Kannur district () 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 (Kodagu district). 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.

Kannur Municipal Corporation is the sixth-largest urban local body in the state and Kannur Cantonment is the only Cantonment Board in Kerala. Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala is the Asia's largest, and the world's third-largest, naval academy. Muzhappilangad beach is the longest Drive-In Beach in Asia and is featured among the top 6 best beaches for driving in the world in BBC article for Autos. Kannur district is home to some forts which include St. Angelo Fort, and Tellicherry Fort. Thalassery town in the district is known for the Thalassery pepper.

Kannur is the sixth-most urbanised district in Kerala, with more than 50% of its residents living in urban areas. Kannur has an urban population of 1,640,986, which is the second largest in Kerala after Ernakulam district. It was part of the Malabar District under the Madras province during the British Raj.

Formation Following the formation of the state of Kerala in 1956, the erstwhile Malabar District was divided into three: Kannur District, Kozhikode district, and Palakkad district. On 1 November 1980, the North Wayanad Taluk of Kannur district was separated to form Wayanad district. Again in 1984, Kasaragod and Hosdurg Taluks were separated to form Kasargod district.

History

Pre-history and Ancient Era The earliest evidence of human habitation in the district are rock-cut caves and megalithic burial sites of the Neolithic age. The Taliparamba-Kannur-Thalassery area abounds in rock-cut caves, dolmens, burial stone circles and menhirs, all of megalith. Kannur was the seat of powerful kingdom based at Ezhimala in the Sangam period (1st–5th century CE). The ancient port of Naura, which is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a port somewhere north of Muziris is identified with Kannur.

The kingdom of Ezhimala had jurisdiction over two Nadus - The coastal Poozhinadu and the hilly eastern Karkanadu. According to the works of Sangam literature, Poozhinadu consisted much of the coastal belt between Mangalore and Kozhikode. Karkanadu consisted of Wayanad-Gudalur hilly region with parts of Kodagu (Coorg). It is said that Nannan, the most renowned ruler of Ezhimala dynasty, took refuge at Wayanad hills in the 5th century CE when he was lost to Cheras, just before his execution in a battle, according to the Sangam works.

Early Middle Ages Ezhimala kingdom was succeeded by Mushika dynasty in the early medieval period, most possibly due to the migration of Tuluva Brahmins from Tulu Nadu. The Mushika-vamsha Mahakavya, written by Athula in the 11th century, throws light on the recorded past of the Mushika Royal Family up until that point. The Indian anthropologist Ayinapalli Aiyappan states that a powerful and warlike clan of the Bunt community of Tulu Nadu was called Kola Bari and the Kolathiri Raja of Kolathunadu was a descendant of this clan. The Kolathunadu (Kannur) Kingdom at the peak of its power, reportedly extended from Netravati River (Mangalore) in the north to Korapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with Arabian Sea on the west and Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.

An Old Malayalam inscription (Ramanthali inscriptions), dated to 1075 CE, mentioning king Kunda Alupa, the ruler of Alupa dynasty of Mangalore, can be found at Ezhimala (the former headquarters of Mushika dynasty) near Kannur.Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 483. The Arabic inscription on a copper slab within the Madayi Mosque in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE. In his book on travels (Il Milione), Marco Polo recounts his visit to the area in the mid 1290s. Other visitors included Faxian, the Buddhist pilgrim and Ibn Batuta, writer and historian of Tangiers.

Late Middle Ages

Until the 16th century CE, the Kasargod town was known by the name Kanhirakode (may be by the meaning, 'The land of Kanhira Trees') in Malayalam. The Kumbla dynasty, who swayed over the land of southern Tulu Nadu wedged between Chandragiri River and Netravati River (including present-day Taluks of Manjeshwar and Kasaragod) from Maipady Palace at Kumbla, had also been vassals to the Kolathunadu, before the Carnatic conquests of Vijayanagara Empire. The Kumbla dynasty had a mixed lineage of Malayali Nairs and Tuluva Brahmins. They also claimed their origin from Cheraman Perumals of Kerala. Francis Buchanan-Hamilton states that the customs of Kumbla dynasty were similar to those of the contemporary Malayali kings, though Kumbla was considered as the southernmost region of Tulu Nadu. Just like other contemporary kings of Kerala in the medieval period, The powerful Kolathu Raja also came under the influence of Zamorin later. The Kolathunadu in the late medieval period emerged into independent 10 principalities i.e., Kadathanadu (Vadakara), Randathara or Poyanad (Dharmadom), Kottayam (Thalassery), Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu (Panoor, Kurumbranad etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions. The Nileshwaram dynasty on the northernmost part of Kolathiri dominion, were relatives to both Kolathunadu as well as the Zamorin of Calicut, in the early medieval period.

