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Kerala History
 Kerala
is a 560-km long narrow stretch of land. At the widest, Kerala is
a mere 120-km from the sea to the mountains. Gracing one side of Kerala,
are the lofty mountains ranging high to kiss the sky. And on the other
side the land is washed by the blue Arabian Sea waters. The land is
covered with dense tropical forest, fertile plains, beautiful beaches,
cliffs, rocky coasts, an intricate maze of backwaters, still bays
and an astounding 44 glimmering rivers. Kerala's exotic spices have
lured foreigners to her coast from time immemorial.
Earlier, Kerala
was made up of three distinct areas. Malabar as far up the coast as Tellicherry,
Cannanore and Kasargode with the tiny pocket-handkerchief French possession of
Mahe nearby (it was returned to India in the early 1950 's and is now administratively
part of Pondicherry). This area belonged to what was once called the Madras Presidency
under the British. The middle section is formed by the princely State of Cochin;
the third comprises Travancore, another princely State.
Early Inhabitants
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 southern India today, consequently, they had a good knowledge of
herbal medicine and were skilled in interpreting natural phenomena. The next race
of people in Kerala were believed to be the Austriches. The Austric people of
Kerala are of the same stock as the present-day Australian Aborigines. 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 scene. They
also introduced snake-worship in Kerala. Traces of such worship and ancient rites
have been found among the Aboriginal tribes of Australia. Austric features can
still be seen fairly and clearly among the people of Kerala today. Then came the
Dravidians (The Mediterranean people). Dravidian absorbed many of the beliefs
of the Negrito and Austric 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.
The Dravidians migrated to the southwards,
carrying their civilization with them, though leaving their considerable cultural
input on their successors, the Aryans (Indo - Iranians). But Kerala is still strongly
influenced by the Dravidian culture: urbane, cash-crop and trade oriented, and
with strong maternalistic biases. The Aryans have made a deep impression on Kerala
in late proto-historic times.
Jewish and Arabs trade's were the first to come to Kerala sailing
in the ships to set up trading stations. The Apostle of  Christ,
St. Thomas is believed to have come to Muziris in AD 52 and established
the first church in Kerala .
Portuguese discovered the sea route to India from
Europe when Vasco da gama landed with his ship near Kappad in Calicut in AD 1498.
Slowly the Kerala society became a mix of people belonging to various sects of
Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. The arrival of Portuguese was followed by the
Dutch, the French and finally the British.The State of Kerala was created on the
1st of November 1956. The Keralites celebrate this day as 'Kerala piravi' meaning
the 'Birth of Kerala'.
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