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{{Keralahistory}}
[[File:1-keralam.svg|thumb|Kerala]]
''[[Kerala]]'' was first epigraphically recorded as ''Cheras'' ([[Chera dynasty|Keralaputra]]) in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by the [[Mauryan]] emperor [[Ashoka]] of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]].<ref name="Kerala 2011">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kerala |title=Kerala |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 December 2011}}</ref> It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the [[Chola Empire|Cholas]], [[Pandya Empire|Pandyas]] and [[Athiyamān|Satyaputras]].<ref name="SmithJackson2008">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bP7DzXQBoM4C&pg=PA166 |title=History of India, in Nine Volumes: Vol. II – From the Sixth Century BCE to the Mohammedan Conquest, Including the Invasion of Alexander the Great |last1=Smith |first1=Vincent A. |author-link1=Vincent A. Smith |last2=Jackson |first2=A. V. Williams |author-link2=A. V. Williams Jackson |date=2008 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-60520-492-5 |pages=166– |access-date=1 August 2012}}</ref> The Cheras transformed Kerala into an international trade centre by establishing trade relations across the [[Arabian Sea]] with all major [[Mediterranean]] and [[Red Sea]] ports as well those of [[Eastern Africa]] and the [[Far East]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://journals.openedition.org/afriques/3097?lang=en |title=East Africa and oceanic exchange networks between the first and fifteenth centuries |first=Philippe |last=Beaujard |date=2015 |journal=Afriques |number=6 |doi=10.4000/afriques.3097|doi-access=free }}</ref> The dominion of Cheras was located in one of the key routes of the ancient [[Indian Ocean trade]]. The early Cheras collapsed after repeated attacks from the neighboring [[Chola Empire|Cholas]] and [[Rashtrakuta Empire|Rashtrakutas]].

In the 8th century, [[Adi Shankara]] was born in [[Kalady]] in central Kerala. He travelled extensively across the [[Indian subcontinent]] founding institutions of the widely influential philosophy of [[Advaita Vedanta]]. The Cheras regained control over Kerala in the 9th century until the kingdom was dissolved in the 12th century, after which small autonomous chiefdoms, most notably [[Zamorin of Calicut|the Kingdom of Kozhikode]], arose. The ports of [[Kozhikode]] and [[Kochi]] acted as major gateways to the western coast of medieval [[South India]] for several foreign entities. These entities included the [[Chinese people|Chinese]], the [[Arab]]s, the [[Persians]], various groups from Eastern Africa, various kingdoms from [[Southeast Asia]] including the [[Malacca Sultanate]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1800/indian-ocean-trade-before-the-european-conquest/ |title=Indian Ocean Trade before the European Conquest |first=James |last=Hancock |date=20 July 2021 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> and later on, the [[Europe]]ans.<ref name="Malabar"/>

In the 14th century, the [[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]] was founded by [[Madhava of Sangamagrama]] in [[Kingdom of Tanur|Thrissur]]. Some of the contributions of the school included the discovery of the [[infinite series]] and taylor series of some trigonometry functions.<ref name=katz>{{Cite journal |last=Katz |first=Victor J. |author-link=Victor J. Katz |date=June 1995 |title=Ideas of Calculus in Islam and India |journal=[[Mathematics Magazine]] |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=163–174 |doi=10.1080/0025570X.1995.11996307 |issn=0025-570X |jstor=2691411}}</ref>

In 1498, with the help of [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] merchants, [[Portugal|Portuguese]] traveler [[Vasco Da Gama]] established a sea route to [[Kozhikode]] by sailing around the [[Cape of Good Hope]], located in the southernmost region of Africa. His navy raised Portuguese forts and even minor settlements, which marked the beginning of European influences in India. European trading interests of the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]], [[Louis XIV's East India Company|French]] and the [[East India Company|British]] took center stage in Kerala.

In 1741, the Dutch were [[Travancore–Dutch War|defeated]] by [[Travancore]] king [[Marthanda Varma]]. After this humiliating defeat, Dutch military commanders were taken hostage by Marthanda Varma, and they were forced to train the Travancore military with modern European weaponry. This resulted in Travancore being able to defend itself from further European aggression. By the late 18th century, most of the influence in Kerala came from the British. The British crown gained control over Northern Kerala through the creation of the [[Malabar District]]. The British also allied with the [[princely states]] of Travancore and [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]] in the southern part of the state.

When India declared [[Indian independence movement|independence]] in 1947, Travancore originally sought to establish itself as a fully sovereign nation. However, an agreement was made by the then King of Travancore [[Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma]] to have Travancore join India, albeit after many rounds of negotiation. The [[Malabar District]] and the [[Kingdom of Cochin]] were peacefully annexed into India without much hassle. The state of Kerala was created in 1956 from the former state of [[Travancore-Cochin]], the [[Malabar district]] and the [[Kasaragod taluk]] of [[South Canara]] District of [[Madras state]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/yw/2003/11/01/stories/2003110101270300.htm |title=The land that arose from the sea |first=Hemjit |last=Bharathan |date=1 November 2003 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2009-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040117071454/http://www.hindu.com/yw/2003/11/01/stories/2003110101270300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 January 2004}}</ref> The state is called ''Keralam'' in Malayalam, due to its grammatical addition of [[Anusvara]].

== Other names ==
The term ''Malabar'' has historically been used in [[Indian Ocean trade|foreign trade circles]] as a general name for [[Kerala]].<ref name="Malabar">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAlXPgAACAAJ&q=%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3+%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82 |title=Kerala Charitram |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |author-link=A. Sreedhara Menon |date=2007 |orig-date=1967 |location=[[Kottayam]] |publisher=[[DC Books]] |edition=Revised |isbn=978-8-12641-588-5}}</ref> In earlier times, the term ''Malabar'' had also been used to denote [[Tulu Nadu]] and [[Kanyakumari district|Kanyakumari]] which lie contiguous to Kerala on the southwestern coast of India, in addition to the modern state of Kerala.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.3200/page/n1/mode/2up |title=Madras District Manuals – South Canara (Volume I) |first=J. |last=Sturrock |date=1894 |location=[[Madras]] |publisher=Madras Government Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/travancorestate00aiyagoog/page/n10/mode/2up |title=The Travancore State Manual |last=Nagam Aiya |first=V. |author-link=V. Nagam Aiya |date=1906 |publisher=Travancore Government Press}}</ref> The people of Malabar were known as ''[[Malabars]]''. From the time of [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] (6th century CE) itself, the Roman sailors used to call Kerala as ''Male''. The first element of the name, however, is attested already in the ''Topography'' written by [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]]. This mentions a pepper emporium called ''Male'', which clearly gave its name to Malabar ('the country of Male'). The name ''Male'' is thought to come from the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] word ''Mala'' ('hill').<ref>{{cite book |first1=C. A. |last1=Innes |first2=F. B. |last2=Evans |name-list-style=amp |date=1915 |title=Malabar and Anjengo, Volume 1 |series=Madras District Gazetteers |location=Madras |publisher=Madras Government Press |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHtbkuXruzwC |last=Narayanan |first=M. T. |date=2003 |title=Agrarian Relations in Late Medieval Malabar |location=New Delhi |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=81-7211-135-5 |page=xvi–xvii}}</ref> [[Al-Biruni]] (AD 973–1048) must have been the first writer to call this state ''Malabar''.<ref name="Malabar" /> Author<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/1Mohamed1999ArabRelationsWithMalabarCoastFrom9thTo16thC/mode/2up | title=Arab Relations with Malabar Coast from 9th to 16th C }}</ref> such as  [[Al-Baladhuri]] mention Malabar ports in their works.<ref name="KMMohammad">{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/1Mohamed1999ArabRelationsWithMalabarCoastFrom9thTo16thC/mode/2up |title=Arab relations with Malabar Coast from 9th to 16th centuries |first=K. M. |last=Mohammad |date=1999 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=60 |pages=226–234}}</ref> The Arab writers had called this place ''Malibar'', ''Manibar'', ''Mulibar'', and ''Munibar''. ''Malabar'' is reminiscent of the word ''Malanad'' which means ''the land of hills''. According to [[William Logan (author)|William Logan]], the word ''Malabar'' comes from a combination of the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] word ''Mala'' (hill) and the [[Persian Language|Persian]]/[[Arabic]] word ''Barr'' (country/continent).<ref name="Malabar" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Logan |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/malabarmanual0000loga/page/1/mode/1up |title=Malabar Manual, Vol. 1 |date=1887 |publisher=Superintendent, Government Press (Madras) |others=Servants of Knowledge |isbn=978-81-206-0446-9 |pages=1}}</ref>

== Traditional sources ==
[[File:Parshuramsaraswats.jpg|thumb|[[Parashurama|Parasurama]], surrounded by settlers, commanding [[Varuna]] to part the seas and reveal Kerala.]]

=== Mahabali ===
Perhaps the most famous festival of Kerala, [[Onam]], is deeply rooted in Kerala traditions. Onam is associated with the legendary king [[Mahabali]] (Maveli), who according to tradition and Puranas, ruled the Earth and several other planetary systems from Kerala. His entire kingdom was then a land of immense prosperity and happiness. However, Mahabali was tricked into giving up his rule, and was thus overthrown by [[Vamana]] (Thrikkakkarayappan), the fifth ''Avatar'' (earthly incarnation) of Lord ''[[Vishnu]]''. He was banished from the Earth to rule over one of the netherworld ([[Patala]]) planets called Sutala by Vamana. Mahabali comes back to visit Kerala every year on the occasion of Onam.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Legacy of Kerala |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |date=2008 |orig-date=1982 |isbn=978-81-2642-157-2}}</ref>

=== Other texts ===
The oldest of all the Puranas, the [[Matsya Purana]], sets the story of the Matsya Avatar (fish incarnation) of Lord [[Vishnu]], in the [[Western Ghats]].{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} The earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala by name as ''Cherapadah'' is the [[Aitareya Aranyaka]], a late Vedic work on philosophy.<ref name="A. Sreedhara Menon 2011"/> It is also mentioned in both the [[Ramayana]] and the [[Mahabharata]].<ref name="Menon3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9RMxjdjUVAC |title=Cultural Heritage of Kerala |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |date=2008 |orig-date=1978 |isbn=978-8-12641-903-6 |pages=13–15}}</ref>

=== Parasurama and Cenkuttuvan ===
There are legends dealing with the origins of Kerala geographically and culturally. One such legend is the retrieval of Kerala from the sea, by Parasurama, a warrior sage. It proclaims that [[Parasurama]], an [[Avatar]] of [[Mahavishnu]], threw His battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of Kerala arose, and thus was reclaimed from the waters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nagam Aiya |first=V. |title=The Travancore State Manual |publisher=Travancore Government Press |pages=210–212 |year=1906 |access-date=2007-11-12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdzaPW-kEvQC}}</ref> This legend shares parallels with an earlier legend where Chera King [[Cenkuttuvan|Vel Kezhu Kuttavan]], who when enraged, threw his axe into the sea and caused it to retreat.{{sfn|Menon|2011|p=15|ps=: According to Menon, this etymology of "added" or "reclaimed" land also complements the [[Parashurama]] myth about the formation of Kerala. In it, Parashurama, one of the avatars of [[Vishnu]], flung his axe across the sea from [[Gokarnam]] towards [[Kanyakumari]] (or vice versa) and the water receded up to the spot where it landed, thus creating Kerala.}}{{sfn|Menon|2007|p=21|ps=: Citing K. Achyutha Menon, ''Ancient Kerala: Studies in Its History and Culture,'' pp. 7}}

=== Ophir ===
[[File:Poovar Kerala.jpg|thumb|[[Poovar]] is often identified with Biblical [[Ophir]].]]
[[Ophir]], a region mentioned in the [[Bible]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ophir |title=Ophir |website=[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]}}</ref> famous for its [[wealth]], is often identified with some coastal areas of Kerala. According to legend, the [[King Solomon]] received a cargo from Ophir every three years ([[1 Kings]] 10:22) which consisted of [[gold]], [[silver]], [[sandalwood]], [[pearl]]s, [[ivory]], apes, and [[peacock]]s.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030139236 |title=The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean |last=Schroff |first=Wilfred H. |date=1912 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company |location=New York City |page=41}}</ref> ''A Dictionary of the Bible'' by [[Sir William Smith]], published in 1863,<ref name="Smith">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=William |author-link=William Smith (lexicographer) |editor1-last=Hackett |editor1-first=H. B. |date=1870 |orig-date=1863 |title=[[Smith's Bible Dictionary|A Dictionary of the Bible]] |location=New York City |publisher=Hurd and Houghton |page=1441}}</ref> notes the Hebrew word for parrot ''Thukki'', derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock ''Thogkai'' and Cingalese ''Tokei'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/eastons-bible-dictionary/peacock.html |title=Peacock |date=1897 |website=[[Easton's Bible Dictionary]] |via=Bible Study Tools.com}}</ref> joins other Classical Tamil words for ivory, cotton-cloth and apes preserved in the Hebrew Bible. This theory of Ophir's location in [[Tamilakam]] is further supported by other historians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sastri |first=K.S. Ramaswami |date=1967 |title=The Tamils and their culture |location=Annamalai Nagar |publisher=[[Annamalai University]] |page=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gregory |first=James |date=1991 |title=Tamil Lexicography |location=Tübingen |publisher=M. Niemeyer |page=10 |isbn=978-3-48430-940-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fernandes |first=Edna |date=2008 |title=The Last Jews of Kerala |location=London, UK |publisher=Portobello Books |page=98 |isbn=978-18-4627-099-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Almug or Algum Tree |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |edition=9th |volume=I |quote=The Hebrew words Almuggim or Algummim have translated Almug or Algum trees in our version of the Bible (see 1 Kings x. 11, 12; 2 Chron. ii. 8, and ix. 10, 11). The wood of the tree was very precious, and was brought from Ophir (probably some part of India), along with gold and precious stones, by Hiram, and was used in the formation of pillars for the temple at Jerusalem, and for the king's house; also for the inlaying of stairs, as well as for harps and psalteries. It is probably the red sandal-wood of India ([[Pterocarpus santalinus]]). This tree belongs to the natural order Leguminosæ, sub-order Papilionaceæ. The wood is hard, heavy, close-grained, and of fine red colour. It is different from the white fragrant sandal-wood, which is the produce of Santalum album, a tree belonging to a distinct natural order. Also, see notes by [[George Menachery]] in the ''St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India'', Vol. 2 (1973)}}</ref> The most likely location on the coast of Kerala conjectured to be Ophir is [[Poovar]] in [[Thiruvananthapuram district|Thiruvananthapuram]] District (though some Indian scholars also suggest [[Beypore]] as possible location).<ref name="Menon1967">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=58}}</ref><ref name="Aiyangar2004">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htArUg0OMpcC&pg=PA60 |title=Ancient India: Collected Essays on the Literary and Political History of Southern India |last=Aiyangar |first=Sakkottai Krishnaswami |date=2004 |orig-date=1911 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-8-12061-850-3 |pages=60–}}</ref> The [[Books of Kings]] and [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]] tell of a joint expedition to Ophir by King Solomon and the [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]] king [[Hiram I]] from [[Ezion-Geber]], a port on the [[Red Sea]], that brought back large amounts of gold, precious stones and '[[Algum|algum wood]]' and of a later failed expedition by king [[Jehoshaphat]] of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]].{{efn-lr|The first expedition is described in ''[[1 Kings]] 9:28; 10:11; [[1 Chronicles]] 29:4; [[2 Chronicles]] 8:18; 9:10'', the failed expedition of Jehoshaphat in ''[[1 Kings]] 22:48''}} The famous 'gold of Ophir' is referenced in several other books of the Hebrew Bible.{{efn-lr|''[[Book of Job]] 22:24; 28:16; [[Psalms]] 45:9; [[Isaiah]] 13:12''}}{{notelist-lr}}

