Quilon or Coulão (), officially Kollam (), is one of the ancient civilizations in India. It is one of the oldest port cities in the Malabar Coast (present-day Kerala, Kanyakumari and Tulu region) and was the capital city of historic Venadu Kingdom and Travancore Kingdom. When it was known as Quilon, it was the most popular, advanced, and prosperous city in Malabar Coast. Its significance reduced significantly later when it officially known as Kollam. Quilon was once an important trading port in India. It was also known as Jaysimhanadu or Desinganadu. It is now known as the "Cashew Capital of the World".
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 center for the trade and export of pepper. Early modern history Since the ancient times, city of Kollam (Quilon) has played some major roles in the business, economical, cultural, religious and political history of Asia and Indian sub continent. The Malayalam calendar (Kollavarsham) is also known so with the name of the city Kollam. The city is mentioned in historical citations dating back to Biblical times and the reign of King Solomon, connecting with Red Sea ports of the Arabian Sea (supported by a find of ancient Roman coins). The teak wood used in building King Solomon's throne was taken from Quilon. Merchants from Phoenicia, China, the Straits of Malacca, the Arab world, Europe and East Africa used to visit and trade from Quilon in the ancient times.
Quilon was a Decentralized state (complex feudal and political relations)Subrahmanyam, S. (1988). Commerce and State Power in Eighteenth-Century India: Some Reflections. South Asia Research, 8(2), 97–110.Ganesh, K. N. (1990). The Process of State Formation in Travancore. Studies in History, 6(1), 15–33. under the Influence of the land lords and the barons, known as Madampimar popular among them were the Ettuveetil Pillamar. The authority of the throne was also influenced by the Ettara Yogam (the Yogakkar, Brahmins), the managing committee of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. There was no standing army.Subrahmanyam, S. (1988). Commerce and State Power in Eighteenth-Century India: Some Reflections. South Asia Research, 8(2), 97–110.Ganesh, K. N. (1990). The Process of State Formation in Travancore. Studies in History, 6(1), 15–33. King Marthanda Varma inherited the small feudal state of Quilon and Kottayam, and built it into Travancore. Marthanda Varma led the Marthanda Varma went on to conquer most of the smaller principalities of the native rulers.Ganesh, K. N. (1990). The Process of State Formation in Travancore. Studies in History, 6(1), 15–33.
The history of the district of Kollam as an administrative unit can be traced back to 1835, when the Travancore state consisted of two revenue divisions with headquarters at Kollam and Kottayam. During the integration of Travancore and Cochin states in Kerala in 1949, Kollam was one among the three revenue divisions in the state. Later, those revenue divisions were converted as the first districts in the state.
Pre-history Kollam is the most historic and ancient settlement in Kerala, probably in South India. Ingots excavated from kollam city, Port, Umayanallur, Mayyanad, Sasthamcotta, Kulathupuzha and Kadakkal proved that the whole district and city were human settlements since Stone Age. Teams of archaeologists and anthropologist have conducted visits to Kollam city and Port many times for treasure hunts and researches.
The period between 1000 BC and 500 AD is referred to as the Megalithic Culture in South India and is similar to the culture in Africa and Europe. In January 2009, the Department of Archaeology discovered a Megalithic age cist burial ground at Thazhuthala in Kollam Metropolitan Area, which had thrown lights to the past glory and ancient human settlements in Kollam area. Similar cists had been earlier discovered from the south east of Kollam. The team discovered three burial chambers, iron weapons, earthen vessels in black and red and remains of molten iron after their first major excavation in Kollam. They found a cairn circle in 1990 during their first major excavation. In August 2009, a team of archaeologists led by Dr P.Rajendran, UGC research scientist and archaeologist at the Department of History of Kerala University, had discovered Lower Paleolithic tools along with the Chinese coins and potteries from the seabed of Tangasseri in the city. This is for the first time that prehistoric cupules and Lower Paleolithic tools were discovered from below the seabed in India. These tools prove that the Stone Age people lived in present Kollam area and surroundings had moved to the coastal areas during the glacial period in the Pleistocene, when the sea-level was almost 300 feet below the present sea-level. Those tools are made of chert and quartzite rocks.
