The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia Encyclopedia World Factbook American Heritage Coll. It is now in Kerala state.
Rainfall is heavy, and rice, sugarcane, coconuts, and cotton are important lowland crops.
The hill region provides half of India's cardamom. There is a large Christian minority. The region was brought under the control of a local prince, Martanda Varma, in the 18th cent. The prince accepted British guarantees against Haidar Ali and Tippoo Sahib in 1788. Revolts against British overlordship in the early 19th cent. were quickly suppressed.