=== Cheraman Perumal ===
{{main article|Legend of Cheraman Perumals}}
[[File:Chera King's Sword given to the Zamorin of Calicut.png|thumbnail|A portrait of the sword of the [[Zamorin of Calicut|Zamorins of Kozhikode]], related with the legend of Cheraman Perumals.]]
The legend of Cheraman Perumals is the medieval tradition associated with the ''Cheraman Perumal'' (literally the [[Chera dynasty|Chera kings]]) of Kerala.<ref name=":a">{{cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |author-link=M. G. S. Narayanan |date=2013 |orig-date=1996 |title=Perumāḷs of Kerala |edition=New |location=[[Thrissur]], Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |isbn=978-8-18876-507-2 |pages=31–32}}</ref> The Cheraman Perumals mentioned in the legend can be identified with the [[Chera Perumals of Makotai|Chera Perumal]] rulers of medieval Kerala ({{circa|8th}}–12th century CE).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Historical Geography of Natu in South India with Special Reference to Kerala |first=K. N. |last=Ganesh |date=June 2009 |journal=[[Indian Historical Review]] |volume=36 |number=1 |pages=3–21 |doi=10.1177/037698360903600102|s2cid=145359607 }}</ref> The validity of the legend as a source of history once generated much debate among South Indian historians.<ref>{{cite book |first=Kesavan |last=Veluthat |author-link=Kesavan Veluthat |date=2009 |chapter=The ''Keralolpathi'' as History |title=The Early Medieval in South India |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=129–146 |isbn=978-0-19569-663-9}}</ref> The legend was used by Kerala chiefdoms for the legitimation of their rule (most of the major chiefly houses in medieval Kerala traced its origin back to the legendary allocation by the Perumal).<ref name=":b">{{cite book |editor-last=Karashima |editor-first=Noboru |editor-link=Noboru Karashima |date=2014 |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=146–147 |isbn=978-0-19809-977-2}}</ref><ref name=":c">{{cite book |last=Frenz |first=Margret |chapter=Virtual Relations, Little Kings in Malabar |editor1-last=Berkemer |editor1-first=Georg |editor2-last=Frenz |editor2-first=Margret |name-list-style=amp |date=2003 |title=Sharing Sovereignty: The Little Kingdom in South Asia |location=Berlin |publisher=[[Zentrum Moderner Orient]] |pages=81–91}}</ref> According to the legend, ''Rayar'', the overlord of the Cheraman Perumal in a country east of the [[Western Ghats|Ghats]], invaded Kerala during the rule of the last Perumal. To drive back the invading forces the Perumal summoned the militia of his chieftains (like ''Udaya Varman Kolathiri'', ''Manichchan'', and ''Vikkiran'' of [[Eranad]]). The ''Cheraman Perumal'' was assured by the ''Eradis'' (chief of Eranad) that they would take a fort established by the ''Rayar''.<ref name=":d">{{cite book |last=Logan |first=William |author-link=William Logan (author) |date=1951 |orig-date=1887 |title=[[Malabar Manual|Malabar]] |edition=Reprint |location=Madras |publisher=Madras Government Press |pages=223–240}}</ref> The battle lasted for three days and the Rayar eventually evacuated his fort (and it was seized by the Perumal's troops).<ref name=":d" /> Then the last ''Cheraman Perumal'' divided Kerala or Chera kingdom among his chieftains and disappeared mysteriously. The Kerala people never more heard any tidings of him.<ref name=":a" /><ref name=":b" /><ref name=":c"/> The ''Eradis'' of [[Nediyiruppu]], who later came to be known as the [[Zamorin of Calicut|Zamorins of Kozhikode]], who were left out in cold during allocation of the land, was granted the Cheraman Perumal's sword (with the permission to "die, and kill, and seize").<ref name=":c" /><ref name=":d" />
[[File:Cheraman juma masjid Old.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Structure of the old mosque]]
According to the [[Cheraman Juma Mosque]] and some other narratives,<ref name="INS">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-esAgAAQBAJ&q=cheraman+tajuddeen+malik+dinar&pg=PA346 |last1=Kumar |first1=Satish |title=India's National Security: Annual Review 2009 |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-70491-8 |page=346 |access-date=16 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="iiip">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbqfCwAAQBAJ&q=ravi+varma+cheraman&pg=PT69 |last1=Singh |first1=Y. P. |title=Islam in India and Pakistan – A Religious History |date=2016 |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-9-3-85505-63-8 |access-date=20 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> "Once a Cheraman Perumal probably named Ravi Varma<ref name="iiip"/> was walking with his queen in the palace, when he witnessed the [[Splitting of the Moon]]. Shocked by this, he asked his astronomers to note down the exact time of the splitting. Then, when some [[Arab]] merchants visited his palace, he asked them about this incident. Their answers led the King to [[Mecca]], where he met the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] and converted to [[Islam]]. Muhammad named him Tajuddin or Thajuddin or Thiya-aj-Addan meaning "crown of faith".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ampotti |first1=A. K. |title=Glimpses of Islam in Kerala |date=2004 |publisher=Kerala Historical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0QwAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Varghese |first1=Theresa |title=Stark World Kerala |date=2006 |publisher=Stark World Pub. |isbn=978-8-190250511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDhuAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-esAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA346 |last1=Kumar |first1=Satish |title=India's National Security: Annual Review 2009 |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-70491-8 |page=346}}</ref> The king then wrote letters to his kingdom to accept Islam and follow the teachings of [[Malik bin Deenar]]".<ref name="sochistory">{{cite book |first=S. N. |last=Sadasivan |title=A Social History of India |publisher=APH Publishing |date=2000 |chapter=Caste Invades Kerala |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Be3PCvzf-BYC&q=cheraman+perumal&pg=PA306 |pages=303–305 |isbn=817648170X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mohammed |first=U. |title=Educational Empowerment of Kerala Muslims: A Socio-historical Perspective |date=2007 |publisher=Other Books |isbn=978-81-903887-3-3 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCBdogPnnqsC&q=cheraman+tajuddeen&pg=PA20 |access-date=16 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="INS"/> It is assumed that the first recorded version of this legend is an [[Arabic]] manuscript of anonymous authorship known as ''[[Qissat Shakarwati Farmad]]''.<ref name="Prange, Sebastian R. 2018">{{cite book |last=Prange |first=Sebastian R. |author-link=Sebastian Prange |date=2018 |title=Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=98 |isbn=978-1-10842-438-7}}</ref> The 16th century [[Arabic]] work ''[[Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen]]'' authored by [[Zainuddin Makhdoom II]] of [[Ponnani]], as well as the medieval [[Malayalam]] work ''[[Keralolpathi]]'', also mention about the departure of last ''Cheraman Perumal'' of Kerala into [[Mecca]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shungoony Menon |first1=P. |title=A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times |date=1878 |publisher=Higgin Botham & Co. |location=Madras |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorytravanc00menogoog |page=63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Tuhfat-al-MujahidinAnHistoricalWorkInTheArabicLanguage |title=Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin: An Historical Work in The Arabic Language |last=Nainar |first=S. Muhammad Hussain |publisher=University of Madras |date=1942}}</ref>

== Prehistory ==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| image1 = MarayoorDolmen.JPG|caption1=A [[dolmen]] erected by Neolithic people in [[Marayur]], [[Kerala, India]].
| image2 = Edakkal Stone Age Carving.jpg|caption2=[[Stone Age]] (6,000&nbsp;BCE) writings of [[Edakkal Caves]] in Kerala.
}}
A substantial portion of Kerala including the western coastal lowland and the plains of midland may have been under the sea in ancient times. Marine fossils have been found in an area near [[Changanassery]], thus supporting the hypothesis.<ref name="Menon2007"/> Archaeological studies have identified many [[Mesolithic]], Neolithic and [[Megalithic]] sites in the eastern highlands of Kerala mainly centred around the eastern mountain ranges of [[Western Ghats]].<ref name="AroraSingh116">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFROamyZS7IC |first1=Udai Prakash |last1=Arora |first2=A. K. |last2=Singh |name-list-style=amp |title=Currents in Indian History, Art, and Archaeology |date=1999 |publisher=Anamika Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-8-1-86565-44-5 |page=116}}</ref> Rock engravings in the [[Edakkal Caves]], in [[Wayanad]] date back to the Neolithic era around 6000&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="Kapoor2002">{{cite book |first=Subodh |last=Kapoor |title=The Indian Encyclopaedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxIpYtnyzu4C&pg=PA2184 |date=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-8-17755-257-7 |page=2184}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Wayanad |url=https://www.kerala.gov.in/web/guest/wayanad |website=Government of Kerala |access-date=12 November 2015 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528022259/https://kerala.gov.in/web/guest/wayanad |url-status=dead }}</ref> These findings have been classified into Laterite rock-cut caves (''Chenkallara''), Hood stones (''Kudakkallu''), Hat stones (''Toppikallu''), Dolmenoid cists (''Kalvrtham''), Urn burials (''Nannangadi'') and Menhirs (''Pulachikallu''). The studies point to the indigenous development of the ancient Kerala society and its culture beginning from the [[Paleolithic]] age, and its continuity through Mesolithic, Neolithic and Megalithic ages.<ref name="AroraSingh1162">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFROamyZS7IC |first1=Udai Prakash |last1=Arora |first2=A. K. |last2=Singh |name-list-style=amp |title=Currents in Indian History, Art, and Archaeology |date=1999 |publisher=Anamika Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-8-1-86565-44-5 |pages=118, 123}}</ref> However, foreign cultural contacts have assisted this cultural formation.<ref name="AroraSingh1999">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFROamyZS7IC |first1=Udai Prakash |last1=Arora |first2=A. K. |last2=Singh |name-list-style=amp |title=Currents in Indian History, Art, and Archaeology |date=1999 |publisher=Anamika Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-8-1-86565-44-5 |page=123}}</ref> The studies suggest possible relationship with [[Indus Valley civilization]] during the late [[Bronze Age]] and early [[Iron Age]].<ref name="article26324">{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/article26324.ece |location=Chennai, India |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |title=Symbols akin to Indus valley culture discovered in Kerala |date=29 September 2009}}</ref>

Archaeological findings include [[dolmen]]s of the [[Neolithic]] era in the [[Marayur]] area. They are locally known as "muniyara", derived from ''muni'' ([[hermit]] or [[Index of religious honorifics and titles|sage]]) and ''ara'' (dolmen).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/12/06/stories/2004120604900300.htm |title=Unlocking the secrets of history |date=6 December 2004 |location=Chennai, India |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050126210416/http://www.hindu.com/2004/12/06/stories/2004120604900300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 January 2005}}</ref> Rock engravings in the [[Edakkal Caves]] in [[Wayanad]] are thought to date from the early to late Neolithic eras around 5000 BCE.<ref name="Kapoor2002" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/30/stories/2007103054660500.htm |title=Edakkal Cave: ASI to conduct survey |date=2007-10-30 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=10 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910215510/http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/30/stories/2007103054660500.htm |archive-date=2013-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3792:travel-and-tourism&catid=271:about-kerala&Itemid=2267 |title=Travel and Tourism – Wayanad |website=Government of Kerala |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114080354/http://www.kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3792%3Atravel-and-tourism&catid=271%3Aabout-kerala&Itemid=2267 |archive-date=14 January 2016}}</ref> Historian [[M. R. Raghava Varier]] of the Kerala state archaeology department identified a sign of "a man with jar cup" in the engravings, which is the most distinct motif of the Indus valley civilisation.<ref name="article26324"/>

== Classical period ==
[[File:TabulaPeutingerianaMuziris.jpg|thumb|Muziris in the Tabula Peutingeriana, an itinerarium showing the road network in the Roman Empire.]]

=== Early ruling dynasties ===
{{further|Chera dynasty}}
[[File:Ezhimala beach.JPG|thumb|[[Ezhimala (hill, Kannur)|Ezhimala]], the early historic headquarters of [[Mushika dynasty]], which was succeeded by the kingdom of [[Kolathunadu]] later.]]
Kerala's dominant rulers of the early historic period were the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]], a [[Tamils|Tamil]] dynasty with its headquarters located in [[Vanchi Muthur|Vanchi]].<ref name="Vimala2007">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZyLVdkA7cIC&pg=PA108 |title=History And Civics 6 |first=Angelina |last=Vimala |date=2007 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-8-1-317-0336-6 |page=107 |access-date=6 October 2012}}</ref> The location of Vanchi is generally considered near the ancient port city of [[Muziris]] in Kerala.<ref name="Menon1987">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnAjqjhc1VcC&pg=PA13 |title=Political History of Modern Kerala |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |publisher=DC Books |date=1987 |isbn=978-8-1-264-2156-5 |page=22 |access-date=5 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="Serrano1974">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/serpentofparadis00serrrich/page/76 |url-access=registration |title=The Serpent of Paradise: The Story of an Indian Pilgrimage |first=Miguel |last=Serrano |date=1974 |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |isbn=978-0-7100-7784-4 |pages=76– |access-date=6 October 2012}}</ref> However, [[Karur]] in modern Tamil Nadu is also pointed out as the location of the capital city of Cheras.<ref name="Reddy">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X4j7Nf_MU24C&pg=SL1-PA243 |title=Indian History |first=K. Krishna |last=Reddy |year=1960 |publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education |isbn=978-0-07-132923-1 |pages=1– |access-date=5 October 2012}}</ref> Another view suggests the reign of Cheras from multiple capitals.<ref name="Kapoor2002" /> The Chera kingdom consisted of a major part of modern Kerala and [[Kongu Nadu|Kongunadu]] which comprises western districts of modern [[Tamil Nadu]] like [[Coimbatore district|Coimbatore]] and [[Salem district|Salem]].<ref name="Reddy" /><ref name="Kapoor2">{{cite book |first=Subodh |last=Kapoor |title=The Indian Encyclopaedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72BjBPBRb6MC&pg=PA1449 |date=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-8-17755-257-7 |page=1448 |access-date=5 October 2012}}</ref> The region around [[Coimbatore]] was ruled by the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]] during [[Sangam period]] between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the [[Palakkad Gap]], the principal trade route between the [[Malabar Coast]] and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="Trade">{{cite news |last=Subramanian |first=T. S |title=Roman connection in Tamil Nadu |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.htm&date=2007/01/28/&prd=th |access-date=28 October 2011 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=28 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919235748/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.htm&date=2007%2F01%2F28%2F&prd=th |archive-date=19 September 2013}}</ref> [[Old Tamil language|Old Tamil]] works such as ''[[Patiṟṟuppattu]], [[Pathinenmaelkanakku|Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku]]'' and ''[[Silappatikaram]]'' are important sources that describe the Cheras from the early centuries CE.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Eight Anthologies |first=John Ralston |last=Marr |publisher=Institute of Asian Studies |date=1985 |page=263}}</ref> Together with the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]] the Cheras formed the Tamil triumvirate of the ''mūvēntar'' ([[Three Crowned Kings]]). The Cheras ruled the western [[Malabar Coast]], the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] ruled in the eastern [[Coromandel Coast]] and the [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]] in the south-central peninsula. The Cheras were mentioned as ''Ketalaputo'' (Keralaputra) on an inscribed edict of emperor [[Ashoka]] of the [[Maurya Empire|Magadha Empire]] in the 3rd century BCE,<ref name="SmithJackson2008" /> as ''Cerobothra'' by the Greek ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' and as ''Celebothras'' in the Roman encyclopedia ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' by Pliny the Elder. The [[Mushika dynasty|Mushika kingdom]] existed in northern Kerala, while the [[Ay dynasty|Ays]] ruled south of the Chera kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |title=Kerala History and its Makers |date=2008 |orig-date=1987 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |edition=3rd revised |isbn=978-81-2642-199-2 |page=22}}</ref>

