മലബാറിലെ ഈ പ്രദേശം വളരെ ഏറെ പ്രാധാന്യമുള്ള ഒരു
നടന്. ദൈവത്തിന്റെ സ്വന്തം നാട് തീര്ത്തും വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കാവുന്ന നാട്. ഇന്നു കണ്ണൂര് എന്ന്അറിയപ്പെടുന്നഈ ദേശത്തിന്റെ നാമത്തിന്റെ ഉദ്ഭവം കനതുര് എന്ന പൌരാണിക ഗ്രാമത്തിന്റെ പേരില് നിന്നോ ,അല്ലെങ്ങില് പിന്നെ " കണ്ണന്റെ ഉര്" എന്ന നാമം
ആണ് ഇതിന് കാരണം.
ഈ പ്രദേശം chera vamsham ആണ് barichirunnathu.
citation:[The Chera Dynasty was a dravidian tamil
dynasty that ruled in southern India
from before the Sangam
era (300 BC - 250 AD) until the twelfth century AD. The early Cheras ruled
Kerala,
Kongu Nadu and
Salem].Throughout the reign of the Cheras, trade continued to bring prosperity to the then
Tamil Country (part of which was modern-day
Kerala), with spices, ivory, timber, pearls and gems being exported to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenicia and Arabia. Evidence of extensive foreign trade from the ancient period is available throughout the Malabar Coast, from the Greek, Roman and Arabic coins unearthed from Kollam, Kodungallur, Eyyal (near
Thrissur) etc in
Kerala. ]
Early in the 9th century A.D., the Cheras re-established their political supremacy in Kerala under Kulasekhara Varman. This second line of Chera emperors ruled till 1102 A.D with their capital at Mahodayapuram. The bulk of the area, comprising of the present Kannurdistrict, seems to have been included in this empire. A separate line of rulers known as the Mooshaka kings held sway over Chirakkal and Kasaragod areas (Kolathunad) with their capital near Mount Eli. It is not clear whether this line of rulers were attached to Mahodayapura fi or whether they ruled as an independant line of kings in their own right. By the 14th century A.D., the old Mooshaka kingdom had come to be knownas Kolathunad and the rulers known as Kolathiris and had come into prominence in north Kerala.
The Kolathiris were a power to reckon with at the time of the arrival of the portuguese towards the end of the 15th century .They were political and commercial rivals of the Zamorins of Kozhikkode.
During the medieval age, several Arab scholars visited the west coast. Baliapatam, Srikantapuram, Dhharrnadom, Bekal and Mount Eli (Ezhimala) are s ome of the places. which figure prominently in their travelogues.
Vasco Da GamaThough Vasco Da Gamma, the famous portuguese navigator, did not visit Kannur on his way to Kozhikkode in May 1498, he established contacts with the Kolathiri ruler. His ships which had left Kozhikkode on August 29, 1498 were contacted by the boats sent by the Kolathiri and Gama was invited to visit the palace. The aim of the Kolathiri was to gain wealth and power with the help of the Portuguese, the same way the Zamorin had acquired with the help of the Arabs. In winning the alliance of the Kolathiri, Vasco Da Gamma, in turn, had successfully exploited the jealousies of the native princes and won for the Portuguese ;a virtual monopoly of the pepper trade.
Francisco De Almedia was sent from Portugal with specific instructions to erect forts at stratetgic points. He started constructing the Kannur Fort in 1505 and it was named St. Angelo.
On March 16, 1506, the Portuguese effectively intercepted an armada of Turks and Arabs, whom the Zamorin had launched against Kannur. The Portuguese navy under Lorenzo Almedia engaged the Zamorin's fleet in battle and the Portuguese ships won a decisive victory . This naval victory resulted in the establishment of Portuguese naval supremacy in the Indian seas.
Portuguese AscendencyAn important political development which took place at this juncture was the alliance between the Kolathiri and the Zamorin who were till then sworn enemies. The Zamorin was able to convince the Kolathiri of the real motives of the Portuguese in India and the perils inherent in his policy of befriending them.
The Portuguese followed a policy of religious persecution and forcible conversion. They therefore clashed with most of the native princes and chieftains. In 1558, the Kolathiri came openly into the field against the Portuguese by providing active support to the Kunjali Marrikkars of Kozhikkode. The Kolathiri and the Zamorin fought a common war against the Portuguese and they besieged the fort of St.Angelo at Kannur, in 1564. But the portuguese continued to maintain a precarious foothold at Kannur till 1663 when the fort was captured by the Dutch in February that year
Arrival of the English East India companyThe English East lndia Company got its first foothold in the district towards the closing years of the 17th century , when it acquired a site at Thalassery for the erection of a fort and a factory .
The distemgration of the Kolathiri’s dominion started in the latter half of the 17th and the beginnng of the 18th century following dissensions in the royal family by the extensive surrender of territory to consorts of the ruling members.
In spite of the many difflculties it had to face in the initial stages, the trade of the English East India Company prospered during the latter part of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, by their liberal trade policies. Further, unlike the portuguese, they refused to interfere in the religious and caste affairs of the local population.
Pazhassi Revolt While the British were busy with the political settlement of the district, a serious revolt was headed by Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja of the ~ Padinjare Kovilakom of the Kottayam family. The potent cause of the t revolt was the unpopular revenue policy followed by the East India Company in Malabar. He stopped all collections of revenue in Kottayam. The Raja further threatened to cut down all the pepper vines if the Company's officers persisted in revenue collection.
