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Kerala (IPA: ['keːɹeˌɭ�]; Malayalam: കേരളം � Kēraḷaṁ) is a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India. To its east and northeast, Kerala borders Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; to its west and south lie the Indian Ocean islands of Lakshadweep and the Maldives, respectively. Kerala envelops Mah�, a coastal exclave of Pondicherry. Kerala is one of four states that comprise the linguistic-cultural region known as South India.
First settled in the 10th century BCE by speakers of proto-Tamil, Kerala was influenced by the Mauryan Empire. Later, the Cheran kingdom and feudal Namboothiri Brahminical city-states became major powers in the region. Early contact with overseas lands culminated in struggles between colonial and native powers. Finally, the States Reorganisation Act of November 1, 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood. Social reforms enacted in the late 19th century by Cochin and Travancore were expanded upon by post-Independence governments, making Kerala among the Third World's longest-lived, healthiest, most gender-equitable, and most literate regions. However, Kerala's rates of suicide, unemployment, and violent crime rank among India's highest.
The etymology of the name "Kerala" is disputed. The prevailing theory states that it is an imperfect portmanteau that fuses kera ("coconut palm tree") and alam ("land" or "location"). Natives of Kerala � "Keralites" � thus refer to their land as Keralam. Another theory has the name originating from the phrase Chera alam ("Land of the Chera").
History
According to legend, Kerala was created by an act of Parasurama, an avatar of Mahavishnu.[2][3] In prehistory, Kerala's rainforests and wetlands � then thick with malaria-bearing mosquitoes and man-eating tigers � were largely avoided by Neolithic humans. The first evidence of habitation dates to the 10th century BCE, when pottery and granite burial monuments (resembling those of Western Europe and the rest of Asia) were left behind.[2] These were produced by speakers of a proto-Tamil language from northwestern India, suggesting that Kerala and Tamil Nadu once shared a common language, ethnicity and culture; this common area is known as Tamilakam. Kerala then became a linguistically separate region by the early 14th century. The ancient Chera empire, whose court language was Tamil, ruled Kerala from their capital at Vanchi and was the first major recorded kingdom. Allied with the Pallavas, they continually warred against the neighbouring Chola and Pandya kingdoms. A Keralite identity � distinct from the Tamils and associated with the second Chera empire and the development of Malayalam � evolved during the 8th�14th centuries. In written records, Kerala was first mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Aitareya Aranyaka. Later, figures such as Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder, and the unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea all displayed familiarity with Kerala.
In subsequent centuries, settlers from abroad established Kerala's Jewish community. Later arrivals included Arab merchants � instrumental in spreading Islam among Keralites � in the 8th century, while a disputed theory has Christianity arriving with Saint Thomas the Apostle in 52 CE. In 345 CE, Kerala�s Syrian Malabar Nasrani community was founded by Knanaya (Jewish Christian) settlers under merchant Knai Thomman. More than 1,100 years later, Vasco da Gama�s May 20, 1498 arrival inaugurated a period of partial Portuguese control over Kerala's lucrative spice trade. While seeking conversion of Nasranis to Roman Catholicism, they established fortresses and settlements, ending the Arab monopoly of trade. However, later conflicts between the cities of Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi (Cochin) provided an opportunity for the Dutch to oust the Portuguese.
In turn, the Dutch were ousted at the 1741 Battle of Colachel by Marthanda Varma of Travancore (Thiruvithaamkoor), who received aid from the British. Meanwhile, Mysore�s Hyder Ali conquered northern Kerala, capturing Kozhikode in 1766. In the late 18th century, Tipu Sultan � Ali�s successor � launched campaigns against the growing British Raj; these resulted in two of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. However, Tipu Sultan was ultimately forced to cede Malabar District and South Kanara, (including today�s Kasargod district) to the Raj in 1792 and 1799, respectively. The Raj then forged tributary alliances with Kochi (1791) and Travancore (1795). Meanwhile, Malabar and South Kanara became part of the Madras Presidency. Kerala saw little mass defiance against the Raj � nevertheless, several rebellions occurred, including the October 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar revolt.[4] Many mass actions � spurred by such leaders as Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swamikal � instead protested such social mores as untouchability; these included the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraham. Because of this pressure, Dalits were allowed admittance to temples across Kerala.
