Paddy field in Sultan BatheryView of a mall in Sultan BatheryA river in Sultan Bathery
Sulthan Bathery is a major municipal town in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Sultan Bathery taluk and is the most populous and commercially active urban center in the district. Strategically located near the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the city plays a key role in regional connectivity and trade.
The modern town was part of Kidanganad village, so-called because of the presence of the Kidangan tribe.[1] During the invasion of Malabar by Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, the town was used by the Mysore army as the storeroom or battery for its ammunition and used a 13th-century Ganapathi Temple located here as a battery.[2][3] Thus the town known as "Sultan's Battery" in British records later got to be called as "Sultan Bathery".
The recorded history of Sultan Bathery, commensurate with that of Wayanad, begins in the 10th century. In 930AD, Emperor Erayappa of the Ganga dynasty led his troops to what would later become the district in the south-west of Mysore and, after conquering it, called it Bayalnad, meaning the land of swamps.[citation needed] After Erayappa died, his sons Rachamalla and Battunga fought each other for the new kingdom of their father's legacy. Rachamalla was killed and Battunga became the undisputed ruler of Bayalnad.[citation needed]
In the 12th centuryAD, the Gangas were dethroned by the Kadamba dynasty of North Canara.[4] In 1104AD, Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala invaded Bayalnad followed by the Vijayanagara dynasty in the 16th century. In 1610AD, Udaiyar Raja Wadiyar of Mysore drove out Vijayanagara and became the ruler of Bayalnad and the Nilgiris. When Wayanad was under Hyder Ali's rule, the ghat road from Vythiri to Thamarassery was constructed.[5] Later, the British rulers developed this route into Carter Road.[6]
British rule began at the start of the 19th century after the East India Company seized Wayanad from the hands of Pazhassi Raja and administered the district until it was superseded by the British Raj in 1858. Until 1947, Wayanad was under the rule of the Malabar collector. History has it that Wayanad has a rich folk culture that gave way to the British domination of Wayanad. The British named the village Sultan's Battery, which in later history means the Sultan's Armory.[citation needed]
The Edakkal Caves have evidence of the existence of a Neolithic civilisation in Wayanad. According to H. S. Graeme, the Thalassery Sub-Collector T. H. Balan was the first to start a revenue settlement in Wayanad.[citation needed] For administrative convenience, the area was divided into Munnadu, Muthoornadu, Ilangkornadu, Nallurnadu, Edanashankur, Poronnur, Kurumbala, Wayanad, Nambikkoli and Ganapathivattam (Ganapati). The importance and relevance of Ganapati has been mentioned often in the reports. History records that Sultan Bathery later became the place of Ganapati on the roadside during the battle of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.[citation needed]
Ganapati grew as the medieval cities flourished, the four-way street, the main highway, and the center of worship. In 1934, the Kidanganad Panchayat was established. From the administration of the Malabar District Board, Ganapati became the administrative centre of the Kidanganad panchayat. The Niluppuzha Panchayat was formed in 1968 by the division of Kidanganad Panchayat, Nenmeni Panchayat in 1974 and Sultanbathery Panchayat in 1968.[citation needed]
New places of worship and educational institutions have emerged in different parts of the panchayat with the support of Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities. The Ganapati Temple, the Jain Temple and the Malankara Mosque are examples of the ancient history of Sultan Bathery.[citation needed] There is evidence that Sultan Bathery and other parts of Wayanad had been in contact through Tamil, Karnataka and Kodagu villages since medieval times.[citation needed]
Historically known as Ganapathivattom, the town was renamed following the military campaigns of Tipu Sultan, who is believed to have used a local Jain temple as a battery (ammunition store), leading to the name "Sultan’s Battery," later anglicized to Sultan Bathery. A fort built during this period once stood in the area, remnants of which remain today.
Sultan Bathery is noted for its urban cleanliness, organized layout, and greenery, earning it the nickname "Clean city andGarden City of Wayanad.It also functions as the district’s primary commercial and shopping hub, with bustling markets offering spices, handicrafts, textiles, and agricultural products.
