The Tholanikunnel Family has got only two hundred and fifty years of history. The unique aspect of its history is that the founder of the family Rev. Dn. Adai was not from India but from Edessa in Mesopotamia. Edessa was the birth place of the Syriac language and also in the early centuries one of the most important centres of the Christian church Edessa was blessed with a University for theological studies and other educational institutions, monasteries and cultural centres. The people in Edessa were therefore educated and civilized and they had perpetual relations with the outside world. The founder of the Tholanikunnel Family Rev. Dn. Adai reached Kerala in the year 1747 with the Armenian merchants as a translator. He knew very well Syriac, Arabic, Armenian and portugese languages. In Kerala he learned Malayalam also. During that period Palai was a main centre for spice trade. Many foreign merchants approached the King of Palai to buy the spices. The king was darely in need of a translator and the King found in Rev. Dn. Adai the best suitable person for translation. Thus Dn. Adai became an employee in the Palace of the King in Palai. During this time Dn. Adai established very good friendship with the leader of the army Tholanikunnel Mullu Panicker