Colonial era Kannur was an important trading center in the 12th century with active business connections with Persia and Arabia. The port at Kozhikode held the superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather.The Portuguese, Indian Ocean and European Bridgeheads 1500–1800. Festschrift in Honour of Prof. K. S. Mathew (2001). Edited by: Pius Malekandathil and T. Jamal Mohammed. Fundacoa Oriente. Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities of MESHAR (Kerala) Kannur served as the British military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. In conjunction with her sister city, Tellicherry, it was the third-largest city on the western coast of British India in the 18th century after Bombay and Karachi. The Arakkal kingdom had right over the city of Kannur and Laccadive Islands in the late medieval period.Logan, William (2006). Malabar Manual, Mathrubhumi Books, Calicut.

The Portuguese arrived at Kappad Kozhikode in 1498 during the Age of Discovery, thus opening a direct sea route from Europe to India.DC Books, Kottayam (2007), A. Sreedhara Menon, A Survey of Kerala History The St. Angelo Fort at Kannur was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India. The Dutch captured the fort from the Portuguese in 1663. They modernized the fort and built the bastions Hollandia, Zeelandia, and Frieslandia that are the major features of the present structure. The original Portuguese fort was pulled down later. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry behind it can be seen in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The Dutch sold the fort to the king Ali Raja of Arakkal in 1772. The British conquered it in 1790 and used it as one of their major military stations on the Malabar Coast.

During the 17th century, Kannur was the capital city of the only Muslim polity in the Far-South of India – Arakkal – who also ruled the Laccadive Islands in addition to the city of Kannur. Arakkal Kingdom and Chirakkal kingdom were two vassal kingdoms based in the city of Kannur. The island of Dharmadom near Kannur, along with Thalassery, was ceded to the East India Company as early as 1734, which were claimed by all of the Kolattu Rajas, Kottayam Rajas, Mannanar and Arakkal Bibi in the late medieval period, where the British initiated a factory and English settlement following the cession. In 1761, the British captured Mahé, and the settlement was handed over to the ruler of Kadathanadu. The British restored Mahé to the French as a part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In 1779, the Anglo-French war broke out, resulting in the French loss of Mahé. In 1783, the British agreed to restore to the French their settlements in India, and Mahé was handed over to the French in 1785.

During the British Raj, Kannur was part of the Madras Presidency in the Malabar District. Initially the British had to suffer local resistance against their rule under the leadership of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, who had popular support in Thalassery-Wayanad region. The municipalities of Kannur and Thalassery were formed on 1 November 1866 according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850) of the British Indian Empire, along with the municipalities of Kozhikode, Palakkad, and Fort Kochi, making them the first modern municipalities in the modern state of Kerala.

Geography The Kannur district covers an area of 2966 km², accounting for 7.63% of Kerala's total area, making it the fifth-largest district in Kerala. Physiography 1) Cannanore coast

This region forms a narrow coastal strip on the western side of the district, extending longitudinally across all taluks. The central tract is generally flat, except for the rocky cliff near Ezhimala (260 m) and isolated pockets along the northern coast and around Thalassery.

2) Taliparamba - Kuthuparamba plains

It is a rolling plain that slopes gently westward, with elevations ranging from 63 m at Pattuvam in Taliparamba taluk to 159 m at Kolavelloor in Thalassery taluk. The landscape is characterized by lateritic mesas and low lateritic hills, with isolated hills such as Ezhimala, along with floodplains and river terraces formed by the Anjarakandi, Thalassery and Mahe rivers.

3) Peringome - Mattanur Undulating Upland

This region has an undulating terrain with isolated hills and plantation surfaces of varying elevations, generally sloping westward. The elevation ranges from around 100 m in the west to a maximum of 933 m at Payyavoor village in Taliparamba taluk.

4) Kannoth forested hills

This region borders the Wayanad Plateau with steep slopes and a sudden drop in gradient. Its elevation ranges from 100 m along its western border to a maximum of 1,047 m at Cheruvanchery in Thalassery taluk, sloping generally westward. It forms the catchment area of the Valapattanam, Kuttikol, Bavali and Anjarakandi Rivers, which originate from the ridges bordering the Wayanad Plateau and flow down to the midlands forming deep gorges. Landslides are common in the region during the monsoon season.

Mountains The mountains form a continuation of the midland, gradually rising to the main ridge of the Western Ghats. The highest peak in the district is Paithalmala, in Taliparamba taluk, at 1,371.6 m. Ezhimala, an isolated hill rising to 260.6 m and projecting into the Laccadive Sea, has served as an important navigational landmark since ancient times. There are forested hills on the eastern side of Iritty taluk.

Rivers