73-755: The history of the Church of the East in India is dated to 52 AD by apocryphal sources and to the 9th century by the Quilon Syrian copper plates , the latter of which is considered the earliest reputable dating for Christians in the Indian subcontinent. According to apocryphal records, Christianity in India and in Pakistan (included prior to the Partition) commenced in 52 AD, with
146-514: A 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by emperor Ashoka of Magadha . It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the Cholas , Pandyas and Satyaputras . 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
219-599: A hundred students, sons of native Christians, who are named after St. Thomas. There are sixty villages of these Thomas Christians around this fortress, and the students for the college as I have said, are obtained from them. There are two churches in Cranganore, one of St. Thomas, which is highly revered by the Thomas Christians. This attitude of St. Francis Xavier , and of the Franciscans before him, does not reflect any of
292-766: A marsh where thickets grow. Measured by Anakol (elephant kol) 4,444 kols of land was granted in the year of the Jupiter in Kubham, on the 29th of Makaram, 31 the Saturday, Rohini and Saptami (7th day of the moon),' the palace, great temple and school at Irinjalakuda also were founded. The same day that place was called Makothevar pattanam (the town of the Great God), and it was made the city (capital). From there privileges such as drawbridge at gates, ornamented arches, mounted horse with two drums, cheers, conch blowing, salutes were granted in writing to
365-553: A pepper emporium called Male , which clearly gave its name to Malabar ('the country of Male'). The second part of the name is thought by scholars to be the Arabic word barr ('continent') or its Persian relative bar ('country'). Al-Biruni (AD 973 - 1048) is the first known writer to use the name Malabar . Authors such as Ibn Khordadbeh and Al-Baladhuri mention Malabar ports in their works. The Arab writers had called this place Malibar , Manibar , Mulibar , and Munibar . Malabar
438-588: A ring from the Pope's finger, and a papal bull which recognized Yahballaha as the patriarch of all the eastern Christians. In May 1304, Yahballaha made profession of the Catholic faith in a letter addressed to Pope Benedict XI . But a union with Rome was blocked by his Nestorian bishops. Udayamperoor (known as Diamper in Portuguese), the capital of this kingdom, was the venue of the famous Synod of Diamper of 1599. It
511-512: Is South Malabar aka Kozhikode it's included present kozhikode and Thamarassery taluk , south wayanad it's included present kalpetta and sulthan battery places, Eranad Taluk which comes under present Malappuram District, Palakkad District and Chavakkad taluk of Thrissur district. During the British rule , the Malabar's chief importance laid in producing pepper , tiles , and Coconut. In
584-531: Is also used by ecologists to refer to the Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of southwestern India (present-day Kerala). Geographically, the Malabar Coast can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands; rugged and cool mountainous terrain, the central mid-lands; rolling hills, and the western lowlands; coastal plains. The Western Ghats mountain range lie parallel to
657-411: Is granting him his reward, since he desires to assist Him by himself, without employing us as a means to console his servants. He is being helped here solely by the priests of St. Francis. Y. H. should write a very affectionate letter to him, and one of its paragraphs should include an order recommending him to the governors, to the veadores da fazenda , and to the captains of Cochin so that he may receive
730-521: Is mentioned several times in these letters (pp. 41, 89, 107, 119, and more). Secondly, Kalicut which was one of the most important port cities in Malabar (the place where Vasco da Gama was sent), is mentioned in one of the letters. Thirdly, these facts would definitely suffice, but further evidence appears in the form of this statements: In ... India is buried the body of St Thomas the Apostle . That is,
803-450: Is often used to denote the entire southwestern coast of India. Additionally, European traders and scholars referred to Tamils of Sri Lanka as Malabars . In the 18th century, J. P. Fabricius described his Tamil-English Dictionary as the "Dictionary of Malabar and English". The term Malabar Coast , in historical contexts, refers to India's southwestern coast, which lies on the narrow coastal plain of Karnataka and Kerala between
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#1732859078895876-651: Is only available from secondary sources. Later, a letter surfaced during the 1160s claiming to be from Prester John. There were over one hundred different versions of the letter published over the next few centuries. Most often, the letter was addressed to Emanuel I, the Byzantine Emperor of Rome, though some were addressed to the Pope or the King of France. A Latin text with its Hebrew translation reads as follows: "Praete janni invenitur ascendendo in Kalicut in arida..." This