===Trade relations===
{{further|Spice trade}}
[[File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg|thumbnail|Names, routes and locations of the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' (1st century CE).]]
The region of Kerala was possibly engaged in trading activities from the 3rd millennium BCE with [[Arab]]s, [[Sumer]]ians and [[Babylonia]]ns.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOrvghLklKoC |first1=Srikumar |last1=Chattopadhyay |first2=Richard W. |last2=Franke |name-list-style=amp |date=2006 |title=Striving for Sustainability; Environmental Stress and Democratic Initiatives in Kerala |location=New Delhi |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |page=79 |isbn=81-8069-294-9}}</ref> [[Phoenicians]], [[Greeks]], [[Egyptians]], [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], and [[Chinese people|Chinese]] were attracted by a variety of commodities, especially [[spice]]s and [[Cotton Fabric|cotton fabrics]].<ref name="Menon57">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |pages=57–58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jF4Q5jQWboC&pg=PA392 |last=Larsen |first=Karin |date=1998 |title=Faces of Goa: A Journey Through the History and Cultural Revolution of Goa and Other Communities Influenced by the Portuguese |location=New Delhi |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |page=392 |isbn=978-8-12120-584-9}}</ref> [[Arab]]s and [[Phoenicians]] were the first to enter [[Malabar Coast]] to trade [[Spice]]s.<ref name="Menon57"/> The Arabs on the coasts of [[Yemen]], [[Oman]], and the [[Persian Gulf]], must have made the first long voyage to Kerala and other [[Eastern world|eastern countries]].<ref name="Menon57"/> They must have brought the [[Cinnamon]] of Kerala to the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Menon57"/> The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] (5th century BCE) records that in his time the cinnamon spice industry was monopolized by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians.<ref name="Menon57"/>

[[Muziris]], [[Tyndis]], Naura, Berkarai, and Nelcynda were among the principal trading port centres of the [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] kingdom.<ref name="Kusuman">{{cite book |first=K. K. |last=Kusuman |title=A History of Trade & Commerce in Travancore |publisher=Mittal Publications |date=1987 |isbn=978-8-1-7099-026-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbNuyHswr1cC |pages=1–2 |access-date=30 May 2015}}</ref> [[Megasthanes]], the Greek ambassador to the court of [[Maurya Empire|Magadhan]] king [[Chandragupta Maurya]] (4th century BCE) mentions Muziris and a [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyan]] trade centre. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] mentions Muziris as India's first port of importance. According to him, Muziris could be reached in 40 days from the [[Red Sea]] ports of [[Egypt]] purely depending on the [[South west monsoon]] winds. Later, the unknown author of the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' notes that "both Muziris and [[Nelcynda]] are now busy places". There were harbours of Naura near [[Kannur]], Tyndis near [[Kozhikode]], and [[Purakkad|Barace]] near [[Alappuzha]], which were also trading with Rome and Palakkad pass (churam) facilitated migration and trade. [[Tyndis]] was a major center of trade, next only to [[Muziris]], between the Cheras and the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Yogesh |date=2010 |title=Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-modern India |location=New Delhi |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=978-9-38060-700-9}}</ref> Roman establishments in the port cities of the region, such as a temple of ''[[Augustus]]'' and barracks for garrisoned Roman soldiers, are marked in the [[Tabula Peutingeriana]]; the only surviving map of the Roman ''[[cursus publicus]]''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&pg=PA246 |title=The First Spring: The Golden Age of India |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-670-08478-4 |pages=246– |access-date=7 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="Iyengar_2001">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERq-OCn2cloC |title=History of the Tamils: From the Earliest Times to 600 CE. |last=Srinivasa Iyengar |first=P. T. |publisher=Asian Educational Services |date=2001 |isbn=81-206-0145-9 |access-date=29 December 2008}}</ref> [[Pliny the Elder]] (1st century CE) states that the port of ''[[Tyndis]]'' was located at the northwestern border of ''Keprobotos'' ([[Chera dynasty]]).<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |title=In Search of Muziris |first1=Rajan |last1=Gurukkal |first2=Dick |last2=Whittaker |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |journal=[[Journal of Roman Archaeology]] |volume=14 |pages=334–350 |doi=10.1017/S1047759400019978|s2cid=164778915 }}</ref> The [[North Malabar]] region, which lies north of the port at ''[[Tyndis]]'', was ruled by the kingdom of [[Ezhimala]] during [[Sangam period]].<ref name="Malabar"/> The port of [[Tyndis]] which was on the northern side of [[Muziris]], as mentioned in Greco-Roman writings, was somewhere near [[Kozhikode]].<ref name="Malabar"/> Its exact location is a matter of dispute.<ref name="Malabar"/> The suggested locations are [[Ponnani]], [[Tanur, Malappuram|Tanur]], [[Beypore]]-[[Chaliyam]]-[[Kadalundi]]-[[Vallikkunnu]], and [[Koyilandy]].<ref name="Malabar"/>

According to the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', a region known as ''[[Limyrike]]'' began at ''[[Kannur|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 around 50,000,000 [[sesterces]].<ref>According to [[Pliny the Elder]], goods from India were sold in the Empire at 100 times their original purchase price. See {{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/BookLibrary/books/bibliographie/P/Plinyelder/elder/pliny-india.html |author=Pliny the Elder |title=[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]] |chapter=On India |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106031753/http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/BookLibrary/books/bibliographie/P/Plinyelder/elder/pliny-india.html |archive-date=6 November 2013 |via=Cartage.org.lb |access-date=26 May 2022 }}</ref> He also mentions that the region was prone to pirates.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60230/60230-0.txt |editor1-last=Bostock |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Bostock (physician) |editor2-last=Riley |editor2-first=Henry Thomas |editor2-link=Henry Thomas Riley |date=1855 |title=The Natural History of Pliny |chapter=26. Voyages to India |volume=II |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Henry G. Bohn]] |pages=60–66}}</ref> [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] mentioned that it was also a source of [[Malabar pepper]]s.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cosmas_03_book3.htm |author=Cosmas Indicopleustes |others=Translated by [[J. W. McCrindle]]. Transcribed by Roger Pearse. |date=2003 |orig-date=1897 |title=Christian Topography, Book III |location=London, UK |publisher=The Hakluyt Society |page=120 |via=The Tertullian Project}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Das |first=Santosh Kumar |date=2006 |orig-date=1925 |title=The Economic History of Ancient India |location=New Delhi |publisher=Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd |page=301}}</ref> Contemporary [[Sangam literature|Tamil literature]], ''[[Puṟanāṉūṟu]]'' and ''[[Akanaṉūṟu]],'' speak of the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] vessels and the Roman gold that used to come to the Kerala ports in search of [[Malabar pepper]] and other [[spices]], which had enormous demand in the West. The contact with [[Middle East]] and Romans might have given rise to small colonies of [[Jews]], [[Syriac Christianity|Syrian Christian]]s and [[Mappila]] [[Muslim]]s in the chief harbour towns of Kerala.
[[File:Silk route.jpg|thumb|330px|[[Silk Road]] map. The spice trade was mainly along the water routes (blue).]]

=== Formation of a multicultural society ===
{{Further|Religion in Kerala}}
[[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]] reached Kerala in this early period. As in other parts of [[Middle kingdoms of India|ancient India]], Buddhism and Jainism co-existed with early Hindu beliefs during the first five centuries. Merchants from West Asia and Southern Europe established coastal posts and settlements in Kerala.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERq-OCn2cloC |title=History of the Tamils: From the Earliest Times to 600 CE. |last=Srinivasa Iyengar |first=P. T. |publisher=Asian Educational Services |date=2001 |isbn=81-206-0145-9}}</ref> Jews arrived in Kerala as early as 573 BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last=d'Beth Hillel |first=David |date=1832 |title=The Travels of Rabbi David d'Beth Hillel; from Jerusalem, through Arabia, Koordistan, part of Persia and India |location=[[Madras]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lord |first=James Henry |date=1976 |orig-date=1907 |title=The Jews in India and the Far East |edition=Reprint |location=Westport, CT |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |isbn=978-0-83712-615-9}}</ref> The [[Cochin Jews]] believe that their ancestors came to the west coast of India as refugees following the destruction of [[Jerusalem]] in the first century CE. [[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Christians]] claim to be the descendants of the converts of Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]] of [[Jesus Christ]]. Arabs also had trade links with Kerala, starting before the 4th century BCE, as [[Herodotus]] (484–413 BCE) noted that goods brought by Arabs from Kerala were sold to the Jews at Eden.<ref name="Kusuman" /> They intermarried with local people, resulting in the formation of the Muslim Mappila community. In the 4th century, the [[Knanaya]] Christians migrated from [[Persia]] and settled in southern [[Kodungallur]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Fahlbusch |first=Erwin |author-link=Erwin Fahlbusch |date=2008 |title=The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5 |location=Grand Rapids, MI |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]] |page=285 |isbn=978-0-8028-2417-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5VQUdZhx1gC |title=The Oxford History of Christian Worship |title-link=The Oxford History of Christian Worship |location=New York |editor1-last=Wainwright |editor1-first=Geoffrey |editor1-link=Geoffrey Wainwright |editor2-last=Tucker |editor2-first=Karen Westerfield |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=Mission and Inculturation: East Asia and the Pacific |first=Anscar J. |last=Chupungco |author-link=Anscar Chupungco|date=2006 |page=666 |isbn=978-0-19513-886-3}}</ref> ''Mappila'' was an honorific title that had been assigned to respected visitors from abroad; and Jewish, Syrian Christian, and Muslim immigration might account for later names of the respective communities: [[Juda Mappila]]s, [[Mappila|Muslim Mappila]]s, and [[Saint Thomas Christians|Nasrani Mappila]]s.<ref name="BMalieckal">{{cite journal |title=Muslims, Matriliny, and A Midsummer Night's Dream: European Encounters with the Mappilas of Malabar, India |first=Bindu |last=Malieckal |date=April 2005 |journal=The Muslim World |volume=95 |number=2 |pages=297–316 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.2005.00092.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Indian Christians of St. Thomas: An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar |first=Leslie |last=Brown |author-link=Leslie Brown (bishop) |date=1982 |orig-date=1956 |page=171 |edition=Revised & enlarged |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-21258-8}}</ref> According to the legends of these [[communities]], the earliest [[Saint Thomas Christian Churches|Christian churches]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC |title=Saints, Goddesses and Kings |first=Susan |last=Bayly |author-link=Susan Bayly |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2004 |isbn=978-0-52189-103-5 |page=40}}</ref> [[Cheraman Juma Masjid|mosque]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Z6DlzyT2vwC |title=The Jews of China |first=Jonathan |last=Goldstein |publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]] |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-76560-104-9 |page=123}}</ref> and [[Paradesi Synagogue|synagogue]] (CE 1568)<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWX6pF2PTJwC |title=Who Are the Jews of India? |first=Nathan |last=Katz |publisher=University of California Press |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-52021-323-4 |page=245}}</ref> in India were built in Kerala. The combined number of Jews, Muslims, and Christians was relatively small at this early stage. They co-existed harmoniously with each other and with local Hindu society, aided by the commercial benefit from such association.<ref name="Dialogue">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eHgNyNimoAC |title=Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Perspectives and Encounters |first=Rolland E. |last=Miller |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publications |date=1993 |isbn=978-8-12081-158-4 |page=50}}</ref>

