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Kerala is a state in the Indian Union located at
the southern part of the Indian peninsula. It is
bordered on the north by Karnataka, south and
east
by Tamil Nadu, and west by the Arabian sea.
Thiruvananthapuram, the capital, Kochi and
Kozhikode are the major Cities. The principal
spoken language is Malayalam though other
languages are also spoken. Kerala is one of the
most densely populated states in India and ranks
12th among states in terms of population.
Kerala is mentioned in the ancient epic
Mahabharata (800 BC) at several instances as a
tribe, as a region and as a kingdom. The first
written mention of Kerala is seen in a
3rd-century-BC rock inscription by emperor Asoka
the Great, where it is mentioned as Keralaputra.
This region formed part of ancient Tamilakam and
was ruled by the Cheras. They had extensive trade
relations with the Greeks, Romans and Arabs. In
the 1st century AD Jewish immigrants arrived, and
it is believed that St. Thomas the Apostle
visited
Kerala in the same century.The Chera Kingdom
and later the feudal Nair and Namboothiri Brahmin
city-states became major powers in the region.
Early contact with Europeans later gave way to
struggles between colonial and native interests.
The States Reorganisation Act of 1 November 1956
elevated Kerala to statehood.
Social and educational reforms enacted in the
late
19th century by Cochin and Travancore were
expanded upon by post-independence governments,
making Kerala one of the most literate,
healthiest, and gender-equitable regions in
India.
Kerala has one of the most advanced educational
systems in India. Though the state\\\'s basic
human
development indices are roughly equivalent to
those in the developed world, the state is
substantially more environmentally sustainable
than Europe and North America A survey conducted
in 2005 by Transparency International ranked
Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country
Nevertheless, Kerala\\\'s suicide, alcoholism,
and
unemployment rates rank among India\\\'s highest
It is not certain if the region was inhabited
during Neolithic times. However, there is
evidence
of the emergence of prehistoric pottery and
granite burial monuments in the form of
megalithic
tombs in the 10th century BC; they resemble their
counterparts in Western Europe and other parts of
Asia. These are thought to be produced by
speakers
of a proto-Tamil language Kerala and Tamil Nadu
once shared a common language, ethnicity and
culture; this common area was known as Tamilakam.
Parasurama, surrounded by settlers, commanding
Varuna to part the seas and reveal Kerala.
According to legend, Kerala was an Asura-ruled
kingdom under Mahabali. Onam, the national
festival of Kerala, is dedicated to Maveli\\\'s
memory. Another legend has Parasurama, an avatar
of Mahavishnu, throwing his battle axe into the
sea; from those waters, Kerala arose.
The ancient Cheras, whose mother tongue and court
language was Tamil, ruled Kerala from their
capital at Vanchi. They were constantly at war
with the neighbouring Chola and Pandya kingdoms.
A
Keralite identity, distinct from the Tamils and
associated with the second Chera empire, became
linguistically separate under the Kulasekhara
dynasty (c. 800–1102). By the beginning of the
14th century, Ravi Varma Kulasekhara of Venad
established a short-lived supremacy over southern
India. After his death, Kerala became a
conglomeration of warring chieftaincies, among
which the most important were Calicut in the
north
and Venad in the south.
Artist\\\'s rendition of Vasco da Gama\\\'s 1498
landing in Calicut, now Kozhikode.
The Chera kings\\\' dependence on trade meant
that
merchants from West Asia and Southern Europe
could
establish coastal posts and settlements in
Kerala.
The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim immigrants
established Nasrani Mappila and Muslim Mappila
communities The Jews first arrived in Kerala in
573 BC The works of scholars and Eastern
Christian
writings state that Thomas the Apostle visited
Muziris in Kerala in 52 AD to proselytize amongst
Kerala\\\'s Jewish settlements. However, the
first
verifiable migration of Jewish-Nasrani families
to
Kerala is of the arrival of Knai Thoma in 345 AD
.
Muslim merchants (Malik ibn Dinar) settled in
Kerala by the 8th century AD and introduced
Islam.
After Vasco Da Gama\\\'s arrival in 1498, the
Portuguese gained control of the lucrative pepper
trade by subduing Keralite communities and
commerce.
Conflicts between Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi
(Cochin) provided an opportunity for the Dutch to
oust the Portuguese. In turn, the Dutch were
ousted by Marthanda Varma who routed them at the
Battle of Colachel in 1741. In 1766, Hyder Ali,
the ruler of Mysore invaded northern Kerala,
capturing Kozhikode in the process. In the late
18th century, Tipu Sultan, Ali’s son and
successor, launched campaigns against the
expanding British East India Company; these
resulted in two of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. He
ultimately ceded Malabar District and South
Kanara
to the Company in the 1790s. The Company then
forged tributary alliances with Kochi (1791) and
Travancore (1795). Malabar and South Kanara
became
part of the Madras Presidency..