949-578: Is over 845 km (525 mi) long and stretches from the coast of southwestern Maharashtra , along the region of Goa, through the entire western coast of Karnataka and Kerala, and up to Kanyakumari . It is flanked by the Arabian Sea on the west and the Western Ghats on the east. The southern part of this narrow coast is referred to as the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests . Malabar
1022-468: Is reminiscent of the word Malanad which means the land of mountains . Until the arrival of the British , the term Malabar was used in foreign trade circles as a general name for Kerala . Earlier, the term Malabar had also been used to denote Tulu Nadu and Kanyakumari , which lie contiguous to Kerala in the southwestern coast of India, in addition to the modern state of Kerala. The people of Malabar were known as Malabars . The term Malabar
1095-554: Is true proof and well-known knowledge about the Jews who are found there near Prester John. Reading the Hebrew letters of Prester John shows that Prester John lived in India; or to be more precise, in Malabar (southern India). Connecting Prester John with India is inevitable from the Hebrew text on the one hand, while parts of the legend will support the Indian origin on the other. Firstly, India
1168-693: The Battle of Thrissur in 1763. Despite fierce resistance, the Zamorin's troops retreated, leading to their eventual evacuation from Cochin Territory. In pursuit of peace, the Zamorin agreed to indemnify Travancore for war expenses and vowed perpetual friendship, marking a triumph of strategy and valor led by Pillai. After the Dutch were defeated by Travancore king Marthanda Varma , the British crown gained control over Kerala through
1241-706: The Dutch , French and the British East India companies took centre stage during the colonial wars in India. Travancore became the most dominant state in Kerala by defeating the powerful Zamorin of Kozhikode in the battle of Purakkad in 1755. Paliath Achan of Cochin and Travancore united to expel the Zamorin of Calicut from Kochi territories. Under Martanda Pillai's leadership, Travancore's Nair forces , with General de Lannoy's guidance, successfully captured Thrissur in
1314-681: The Edakkal Caves , in Wayanad date back to the Neolithic era around 6000 BCE. The Malabar Coast has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BCE, according to Sumerian records and it is still referred to as the "Garden of Spices" or as the "Spice Garden of India". Kerala 's spices attracted ancient Arabs , Babylonians , Assyrians and Egyptians to the Malabar Coast in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Phoenicians established trade with Malabar during this period. Arabs and Phoenicians were
1387-513: The Far East . 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 Cholas and Rashtrakutas . During the early Middle Ages , Namboodiri Brahmin immigrants arrived in Kerala and shaped the society on the lines of the caste system . In the 8th century, Adi Shankara was born at Kalady in central Kerala. He travelled extensively across
1460-962: The Indian subcontinent by sending their prelate to the Malabarese Christians. Occasionally the Vatican supported the claim of the bishop from the Chaldean Church of Ctesiphon . But the Synod of Diamper in 1599, overseen by Aleixo de Menezes , the Portugal-backed- Archbishop of Goa , replaced the East Syriac bishop of St Thomas Christians and placed them under the Portuguese Padroado backed bishop. After that any attempts of Thomas Christians to contact bishops—even Chaldian Catholic ones—in
1533-491: 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 the Kingdom of Kozhikode , arose. The 13th century Venetian explorer, Marco Polo , would visit and write of his stay in the province. The port at Kozhikode acted as
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#17328590788951606-533: The Middle East were foiled. In 1122, Mar John, Metropolitan-designate of India, with his suffragans went to Constantinople, thence to Rome, and received the pallium from Pope Callixtus II. He related to the Pope and the cardinals the miracles that were wrought at the tomb of St. Thomas at Mylapore. These visits, apparently from the Saint Thomas Christians of India, cannot be confirmed, as evidence of both
1679-594: The Parthian Empire , an ancient rival of the (Byzantine) Greek and (Latin) Roman Empires . When Archbishop Nestorius of Constantinople was declared a heretic by the Council of Ephesus , the Church of the East refused to acknowledge his deposition because he held the same christological position. Later, the " Anaphora of Mar Nestorius " came to be used by Church of the East, which for this reason has been pejoratively labelled
1752-526: The Western Ghats range and the Arabian Sea . The coast runs from south of Goa to Kanyakumari on India's southern tip. India's southeastern coast is called the Coromandel Coast . In ancient times the term Malabar was used to denote the entire south-western coast of the Indian peninsula. The region formed part of the ancient kingdom of Chera until the early 12th century. Following the breakup of
