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The Princely State of Cochin

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Origin and Existence Over the Years The dynasty of Cochin originated from the Perumpadappu Swaroopam which came into existence in 1102 AD after the splitting of the Kulasekhara empire, tracing its origin from the Chera dynasty also referred as the Keralaputras. Cochin was first mentioned in the travel account written by the Chinese Traveler Ma Huan in 1399 AD. There are less written records on Cochin till the arrival of the Portuguese in 15th century. References on Cochin was also found in ancient Tamil works, memoirs of foreign travelers, inscriptions and copper plate grants which are still preserved and serve as valuable sources that provide glimpses into the past of Cochin. However, these records are not sufficient enough to gain a clear idea of the political and social evolution of the region. Earlier, the Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram or Makotai in the present day Kodungallur was established in the 9th century, and Kulasekhara which was a later Chera dynasty continued the Chera r...
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Colonialism and Trade in Cochin

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Starting from the time of arrival of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 at Kappad, the port city of Kochi in the princely state of Cochin became one of the most important trade centers in the world. It was the land of spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and clove especially Black Gold which gained prominence due to its high demand in Europe, Africa and all over the world. All these spices were exported from Kochi in huge ships for the purpose of trade. Subsequently trade became the primary activity in Kochi along with agriculture through which the spices and other exporting goods were produced. Vasco da Gama was a trading visionary for the Portuguese, but for other states he was a brutal savage who took efforts to ruin the Arabian and Chinese trade relations with Kochi that was already existing by the time he had reached; to establish a Portuguese trade hegemony in Kochi. A golden crown with 69 emeralds and other precious stones such as ruby and diamonds embedded around was gi...
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The Wadiyars of Mysore

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The princely state of Mysore was ruled by the Wadiyars of the Yadava dynasty whose origin is traced back to Dwaraka in Gujarat. The term Wadiyar is derived from Odeyer that means master or lord in Kannada. The Wadiyar dynasty was founded by Yaduraya Wodeyar in 1399. He was not a native of Mysore as he was the prince of Dwaraka. The oral traditions state that the journey of Yaduraya from his kingdom in Dwarka to Mysore was inspired by a divine thought which he saw in his dream, there are also claims that it was due to hallucination. The Early History of the Wadiyars are recorded in literary works such as the Mysuru Nagarada and Purvottara. Before the Wadiyars the region of Mysore and Karnataka was ruled by other dynasties of South India: the Pallavas(AD 200-430), the Gangas of Talakad(AD 350-1050), the Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra(AD 1022-1342) and the Vijayanagara emperors. In the later phase Karnataka was also ruled by the Bahmani Sultanate and Sultanat-e-Khudabad Mysore the kingdom of...
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The Shivaji Era

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The Marathas gained dominance and established an independent Maratha kingdom under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj(1630-1680) in the 17th century and the potential of the Maratha Empire can be expressed as the greatest military strength possessed by an indigenous kingdom as they went on to defeat the Mughal Empire using the guerrilla warfare method. The Maratha Empire was founded by Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1674, with a strong urge to establish a Hindu kingdom by resisting and defeating invading forces. Chhatrapati Shivaji born as Shivaji Bhosle I to Shahaji and Jijabai in the Bhonsle dynasty went on to become the first emperor of the Maratha Empire and one of the most successful emperors to ever rule India; he was a brilliant warrior, leader and administrator which earned him the title of "Chhatrapati" the chief of Kshatriyas. During his era the Maratha Empire witnessed social, political and cultural development primarily in the region of Western Deccan Plateau. ...
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The City of Victory

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The Vijayanagara Empire also known as the city of victory, ruled the region of Deccan Plateau from 14th to 17th century. It was founded in the year 1336 by two brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya belonging to a pastoral lineage, they claimed themselves as Yadavas. They established the Sangama dynasty which became the first dynasty to rule the Vijayanagara Empire with its capital at Hampi. Harihara I became the first emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. They were one among the non-Kshatriya dynasties to rule a large territory in India. The Vijayanagara Empire was ruled by four different dynasties in different time periods. The dynasties in chronological order are Sangama dynasty, Saluva dynasty, Tuluva dynasty and Aravidu dynasty. The dynasties in the Vijayanagara Empire changed one after the other, but the city kept on developing. Infrastructural developments were made in the city depicting the classic Indian architecture, this type of design was credited as the Vijayanagara architecture...
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The Story of an Early Brigade

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The Travancore army was established during the reign of Marthanda Varma, the founder and the first ruler of Travancore. The army was regarded to be the most powerful army owned by a princely state at that time. The army was well organized and maintained by the rulers of Travancore. The army consisted of the Nair brigade also referred as Thiruvithankoor Nair Pattalam. The Travancore army was reorganised as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818. The army was well equipped and well trained. The soldiers were skilled Kalaripayattu warriors. And they used weapons such as the sword and shield, bow and arrow and spears. They were brave and courageous. They were considered as the protectors of the kingdom. The infantry of the military forces were supported with trained horses and elephants. The army was well prepared to fight the invaders. The Travancore army gave protection and supported the king to defend and fight battles against the invaders. The Travancore army was a large group of well tra...
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The Great Revolt

