Oru Aikya Kutumbha Charitram (ஒரு ஐக்கிய குடும்ப சரித்திரம்)
The book was written by 1 Rishiyur Vishalakshi Ammal in about 1935 & published with a Foreword by 2 0f her daughters in that year.
The Publisher : the Author's Daughter Sister Subbulakshmi
A 3rd daughter of Vishalakshi Ammal was R S Subbulakshmi Ammal, famous as Sister Subbulakshmi of Ice House Widows home - she published this book by her mother.
A further reference to ஐக்கிய குடும்ப சரித்திரம் & Sister Subbulakshmi is here : http://www.tamilonline.com/
Since Sister Subbulakshmi's dates are 1886-1969, Vishalakshi Ammal must have been born around 1865 & wrote the book c. 1930-35 or so.
For a Brahmin woman born in that era, she is very well versed in Tamil & has admirable writing skills - considering most Brahmin women of that period were illiterate.
The Brhacharanam Diaspora
Rishiyur, Vaiyakalathur etc are Agraharam villages in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu (TN) near Needamangalam (which, I learn from this book, was originally known as Yamunambal Puram).
These are Brhacharanam families, my own sect & LATER known in TN as Mazhanattu or Malanattu Brhacharanam - although Visalakshi Ammal takes this to mean FERTILE Chozha Nadu (see the intro to the book in Chapter 1), the more widely understood meaning of Mazhanadu/Malanadu is Kerala, i.e, Malai Nadu or the hill country.
I have explained further on what I mean by LATER - see below under Vamsha Deepika by R S Venkatarama Iyer (published 1958) .
This tag was attached to A SUB-GROUP out of a group of families who moved to Kerala from villages near Tiruvaiyaru, such as Agaramangudi, Kapisthalam, Melattur & even Chandrasekharapuram (15-18 miles from Tiruvaiyaru). This migration was between the 11th-16th Centuries AD.
Kerala & the Mazhanattu/Malanattu
Collectively, the folk - like me - from this main group are known in Kerala as Mangudi Brhacharanam - since the principal wave went from Agaramangudi & the village cluster around it.
But Mangudi Brhacharanam is in use only among Palghat Iyers - the name tag Mazhanattu/Malanattu Brhacharanam is used in TN but the context is different.
Some from the Tarakkad & Manjeri groups RETURNED TO TN in the 18th Century. They are the 1s known as Malanattu/Mazhanattu Brhacharanam.
Vamsha Deepika by R S Venkatarama Iyer (published 1958)
The sequel to Oru Aikya Kutumbha Charitram is Vamsha Deepika - written by R S Venkatarama Iyer, nephew of Visalakshi Ammal in 1958.
It is written in crisp English rather than Tamil - & not only brings up to date the story of the various family lineages of Vishalakshi Ammal's book BUT goes into some further detail about the circumstances relating to the movement Palghat Diaspora as well. And we can take Venkatarama Iyer's formulations in this respect to be the definitive account of the emigration to Kerala & the return to TN - leading to an understanding of the origins of the term Mazhanattu/Malanattu Brhacharanam.
The relevant excerpt from Vamsha Deepika : 
"About the eleventh century A.D. a big migration of Tamil Brahmins appears to have taken place from Tamil Nad to Malayalam, where they were welcomed by the rulers and accommodated in comfort in big Agraharams as in Palghat, Cochin and Trivandrum.
This migration must have taken place before the time of Ramanuja, the great Vaishnavite Saint, as we find no Aiyangars among Malabar Tamil Brahmins.
The sub-division of Brihacharanam, Vadama, Ashtasahasram and Vathiama appear to have been prevalent from very early times; as all these divisions are represented among the Malabar Tamil Brahmins.
A small section of the Brihacharanam Brahmins who settled in Palghat, appears to have returned to the Cauvery basin before 1600 A.D. and taken abode in about
forty villages from Bommalapalayam near Kodumudi in the west to Velukudi near Tiruvarur in the east. These people are and have been known as the ``Malainattu
Brihacharanam'' originally as having come from Malaiyalam or the Hill country.