1825-589: The "Nestorian Church" by its theological opponents. When the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa and Bombay-Bassein was established in the 16th century, they opposed the East Syriac rite of Christian worship in what was Portuguese Cochin . After the schism of 1552 , a section of the Church of the East became Catholic (modern-day Chaldean Catholic Church ), both the traditional (Nestorian) and Chaldean patriarchates intermittently attempted to regain their following in
1898-670: The 4th Quilon plate is missing today). It is generally assumed that this was a notation of the previous rights bestowed upon the Christians by the Chera king (and the above said plate was missing). Translation by A. H. A. Duperron (1758): “The history of the founding of the town of Cranganore when Pattanam was the City, (he) visited, revered and requested the Emperor and the Minister at Kolla Kodungalloor for
1971-608: The Byzantine Empire and with Latin Christendom. In 1287, when Abaqa Khan 's son and successor Arghun Khan sought an ambassador for an important mission to Europe, Yaballaha recommended his former teacher Rabban Bar Sauma, who held the position of Visitor-general . Arghun agreed, and Bar Sauma made a historic journey through Europe; meeting with the Pope and many monarchs; and bringing gifts, letters, and European ambassadors with him on his return. Via Rabban Sauma, Yahballaha received
2044-547: The Chaldeans had already been approved by his predecessors, Nicholas I (858–867), Leo X (1513–1521), and Clement VII (1523–1534). Thus, parallel to the "traditionalist" (often referred as Nestorian) Patriarchate, the "Chaldean" Patriarchate in communion with Rome came into existence and both traditionalist and Chaldean factions began sending their own bishops to Malabar. When the Portuguese arrived in Malabar, they assumed that
2117-519: The Chera Kingdom, the chieftains of the region proclaimed their independence. Notable among these were the Zamorins of Kozhikode , Kolathunadu , Perumbadappu Swaroopam , Venad , Kingdom of Valluvanad of Kingdom of Valluvanad . The name Malabar Coast is sometimes used as an all-encompassing term for the entire Indian coast from Konkan to the tip of the subcontinent at Kanyakumari. This coast
2190-585: The Christian foreigner called Knaye Thoma with sacred threat and libation of water and flower. The sun and the moon are witnesses to this. Written to the kings of all times.” Some recent studies suggest that the original text of the Thomas of Cana plates and the Quilon plates were re-engraved together as a unified grant giving witness to the historic rights of the Christians. Scholar István Perczel theorizes that at one time
2263-585: The Christian merchants in the city of "Makotayar Pattinam" (present day Kodungallur ) at some point between 345 and 800 CE. Translations of the Quilon plates made by the Syrian Christian priest Ittimani in 1601 as well as the French scholar A. H. Anquetil-Duperron in 1758 both note that the 4th Quilon plate mentioned a brief of the arrival of Thomas of Cana (Knai Thoma). However, the presently available Quilon plates do not mention this episode (the second half of
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2336-399: The Christians of St Thomas . In that same year, Francis Xavier also wrote to his Jesuit colleague and Provincial of Portugal, Fr. Simon Rodrigues , giving him the following description: Fifteen thousand paces from Cochin there is a fortress owned by the king with the name of Cranganore. It has a beautiful college, built by Frey [Wente], a companion of the bishop, in which there are easily
2409-604: The Elder mentioned that Limyrike was prone by pirates. The Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that the Limyrike was a source of Malabar peppers . In the last centuries BCE the coast became important to the Greeks and Romans for its spices, especially Malabar pepper. The Cheras had trading links with China , West Asia , Egypt , Greece , and the Roman Empire . In foreign-trade circles
2482-509: The Himalaya mountains. Malabar's western coastal belt is relatively flat compared to the eastern region, and is criss-crossed by a network of interconnected brackish canals, lakes, estuaries , and rivers known as the Kerala Backwaters . The Kuttanad region, also known as The Rice Bowl of Kerala , has the lowest altitude in India . The country's longest lake Vembanad , dominates
2555-463: The Kollam trading city (the nagara), to build the Church of Tarisa at Kollam . The land, evidently a large settlement with its occupants, is donated as an "attipperu" by Ayyan Adikal. Sapir Iso also recruited two merchant guilds (the anjuvannam and the manigramam ) as the tenants of the nagara (the karanmai). The Six Hundred of Venad , the militia of the chiefdom, was entrusted with the protection of
2628-693: The Latin Church. It implemented various liturgical and structural reforms in the Indian Church. The diocese of Angamaly, which was now formally placed under the Portuguese Padroado and made suffragan to the archdiocese of Goa. The east syriac bishop was then removed from jurisdiction in India and replaced by a Latin bishop; the East Syriac liturgy of Addai and Mari was “purified from error”; and Latin vestments, rituals, and customs were introduced to replace
