ALLEPPEY’S CULLEN CONNECTION

(🚴‍♂️ Discovering Alleppey on a Bicycle 🚴‍♂️ )

Remembering Lt General William Cullen, the Soldier-Diplomat Who Made Alleppey His Home

        There are times when a bicycle ride through the familiar streets of Alleppey becomes much more than a ride. Every turn of the wheel seems to uncover a forgotten story; every canal, bridge and old street appears to whisper something about the Alleppey that once was.

         A few days ago, my bicycle took me along Cullen Road, one of Alleppey’s familiar thoroughfares connecting Mullackal, the heart of the town, to the Beach, running between and parallel to the Vadai Canal and the Commercial Canal.  🚴‍♀️

        As I pedalled along, a thought crossed my mind: How many of us ‘Alleppeyites’ have travelled along Cullen Road, crossed Cullen Bridge or heard the name “Cullen Saayip” without ever wondering who Cullen was - and why his name continues to live in our town even today?

         The name has sometimes been casually localised in popular speech as 'Kallan ' Road, or simply remembered as the old metalled road.     

          But behind that familiar name lies the story of an extraordinary man - a Scotland-born soldier who rose to become a distinguished British Resident, diplomat, administrator, scholar and naturalist, and who, after nearly two decades in Travancore, chose Alleppey as his home.

Lieutenant General William Cullen - The Resident Who Became a Son of the Soil

          Lieutenant General William Cullen (1785–1862) served as the British Resident at the Courts of Travancore and Cochin from 1840 to 1860, an exceptionally long tenure of nearly twenty years. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Maclean, who died in 1840. 

   Cullen had arrived in India in 1804 as an officer of the Madras Artillery and went on to have a distinguished military career before entering the wider world of diplomacy and administration.

            But Cullen was no ordinary colonial officer.

    Beyond the uniform and official responsibilities of the Resident, he developed a remarkable fascination for the land in which he lived. He studied its people, languages, traditions and natural wealth. He became interested in Malayalam, Indian customs, botany, geology, astronomy, history and antiquities.

              In an age when many British officials remained essentially outsiders, Cullen appears to have immersed himself deeply in the intellectual and cultural life of Travancore.

       He was, in many ways, a soldier who became a scholar - and an administrator who developed a genuine affection for the country he served in.

A Resident and the Travancore Court

       Cullen's relationship with the Travancore Court appears to have been unusually cordial.

               His tenure coincided with the intellectually vibrant reign of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, whose interests extended to music, astronomy, literature and the arts, and subsequently with the reign of Uthram Thirunal.

       Cullen also took a close interest in the quality of Travancore's administration. He respected capable administrators and senior officials. This was perhaps one of Cullen's distinguishing qualities: he could represent British interests firmly while simultaneously appreciating the abilities and achievements of the indigenous administration.

The Scholar Behind the Uniform

      Cullen's intellectual curiosity knew few boundaries. He wrote and corresponded on the geology, flora, culture, history and natural sciences of Travancore, contributing observations to learned journals and maintaining contact with scholars and scientific institutions.

              There is even evidence that he prepared material towards an English - Malayalam dictionary, material which was later referred to by the missionary-scholars.

       His interest in science was not merely academic. Cullen believed that knowledge of the land - its geology, minerals, flora and natural resources - could contribute to the economic development of Travancore.

                It is a fascinating dimension of his personality: beneath the formal uniform of the British Resident was a man driven by curiosity, scholarship and a desire to understand the country around him.

A Legacy in Thiruvananthapuram

        One of Cullen's enduring contributions was his association with the establishment of the institution that eventually became the Napier Museum in Thiruvananthapuram. The museum was established in 1857, and Cullen contributed geological specimens from his own collection. Thus, an institution that would eventually become one of Kerala's best-known cultural landmarks had, among its early influences, the initiative and scientific interests of the British Resident.

        For nearly two decades, Cullen stood at an important intersection between the British Government and the Travancore State. It was a period of considerable administrative, social and intellectual change.

Cullen and the Missionaries - A Complicated Chapter ✝️

         Yet Cullen's story is not without controversy. 

         His relationship with the Christian missionaries of Travancore became increasingly strained, particularly over questions concerning proselytisation, the position of Christian converts and the social changes being demanded in their favour.

          The missionaries increasingly saw themselves as champions of the oppressed and advocates of Christian equality. Cullen, however, viewed the matter from a different perspective. He was the Resident - the representative of the British Government, but also the intermediary with the Travancore State. His responsibility, as he saw it, was to preserve order, respect the authority of the Maharaja and ensure that administrative and social changes took place through lawful governmental processes rather than through missionary pressure.

          The missionaries regarded him as too conservative. Cullen, on the other hand, was reluctant to allow the Resident's office to become an instrument of missionary policy.

And therein lay the heart of the conflict.

 He found himself caught between competing pressures- between missionaries and converts demanding protection and equality on one side, and the Travancore administration and established social interests on the other. His instinct was to ensure that British authority did not become a substitute for the authority of the Travancore Government.

 That position eventually brought him into increasing conflict with missionary interests, and their grievances were carried beyond Travancore to the higher authorities of the Madras Presidency and the Government of India.

           And he came under unwarranted accusations and adverse aspersions.  After nearly twenty years of pristine service, Cullen resigned his office, formally relinquishing his position on 31 December 1859.

But Cullen Did Not Go Home

            And here, perhaps, lies the most touching chapter of the Cullen story. After spending almost twenty years in Travancore, Cullen had become so attached to the land that he did not return to Britain after his retirement.

     He stayed. He chose Alleppey.

