Kingdom of Cochin
Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital city of Kochi, was a kingdom on the Malabar Coast in Kerala, that ruled from the early 12th century to 1949. Historically, the capital of Cochin was in Kodungallur, but in 1341, the capital was moved to Kochi as a result of a major flood. By the early 15th century, Cochin lost its ability to fully defend itself. By the late 15th century, the Cochin kingdom shrank to its minimal extent as a result of invasions by the Zamorin of Calicut. When Portuguese armadas arrived in India, the Kingdom of  Cochin had lost its vassals to the Zamorins, including Edapalli and Kodungallur, the later of which had even been at the center of the kingdom historically. Cochin was looking for an opportunity to preserve its independence, which was at risk. King Unni Goda Varma warmly welcomed Pedro Álvares Cabral on 24 December 1500 and negotiated a treaty of alliance between Portugal and the Cochin kingdom, directed against the Zamorin of Calicut. A number of forts were built in the area and controlled by the Portuguese East Indies, the most important of which was Fort Manuel. Cochin became a long-term  Portuguese protectorate (1503–1663) providing assistance against native kingdoms in India. After the Luso-Dutch War, the Dutch East India Company (1663–1795) was an ally of Cochin. That was followed by the British East India Company (1795–1858, confirmed on 6 May 1809) after the Anglo-Dutch War, with British suzerainty over the Cochin state. The Kingdom of Travancore merged with the Kingdom of Cochin to form the state of Travancore-Cochin in 1950. The five Tamil-majority taluks of Vilavancode, Kalkulam, Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, and Sengottai were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Madras State in 1956. The Malayalam-speaking regions of Travancore -Cochin merged with the Malabar District (excluding Laccadive and Minicoy Islands) and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara district in Madras State to form the modern Malayalam-state of Kerala on 1 November 1956, according to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 of the Government of India. The Kingdom of Cochin, originally known as Perumpadappu Swarupam, was under the rule of the Later Cheras in the Middle Ages. After the fall of the Mahodayapuram Cheras in the 12th century, along with numerous other provinces Perumpadappu Swarupam became a free political entity. However, it was only after the arrival of Portuguese on  the Malabar Coast that the Perumpadappu Swarupam acquires any political importance. Perumpadappu rulers had family relationships with the Nambudiri rulers of Edappally. After the transfer of Kochi and Vypin from the Edappally rulers to the Perumpadappu rulers, the latter came to be known as kings of Kochi. Territories. During 1800 to 1947, the Kingdom of Cochin included much of modern-day Thrissur district excluding Chavakkad taluk, a few areas of Alathur taluk and the whole of Chittur taluk of the Palakkad district and Kochi taluk (excluding Fort Kochi), most of Kanayannur taluk (excluding Edappally), parts of Aluva taluk (Karukutty, Angamaly , Kalady, Chowwara, Kanjoor, Sreemoolanagaram, Malayattoor, Manjapra), parts of Kunnathunad taluk and parts of Paravur Taluk (Chendamangalam) of the Ernakulam district which are now the part of Kerala. History. Origin. There is no extant written evidence about the emergence of the Kingdom of Cochin or of the Cochin royal family, also known as Perumpadapu Swaroopam. All that is recorded are folk tales and stories, and a somewhat blurred historical picture about the origins of the ruling dynasty. The surviving manuscripts, such as "Keralolpathi", "Keralamahatmyam", and "Perumpadapu Grandavari", are collections of myths and legends that are less than reliable as conventional historical  sources. The "Perumpadapu Grandavari" contains an additional account of the dynastic origins: The last "Thavazhi" of "Perumpadapu Swaroopam" came into existence on the "Kaliyuga" day "shodashangamsurajyam". Cheraman Perumal divided the land in half, 17 "amsa" north of Neelaeswaram and 17 amsa south, totaling 34 amsa, and gave his powers to his nephews and sons. Thirty-four kingdoms between Kanyakumari and Gokarna (now in Karnataka) were given to the "thampuran" who was the daughter of the last niece of Cheraman Perumal. Keralolpathi recorded the division of his kingdom in 345 Common Era, Perumpadapu Grandavari in 385 Common Era, William Logan in  825 Common Era. There are no written records on these earlier divisions of Kerala, but according to some historians the division might have occurred during the Second Chera Kingdom at the beginning of the 12th century. Early history. The original headquarters of the kingdom was at Perumpadappu near Ponnani in present-day Malappuram district. The ruler of Perumpadappu (near Ponnani) fled to Kodungallur in the early medieval period, when the Zamorin of Calicut annexed Ponnani