Malappuram district (), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . The most populous district of Kerala, Malappuram is home to around 13% of the total population of the state. The district was formed on 16 June 1969, spanning an area of about . It is the third-largest district of Kerala by area. It is bounded by Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea on either side. The district is divided into seven Taluks: Eranad, Kondotty, Nilambur, Perinthalmanna, Ponnani, Tirur, and Tirurangadi. The district headquarters is Malappuram.
Malayalam is the most spoken language. The district has witnessed significant emigration, especially to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf during the Gulf Boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, and its economy depends significantly on remittances from a large Malayali expatriate community. Malappuram was the first e-literate as well as the first cyber literate district of India. The district has four major rivers, namely Bharathappuzha, Chaliyar, Kadalundippuzha, and Tirur Puzha, out of which the first three are also among the five longest rivers in Kerala.
Malappuram metropolitan area is the fourth largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi, Calicut, and Thrissur urban areas and the 25th largest in India with a total population of 1.7 million. 44.2% of the district's population reside in the urban areas according to the 2011 census of India. Being home to 4 universities in the state, including the University of Calicut, Malappuram is a hub of higher education in Kerala. The district comprises 2 revenue divisions, 7 taluks, 12 municipalities, 15 blocks, 94 Grama Panchayats, and 16 Kerala Legislative Assembly constituencies in it.Basic Population Figures of India, States, Districts, Sub-District and Town (With Ward), Census 2011. Census of India
https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/42560/download/46186/2011-IndiaStateDistSbDistTwnWrd-0000.xlsx
During British Raj, Malappuram became the headquarters of foreign and Indian troops and later of the Malabar Special Police (M.S.P), formerly known as Malappuram Special Force formed in 1885, which is also the oldest armed police battalion in the state. The oldest Teak plantation in the world at Conolly's plot is situated at Chaliyar valley in Nilambur. The oldest Railway line in the state was laid from Tirur to Chaliyam in 1861, passing through Tanur, Parappanangadi, and Vallikkunnu. The second railway line in the state was also laid in the same year from Tirur to Kuttippuram via Tirunavaya. The Nilambur–Shoranur line, also laid in the colonial era, is one among the shortest and picturesque Short Gauge Railway Lines in India.
Etymology
The term, Malappuram, which means "over the hill" in Malayalam, derives from geography of Malappuram, the administrative headquarters of the district. The midland area of district is characterised by several undulating hills such as Arimbra hills, Amminikkadan hills, Oorakam Hill, Cheriyam hills, Pandalur hills, and Chekkunnu hills, all of which lie away from the Western Ghats. However, the coconut-fringed sandy coastal plain is an exception for the general hilly nature.
History
The remains of pre-historic symbols including Dolmens, Menhirs, and Rock-cut caves have found from various parts of district. Rock-cut caves have found from Puliyakkode, Thrikkulam, Oorakam, Melmuri, Ponmala, Vallikunnu, and Vengara. The ancient maritime port of Tyndis, which was then a centre of trade with Ancient Rome, is roughly identified with Ponnani, Tanur, and Kadalundi-Vallikkunnu-Chaliyam-Beypore region. Tyndis was a major center of trade, next only to Muziris, between the Cheras and the Roman Empire.Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-modern India, Yogesh Sharma, Primus Books 2010 Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) states that the port of Tyndis was located at the northwestern border of Keprobotos (Chera dynasty).Gurukkal, R., & Whittaker, D. (2001). In search of Muziris. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 14, 334–350. The region, which lies north of the port at Tyndis, was ruled by the kingdom of Ezhimala during Sangam period.A. Shreedhara Menon, A Survey of Kerala History 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 Limyrikes 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.According to Pliny the Elder, goods from India were sold in the Empire at 100 times their original purchase price. See Pliny the Elder mentioned that Limyrike was prone by pirates.Bostock, John (1855). "26 (Voyages to India)". Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. London: Taylor and Francis. The Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that the Limyrike was a source of peppers.Indicopleustes, Cosmas (1897). Christian Topography. 11. United Kingdom: The Tertullian Project. pp. 358–373.Das, Santosh Kumar (2006). The Economic History of Ancient India. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 301. The river Bharathappuzha (River Ponnani) had importance since Sangam period (1st–4th century CE), due to the presence of Palakkad Gap which connected the Malabar coast with Coromandel coast through inland.
The Kurumathur inscription found near Areekode dates back to 871 CE.Veluthat, Kesavan (1 June 2018). "History and historiography in constituting a region: The case of Kerala". Studies in People's History. 5 (1): 13–31. Three inscriptions written in Old Malayalam those date back to 932 CE, those were found from Triprangode (near Tirunavaya), Kottakkal, and Chaliyar, mention the name of Goda Ravi of Chera dynasty.Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumals of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy Perumāḷs of Kerala . Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 438-42. The Triprangode inscription states about the agreement of Thavanur. Several inscriptions written in Old Malayalam those date back to the 10th century CE, have found from Sukapuram near Edappal, which was one of the 64 old Nambudiri villages of Kerala.