2701-583: The Malabar Coast including the western coastal lowlands and the plains of the midland may have been under the sea in ancient times. Marine fossils have been found in an area near Changanassery , thus supporting the hypothesis. Pre-historical archaeological findings include dolmens of the Neolithic era in the Marayur area of the Idukki district , which lie on the eastern highland made by Western Ghats . Rock engravings in
2774-478: The Malabar Coast. Kuttanad, also known as The Rice Bowl of Kerala , is among the few places in the world where cultivation takes place below sea level. The peak of Anamudi , which is also the point of highest altitude in India outside the Himalayas , lies parallel to the Malabar Coast on the Western Ghats . The region parallel to the Malabar Coast gently slopes from the eastern highland of Western Ghats ranges to
2847-637: The Phoenicians. According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea , a region known as Limyrike began at 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 50,000,000 sesterces . Pliny
2920-399: The Quilon plates and the Thomas of Cana plates, or parts of them, were re-engraved together (and thus the text of both grants were present on a single set of plates). Perczel notes the possibility that the Christians of Knai Thoma kept their part of the unified grant at Kodungallur, while the Christians of Marwan Sapir Iso kept theirs at Kollam. Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast is
2993-484: The Southwest monsoon. The Malabar Coast is a source of biodiversity in India. According to William Logan , the word Malabar comes from a combination of the Dravidian word Mala (mountain) and the Persian / Arabic word Barr (country/continent). The first element of the name is first attested in the Topography written by Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century CE), which indicates that Arab sailors call Kerala Male already at that time. The Topography mentions
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3066-418: The Western Malabar Coast, thus accessing the marine route through Arabian Sea . The first railway line of Kerala from Tirur to Beypore in 1861 was laid for it. With India's independence, Madras presidency became Madras State , which was divided along linguistic lines on 1 November 1956, whereupon Kasaragod region was merged with the Malabar immediately to the north and the state of Travancore-Cochin to
3139-460: The ancient traditions. Francis Xavier wrote a letter dated 26 January 1549, from Cochin to king John III of Portugal , in which he declared that: ...a bishop of Armenia ( Mesopotamia ) by the name of Jacob Abuna has been serving God and Your Highness in these regions for forty-five years. He is a very old, virtuous, and saintly man, and, at the same time, one who has been neglected by Your Highness and by almost all of those who are in India. God
3212-402: The animosity and intolerance that kept creeping in with the spread of the Tridentine spirit of the Counter-Reformation , which tended to foster a uniformity of belief and practice. It is possible to follow the lines of argument of young Portuguese historians, such as Joéo Paulo Oliveira e Cosca, yet such arguments seem to discount the Portuguese cultural nationalism in their colonial expansion and
3285-441: The arrival of Thomas the Apostle in Cranganore (Kodungaloor) . Subsequently, the Christians of the Malabar region , known as St Thomas Christians established close ties with the Levantine Christians of the Near East . They eventually coalesced into the Church of the East led by the Catholicos-Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . The Church of the East was often separated from the other ancient churches due to its location in
3358-448: The author knew that St. Thomas was buried in India , a belief held by the Christians of southern India. Not only that, but the author of the letters knew (p. 133) about "St. Thomas holiday", which is, apparently, St. Thomas Memorial Day held by the same Christians on 3 July. Fourth, the author of the letters mentioned that pepper grew in his land (pp. 55, 91, 131), pepper being common in Malabar. Fifth, there are some stories in
3431-427: The backwaters; it lies between Alappuzha and Kochi and is about 200 km (77 sq mi) in area. Around eight percent of India's waterways are found in Kerala. The term Malabar Coast is sometimes used as an all-encompassing term for the entire Indian coast from the western coast of Konkan to the tip of the subcontinent at Cape Comorin . It is over 525 miles or 845 kilometers long. It spans from
3504-530: 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 . The charter is dated to the fifth regnal year of Chera Perumal ruler Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara , around 849–850 CE. The sixth plate contains signatures of witnesses to
3577-477: The church). The vertical plate contains a number of signatures of the witnesses to the grant in Arabic (Kufic script), Middle Persian (cursive Pahlavi script) and Judeo-Persian (standard square Hebrew script). Arabic signatures ― Kufic script Middle Persian signatures ― Pahlavi script Judeo-Persian signatures ― Hebrew script The Thomas of Cana copper plates are a lost set of copper-plate grants issued by an unidentified Chera Perumal king to