In April 1796, a determined effort was made by the British to capture the Raja in his own palace at Pazhassi. This was in vain.
On December 18, the British Commissioner issued a proclamation forbidding the people to assemble or to assist the Pazhassi Raja and warning them that if they did so, they would be considered as irreconcilable enemies of the Company and that their property would be confiscated.
On December 30, a futile attempt was made to reconcile the differences between the Raja and the Company.
On 8thJanuary 1797, PazhassiRaja'smen launched daring attack on the havildar's guard stationed at Pazhassi and the whole party except one man was killed. In the battles fought on three successive days, -9th, lOth and II th March 1797, the detachment made by the Company forces was overpowered by the swords, spears, bows and arrows of Pazhassi Raja's men. As the situation was full of perils, a reconciliation with the i Pazhassi Raja became a matter of political expediency.
While South Canara and other parts of South India were being Seringapatnam ( 1799), Pazhassi Raja raised the standard of revolt a second time and ; shook for a while the very foundations of British power .
Colonel Stevenson's efforts early in 1801 cut off the pazhassi Raja from his adherents in South Malabar and by May the British troops had made much headway and with every port both above and below the ghats in British hands and the whole country disarmed, the Pazhassi Raja became a wanderer in the jung\esaccnmpanied by his wife and immedia attendants.
On May 24, 1804, Colonel Macleod issued a proclamation waming the people that they would be treated as rebels if they failed to fumish information about rebel movements and if they helped the Pazhassi troops with arms, ammunition or provisions. Finally the pr9clamation ofJune 16 offered rewards for the apprehension of Pazhassi - Raja, tWO Other members of his family and his principal lieutenants and declared their estates and properties confiscated.from that date.
On 1 st November, Baber took direct charge of the operations and on November 30, 1805 he surrounded and shot the Ra.,a dead in an operation on the banks of a nullah. The Raja's body was cremated with "customary honours". With the death of Pazhassi Raja, the resistance movement in north Kerala came to an end.
Freedom Movement
Kannur District has played an emportent rol in all the political movements of recent times. The Indian National Congress, which was founded in 1885, captured the attention of the people of this district from Kannur district has played an important role in all the political movements its very inception. A district committee came into existence in Malabar in 1908. A branch of the All India Home Rule League, founded by Dr.Annie Beasant, functioned in Thalassery during this period and among its active workers was V .K. Krishna Menon.
The decision of the Nag pur Congress to give up constitutional methods of agitation and resort to Non- Violent Non Co-operation as a means of achieving Swaraj, led to widespread boycott of foreign goods, courts of law and educational institutions in Kannur .
Mahatma Ghandhi and Maulana Shaukat Ali toured the district to carry the message of the Non-Co-operation and Khilaphat Movements. The Khilaphat movement coincided with the famous Malabar Rebellion of 1921 which was put down by the British with an iron hand.
Payyannur Conference Kannur district came into the lime light of Kerala politics in May 192~, when the fourth All Kerala Political Conference was held at Payyannur under the auspices of the Kerala Provincial Congress. This conference was presided over by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Payyannur Conference passed a resolution requesting the Indian National Congress to adopt 'Complete Independence' instead of "Swaraj" as its goal at the annual sessio which was scheduled to take place at Calcutta during that year.
Salt Sathyagraha Payyannur was the main venue of the Salt Sathyagraha in Malabar. On April 13, a batch of Congress volunteers }lnder the leadership ofK. Kelappan started on foot from Kozhikkode to the beaches ofPayyannur and broke the salt laws there on Apri121. The Satyagraha camp at Payyannur was raided and the campers were beaten up. There were widespread demonstrations in Kannur, Thalassery and other parts of the along Congress workers broke salt.laws and picketed foreign good dealers and liquor shops.
The period following the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement witnessed the emergence of a radical wing in the Kerala Provincial Congress. Some of the radical elements in the Kerala Provincial Congress organised a Kerala unit of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 and functioned as a seperate group within the Provincial Congress. The leadership of this group was in the hands ofpersons like P. Krishna Pillai, A.K. Gopalan and E.M.S. Namboothiripad. An extremist group of Nationalist Muslims also emerged within the Congress during this period under the leadership of Muhammad Abdur Rahiman. The Congress Socialists and the Nationalist Muslims made common cause against the Ghandhian group known as the Right Wing which was led by such leaders as K.Kelappan, C.K.Govindan Nair and K.A.Damodara Menon.
A notable development in the politics of Malabar during the thirties was the rise of the Muslim League as a district political party. It was the Muslim leaders of Kannur and Thalassery who played the lead role in forming this organisation. -
The leftist elements in the Kerala Provincial Congress were also , active in the t:i>litics ofMalabar in the late thirties. They took active part in organising the workers, peasants, students and teachers of Kannur , district under their banner. In the election held to the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee in January 1939, the Rightists suffered a severe set back. Muhammad Abdur Rahiman was elected as the president of the K.P.C.C. and E.M.S. Namboothiripad as its general secretary. Towards the end of the same year, a branch of the Indian Communist Party was formally founded in Mal.abar. The Congress Socialist Party workers joined the Communist Party block.