== Medieval and Early Modern periods ==

{{See also|Kingdoms of Kerala}}

=== Political changes ===
[[File:3rd Tiruvalla Copper Plate.jpg|thumb|[[Quilon Syrian copper plates]] granted to [[Saint Thomas Christians]]. The sixth plate has signatures of witnesses to the grant in [[Arabic]], [[Middle Persian]] and [[Judeo-Persian]].<ref name="cereti">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3gOdaiXNKkC&q=Exegisti+Monumenta:+Festschrift+in+Honour+of+Nicholas+Sims-+Williams |title=Exegisti Monumenta: Festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams |editor-last1=Sundermann |editor-first1=W. |editor-last2=Hintze |editor-first2=A. |editor-last3=de Blois |editor-first3=F. |date=2009 |chapter=The Pahlavi Signatures on the Quilon Copper Plates |last=Cereti |first=C. G. |pages=|location=Wiesbaden |publisher=[[Harrassowitz]] |isbn=978-3-44705-937-4}}</ref>]]
Much of history of the region from the 6th to the 8th century is obscure.<ref name="Kerala 2011"/> From the [[Kodungallur]] line of the Cheras rose the [[Kulasekhara Dynasty (Second Cheras)|Kulasekhara dynasty]], which was established by [[Kulashekhara Alwar|Kulasekhara Varman]]. At its zenith these Later Cheras ruled over a territory comprising the whole of modern Kerala and a smaller part of modern Tamil Nadu. During the early part of Kulasekhara period, the southern region from [[Nagercoil]] to [[Thiruvananthapuram]] was ruled by [[Ays (Kerala)|Ay kings]], who lost their power in the 10th century and thus the region became a part of the Cheras.<ref name="Balachand">{{cite book |first=K. Balachandran |last=Nayar |title=In quest of Kerala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXIeAAAAMAAJ |date=1974 |publisher=Accent Publications |page=86 |access-date=8 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=97}}</ref> Kerala witnessed a flourishing period of art, literature, trade and the [[Bhakti movement]] of Hinduism.<ref name="Sreedhar123">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |pages=123–131}}</ref> A Keralite identity, distinct from the [[Tamil people|Tamils]], became [[Malayalam|linguistically separate]] during this period.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chaitanya |first=Krishna |title=Kerala |date=1972 |location=New Delhi |publisher=[[National Book Trust]] |oclc=515788 |page=15}}</ref> The origin of [[Malayalam calendar]] dates back to year 825 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5f_93.pdf |title=Kollam Era |first=K. V. |last=Sarma |date=1996 |journal=[[Indian Journal of History of Science]] |volume=31 |number=1 |access-date=30 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527163650/http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5f_93.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUlmAAAAMAAJ |last=Richmond |first=Broughton |date=1956 |title=Time Measurement and Calendar Construction |location=Leiden |publisher=E. J. Brill |page=218}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=History of Kerala |first=R. Leela |last=Devi |publisher=Vidyarthi Mithram Press & Book Depot |date=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXpuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> For the local administration, the empire was divided into provinces under the rule of Nair Chieftains known as [[Naduvazhi]]s, with each province comprising a number of ''Desams'' under the control of chieftains, called as ''Desavazhis''.<ref name="Sreedhar123"/> The era witnessed also a shift in political power, as [[Nambudiri|Namboothiri]] Brahmins gained political power.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C&pg=PA166 |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=138 |access-date=9 August 2012}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHtbkuXruzwC |last=Narayanan |first=M. T. |date=2003 |title=Agrarian Relations in Late Medieval Malabar |location=New Delhi |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=81-7211-135-5 |page=38}}</ref> As a result, many temples were constructed across Kerala, which according to M. T. Narayanan "became cornerstones of the socio-economic society".<ref name=":0" /> [[Mamankam festival]], which was the largest native festival, was held at [[Tirunavaya]] near [[Kuttippuram]], on the bank of river [[Bharathappuzha]].<ref name="Malabar"/> [[Athavanad]], the headquarters of ''[[Azhvanchery Thamprakkal]]'', who were also considered as the supreme religious chief of the [[Nambudiri]] [[Brahmin]]s of Kerala, is also located near Tirunavaya.<ref name="Malabar"/>

[[Sulaiman al-Tajir]], a [[Persians|Persian]] merchant who visited Kerala during the reign of [[Sthanu Ravi Varma]] (9th century CE), records that there was extensive trade between Kerala and [[China]] at that time, based at the port of [[Kollam]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=India Charitram |last=Shreedhara Menon |first=A. |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |date=2016 |isbn=978-8-12641-939-5 |page=219}}</ref> A number of foreign accounts have mentioned about the presence of considerable [[Muslim]] population in the coastal towns. Arab writers such as [[Al-Masudi]] of [[Baghdad]] (896–956 CE), [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] (1100–1165 CE), [[Abulfeda]] (1273–1331 CE), and [[Al-Dimashqi (geographer)|Al-Dimashqi]] (1256–1327 CE) mention the Muslim communities in Kerala.<ref>{{Cite thesis |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10603/13105 |title=Colonialism and community formation in Malabar: a study of Muslims of Malabar |last=Razak |first=Abdul |publisher=[[University of Calicut]] |date=2007|hdl=10603/13105 }}</ref> Some historians assume that the [[Mappila]]s can be considered as the first native, settled Muslim community in [[South Asia]].<ref name="Kupferschmidt1987">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChEVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA458 |title=The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam Under the British Mandate for Palestine |last=Kupferschmidt |first=Uri M. |date=1987 |pages=458–459 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9-00407-929-8 |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Kulakarṇī1996">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_WNqSH4ByQC&pg=PA54 |title=Mediaeval Deccan History: Commemoration Volume in Honour of Purshottam Mahadeo Joshi |last=Kulakarṇī |first=A. Rā |date=1996 |pages=54–55 |publisher=[[Popular Prakashan]] |isbn=978-8-17154-579-7 |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref>

The inhibitions, caused by a series of Chera-Chola wars in the 11th century, resulted in the decline of foreign trade in Kerala ports. In addition, Portuguese invasions in the 15th century caused two major religions, [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], to disappear from the land. It is known that the Menons in the Malabar region of Kerala were originally strong believers of [[Jainism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kerala.cc/keralahistory/index34.htm |title=The Buddhist History of Kerala |website=Kerala.cc |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010321010740/http://www.kerala.cc/keralahistory/index34.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 March 2001}}</ref> The social system became fractured with divisions on [[Caste system in kerala|caste]] lines.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=138}}</ref> The Kulasekhara dynasty was finally subjugated in 1102 by the combined attack of the [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]] and [[Later Cholas|Cholas]].<ref name="Balachand"/> However, in the 14th century, Ravi Varma Kulashekhara (1299–1314) of the southern [[Venad|Venad kingdom]] was able to establish a short-lived supremacy over southern India.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} After his death, in the absence of strong central power, the state was fractured into about thirty small warring principalities under Nair Chieftains; the most powerful of them were the kingdom of [[Samuthiri]] in the north, [[Venad]] in the south and Kochi in the middle.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xPUvqtdfjyAC&pg=PA311 |title=The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places |editor-last=Pletcher |editor-first=Kenneth |date=2010 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |page=311 |isbn=978-1-61530-202-4 |access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.questia.com/read/108994726 |last=Taylor |first=David |date=2002 |title=The Territories and States of India |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Europa Publications]] |pages=144–146 |isbn=1-85743-148-0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106073219/http://www.questia.com/library/108994668/the-territories-and-states-of-india |archive-date=2013-11-06}}</ref> The port at [[Kozhikode]] held the superior economic and political position in Kerala, while [[Kollam]] (Quilon), [[Kochi]], and [[Kannur]] (Cannanore) were commercially confined to secondary roles.<ref name="Malekandathil">{{cite book |editor1-last=Malekandathil |editor1-first=Pius |editor1-link=Pius Malekandathil |editor2-last=Mohammed |editor2-first=T. Jamal |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |title=The Portuguese, Indian Ocean and European Bridgeheads 1500–1800: Festschrift in Honour of Prof. K. S. Mathew |location=Tellicherry, India |publisher=Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities of MESHAR}}</ref>

=== The Rise of Advaita ===
[[Adi Shankara]] (CE 789), one of the greatest Indian philosophers, is believed to be born in [[Kalady|Kaladi]] in [[Kerala]], and consolidated the doctrine of ''[[advaita vedanta|advaita vedānta]]''.<ref name="Sharma">{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Chandradhar |title=Indian Philosophy: A Critical Survey |publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York |date=1962 |page=vi |chapter=Chronological Summary of History of Indian Philosophy}}</ref><ref name=DeepakChopraBookLink>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsJbVICEOTcC&pg=PA13 |last=Chopra |first=Deepak |author-link=Deepak Chopra |date=2006 |title=The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Yoga |location=New Delhi |publisher=Winsome Books |isbn=978-8-1265-0696-5}}</ref> Shankara travelled across the [[Indian subcontinent]] to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers. He is reputed to have founded four ''[[#Mathas|mathas]]'' ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta.<ref name=DeepakChopraBookLink/> Adi Shankara is believed to be the organiser of the [[Dashanami Sampradaya|Dashanami]] monastic order and the founder of the [[Shanmata]] tradition of worship.

His works in [[Sanskrit]] concern themselves with establishing the doctrine of ''[[advaita]]'' ([[Nonduality (spirituality)|nondualism]]). He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the [[Mimamsa]] school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. Shankara represented his works as elaborating on ideas found in the ''[[Upanishads]]'', and he wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon (''[[Brahma Sutra]]'', principal ''upanishads'' and ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'') in support of his thesis. The main opponent in his work is the [[Mimamsa]] school of thought, though he also offers arguments against the views of some other schools like [[Samkhya]] and certain schools of [[Buddhism]].<ref name=SriAdi>{{cite web |url=http://www.sringeri.net/history/sri-adi-shankaracharya |title=Sri Adi Shankaracharya |website=Sringeri Sharada Peetham, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sringeri.net/history/sri-adi-shankaracharya/biography |title=Biography of Sri Adi Shankaracharya |website=Sringeri Sharada Peetham, India}}</ref><ref name=SKChattopadhyaya>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IPasbJW-1PwC&q=Mimamsa |last=Chattopadhyaya |first=Shyama Kumar |date=2000 |title=The Philosophy of Sankar's Advaita Vedanta |location=New Delhi |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-8-1-7625-222-5}}</ref> His activities in Kerala was little and no evidence of his influence is noticed in the literature or other things in his lifetime in Kerala. Even though Sankara was against all caste systems, in later years his name was used extensively by the Brahmins of Kerala for establishing caste system in Kerala.{{dubious|date=April 2021}}

=== The Kingdom of Kozhikode ===
{{Main|Zamorin of Calicut}}
[[File:Uru.jpg|thumbnail|''[[Uru (boat)|Uru]]'', a type of ship that was historically used for maritime trade, built at [[Beypore]], [[Kozhikode]].]]
[[File:Map of Kampili kingdom.png|thumbnail|A political map of [[India]] in 1320 CE. Note that most of the present-day state of Kerala had been under the sovereignty of the [[Zamorin]] of [[Calicut]].]]
Historical records regarding the origin of the Samoothiri of [[Kozhikode]] is obscure. However, its generally agreed that the Samoothiri were originally the [[Nair]] chieftains of Eralnadu region of the Later Chera Kingdom and were known as the [[Eradi]]s.<ref name="KrishnaIyer2">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/TheZamorinsOfCalicut |last=Krishna Iyer |first=K. V. |title=The Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806 |date=1938 |location=Calicut |publisher=Norman Printing Bureau}}</ref> Eralnadu ([[Eranad]]) province was situated in the northern parts of present-day [[Malappuram district]] and was landlocked by the [[Kingdom of Valluvanad|Valluvanad]] and Polanadu in the west. Legends such as ''[[Keralolpathi]]'' tell the establishment of a local ruling family at [[Nediyiruppu]], near present-day [[Kondotty]] by two young brothers belonging to the [[Eradi|Eradi clan]]. The brothers, Manikkan and Vikraman were the most trusted generals in the army of the [[Chera Kingdom|Cheras]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kerala.gov.in/history&culture/intrusion.htm |title=History & Culture: The Intrusion of Foreign Powers |website=Government of Kerala |access-date=2010-03-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204110522/http://www.kerala.gov.in/history%26culture/intrusion.htm |archive-date=4 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Kerala Sanchaaram |last=Divakaran |first=Kattakada |date=2005 |publisher=Z Library |location=Trivandrum}}</ref> [[M.G.S. Narayanan]], an Indian historian, in his book, ''Calicut: The City of Truth'' states that the Eradi was a favourite of the last Later Chera king and granted him, as a mark of favor, a small tract of land on the sea-coast in addition to his hereditary possessions (Eralnadu province). Eradis subsequently moved their capital to the coastal marshy lands and established the kingdom of Kozhikode<ref group="note">To corroborate his assertion that Eradi was in fact a favourite of the last Later Chera, M.G.S. cites a stone inscription discovered at [[Kollam]] in southern [[Kerala]]. It refers to ''"Nalu Taliyum, Ayiram, Arunurruvarum, Eranadu Vazhkai Manavikiraman, mutalayulla Samathararum" – "The four Councillors, The Thousand, The Six Hundred, along with Mana Vikrama-the Governor of Eralnadu and other Feudatories."'' M.G.S. indicates that [[Kozhikode]] lay in fact beyond and not within the kingdom of Polanadu and there was no need of any kind of military movements for [[Kozhikode]].</ref> They later assumed the title of ''Samudrāthiri'' ("one who has the sea for his border") and continued to rule from Kozhikode.

Samoothiri allied with Muslim Arab and Chinese merchants and used most of the wealth from Kozhikode to develop his military power. They became the most powerful king in [[Kerala|the Malayalam speaking regions]] during the [[Middle Age]]s. In the 14th century, Kozhikode conquered large parts of central Kerala following the seize of [[Tirunavaya]] from [[Kingdom of Valluvanad|Valluvanad]], which was under the control of the king of [[Perumpadappu, Malappuram|''Perumbadappu Swaroopam'']]. He was forced to shift his capital (c. CE 1405) further south from [[Kodungallur]] to [[Kochi]]. In the 15th century, Cochin was reduced in to a vassal state of Kozhikode. The ruler of [[Kolathunadu]] ([[Kannur]]) had also came under the influence of Zamorin by the end of the 15th century.<ref name="Malabar"/>
[[File:Calicut 1572 (cropped).jpg|thumb|300px|left|A panorama of port [[Kozhikode]], shows several types of ships, shipbuilding, net fishing, dinghy traffic and a rugged, sparsely populated interior ([[Georg Braun]] and [[Frans Hogenberg]]'s atlas ''Civitates orbis terrarum'', 1572).]]
At the peak of their reign, the Zamorins of Kozhikode ruled over a region from Kollam ([[Quilon]]) in the south to Panthalayini Kollam ([[Koyilandy]]) in the north.<ref name="KrishnaIyer2" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Varier |first=M. R. Raghava |author-link=M. R. Raghava Varier |editor-last=Kurup |editor-first=K. K. N. |editor-link=K. K. N. Kurup |date=1997 |title=India's Naval Traditions |chapter=Documents of Investiture Ceremonies |location=New Delhi |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=978-8-17211-083-3}}</ref> [[Ibn Battuta]] (1342–1347), who visited the city of [[Kozhikode]] six times, gives the earliest glimpses of life in the city. He describes Kozhikode as "one of the great ports of the district of Malabar" where "merchants of all parts of the world are found". The king of this place, he says, "shaves his chin just as the Haidari Fakeers of Rome do... The greater part of the Muslim merchants of this place are so wealthy that one of them can purchase the whole freightage of such vessels put here and fit-out others like them".<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Ibn Battuta]] |last2=Gibb |first2=H. A. R. |date=1994 |volume=IV |title=The Travels of Ibn Battuta A.D 1325–1354 |location=London}}</ref> [[Ma Huan]] (1403 AD), the Chinese sailor part of the Imperial Chinese fleet under Cheng Ho ([[Zheng He]])<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ma Huan |author1-link=Ma Huan |author2=Ying Yai Sheng Lan |name-list-style=amp |others=Translated by J.V.G. Mills |date=1997 |orig-date=1970 |title=The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores |location=Bangkok |publisher=White Lotus Press |isbn=974-8496-78-3}}</ref> states the city as a great emporium of trade frequented by merchants from around the world. He makes note of the 20 or 30 mosques built to cater to the religious needs of the Muslims, the unique system of calculation by the merchants using their fingers and toes (followed to this day), and the matrilineal system of succession. [[Abdur Razzaq (traveller)|Abdur Razzak]] (1442–43), [[Niccolò de' Conti]] (1445), [[Afanasy Nikitin]] (1468–74), [[Ludovico di Varthema]] (1503–1508), and [[Duarte Barbosa]] witnessed the city as one of the major trading centres in the [[Indian subcontinent]] where traders from different parts of the world could be seen.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/travelsludovico00badggoog |last=di Varthema |first=Ludovico |author-link=Ludovico di Varthema |others=Translated from the original 1510 Italian edition by John Winter Jones |date=1863 |title=The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia, A.D. 1503 to 1508 |location=London, UK |publisher=Hakluyt Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gangadharan |first=M. |date=2000 |title=The Land of Malabar: The Book of Duarte Barbosa, Volume II |location=Kottayam |publisher=Mahatma Gandhi University |isbn=978-8-17218-000-3}}</ref>

