A Letter to a Foreign Dignitary

Shortly after I received my Lux Caidis I was asked by her Grace Duchess Natalya DeFoix if there were a Mughal equivalent to the title "Ladyship". Rather than give her a smarty-pants (smarty-dhoti?) reminder that Vairavi is not Mughal I chose to answer her in persona.

To the most Illuminated and Esteemed Duchess Natalya, greetings from Vairavi of Nellaiappar Temple.

I am writing in response to a recent inquiry from you regarding equivalent titles to the "Ladyship" used in your Kingdom. Although I do not know this Mughal language you speak of the scribe who has read your message to me and in turn writes this one believes that you may be speaking of the invaders of the far North. He says to me they are sometimes called as Muslims and that these words sound alike. Is this perhaps what you mean? They have made trouble for some time and disrupted the land trade routes. We are fairly certain they will not come this far South, as traversing the mountains of the Deccan are difficult enough when one is not burdened with the trappings of war. Fortunately their disputes do little to affect the sea trade which thrives in these southern kingdoms.

As for what the Ladyship would mean in my homeland I am afraid I cannot tell you. Although there may be an equivalent title in existence in the court of our most Noble and Holy King Maravarman Kulasekharan Pandyan, ruler of all Pandyamandalam and scourge of the Cholas, I am afraid I know little of the courtly life. Perhaps if you could tell me more of the duties and honors of this entitlement I could relay the question the next time I write to my younger sister at the temple of Subrahmanyam¹ in my home village of Tiruchendur². She has a far greater interest in the political and courtly doings of our King's court and often questions my honored father on this issue. He has frequently been asked to produce gold jewelry for ladies of the Court and knows quite a bit of these things. I would ask him directly but he does not see the use of spending money for scribes so it will be best to do this through my beloved sister. I hope the delay this will cause will not be upsetting to you.

May Lord Shiva keep and bless you.

Vairavi

¹ Shortly after writing this I was reminded that 'Murugan' is a more Tamil name for Subrahmanyam. ("Tiruchendur: The Sea-Shore Temple of Subrahmanyam", J.M. Somasundaram, 1948 p. 2)

² I also discovered information indicating that during the time of Vairavi's life 'Tiruchendur' would more likely have been known as 'Tiruch-chendil', ' Tiruch-chendiloor' or 'Tiri-bhuvana-madhevi Chadurvedhi-mangalam'. The two former are given as from the time of the Tamil classics and the latter from the later Pandya inscriptions. Unfortunately the latter is also really, really long so I will henceforth use 'Tiruchchendil', as the Classical name for Tiruchendur would surely have been known to Vairavi. ("Tiruchendur: The Sea-Shore Temple of Subrahmanyam", J.M. Somasundaram, 1948 p. 5)