region, after Tirunavaya war. Cochin kingdom ruled over a vast area in central Kerala before the Portuguese arrival. Their state stretched up to Ponnani and  Pukkaitha in the north, Aanamala in the east, and Cochin and Porakkad in the south, with a capital at Perumpadappu on the northern border. Calicut (Polathiri kingdom) was conquered by Zamorin of Eranad, who then conquered large parts of Cochin Kingdom, and began trying to assert suzerainty over Cochin. Flood of 1341 and the shift of the capital. In 1341, a flood resulted in the creation of the island of Vypin, and Cochin received a natural harbor. After this, the capital of the kingdom shifted from Kodungallur to Vypin in present day Kochi. Hence ,the "Perumpadappu Swaroopam" was renamed as  the Kingdom of Cochin. Ming Dynasty Alliance (1411-1433). The port at Kozhikode held superior economic and political position on the medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather. On the Malabar coast during the early 15th century, Calicut and Cochin were in an intense rivalry, so the Ming dynasty of China decided to intervene by granting special status to Cochin and its ruler, known as "Keyili" (可亦里) to the Chinese. Calicut had been the dominant port-city in the region, but Cochin was  emerging as its main rival. For the fifth Ming treasure voyage, Admiral Zheng He was instructed to confer a seal upon "Keyili" of Cochin and designate a mountain in his kingdom as the "Zhenguo Zhi Shan" (鎮國之山, Mountain Which Protects the Country). Zheng He delivered a stone tablet, inscribed with a proclamation composed by the Yongle Emperor himself, to Cochin. As long as Cochin remained under the protection of Ming China, the Zamorin of Calicut was unable to invade Cochin and a military conflict was averted. The cessation of the Ming treasure voyages consequently had negative results for Cochin, as  the Zamorin of Calicut later launched an invasion against Cochin. In the late 15th century, the Zamorin occupied Cochin and installed his representative as the king. Portuguese Alliance (1500–1663). The Portuguese arrived at Kappad, Kozhikode in 1498 during the Age of Discovery, thus opening a direct sea route from Europe to India. Cochin was the scene of the first European settlement in India. In the year 1500, the Portuguese Admiral Pedro Álvares Cabral landed at Cochin after being repelled from Calicut. The Raja of Cochin welcomed the Portuguese and a treaty of friendship was signed. The raja allowed them to  build a factory at Cochin (and upon Cabral's departure Cochin allowed thirty Portuguese and four Franciscan friars to stay in the kingdom). Assured by the offer of support, the raja declared war on his enemy, the Zamorins of Calicut. In 1502, a new expedition under the command of Vasco da Gama arrived at Cochin, and the friendship was renewed. Vasco da Gama later bombarded Calicut and destroyed the Arab factories there. This enraged the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut, and he attacked Cochin after the departure of Vasco da Gama and destroyed the Portuguese factory. The raja of Cochin  and his Portuguese allies were forced to withdraw to Vypin Island. However, the arrival of a small reinforcement Portuguese fleet and, some days later of Duarte Pacheco Pereira and the oncoming monsoons alarmed the Zamorin. Calicut recalled the army and abandoned the siege. After securing the throne for the Raja of Cochin, the Portuguese got permission to build a fort – Fort Emmanuel (at Fort Kochi, named after the king of Portugal) – surrounding the Portuguese factory, in order to protect it from any further attacks from Calicut and on 27 September 1503 the foundations of a timber fort, the first fort  erected by the Portuguese in India, were laid. The entire work of construction was commissioned by the local raja, who supplied workers and material. In 1505, the stone fortress replaced the wooden fort. Later, for a better defence of the town, a fort called "Castelo de Cima" was built on Vypeen Island. At the departure of the Portuguese fleet, only Duarte Pacheco Pereira and a small fleet were left in Cochin. Meanwhile, the Zamorin of Calicut formed a massive force and attacked them. For five months, Cochin kingdom was able to drive back Calicut's assaults, with the help of  Pacheco Pereira and his men. The ruler of the Kingdom of Tanur, who was a vassal to the Zamorin of Calicut, sided with the Portuguese against his overlord at Kozhikode. As a result, the Kingdom of Tanur ("Vettathunadu") became one of the earliest Portuguese colonies in India. The ruler of Tanur also sided with Cochin. Many of the members of the royal family of Cochin in 16th and 17th centuries were selected from Vettom. However, the Tanur forces under the king fought for the Zamorin of Calicut in the Battle of Cochin (1504). However, the allegiance of the Muslim Mappila  merchants in Tanur region stayed with the Zamorin of Calicut. The raja of Cochin continued to rule with the help of the Portuguese. Meanwhile, the