cannanore before the arrival of the portuguese - Shodhganga

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Cannanore before the Arrival of the Portuguese
Chapter-2

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CANNANORE BEFORE THE
ARRIVAL OF THE PORTUGUESE

2.1 Introduction
At the arrival of the Portuguese Malabar was a miniature
world of the south-western coast of India which stretched about four
hundred miles from Ezhimala in the north to Cape Comorin in the
south-western extremity of India.1 The coast runs diagonally in a
south easterly direction, and forms a few head-lands and small bays.
It is bounded on the north by the province of Canara, on the east by
Coorg and Mysore, to the south-east by Coimbatore and to the south by
the small province of Cochin.2 The mountainous Western Ghats isolated
the region from the interior. It had many principalities and four major
kingdoms like Kolathiri in Cannanore, Calicut kingdom of Zamorin, the
kingdom of Cochin and the kingdom of Venad in Travancore.3 They had
the power to wear crown, to coin money and to hold ceremonial
umbrellas over the heads.4 There were petty kingdoms of the minor
Rajas like Quilon, Kayamkulam, Vadakkumkur, Idappalli, Cranganore,

1 According to Duarte Barbosa, the southernmost point of Malabar was Cape
Comorin stretching 363 kilometres northwards to Chandragiri river, the frontier
where the kingdom of Vijayanagara ended. The Book of Duarte Barbosa, vol.
II, p.21.
2 Ward and Conner, A Descriptive Memoir of Malabar, edited by S.Raimon,
Government of Kerala, 1995, p.1.
3 Ashin Das Gupta, Malabar in Asian Trade 1740-1800, Cambridge University
Press,1967, pp.2-3.
4 According to Duarte Barbosa only the Zamorin had the right to mint the coins.
But in course of time the kings of Cochin and Cranganore struck money by
force. The Book of Duarte Barbosa, Vol.II, p.6.
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Tanur, Porakkad, Mangattu etc.5 They had the rights of private wars
levying customs and taxes and entering into treaties and alliances with
others.
There are many explanations regarding the origin of the term
Malabar.6 According to William Logan, the word Malabar is in part at
least of foreign origin. He explains that the first two syllables are
almost certainly the Dravidian word mala which means hill or
mountain and bar is probably the Persian word bar which means
country or an Arabic word barr which signifies continent.7 Malabar in
the Portuguese period was a common term used for the region from the
border of Vijayanagara kingdom up to Cape Comorin.8 According to
the description given by Tomé Pires, the Malabar province begins at
Manjeswaram near present Mangalore and ends at Cape Comorin
(Kanyakumari). He also asserts that the northern part borders to the
kingdom belonging to the Narasinga, King of Vijayanagara empire.9
The present Malabar does not cover all these regions. Malabar of the
British period is restricted to regions between Mangalore and Calicut.
William Logan has given geographical structure of Malabar of his

5 K.M. Panikkar, Malabar and the Portuguese, Bombay, Kitab Mahal, 1929, p.8.
6 The regional history of Malabar has a great vacuum of information and it is
very difficult for the Malabar historians to coin the historical development of
the Pre-Portuguese Malabar due to unavailability of the original trustworthy
documents and lesser accessibility to source materials. The petty kingdoms of
Malabar did not bother about their cultural and political history. The only
available sources were mainly indebted to the foreign travelogues.
7 William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.I,p.1
8 The Book of Duarte Barbosa, Vol.II, pp.20-21.
9 Tomé Pires, The Suma Oriental, Vol.I, pp.65-66. Tomé Pires and the
Portuguese mentioned the Vijayanagara empire as the kingdom of Narasimha
because it was ruled by the king Narasimha from 1487 to 1508. The Portuguese
started a smooth trade relationship with the king.
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period. He records the boundaries of Malabar in the north South Canara
district, in the east Coorg, Mysore, Nilgiris and Coimbatore, in the
south, the native state of Cochin and in the west, Arabian sea.10 Logan
has given also the distance of the area. Malabar extends from north to
the south along the coast. It has a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles and lying between north latitude 10 degree 15’ and 12degree 18’
and E.Long.75 degree 14’ and 75 degree 56’.11 The slopes in many
places are formed into terraces for cultivation. A large portion of
Malabar being mountains and hills overran with forests, the population
is most dense along the coast and for some distance into the interior.12
The land was well protected from the north east and east winds by the
mountains of Malabar that divides the land from the kingdom of
Narasimha.13
Malabar was very rich in spices, and agriculture was the main
source of the income of the native people. Flora and fauna of Malabar
was very famous for the foreigners. They were attracted by the variety of
fruits and trees. Coconut tree got a special attraction from the
Portuguese.14 They consider it a tree for daily needs. It is explained in

