The Alummoottil family, an aristocratic Ezhava Tharavad from Karthikapally Taluk in Alappuzha, Kerala, India, experienced significant prosperity from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Historically dating back to the early 1600s, the family's lineage saw its zenith during these centuries. In the 1700s, the Alummoottil family provided cavalry regiments, mounted soldiers, lances, and war horses to the Maharaja of Odanad. They were also renowned for their mastery in Kalaripayattu, a traditional martial art of Kerala. The family managed 64 Kalaripayattu training centers, supplying substantial numbers of infantrymen and mounted soldiers to the kingdom each year. The Alummoottil chieftains (Karanavars) were also the instructors (Gurukkals) at these centers.However, the family's military influence waned after King Marthanda Varma's annexation of the Kayamkulam kingdom into Travancore in 1746. Later, the Alummoottil Karanavar aligned with Varma under specific conditions, leading to a renewed role in the Travancore kingdom.The family shifted focus to trade post the fall of the Odanad kingdom. By the 1750s, they controlled a significant portion of the spice trade between Europe and Southern Kerala, becoming one of the highest tax-payers in Travancore. AP Udayabhanu's novel Ente Kadha Illaymakal even suggests they were wealthier than the King of Travancore by the early 1800s.Internal conflicts in the early 20th century led to the assassination of Kochu Kunju Channar, the second-last Karanavar, in March 1921. His nephew and main accused, AP Shreedharan Channar, was executed later that year.The last Karanavar, Kochu Krishnan Channar, divided the family's wealth among descendants in the 1940s, marking the end of one of Kerala's wealthiest families. Their ancestral home, the Alummoottil Meda (mansion) in Muttom, Kerala, features a courtyard (nalukettu) over 425 years old and a mansion about 125 years old, representing a significant part of Kerala's heritage.

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