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The revolt of 1857 is known as the uprising of the Indian independence struggle which almost lasted for the next century.The revolt is also referred as the sepoy mutiny of 1857.This was when the Indians unitedly showed the first sign of resistance against the British.It all started with the introduction of new bullets by the British, known as the Enfield cartridges.The bullets were rumoured to be coated with the fats of cows and pigs.To use these bullets the sepoys had to remove the coating by biting it.This was against the religious faiths of Hindus and Muslims and the sepoys disagreed with it because most of them were Hindus and Muslims.When they found that the Britishers were lying and hiding this fact, they were in rage.The sepoys were oppressed and forced by the British to use the bullets.They revolted by destroying all the institutions which represented the British.On 10th May, the soldiers marched to the jail in Meerut and released the imprisoned sepoys.They attacked and killed ...
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The Proselyte King

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Cheraman Perumal is considered to be the Chera king who left the royal throne and later on converted into Islam.He was a Hindu king from Kerala, regarded as the first who converted into Islam from the Indian peninsular.There are also other claims stating that he never converted to Islam, but followed the religion strictly.He was the ruler of Kerala with his capital in Kodungallur which was known as Mahodayapuram back then.It is said that he had a miraculous dream of the new moon being split into two halves at the horizon.This made him to consult astrologers, and Arabic travellers who visited his court; from them he got to know more about Islam as a religion and they interpreted that the dream was a message from Prophet Muhammad.After that he did a self research about the religion and Prophet Muhammad, who lived during the same era.With his in depth analysis on Islam, he had plans to learn more about the religion and meet the Prophet personally.Perumal left all the worldly pleasures, hi...
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The Lion of Kerala

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Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (1753-1805) also known as Kerala Simham or the lion of Kerala, for his bravery and resistance exhibited against the English East India Company.He was a warrior Hindu prince of Kottayam.He was highly qualified in the field of martial arts especially in Kalaripayattu and possessed extraordinary fighting skills.He was the successor of his uncle Vira Varma.He took over the throne to replace his uncle who had fled to political asylum in Kallara near Vaikom fearing the invasion of Hyder Ali, who was the father of Tipu Sultan of Mysore.Pazhassi Raja was the only king who remained in Kottayam to protect his subjects, to fight and resist the invasion of Hyder Ali.Except him all the kings had fled to other kingdoms seeking asylum fearing the invasion of Hyder Ali.Pazhassiraja fought a war of resistance with Hyder Ali and defeated him to regain the kingdom of Kottayam.On account of his refusal to leave Kottayam and due to his effective resistance to Mysoreans, he gained...
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The Kingdoms Of Kerala

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Before independence Kerala was not a single state, instead it was a collection of mainly three royal Kingdoms which were referred to as Princely States by the British.Each of the three kingdoms were ruled by the respective kings on a hereditary basis and followed the system of absolute monarchy.The kingdoms were Travancore, Cochin and Malabar.All the three kingdoms belonged to the Chera dynasty which established rule in Kerala many years back.Travancore was considered to be the most prosperous kingdom, it was also the oldest kingdom of Kerala with vast amount of land and wealth.Cochin was the tradecentre of Kerala with trade and commerce taking place around the world.Ports and markets flourished on the shores of Cochin.Spices and other goods were exported in large numbers to European countries.Pepper was the most expensive spice which had high demand and price through which it was referred as the black gold by the Europeans. Malabar was the kingdom under the Zamorin rule.Traders such a...
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The Last Monarch

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Shri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma (1912-1991) was the 12th monarch of Travancore.The full name of the royalty was HH Shri Padmanabha Dasa Vanchipala Kulashekharaperumal Shamsherjung Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.He was the last ruling Maharaja of the Princely State of Travancore, later on becoming its titular ruler.The monarch who was a visionary who built the modern day Travancore, established educational institutions, fought for women rights and threw away caste based discrimination, resulting in the temple entry proclamation for the so-called lower castes.He was against all the social evils that existed in Kerala during his reign and he wanted this situation to change for the development of the society.He was well educated and had shown academic brilliance.He gave importance to  his subjects and therefore he was regarded as a generous king.Chithira Thirunal is still respected and honored by the people of Thiruvananthapuram.He was a monarch, who lived a simple life just li...
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The Royal Maestro

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Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (1813-1846) was the king of Travancore who was an eminent musician, poet and linguist.People around him were amazed with his abilities which were expressed by him in a vast number of artistic fields.During the era he was a maestro in the field of music.He was well known for his gentle behaviour and generosity.He respected all forms of art and artists.He was well educated and fluent in a number of languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Hindustani, Sanskrit and English.He was a brilliant musician who could write, compose and sing at the same time.He knew Carnatic music as well as Hindustani music and expressed his musical skills through both the principles. His contributions in the field of Indian music are significant and enormous.Swathi Thirunal had composed 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.He wrote and composed Classical compositions in the category of Krithis which is still sung by musicians ...
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The Valorous King

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Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1706-1758) was known for his might and courageous attitude.He was born to Karthika Thirunal Umadevi, queen of Attingal and Kilimanoor Koil Thampuran of Kilimanoor Palace.He showed great interest in sword fighting and in the kingdom's administrative affairs, right from the young age of 14.Marthanda Varma grew up in the Kingdom of Venad ruled by his maternal uncle Rama Varma Thampuran.He was a shrewd observer.He practiced the qualities such as honesty, loyalty and courage.He was disturbed by the maladministration followed by Ettu Veetil Pillamar, the local Nair landlords.They formed the Ettara Yogam to administer the temple for corruption, which was not accepted by the society.It was soon broken by Marthanda Varma and he formed a new and separate Yogam for the purpose of strict temple administration.After defeating the landlords, he established the kingdom of Travancore and became the first ruler of Travancore at the age of 24.He was an able ruler an...
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