Kingdom of Cochin
The Kingdom of Cochin or the Cochin State, named after its capital in the city of Kochi, was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It originated in the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until its accession to the Dominion of India in 1949.
The kingdom of Cochin, originally known as Perumpadappu Swaroopam, 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 Swaroopam became a free political entity. However, it was only after the arrival of Portuguese on the Malabar Coast that the Perumpadappu Swaroopam 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.
Historically, the capital of Cochin was in Kodungallur, but in 1341, the capital was moved to Cochin to remedy a disastrous flood. By the early 15th century, Cochin lost its ability to fully defend itself. By the late 15th century, the kingdom had shrunk 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 Cranganore, the later of which had even been at the centre 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 providing assistance against native and foreign powers in India. After the Luso-Dutch War, the Dutch East India Company was an ally of Cochin. That was followed by the British East India Company after the Anglo-Dutch War, with British paramountcy 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 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.
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, most of Kanayannur taluk, parts of Aluva taluk, parts of Kunnathunad taluk and parts of Paravur Taluk 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 Nileshwaram and 17 amsa south, totaling 34 amsa, and gave his powers to his nephews and sons. Thirty-four kingdoms between Kanyakumari and Gokarna 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 fled to Kodungallur in the early medieval period, when the Zamorin of Calicut annexed Ponnani region, after Tirunavaya war.Calicut was conquered by Zamorin of Eranad, who then conquered parts of Perumpadappu kingdom, and tried to assert his suzerainty over it.
Although losing their northern homeland and original capital, the Perumpadappu dynasty maintained a kingdom over a vast area in central Kerala. Their state stretched from Pukkaitha in the north, Aanamala in the east, to Purakkad in the south.
Royal dynasty and succession
The Perumpadappu dynasty eventually produced five branches, each with its own family seat, retainers and military of Nairs. But the five branches came together under a common ruling king, which was the oldest male member of all five branches together.The Perumpadappu royal dynasty followed matriarchal rules of succession common in Kerala. Succession went via the female line – that is, not to the king's sons, but to his uterine brothers and then to his sisters' sons. In theory, the successor should be the next oldest in age among potential candidates. This was later relaxed, and in practice kingship became elective, to ensure the successor was not too old or incompetent. The overlooked true elder was compensated with symbolic or ceremonial dignities.
Retirement was also forced – it was customary and expected for a king to retire upon reaching a certain old age or military inability, withdrawing to take up a religious life. Power was passed over to his successor, or to a regent until the successor came of age.
Succession often led to quarrels among the five branches. The Zamorin of Calicut exploited these family quarrels, sometimes in the role of arbitrator, allowing him to increase his influence in the southern kingdom.
Transition to Cochin
The future city of Cochin was originally just a small village along a long embankment. Violent floods and overflows of the Periyar River in 1341 forced the opening of the outlet between the Vembanad lagoon and the Arabian Sea at the juncture where Cochin now sits, separating the long Cochinese peninsula from what is now Vypin island.As the waterways connecting Cranganore to the sea were silting up, commercial traffic began re-directing away from Cranganore to the new break at Cochin, and merchant families began to relocate and set up warehouses and eventually homes there. The once-great old port city of Kodungallur declined as the new port-city of Kochi rose in wealth and importance. The urban center of the early city developed on relatively high ground in the village of Mattancherry.
The original owners of the territory of what later became Cochin city was the Ellangallur royal family of the Rajas of Edapalli . Drawn from the Brahmin class, the Edapalli royal family followed different rules of succession. In the early 1400s, the king of Edapalli had married a sister of the Elaya branch of Perumpadappu, and so their son was doubly royal heir to two houses – via father to Edapalli, via mother to Perumpadappu. But he was apparently not first in the line of succession to Perumpadappu.
In the early 1400s, the King of Edapalli granted part of his lands, specifically southern Vypin island and northern part of Karapuram peninsula around the new break, as an appanage fief for his prince son. It was originally not supposed to be a permanent cession, but rather to serve as a training ground, to allow the heir to cultivate his governing skills. Upon succession to his father, he was expected to move across the lagoon to Edapalli, and cede Cochin as a seat to the next heir. As the ruler was always a prince in training, he was addressed as "Kocchu Thampuran", thus the fief became known as "Kochi/Cochin" after him. So the original "kingdom of Cochin" started off as a small Edapalli offshoot, distinct and separate from the much larger Perumpadappu state.
The growing wealth of Cochin gave the junior prince in Cochin power and ascendancy, eventually enabling him to assert himself as king over senior relatives from other branches of the Perumpadappu dynasty, as well as allowing him to detach Cochin from Edapalli, and chart his own separate course.
As a result of this transition, the large "kingdom of Perumpadappu" came to be referred to as the "kingdom of Cochin", and the capital of the kingdom shifted from Kodungallur to Vypin in present-day Kochi. During the new kingdom, rules were changed to confine succession within the Elaya branch of Cochin, rather across all branches of Perumpadappu.