivating the vast land tracts.

The history

According to history, they were asked to retreat to the forests after an altercation with the Marava community which took up the matter with the Raja of Poonjar.

When the Poonjar principality acceded to the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore, the right over the Mannan community too passed on to the Maharaja of Travancore.

The Mannan community had the right to harvest cardamom and other hill produces which was one of the key sources of wealth of the kingdom.

His domain spread over Aayiramperumkudi in the south, Thekkatkaadu in the east and Purankottu and Chenkanattumala in the North and West respectively and carried out his authority through four subordinates known as ’kaanis’.