Parur church is probably Palur, or Pazhur, which is one of
those ascribed to St. Thomas, for Dr. Buchanan says it bears the name of
the Apostle, and "is supposed to be the oldest in Malabar." (Christ. Res.
p. 113.)
[Quilon is "one of the oldest towns on the coast, from whose re-foundation
in 1019 A.D., Travancore reckons its era." (Hunter, Gaz., XI., p.
339.) - H.C.]
How Polo comes to mention Coilum before Comari is a question that will be
treated further on, with other misplacements of like kind that occur in
succeeding chapters.
[Illustration: Syrian Church at Caranyachirra (from "Life of Bp. D.
Wilson"), showing the quasi-Jesuit facade generally adopted in modern
times.]
[Illustration: Interior of Syrian Church at Kutteiyan in Travancore. (From
"Life of Bp. D. Wilson.")]
Kublai had a good deal of diplomatic intercourse of his usual kind with
Kaulam. De Mailla mentions the arrival at T'swan chau (or Zayton) in 1282
of envoys from KIULAN, an Indian State, bringing presents of various
rarities, including a black ape as big as a man. The Emperor had three
times sent thither an officer called Yang Ting-pi (IX. 415). Some rather
curious details of these missions are extracted by Pauthier from the
Chinese Annals. The royal residence is in these called A-pu-'hota[4]
The king is styled Pinati. I may note that Barbosa also tells us that
the King of Kaulam was called Benate-deri (devar?). And Dr. Caldwell's
kindness enables me to explain this title. Pinati or Benate represents
Venadan. "the Lord of the Venadu," or Venattu, that being the name of
the district to which belonged the family of the old kings of Kollam, and
Venadan being their regular dynastic name. The Rajas of Travancore who
superseded the Kings of Kollam, and inherit their titles, are still
poetically styled Venadan. (Pauthier, p. 603 seqq.; Ram. I. f. 304.)
NOTE 2. - The brazil-wood of Kaulam appears in the Commercial Handbook of
Pegolotti (circa 1340) as Verzino Colombino, and under the same name
in that of Giov. d'Uzzano a century later. Pegolotti in one passage
details kinds of brazil under the names of Verzino salvatico,
dimestico, and columbino. In another passage, where he enters into
particulars as to the respective values of different qualities, he names
three kinds, as Colomni, Ameri, and Seni, of which the Colomni (or
Colombino) was worth a sixth more than the Ameri and three times as much
as the Seni. I have already conjectured that Ameri may stand for
Lameri referring to Lambri in Sumatra (supra ch.
