Ponnani () is a municipality in Ponnani Taluk, Malappuram District, in the state of Kerala, India.Ponnani It serves as the administrative center of the Taluk and Block Panchayat of the same name. It is situated at the estuary of Bharatappuzha (River Ponnani), on its southern bank, and is bounded by the Arabian Sea on the west and a series of brackish lagoons in the south.
It is the seventh-most populated municipality in the state, the second-most populated municipality in the district, and the most densely populated municipality in Malappuram district, having about 3,646 residents per square kilometre as of the year 2011. As of the 2011 Census, the municipality forms a part of Malappuram metropolitan area. National Highway 66, from to Panvel to Kanyakumari, passes through Ponnani Municipality. The Palakkad-Ponnani State Highway which connects National Highway 66 with National Highway 544 is another important road. The River Tirur joins River Ponnani at its mouth at Patinjarekkara Beach from the north bank, opposite to Ponnani. The Colonial-era Cannoly Canal ("the Ponnani Canal") bisects Ponnani town.Manorama Online Travel Ponnani is located 68 km south to Kozhikode city, 48 km southwest to Malappuram city, 91 km northwest to Palakkad city, and 50 km northwest to Thrissur city. Ponnani is located right in the middle of the Kerala coast.
In the Middle Ages, under the ambitious Hindu chiefs of Kozhikode (the Samutiris/Zamorins), Ponnani developed as one of the most important centers of Muslim trade - both overseas and domestic - on the Arabian Sea. The port also served as the military headquarters of the Kozhikode rulers. With the arrival of the Portuguese explorers in the late - 15th century, the city witnessed several battles between the Admirals of Kozhikode and the Portuguese for the monopoly in the Spice Trade. Whenever a formal war was broke out between the Portuguese and the Kozhikode rulers, the Portuguese attacked and plundered, as the opportunity offered, the port of Ponnani. The relentless battles lead to the eventual decline of the settlement, with the exodus of Middle Eastern merchants, and the rulers who protected it. Presently, Ponnani is one of the major fishing centers in Kerala.Ali Akbar ISLAM IN PERSPECTIVE Makhdum II – a great Islamic scholar lost in history (30 November 2012) Arab News A. Sreedhara Menon. Kerala History and its Makers. D C Books (2011)A G Noorani. Islam in Kerala. Books Roland E. Miller. Mappila Muslim Culture SUNY Press, 2015
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.
The city of Ponnani also provided ideological support for the battles against the Estado da Índia. It was the home of the revered Makhdum family. Prominent members of this Yemeni family of Islamic theologians included Zain-ud-Din Makhdum I (1467 - 1521) and his grandson Zain-ud-Din Makhdum II (1530 - 1581). Makhdum II is known for his formidable historical chronicle Tuhfat al-Mujahidin ("Glory to the Victory of Mujahidun", c. 1583), first printed and published in Lisbon. A copy of this edition has been preserved in the library of Al-Azhar University, Cairo.
The Ponnani Jum'ah Masjid, also known as Valiya Jum'ah Palli/Makhdum Mosque, was built in the 16th century AD. Ponnani, once known as the "Little Mecca of Malabar" and the "Jami'at al-Azhar of Malabar", was a prominent center of Islamic learning. It is known that students from as far as Sumatra, Java and Sri Lanka traveled to Ponnani for their spiritual education.Kerala Tourism The town was described in many sources as "the Land of 23½ Mosques". It currently has around 50 mosques, spread around the town.M. E. S. College, Ponnani Official Website
During the months of February and March, large number of migratory birds flock at Ponnani (both Ponnani and Patinjarekkara Beaches). Arabi Malayalam script, a script used to write Malayalam, was originated at Ponnani. The script was also known as "the Ponnani Script". Bharathappuzha, also known as the Ponnani River, has contributed much to the Malayalam literature.
