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Thalassery was a trade hub where Chinese, Arab, and Jewish traders had considerable influence in the spice market; before that the Greeks and Romans were in the trade.[ citation needed ] It was the European invasion that brought significant change as they enforced the trade with their military. [1] [ page needed ]
Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese viceroy to India, established military barracks in Cannanore (~30 km north of Thalassery) in 1505. [2] The Netherlands followed the Portuguese after the Dutch army defeated the Portuguese in Cochin in 1663. [3] The French East India Company established military units in Thalassery in 1721 and later moved to Mahé (~5 km south of Thalassery). [4]
In 1766, Hyder Ali and his forces were welcomed to North Malabar by the Ali Raja of Arakkal kingdom in Cannanore. The Mysorean army, guided by Ali Raja and his brother, seized the palace of the Raja of Kolathiri in Chirakkal, causing the Raja and his family to seek refuge in the English trading station at Tellichery. [5]
The Seven Years' War between British and French had repercussions for the area. The prince regent attacked Thalassery on Hyder's order to protect the French forces in Mahé from the British. British forces in Tellicherry attacked Mahé and forced the French to evacuate in 1779. This prompted the Zamorin and Kottayam Raja to ally with the British and they recaptured most of the territories that had been lost to Hyder. Later, due to an attack by the prince regent in Tellicherry, the British left Mahé. [6]
In December 1773, the British from Thalassery stormed Arakkal Palace, which had resisted, disarming Tipu's Cannanore garrison. They forced Arakkal Beevi into a peace treaty. By the 1774 Treaty of Mangalore concluding the Second Anglo-Mysore War, the English gave up their claims and declared the kingdoms in Kerala to be allies of Mysore. [7]
The British exploited Hyder's death and Tipu's 1781 retirement to Mysore for his coronation. Tipu returned in 1789 and captured south Malabar, but he was not able to win Thalassery and North Malabar due to the English presence. [8]
The British established a trading post and built a factory at Tellicherry in 1694, having gained permission from Vadakkalankur, the prince regent of the Raja of Kolatunad. They had already been trading on the Malabar coast for much of that century, buying pepper from Moplah merchants, and had established a similar post at Travancore ten years earlier. [9]
The Raja of Kolathunad laid the foundation stone for Thalassery fort. [10] The Prince gave the fort and adjoining land to the British on 20 August 1708. The fort was later modified and extended by the British East India Company.
Meanwhile Kurungot Nair continued his attack, until, in September1719, he suspended hostilities and formally entered into a friendship treaty with the British. The treaty gave them permission to trade pepper in Thalassery without paying duty. After the construction of the fort, Thalassery grew into a prominent trade center and a port in British Malabar. [11] The British won administrative authority over Malabar after annexation from Tipu Sultan in the Battle of Sree Rangapatnam. Thalassery became the capital of British North Malabar. [12] [13] When English companies united in 1702, the affiliated factories under Bombay were Karwar, Tellicherry, Calicut and Anjengo. Factory administration was conducted by a chief and councilors, known as 'factors'.
In 1797 The British East India Company established a spice plantation in Anjarakandy in Thalassery. [14] In 1799 it was handed over to Lord Murdoch Brown with a 99-year lease. [15] Coffee, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg were cultivated there. The Anjarakandy cinnamon plantation was the world's largest at that time.
The British East India Company established the first registrar office in south India, in Anjarakandy near Tellicherry in 1865, just to register the cinnamon plantation of Murdoch Brown. The Anjarakandy estate spanned 500 acres (200 ha). He surveyed that land and appointed officers to survey the locals' land. The British approved his surveys. This established a new model of administration, its first use in Asia. [15] [16]
Overbury's Folly was built by E. N. Overbury, a local British judge in the 1870s. [17] The old market in that time was only 100 meters from the current sea shore, and the sea eroded it and surrounding areas. The seawalls built on Overbury's order saved Thalassery from further erosion, even though his order was originally mocked as a folly. [18] [19] [20] [21]
After the annexation of Malabar, the British called upon Thalassery, the royal families and other major Nair and Namboothiri feudal lords to return, but this was heavily opposed by some local rulers. Along with heavy taxation and laws that curbed free movement, the appeal resulted in multiple uprisings against the British with heavy casualties to British forces. Thousands of soldiers were killed, but the resistance was eventually defeated.
