| Kodungallur | |
| — municipality and town — | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Kerala state |
| District(s) | Thrissur |
| Population | 33,543 (2001[update]) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Area |
• 9 metres (30 ft) |
The municipality of Kodungallur (Malayalam: കൊടുങ്ങല്ലൂര്, anglicised name: Cranganore) is located in the Thrissur District in the state of Kerala, India on the Malabar Coast. Kodungallur is located 29 km northwest of the city Kochi and 38 km southwest of the city Thrissur, by the National Highway 17.
The ancient seaport Muziris at the mouth of the Periyar River (also known as Choorni Nadi) used to be very close to Kodungallur. Kodungallur was the capital of the Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras), called Mahodayapuram or Shinkli. The Kulasekhara dynasty ruled Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu from the 9:th century to the 12:th century A.D.
Being situated in the Thrissur district, the Corporation of Cochin has drafted a master plan that aims to develop Kodungallur as a satellite township to the Kochi city.[1] Kodungalloor has great tradition and culture, and being a historical nerve centre of Kerala, it has an unique identity of its own and some say that it should not be made a satellite town of Kochi city. Moreover, Kodungalloor is culturally, linguistically and dialectically closely connected with another city, the city of Thrissur, which is the cultural capital of Kerala.
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The name Kodungallur is derived from Kodi-linga-puram (10 million Siva lingas) according to common belief. There is mentioning in Sangam literature of a ruler with the name Kudako (ruler of Kudanad, the land between river Periyar and river Ponnani). Kodungallur was the revenue collection center of Kudako for the goods coming to the port, hence the name Kudakonallur which later shortened to Kodugallur.
Kodungallur has had many names over the centuries:
Jangli, Gingaleh, Cyngilin, Shinkali, Chinkli, Jinkali, Shenkala and Cynkali. These were all derived from the name of the river Changala (or Chain, i.e., Shringala in Sanskrit) which originates at Kanjur from the Periyar River (the Periyar was known as Choorni in Sanskrit and Chulli in ancient Dravidian language).
Additional used names have been: Columguria, Vangi, Musirippattanam, Mahodayapuram, Kotilingapuram, Kudalingapuram, Makodai, Kodunkaliyur, Thiruvallur, RaviVisvapuram and Balakreetapuram.
The early political history of the city Thrissur and the Thrissur District is interlinked with the Chera Dynasty of the Sangam age, who ruled over vast portions of Kerala with the capital at Vanchi. Kodungallur was also the capital of Cheraman Perumals, the rulers in the 7:th century A.D. The legend is that an unknown Chera dynasty ruler abdicated his throne, divided his kingdom among the local chieftains, and left for Mecca to embrace Islam. This place was later ruled by the Kingdom of Cochin (Perumpadapu Swaroopam). During the time of the Chera ruler, Kodungallur was an important trade link in Indian maritime history.
The complete present Thrissur district was included in the young Chera empire. The district can claim to have played a significant part in fostering the trade relations between Kerala and the foreign world in the ancient and medieval periods. It also claims to have played an important part in fostering cultural relations and in laying the foundation of a cosmopolitan and composite culture in this part of the country. Muziris (Muchiri), an important port city in the pre-historic era, was part of it.
Muziris (1st century B.C.) is a lost port city in Kodungallur that was a major center of trade in the ancient Tamil country Tamilakkam between the Chera Empire and the Roman Empire.[2] Muziris (Cranganore) was destroyed by massive flooding of the river Periyar in 1341 AD, opening for a new port called Kochi.[3]
Muziris was also known as Mahodayapuram, Shinkli, Muchiri (Anglicised to Muziris) and Muyirikkodu. It is locally known as 'Vanchi'.[2] Muziris opened the gates for Arabs, Romans, Portuguese, Dutch and English to the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia. The Muziris dealers traded with gold and other metals, pepper and spices, precious stones and textiles.[4] It was a famous major port for trade and commerce for more than 2,500 years. Muziris became of interest to classical authors because of the Roman' trading interest, and their desire to have contact with regions beyond the reach of nerby conquest; they set up trading routes with remote places. Merchants from a number of cultures are believed to have operated in the port, and there are numerous Indian finds from the time as well as Roman ones.
