Fiction: Eranimos stirs controversies since he does not resemble his fair-skinned ancestors

The Adhikarathil family was one among the ancient, venerated Christian families of Kerala. The distinctive family history written after considerable research and genealogical studies, under the supervision of MP Padmanabha Panicker, underscores this facet of that noble family.

Afroth, the brother of Mar Sapir Iso, the custodian of the Tharisa Church, was the family’s progenitor in 842 CE. He hailed from Persia, and as per the royal decree, he married Maninanga, from the Puniyarath Mana, a nampoothiri tharavad. The Adhikarathil family sprung from that union.

Venad chieftain Ayyan Adikal Thiruvadikal had granted Syrian Christians seventy-two land grants such as of Thalakkanam, Enikkanam, Meniponnu, Polippennu, Iravuchoru and Kutanazhi. The family name Adhikarathil – which in the vernacular means authority – could have come from these grants.

Whatever it may have been, the family had emerged from the union of two noble lineages, one native and one foreign. This meant that its members were tall and fair.

As one of the pre-eminent families in the history of Christianity in Kerala, in order to protect the tradition of purity of their pedigree and lineage, the Adhikarathil family had laid down a few strict bye-laws:

1. When brides are chosen for the family, their bloodline, going back at least five generations, should...

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