Origin There is no extant written evidence about the emergence of the kingdom of Cochin or of the Cochin royal family, also known as Perumpadapu Swaroopam. All that is recorded are folk tales and stories, and a somewhat blurred historical picture about the origins of the ruling dynasty. The surviving manuscripts, such as
Keralolpathi,
Keralamahatmyam, and
Perumpadapu Grandavari, are collections of myths and legends that are less than reliable as conventional historical sources. The
Perumpadapu Grandavari contains an additional account of the dynastic origins: The last
Thavazhi of
Perumpadapu Swaroopam came into existence on the
Kaliyuga day
shodashangamsurajyam.
Cheraman Perumal divided the land in half, 17 "amsa" north of
Nileshwaram and 17 amsa south, totaling 34 amsa, and gave his powers to his nephews and sons. Thirty-four kingdoms between
Kanyakumari and
Gokarna (now in
Karnataka) were given to the "thampuran" who was the daughter of the last niece of Cheraman Perumal.
Keralolpathi recorded the division of his kingdom in 345
Common Era, Perumpadapu Grandavari in 385
Common Era,
William Logan in 825
Common Era. There are no written records on these earlier divisions of
Kerala, but according to some historians the division might have occurred during the Second
Chera kingdom at the beginning of the 12th century.
Early history The original headquarters of the kingdom was at
Perumpadappu near
Ponnani in present-day
Malappuram district.
Calicut (
Porlathiri kingdom) was conquered by
Zamorin of
Eranad, who then conquered parts of Perumpadappu kingdom, and tried to assert his suzerainty over it. Although losing their northern homeland and original capital, the Perumpadappu dynasty maintained a kingdom over a vast area in central Kerala (still formally referred to as "Perumpadappu Swaroopam"). Their state stretched from Pukkaitha in the north,
Aanamala in the east, to
Purakkad in the south.
Royal dynasty and succession The Perumpadappu dynasty eventually produced five branches (Mutts, Elaya, Pallurutti, Madattumkil and Chaliyur), each with its own family seat, retainers and military of
Nairs. But the five branches (
tavali) came together under a common ruling king (
raja), which was the oldest male member of all five branches together. Succession went via the female line – that is, not to the king's sons, but to his uterine brothers and then to his sisters' sons (i.e. nephews). In theory, the successor should be the next oldest in age among potential candidates. This was later relaxed, and in practice kingship became elective, to ensure the successor was not too old or incompetent. The overlooked true elder was compensated with symbolic or ceremonial dignities (notably the religiously significant title
Muppustanam). Retirement was also forced – it was customary and expected for a king to retire upon reaching a certain old age or military inability, withdrawing to take up a religious life. Power was passed over to his successor, or to a regent until the successor came of age. Succession often led to quarrels among the five branches. The Zamorin of Calicut exploited these family quarrels, sometimes in the role of arbitrator, allowing him to increase his influence in the southern kingdom.
Transition to Cochin The future city of Cochin was originally just a small village along a long embankment. Violent floods and overflows of the
Periyar River in 1341 forced the opening of the outlet between the
Vembanad lagoon and the
Arabian Sea at the juncture where Cochin now sits, separating the long Cochinese peninsula (
karapuram) from what is now
Vypin island. As the waterways connecting Cranganore to the sea were silting up, commercial traffic began re-directing away from Cranganore to the new break at Cochin, and merchant families began to relocate and set up warehouses and eventually homes there. The once-great old port city of
Kodungallur (Cranganore) declined as the new port-city of
Kochi (Cochin) rose in wealth and importance. The urban center of the early city developed on relatively high ground in the village of
Mattancherry (now a district in Kochi city, once called "
Cochim de Cima"). The original owners of the territory of what later became Cochin city was the Ellangallur royal family of the Rajas of
Edapalli (
Repelim) (on the east side of the lagoon). Drawn from the Brahmin class, the Edapalli royal family followed different rules of succession. In the early 1400s, the king of Edapalli had married a sister of the Elaya branch of Perumpadappu, and so their son was doubly royal heir to two houses – via father to Edapalli, via mother to Perumpadappu . But he was apparently not first in the line of succession to Perumpadappu. In the early 1400s, the King of Edapalli granted part of his lands, specifically southern Vypin island and northern part of Karapuram peninsula around the new break, as an appanage fief for his prince son. It was originally not supposed to be a permanent cession, but rather to serve as a training ground, to allow the heir to cultivate his governing skills. Upon succession to his father, he was expected to move across the lagoon to Edapalli, and cede Cochin as a seat to the next heir. As the ruler was always a prince in training, he was addressed as "
Kocchu Thampuran" (meaning 'junior lord' or 'junior king'), thus the fief became known as "Kochi/Cochin" after him. So the original "kingdom of Cochin" (
Kochi rajyam) started off as a small Edapalli offshoot, distinct and separate from the much larger Perumpadappu state. The growing wealth of Cochin gave the junior prince in Cochin power and ascendancy, eventually enabling him to assert himself as king over senior relatives from other branches of the Perumpadappu dynasty, as well as allowing him to detach Cochin from Edapalli, and chart his own separate course. As a result of this transition, the large "kingdom of Perumpadappu" (
Perumpadappu Swaroopam) came to be referred to as the "kingdom of Cochin", During the new kingdom, rules were changed to confine succession within the Elaya branch of Cochin, rather across all branches of Perumpadappu (much to the chagrin of the branches). On the Malabar coast during the early 15th century, Calicut and Cochin were in an intense rivalry, so the
Ming dynasty of China decided to intervene by granting special status to Cochin and its ruler, known as
Keyili (可亦里) to the Chinese. Calicut had been the dominant port-city in the region, but Cochin was emerging as its main rival. This was roughly the situation when the Portuguese arrived in 1500. The kingdom of Cochin was half-in-vassalage, half-at-war with the Zamorin of Calicut. The king of Cochin, Unni Goda Varda (referred to as "Trimumpara Raja" in Portuguese chronicles) was grating at the settlement. He perceived an alliance with Portuguese arms as way to overthrow the Zamorin's power, recover Cochin's independence and impose his ascendancy over his relatives.