There has always been confusion about the location of the port. For long it was considered to be Kodungalloor. However, in 1983, a large treasure of Roman coins was found at a site around 10 km from the hamlet Pattanam, some distance from Kodungalloor. Excavations carried out from 2004 to 2009 at Pattanam has revealed evidence that may point out the exact position of Muziris.[2][5][6][7]
Recent archaeological work done in the area has revealed fragments of imported Roman amphora, mainly used for transporting wine and olive oil, Yemeni and west asian pottery, besides Indian roulette ware (also common on the east coast and found in Berenice in Egypt).[2][5] [6][7] This suggests that Muziris was a port of great international fame and that South India was involved in active trade with several civilizations of west Asia, the near East and Europe with the port as a means to do so.
While there is a consensus that the port and the city both ceased to exist around the middle of the 13th century A.D., possibly following an earthquake (or the great flood of 1341 which changed the course of the Periyar river), there does not seem to be clear evidence as to when the port was founded. Presently, researchers seem to agree that the port was already a bustling center of trade by 500 B.C., and there is some evidence that suggests that Muziris was a city, even if not certainly a port as well, from before 1500 B.C.[8][9][10][11]
It is called as 'Murachipatanam' in Sanskrit and Muchiri in Tamil. Later it was also called Makothai, Mahodayapuram, Mahodayapattanam. The port was familiar to the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea who described it as being on the Pseudostomos river (Ψευδόστομος: Greek for "false mouth" — a precise translation of the Malayalam description of the mouth of the Periyar, Alimukam) 3 km from its mouth. According to the Periplus, numerous Greek seamen managed an intense trade with Muziris:[12]
| “ | "Then come Naura and Tyndis, the first markets of Damirica (Limyrike), and then Muziris and Nelcynda, which are now of leading importance. Tyndis is of the Kingdom of Cerobothra; it is a village in plain sight by the sea. Muziris, of the same Kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks; it is located on a river, distant from Tyndis by river and sea five hundred stadia, and up the river from the shore twenty stadia." — The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 53–54 | ” |
Muziris is mentioned in the epics Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Akananuru, and Chilappathikaram. The poets Pathanjali and Karthiyayan referred to it, as well as the travelogues of Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy under different names. Moreover, Kodungallur (Muziris) is mentioned in the stone writings of Ashoka. It was known as Muziris to Pliny the Elder (N.H. 6.26), who describes it as primum emorium Indiae.
The ancient Greek explorer Hippalus landed at this very port after discovering the patterns of the Indian monsoon trade winds on his way from the east African coast. Evidence of the Peutinger Table suggests that there was a temple dedicated to the Roman emperor Augustus. The Greeks, the Romans (known locally as the Yavanas) and the Jews, Arabs etc. all have come to this place at times in its history.