10 William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol. I, p.1.
11 William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.I, p.1.
12 Ward and Conner, A Descriptive Memoir of Malabar, edited by S. Raimon,
Government of Kerala, 1995, p.1. According to a census taken in 1827, the
whole of population amounted to 10, 22,215 which gives 160 individuals to the
square mile.
13 Tomé Pires, The Suma Oriental, Vol. I, p.66.
14 Coconut is so important in Malabar. People cultivated it in a large amount. It is
mentioned in the later gazetteers: “The soil in all these vallies is extremely
fertile, but along the coast is sandy which in many parts extends about three
miles inland, but is admirably adapted for the coconut, which valuable tree
thrives also in the borders of the cultivated vallies a considerable distance into
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the letter written by King Dom Manuel to King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella on 29th July 1501: “…other letters written on leaves of trees
which resemble palms, on which they ordinarily write. And from these
trees and their fruits are made the following things: sugar, honey, oil,
wine, water, vinegar, charcoal, and cordage for ships, and it serves them
for everything which they need. And the aforesaid fruit, in addition to
what is thus made of it, is their chief food, particularly at sea.”15 King
Manuel when he constructed the Jeronimos Monastery in Belem tried to
depict the models of coconut trees and palms in its pillars and roofs16.
2.2 Trade in Malabar
Malabar has a long history of international trade relations with
western as well eastern countries. From the time of the Emperor
Augustus to the arrival of the Portuguese emissaries trade in Malabar
was unaltered: pearls, pepper, ginger etc. During the period of Emperor
Augustus after the annexation of Egypt to Rome and especially after
learning the discovery of Hippalos of the seasonal character of
monsoon, trade with Rome developed in an extensive scale.17 The
discovery of Hippalos helped the sailors to take advantage of the winds
for the navigation in the Arabian Sea. The recent excavations and
discoveries of great hoards of Roman coins from the Malabar coasts
like Musiris are clear evidence of the early Roman trade with

the interior.” Ward and Conner, A Descriptive Memoir of Malabar, edited by
S. Raimon, Government of Kerala, 1995, p.1
15 William Brooks Greenlee, The Voyage of Pedro Alvares Cabral to Brazil and
India, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1995,p.44.
16 King Manuel was famous for his special art. The pictures of palm trees and
leaves were very common during his time and his style of art architecture is
known as Manuelian architecture.
17 K.M.Panikkar, History of Kerala 1498-1801, Annamalai University, 1960, p.3.
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Malabar.18 The Romans exported mainly the pearls and pepper and
imported coral, led, tin etc.19 It shows that the commodities of Roman
trade were the same as the commodities of Portuguese trade with
Malabar.
The most important group of traders during this period were the
Jews, Chettis and Christians. The Jews were a merchant community by
nature and they settled in Muziris till the arrival of the Portuguese.20
Since the Portuguese were very anyagonistic to the Jews they lost their
higher influence in trade after the arrival of the Portuguese. The Chettis
constituted a powerful trade guild who carried on commerce with
Arabia and Egypt. The local people who received faith in Christ by the
influence and teachings of St.Thomas the Apostle, too engaged in
trade.21 After the Romans, the next important traders were the Chinese.
Till 15th century China had good trade relation with Malabar especially
in the port of Quilon.

