History

                                    Keralam (Kerala) an integral part of Indian union with an independent culture and tradition as well as a language of itself (Malayalam). The word "Keralam" was a combination of two words Keram means the coconut tree and Alam means the land. So Keralam / Kerala ,the word means " the Land of Coconut tree". Because of the Geography of the land , with Western Ghat in East and Arabian Sea on the West , it received the peculiar identity. Because of this ghat and strong root of Dravidian belief, it took considerable time for the Ariannisation of Kerala. After the Aryanisation also it kept constant relationship  with the neighbouring Dravidian States like Tamilnadu and Karnataka which gave considerable influence by the these people over the inhabitants of Kerala.

Aborigines of Kerala:

                                    Archaeologists believe that the first citizens of Kerala were the hunter-gatherers, the ting Negrito people. These people still inhabit the mountains of Kerala today, with their identity features like " curled hair, dark colour,round head, wide nose etc. " . Kadar , Kanikar, Malampandarangal are all of this tribe and they had a good knowledge of herbal medicine. The next race of people in Kerala were believed to be the Proto-Australoid tribe. Erular, Kurichiyar, Karimpalar, Mala Arayan, etc were of this tribe. Proto-Australoid features can still be seen fairly and clearly among these peoples of Kerala today. They were the people who laid the foundation of Indian civilizations and introduced the cultivation of rice and vegetables, which are still part of Kerala culture. They also introduced snake-worship in Kerala. Traces of such worship and ancient rites have been found among the Aboriginal tribes of Australia. The Mediterranean people (Dravidians) then came and inhabited this virgin land. Dravidian absorbed many of the beliefs of the Negrito and Proto-Australoid  people, but they were strongly inclined to the worship of the Mother Goddess in all her myriad forms: Protector, Avenger, Bestower of wealth, wisdom and arts. Now majority of the population of Kerala belongs to the Dravidian origin ( Ezhavar,Nair,Vellaler etc.). The Aryans (Indo - Iranians) believed to arrived in Kerala on the later part of history ( 321-297 BC. ) and they absorbed considerable cultural inputs from the Dravidians. Kerala is still strongly influenced by the Dravidian culture. The Aryans have made a deep impression on Kerala in late proto-historic times.
                                Jews, Arabs, Azeerians, Greeks,  Chinese had trade relationship with Kerala from ancient times. They came to Kerala by sea and land routes to set up trading stations, this also influenced the people of Kerala considerably. So slowly Judaism, Christianity and Islam spread  their wings in Kerala. The Apostle of Christ, St. Thomas is believed to have come to "Muziris"  in AD 52 and established the first church in Kerala. Kerala was famous for their spices ( Pepper, Cardamom, Ginger, Cinnamon etc) as well as for Ivory and Sandal Wood. Greek historians named "Muziris" near Cochin, one of the largest ports of ancient India, now it is named as Kodungallore.

Sangam (Academy) Period  [ The first Five Centuries ]  

  This was the formation period of Keralam , and were an integral part of Tamizhagam (Greater Tamilnadu). "Venadu" , "Kuttanadu", "Kudanalu", "Poozhynadu",and "Karkanadu" were the five regions of Kerala during that period which ruled by regional independent Princes under the jurisdiction of Tamizhagam. There was an Academy (Sangam) at Madurai , which was the cultural capitol of Tamizhagam, litterateur flourished under this Academy, so this era in Kerala History got the name Sangam period. " Chilappathy karakam"  by Elango Adikal and "Thirukural" by Thiruvalloor were the main books of Sangam era.

            Social justice was ensured by a committee called " Manrom  " of the elders of that village. They settled the disputes as well as conduct festivals. Each village had its own "Manrom`s". There was no caste system during the Sangam period , all are considered equal under law , which eroded the very value of society in latter period of history. "Owayar" (AD 500) was one of the famous poetess of Sangam era. There  is no evidence of any type of practicing religion during Sangam period,some sort of Dravidian customs were prevalent in the society. People does not adhere to any specific religion and worshiped trees, snakes, etc. Even though coins ( " dinaram" , " kaanam" ) were used for transactions ,  barter system was the main mode of business during Sangam period. People were engaged in farming of paddy, cotton as well as spice crops and rice was the main course of diet here.