Climate
Sunflower field at Sultan Bathery
Sultan Bathery has a humid climate. The mean average rainfall in this area is 2,322mm. Lakkidi, Vythiri and Meppadi are the high rainfall areas in Wayanad. The annual rainfall in these areas ranges from 3,000 to 4,000mm. High-velocity winds are common during the southwest monsoon season and dry winds blow in March and April. High altitude regions experience severe cold. In Wayanad (Ambalavayal) the mean maximum and minimum temperature for the last five years[when?] were 29°C and 18°C respectively. This place experiences high relative humidity, which can rise to 95 per cent during the southwest monsoon period. Generally the year is classified into four seasons, namely, the cold weather (December–February), hot weather (March–May), southwest monsoon (June–September), and northeast monsoon (October–November) seasons.
In ancient times, the region was home to the native tribes of Chettiars, Paniyar, Kurumar and Urali Nayakkar. Although there are many ethnic groups among the people, their main occupation is agriculture. The panchayath has 26 temples, 15 churches and 15 mosques. Sultan Bathery has a Jain temple that is about 2,000 years old. The center, which is in the possession of the Department of Archeology, has no festivals other than temple rituals. The festival at Sultan Bathery Mariamman Kovil is one of the festivals celebrated here. It is considered to be the national festival of Bathery. Similar festivals are celebrated in the Bathery Mahaganapathi Temple, Kuppadi Devi Temple and Karivallikkunnu Temple.[10]
Saint Mary Orthodox Cathedral and Pilgrim Centre is the oldest church in Sultan Bathery, established in 1944. The church has the holy relics of three saints and is the headquarters of Sultan Bathery Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church the administrative head of the 48 orthodox parishes in the area.[11] There is also the Nirmalagiri Aramana where the diocesan metropolitan resides in Poomala.[12]
Edakkal caves are located 10km from Sultan Bathery and are noted for anthropological research. The caves are two natural rock formations believed to have been formed by a large split in a huge rock.[citation needed]
Sultan Bathery Jain Temple is one of the prominent Jain temples in Kerala, believed to have been built in the 13th century. This Mahavir stone temple at Kidanganad in Sultan Bathery is also known as Digambara Jain Temple and Kidanganad Basti. The temple architecture, inscriptions and drawings on the pillars and walls are strongly influenced by the architectural style of the Vijayanagara dynasty. An inscription on one of the pillars depicts Dharnendra Bandanam, in the form of a coiled snake.[citation needed]
Krishnagiri Stadium is a cricket stadium located in Krishnagiri village in Wayanad. It holds up to 20,000 people and at 2,100 feet above sea level is the highest-altitude stadium used exclusively for cricket.[citation needed]
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary houses a wide range of mammals, birds and other fauna. The mammals include elephants, tigers, panthers, jungle cats, civet cats, monkeys, wild dogs, bison, deer, and bears. More than 200 species of birds, including peacocks, babblers, cuckoos, owls, woodpeckers and jungle fowl, and 45 species of reptiles like monitor lizard and a variety of snakes and tortoises reside there.[citation needed]
Sultan Bathery, a major town in Wayanad district, Kerala, is a key educational center in the region, with a range of schools, colleges, and vocational institutions offering diverse academic programs.
There is a major Kerala Transport Depot in Sultan Bathery. Most of the long-distance buses to Kozhikode, Ooty and Bangalore start from this depot. The town also has two smaller bus stations for local travellers. The Periya ghat road connects Mananthavady to Kannur and Thalassery. The Thamarassery mountain road connects Calicut with Kalpetta. The Kuttiady mountain road connects Vatakara with Kalpetta and Mananthavady. The Palchuram mountain road connects Kannur and Iritty with Mananthavady. The road from Nilambur to Ooty is also connected to Wayanad through the village of Meppadi.[13]
Since its establishment in 1962, the Bathery panchayat (council) has mainly been held by the INC-led United Democratic Front (UDF). P. C. Ahmed Haji of the Indian Union Muslim League was the first president and held office for three decades. The LDF was in power for only eight months in 2005 with the help of the Democratic Indira Congress (Kerala) party. The president was CK Sahadevan, who later became the first chairman when it was converted to a municipality in 2015.[citation needed]
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