==== Vijayanagara Empire Influences ====
The king [[Deva Raya II]] (1424–1446) of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] tried to conquer the present-day state of Kerala in the 15th century but was not able to logistically do so.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/aforgottenempir00paesgoog |last=Sewell |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Sewell (historian) |date=1900 |title=A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India |location=London, UK |publisher=Swan Sonnenschein & Co. |page=87}}</ref> He however accepted the rule of the [[Zamorin]] of [[Kozhikode]], as well as the ruler of [[Kollam]] around 1443.<ref name="KrishnaIyer2"/> [[Fernão Nunes]] says that the Zamorin had to pay tribute to the king of Vijayanagara Empire.<ref name=":1" /> As the Vijayanagara power diminished over the next fifty years, the Zamorin of Kozhikode again rose to prominence in Kerala.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} He built a fort at [[Ponnani]] in 1498.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

=== The Kingdom of Venad ===
{{main|Venad}}
[[File:A view of Coylang Wellcome L0038178.jpg|thumbnail|[[Kollam]], the capital of Venad, in the 1700s.]]
[[Venad]] was a kingdom in the south west tip of Kerala, which acted as a buffer between Cheras and Pandyas. Until the end of the 11th century, it was a small principality in the [[Ay Kingdom]]. The ''Ays'' were the earliest ruling dynasty in southern Kerala, who, at their zenith, ruled over a region from [[Nagercoil]] in the south to [[Thiruvananthapuram]] in the north. Their capital was at [[Kollam]]. A series of attacks by the [[Pandya]]s between the 7th and 8th centuries caused the decline of Ays although the dynasty remained powerful until the beginning of the 10th century.<ref name="Menon2007">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |pages=97–99}}</ref> When Ay power diminished, Venad became the southernmost principality of the [[Second Chera Kingdom]]<ref name="Menon139"/> Invasion of Cholas into Venad caused the destruction of Kollam in 1096. However, the Chera capital, [[Mahodayapuram]], fell in the subsequent attack, which compelled the Chera king, Rama varma Kulasekara, to shift his capital to Kollam.<ref name="Menon140">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C&pg=PA140 |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=140 |access-date=18 September 2012}}</ref> Thus, Rama Varma Kulasekara, the last king of Chera dynasty, is probably the founder of the Venad royal house, and the title of Chera kings, ''Kulasekara'', was thenceforth adopted by the rulers of Venad. The end of Second Chera dynasty in the 12th century marks the independence of the Venad.<ref name="Menon141">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=141 |access-date=18 September 2012}}</ref> The Venadu King then also was known as Venadu Mooppil Nayar.

In the second half of the 12th century, two branches of the Ay Dynasty: Thrippappur and Chirava, merged into the Venad family and established the tradition of designating the ruler of Venad as Chirava Moopan and the heir-apparent as ''Thrippappur Moopan''. While Chrirava Moopan had his residence at [[Kollam]], the Thrippappur Moopan resided at his palace in Thrippappur, {{convert|9|mi}} north of Thiruvananthapuram, and was vested with the authority over the temples of Venad kingdom, especially the [[Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple]].<ref name="Menon139">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C&pg=PA139 |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=139}}</ref>

==== The Legacy of Venad ====
The most powerful kingdom of Kerala during the era of European influences, [[Travancore]], was developed through the expansion of Venad by Mahahrajah [[Marthanda Varma]], a member of the Thrippappur branch of the Ay Dynasty who ascended to the throne in the early 18th century.

===The Kingdom of Kolathunadu===
{{main article|Kolathunadu}}
{{See also|Kannur|North Malabar}}
The ancient kingdom of [[Ezhimala]] had jurisdiction over the [[North Malabar]] which consisted of two ''Nadu''s (regions)- 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]].<ref name="Census_Handbook">{{Cite book |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/3201_PART_B_KASARAGOD.pdf |title=District Census Handbook, Kasaragod |date=2011 |chapter=Brief History of the District |publisher=Directorate of Census Operation, Kerala |location=Thiruvananthapuram |page=9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310030111/https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/3201_PART_B_KASARAGOD.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-10}}</ref> ''Karkanadu'' consisted of [[Wayanad]]-[[Gudalur, Nilgiris|Gudalur]] hilly region with parts of [[Kodagu]] (Coorg).<ref name="wnd">{{cite book |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/3203_PART_B_WAYANAD.pdf |title=District Census Handbook – Wayanad (Part-B) |date=2011 |chapter=Brief History of the District |publisher=Directorate of Census Operations, Kerala |page=9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308151008/https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/3203_PART_B_WAYANAD.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-08}}</ref> 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 [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]], just before his execution in a battle, according to the [[Sangam literature|Sangam works]].<ref name="wnd"/> Ezhimala kingdom was succeeded by [[Mushika dynasty]] in the early medieval period, most possibly due to the migration of [[Tuluva Brahmin]]s from [[Tulu Nadu]]. The ''[[Mushika-vamsha]] Mahakavya'', written by [[Athula]] in the 11th century, throws light on the recorded past of the [[Mushika Kingdom|Mushika Royal Family]] up until that point.<ref name="Kola Swaroopam"/> The Indian anthropologist [[A. Aiyappan|Ayinapalli Aiyappan]] states that a powerful and warlike clan of the [[Bunt (community)|Bunt community]] of [[Tulu Nadu]] was called ''Kola Bari'' and the Kolathiri Raja of Kolathunadu was a descendant of this clan.<ref name="Aiyappan">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXFuAAAAMAAJ |title=The Personality of Kerala |last1=Ayinapalli |first1=Aiyappan |date=1982 |publisher=Department of Publications, [[University of Kerala]] |page=162 |access-date=27 July 2018 |quote=A very powerful and warlike section of the Bants of Tulunad was known as Kola bari. It is reasonable to suggest that the Kola dynasty was part of the Kola lineages of Tulunad.}}</ref>
[[File:City of Cannanore, 1572.jpg|thumbnail|A portrait of [[Kannur]], the largest city of [[North Malabar]], drawn in 1572, from [[Georg Braun]] and [[Frans Hogenberg]]'s atlas ''Civitates orbis terrarum'', Volume I.]]
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<ref name="Kola Swaroopam">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAlXPgAACAAJ&q=%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3+%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82 |title=Kerala Charitram |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |author-link=A. Sreedhara Menon |date=2007 |orig-date=1967 |location=[[Kottayam]] |publisher=[[DC Books]] |edition=Revised |isbn=978-8-12641-588-5 |page=175 |access-date=19 July 2020}}</ref> 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 Arabian Sea.<ref name="Census_Handbook"/> An [[Old Malayalam]] inscription ([[Ramanthali inscriptions]]), dated to 1075 CE, mentioning king Kunda Alupa, the ruler of [[Alupa dynasty]] of [[Mangalore]], can be found at [[Ezhimala]] near Kannur.<ref>{{cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |author-link=M. G. S. Narayanan |date=2013 |orig-date=1996 |title=Perumāḷs of Kerala |edition=New |location=[[Thrissur]], Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |isbn=978-8-18876-507-2 |page=483}}</ref> The [[Arabic]] inscription on a copper slab within the [[Madayi Palli|Madayi Mosque]] in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE.<ref name="Madayi">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358941/mode/2up |title=Madras District Gazetteers Malabar (Volume I) |last=Innes |first=Charles Alexander |date=1908 |publisher=Madras Government Press |pages=423–424}}</ref> 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]]), [[Dharmadom|Randathara]] or Poyanad ([[Dharmadom]]), [[Kingdom of Kottayam|Kottayam]] ([[Thalassery]]), [[Nileshwaram]], Iruvazhinadu ([[Panoor (Municipality)|Panoor]]), [[Kurumbranad]] etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions.<ref name="Logan">{{Cite book |title=Malabar Manual (Volume I) |last=Logan |first=William |publisher=Asian Educational Services |date=2010 |isbn=978-8-12060-447-6 |location=New Delhi |pages=631–666}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Neeleswaram fete">{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/neeleswaram-fete-to-showcase-its-heritage/article2645520.ece |title=Neeleswaram fete to showcase its heritage |date=21 November 2011 |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=24 November 2016}}</ref> The kingdom of [[Kumbla]] in the northernmost region of the modern state of Kerala, who had jurisdiction over the [[Tehsil|Taluk]]s of [[Manjeshwar]] and [[Kasaragod]], and parts of [[Mangalore taluk|Mangalore]] in Southern [[Tulu Nadu]], were also vassals to the kingdom of [[Kolathunadu]] until the [[Kannada|Carnatic]] conquests of the 15th century CE.<ref name="Kola Swaroopam"/>
[[File:Cannonore fort & Bay'; a watercolor by John Johnston, c.1795-1801.jpg|left|thumbnail|[[St. Angelo Fort|Kannur fort and Bay]]; a watercolor by John Johnston (1795–1801).]]
According to [[Mappila|Kerala Muslim]] tradition, the [[North Malabar]] region was also home to several [[Islam in India|oldest mosques]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. According to the [[Legend of Cheraman Perumals]], the first Indian mosque was built in 624 CE at Kodungallur with the mandate of the last the ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of [[Chera dynasty]], who left from [[Dharmadom]] near [[Kannur]] to [[Mecca]] and converted to [[Islam]] during the lifetime of [[Muhammad]] (c. 570–632).<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Jonathan |title=The Jews of China |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-76560-104-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Z6DlzyT2vwC |page=123}}</ref><ref name="SimpsonKresse2008">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0qHKA7zEaEC&pg=PA333 |first1=Edward |last1=Simpson |first2=Kai |last2=Kresse |name-list-style=amp |title=Struggling with History: Islam and Cosmopolitanism in the Western Indian Ocean |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-70024-5 |page=333 |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Kupferschmidt1987" /><ref name="Raṇṭattāṇi2007">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlb5BrabQd8C&pg=PA179 |last=Raṇṭattāṇi |first=Husain |title=Mappila Muslims: A Study on Society and Anti Colonial Struggles |date=2007 |publisher=Other Books |isbn=978-8-1-903887-8-8 |pages=179– |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> According to ''[[Qissat Shakarwati Farmad]]'', the [[Mosque|''Masjids'']] at [[Kodungallur]], [[Kollam]], [[Madayi]], [[Barkur]], [[Mangalore]], [[Kasaragod]], Kannur, [[Dharmadam]], [[Koyilandy|Panthalayani]], and [[Chaliyam]], were built during the era of [[Malik Dinar]], and they are among the oldest ''Masjid''s in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name="Prange, Sebastian R. 2018"/> It is believed that [[Malik Dinar]] died at [[Thalangara]] in [[Kasaragod]] town.<ref name="ch">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9RMxjdjUVAC |title=Cultural Heritage of Kerala |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |date=2008 |orig-date=1978 |page=58 |isbn=978-8-12641-903-6}}</ref> The Koyilandy Jumu'ah Mosque in the erstwhile Kolathunadu contains an [[Old Malayalam]] inscription written in a mixture of ''[[Vatteluttu]]'' and [[Grantha script]]s which dates back to the 10th century CE.<ref name="Okay">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.106957/page/n77/mode/2up |editor-last=Subrahmanya Aiyar |editor-first=K. V. |editor-link=K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyar |date=1932 |title=South Indian Inscriptions, Volume VIII |location=Madras |publisher=Government Press |page=69}}</ref> It is a rare surviving document recording patronage by a [[Hindu]] king (Bhaskara Ravi) to the [[Muslim]]s of Kerala.<ref name="Okay"/>

==The Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics==
[[File:Kerala school chain of teachers.jpg|thumb|right|The list of teachers at the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]]
{{main|Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics}}
The Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics was a school of [[Indian mathematics|mathematics]] and [[Indian astronomy|astronomy]] founded by [[Madhava of Sangamagrama]] in [[Kingdom of Tanur|Tirur]] in the 14th century. Among its members were [[Parameshvara]], [[Neelakanta Somayaji]], [[Jyeshtadeva]], [[Achyuta Pisharati]], [[Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri]] and [[Achyuta Panikkar]]. Some of the contributions of the school included the discovery of the [[infinite series]] and taylor series of some trigonometry functions.<ref name=katz/> The school flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries.

