The Malayalam Calendar, or the Kollam Era, is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, commemorating the establishment of Kollam.
Malabar Muslims or Muslim Mappilas, is a member of the Muslim community found predominantly in Kerala and Lakshadweep islands in Southern India. The term Mappila (Ma-Pilla) is generally used to denote people of Abrahamic religions in Kerala, used to describe Malabar Muslims in Northern Kerala, and Mar Thoma Nazarenes in Southern Kerala. Muslims share the common language of Malayalam with the other religious communities of Kerala.
Venad was a medieval kingdom between the Western Ghat mountains of India with its capital at city of Quilon. It was one of the major principalities of Kerala, along with kingdoms of Kolathunadu, Zamorin, and Kochi in medieval and early modern period.
The Chera dynasty, was a Sangam age Tamil dynasty which unified various regions of the western coast and western ghats in southern India to form the early Chera empire. The dynasty, known as one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam alongside the Chola and Pandya, has been documented as early as the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE. Their governance extended over diverse territories until the 12th century CE.
Joseph Rabban was a prominent Jewish merchant/aristocrat in the entrepôt of Kodungallur (Muyirikkottu) on the Malabar Coast, India in early 11th century AD.
Mushika dynasty, also spelled Mushaka, was a minor dynastic power that held sway over the region in and around Mount Ezhi (Ezhimala) in present-day North Malabar, Kerala, India. The country of the Mushikas, ruled by an ancient lineage of the Hehaya clan of the same name, appears in early historic (pre-Pallava) south India and it is believed that Mushika dynasty has their descents from Heheya Kingdom. Early Tamil poems contain several references to the exploits of Nannan of Ezhimalai. Nannan was known as a great enemy of the pre-Pallava Chera chieftains. The clan also had matrimonial alliances with the Chera, Pandya and Chola chieftains. The Kolathunadu (Kannur) Kingdom, which was the descendant of Mushika dynasty, at the peak of its power, reportedly extended from Netravati River (Mangalore) in the north to Korapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with Arabian Sea on the west and Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.
The Kollam (Quilon) Syrian copper plates, also known as the Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, are Indian copper plate inscriptions which document a royal grant of Ayyan Adikal, the chieftain of Kollam, to a Syrian Christian merchant named Mar Sapir Iso in Kerala, issued in approximately 850 CE. The inscription is engraved on six copper plates in Old Malayalam or early Middle Tamil, using Vattezhuthu script with some Grantha characters. It is considered the oldest known inscription from the Chera Perumal dynasty.
Manigiramam, or manigramam, typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, organised by itinerant ethnic Indian traders, primarily active in south India. Along with the ainurruvar and the anjuvannam, the manigiramam played a major role in the commercial activities of the region. Unlike the anjuvannam which was confined to the port-towns of south India, the manigramam is found both in the port-towns and in the hinter-land trade centres.
Ainnurruvar is a medieval merchant guild originating in the Karnataka region of India between the 8th and 13th centuries. In this period, organised merchant guilds exerted considerable power and influence. Ainnurruvar was one of the most prominent of these guilds. During the Chola Empire they were regarded as the elite amongst the South Indian merchant organizations.
Indian copper plate inscriptions are legal records engraved on copper plates. The practice was widespread and long-running in the Indian subcontinent; it may date back to as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, however the vast majority of recovered plates were produced in the 1st millennium CE. The plates were legal documents which registered and recorded an act of endowment, i.e. a grant or donation, typically of land or concessions. The plate contained bureaucratic information on land tenure and taxation essential to the operation of the state.
Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, according to Syrian Christians of Kerala, were two Church of the East Bishops believed to have arrived in 825 AD alongside a group of Christian settlers led by a merchant from Persia. Together, they established ecclesiastical institutions in several regions. Revered for their devoutness, they were posthumously recognized as saints by the local ecclesiastical body. The mission is said to have received permission from the then king of Kerala to build a church in Kollam.
Anjum, Anjom, Anjuman or Anjoman, meaning a gathering or society, may refer to:
The Chola Navy was composed of ships used for transporting the land army overseas.The Cholas did not have a standing navy in the modern sense. The maritime force of Cholas was formed by using ships used for trade, as they did not have a dedicated ship for naval combat.
Religion in Kerala is diverse. According to 2011 census of India figures, 54.73% of Kerala's population are Hindus, 26.56% are Muslims, 18.38% are Christians, and the remaining 0.33% follow other religions or have no religion. As of 2020, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and others account for 41.5%, 43.9%, 13.9% and 0.7% of the total child births in the state, respectively.
Jewish copper plates of Cochin, also known as Cochin plates of Bhaskara Ravi-varman, is a royal charter issued by the Chera Perumal king of Kerala, south India to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish merchant magnate of Kodungallur. The charter shows the status and importance of the Jewish colony in Kodungallur (Cranganore) near Cochin on the Malabar Coast.
The Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavole were a merchant guild from Aihole that provided trade links between trading communities in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They have been mentioned in inscriptions from the 9th century CE. Aihole was formerly a major city of the Chalukyas of Badami and a place with many temples and brahmans, some of whom seem to have become involved in the trading activities of the Five Hundred. But most of the Ayyavolu Lords were merchants, especially those engaged in long-distance trade. Their inscriptions between the 9th and 14th centuries record their endowments made to temples and throw light on their trading activities or commodities.
Southern Indian trade guilds were formed by merchants in order to organise and expand their trading activities. Trade guilds became channels through which Indian culture was exported to other lands. From the 11th century to the 13th century, South Indian trade in Southeast-Asia was dominated by the Cholas; and it replaced the Pallava influence of the previous centuries.
Sthanu Ravi Varma, known as the Kulasekhara, was the Chera Perumal ruler of Kerala in southern India from 844/45 to 870/71 AD. He is the earliest Chera Perumal ruler known to scholars.
Quilon or Coulão, officially Kollam, is one of the ancient civilizations in India. It is one of the oldest port cities in the Malabar Coast and was the capital city of historic Venad Kingdom and Travancore Kingdom. Quilon was once an important trading port in India. It was also known as Desinganadu. It is now known as the "Cashew Capital of the World".
Valantaravai inscription is a medieval merchant guild inscription discovered from near Valantaravai, Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu in southern India. The epigraph is one of the rare records mentioning early Jewish, Christian and Muslim presence in southern India. It dates to the period of ascendancy of the Ainnutruvar or Ayyavole Five Hundred merchant guild in south India.
