'' (1st century CE) ( The Ruler Of Kannur ) Minister Kuruppu's
Arabic Letter To
Vasco da Gama (1524)|235x235px
Pre-history and Ancient era The earliest evidence of human habitation in the region are rock-cut caves and megalithic burial sites of the
Neolithic age. The
Taliparamba-Kannur-
Thalassery area abounds in rock-cut caves,
dolmens, burial stone circles and
menhirs, all of
megalith. Kannur District was the seat of powerful kingdom based at
Ezhimala in the
Sangam period (1st–5th century CE). The ancient port of
Naura, which is mentioned in the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a port somewhere north of
Muziris is identified with Kannur.
Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) states that the port of
Tyndis was located at the northwestern border of
Keprobotos (
Chera dynasty). The region, which lies north of the port at
Tyndis, was ruled by the kingdom of
Ezhimala during the
Sangam period. According to the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a region known as
Limyrike began at
Naura and
Tyndis. However the
Ptolemy mentions only
Tyndis as the
Limyrike's starting point. The region probably ended at
Kanyakumari; it thus roughly corresponds to the present-day
Malabar Coast. The value of
Rome's annual trade with the region was estimated at 50,000,000
sesterces.
Pliny the Elder mentioned that
Limyrike was prone by pirates. The
Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that the
Limyrike was a source of peppers. The kingdom of
Ezhimala had jurisdiction over two
Nadus – The coastal
Poozhinadu and the hilly eastern
Karkanadu. According to the works of
Sangam literature,
Poozhinadu consisted much of the coastal belt between
Mangalore and
Kozhikode.
Karkanadu consisted of
Wayanad-
Gudalur hilly region with parts of
Kodagu (Coorg). It is said that Nannan, the most renowned ruler of
Ezhimala dynasty, took refuge at
Wayanad hills in the 5th century CE when he was lost to
Cheras, just before his execution in a battle, according to the
Sangam works. According to
Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the
Masjids at
Kodungallur,
Kollam,
Madayi,
Barkur,
Mangalore,
Kasaragod, Kannur,
Dharmadam,
Panthalayani, and
Chaliyam, were built during the era of
Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest
Masjids in the
Indian subcontinent. It is believed that
Malik Dinar died at
Thalangara in
Kasaragod town. harbour at
Ayikkara. On one side, there is
St. Angelo Fort (built in 1505) and on the other side is
Arakkal palace. Ezhimala kingdom was succeeded by
Mushika dynasty in the early medieval period, most possibly due to the migration of
Tuluva Brahmins from
Tulu Nadu. The
Mushika-vamsha Mahakavya, written by
Athula in the 11th century, throws light on the recorded past of the
Mushika Royal Family up until that point. The kingdom of
Kolathunadu, who were the descendants of
Mushika dynasty, at the peak of its power reportedly extended from
Netravati River (
Mangalore) in the north to
Korapuzha (
Kozhikode) in the south with
Arabian Sea on the west and
Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of
Lakshadweep in the
Arabian Sea. The
Arabic inscription on a copper slab within the
Madayi Mosque in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE. In his book on travels (
Il Milione),
Marco Polo recounts his visit to the area in the mid 1290s. Other visitors included
Faxian, the Buddhist pilgrim and
Ibn Batuta, writer and historian of
Tangiers. The
Kolathunadu in the late medieval period emerged into independent 10 principalities i.e.,
Kadathanadu (
Vadakara),
Randathara or Poyanad (
Dharmadom),
Kottayam (
Thalassery),
Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu (
Panoor,
Kurumbranad etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions. The
Nileshwaram dynasty on the northernmost part of
Kolathiri dominion, were relatives to both Kolathunadu as well as the
Zamorin of
Calicut, in the early medieval period. Kannur was an important trading center in the 12th century, with active business connections with
Persia and
Arabia. The port at
Kozhikode held the superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur,
Kollam, and
Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather.
Era of European influences Kannur served as the
East India Company military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. In 1501 a Portuguese factory was planted here by
Pedro Álvares Cabral, and in 1502 da Gama made a treaty with the Raja.
Arakkal Kingdom and
Chirakkal kingdom were two vassal kingdoms based in the city of Kannur. The island of
Dharmadom near Kannur, along with
Thalassery, was ceded to the
East India Company as early as 1734, which were claimed by all of the
Kolattu Rajas,
Kottayam Rajas,
Mannanar and
Arakkal Bibi in the late medieval period, where the British initiated a factory and English settlement following the
cession. Initially the British had to suffer local resistance against their rule under the leadership of
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, who had popular support in
Thalassery-
Wayanad region. File:Cannonore fort & Bay'; a watercolor by John Johnston, c.1795-1801.jpg|
Cannonore fort & Bay'; a watercolor by John Johnston, c.1795-1801 File:City of Cannanore, 1572.jpg|A portrait of Kannur drawn in 1572, from
Georg Braun and
Frans Hogenberg's atlas
Civitates orbis terrarum, Volume I == Geography ==