Roman gold and silver coins bearing impressions of Roman emperors Tiberius and Nero were discovered in the village Kochal in Valluvally near Paravur near the town in 1983. A 2:nd-century papyrus from Egypt concerning the transshipment of goods originating in Muziris from the Red Sea to Alexandria attests to the continued importance of the port in the Indian Ocean commerce trade a century after Pliny and the Periplus.[13]
The indigenous church of Kerala has a tradition that St. Thomas sailed there to spread the Christian faith. He landed at the ancient port of Muziris. He then went to Palayoor (near present-day Guruvayoor), which was a Hindu priestly community. He left Palayoor in 52 A.D. for the southern part of what is now Kerala state, where he established the Ezharappallikal ("Seven and Half Churches"). These churches are at Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kokkamangalam, Kottakkayal (Paravoor), Palayoor (Chattukulangara) and Thiruvithancode Arappally — the half church.[14][15]
| “ | "It was to a land of dark people he was sent, to clothe them by Baptism in white robes. His grateful dawn dispelled India's painful darkness. It was his mission to espouse India to the One-Begotten. The merchant is blessed for having so great a treasure. Edessa thus became the blessed city by possessing the greatest pearl India could yield. Thomas works miracles in India, and at Edessa Thomas is destined to baptize peoples perverse and steeped in darkness, and that in the land of India." — Hymns of St. Ephraem, edited by Lamy (Ephr. Hymni et Sermones, IV). | ” |
Believed to be built in 629 A.D. by Malik Bin Deenar, Cheraman Juma Masjid is considered the oldest mosque in India and the second oldest mosque in the world to offer Jumu'ah prayers.[16][17] Constructed during the lifetime of Muhammad, the bodies of some of his original followers are said to be buried here.[18] Unlike other mosques in Kerala that face westwards this mosque faces east. Generally it is considered to be the second mosque of the world after one in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
The legend has it that a group of Muhammad's Sahaba (companions) visited Kodungallur. An unknown Chera dynasty ruler had witnessed a miraculous happening — the sudden splitting of the moon, the celebrated miracle of Muhammad — and learned on inquiry that this was a symbol of the coming of a Messenger of God from Arabia. Soon after, Perumal traveled to Makkah, where he embraced Islam, and accepted the name Thajudeen. On his way back to India he died at Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman. On his deathbed he is said to have authorised some of his Arab companions to go back to his kingdom to spread Islam. Accordingly, a group of Arabs led by Malik Bin Deenar and Malik bin Habib arrived in north Kerala and constructed the Cheraman Juma Masjid at Kodungalloor.[16][19][20]
The flood of the river Periyar in 1341 A.D. resulted in the splitting of the left branch of the river into two just before the city of Aluva. The flood silted the right branch (known as River Changala) and the natural harbour at the mouth of the river, and resulted in the creation of a new harbour at Kochi. An island was formed with the name Vypinkara between Vypin to Munambam during the flood. During this time there was the rise of the Samoothiri Rajas of Kozhikode. The town was nearly completely destroyed by the Portuguese (Suarez de Menezes) on September 1, 1504 in retaliation for the Samoothiri Raja's actions against them.
October, 1504 While in Cochin, Lopo Soares receives reports that the Zamorin of Calicut has dispatched a force to fortify Cranganore, the port city at the northern end of the Vembanad lagoon, and the usual entry point for the Zamorin's army and fleet into the Kerala backwaters. Reading this as a preparation for a renewed attack on Cochin after the 6th Armada leaves, Lopo Soares decides on a preemptive strike. He orders a squadron of around ten fighting ships and numerous Cochinese bateis and paraus, to head up there. The heavier ships, unable to make their way into the shallow channels, anchor at Palliport (Pallipuram, on the outer edge of Vypin island), while those ships, bateis and paraus that can continue on.
Converging on Cranganore, the Portuguese-Cochinese fleet quickly disperses the Zamorin's forces on the beach with cannonfire, and then lands an amphibian assault force – some 1,000 Portuguese and 1,000 Cochinese Nairs, who take on the rest of the Zamorin's forces in close combat. The Zamorin's forces are defeated and driven away from the city.[21] The assault troops capture Cranganore, and subject the ancient city, the once-great Chera capital of Kerala, to a thorough and violent sacking and razing. Deliberate fires were already started by squads led by Duarte Pacheco Pereira and factor Diogo Fernandes Correa, while the main fighting was still going on. They quickly consume most of the city, save for the Syrian Christian quarters, which are carefully spared (Jewish and Muslim homes are not given the same consideration).