== European trade and influences ==
[[File:Vascodagama.JPG|thumb|upright|Vasco da Gama landing in Kerala.]]
[[File:1652 Sanson Map of India - Geographicus - India-sanson-1652.jpg|left|thumbnail|A 1652 Map of India ([[Malabar Coast]] is highlighted separately on the right side).]]
The maritime [[spice trade]] monopoly in the Indian Ocean stayed with the Arabs during the [[High Middle Ages|High]] and [[Late Middle Ages]]. However, the dominance of Middle East traders was challenged in the European [[Age of Discovery]]. After [[Vasco Da Gama]]'s arrival in [[Kappad]] [[Kozhikode]] in 1498, the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]] began to dominate eastern shipping, and the spice-trade in particular.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corn |first=Charles |date=1999 |orig-date=1998 |title=The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade |publisher=Kodansha America |pages=4–5 |isbn=1-56836-249-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ravindran |first=P. N. |date=2000 |title=Black Pepper: Piper Nigrum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VaGCgSLrdr4C |publisher=CRC Press |page=3 |isbn=978-9-0-5702-453-5 |access-date=11 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Curtin |first=Philip D. |author-link=Philip D. Curtin |date=1984 |title=Cross-Cultural Trade in World History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=144 |isbn=0-521-26931-8}}</ref> Following the discovery of sea route from [[Europe]] to [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]] in 1498, the Portuguese began to expand their influence between [[Ormus]] and the [[Malabar Coast]] and south to [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subrahmanyam |first=Sanjay |author-link=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |date=1997 |title=The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=288 |isbn=978-0-52147-072-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Robert |first=Knox |author-link=Robert Knox (sailor) |date=1681 |title=An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon |pages=19–47 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |place=London, UK |title-link=An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon}}</ref>

=== Portuguese trade and influences ===
{{See also|History of Kozhikode|Kingdom of Tanur|History of Kannur|History of Kochi|History of Quilon}}
[[File:Caminho maritimo para a India.png|thumb|The path [[Vasco da Gama]] took to reach [[Kozhikode]] (black line).]]
[[Vasco da Gama]] was sent by the King of Portugal Dom [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I]] and landed at Kozhikode in 1497–1499.<ref>{{cite web |title=‌Advent the Europeans: Portuguese (1505–1961) |url=http://www.myeduphilic.com/about-the-europeans/ |website=myeduphilic |access-date=5 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107004355/http://www.myeduphilic.com/about-the-europeans/ |archive-date=7 November 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Samoothiri Maharaja of Kozhikode permitted the Portuguese to trade with his subjects. Their trade in Kozhikode prospered with the establishment of a factory and fort in his territory. However, Portuguese attacks on Arab properties in his jurisdiction provoked the Samoothiri and finally led to conflict. 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]].<ref name="Malabar"/> As a result, the [[Kingdom of Tanur]] (''[[Tirur Taluk|Vettathunadu]]'') became one of the earliest Portuguese Colonies in India. The ruler of [[Tanur, Malappuram|Tanur]] also sided with [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]].<ref name="Malabar"/> Many of the members of the royal family of Cochin in 16th and 17th centuries were selected from [[Vettom Grama Panchayath|Vettom]].<ref name="Malabar"/> However, the [[Tanur, Malappuram|Tanur]] forces under the king fought for the Zamorin of Calicut in the [[Battle of Cochin (1504)]].<ref name="Logan" /> However, the allegiance of the [[Mappila]] merchants in [[Tanur, Malappuram|Tanur]] region still stayed under the [[Zamorin of Calicut]].<ref name="Makhdoom">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Tuhfat-al-MujahidinAnHistoricalWorkInTheArabicLanguage |last=Nainar |first=S. Muhammad Hussain |date=1942 |title=Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin: An Historical Work in The Arabic Language |publisher=University of Madras}}</ref>
[[File:Mattancherry palace at night.jpg|left|thumbnail|The [[Mattancherry Palace]] at [[Kochi]] was built and gifted by the Portuguese as a present to the [[Kingdom of Cochin]] around 1545.]]

The Portuguese took advantage of the rivalry between the Samoothiri and Rajah of [[Kingdom of Kochi|Kochi]]{{snd}}they allied with Kochi and when [[Francisco de Almeida]] was appointed Viceroy of Portuguese India in 1505, he established his headquarters at Kochi. During his reign, the Portuguese managed to dominate relations with Kochi and established a number of fortresses along the [[Malabar Coast]].<ref name="Mehta2005">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&pg=PA324 |last=Mehta |first=J. L. |date=2005 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Modern India: Volume One: 1707–1813 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-1-932705-54-6 |pages=324–327 |access-date=9 August 2012}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Portuguese suffered severe setbacks due to attacks by Samoothiri Maharaja's forces, especially naval attacks under the leadership of admirals of Kozhikode known as [[Kunjali Marakkar]]s, which compelled them to seek a treaty. The Kunjali Marakkars are credited with organizing the first naval defense of the Indian coast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.joinindiannavy.gov.in/en/about-us/maritime-heritage.html |title=Maritime Heritage |website=Indian Navy |access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.asianage.com/opinion/columnists/110217/give-indian-navy-its-due.html |title=Give Indian Navy its due |last=Singh |first=Arun Kumar |date=11 February 2017 |newspaper=[[The Asian Age]] |access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref> ''[[Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen]]'' written by [[Zainuddin Makhdoom II]] (born around 1532) of [[Ponnani]] in 16th-century CE is the first-ever known book fully based on the history of Kerala, written by a Keralite.<ref name="A. Sreedhara Menon 2011">{{cite book |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |title=Kerala History and its Makers |date=2008 |orig-date=1987 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |edition=3rd revised |isbn=978-81-2642-199-2}}</ref><ref name="frontline.in">{{cite magazine |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30179359.ece |title=Islam in Kerala |last=Noorani |first=A. G. |author-link=A. G. Noorani |date=February 26, 2010 |magazine=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]}}</ref><ref name="REMiller">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |author-link=Roland E. Miller |date=2015 |title=Mappila Muslim Culture |location=Albany |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-43845-601-0}}</ref> 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 [[Malabar coast]].<ref name="REMiller"/><ref name="A. Sreedhara Menon 2011"/> [[Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan]], who is considered as the father of modern [[Malayalam literature]], was born at [[Tirur]] (''[[Kingdom of Tanur|Vettathunadu]]'') during Portuguese period.<ref name="Malabar"/> The medieval [[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]] that flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries, was also primarily based in [[Kingdom of Tanur|''Vettathunadu'']] ([[Tirur Taluk|Tirur region]])<ref name="roy">{{cite journal |last=Roy |first=Ranjan |date=1990 |title=Discovery of the Series Formula for π by Leibniz, Gregory, and Nilakantha |journal=Mathematics Magazine |volume=63 |issue=5 |pages=291–306 |doi=10.2307/2690896 |jstor=2690896}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Pingree |first=David |author-link=David Pingree |title=Hellenophilia versus the History of Science |date=1992 |journal=Isis |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=554–63 |jstor=234257 |doi=10.1086/356288 |quote=One example I can give you relates to the Indian Mādhava's demonstration, in about 1400&nbsp;A.D., of the infinite power series of trigonometrical functions using geometrical and algebraic arguments. When this was first described in English by Charles Whish, in the 1830s, it was heralded as the Indians' discovery of the calculus. This claim and Mādhava's achievements were ignored by Western historians, presumably at first because they could not admit that an Indian discovered the calculus, but later because no one read anymore the ''Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society'', in which Whish's article was published. The matter resurfaced in the 1950s, and now we have the Sanskrit texts properly edited, and we understand the clever way that Mādhava derived the series ''without'' the calculus, but many historians still find it impossible to conceive of the problem and its solution in terms of anything other than the calculus and proclaim that the calculus is what Mādhava found. In this case, the elegance and brilliance of Mādhava's mathematics are being distorted as they are buried under the current mathematical solution to a problem to which he discovered an alternate and powerful solution. |bibcode=1992Isis...83..554P |s2cid=68570164}}</ref>
[[File:Bekal Fort Kasargod.jpg|thumbnail|[[Bekal Fort]] at [[Kasaragod district|Kasaragod]] built in 1650 CE by [[Shivappa Nayaka]].]]
The [[St. Angelo Fort]] at [[Kannur]] was built by the Portuguese in 1505, which was later captured by Dutch and [[Arakkal kingdom]].<ref name="KMM_1988">{{cite book |last=Mathew |first=K. M. |title=History of the Portuguese Navigation in India, 1497–1600 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl3IR3RJTIEC&pg=PA165 |date=1988 |publisher=Mittal |isbn=978-8-1-7099-046-8 |pages=165–166}}</ref> The [[Portuguese Cemetery, Kollam]] (after the invasion of [[Dutch people|Dutch]], it became ''Dutch Cemetery'') of [[Tangasseri]] in [[Kollam]] city was constructed in around 1519 as part of the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] invasion in the city. [[Buckingham Canal, Kollam|Buckingham Canal]] (a small canal between [[Tangasseri Lighthouse]] and the cemetery) is situated very close to the Portuguese Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oocities.org/athens/Acropolis/9669/tangy.htm |title=Tangasseri, Tangassery, Tangy: an Eurasian Anglo-Indian Settlement in Kerala, India |website=Oocities |access-date=9 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asithrissurcircle.in/Monuments.html |title=Monuments |website=Archaeological Survey of India – Thrissur Circle |access-date=9 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516093409/http://www.asithrissurcircle.in/Monuments.html |archive-date=2014-05-16}}</ref> A group of pirates known as the Pirates of Tangasseri formerly lived at the Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rotarytangasseri.org/history.html |title=A brief history of Tangasseri |website=Rotary Club of Tangasseri |access-date=9 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122170529/http://rotarytangasseri.org/history.html |archive-date=22 November 2013}}</ref> The remnants of [[St Thomas Fort, Tangasseri|St. Thomas Fort]] and Portuguese Cemetery still exist at Tangasseri. The Muslim line of Ali Rajas of [[Arakkal kingdom]], near [[Kannur]], who were the vassals of the [[Kolathiri]], ruled over the [[Lakshadweep]] islands.<ref name="MorseStephens1897">{{cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31226/31226-h/31226-h.htm |last=Stephens |first=Henry Morse |title=Albuquerque |chapter=Chapter 1: The Predecessors of Albuquerque |series=[[Rulers of India series]] |date=1897 |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |via=Project Gutenberg}}</ref> The [[Bekal Fort]] near [[Kasaragod district|Kasaragod]], which is also largest fort in the state, was built in 1650 by [[Shivappa Nayaka]] of [[Nayakas of Keladi|Keladi]].<ref name="Bekal">{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/a-portion-of-kasaragods-bekal-forts-observation-post-caves-in/article28993345.ece/ |title=A Portion of Kasaragod's Bekal Forts Observation Post Caves in |date=12 August 2019 |newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref>

=== French port in Kerala - Mahe ===
{{See also|Mahé, India}}
[[File:Mappila Bay Fishing Harbour2.jpg|thumbnail|[[Mappila Bay]] harbour at [[Ayikkara]], [[Kannur]]. On one side, there is [[St. Angelo Fort]] (built in 1505) and on the other side is [[Arakkal kingdom|Arakkal palace]].]]
[[File:From a map by Emanuel Bowen, 1744.jpg|thumb|A 1744 map of [[Malabar Coast]] (Malabar coast is on the left side).]]

The [[French Indies Company|French East India Company]] constructed a fort on the site of Mahé in 1724, in accordance with an accord concluded between André Mollandin and Raja Vazhunnavar of Badagara three years earlier. In 1741, Mahé de La Bourdonnais retook the town after a period of occupation by the Marathas.

In 1761 the British captured [[Mahé, India]], and the settlement was handed over to the Rajah of Kadathanadu. The British restored [[Mahé, India]] to the French as a part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In 1779, the Anglo-French war broke out, resulting in the French loss of [[Mahé, India]]. In 1783, the British agreed to restore to the French their settlements in India, and [[Mahé, India]] was handed over to the French in 1785.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mahe.gov.in/mws/leftmenupages/history.html |title=History of Mahé |website=[[Mahe district]] |access-date=19 April 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232052/http://mahe.gov.in/mws/leftmenupages/history.html |archive-date=30 December 2013}}</ref>

=== Dutch trade and influences ===
[[File:Bolgatty Palace.jpg|thumbnail|[[Bolgatty Palace]], built in 1744 by [[Dutch Malabar]], also acted as the [[British Residency]] in [[Kochi]].]]
[[File:De Lannoy Surrender.JPG|220px|thumb|[[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] commander [[Eustachius De Lannoy|De Lannoy]] surrenders to [[Marthanda Varma]] at the [[Battle of Colachel]] (1741). Depiction at [[Padmanabhapuram Palace]].]]
In 1602, the [[Zamorin]] sent messages to [[Aceh]] promising the Dutch a fort at [[Kozhikode]] if they would come and trade there. Two factors, Hans de Wolff and Lafer, were sent on an Asian ship from Aceh, but the two were captured by the chief of [[Tanur, Malappuram|Tanur]], and handed over to the Portuguese.<ref name="SanjaySubrahmanyam2">{{cite book |first=Sanjay |last=Subrahmanyam |title=The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India 1500–1650 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2002 |orig-date=1990 |isbn=978-0-52189-226-1}}</ref> A Dutch fleet under Admiral [[Steven van der Hagen]] arrived at Kozhikode in November 1604. It marked the beginning of the Dutch presence in Kerala and they concluded a treaty with [[Kozhikode]] on 11 November 1604, which was also the first treaty that the [[Dutch East India Company]] made with an Indian ruler.<ref name="Malabar"/> By this time the kingdom and the port of [[Kozhikode]] was much reduced in importance.<ref name="SanjaySubrahmanyam2"/> The treaty provided for a mutual alliance between the two to expel the Portuguese from Malabar. In return the [[Dutch East India Company]] was given facilities for trade at Kozhikode and [[Ponnani]], including spacious storehouses.<ref name="SanjaySubrahmanyam2"/>

The weakened Portuguese were ousted by the [[Dutch East India Company]], who took advantage of continuing conflicts between [[Saamoothiri|Kozhikode]] and [[Kingdom of Cochin|Kochi]] to gain control of the trade. In 1664, the municipality of [[Fort Kochi]] was established by [[Dutch Malabar]], making it the first municipality in the [[Indian subcontinent]], which got dissolved when the Dutch authority got weaker in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/50-years-on-kochi-still-has-a-long-way-to-go/articleshow/60835311.cms |title=50 years on, Kochi still has a long way to go |first=M. K. |last=Sunil Kumar |date=26 September 2017 |newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=1 June 2021}}</ref> The [[Dutch Malabar]] (1661–1795) in turn were weakened by their constant battles with [[Marthanda Varma]] of the [[Travancore Royal Family]], and were defeated at the [[Battle of Colachel]] in 1741, resulting in the complete eclipse of Dutch power in Malabar. The [[Treaty of Mavelikkara]] was signed by the Dutch and Travancore in 1753, according to which the Dutch were compelled to detach from all political involvements in the region. In the meantime, Marthanda Varma annexed many smaller northern kingdoms through military conquests, resulting in the rise of Travancore to a position of pre-eminence in Kerala.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnAjqjhc1VcC&pg=PA13 |title=Political History of Modern Kerala |last=Sreedhara Menon |first=A. |publisher=DC Books |date=1987 |isbn=978-8-1-264-2156-5 |page=140}}</ref> Travancore became the most dominant state in Kerala by defeating the powerful [[Zamorin]] of [[History of Kozhikode|Kozhikode]] in the [[Purakkad|Battle of Purakkad]] in 1763.<ref name="AHoT 162">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorytravanc00menogoog/page/n212 |last1=Shungoony Menon |first1=P. |title=A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times |date=1878 |publisher=Higgin Botham & Co. |location=Madras |pages=162–164 |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> In 1757, to check the invasion of the Zamorin, the [[Palakkad]] Raja sought the help of Hyder Ali of Mysore. In 1766, [[Hyder Ali|Haider Ali]] of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]] defeated the Samoothiri of Kozhikode and absorbed Kozhikode to his state.<ref name="KrishnaIyer2"/>