Descriptions about the rulers of Eranad and Valluvanad regions can be seen in the Jewish copper plates of Bhaskara Ravi Varman (around 1000 CE) and Viraraghava copper plates of Veera Raghava Chakravarthy (around 1225 CE). The Zamorin of Calicut originally belonged to Nediyiruppu at Kondotty in Eranad before he shifted his seat to the neighbouring Kozhikode. Eranad was ruled by a Samanthan clan known as Eradis, similar to the Vellodis of neighbouring Valluvanad and Nedungadis of Nedunganad. The rulers of Eranad were known by the title Eralppad/Eradi. It was the ruler of Eranad (Eradi of Nediyiruppu) who established the kingdom of Calicut and developed Kozhikode as a major port city in the Malabar Coast. Just after that, the rulers of Parappanad (Parappanangadi) and the Vettathunadu (Tanur) became vassals of Zamorin. The Parappanad royal family is a cousin dynasty of Travancore royal family. Besides, a larger portion of Valluvanad Kovilakams (Nilambur, Manjeri, Malappuram, Kottakkal, and Ponnani) also became vassals of the Zamorin.
The original headquarters of the Perumbadappu Swaroopam, who later became the Kingdom of Cochin, was at Chithrakoodam in Vanneri, Perumpadappu, which is located 10 km south to Puthuponnani, in Ponnani taluk. When Perumpadappu came under the kingdom of the Zamorin of Calicut, the rulers of Perumpadappu fled to Kodungallur, and later they moved to Kochi, where they established the Kingdom of Cochin. By 1250–1300 CE, almost whole of the district came under the rule of Zamorin.
The Mamankam festival, which had a special political importance in the medieval Kerala, was held at Tirunavaya, which lies on the northern bank of the river Bharathappuzha, in the district. The rivalry that existed between the Nambudiris in the Nambudiri villages of Panniyoor and Chowwara (Sukapuram) was also of great political importance in medieval Kerala. Panniyoor is situated opposite to Kuttippuram town while Sukapuram lies in Edappal. The Zamorins found themselves intervened in the so-called Koormatsaram between Nambudiris of Panniyurkur and Chovvarakur. In the most recent event, the Thirumanasseri Nambudiri had assaulted and burned the nearby rival village. The rulers of Valluvanadu and Perumpadappu came to help the Chovvaram and raided Panniyur simultaneously. Thirumanasseri Nadu was overran by its neighbours on south and east. The Thirumanasseri Nambudiri appealed to the Zamorin for help, and promised to cede the port of Ponnani, where the river Bharathappuzha merges with Arabian Sea, to Zamorin as the price for his protection. Thirumanassery Nambudiri, the Koya of Kozhikode, and ruler of Vettathunadu supported the Zamorin. Zamorin, looking for such an opportunity, gladly accepted the offer. In his military campaigns into Valluvanadu, the Zamorin received unambiguous assistance from the Muslim Middle Eastern sailors of Beypore, Chaliyam, Tanur, and Kodungallur, and the Koya of Kozhikode.V. V., Haridas. "King court and culture in medieval Kerala – The Zamorins of Calicut (AD 1200 to AD 1767)". Unpublished PhD Thesis. Mangalore University As a reward by the Zamorin, the port at Ponnani became an important trade and cultural centre of middle eastern sailors. It seems that the Muslim judge of Kozhikode offered all help in "money and material" to the Samoothiri to strike at Tirunavaya.K. V. Krishna Iyer, Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938. The Zamorin continued his conquest to Valluvanadu and conquered the regions of Kottakkal, Malappuram, Manjeri, and Nilambur. It was thus that Perumpadappu and a larger portion of Valluvanad came under the rule of Zamorin. Thus Zamorin became the Raksha Purusha of Mamankam, and the ruler of Tirunavaya, neighbouring Triprangode, and Ponnani.
Under the Zamorin, the regions included in the district emerged as major centres of foreign maritime trade in medieval Kerala. The Zamorin earned a greater part of his revenue by taxing the spice trade through his ports. Major ports in the kingdom of Zamorin included Parappanangadi, Tanur, and Ponnani.Kunhali. V. "Calicut in History" Publication Division, University of Calicut (Kerala), 2004 Parappanangadi (Barburankad), Tirurangadi (Tiruwarankad), Tanur, and Ponnani (Funan) were also important among the trade settlements under the rule of the Zamorin, according to the 16th-century historical work Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen. Thrikkavil Kovilakam in Ponnani served as a second home for Zamorin. Ponnani acted as the naval headquarters of his kingdom.K. V. Krishna Iyer Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times to AD 1806. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938 Malappuram was the headquarters of Para Nambi, who was a local chieftain of the Zamorin. Other Kovilakams of Zamorin included the Kizhakke Kovilakam at Kottakkal, Manjeri Kovilakam at Manjeri, and Nilambur Kovilakam at Nilambur. Parappanad Kovilakam at Parappanangadi and Tanur Kovilakam at Tanur were vassal royal houses of the Zamorin. However the Mankada Kovilakam at Mankada near Angadipuram was the seat of ruling family of the Valluvanad Rajas. Azhvanchery Mana, which was the headquarters of Azhvanchery Thamprakkal, who was the supreme head of the Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala, is located at Athavanad near Kuttippuram, in Tirur Taluk. Azhvanchery Thamprakkal and the lord of Kalpakanchery in Kingdom of Tanur were usually present at the Ariyittu Vazhcha (Coronation) of a new Zamorin. The Arabs had the monopoly of trade in the early Middle Ages. The original headquarters of the Palakkad Rajas were also at Athavanad.