3650-429: The coast on the eastern highland and separate the plains from the Deccan Plateau . These mountains recognised as one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity and is listed among UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The peak of Anamudi in Kerala is the highest peak in India outside the Himalayas , is at an elevation of 2,695 m (8,842 ft). The chain's forests are considered to be older than
3723-421: The creation of the Malabar District in northern Kerala and by allying with the newly created princely state of Travancore in the southern part of the state until India was declared independent in 1947. 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 . After the Anglo-Mysore wars,
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#17328590788953796-416: The first to enter the Malabar Coast to trade Spices . The Arabs on the coasts of Yemen , Oman , and the Persian Gulf , must have made the first long voyage to Malabar and other eastern countries . They must have brought the Cinnamon of Malabar to the Middle East . The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) records that in his time the cinnamon spice industry was monopolized by the Egyptians and
3869-401: The four bishops present were Nestorian. Their report of 1504, addressed to the Chaldean Patriarch, their being startled by the absence of images and by the use of leavened bread; but this was in accordance with Chaldean usage. The Christians paid the expenses of the Papal delegate Marignoli. The Synod of Diamper of 1599 marked the formal subjugation of the Malabar Syriac Christian community to
3942-429: The gateway to medieval South Indian coast for the Chinese , the Arabs , the Portuguese , the Dutch , and finally the British . In 1498, Vasco Da Gama established a sea route to Kozhikode during the Age of Discovery , which was also the first modern sea route from Europe to South Asia , and raised Portuguese settlements, which marked the beginning of the colonial era of India. European trading interests of
4015-405: The grant in Arabic ( Kufic script), Middle Persian (cursive Pahlavi script ), and Judeo-Persian (standard square Hebrew script ). Until 2013, it was thought that the plates represented two separate grants issued by Kerala rulers to Syrian Christian merchants. One part of the copper plates (four plates) is preserved at the Devalokam Aramana of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , while
4088-406: The honour and respect which he deserves when he comes to them with a request on behalf of the Christians of St. Thomas. Your Highness should write to him and earnestly entreat him to undertake the charge of recommending you to God, since YH. has a greater need of being supported by the prayers of the bishop than the bishop has need of the temporal assistance of Y.H. He has endured much in his work with
4161-539: The letters concerning warriors riding elephants. It is well known that, unlike the African elephant , only the Asian elephant could be trained. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Indian church was again dependent upon the Church of the East. The dating formula in the colophon to a manuscript copied in June 1301 in the church of Mar Quriaqos in Cranganore mentions Patriarch Yahballaha III (whom it calls Yahballaha V) and Metropolitan Yaqob of India . Cranganore, described in this manuscript as "the royal city",
4234-456: The medieval period, and have served as centers of the Indian Ocean trade for millennia. Because of their orientation to the sea and to maritime commerce, the Malabar coast cities feel very cosmopolitan , and have been home to some of the first groups of Jews (known today as Cochin Jews ), Syrian Christians (known as Saint Thomas Christians ), Muslims (presently known as Mappilas ), and Anglo-Indians in India. A substantial portion of
4307-447: The nagara and the church. The charter also granted serfs to the nagara and the church. This included personnel like agricultural laborers (the vellalars), carpenters (the thachar), traders (the ezhavar) and salt-makers (the eruviyar). The charter granted Sapir Iso several titles, rights and aristocratic privileges. All revenues from the donated land and its occupants were 'exempted' (which perhaps meant that these were to be made over to
4380-419: The old administrative records of the Madras Presidency , it is recorded that the most remarkable plantation owned by Government in the erstwhile Madras Presidency was the Teak plantation at Nilambur planted in 1844. The District of Malabar and the ports at Beypore and Fort Kochi had some sort of importance in the erstwhile Madras Presidency as it was one of the two districts of the Presidency that lies on
4453-418: The other two smaller plates are kept at the Poolatheen Aramana in Thiruvalla , belonging to the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church . The copper plates also refer to the presence of Jewish and Muslim communities in Kerala, as seen in the sections written in Arabic, Middle Persian, and Judeo-Persian scripts. The grant is dated the 5th regnal year of king Sthanu Ravi, 849-50 CE (old Malayalam: Ko Tanu Ravi). It