The view that ``Mazhavannadu'', the old name of Lalgudi and surrounding area, gave the community its name is not sound; for, the Brahmins of other divisions like
Vadama, Kaniyalars, Ashtashasram and other sects of Brihacharanams, living in that region far out numbered this small community.
Vadama, Kaniyalars, Ashtashasram and other sects of Brihacharanams, living in that region far out numbered this small community.
If the land gave them the name, all these communities should have been known by that name, which is not a fact.
This community having but recently come and settled in the east are comparatively poor, not having had the time to build up resources to buy large landed estates as the other Brahmin communities in the area have done. Moreover the main profession of a large section of this small community has been Purohitam or Priest-craft.
Some of the customs and practices of this community are more akin to those found in Malabar than to what prevailed among the other Brahmins of Trichy and Tanjore. Some of their idiomatic phrases and proverbs are also distinctly of the type spoken by the Malabar Tamils e.g. the word ``Chittammai'' they use to denote one's mother's younger sister and also father's younger brother's wife. The Mazhanattu community are chiefly noted for the purity of their Vedaparayanam and proficiency in the performance of Vedic sacrifices.
Of the forty and odd villages where this small community lives the big-sized villages are all in the Tirchy district, where they first settled. An over-flow from these villages appears to have crossed the River Coleroon near Tirukattupalli and formed the new villages of Puduchatram, Vishnampettai, Varahur, Mallakudi.
Another small section went beyond Tiruvaiyar and formed the villages of Thandangurai, Vaiyacheri, Nellicheri, and Agaramangudi, near the township of Ayyampet. A still smaller section moved south of Kumbakonam and settled near Nidamangalam in the villages of Vaiakalathore, Mullavasal, Rishiyur, Puvanur and also in Velukudi near Tiruvarur.
Somewhere about 1750 A.D. a small portion of this community from Mangudi, Puvanur, and surrounding villages remigrated to Malabar and resettled in villages of Tarakad in Palghat and Manjeri in Walluvanad. These new comers are known in Malabar even today as the ``Mangudi People''.
Both the books can be accessed here :.... .... .... (Omitted/Edited out by me since not relevant)
Generations of Vedic chanting produced in this community Maha Vaidyanatha Aiyer, the celebrated vocal musician of the last century who was acknowledged by all to have been gifted with the richest and sweetest masculine voice ever heard. This community can also take pride in having produced a G.Subramania Aiyer, a Euclid Srinivasa Iyer and a C.V.Raman, the eminent Nobel Prizeman, who is still happily with us.
Of the forty and odd villages where this small community lives the big-sized villages are all in the Tirchy district, where they first settled. An over-flow from these villages appears to have crossed the River Coleroon near Tirukattupalli and formed the new villages of Puduchatram, Vishnampettai, Varahur, Mallakudi.
Another small section went beyond Tiruvaiyar and formed the villages of Thandangurai, Vaiyacheri, Nellicheri, and Agaramangudi, near the township of Ayyampet. A still smaller section moved south of Kumbakonam and settled near Nidamangalam in the villages of Vaiakalathore, Mullavasal, Rishiyur, Puvanur and also in Velukudi near Tiruvarur.
Somewhere about 1750 A.D. a small portion of this community from Mangudi, Puvanur, and surrounding villages remigrated to Malabar and resettled in villages of Tarakad in Palghat and Manjeri in Walluvanad. These new comers are known in Malabar even today as the ``Mangudi People''.
To Complete the Story
Yes, there we have it - as authentic as it could get, about the Kerala Diaspora, the Return to TN of some & the Re-emigration to Kerala (Tarakad & Manjeri).
And, yes, we are known as Mangudi Brhacharanam & indeed my father's family is known to have hailed from Agaramangudi near Tiruvaiyar.
That does not, however, necessarily mean that we were 1 of those who went back to TN & returned in 1750 to Kerala - since all Brhacharanams in Kerala, as far as I know, have the Mangudi prefix tacked on to their sub-sect description. And this includes those from the villages nearabout Agaramangudi too - such as Kapisthalam or even Chandrasekharapuram (where my mother's family is believed to have moved from).