Ancient history
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 Malabar Coast between Kanyakumari in the south to Kasaragod in the north. This included Palakkad Gap, Coimbatore, Salem, and Kolli Hills. The region around Coimbatore was ruled by the Cheras during Sangam period between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and Tamil Nadu.KA Nilakanta Sastri
Voyages to Quilon/Kollam
Time Traveller Country from which he/she came to Quilon Name they used to mention Quilon A.D. 23–79 Pliny Roman Empire – A.D. 522 Cosmas Indicopleustes Alexandria, Greece Male A.D. 825 Mar Sabor and Mar Proth Syria Coulão A.D. 845–855 Sulaiman al-Tajir Siraf, Iran Male A.D. 1166 Benjamin of Tudela Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre (Now in Spain) Chulam A.D. 1292 Marco Polo Republic of Venice Kiulan A.D. 1273 Abu'l-Fida Hamāh, Syria Coilon / Coilun A.D. 1311–1321 Jordanus Catalani Sévérac-le-Château, France Columbum A.D. 1321 Odoric of Pordenone Holy Roman Empire Polumbum A.D. 1346–1349 Ibn Battuta Morocco -- A.D. 1405–1407 A.D. 1409–1411 Zheng He Ming China --Chan 1998, 233–236. A.D. 1503 Afonso de Albuquerque Kingdom of Portugal -- A.D. 1502–1503 Vasco da Gama Kingdom of Portugal -- A.D. 1503 Giovanni da Empoli Kingdom of Portugal – A.D. 1510–1517 Duarte Barbosa Kingdom of Portugal Coulam A.D. 1578 Henrique Henriques Kingdom of Portugal --
Arrival of Thomas the Apostle According to the most widely circulated legend the arrival of Christianity in Kerala begins with the expedition of Saint Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus in AD 52. He founded Seven Churches in Kerala, started from Maliankara and then Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam, Nilackal, Kokkamangalam, Kottakkavu and Palayoor.
Arrival of Malik Dinar Kollam is also home to one of the oldest mosques in the Indian subcontinent. According to the Legend of Cheraman Perumals, the first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at Kodungallur with the mandate of the last the ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of Chera dynasty, who left from Dharmadom to Mecca and converted to Islam during the lifetime of Muhammad (c. 570–632). 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 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
Inception of the Port of Kollam
In 823 AD, two Persian bishops Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, settled in Quilon with their followers. After the beginning of Kollam Era (825 AD), Quilon became the premier city of the Malabar region ahead of Travancore and Cochin. Kollam Port was founded by Mar Sabore at Thevally 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
Migration of Syriac Christians or Nasranies to Kerala started in the 9th century. Their first migration is dated to the year AD 823 and that was to the city of Quilon.
Beginning of Kollam Era
Kollam Era (also known as Malayalam Era or Kollavarsham or Malayalam Calendar or Malabar Era or Nasrani Era) is a solar and sidereal used in Kerala, India. The origin of the calendar has been dated as 825 CE (Pothu Varsham) at Kollam (Quilon). It replaced the traditional Hindu calendar used widely elsewhere in India and is now prominently used in Kerala. All temple events, festivals and agricultural events in the state are still decided according to the dates in the Malayalam calendar.
There are many theories regarding the origin of the Malayalam calendar – the Kolla Varsham. A major theory is;
According to Herman Gundert Kolla Varsham started as part of erecting a new church Tharissappally Church in Kollam (Thulasserry is a distorted form of Tharissappally which is used by some of the syriac Christians living in and around Kollam) and because of the strictly local and religious background, the other regions did not follow this system at first. Then once the Kollam port emerged as an important trade center the other kingdoms were also started to follow the new system of calendar. This theory backs the remarks of Ibn Battuta as well.
Persian trade and subsequent Arab trade 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. 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. A number of foreign accounts have mentioned about the presence of considerable Muslim population in the coastal towns. Arab writers such as Al-Masudi of Baghdad (896–956 CE), Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165 CE), Abulfeda (1273–1331 CE), and Al-Dimashqi (1256–1327 CE) mention the Muslim communities in Kerala.
Copper Plate Inscriptions from Kollam
The Tharisappalli Copper Plates (849 AD) are a copper-plate grant issued by the King of Venadu (Quilon), Ayyanadikal Thiruvadikal, to the Syriac Christians or Nasranies on the Malabar Coast in the 5th regnal year of the Chera ruler Sthanu Ravi Varma.A Survey of Kerala History – A. Sreedhara Menon. . The inscription describes the gift of a plot of land to the Syrian Church at Thevally near Quilon (now known as Kollam), along with several rights and privileges to the Syrian Christians led by Marvan Sapir Iso.S.G. Pothan (1963) The Syrian Christians of Kerala, Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
The Tharisappalli copper plates are one of the important historical inscriptions of Kerala, the date of which has been accurately determined.Cheriyan, Dr. C.V. Orthodox Christianity in India. pp. 85, 126, 127, 444–447. The grant was made in the presence of important officers of the state and the representatives of trade corporations or merchant guilds. It also throws light on the system of taxation that prevailed in early Venadu, as several taxes such as a profession tax, sales tax and vehicle tax are mentioned. It also testifies to the enlightened policy of religious toleration followed by the rulers of ancient Kerala.