18 According to Pliny, the main port for trade in Malabar during the early period was
Miziris, the present Cranganore or Kodungallur. In Periplus of the Erithreyan Sea,
the anonymous author mentions that ‘Muziris is a city at the height of prosperity
frequented as it is by ships from Ariake and by Greek ships from Egypt.’
19 K.M.Panikkar, History of Kerala 1498-1801, Annamalai University, 1960, p.4.
20 The Jews reached Malabar at the beginning of Christian era and settled here
for trade. Portuguese encountered a very ancient merchant population of the
Jews. The exodus of the Jews to India and in particular to Malabar was
traditionally attributed to the persecutions of Titus and Vespasian and it was
followed by the influx of those who came there to seek their future in the
medieval period.
21 It is believed that St.Thomas the Apostle of Christ came to India and landed in
Muziris in A.D. 49. Pantaenus, the head of the Alexandrian school, who visited
India in the second century, recorded in his statements that he found a
flourishing community here. A Syrian merchant, Thomas of Kana, visited
Malabar in the fifth century and he settled his emigrants here together with the
Christian community.
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The heavy flood in Periyar in 1341, made a drastic change in the
trade history of Malabar. The pressure of flood damaged the mouth of
the port in Muziris and later it lost its significance in the commercial
history of Malabar. Later Cochin and Calicut became the major ports in
Malabar as well as Quilon and Cannanore.22
In Malabar it was the Muslim merchants from Aden and Ormuz
and the port of the East African coast like Mogadishu, Zanzibar, Kilwa,
Sofla and Malindi, dominated the trade when the Portuguese arrived
there. The Muslim Arab Merchants engaged in flourishing trade with the
kings of Malabar especially Calicut, Cochin and Cannanore. They
purchased the goods like Indian cotton textiles, rice, iron, sugar and spices
like pepper, ginger and cinnamon in exchange of goods which they
carried from their land or other trade centres such as gold, silver, copper,
rosewater, velvet, saffron, vermilion, mercury, horses etc. It was mainly a
kind of barter system of trade. So when the Portuguese came to the land
of Malabar they had difficulty to find and provide the goods which were
in needed by the people of Malabar. That is the reason for issuing new
coinage by the Portuguese; for example Afonso de Albuquerque issued a
new coin in 1515 immediately after his conquest of Malacca.23
Arab merchants arranged the timings of their voyages
determined by the alternation of the southwest and northeast monsoons.
Sometimes they had to wait for a long time even up to five months in
the ports to get the proper monsoon for their voyage back.

22 K.M. Panikkar, History of Kerala 1498-1801, Annamalai University, 1960, pp.4-6
23 John Villiers, “The Portuguese and the Fading World of Asia”, in Portuguese
Voyages to Asia and Japan in the Renaissance Period, published by the
Portuguese Embassy in Japan, 1993, p.9.
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2.3 Malabar in the Fifteenth Century
Till the fifteenth century, the trade of spices, drugs and other
luxurious goods from Malabar and the orient were conducted in Europe
mainly centred on Venice. They collected the cargo from Egypt and
Levant and distributed them in different parts of Europe. But the
commercial phase was changed drastically due to the fall of
Constantinople Empire and thus the closing of Persian Gulf routes by
the Turks. The restriction of the spice trade to the routes of the Red Sea
by the Turks led to the monopoly of spice trade into the hands of the
Arabs and Egyptians.24 Hence the control of trade in the second half of
the fifteenth century was in the ports of Egypt and Syria and they
extracted large revenue due to the collection of customs and taxes.
The growth of Venice as a centre of European trade inspired the
Portuguese to engage in the field of Oriental trade. They were
conscious of the fabolous profit which the Venetians acquired through
trade. The king and the people were ready to make any sacrifice to
jump into the field of trade and the poverty of Portugal compelled them
to secure wealth through trade. Hence the Lusitanians were trying to
find out and settle down in the eastern trade pockets.
2.4 The Kingdom of Cannanore before the Arrival of the
Portuguese
Cannanore was a peaceful region of Malabar thirsting for the
development of the society and region. The commercial developments
of Calicut kindled a desire in the people of Kolathunad to attain
economical development by making contacts with international traders.