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#17328590788954526-446: The parts of the Malabar Coast, those became British colonies, were organized into a district of British India . The British district included the present-day districts of Kannur , Kozhikode , Wayanad , Malappuram , much of Palakkad (Excluding Chittur taluk), some parts of Thrissur ( Chavakkad Taluk), and the Fort Kochi region of Ernakulam district , besides the isolated islands of Lakshadweep . The administrative headquarters
4599-407: The patronage of Ptolemy VIII , king of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. 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 . The term Kerala was first epigraphically recorded as Ketalaputo ( Cheras ) in
4672-419: The region was known as Male or Malabar . Muziris , Tyndis , Naura (near Kannur ), and Nelcynda were among the principal ports at that time. Contemporary Sangam literature describes Roman ships coming to Muziris in Kerala, laden with gold to exchange for Malabar pepper . One of the earliest western traders to use the monsoon winds to reach Kerala was Eudoxus of Cyzicus , around 118 or 166 BCE, under
4745-448: The south-western coast of Maharashtra and goes along the coastal region of Goa , through the entire western coast of Karnataka and Kerala and reaches till Kanyakumari . It is flanked by the Arabian Sea on the west and the Western Ghats on the east. The Southern part of this narrow coast is the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests . Climate-wise, the Malabar Coast, especially on its westward-facing mountain slopes, comprises
4818-416: The southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent . It generally refers to the western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari . Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regions of the subcontinent, which includes the Kanara region of Karnataka , all of Kerala and Kanyakumari region of Tamil Nadu . Kuttanad , which is the point of the lowest altitude in India , lies on
4891-402: The treatment of the natives. Documents recently found in the Portuguese national archives help to confirm a greater openness or pragmatism in the first half of the 16th century. Quilon Syrian copper plates 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,
4964-402: The western coastal lowland. The moisture-laden winds of the Southwest monsoon, on reaching the southernmost point of the Indian subcontinent , because of its topography, divide into two branches; the " Arabian Sea Branch" and the " Bay of Bengal Branch". The "Arabian Sea Branch" of the Southwest monsoon first hits the Western Ghats, making Kerala the first state in India to receive rain from
5037-594: The wettest region of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden Southwest monsoon rains. The Malabar rainforests include these ecoregions recognized by biogeographers : The Monsooned Malabar coffee bean comes from this area. The Malabar Coast featured (and in some instances still does) several historic port cities. Notable among these were/are Naura , Vizhinjam , Muziris , Nelcynda , Beypore and Thundi (near Ponnani or Kadalundi ) during ancient times, and Kozhikode (Calicut), Kollam , Ponnani , Kannur (Cannanore), and Cochin in
5110-552: Was at Kozhikode . Malabar District , a part of the ancient Malabar (or Malabar Coast) was a part of the British East India Company -controlled state. It included the northern half of the state of Kerala and the islands of Lakshadweep . Kozhikode is considered as the capital of Malabar. The area was divided into two categories as North and South. North Malabar comprises present Kasaragod and Kannur Districts, Mananthavady Taluk of Wayanad District and Vatakara and Koyilandy Taluks of Kozhikode District. The left-over area
5183-491: Was doubtless the metropolitan seat of India at this time. In the 1320s, the anonymous biographer of the patriarch Yahballaha III and his friend Rabban Bar Sauma praised the achievement of the Church of the East in converting "the Indians, Chinese and Turks". India was listed as one of the Church of the East's "provinces of the exterior" by the historian [ʿ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) Amr in 1348. Yahballaha maintained contacts with
5256-527: Was drafted in the presence of Chera Perumal prince Vijayaraga , Venad chieftain Ayyan Adikal Thiruvadikal, junior chieftain Rama Thiruvadikal, other important officers of the chiefdom (the adhikarar, the prakrithi, the punnathala padi, and the pulakkudi padi) and the representatives of merchant guilds anjuvannam and manigramam . The charter grants land to Mar Sapir Iso , the founder
5329-480: Was held in the All Saints Church there. The venue was apparently chosen on account of the place having been the capital of a Christian principality. In 1552, there was a schism in the Church of the East and a faction led by Mar Yohannan Sulaqa declared allegiance to Rome . When, on 6 April 1553, Pope Julius III confirmed Yohannan Sulaqa as Chaldean Patriarch, the Pope said that the discipline and liturgy of
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