In the meantime, the Calicut fleet, some 5 ships and 80 paraus, that had been dispatched to save the city are intercepted by the idling Portuguese ships near Palliport and defeated in a naval encounter.[22] Two days later, the Portuguese receive an urgent message from the ruler of Tanur (Tanore)or Vettattnad, whose kingdom lay to the north, on the road between Calicut and Cranganore. The raja of Tanur had come to loggerheads with his overlord, the Zamorin, and offered to place himself under Portuguese suzerainity instead, in return for military assistance. He reports that a Calicut column, led by the Zamorin himself, had been assembled in a hurry to try to save Cranganore, but that he managed to block its passage at Tanur. Lopo Soares immediately dispatches Pêro Rafael with a caravel and a sizeable Portuguese armed force to assist the Tanurese. The Zamorin's column is defeated and dispersed soon after its arrival.
The raid on Cranganore and the defection of Tanuror Vettattnad are serious setbacks to the Zamorin, pushing the frontline north and effectively placing the Vembanad lagoon out of the Zamorin's reach. Any hopes the Zamorin had of quickly resuming his attempts to capture Cochin via the backwaters are effectively dashed. No less importantly, the battles at Cranganore and Tanur, which involved significant numbers of Malabari captains and troops, clearly demonstrated that the Zamorin was no longer feared in the region. The Battle of Cochin had broken his authority. Cranganore and Tanuror Vettattnad showed that Malabaris were no longer afraid of defying his authority and taking up arms against him. The Portuguese were no longer just a passing nuisance, a handful of terrifying pirates who came and went once a year. They were a permanent disturbance, turning the old order upside down. A new chapter was being opened on the Malabar coast.
Cranganore Fort was built by Portuguese in 1523 A.D. and later it in 1565 A.D. it was enlarged. It is also known as Kottappuram Fort.The fort was named as Fortaleza Sao Tome, by the Portuguese. The Dutch took possession of the fort in 1661. In 1776, Tipu Sultan seized the control of fort. The Dutch wrested it back from Tipu Sultan, but the fort eventually came under the control of Tipu, who destroyed it in the following year. The remains of the fort show that the original fort wall was 18 feet in thickness. The ruin is also known as Tipu's fort.
As of 2001[update] India census,[24] Kodungallur had a population of 33,543. Males constitute 47% of the population and females 53%. Kodungallur has an average literacy rate of 83%, which is significantly higher than the national average of 59.5%. Male literacy is 86% and female literacy is 81%. In Kodungallur, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
The coastal highway NH 17 connecting Cochin to Mumbai passes through this town and the construction of bypass for NH 17 already started and completed within 15 months. Kodungallur is well connected by KSRTC buses and private transport buses. It have a private bus stand and KSRTC bus stand in the town. The town is connected to Kochi (30 km), Thrissur (38 km) and Guruvayur (50 km). There are frequent bus services from here to Thrissur, Irinjalakuda, Chalakudy, Mala, North Paravur, Ernakulam, Aluva, Guruvayoor, Calicut etc. There are also long distance private bus services from and towards places like Kottayam, Pala, Kattappana and towards northern towns like Kannur, Iritty, Payyanur, Sultan Battery, Kasaragod etc.
The nearest railhead to Kodungallur is located at Irinjalakkuda, at a distance of 22km away. Only a few express trains stop here. The major railway station near to Kodungallur is Aluva Railway Station. Aluva and Irinjalakkuda railway stations lies in the busy Shoranur-Cochin Harbour section. It is in the main route connecting Kochi and Palakkad.
The nearest airport to Kodungallur is Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, at a distance of 35km away. The airport is well connected to all major airports in India and also connected to many foreign cities. Direct flights are available to Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The Kollam – Kottapuram National Waterway 3 (India) ends at Kodungallur. The West Coast Canal, maintained by Inland Waterways Authority of India, is one of the most navigable and tourism potential area in India and has much to offer to the potential tourist. A terminus is located close to Kottapuram bridge.
Kodungallur Municipality was formed in the year 1978. It covers an area of 17.3 km2 and is divided into 24 electoral wards. The Municipality has a total population of 31,249 with a density of 1,806 per km2. Kodungallur is the headquarters of the Kodungallur Taluk and is a Grade-II Municipality. [25] Kodungallur assembly constituency is part of Chalakudi (Lok Sabha constituency).[26]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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