Pazhassi Raja was a member of the western branch of the Kottayam royal clan. He was an expert in guerrilla warfare, was a prominent resistance leader and led one of the earliest uprisings. His war strategy had devastating effects on the British army. [22]
The Pazhassi war was the first major popular uprising against the British in Malabar. When Hyder occupied Malabar in 1773, the raja of Kottayam found political asylum in Travancore. Pazhassi Raja, the fourth prince in line for succession to the throne during this period, became one of the de facto heads of state, surpassing several elder royals. He fought a war of resistance against Hyder from 1774 to 1793.
On account of his refusal to flee and his resolve to fight invaders, the people of Kottayam supported the raja. His troops were drawn from the Nambiar, Thiyya and also tribal clans such as Kurichias and Mullukurumbas. [23]
Major General Arthur Wellesley (one of the British commanders in the Battle of Waterloo and became the 1st Duke of Wellington), came to Thalassery to fight against Pazhassi Raja after defeating Tipu Sultan in the Battle of Sri Rangapatna. [24]
The war between the East India Company (led by Wellesley and Collector Thomas Harvey Baber), and Kottayam, led by Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja) in the forests of Wayanad, caused immense damage. The forces of Kottayam defeated the company in several skirmishes. The company started bringing reinforcements, and, due to the fall of Tipu Sultan, the EIC was able to crush the revolt. [23]
Thalassery hosted one of the British Navy's major naval barracks along the Arabian coast.
As a consequence of the treaty that followed the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) between Britain and France, they briefly refrained from military adventures, helping Tipu in his Malabar conquest. Upon concluding a treaty with Mysore, the British shifted most of their barracks to Tellicherry.
In November 1791, [26] three battleships anchored in Tellicherry – Minerva (a 38-gun frigate) led by Commodore William Cornwallis (later Governor General of Madras), Phoenix, a 36-gun frigate led by Captain Sir Richard John Strachan, and Perseverance, led by Captain Isaac Smith – confronted a French 36-gun frigate, Résolute, and a small convoy en route to Mangalore. The British sought to inspect the French vessels for military contraband. The British suspected that the shipments were for Tipu's army. [27] The French resisted the search and a naval battle ensued. The British overpowered the French vessels, but found no contraband. The skirmishes resulted in a heavy loss of lives, both natives and Europeans. Commodore M. Saint Félix, [28] of the French Navy came from Mahé in 40-gun frigate La Cybéle to Tellicherry and warned the British.
The incident had far-reaching consequences, damaging British/French relationships. His Majesty's Consul in Alexandria, Egypt, broadcast the information that France had declared war and all British and Dutch vessels had been seized by the French Navy in Indian seas. [29] The information reached Fort St. George in Calcutta and Fort William in Bengal and war was declared to capture French territories across India. Cybéle and Minerva fought another battle in Pondicherry, which had not ceded to Britain. [30] Lt.Col. James Hartley commanded the expedition that captured Mahé from the French. [31]
On 19 April 1798, HCS Raymond and HCS Woodcote, both stationed at Tellicherry port, were attacked and captured by the French frigate Preneuse (1794). La Preneuse was carrying two of Tipu Sultan's ambassadors, returning from an embassy to the French authorities on the Isle de France. These ambassadors had been trying to gain support for Tipu Sultan, [32] and to co-ordinate plans for future joint operations between the French and Tipu's forces. [33]
Embarking from Isle de France on 7 March 1798, the La Preneuse, with one hundred French officers and fifty private soldiers, was intended to provide instructors and advisors to Tipu Sultan's army. Her destination was Mangalore. [34] [35] [36] This incident provided the English with a pretext and reason to resume their attack on Tipu Sultan, which led to the fall of Seringapatam in 1799.