             The British soldier and diplomat who had once represented the British Government at the court of the Maharaja decided to spend the remainder of his life in the country that had become his home.

               And in 1862, he died in Alleppey.

Cullen Memorial 

    His niece, Marion F. Marjoribanks, erected a memorial to him in the compound of the CSI Church near Kochukada Paalam, on the north bank of the Commercial Canal - today associated with Thomas Norton Road- where he was laid to rest.

              The inscription on the monument is particularly poignant:

“To Lt General William Cullen,

 Who as Resident at the court of the Rajah of Travancore and Cochin twenty years, from 1840 to 1860, was no less devoted to the British Government which he represented, than to the development of the best interests of the population and the country, which he had made his home.”

              Those last words say something profound:

               “The country, which he had made his home.” - For me, that is perhaps the most enduring tribute to Cullen.

The Silent Graves of Old Alleppey

             The cemetery of the CSI Church in Alleppey holds another fascinating, largely forgotten chapter of our town's colonial past. Tucked away in its quiet corners are old graves bearing the names of British men, women and children - among them military officers and members of their families. Some date back to the nineteenth century, when Alleppey was emerging as one of the most important commercial and maritime centres of the Malabar coast.

              Standing before these weathered tombstones inevitably raises questions.

              Were some of these officers posted here temporarily? Did some come to Alleppey in connection with its thriving port and commerce Or, like Cullen, did they eventually choose this distant corner of Travancore as their adopted home?

              Perhaps some simply found here a climate, landscape and way of life that had become familiar and dear to them.

              The CSI Church would naturally have been an important spiritual and social centre for the Christian and European community of those days.

              Today, these old tombstones are far more than markers of the dead. They are silent witnesses to another Alleppey - an Alleppey of sailing ships, bustling canals, busy warehouses, European merchants, soldiers, administrators and families who lived out their lives far from the land of their birth.

              Every epitaph seems to whisper a story.

              A military career.! A family separated from home.! A life spent in the service of an empire.! And, sometimes, an unexpected love for Alleppey.!!

              The inscriptions of Captain James Power and Eliza, wife of Captain James Falconer, among others, offer tantalising glimpses into this forgotten chapter of our town's history.

And Then There Was “Cullen Home” …

               But Cullen's story has a personal connection for me too. As a boy of perhaps eleven or twelve, I remember seeing an old, stately bungalow near the present SBI branch, close to the YMCA Bridge.

              It bore an intriguing name: - “Cullen Home.”

               As a young boy, I often wondered about the rather grand and exotic name attached to that house. What made it even more intriguing was that the house was, at the time, occupied by one of my father's close friends, Mr P. A. Punnoose Kutty Maman - our beloved “Uncle.”

              The old bungalow has long since disappeared, replaced by a commercial complex.

      But now, after learning more about William Cullen, that childhood memory has returned with a new meaning.

               I cannot help wondering: Was that the very “Cullen Home” where General William Cullen spent his final years? 🤔 There are also suggestions that his residence may have been somewhere around Sea View Ward, near the Beach.

                I cannot say with certainty.😟

               Perhaps further research - or an old map, municipal record, family document or forgotten photograph - may one day solve the mystery.

       And perhaps that is what makes history so fascinating. Sometimes, it begins with nothing more than a childhood memory.

Cullen Saayip - An Alleppey Story That Refuses to Disappear

              Today, William Cullen's name survives quietly in the landscape of Alleppey:

      Cullen Road.

              Cullen Bridge.

              Cullen Home.

              And the memorial of “Cullen Saayip.”

               The man himself has been gone for more than 160 years. Yet his name remains woven into the everyday fabric of our town. He came to Travancore as a British Resident. He served the British Crown as a soldier and diplomat. He engaged with the Travancore State as an administrator and intermediary.  He explored Kerala as a scholar and naturalist.

      He sometimes found himself in controversy as a reformer and custodian of administrative prudence.

              And finally, he chose to remain here - not in Britain, but in Alleppey.

             He died here. He was buried here. And, in a quiet sense, he became part of the story of this town.

A Soldier Who Became an Alleppeyite

              History rarely gives us people who can be neatly placed into categories.

              Cullen was a product of his time, and his legacy inevitably carries the complexities and contradictions of the colonial era.

              But history should also allow us to acknowledge the individual behind the office.

              A soldier. A distinguished military officer. A diplomat. A scholar. A naturalist. An administrator. A man who could have returned to his homeland after nearly twenty years of service - but chose instead to remain in the land that had captured his imagination and affection.

      **He came here as the Resident of Travancore.  He remained in Alleppey by choice. And he died here as one of the many people - near and far - whose lives became intertwined with the story of this remarkable town.**

               Perhaps that is the real joy of “Discovering Alleppey on a Bicycle.” 🚴‍♂️ The bicycle takes us forward. But the names beneath our wheels take us backwards through time. So, the next time we pedal along Cullen Road, cross Cullen Bridge, or pass the quiet memorial of “Cullen Saayip” near Kochukada Paalam, perhaps we might pause for a moment.

      Look around. 🚴‍♂️ 🚴‍♂️

               And remember the man behind the name.

               Lieutenant General William Cullen  -  Soldier. Scholar. Diplomat. Administrator. Resident of Travancore. And, ultimately, an “Alleppeyite” by choice. 🙏🫡

               And as I continue my bicycle rides through the streets of the town that has been my cradle of childhood, Brindavana of youth and Varanasi of old age, I realise that Alleppey still has countless stories waiting to be discovered.

     All we have to do is keep pedalling. 🚴‍♂️

        🚴‍♂️ Discovering Alleppey, one road - and one forgotten story - at a time. 🚴‍♂️ 🤔

-               - Ravi Nair -