Hello, Cussan's was standing in the oldest part of the Fort, built by the Portuguese when he painted this painting, and he shows the home and palace of the Bebee of Arrakal in the background. The Bebee came from a family that had ruled the Laccadives and had traded as far as Cutch and the Gulf. It is extraordinary that in the 17th & 18th Century there were three different "states" in the land shown here. The Dutch bit in the fort, the Bebee of Arakkals part where the town is and the Hindu Rajah's on the hills beyond. The following is an extract from a far longer letter written in a private letter sent by my 4 x gt uncle Thomas Baber to Sir Thomas Munro on the 24th June 1817. "The old Beebe of Cananore having written a Petition the other day she wanted me to forward to you, but which I declined, not from any wish to with hold her Petition, but that it appeared more consistent with Propriety in her writing to you herself – Whether she has done so or not I know not, but if she has you will see her case (the Subject is her Lacadive Islands) fairly stated enough and will, I think agree with me that our faith has not been preserved to her – The Court of Directors under the idea that the Islanders were adverse to her Government, were of the opinion that it was not advisable to restore the possession of the Islands to her but that to the consideration in (money?) should be allowed her on account of them – nothing however can be so erroneous as the idea of the accession of the inhabitants to the Government, and it is but reasonable to approve that they would be far better treated by her than a Farmer or even Deputy, removed at such a distance from all control, I don’t know what the advantages are the Company at present derive from these islands, but when the Beebe says (which she has repeated to me) that she will pay the Company as much as ever they received from them, and will hold herself accountable to our Government or our Courts for all her acts, there can be no objection to restoring her to her rights – She has received no compensation, not withstanding the Court of Directors orders, -- Should you view the subject in the light I do, I shall be most happy to afford my personal aid in concluding with the Beebe, (or if necessary making a survey of the Islands themselves) any arrangement that would be most acceptable to Govt for, I am convinced the Old Lady would come into any terms to regain possession of her islands." The Bebee is described in quite a lot of travel books at this time and seems to have been quite highly thought of by the people who visited her. She had however had most of her lands taken away from her because she had supported Tipu Sultan during the siege of Tellicherry. The Bebee had been under considerable duress from Tipu at the time and many officials though this unfair. She had owned a considerable number of ships and some were up to 300 tonnes in burden, however by 1817 most were old and needed replacing. In 1834 T Baber gave evidence to the House of Lords that gave the following about her fleet. "What is the Size of the Vessels? The Size of the Vessels was from One hundred to Five hundred Tons. I can mention the Names of some of the Ship Owners: the Beebee or Queen of Cananore. This Lady is Queen in her own Right. How many Vessels has she? She had previous to the Monopoly Nine; she has now Four or Five. Chowakkara Kunhy Packey, the Heir of old Moossa, a Man well known on the Western Coast, had Twelve; that is, Moossa himself had. These are reduced, I think, to Seven. I can mention their Names and Burthen. What was the total Number of those Vessels? At one Time, from Twenty to Thirty of from One hundred to Five hundred Tons Burthen, belonging to the above Two Persons and other Ship Owners; besides which there were other Descriptions of Vessels, such as Botillas, Dows, Dingeys, and Patamars and Munchoos. Those smaller Vessels carried on the Coasting Trade? Yes; and some of the largest of them go up to Mocha, Judda and other Places in the Red Sea; also to Muscat, Bushire and Bussora, in the Persian Gulf; Porabunder, Cambay, Cutch, Sind, and a long Way up the Indus. To what Town on the Indus did those Vessels go; did they go to Hydrabad or Sind? Yes; I believe they go up so far at least. I have seen Bales of Cashmere Shawls brought amongst the Return Cargoes." Her family had been there before the Portuguese came and took most of their trade away. You can still visit her palace, which is a small museum today. Nick Balmer

Cussan's does odd things with perspective, but produces really vivid pictures. Before I went to the Wayanad and Kannur in 2006 I had found another of Cussan's paintings supposedly of the Periah Pass. I set about finding its actual location, and here is the story of the journey and our somewhat expected discoveries http://malabardays.blogspot.com/2007/10/40-foot-road-day-7.html Nick Balmer

amazing...I was born and raised in Kannur. I never knew this part of history about my birthplace. Thank you.

40 foot road - Day 7 : Interesting travel diary Nick. Its quite amazing that you could retrace and locate the spot where Cussans painted the view.

Murali, I would really like to ask if you might be able to locate a hill called Cadalay by the British. I think it is hill with the trees on it immediately above the Bebee's Palace. It was the site of a fort in the 17th & 18th Centuries. It was held at one point by Tipu's forces, and later was assaulted by a British force. I have some fascinating accounts of these events, that I would like to put into context. Do you think that might be Cadalay? Because there are few trees in Cussan's painting it is much easier to see the hills than it is today, when so much is covered with trees. Cussan's does however play with perspective, so the scene is not entirely accurate. He makes hills look higher than they actually are. The whole story of the Arrakal family is also very interesting and goes back to somewhere in the 12th Century, they were fantastic seamen. I have been very interested in the Indian Ocean sea lanes before the European arrived, since in the 1980's I was introduced to a Ras Al Khamiah Sheikh in the UAE showed me sailing directions that his family had had in his family for centuries. The Nambiars from Malabar played a very important role in the events of this area. For much of the 18th Century they were allied with the British against both the Ali Rajah's of Kannur and also against the Bednur Rajah from Canara. I have found some extremely interesting accounts of these events. I think I have located some forts from those times at Billiapatam and on Dharmapatam Island, and I hope later this year to go out and to find them on the ground. If you have traditions about these events in your family, I would love to hear them, as other Nairs and Nambiar's and the Moosa family have all told me fascinating stories when I was there. Ramesh my driver from Calicut turned out to have a grandfather from Tellicherry. It was Ramesh who helped me find the mountain in Cussans painting. He had no idea when he was asked to drive me, what I was looking for, but as we spent 10 days together, he grew more and more helpful and interested. Because I cannot speak Malayalam it was a huge help to me, and really made my trip more successful than I could ever have expected. Regards Nick Balmer

Finding the stone where Cussan's sat was an extraordinary one. I was literally walking almost backwards on the verge with the print I had of the picture, trying to see if I could line it up, when I literally stumbled on this rock sticking out of the ground. It had a lovely domed smooth top. The hill up which the track leads goes to a monastery today, but the track still has the same bends. I think the monastery occupies a site that was a British fort during the Pazhassi Rajah campaign. These had garrisons for some years afterwards. I think he had stopped there for the night on his journey. Nick Balmer

Admirable tenacity Nick. Such love for history.