=== The Kingdom of Mysore and British influences===
{{See also|Kingdom of Mysore|Malabar District}}
[[File:Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England (1904) (14593177119).jpg|left|thumbnail|This map includes Kerala in the Southwestern region. The Kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin are seen in yellow.]]
[[File:Kanakakkunnu Palace DSW.jpg|alt=|thumb|220x220px|[[Kanakakkunnu Palace]] at [[Thiruvananthapuram]]. Thiruvananthapuram became a major city on [[Malabar Coast]] after the ruler [[Marthanda Varma]] annexed all minor kingdoms up to [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]] to form [[Travancore]] in the 18th century CE.]]
[[File:മലപ്പുറം ജില്ലയിൽ പൊന്നാനിയിലെ ഹാർബർ (1930-37).jpg|thumbnail|[[Ponnani]] harbour in the mid-1930s.]]
The arrival of [[East India Company|British]] on [[Malabar Coast]] can be traced back to the year 1615, when a group under the leadership of Captain [[William Keeling]] arrived at [[Kozhikode]], using three ships.<ref name="Malabar"/> It was in these ships that Sir [[Thomas Roe]] went to visit [[Jahangir]], the fourth [[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]], as [[British Empire|British envoy]].<ref name="Malabar"/> 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 [[Kolathiri|''Kolattu Rajas'']], [[Kingdom of Kottayam|''Kottayam Rajas'']], and [[Arakkal kingdom|'' Arakkal Bibi'']] in the late medieval period, where the British initiated a factory and English settlement following the [[cession]].<ref name="Logan" /><ref name="Innes">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358941/mode/2up |title=Madras District Gazetteers Malabar (Volume I) |last=Innes |first=Charles Alexander |date=1908 |publisher=Madras Government Press |page=451}}</ref>

The smaller princely states in northern and north-central parts of Kerala ([[Malabar District|Malabar region]]) including [[Kolathunadu]], [[Kingdom of Kottayam|Kottayam]], [[Kadathanadu]], [[Zamorin of Calicut|Kozhikode]], [[Kingdom of Tanur|Tanur]], [[Kingdom of Valluvanad|Valluvanad]], and [[Palakkad]] were unified under the rulers of Mysore and were made a part of the larger [[Kingdom of Mysore]] in the latter half of the 18th century CE. [[Hyder Ali]] and his successor, [[Tipu Sultan]], came into conflict with the British, leading to the four [[Anglo-Mysore wars]] fought across southern India. Tipu Sultan ceded [[Malabar District]] to the British in 1792 as a result of the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]] and the subsequent [[Treaty of Seringapatam]], and [[South Kanara]], which included present-day [[Kasargod District]], in 1799. The British concluded treaties of [[subsidiary alliance]] with the rulers of Cochin (1791) and Travancore (1795), and these became [[princely state]]s of [[British India]], maintaining local autonomy in return for a fixed annual tribute to the British. Malabar and South Kanara districts were part of British India's [[Madras Presidency]].

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (Kerul Varma Pyche Rajah, Cotiote Rajah) (1753–1805) was the Prince Regent and the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Kottayam in Malabar, India between 1774 and 1805. He led the Pychy Rebellion (Wynaad Insurrection, Coiote War) against the English East India Company. He is popularly known as ''Kerala Simham'' (Lion of Kerala). The municipalities of [[Kozhikode]], [[Palakkad]], [[Fort Kochi]], [[Kannur]], and [[Thalassery]], were founded on 1 November 1866<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lawmin.nic.in/chronology.doc |title=Chronological List of Central Acts (Updated up to 17 October 2014) |website=[[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Ministry of Law & Justice]] |access-date=2016-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127075116/http://www.lawmin.nic.in/chronology.doc |archive-date=2014-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b_YIAAAAQAAJ |last1=Lewis McIver |first1=G. Stokes |title=Imperial Census of 1881 Operations and Results in the Presidency of Madras, Volume II |date=1883 |publisher=E.Keys at the Government Press |location=Madras |page=444 |access-date=5 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUEwnQEACAAJ |title=Madras District Gazetteers, Volume 2: Statistical Appendix for Malabar District |date=1915 |publisher=The Superintendent, Government Press |location=Madras |page=20 |access-date=2 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frowde |first1=Henry |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India |date=1908–1909 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |edition=New |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/ |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref> of the [[British Indian Empire]], making them the first modern municipalities in the state of Kerala.

Organised expressions of discontent with British rule were not uncommon in Kerala. Initially the British had to suffer local resistance against their rule under the leadership of [[Pazhassi Raja|Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja]], who had popular support in [[Thalassery]]-[[Wayanad]] region.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAlXPgAACAAJ&q=%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3+%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82 |title=Kerala Charitram |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |author-link=A. Sreedhara Menon |date=2007 |orig-date=1967 |location=[[Kottayam]] |publisher=[[DC Books]] |edition=Revised |isbn=978-8-12641-588-5 |access-date=19 July 2020}}</ref> Other uprisings of note include the rebellion by [[Velu Thampi Dalawa]] and the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt of 1946. The [[Malabar Special Police]] was formed by the colonial government in 1884 headquartered at [[Malappuram]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/beating-the-retreat-the-malabar-special-police-is-no-longer-the-trigger-happy-unit/ |title=Beating the retreat: The Malabar Special Police is no longer the trigger-happy unit |first=K.P. |last=Saikiran |date=10 October 2020 |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=13 November 2020}}</ref> There were major revolts in Kerala during the independence movement in the 20th century; most notable among them is the 1921 [[Malabar Rebellion]] and the social struggles in [[Travancore]]. In the Malabar Rebellion, Mappila Muslims of Malabar rebelled against the [[British Raj]].<ref name="Qureshi1999">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czKYZPyoyx0C |last=Qureshi |first=M. Naeem |title=Pan-Islam in British Indian Politics: A Study of the Khilafat Movement, 1918–1924 |date=1999 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9-0-04-11371-8 |pages=445–447}}</ref> The [[Battle of Pookkottur]] adorns an important role in the rebellion.<ref name="tottenham grf">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023929700/page/n79/mode/2up |editor-last=Tottenham |editor-first=G. R. F. |date=1922 |title=The Mappila Rebellion 1921–1922 |location=Madras |publisher=Government Press |page=71}}</ref> Some social struggles against caste inequalities also erupted in the early decades of the 20th century, leading to the 1936 [[Temple Entry Proclamation]] that opened Hindu temples in Travancore to all castes.<ref name="Smith1976">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |last=Smith |first=Bardwell L. |title=Religion and Social Conflict in South Asia |date=1976 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9-0-04-04510-1 |pages=35–42 |access-date=31 July 2012}}</ref>
Kerala also witnessed several social reforms movements directed at the eradication of social evils such as [[untouchability]] among the Hindus, pioneered by reformists like Sri [[Narayana Guru]], [[Ayyankali]] and Chattambiswami among others. The non-violent and largely peaceful [[Vaikom]] [[Satyagraha]] of 1924 was instrumental in securing entry to the public roads adjacent to the Vaikom temple for people belonging to untouchable castes.

== The Kingdom of Travancore ==
{{Main article|Travancore}}
The Kingdom of Travancore was a kingdom in Central and Southern Kerala that existed from ancient times until 1949. Until the reign of Marthanda Varma, the kingdom was known as Venad. In the 11th century, Venad became a vassal of the [[Chola Empire]]. In the 16th century, Venad became a vassal of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]]. In the late 18th century, Travancore made an alliance with the British Empire and later became a [[princely state|British Protectorate]].
[[File:King Of Travancore sct.jpg|thumb|180px|left|A portrait of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last ruling king of Travancore.]]

=== Details of Chithira Thirunal's Rule and Reforms ===
{{main|Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma}}
The last ruling king of Travancore was [[Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma]], who reigned from 1931 to 1949. "His reign marked revolutionary progress in the fields of education, defence, economy and society as a whole."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/99999990823953TheStoryOfTheIntegrationOfTheIndianStates/page/n299/mode/2up |title=The Story of the Integration of the Indian States |first=V. P. |last=Menon |date=1956 |publisher=[[Orient Longmans]] |page=275 |quote=During his rule, the revenues of the State were nearly quadrupled from a little over Rs 2½ crore to over Rs 9½ crore.}}</ref> He made the famous Temple Entry Proclamation on 12 November 1936, which opened all the [[Kshetram]]s (Hindu temples in Kerala) in Travancore to all [[Hindu]]s, a privilege reserved to only upper-caste Hindus till then. This act won him praise from across India, most notably from [[Mohandas Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi]]. The first public transport system (Thiruvananthapuram–Mavelikkara) and telecommunication system (Thiruvananthapuram Palace–Mavelikkara Palace) were launched during the reign of Sree Chithira Thirunal. He also started the industrialisation of the state, enhancing the role of the public sector. He introduced heavy industry in the State and established giant public sector undertakings. As many as twenty industries were established, mostly for utilizing the local raw materials such as rubber, ceramics, and minerals. A majority of the premier industries running in Kerala even today, were established by Sree Chithira Thirunal. He patronized musicians, artists, dancers, and Vedic scholars. Sree Chithira Thirunal appointed, for the first time, an ''Art Advisor'' to the Government, G. H. Cousins. He also established a new form of University Training Corps, viz. ''Labour Corps'', preceding the N.C.C., in the educational institutions. The expenses of the university were to be met fully by the Government. Sree Chithira Thirunal also built a palace named ''Kowdiar Palace'', finished in 1934, which was previously an old ''Naluektu'', given by Sree Moolam Thirunal to his mother Sethu Parvathi Bayi in 1915.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/speeches/speeches_2007/ctm.pdf |title=Good Governance: Judiciary And The Rule Of Law |publisher=Sree Chithira Thirunal Memorial Lecture, 29 December 2007 |access-date=1 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017164448/http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/speeches/speeches_2007/ctm.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2012 |via=Supreme Court of India}}</ref><ref name="Aswathy Thirunal Gauri Lakshmi Bai">{{cite book |last=Gauri Lakshmi Bai |first=Aswathy Thirunal |title=Sree Padmanabhaswamy Kshetram |date=1998 |publisher=The State Institute of Languages, Kerala |location=Thiruvananthapuram |isbn=978-8-1-7638-028-7 |pages=242–243}}</ref><ref name="A. Sreedhara Menon">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6 |page=273}}</ref>

===Controversial Policies of C.P. Ramaswami Iyer ===
[[File:Punnapra vayalar.jpg|thumb|180px|A memorial of the Punnapra Vayalar Uprising in the village of [[Kalarcode]], which is situated close to [[Alappuzha]].]]
However, his Prime Minister, [[C. P. Ramaswami Iyer]], was unpopular among the communists of Travancore. The tension between the Communists and Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer led to minor riots in various places of the country. In one such [[Punnapra-Vayalar uprising|riot in Punnapra-Vayalar]] in 1946, the Communist rioters established their own government in the area. This was put down by the Travancore Army and Navy.

=== Attempted Independence of Travancore as a fully sovereign nation ===
The Prime Minister issued a statement in June 1947 that Travancore would remain as an independent country instead of joining the Indian Union; subsequently, an attempt was made on the life of Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, following which he resigned and left for Madras, to be succeeded by Sri [[P.G.N. Unnithan]]. According to witnesses such as K.[[Aiyappan Pillai]], constitutional adviser to the Maharaja and historians like [[A. Sreedhara Menon]], the rioters and mob-attacks had no bearing on the decision of the Maharaja.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |date=2019 |orig-date=2001 |title=Triumph & Tragedy in Travancore: Annals of Sir C.P.'s Sixteen Years |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-9-35390-117-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIMS_6Z_WRE |title=Election Special: C. P. Ramaswami Iyer |author=AsiaNet News |date=6 February 2016 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

=== Annexation into the Republic of India ===
After several rounds of discussions and negotiations between Sree Chithira Thirunal and [[V.P. Menon]], the King agreed that the Kingdom should accede to the Indian Union in 1949. On 1 July 1949 the Kingdom of Travancore was merged with the Kingdom of Cochin and the short-lived state of [[Travancore-Cochin|Travancore-Kochi]] was formed.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/Joining-hands/article14410304.ece |title=Joining hands |last=Kurian |first=Nimi |date=2016-06-30 |language=en-IN |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=2021-07-22 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

== Republic of India era ==
=== Formation of the state of Kerala===
{{main|Travancore-Cochin}}
[[File:Administrative Divisions of Kerala (2020).svg|left|thumbnail|A map of Kerala.]]
The two kingdoms of [[Travancore]] and [[Cochin]] joined the [[Dominion of India|Union of India]] after independence in 1947. On 1{{nbsp}}July 1949, the two states were merged to form [[Travancore-Cochin]]. On 1{{nbsp}}January 1950, Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state. The [[Madras Presidency]] was reorganised to form [[Madras State]] in 1947.

On 1{{nbsp}}November 1956, the state of Kerala was formed by the [[States Reorganisation Act]] merging the [[Malabar District]] (excluding the islands of [[Lakshadweep]]), Travancore-Cochin (excluding four southern [[tehsil|taluks]], which were merged with Tamil Nadu), and the taluk of [[Kasaragod Town|Kasargod]], [[South Kanara]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1956-37.pdf |title=The State Reorganisation Act 1956 |website=Government of India}}</ref><ref name="Plunkett">{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Plunkett |date=2001 |title=South India |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] |page=24 |isbn=1-86450-161-8}}</ref> with [[Thiruvananthapuram]] as the capital. In 1957, elections for the new Kerala Legislative Assembly were held, and a reformist, [[Communist]]-led government came to power, under [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]].<ref name="Plunkett"/> It was one of the earliest communist governments to be democratically elected to power, second only to [[San Marino]]. It initiated pioneering [[land reforms]], aiming to lowering of rural poverty in Kerala. However, these reforms were largely non-effective to mark a greater change in the society as these changes were not effected to a large extent. Lakhs of farms were owned by large establishments, companies and estate owners. They were not affected by this move and this was considered as a treachery as these companies and estates were formed while Travancore was a vassal state of Britain. Two things were the real reason for the reduction of poverty in Kerala one was the policy for wide scale education and second was the overseas migration for labour to Middle East and other countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8546952.stm |title=Conundrum of Kerala's struggling economy by Soutik Biswas |last=Biswas |first=Soutik |date=2010-03-17 |website=BBC News |access-date=2013-09-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Nossiter |first=Thomas Johnson |title=Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation |publisher=C. Hurst for the Royal Institute of International Affairs |date=1982 |isbn=0-905838-40-8}}</ref>

=== Liberation struggle ===
The [[Government of Kerala]] refused to nationalise the large estates but did provide reforms to protect manual labourers and farm workers, and invited capitalists to set up industry. Much more controversial was an effort to impose state control on private schools, such as those run by the Christians and the NSS, which enrolled 40% of the students. The Christians, NSS, Namputhiris, and the Congress Party protested, with demonstrations numbering in the tens and hundreds of thousands of people. The government controlled the police, which made 150,000 arrests (often the same people arrested time and again), and used 248 lathi charges to beat back the demonstrators, killing twenty. The opposition called on Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] to seize control of the state government. Nehru was reluctant but when his daughter [[Indira Gandhi]], the national head of the Congress Party, joined in, he finally did so. New elections in 1959 cost the Communists most of their seats and Congress resumed control.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Jawaharlal Nehru and the Smoking Gun: Who pulled the trigger on Kerala's Communist government in 1959? |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |author-link=Robin Jeffrey |date=1991 |journal=Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics |volume=29 |number=1 |pages=72–85 |doi=10.1080/14662049108447602}}</ref>