AD- 800 to AD-1100 ( Perumall Era )

        Historical evidence are not available for 5-th,6-th and 7-th centuries of Kerala. Around AD-800 one Kulasekara Varma united the feudal land lords of Kerala under his arm and ruled Keralam from Mahodayapuram near Kodungallore. Rulers of this dynasty are called "Perumals". 13 different Perumals of this dynasty continued its rule till 1102 AD. Arab traveler Sulaiman , who visited Kerala in AD 851, described in detail about the rule of Perumals in his travelogue as well as the depict the trade relationship of Kerala of that period. "Perumal Thirumozhi  " in Tamil and " Mundamala " in Sanskrit are two great books of that time.In AD 1000 Jewish leader Joseph Raban signed special trade agreement with the Baskara Ravivarma Perumal of this Monarch. The last ruler of this Monarch shifted his capitol from Mahodayapuram to Quilon due to the consistent invasion of Pandya and Chola rulers. This leads to the rise of Venad to the prominent stage. Kodungallore , Vizhinjam , Quilon and Kanthalore were the main port of that time. Jews , Arabs and Chinese  were the main spice traders of that time.

        This was the formative years of Malayalam language and literature .In the beginning of 9-th century Malayalam emerged as the independent and major language of this region. Earlier Tamil and Sanskrit were the main language of Kerala. Malayalam is genetically most related to Tamil. Proto - Tamil - Malayalam, the common stock of Tamil and Malayalam, apparently disintegrated over a period of four or five centuries from the ninth century on, resulting in the emergence of Malayalam as a language distinct from Tamil. Tamil had acquired the status of the language of scholarship and Malayalam was the language of the masses.

    Due to the  influence of Sri Sankara of Kalady, the Hindu sage of Kerala , and the patronage of the rulers the Indo-Aryan religion Hinduism got foothold in Kerala. Dravidian culture , Budhism and Jainism slowly phased out of Kerala society. This was the major social change of "Perumal " era.  During the Aryan`s' cultural conquest of South India in general and of Kerala in particular, the influence of Sanskrit and Prakrit on the regional language became irresistible. The influence of the Aryans and their language on the life and language of the people inhabiting Kerala has had long standing effects.

AD 1100 to AD 1947

        In 1102 AD Kulasekara Ramavarma shifted the capitol of Keralam from Mahodayapuram, in central Kerala  to Quilon in the south because of the consistent invasion of Pandya`s and Chola rulers of Tamilnadu. Due to those historical reasons leads to the disintegration of Kerala, and which leads to the rise of smaller power centers in once prosperous Kerala. Thus emerged Venad in South under Perumals, Perumpadappu in central Kerala, Koluthu nadu in North and Nediyiruppu (zamorins) in North central Kerala. The rulers of Venadu had given considerable importance for the  external trade relationship with Jews , Arabs, Chinese etc. As its predecessors  these rulers are also given considerable importance to the spreading of Hinduism in Venadu . Even though  Hinduism flourished in Venadu under royal patronage , the religious tolerance of the society as well as the ruler gave way to the spread of Christianity , Judaism and Islam in Venadu. Venadu rulers did gave generous donations to all religious communities ,even it extended to Jains also ( Nagarcoil Jain Temple).

    In 1644 AD English East India Company opened up a warehouse at Vizhinjam near Quilon for enhancement of bilateral trade. The legendary ruler of Venadu Marthandavarma defeated the Dutch in 1741 Kulachil war which leads to the fall of Dutch influence in Kerala. He conqured the small princely state in southern Kerala and rechristened Venadu as Travancore ( Thiruvathamcoore) . He is Known in history as the " Creator of Modern Travancore ( Thiruvithamcoore) " .

To be concluded..............