Portuguese alliance (1500–1663) -temple, built by the
Portuguese as a gift to Raja Veera Kerala Varma I The Portuguese arrived at
Kappad,
Kozhikode in 1498 during the
Age of Discovery, thus opening a direct sea route from Europe to India. Cochin was the scene of the first European settlement in India. In the year 1500, the
Portuguese Admiral
Pedro Álvares Cabral landed at Cochin after being repelled from
Calicut. The Raja of Cochin welcomed the Portuguese and a treaty of friendship was signed. The raja allowed them to build a
factory at Cochin (and upon Cabral's departure Cochin allowed thirty Portuguese and four
Franciscan friars to stay in the kingdom). Assured by the offer of support, the raja declared war on his enemy, the
Zamorins of Calicut. In 1502, a new expedition under the command of
Vasco da Gama arrived at Cochin, and the friendship was renewed. Vasco da Gama later bombarded Calicut and destroyed the Arab factories there. This enraged the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut, and he attacked Cochin after the departure of Vasco da Gama and destroyed the Portuguese factory. The raja of Cochin and his Portuguese allies were forced to withdraw to
Vypin Island. However, the arrival of a small reinforcement Portuguese fleet and, some days later of
Duarte Pacheco Pereira and the oncoming monsoons alarmed the Zamorin. Calicut recalled the army and abandoned the siege. of
Thomas the Apostle, kept in the sanatorium of a
Syrian Church After securing the throne for the Raja of Cochin, the Portuguese got permission to build a fort –
Fort Emmanuel (at
Fort Kochi, named after the king of Portugal) – surrounding the Portuguese factory, in order to protect it from any further attacks from Calicut and on 27 September 1503 the foundations of a timber fort, the first fort erected by the Portuguese in India, were laid. The entire work of construction was commissioned by the local raja, who supplied workers and material. In 1505, the stone fortress replaced the wooden fort. Later, for a better defence of the town, a fort called
"Castelo de Cima" was built on Vypeen Island. At the departure of the Portuguese fleet, only
Duarte Pacheco Pereira and a small fleet were left in Cochin. Meanwhile, the Zamorin of Calicut formed a massive force and attacked them. For five months, Cochin kingdom was able to drive back
Calicut's assaults, with the help of Pacheco Pereira and his men. The ruler of the
kingdom of Tanur, who was a vassal to the
Zamorin of Calicut, sided with the Portuguese against his overlord at
Kozhikode. However, the allegiance of the
Muslim Mappila merchants in
Tanur region stayed with the
Zamorin of Calicut. The raja of Cochin continued to rule with the help of the Portuguese. Meanwhile, the Portuguese secretly tried to enter into an alliance with the Zamorin. A few later attempts by the Zamorin to conquer the Cochin port were thwarted by the raja of Cochin with the help of the Portuguese. Slowly, the Portuguese armoury at Cochin was increased, presumably to help the king protect Cochin. And for a long a time, right after Goa, Cochin situated in the center of East Indies, was the best place Portugal had in India. From there the Portuguese exported large volumes of spices, particularly pepper. In 1530,
Saint Francis Xavier arrived and founded a Latin
Christian mission. Cochin hosted the grave of
Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese viceroy, who was buried at
St. Francis Church until his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539. Soon after the time of
Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese influence in Kerala declined. During the
British Raj, the Princely State of Cochin was surrounded by British
Malabar District to three sides (i.e., To north, west, and east), and by
Travancore to the south. Meanwhile,
Fort Cochin, which was a part of
Malabar District until 1956, was made a municipality on 1 November 1866, along with
Kannur,
Thalassery,
Kozhikode, and
Palakkad, according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850) of the
British Indian Empire, and its first Municipal Council election with a board of 18 members was conducted in 1883. The Maharajah of Cochin initiated local administration in 1896 by forming town councils in
Mattancherry and
Ernakulam. In 1925, a Kochi legislative assembly was also constituted to help the public participate in the administration. The assembly consisted of 45 members, 10 were officially nominated.
Thottakkattu Madhaviamma was the first woman to be a member of any legislature in India. Cochin was the first princely state to willingly join the new
Dominion of India in 1947. India became a republic on 26 January 1950.
Travancore merged with Cochin to create
Travancore-Cochin, which was in turn unified with the
Malabar district of
Madras Presidency.
Kasaragod was merged into it and
Kanyakumari was removed from it. On 1 November 1956, the
Indian state of
Kerala was formed. == Administration ==