This incident demonstrated the defencelessness of shipping in Tellicherry anchorage. A decision was taken to move the settlement's main function and garrison to Cannanore. This began the steady decline of Tellicherry. [37] In 1814 Mahé was again occupied by French forces, as part of the first (1814) treaty of the "Treaties of Paris, (1814–15)", Mahé then remained under French control until India's independence. [38] [39]
The Indian National Congress (Congress) political organization was established in 1885. It became the center point of the Indian Nationalist Movement. In 1908 a district Congress committee was formed in Thalassery. V K Krishna Menon, who studied in Tellicherry, was an active member of the Tellicherry branch (started in 1916) [8] of the All Indian Home Rule Movement founded by Annie Besant. [40] [41] Mahatma Gandhi once had a conversation with locals in Thalassery railway station, along with Shaukat Ali in 1934 en route to Kozhikode to attend Khilafat gathering. [42] Notable local freedom fighters include S L Prabhu, Kamala Prabhu, Mukund Maller, Dr. T V N Nair, T N Govindan Adiyodi, Sardar Chandroth Kunjiraman Nair, K P Raghavan Nair, N P Damodaran, and Adv. P Kunjiraman. [43]
Kannur is one of the 14 districts along the west coast in the state of Kerala, India. The city of Kannur is the district headquarters and gives the district its name. The old name, Cannanore, is the anglicized form of the Malayalam name "Kannur". Kannur district is bounded by Kasaragod District to the north, Kozhikode district to the south, Mahé district to the southwest and Wayanad District to the southeast. To the east, the district is bounded by the Western Ghats, which forms the border with the state of Karnataka. The Arabian Sea lies to the west. Paithalmala is the highest point in Kannur District (1,372m). Enclosed within the southern part of the district is the Mahé district of the Union Territory of Puducherry. The district was established in 1957.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah, was the de facto head of the Kottayam Kingdom in the Malabar region of Kerala between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with the British East India Company is known as the Cotiote War. Pazhassi's rebellion against the British is often touted as one of the earliest acts of freedom fight in India. He earned the epithet "Kerala Simham" on account of his martial exploits.
Thalassery, formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality and commercial city on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karnataka). Thalassery municipality has a population of just under 100,000 as of 2011 census. Thalassery Heritage City has an area of 23.98 square kilometres (9.26 sq mi). Thalassery has an altitude ranging from 2.5 to 30 metres above mean sea-level.
Kannur, formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated 274 kilometres (170 mi) north of the major port city and commercial hub Kochi and 137 kilometres (85 mi) south of the major port city and a commercial hub, Mangalore. During the period of British colonial rule in India, when Kannur was a part of the Malabar District, the city was known as Cannanore. Kannur is the fifth largest urban agglomeration in Kerala. As of 2011 census, Kannur Municipal Corporation, the local body which administers mainland area of city, had a population of 232,486.
Tellicherry Fort is located in Thalassery (Tellicherry), a town in Kannur District of Kerala state, South India. Thalassery was one of the most important European trading centers in Kerala. The Fort lies on a group of low wooden hills running down to the sea and is protected by natural waters. It has been the main outlet for the rich spices, hill products, and timber of the vast hinterland.
Kolattunādu (Kola Swarupam, as kingdom of Cannanore in foreign accounts, Chirakkal (Chericul) in later times) was one of the four most powerful kingdoms on the Malabar Coast during the arrival of the Portuguese Armadas in India, along with Zamorin, the kingdom of Cochin and Quilon. Kolattunādu had its capital at Ezhimala and was ruled by the Kolattiri royal family and roughly comprised the North Malabar region of Kerala state in India. Traditionally, Kolattunādu is described as the land lying between the Chandragiri river in the north and the Korappuzha river in the south. The Kolathunadu (Kannur) kingdom at the peak of its power, reportedly extended from the Netravati River (Mangalore) in the north to Korapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with the Arabian Sea on the west and Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.
Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1937), Madras Province (1937–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in India. It was the most populous and the third-largest district in the erstwhile Madras State. The historic town of Calicut was the administrative headquarters of this district.
Kottayam-Malabar is a census town near Kuthuparamba in Kannur district of Kerala state in India. It is different from the city of Kottayam in Kottayam district of the same state.
North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala's present day Kasaragod, Kannur, and Wayanad districts, and the taluks of Vatakara and Koyilandy in the Kozhikode District of Kerala and the entire Mahé Sub-Division of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Traditionally North Malabar has been defined as the northern portion of the erstwhile Malabar District which lies between Chandragiri River and Korapuzha River. The region between Netravathi River and Chandragiri River, which included the portions between Mangalore and Kasaragod, are also often included in the term North Malabar, as the Kumbla dynasty in the southernmost region of Tulu Nadu, had a mixed lineage of Malayali Nairs and Tuluva Brahmins.
The captivity of Nairs at Seringapatam was imposed on the Nairs of Malabar by Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1786 to 1799. They were subjected to forcible conversions to Sunni Islam, the official religious sect sanctioned by the Ottoman Caliphate, whose approval and alliance was sought by Tippu Sultan. Those who refused conversions had to face many humiliations, hardships, torture, and even death. The Nairs were treated with extreme brutality due to their strong adherence to the Hindu faith and martial tradition. The captivity ended when Nair troops from Travancore defeated Tipu in the Third Anglo-Mysore War. It is estimated that out of the 30,000 Nairs put to captivity, only a few hundred returned to Malabar alive.