Names
Ponnani is described by different authors, all the way from Europe to Arabia to China, in different names. Some of the names are given below. Ponani/Paniyani: British/East India Company Ponam: the Chinese SailorsK. V. Krishna Iyer Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times to AD 1806. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938 Funan: the Arab merchants Pananee/Pananie/Pananx: the Portuguese and Spanish Writers and SailorsMansel Longworth Dames (ed) The Book of Duarte Barbosa Taylor & Francis, 2017 Panane/Panany: the Dutch East India CompanyDonald Frederick Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley. Asia in the Making of Europe University of Chicago Press, 1998 Pagnany/Pagniany: the French SailorsSir Charles Fawcett. The Travels of the Abbé Carré Routledge, 2017
Etymology It is believed the word Ponnani was derived from pon nanayam (meaning gold currency in Tamil and Malayalam) after the circulation of Arab gold coins introduced here by the Arabs and the Persians. The name of the place traces back to the maritime trade tradition of the port city. Bharathappuzha River (River Ponnani), which is also the second-longest river in Kerala flows into Arabian Sea at Ponnani port. The Palakkad Gap on the bank of River Bharathappuzha was the principal trade route between Malabar Coast and Coromandel Coast in ancient times. Anyway the name Ponnani is connected with the maritime trade that occurred here for centuries.
History
Pre-historical and Early Historical (2nd century BC – 3rd century AD) nature of this settlement is shrouded in mystery. It is one of the oldest ports in South India and can be identified with the port of Tyndis, which was a satellite feeding port to Muziris, according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. 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 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. Ponnani's location at estuary of the Bharatappuzha amidst the fertile plains suitable for rice cultivation might have attracted early settlers. It is known that the river mouth - situated opposite to the plains of Coimbatore across the Ghat mountains - was accessed by the rulers of central Tamil Nadu through the Palghat Gap. It is generally assumed that the archaic Tamil chiefs came into contact with Greco-Roman navigators at the mouth of the Bharatappuzha.Rajan Gurukkal. Classical Indo-Roman Trade: A Misnomer in Political Economy.
Even in the latter times, Ponnani served as the major rice supplier to the Portuguese outposts in India. Throughout the Colonial rule, the Ponnani rice cargoes were shipped across the West Coast. Tobacco was the other major commodity exported from Ponnani to Goa.
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 North Malabar 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.
An inscription which dates back to 932 CE, found from Triprangode, mentions Goda Ravi of Chera dynasty and Thavanur.Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumals of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 438-42. Several inscriptions written in Old Malayalam those date back to the 10th century CE, have found from Sukapuram near Ponnani, which was one of the 64 old Nambudiri villages of Kerala.
Pre-Portuguese era: centre of Muslim trade Ponnani used to be under the control of the Brahmins of "Tirumanasseri Natu", with protection from the Vellattiri (Valluvanatu/Angatippuram) chief, in medieval times. Later the Tirumanasseri Namputiri handed over the port Ponnani to the Samutiri of Kozhikode. An arrangement was reached between the Brahmin and the Samutiri, as a result of which, the former was obliged to protect the interests of the latter against the neighboring chiefs of Valluvanatu (South Malabar) and Perumpatappu (Cochin).
As Kozhikode's political authority extended to South Malabar and Cochin, the Samutiri came to reside more and more at Ponnani (Trikkavil Palace, south of the present-day temple). The port town gradually became the second home of the Kozhikotu chiefs. By the 15th century, we know that Ponnani served as the military capital of the Samutiris of Kozhikode. The city also hosted the largest arsenal of the Kozhikotu rulers. The port at Ponnani was defended by fortifications on either bank of the river.
At the time of the arrival of Vasco da Gama and his Portuguese fleet at Kozhikode, the Samutiri of Kozhikode was residing at Ponnani.E. G. Ravenstein, ed., A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, Delhi, 1995, p. 50 When the Samutiri Kovilakam at Kozhikode was besieged by the Mysore Sultan Haidar 'Ali (18th century AD), the Samutiri sent his family members to safe heavens at Ponnani.Panikkar. K.M. A History of Kerala (1498-1801) Coimbatore (1960) p. 64 It is believed that Malik ibn Dinar, the first Islamic missionary to Kerala, visited Ponnani and established a mosque.
Portuguese era
In the 16th century, Ponnani witnessed several battles between Kozhikode naval chiefs, known as the Kunhali Marakkars, and the Portuguese colonizers. Whenever a formal war was broke out between the Portuguese and the Kozhikode rulers, the Portuguese attacked and plundered, as the opportunity offered, the port of Ponnani.