Kollam (;) is an ancient seaport and the fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake and is 71 kilometres (44 mi) northwest of Thiruvananthapuram. Kollam is one of India's oldest continuously inhabited cities,, with evidence of habitation stretching back to the megalithic period. The city has also been a maritime entrepôt for millennia, with the earliest attestation dating to the Phoenicians and Romans. It is the gateway to the Backwaters of Kerala, and is known for its cashew processing, coir manufacturing, and tourism industries.
Kollam has had a commercial reputation since ancient times. The Arabs, Phoenicians, Chinese, Ethiopians, Syrians, Jews, Chaldeans, and Romans have all engaged in trade at the port of Kollam for millennia. Because of Chinese trade, Ibn Battuta mentioned Kollam in the 14th century as one of the five Indian ports he had seen during his twenty-four-year travels. Desinganadu's Rajas exchanged embassies with Chinese rulers while there was a flourishing Chinese settlement at Kollam. In the ninth century, on his way to Canton, China, Persian merchant Sulaiman al-Tajir found Kollam to be the only port in India visited by huge Chinese junks. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who was in Chinese service under Kublai Khan in 1275, visited Kollam and other towns on the west coast, in his capacity as a Chinese mandarin. Kollam is also home to one of the seven churches that were established by St Thomas as well as one of the 10 oldest mosques believed to have been founded by Malik Deenar in Kerala. Roman Catholic Diocese of Quilon is the first diocese in India.
V. Nagam Aiya in his Travancore State Manual records that in 822 AD two East Syriac bishops, Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, settled in Quilon with their followers. Two years later, the Malabar Era began (824 AD), and Quilon became the premier city of the Malabar region ahead of Travancore and Cochin. Kollam Port was founded by Mar Sabor at Tangasseri in 825 as an alternative to reopening the inland seaport of Kore-ke-ni Kollam near Backare (Thevalakara), which was also known as Nelcynda and Tyndis to the Romans and Greeks and as Thondi to the Tamils.Aiyya, V.V Nagom, State Manual p. 244 Thambiran Vanakkam, printed in the Tamil language on 20 October 1578 at Kollam, was the first book to be published in an Indian language.
The Kollam Municipal Corporation received ISO 9001:2015 certification for municipal administration and services. According to a survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) based on urban area growth during January 2020, Kollam became the tenth fastest-growing city in the world with a 31.1% urban growth between 2015 and 2020. It is a coastal city on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake. The city hosts the administrative offices of Kollam district and is a prominent trading city for the state. The proportion of females to males in Kollam city is second-highest among the 500 most populous cities in India. Kollam is also one of the least polluted cities in India.
During the later stages of the rule of the Chera monarchy in Kerala, Kollam emerged as the focal point of trade and politics. Kollam continues to be a major business and commercial centre in Kerala. There are four major trading centres around Kollam. These include Kottarakara, Punalur, Paravur, and Karunagapally. Kollam appeared as Palombe in Mandeville's Travels, where he claimed it contained a Fountain of Youth.Mandeville, John. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Accessed 24 September 2011.Kohanski, Tamarah & Benson, C. David (Eds.) The Book of John Mandeville. Medieval Institute Publications (Kalamazoo), 2007. Op. cit. "Indexed Glossary of Proper Names". Accessed 24 September 2011.
Etymology
The popular theory is that the name "Kollam" is derived from the word koyillam, which is a compound of kovilakam (meaning "Royal Palace") and illam (a traditional house of Nair nobles or Brahmins). Another theory posits that the name originates from the Sanskrit word kollam, which means "pepper," as the region was historically a prominent centre for the trade and export of pepper.
In 825 AD, the Malayalam calendar, or Kollavarsham, was introduced at meetings held in the city.ending with the Royal sanction of Tarissapalli copper plates to Assyrian Monks by Vaishnaite Chera King Rajashekara Varma, against the backdrop of a Shivite revival led by Adi Shankara among the Nampoothiri communities Kerala government website The present Malayalam calendar is said to have begun with the re-founding of the town, which was rebuilt after its destruction by fire.
The city was known as Koolam in Arabic, Coulão in Portuguese, and Desinganadu in ancient Tamil literature.
History
As the ancient city of Quilon, Kollam was a flourishing port during (c. 3rd century BC–12th century), and later became the capital of the independent Venadu or the Kingdom of Quilon on its foundation in c. 825 by Maruvān Sapir Iso. Kollam was considered one of the four early entrepots in global sea trade during the 13th century, along with Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt, the Chinese city of Quanzhou, and Malacca in the Malaysian archipelago. It seems that trade at Kollam flourished right into the Medieval period, as in 1280, there is an instance of envoys of Yuan China coming to Kollam to establish relations between the local ruler and China.
Sangam Era ( 3rd - 7th Century)
During the Sangam Era Kollam was ruled by the Ay Dynasty. Ay Titian and Ay Andiran are rulers mentioned in the Sangam Literature and can be found in the Akananuru and Purananuru corpus.Kollam functioned as a maritime and logistics outpost of the Ay Kingdom.*
Kollam Era (8th Century)
In 825 CE the maritime outpost of Kollam was developed into a major trading port by Syrian Christian Magnate Marwan Sapir Iso, commencing the Malayalam calendar which is also known as Kollavarsham.