Kottayam (Cotiote) was a feudal city-state in Malabar, present-day Kerala, India. Kottayam (Cotiote) is famed for Pazhassi Raja, one of the principal leaders of the Wayanad Insurrection (Kotiote Palassi rebellion or Cotiote War). Pazhassi Raja was a member of the western branch of the Kottayam royal clan. When Hyder Ali of the Kingdom of Mysore occupied Malabar in 1773, the Raja of Kottayam found political asylum in Travancore. In 1790, the British recognized Pazhassi Raja as the head of Kottayam instead of the original Raja who had taken refuge at Travancore.
The Battle of Tellicherry was a naval action fought off the Indian port of Tellicherry between British and French warships on 18 November 1791 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. Britain and France were not at war at the time of the engagement, but French support for the Kingdom of Mysore in the conflict with the British East India Company had led to Royal Navy patrols stopping and searching French ships sailing for the Mysorean port of Mangalore. When a French convoy from Mahé passed the British port of Tellicherry in November 1791, Commodore William Cornwallis sent a small squadron to intercept the French ships.
The Siege of Tellicherry was a military embargo that happened in Thalassery. The Commander in Chief of the Mysore Calicut Province, Sirdar Ali, took siege of the British Military Barrack of Thalassery for 18 months. They British and the local administrators were blockaded within Thalassery by land as well as by sea. It was during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The siege continued until reinforcements from Bombay under the command of Major Abington attacked the Mysore army and defeated them. Major Abington then moved south, capturing Calicut. The Siege of Tellicherry led to the fall of strongholds of the First Mysore conquest, led by Hyder Ali. Even though laterTipu Sultan came from Mysore to reinstate the conquered area to previous status.
The Mysorean invasion of Malabar (1766–1792) was the military invasion of the Malabar region of Kerala, including the territories of the Zamorin of Calicut, by the then-de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, Hyder Ali. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Cochin to the south of Malabar became a tributary state of Mysore.
Ravi Varma Raja was a Samantan Nair warrior prince of the Royal House of Zamorins from Calicut who fought a two-decade long revolt against the Mysore Sultanate under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan between 1766–1768 and 1774–1791, and later the British East India Company in 1793.
Arakkal Kingdom was a Muslim kingdom in Kannur town in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, South India. The king was called Ali Raja and the ruling queen was called Arakkal Beevi. Arakkal kingdom included little more than the Cannanore town and the southern Laccadive Islands, originally leased from the Kolattiri. They owed allegiance to the Kolattiri rulers, whose ministers they had been at one time. The rulers followed the Marumakkathayam system of matrilineal inheritance, a system that is unique to a section of Hindus of Kerala. Under Marumakkathayam, the succession passes to the male offspring of its female members, in other words from a man to his sister's son and so forth. As the only Muslim rulers in Malabar, they saw the rise of Hyder Ali, de facto ruler of the Mysore Sultanate as the opportunity to increase their own power at the expense of Chirakkal, and invited him to invade Kerala. Ali Raja Arakkal Sultan Afsal Ashraf living in Konni Panchayat of Pathanamthitta district is the living heir of the Arakkal dynasty.
The Kingdom of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, was the kingdom of the Zamorin of Calicut, in the present-day Indian state of Kerala. Present-day Kozhikode is the second largest city in Kerala, as well as the headquarters of Kozhikode district.
Kannur, formerly known in English as Cannanore, Arabic as Kannanur, and Portuguese as Cananor, is a city and a Municipal Corporation in North Malabar region, state of Kerala, India. It is the largest city in North Malabar, which is the northernmost region of Kerala. It is sometimes identified Kolathunadu, which was ruled by the Kolathiris. In the 12th and 13th centuries there was trade with Persia and Arabia.
Wayanad district, which is home to Edakkal Caves, has human settlement from prehistoric era. Wayanad is the sole Plateau in Kerala. The tribal dialects of Wayanad like the Ravula language and the Paniya language are closely related to Malayalam.
The Thalassery carnival, the Beach fest in Muzhappilangad beach and Dharmadam beach are notable attractions. The area's four rivers around Thalassery town and four beaches with more in Kannur also attract visitors.