=== Coalition politics ===
{{See also|Saptakakshi Munnani|United Front (Kerala)}}
Later in 1967–82 Kerala elected a series of leftist coalition governments; the most stable was that led by Achutha Menon from 1969 to 1977.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FKepYC6wzwC&pg=PA293 |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |title=India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy |date=2011 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |pages=290–301 |isbn=978-0-33054-020-9}}</ref>

From 1967 to 1970, Kunnikkal Narayanan led a [[Naxalite]] movement in Kerala. The theoretical difference in the communist party, i.e. CPM is the part of the uprising of Naxalbari movement in Bengal which leads to the formation of CPI(ML) in India. Due to ideological differences the CPI-ML split into several groups. Some groups choose to participate peacefully in electoralism, while some choose to aim for violent revolution. The violence alienated public opinion.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Naxalites and the New Democratic Revolution: The Kerala Experience 1967–70 |first=K. |last=Sreejith |date=1999 |journal=Bengal Past & Present: A Journal of Modern Indian & Asian History |volume=118 |number=2 |pages=69–82}}</ref>

The political alliance have strongly stabilised in such a manner that, with rare exceptions, most of the coalition partners stick their loyalty to the alliance. As a result, to this, ever since 1979, the power has been clearly alternating between these two fronts without any change. Politics in Kerala is characterised by continually shifting alliances, party mergers and splits, factionalism within the coalitions and within political parties, and numerous splinter groups.<ref name="unhcr.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,AUS_RRT,,IND,,4b6fe22b5,0.html |title=Refugee Review Tribunal, Australia, RRT Research Response |date=19 March 2007 |website=[[UNHCR]] |access-date=2013-09-25}}</ref>

Modern politics in Kerala is dominated by two political fronts: the [[Communism in India|Communist]]-led [[Left Democratic Front (Kerala)|Left Democratic Front]] (LDF) and the [[Indian National Congress]]-led [[United Democratic Front (Kerala)|United Democratic Front]] (UDF) since the late 1970s. These two parties have alternating in power since 1982. Most of the major political parties in Kerala, except for the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP), belong to one or the other of these two alliances, often shifting allegiances a number of time.<ref name="unhcr.org"/> As of the [[2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election]], the LDF has a majority in the [[Kerala Legislative Assembly|state assembly]] seats (99/140).

== See also ==
* [[Culture of Kerala]]
* [[Economy of Kerala]]
* [[Geography of Kerala]]
* [[Cuisine of Kerala]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last1=Menon|first1=A. Sreedhara|author-link1=A. Sreedhara Menon|title=A Survey of Kerala History|date=2007|publisher=D C Books|location=Kerala, India|isbn=978-8126415786|edition=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C}}
* {{cite book |last1=Menon |first1=A. Sreedhara |author-link=A. Sreedhara Menon |title=Kerala History and its Makers |date=4 March 2011 |publisher=D C Books |isbn=978-81-264-3782-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnAjqjhc1VcC |language=en}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last=Arun |first=Shoba |date=2017 |title=Development and Gender Capital in India: Change, Continuity and Conflict in Kerala |location=London, UK |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-13822-196-3}}
*{{cite journal |title=Hindu Kingship and the Origin of Community: Religion, State and Society in Kerala, 1750–1850 |first=Susan |last=Bayly |author-link=Susan Bayly |date=April 1984 |journal=[[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume=18 |number=2 |pages=177–213 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00014402|s2cid=143482009 }}
*{{cite journal |title=Radicalised civil society and protracted political actions in Kerala (India): a socio-political narrative |first=V. |last=Bijukumar |date=2019 |journal=[[Asian Ethnicity]] |volume=20 |number=4 |pages=503–521 |doi=10.1080/14631369.2019.1601005|s2cid=164249821 }}
*{{cite book |url=http://www.orientblackswan.com/display.asp?categoryID=0&isbn=978-81-2505-722-2 |editor1-last=Bose |editor1-first=Satheese Chandra |editor2-last=Varughese |editor2-first=Shiju Sam |date= 2015 |title=Kerala Modernity: Ideas, Spaces and Practices in Transition |location=Hyderabad |publisher=[[Orient Blackswan]] |isbn=978-9-38639-265-7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102071757/http://www.orientblackswan.com/display.asp?categoryID=0&isbn=978-8-1-250-5722-2 |archive-date=2015-01-02}}
*{{cite journal |title=Trade, Conversion and the Growth of the Islamic Community of Kerala, South India |first=Stephen F. |last=Dale |author-link=Stephen Dale |date=1990 |journal=Studia Islamica |number=71 |pages=155–175 |doi=10.2307/1595642|jstor=1595642 }}
*{{cite journal |title=Communal Relations in Pre-Modern India: 16th Century Kerala |first=Stephen F. |last=Dale |date=December 1973 |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |volume=16 |number=2/3 |pages=319–327 |doi=10.1163/156852073X00184}}
*{{cite journal |title=The 'Kudumbashree woman' and the Kerala model woman: Women and politics in contemporary Kerala |first=J. |last=Devika |author-link=J. Devika |date=2016 |journal=Indian Journal of Gender Studies |volume=23 |number=3 |pages=393–414 |doi=10.1177/0971521516656077|s2cid=151752480 }}
*{{cite journal |title=Back from Shingly: Revisiting the pre-modern history of Jews in Kerala |first=Ophira |last=Gamliel |date=2018 |journal=Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=55 |number=1 |pages=53–76 |doi=10.1177/0019464617745926|s2cid=149268133 |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/157659/1/157659.pdf }}
*{{cite book |last=Heller |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Heller |date=1999 |title=The Labor of Development: Workers and the Transformation of Capitalism in Kerala, India |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-80148-624-1}}
*{{cite journal |title=Indian communism and the Kerala experience of coalition government, 1967–69 |first=Thelma |last=Hunter |date=1972 |journal=Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics |volume=10 |number=1 |pages=45–70 |doi=10.1080/14662047208447157}}
*{{cite book |last=Ibrahim Kunju |first=A. P. |date=1975 |title=Studies in Medieval Kerala History |url=https://ksaorg.sgp1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/2023/05/24390.pdf |location=Trivandrum, India |publisher=Kerala Historical Society |isbn= |access-date=7 April 2024 |archive-date=7 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407114458/https://ksaorg.sgp1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/2023/05/24390.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}
*{{cite book |first1=T. M. Thomas |last1=Isaac |first2=Richard W. |last2=Franke |first3=Pyralal |last3=Raghavan |name-list-style=amp |date=1998 |title=Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative: The Story of Kerala Dinesh Beedi |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=[[ILR Press]] |isbn=978-0-80148-415-5}}
*{{cite journal |title=Matriliny, Marxism, and the birth of the communist party in Kerala, 1930–1940 |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |author-link=Robin Jeffrey |date=November 1978 |journal=Journal of Asian Studies |volume=38 |number=1 |pages=77–98 |doi=10.2307/2054238|jstor=2054238 |s2cid=154557831 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2758883 |title=Governments and Culture: How Women Made Kerala Literate |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |date=1987 |journal=[[Pacific Affairs]] |volume=60 |number=3 |pages=447–472 |doi=10.2307/2758883|jstor=2758883 |url-access=subscription }}
*{{cite journal |title=Jawaharlal Nehru and the Smoking Gun: Who pulled the trigger on Kerala's Communist government in 1959? |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |date=1991 |journal=Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics |volume=29 |number=1 |pages=72–85 |doi=10.1080/14662049108447602}}
*{{cite journal |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/19062/2/01_Jeffrey_Legacies_of_Matriliny%3A__the_2005.pdf |title=Legacies of matriliny: The place of women and the 'Kerala model' |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |date=December 2004 |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=77 |number=4 |pages=647–664 |jstor=40023536 }}
*{{cite journal |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bb69/0ec821cbf616d266feb7bf9146808c7d6246.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201105811/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bb69/0ec821cbf616d266feb7bf9146808c7d6246.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2021-02-01 |title=Testing concepts about print, newspapers, and politics: Kerala, India, 1800–2009 |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |date=2009 |journal=Journal of Asian Studies |volume=68 |number=2 |pages=465–489 |doi=10.1017/S0021911809000679|s2cid=146795894 }}
*{{cite book |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |date=2016 |orig-date=1991 |title=Politics, Women and Well-being: How Kerala became 'a model' |edition=10th |location=London, UK |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-34912-252-3}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/mar/19ems.htm |title=EMS Namboodiripad dead |last=Jose |first=D. |date=1998 |website=[[Rediff]] |access-date=12 January 2006}}
*{{cite book |last=Kumar |first=Suresh |date=1994 |title=Political Evolution in Kerala: Travancore 1859–1938 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Phoenix Publishing House |isbn=978-8-17484-003-5}}
*{{cite journal |url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/44929/1/Competitive%20religious%20entrepreneurs%20(lsero).pdf |title=Competitive religious entrepreneurs: Christian missionaries and female education in colonial and post-colonial India |first1=Tomila |last1=Lankina |first2=Lullit |last2=Getachew |name-list-style=amp |date=January 2013 |journal=British Journal of Political Science |volume=43 |number=1 |pages=103–131 |doi=10.1017/S0007123412000178|s2cid=145185494 }}
*{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/53006456/A_Prehistory_of_Violence_Revolution_and_Martyrs_in_the_Making_of_a_Political_Tradition_in_Kerala.pdf |title=A prehistory of violence? Revolution and martyrs in the making of a political tradition in Kerala |first=Dilip M. |last=Menon |date=2016 |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=39 |number=3 |pages=662–677 |doi=10.1080/00856401.2016.1195452|s2cid=148397844 }}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=A Survey of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C |date=2007 |location=Kottayam |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-8-12641-578-6}}
*{{cite book |last=Newitt |first=Malyn |date=2005 |title=A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400–1668 |location=London, UK |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-20332-404-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Nossiter |first=Thomas J. |author-link=Thomas Nossiter |date=1982 |title=Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation |location=London, UK |publisher=C. Hurst |isbn=978-0-19561-469-5}}
*{{cite book |first1=Filippo |last1=Osella |first2=Caroline |last2=Osella |name-list-style=amp |date=2000 |title= Social mobility in Kerala: modernity and identity in conflict |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Pluto Press]] |isbn=978-0-74531-694-9}}
*{{cite book |editor-first1=Antony |editor-last1=Palackal |editor-first2=Wesley |editor-last2=Shrum |name-list-style=amp |date=2007 |title=Information Society and Development: The Kerala Experience |location=Jaipur |publisher=Rawat Publications |isbn=978-8-13160-152-5}}
*{{cite book |first1=Sundar |last1=Ramanathaiyer |first2=Stewart |last2=MacPherson |name-list-style=amp |date=2018 |orig-date=2000 |title=Social Development in Kerala: Illusion or Reality? |edition=2nd |location=London, UK |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-35176-986-0}}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFy4pWUlnfwC |last=Singh |first=Anjana |title=Fort Cochin in Kerala, 1750–1830: The Social Condition of a Dutch Community in an Indian Milieu |date=2010 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9-00416-816-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Raghubir |author-link=Raghubir Singh (photographer) |date=1986 |title=Kerala: The Spice Coast of India |location=London, UK |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-24125-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Veluthat |first=Kesavan |author-link=Kesavan Veluthat |date=2013 |orig-date=1978 |title=Brahman Settlements in Kerala: Historical Studies |edition=Revised & enlarged |location=Thrissur |publisher=Cosmo Books |isbn=978-8-18876-510-2}}

===Historiography and memory===
*{{cite thesis |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/84828/1/62abraham2020phdfinal.pdf |title=History Writing and Global Encounters in Sixteenth-Century Kerala |first=Renu Elizabeth |last=Abraham |type=PhD |date=2020 |publisher=University of Kent/University of Porto}}
*{{cite journal |title=The Kerala model in the time of COVID19: Rethinking state, society and democracy |first1=Jos |last1=Chathukulam |author-link1=Jos Chathukulam |first2=Joseph |last2=Tharamangalam |name-list-style=amp |date=January 2020 |journal=World Development |volume=137 |number=105207 |page=105207 |doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105207|pmid=32989341 |pmc=7510531 }}
*{{cite journal |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2348448918759852 |title=History and Historiography in Constituting a Region: The Case of Kerala |last=Veluthat |first=Kesavan |author-link=Kesavan Veluthat |date=2018 |journal=Studies in People's History |volume=5 |number=1 |pages=13–31 |doi=10.1177/2348448918759852|s2cid=166060066 |url-access=subscription }}

===Primary sources===
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Tuhfat-al-MujahidinAnHistoricalWorkInTheArabicLanguage |title=Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin: An Historical Work in The Arabic Language |last=Nainar |first=S. Muhammad Hussain |date=1942 |publisher=University of Madras}} (The English translation of ''[[Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen]]'')
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.3379 |title=Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806 |last=Iyer |first=K. V. Krishna |author-link=K. V. Krishna Iyer |date=1938 |location=Kozhikode |publisher=Norman Printing Bureau}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/malabarmanual0000loga/mode/2up |title=Malabar Manual (Volume I) |last=Logan |first=William |date=1887 |publisher=Madras Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/malabar_manual_volume2/mode/2up |title=Malabar Manual (Volume II) |last=Logan |first=William |date=1887 |publisher=Madras Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358941/mode/2up |title=Madras District Gazetteers Malabar (Volume I) |last=Innes |first=Charles Alexander |date=1908 |publisher=Madras Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.30521 |title=Madras District Gazetteers Malabar (Volume II) |last=Innes |first=Charles Alexander |date=1915 |publisher=Madras Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22142/page/n9/mode/2up |title=The Cochin State Manual |last=Menon |first=C. Achutha |date=1911 |publisher=Cochin Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/travancorestate00aiyagoog/page/n10/mode/2up |title=The Travancore State Manual |last=Nagam Aiya |first=V. |author-link=V. Nagam Aiya |date=1906 |publisher=Travancore Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.3200/page/n1/mode/2up |title=Madras District Manuals – South Canara (Volume I) |last=Sturrock |first=J. |date=1894 |publisher=Madras Government Press}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281736/mode/2up |title=Madras District Manuals – South Canara (Volume II) |last=Stuart |first=Harold A. |date=1895 |publisher=Madras Government Press}}
*{{cite book |title=Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus – 2019 |publisher=Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited |date=2018 |location=Kozhikode |edition=Malayalam}}

== External links ==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1700_1799/malabar/malabar.html |title=From the Gulf of Cambay on down the Malabar Coast, c.1700's-1850's: ports (with forts) |website=Columbia University}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.dutchinkerala.com/ |title=Glimpses of World History through Kerala and Dutch |website=Dutch in Kerala}}

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