Manigramam & Anjuvannam Guilds (8th - 11th Century) Subbarayalu, Y. (2015). South India Under the Cholas. Oxford University Press. pp. 206–211. ISBN 978-0198068693.
The presence of Indian and International guilds such as Manigramam and Anjuvannam during the Kollam Era attest to the importance they played in influencing the development of Kollam port and laying the foundation for Kerala's maritime culture. Both guilds are mentioned as part of Quilon Syrian copper plates Subbarayalu, Y. (2015). South India Under the Cholas. Oxford University Press. pp. 206–211. ISBN 978-0198068693.
Pandya Invasion (12th Century) The ancient political and cultural history of Kollam was almost entirely independent from that of the rest of Kerala. The Chera dynasty governed the area of the Malabar Coast between Alappuzha in the south and Kasaragod in the north. This included Palakkad Gap, Coimbatore, Salem, and Kolli Hills. The region around Coimbatore was ruled by the Cheras during the Sangam period between c. the first and the fourth centuries CE, and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and Tamil Nadu. However, the southern region of present-day Kerala state (the coastal belt between Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha) was under the Ay dynasty and during the 12th Century the Pandya dynasty of Madurai invaded Kollam under King Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I.* Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1929). ''The Pandyan Kingdom: From the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century''. London: Luzac & Co. pp. 142–143. OCLC 2145393.KA Nilakanta Sastri
Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Greek Nestorian sailor, in his book the Christian Topography, who visited the Malabar Coast in 550, mentions an enclave of Christian believers in Male (Malabar Coast). He writes, "In the island of Tabropane (Ceylon), there is a church of Christians, and clerics and faithful. Likewise at Male, where the pepper grows, and in the farming community of Kalliana (Kalliankal at Nillackal), there is also a bishop consecrated in Persia in accordance with the Nicaea Sunnahadose of 325 AD."Travancore Manual
Maruvān Sapir Iso established a Christian church near Kollam port, with the donation of the Venad king Ayyanatikal. The church, known as Tarisappalli, became the recipient of the Kollam Copper plate grant issued by the king.
Kollam is also home to one of the oldest mosques in the Indian subcontinent. According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayini, and Chaliyam were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in the Indian subcontinent.Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98. It is also believed that Malik Dinar died at Thalangara in Kasaragod town.Pg 58, Cultural heritage of Kerala: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978
Capital of Venadu (9th to 12th centuries)
The port at Kollam, then known as Quilon, was founded in 825 by the Nestorian Christians, Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, with the sanction of Ayyanadikal Thiruvadikal, the king of the independent Venadu or the State of Quilon, a feudatory under the Chera kingdom.Kerala Charithram P.59 Sridhara MenonV. Nagam Aiya (1906), Travancore State Manual, page 244
It is believed that Mar Sapor Iso also proposed that the Chera king create a new seaport near Kollam in lieu of his request that he rebuild the almost vanished inland seaport at Kollam (kore-ke-ni) near Backare (Thevalakara), also known as Nelcynda and Tyndis to the Romans and Greeks and as Thondi to the Tamils, which had been without trade for several centuries because the Cheras were overrun by the Pallavas in the sixth century, ending the spice trade from the Malabar coast. This allowed the Nestorians to stay in the Chera kingdom for several decades and introduce the Christian faith among the Nampoothiri Vaishnavites and Nair sub-castes in the St. Thomas tradition, with the Syrian liturgy as a basis for the Doctrine of the Trinity, without replacing the Sanskrit and Vedic prayers.History of Kollam city and Kollam Port Quilon.com The Tharisapalli plates presented to Maruvan Sapor Iso by Ayyanadikal Thiruvadikal granted the Christians the privilege of overseeing foreign trade in the city as well as control over its weights and measures in a move designed to increase Quilon's trade and wealth. Hermann Gundert views Maruvan Sapir Iso as being granted land to build the Tharissapally Church and to organise the Manigramam trading guild at Kollam.
Thus began the Malayalam Era, known as Kolla Varsham after the city, indicating the importance of Kollam in the ninth century. The Persian merchant Soleyman of Siraf visited Malabar in the ninth century and found Quilon to be the only port in India used by the huge Chinese ships as their transshipment hub for goods on their way from China to the Persian Gulf. The rulers of Kollam (formerly called 'Desinganadu') had trade relations with China and exchanged embassies. According to the records of the Tang dynasty (618–913),Travancore Manual, page 244 Quilon was their chief port of call before the seventh century. Chinese trade decreased around 600 and was revived again in the 13th century. Mirabilia Descripta by Bishop Catalani gives a description of life in Kollam, which he saw as the Catholic bishop-designate to Kollam, the oldest Catholic diocese in India. He also givesMirabilia Descripta by Jordanus Catalani circa 1320–1336 (trans Hiracut Society, London) true and imaginary descriptions of life in 'India the Major' in the period before Marco Polo visited the city. Sulaiman al-Tajir, a Persian merchant who visited Kerala during the reign of Sthanu Ravi Varma (9th century CE), records that there was extensive trade between Kerala and China at that time, based at the port of Kollam.
Kollam as "Colombo" in the Catalan Atlas (1375)