Portuguese secretly tried to enter into an alliance with the Zamorin. A few later attempts by the Zamorin to conquer the Cochin port were thwarted by the raja of Cochin with the help of the Portuguese. Slowly, the Portuguese armoury at Cochin was increased, presumably to help the king protect Cochin. And for a long a time, right after Goa, Cochin situated in the center of East Indies, was the best place Portugal had in  India. From there the Portuguese exported large volumes of spices, particularly pepper. In 1530, Saint Francis Xavier arrived and founded a Latin Christian mission. Cochin hosted the grave of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese viceroy, who was buried at St. Francis Church until his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539. Soon after the time of Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese influence in Kerala declined. Dutch Alliance (1663–1766). Portuguese alliance was followed by that of the Dutch, who had by then conquered Quilon after various encounters with the Portuguese and their allies. Discontented members of the Cochin Royal family called on  the assistance of the Dutch for help in overthrowing the Cochin Raja. The Dutch successfully landed at Njarakal and went on to capture the fort at Pallippuram, which they handed over to the Zamorin. British Princely State (1814–1947). In 1814, according to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the islands of Kochi, including Fort Kochi and its territory, were ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for the island of Banca. Even prior to the signing of the treaty, there is evidence of English residents in Kochi. During the British Raj, the Princely State of Cochin was surrounded by British Malabar District  to three sides (i.e., To north, west, and east), and by Travancore to the south. Towards the early 20th century, trade at the port had increased substantially and the king wanted to develop the port even further. The king brought a harbour engineer Robert Bristow to Cochin in 1920, with the help of Lord Willingdon, then Governor of Madras. Over a span of 21 years he helped the king of Cochin to transform Cochin into the safest harbour in south Asia, where ships berthed alongside the newly reclaimed inner harbour, which was equipped with a long array of steam cranes . Meanwhile, Fort Cochin, which was a part of Malabar District until 1956, was made a municipality on 1 November 1866, along with Kannur, Thalassery, Kozhikode, and Palakkad, according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850) of the British Indian Empire, and its first Municipal Council election with a board of 18 members was conducted in 1883. The Maharajah of Cochin initiated local administration in 1896 by forming town councils in Mattancherry and Ernakulam. In 1925, a Kochi legislative assembly was also constituted to help the public participate in the administration. The assembly  consisted of 45 members, 10 were officially nominated. Thottakkattu Madhaviamma was the first woman to be a member of any legislature in India. Cochin was the first princely state to willingly join the new Dominion of India in 1947. India became a republic on 26 January 1950. Travancore merged with Cochin to create Travancore-Cochin, which was in turn unified with the Malabar district of Madras Presidency. Kasaragod was merged into it and Kanyakumari was removed from it. On 1 November 1956, the Indian state of Kerala was formed. Administration. For administrative purposes, Cochin was divided into seven taluks.(from 1860  to 1905AD) Chittur, Cochin, Cranganore, Kanayannur, Mukundapuram, Trichur and Talapilly. Capitals. The capital of Perumpadapu Swaroopam was located at Chitrakooda in the Perumpadapu village of Vanneri from the beginning of the 12th century to the end of the 13th century. Even though the capital of Perumpadapu Swaroopam was in Vanneri, the Perumpadapu king had a palace in Mahodayapuram. When the Zamorins attacked Vanneri in the later part of the 13th century, Perumpadapu Swaroopam shifted their capital from Vanneri to Mahodayapuram. In 1405, Perumpadapu Swaroopam changed their capital from Mahodayapuram to Cochin. By the end of the 14th century the Zamorin  conquered Thrikkanamathilakam and it became a threat for Mahodayapuram (Thiruvanchikulam), which may be the reason that Perumpadapu Swaroopam changed their capital to Cochin from Mahodayapuram. Moreover, in the year 1341 a flood created an island, Puthuvippu (Vypin), and Cochin became a noted natural harbour for the Indian Ocean trade. The old Kodungallore (Cranganore) port lost its importance, which may also be a cause for the shift of the capital. From there on Perumpadapu Swaroopam used the name Cochin Royal Family. Finally, the arrival of the Portuguese on the Indian subcontinent in the sixteenth century likely influenced Cochin politics. The Kingdom  of Cochin was among the first Indian nations to sign a formal treaty with a European power, negotiating