Pazhassi Raja, the \\\"Lion of Kerala\\\", who
waged a
guerilla war against the British in the late 18th
century.
Kerala saw comparatively little defiance of the
British Raj. Nevertheless, several rebellions
occurred, including the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar
revolt,. and leaders like Velayudan Thampi
Dalava,
Kunjali Marakkar, and Pazhassi Raja earned their
place in history and folklore. Many actions,
spurred by such leaders as Vaikunda Swami., Sree
Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swamikal, instead
protested such conditions as untouchability;
notable was the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraham. In 1936,
Chitra Thirunal Bala Rama Varma of Travancore
issued the Temple Entry Proclamation that opened
Hindu temples to all castes; Cochin and Malabar
soon did likewise. The 1921 Moplah Rebellion
involved Mappila Muslims rioting against Hindus
and the British Raj..
After India gained its independence in 1947,
Travancore and Cochin were merged to form
Travancore-Cochin on 1 July 1949. On 1 January
1950 (Republic Day), Travancore-Cochin was
recognised as a state. The Madras Presidency was
organised to form Madras State several years
prior, in 1947. Finally, the Government of
India\\\'s 1 November 1956 States Reorganisation
Act
inaugurated the state of Kerala, incorporating
Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin (excluding
four southern taluks, which were merged with
Tamil
Nadu), and the taluk of Kasargod, South Kanara..
A
new legislative assembly was also created, for
which elections were first held in 1957. These
resulted in a communist-led government through
ballot - the world\\\'s first of its kind -
headed
by E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Subsequent social
reforms
favoured tenants and labourers. As a result,
living standards, education, and life expectancy
improved dramatically.
Geography
A cheena vala (fishing net) in the Backwaters
region of Kollam.
Kerala is wedged between the Arabian Sea and the
Western Ghats. Lying between north latitudes
8°18\\\' and 12°48\\\' and east longitudes
74°52\\\' and
72°22\\\', Kerala is well within the humid
equatorial tropics. Kerala’s coast runs for some
580 km (360 miles), while the state itself varies
between 35 and 120 km (22–75 miles) 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 is subject to
comparatively little seismic and volcanic
activity. Pre-Cambrian and Pleistocene geological
formations compose the bulk of Kerala’s terrain.
Topographic map.
Eastern Kerala lies immediately west of the
Western Ghats\\\'s rain shadow; it consists of
high
mountains, gorges and deep-cut valleys. 41 of
Kerala’s west-flowing rivers, and 3 of its
east-flowing ones originate in this region. Here,
the Western Ghats form a wall of mountains
interrupted only near Palakkad, where the
Palakkad
Gap breaks through to provide access to the rest
of India. The Western Ghats rises on average to
1,500 m (4920 ft) above sea level, while the
highest peaks may reach to 2,500 m (8200 ft).
Just
west of the mountains lie the midland plains
composing central Kerala; rolling hills and
valleys dominate. Generally ranging between
elevations of 250–1,000 m (820–3300 ft), 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 criss-crossed 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. 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). The average length
of
the rivers of Kerala is 64 km. Most of the
remainder are small and entirely fed by monsoon
rains.
These conditions result in the nearly year-round
water logging of such western regions as
Kuttanad,
500 km˛ of which lies below sea level. As
Kerala\\\'s rivers are small and lack deltas,
they
are more prone to environmental factors.
Kerala\\\'s
rivers face many problems, including summer
droughts, the building of large dams, sand
mining,
and pollution.
Climate
Main article: Climate of Kerala
With 120–140 rainy days per year, Kerala has a
wet
and maritime tropical climate influenced by the
seasonal heavy rains of the southwest summer
monsoon.[42] In eastern Kerala, a drier tropical
wet and dry climate prevails. Kerala\\\'s
rainfall
averages 3,107 mm annually. Some of Kerala\\\'s
drier lowland regions average only 1,250 mm; the
mountains of eastern Idukki district receive more
than 5,000 mm of orographic precipitation, the
highest in the state.
In summers, most of Kerala is prone to gale force
winds, storm surges, cyclone-related torrential
downpours, occasional droughts, and rises in sea
level and storm activity resulting from global
warming, Kerala’s maximum daily temperature
averages 36.7 °C; the minimum is 19.8 °C. Mean
annual temperatures range from 25.0–27.5 °C in
the
coastal lowlands to 20.0–22.5 °C in the
highlands..
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