24 William Brooks Greenlee, The Voyage of Pedro Alvares Cabral to Brazil and
India, Asian educational Services, NewDelhi,1995,p.xi.
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It was an apt time for the Portuguese also because they were treated
negatively at the court of Zamorin from whom they expected to make a
better trade contract by avoiding the trade supremacy of the Persian
merchants. The king whole heartedly welcomed the Portuguese traders
into his kingdom expecting a powerful support both economically and
militarily on the part of the Portuguese.
The term Cannanore has different meaning. According to
Hobson Jobson it means the ‘town of Lord Krishna’.25 Varthemma who
visited Cannanore wrote that “Canonor is a fine and large city in which
the king of Portugal has a very strong castle... This Canonor is a port at
which horses which come from Persia disembark...”26 Even before the
arrival of the Portuguese the name Cannanore was familiar to the
travellers and they pronounced it with familiarity. The term Cannanore
in its modern sense appeared first in the original Mandados dated
February 1503. Barbosa wrote that many Moors and Heathen were
living in Cannanore during his time.27 Cannanore got its historical
importance only with the advent of the Portuguese. Primarily it was a
centre for pirates who attacked and robbed the vessels passed through
their port.28

25 William Crooke (ed.), Hobson-Jobson, A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian
Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical
Geographical and Discursive, Oriental Publishers, Delhi,1902, p.157.
Cannanore in Malayalam is Kannannur or Kannur. The term Kannu signifies
eye and Ur signifies town or village. So it is considered as the town of Lord
Krishna.
26 Ludovico da Varthema, The Itinerary of Ludovico da Varthema de Bologna,
New Delhi, 1997, p.123.
27 The book of Duarte Barbosa, Vol.II, p.81.
28 Geneviéve Bouchon, Regent of the Sea: Cannanore’s Response to Portuguese
Expansion, 1507-1528, OUP, Delhi, 1988, p.1.
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2.5 The Kingdom of Kolathunadu
The kingdom of Kolathunadu existed in between the territories
of Calicut and the Vijayanagara empire. In the north it extended up to
Kumbala citadel and in the south Korapuzha river separated it from the
kingdom of Calicut. William Logan explains the extent of the Kolathiri
kingdom: the kingdom of the Kolathiri Raja extended from Kasargod
in the north, to Korappuzha in the south.29 According to Keralolpathi,
the Musika kingdom comprised of the territories between Perupula
(Chandragiri river) and Korappula (Korappuzha).30 The historical and
geographical information available from the contemporary source
Musikavamsa kavya of Atula also confirms this view.31 The eastern
boundary was Kudakumala or the western ghats and in the west the
Arabian sea serves as a more open natural boundary. Within the
territory included the jagirs of Kottayam and in the north Neeliswaram
and Kadathanadu. The first was given to the Kottayam raja while the
other two were given to the children of Kolathiri Raja. Kottayam was a
rich forest land which produced considerable quantity of pepper for
trade. It is traversed by many rivers and streams. The kingdom of
Kolathunadu32 extended to the south by the island of Darmadam. The
kingdom at its zenith of power extended from Nethravathi river in the
north to Korappuzha in the south, with Kutakumala in the east and

29 William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol. I, pp221-240.
30 A.P. Ibrahimkunju, Medieval Kerala, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, 2007, p.24.
31 Atula, the author of Musikavamsa kavya, is a contemporary of Vallabha II and
his successor Srikantha of the eleventh century.
32 Alfred Martineau, The Origins of Mahe of Malabar, translated by Tayil
Sadhanandan, Mahe, 2004, p.12.
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