Furthermore, every1 in my wider family & circle has had an ancestral connection with Tarakad or Manjeri (wherever in Kerala or elsewhere they may reside today).
And many of the names in the Family Trees presented in Vishalakshi Ammal's book - Vaidyanathan, Ranganathan, Subramanian, Anandam, Meenambal, Annapurni & so on - appear with amazingly monotonous repetition among the Mangudi Brhacharanam - as these names are handed down from a grandparent to the grandchild. These names are also after the deities in the temples in the clusters of Mazhnattu/Malanattu Brhacharanam villages mentioned by R S Venkatarama Iyer. That there is a Jatavallabhar in @ least 1 Family Tree could be diagnostic too (given that there is 1 in my mother's ancestry). All this reinforces the suggestion or fact of common lineage as between the Mazhanattu/Malanattu & Mangudi Brhacharanams.
The Absence of Vaishnavites in the Kerala Diaspora
R S Venkatarama Iyer is quite right when says (see the extract above from his book) there are no Vaishnavites to be found among the emigrants to Kerala.
But, is heright when he avers that : "This migration must have taken place before the time of Ramanuja, the great Vaishnavite Saint, as we find no Aiyangars among Malabar Tamil Brahmins".
No, he is not - yes, the Brahmin migration did start in the 11-12th Centuries as a trickle but it continued well into the 18th Century, long after the time of Ramanuja. So, Vaishnavite Iyengars were very much present in increasing numbers in the Tamil Country from the 12-13th Centuries onwards.
And the Iyengars did move in large numbers to Melkote, Mandya (both places in Karnataka), Tirupati in Andhra & so on. And are still to be found in these locations.
So, if the Vaishnavites did not move to Kerala we have to look for the right reasons instead of placing the blame on Ramanuja (for not having been born earlier than the 11th Century).
What we can say with confidence is that : 👇
A. Vaishnavites - being a relatively newfounded & smaller grouping - always moved where their Preceptors moved, eg : Ramanuja took a number of them to both Melkote & Tirupati (as well as some locations in the North). A Preceptor such as Ramanuja or Vedanta Deshika or 1 of their disciples was of critical importance (given the nascent, incipient state of emergence of the Community in the early days) in keeping the flock together through reinforcement of the tenets & theology.
Even today this trait - of revering & following a Preceptor such as a Jeer - is stronger among Vaishnavites than the much larger grouping, Smartha Iyers.
B. No Preceptor moved to Kerala in those days nor since - thee reason for this can be inferred, i.e, Kerala Vishnu temples & society as a whole - being essentially Advaitic - did not subscribe to strictly Vaishnavite tenets. Moreover the local Nambudiri priests in those temples were strongly entrenched in their positions with the Ruler's support & to this day practice a Tantric (Esoteric) system of worship & ritual very different from the Vaishnavite model.
C. Furthermore, the Rulers in Kerala had no real incentive or motivation to invite the Vaishnavites to emigrate - as they continued to do for centuries in the case of the Iyers. The reasons for this are no doubt the same as in B above - it was natural for these Rajahs to prefer the Advaitic Iyers (even though not Tantric in their temple rituals) instead of meddling with the social fabric & equilibrium of their states by inviting Vaishnavites with their altogether different system of theology.
One needs also to look into how & why the Iyer Migration to Kerala was initiated & why it continued for 5 or 6 centuries thereafter - but that has to be an altogether diiferent, separate blog post - I will publish a brief 1 soon.
The Books
Oru Aikya Kutumbha Charitram is replete with accounts of old customs & practices - a most interesting read, depicting Brahmin Agraharam life, as it was between 100-200 years ago.
And Vamsha Deepika surprises us with its upadate on the progression of the various lineages from the older book - many names are recognisable, it is interesting to see how well many of them fared * how much they accomplished. Many readers may also find family connections in Venkatarama Iyer's narrative.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Q26ZZ7RiOeCOsu19DHKD4CGgGE48JDp4?usp=sharing