After India's independence in 1947, the princely states of Travancore and Cochin were merged to form the province of Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949; on 1950-01-26 (the date India became a republic), Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state. In the same time, the Madras Presidency became Madras State in 1947. Finally, the Government of India's November 1, 1956 States Reorganisation Act inaugurated a new state � Kerala � incorporating Malabar District, Travancore-Cochin, and the taluk of Kasargod, South Kanara.[5] A new Legislative Assembly was also created, for which elections were held in 1957. These resulted in a communist-led government[5] � one of the world's first[6] � headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Subsequent social reforms introduced by Namboodiripad's administration � and continued by subsequent governments � favoured tenants and labourers.[7][8] This facilitated, among other things, improvements in living standards, education, and life expectancies.
Kerala�s 38,863 km� landmass (1.18% of India) is wedged between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Western Ghats � identified as one of the world's twenty-five biodiversity hotspots[9] � to the east. Lying between north latitudes 8�18' and 12�48' and east longitudes 74�52' and 72�22',[10] Kerala is well within the humid equatorial tropics. Kerala�s coast runs for some 580 km, while the state itself varies between 35�120 km in width. Geographically, Kerala can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands (rugged and cool mountainous terrain), the central midlands (rolling hills), and the western lowlands (coastal plains). Located at the extreme southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, Kerala lies near the centre of the Indian tectonic plate; as such, most of the state (notwithstanding isolated regions) is subject to comparatively little seismic and volcanic activity.[11] Geologically, pre-Cambrian and Pleistocene formations comprise the bulk of Kerala�s terrain.
Eastern Kerala lies immediately west of the Western Ghats's rain shadow; it consists of high mountains, gorges and deep-cut valleys. Forty-one of Kerala�s west-flowing rivers � and three of its east-flowing ones � originate in this region. Here, the Western Ghats form a wall of mountains interrupted only near Palakkad, where a pass known as the Palakkad Gap breaks through to provide access to the rest of India. The Western Ghats rises on average to 1,500 m above sea level, while the highest peaks may reach to 2,500 m. Just west of the mountains lie the midland plains, comprising a swathe of land running along central Kerala. Here, rolling hills and valleys dominate.[10] Generally ranging between elevations of 250�1,000 m, the eastern portions of the Nilgiri and Palni Hills include such formations as Agastyamalai and Anamalai.
Kerala�s western coastal belt is relatively flat, and is crisscrossed by a network of interconnected brackish canals, lakes, estuaries, and rivers known as the Kerala Backwaters. Lake Vembanad � Kerala�s largest body of water � dominates the Backwaters; it lies between Alappuzha and Kochi and is more than 200 km� in area. Around 8% of India's waterways (measured by length) are found in Kerala.[12] The most important of Kerala�s forty-four rivers include the Periyar (244 km), the Bharathapuzha (209 km), the Pamba (176 km), the Chaliyar (169 km), the Kadalundipuzha (130 km) and the Achankovil (128 km). Most of the remainder are small and entirely fed by monsoon rains.[10] These conditions result in the nearly year-round waterlogging of such western regions as Kuttanad, 500 km� of which lies below sea level.
Kerala's climate is mainly wet and maritime tropical,[13] heavily influenced by the seasonal heavy rains brought by the Southwest Summer Monsoon. In eastern Kerala, a drier tropical wet and dry climate prevails. Kerala receives an average annual rainfall of 3,107 mm � some 70.3 km3 of water. This compares with the all-India average of 1,197 mm. Parts of Kerala's lowlands may average only 1,250 mm annually, while the cool mountainous eastern highlands of Idukki district � comprising Kerala's wettest region � receive more than 5,000 mm of orographic precipitation (4,200 mm of which are available for human use) annually. Kerala's rains are mostly the result of seasonal monsoons; meanwhile, more anomalous factors resulted in the 2001 red rains. As a result, Kerala averages some 120�140 rainy days a year. In summers, most of Kerala is prone to gale-force winds, storm surges, and torrential downpours accompanying dangerous cyclones coming in off the Indian Ocean. It is also vulnerable to occasional droughts[14] and rises in sea level and cyclonic activity resulting from global warming.[15][16] Kerala�s average maximum daily temperature is around 36.7 �C; the minimum is 19.8 �C.[10] Mean annual temperatures range from between 25.0�27.5 �C in the coastal lowlands