Early and medieval history Mangaluru's historical importance is highlighted by the many references to the city by foreign travellers. During the first century CE, the Roman historian
Pliny the Elder referred to a place called "Nitrias" and said it was an undesirable place for disembarkation because of the pirates who frequented its vicinity, while Greek second-century historian
Ptolemy referenced a place named "Nitra". These references were probably about an area with the
Netravati River which flows through Mangalore. According to
Kerala Muslim tradition, the
Masjid Zeenath Baksh in Mangalore is one of the
oldest mosques in the
Indian subcontinent. According to the
Legend of Cheraman Perumals, the first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD in
Kodungallur with the mandate of the last ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of
Chera dynasty, who left from
Dharmadom to
Mecca and converted to
Islam during the lifetime of
Muhammad (c. 570–632). According to
Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the
Masjids at
Kodungallur,
Kollam,
Madayi,
Barkur, Mangaluru,
Kasaragod,
Kannur,
Dharmadam, Panthalayani (
Koyilandy), and
Chaliyam, were built during the era of
Malik Dinar; they are among the oldest
Masjids in the Subcontinent. It is believed that Malik Dinar died at
Thalangara in
Kasaragod town. Three of the cities, Mangaluru,
Barkur, and
Kasaragod, are in
Tulu Nadu. In the third century BCE, the town formed part of the
Maurya Empire, which was ruled by the Buddhist emperor
Ashoka of
Magadha. From the middle of the seventh century to the end of the 14th century, the South Canara region was ruled by its native Alupa rulers, who ruled over the region as feudatories of major regional dynasties like the
Chalukyas of Badami,
Rashtrakutas of
Manyakheta,
Chalukyas of Kalyani, and
Hoysalas of
Dwarasamudra. During the 1130s and 1140s, during the reign of the Alupa king Kavi Alupendra (1110–1160), the city was home to the
Tunisian Jewish merchant
Abraham Ben Yiju. The
Moroccan traveller
Ibn Battuta, who visited Mangaluru in 1342, referred to it as
Manjarur and stated the town was situated on a large estuary called the
Estuary of the wolf, which was the greatest estuary in the country of Malabar. By 1345 the Vijayanagara rulers brought the region under their control. Often a single governor ruled over both Mangaluru and Barkur rajyas; when the authority passed to the Keladi rulers (1550–1763), they only had a governor at Barkur. which lasted until 1695.|309x309px ,
Hampankatta, served as a lookout for the
British.|alt= In 1498, European influence in Mangaluru began when the Portuguese explorer
Vasco da Gama landed at the nearby
St Mary's Islands, just after his arrival at
Koyilandy,
Kozhikode. The Portuguese acquired many commercial interests in Canara in the 16th century.
Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529), the ruler of the Vijaynagara empire maintained a friendly relationship with the Portuguese, whose trade slowly grew and they strove to destroy the coastal Arab and
Mappila trade. The 16th century work
Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen written by
Zainuddin Makhdoom II appears to be the first historical work written in detail about the contemporary history of Mangaluru. It is written in
Arabic and contains pieces of information about the resistance put up by the navy of
Kunjali Marakkar alongside the
Zamorin of
Calicut from 1498 to 1583 against Portuguese attempts to colonize
Tulu Nadu and
Malabar coast. After the disintegration of the Vijaynagara Empire in 1565, the rulers of Keladi attained greater power in dealing with the coastal Canara region. In 1695, Arabs burnt the town in retaliation to Portuguese restrictions on Arab trade. which was brought under his administration until 1767. Mangaluru was ruled by the
British East India Company from 1767 to 1783, but Hyder Ali's son Tipu Sultan took it from their control in 1783 and renamed it "Jalalabad". The
Second Anglo–Mysore War ended with the signing of the
Treaty of Mangalore by Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. After the defeat of Tipu at the
Fourth Anglo–Mysore War, the city remained under British control. South Canara district was the headquarters under the Madras Presidency.
Francis Buchanan, a Scottish physician who visited Mangalore in 1801, said the city was a prosperous port with plentiful trade. The main commodity of export was rice; it went to
Muscat,
Bombay,
Goa, and
Malabar. After European missionaries arrived in the early 19th century, educational institutions and modern industries modelled on European ones were developed in the region. The opening of the
Lutheran Swiss
Basel Mission in 1834 was an important step towards industrialisation. Missionaries set up printing presses, textile mills and factories that made
Mangaluru tiles.
Later modern and contemporary history On 23 May 1866, a municipal council for Mangaluru with responsibility for civic amenities and urban planning was mandated by the Madras Town Improvement Act (1865). Mangaluru was linked to the
Southern Railway in 1907 and the subsequent proliferation of motor vehicles in India further increased trade and communication between the city and the rest of the country. Mangaluru was a major source of educated workers to
Bombay, Bengaluru, and the Middle East by the early 20th century. Mangaluru is the seventh-largest port of India, giving the state access to the Laccadive Sea coastline. Between 1970 and 1980, Mangalore experienced significant growth with the opening of
New Mangalore Port in 1974 and commissioning of Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited in 1976. The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw Mangaluru develop as a commercial and petrochemical hub. ==Geography==