trade terms with Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. The palace at Kalvathhi was originally the residence of the kings. In 1555, though, the royal palace moved to Mattancherry, and later relocated to (Thrissur). At that time Penvazithampuran (Female Thampuran) and the other Kochuthampurans (other Thampurans except the Valliathampuran (King)) stayed at a palace in Vellarapilly. In the beginning of the 18th century Thripunithura started gaining prominence. The kingdom was ruled from Thrissur, Cochin and Thripunithura. Around 1755 Penvazithampuran (Female Thampuran) and the  other Kochuthampurans (other Thampurans) left Vellarapalli and started to live in Thripunithura. Thus Thripunithura became the capital of the Cochin Royal Family. List of Maharajas of Cochin. Veerakerala Varma, nephew of Cheraman Perumal, is the person traditionally believed to be the first Maharaja of Cochin. The written records of the dynasty, however, date from 1503 CE. The Maharaja of Cochin was also called Gangadhara Kovil Adhikaarikal, meaning Head of all Temples. Chiefs of Cochin. The Paliath Achan, or head of the Paliam Nair family of Chendamangalam, played an important part in the politics of Cochin State since the early seventeenth  century, and held hereditary rights to the ministership of Cochin. The Paliath Achan was the most powerful person after the king, and he sometimes exerted more power than the king. In addition, there were many "Desavazhis" around the Cochin area, among them "Paliyam swaroopam", who was second to the "Perumpadappu swaroopam". Other powerful lords around these areas were Cheranellore Karthavu who was the head of the Anchi Kaimals, Muriyanatt (Mukundapuram-Nadavarambu) Nambiar who was the head of Arunattil Prabhus, Kodassery Kartha Mappranam Prabhu-Vellose Nair, Chengazhi Nambiar (Chengazhinad Naduvazhi), and Edappali Nampiyathiri. KP Padmanabha Menon in his "History of Kerala , Vol 2" mentions the Anji Kaimals whose Chief was the Cheranellur Kartha as owning all of Eranakulam. In fact, Eranakulam is known as Anji Kaimal in the early maps of Kerala. See Dutch in Malabar (Dutch Records No 13), 1910 shows a map from Common Era1740 that shows the area of AnjiKaimal as almost twice as large as the Cochin State. The other chiefs he mentions quoting Gollennesse (Dutch East India Company) is the 1) Moorianatt Nambiar 2) Paliath Achan (mentioned above), 3)Codacherry (Kotasseri) Kaimal, 4) Caimalieone (female Kaimal) of Corretty, 5) Changera Codda Kaimal, and 6) Panamoocattu Kaimal (Panambakadu  Kaimal). The last four Kaimals are known as the Kaimals of Nandietter Nadu. The Kaimals of Nandietter Nadu had Nayar troops of 43,000 according to Heer Van Reede of the Dutch East India Company from 1694. Matrilineal inheritance. The Cochin royal family followed the system of matrilineal succession known as Marumakkatayam. Traditionally the female members of the family marry (Sambandham) with Namboodiri Brahmins while male members marry women of the Samanthan Nair class. These wives of the male members are not Ranis or Queens as per the matrilineal system but instead get the title of Nethyar Amma. Traditional rituals. The  term "Shodasakriyakal" refers to sixteen rites to be performed by all members, as structured through "Smruthi". Naming practice of male Thampuran. In the Cochin royal family all the male Thampurans were named according to the following convention. Naming practice of female Thampuran. In the Cochin royal family the female Thampurans were named according to the following convention. This naming convention is followed again to the third daughter and fourth etc. Both the female and male members are called by the name "Thampuran" and have same last name (Thampuran). Parukutty Nethyar Amma. Maharaja Rama Varma (popularly known as Madrassil Theepetta Thampuran ), who reigned from 1914 to 1932, was assisted by a particularly able consort named Parukutty Nethyar Amma. She was a member of the family that had the traditional honour of anointing the kings of Palakkad. She married the Maharaja, then fourth in line to the succession when she was fourteen years old in 1888. Her husband ascended the throne as a result of the abdication of his predecessor. Since the Maharaja was a scholar and had other interests, she took over the finances of the state. Under her guidance salaries were quadrupled and the increased revenue earned her a 17 -gun salute. Parukutty Nethyar Amma was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal by King George V in 1919 for public work and came to be known as Lady Rama Varma of Cochin. The dynasty today. Members of the dynasty are spread all over the world (In five continents). The family is one of the world's largest royal families, numbering more than 1000 people, and many members of the family still live in and around Thripunithura, Thrissur (Chazhur), and other parts of Kochi. The current head of the Royal Family of Cochin is believed to be a man known as  Dr. Kocha Varma (b. 1937)