Kasaragod (Malayalam:[kaːsɐrɐɡoːɖɨ̆]) is a municipal town and administrative headquarters of Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kerala and is also known as Sapta Bhasha Sangama Bhumi ('The Land of seven Languages').[1]
There are different views on the derivation of the name Kasaragod though none accepted.
Kasaragod was known as Kāññirakkōṭŭ (The land of kāññiram trees) in Malayalam. kāññiram is Malayalam for Kasaraka trees (Kannada name) found in abundance here.[9][10]
Kasaragod was under the Kumbla dynasty until the 16th century, which was vassal to the kingdom of Kolathunadu based at Kannur.[11]Kannada kingdoms focused on the port and surroundings in the 16th century CE.[12][13][14][15]
The ancient Tamil works of the Sangam Age record that the area covering the district was part of Puzhinadu which consists of the coastal belt from Kozhikode to Mangalore. Politically the area was part of the Ezhimala Kingdom with its capital at Ezhimala in present-day Kannur district. The most famous king of Ezhimala was Nannan whose kingdom extended up to Gudalur and northern parts of Coimbatore. Poozhinad, along with Karkanad which included the eastern regions of Ezhimala dynasty (Wayanad-Gudalur region with some portions of Kodagu), had its capital at Ezhimala. The Mooshaka kings were considered descendants of Nannan. By the 14th century, Mooshaka Kingdom was known as Kolathirinad and the rulers as Kolathiris. The Kolathunad Kingdom at the peak of its power reportedly extended from Netravati River (Mangalore) in the north[16] to Korapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with Arabian Sea on the
west and Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of Lakshadweep in Arabian Sea.[17]
Panoramic view from inside Bekal Fort, the largest fort in Kerala
Colonial era
Sunset at Valiyaparamba beachA map of Malabar District (Malayalam district) drawn by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1807. A portion of Kasaragod taluk of erstwhile British South Canara district to the south of Payaswini/Chandragiri river was also included in Malayalam region (just above the blue shaded region).
Hosdurg and Vellarikundu was part of Kolathunadu (south of Chandragiri river) and Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram was in the Tulu Nadu region (north of Chandragiri river).[27][28]
In 1763, Hyder Ali raided Bedanoor (Bidnur), the capital of the Ikkery Naiks. His son Tippu Sultan raided much of Malabar region in Kerala. As per the Treaty of Seringapatam of 1792, Tippu surrendered Malabar, except Kanara to the British. The British occupied Kanara only after the death of Tippu Sultan.[12] it is said that Kinavoor Molom (Sree Dharma Shashtha Temple) is belonging to Karinthalam (one of 64 Brahmin villages in old Kerala). Initially South Canara was placed under the Bombay presidency.[29] Later on 16 April 1862, South Canara was transferred to Madras Presidency and Kasaragod taluk was formed by replacing the erstwhile Bekal taluk.[29] Kasaragod was the second-most populated Taluk in South Canara only after to Mangalore taluk, and also the second-largest Taluk.[30]
Post-Independence
Road sign in Kasaragod town
Before the formation of Kerala, Kasaragod was a part of South Canara district of erstwhile Madras Presidency. However, in the 19th century CE, Kasaragod Taluk witnessed many struggles to separate the region from South Canara and to merge it with the Malabar District as it was the only Malayalam-majority region in South Canara. Kasaragod became a part of Kannur district of Kerala following the reorganization of states and the formation of Kerala on 1 November 1956.[31] Later Kasaragod was divided into two taluks for the ease of administration - Kasaragod and Hosdurg. Kasaragod was declared a district in 1984. The inclusion of Kasaragod with Kerala has been a contentious issue as there is a sizeable population that speaks Tulu and Kannada. At the time of 1951 Census of India, only 72.0% of the district's population chose their mother tongue as Malayalam.[32] 14.2% chose Tulu and 6.3% chose Kannada.[32] But it is noted that as per the 2011 census report only 8.8% and 4.2% of the total population in the district speak Tulu and Kannada respectively as their mother tongue. In 2012, the Second Oommen Chandy ministry appointed a commission under the leadership the former Chief Secretary P. Prabhakaran to study about the backwardness and issues faced by this northernmost district of Kerala and to draw up special package for the district.[33] In 2013, two more Taluks, namely Manjeshwaram and Vellarikundu were formed in the district.[34]
Kasaragod has the maximum number of rivers in Kerala - 12.[6] All of them are west-flowing rivers.[36] The longest of them is Chandragiri River (105 km long). The Kasaragod town is located on the estuary of Chandragiri river. It empties into the Arabian Sea at Thalangara.[36] The Chandragiri Fort is built on its bank. The river originates at Pattimala in Kodagu (Coorg).[36] The smallest river of Kerala is also in the district.
Kasaragod district comes under the jurisdiction of Kannur University. Kasaragod is home to the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, originally established in 1916 as the Coconut Research Station. It is part of India's National Agricultural Research System under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.[37] According to the institute, Kerala "lies in the heart of the major coconut growing areas of the country." It is also home to the Indian Society for Plantation Crops, which publishes the Journal of Plantation Crops and holds symposiums on the subject.[38] The Central University of Kerala is also located in Kasaragod(Periya hills).
As of 2011 Census, Kasaragod municipality had a population of 54,172 which constitutes 26,319 males and 27,853 females. Kasaragod municipality spreads over an area of 16.69 km2 (6.44 sq mi) with 10,202 families residing in it. The municipality is divided into 35 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. The female sex ratio was 1058 against state average of 1084. Population in the age group 0-6 was 7,234 (13.4%) where 3,716 are males and 3,518 are females. The literacy rate of Kasaragod town was 94.76% higher than state average of 94%. Male literacy stands at 96.5% and female literacy was 93.1%.[53]
Kasaragod district is the northernmost district of Kerala, which is much away from Thiruvananthapuram, the state headquarters, which is located in the southernmost tip of state. Manjeshwaram town is located about 600 km north of the state headquarters Thiruvananthapuram, about 30 km south of Mangalore, about 350 km west of Bangalore, the headquarters of the neighbouring state Karnataka, and about 950 km south of Mumbai city. In 2012, the Second Oommen Chandy ministry appointed a commission under the leadership of the former Chief Secretary P. Prabhakaran to study about the backwardness and issues faced by this northernmost district of Kerala and to draw up a special package for the district.[33] In 2013, two more Taluks, namely Manjeshwaram and Vellarikundu were formed in the district.[34] Before this, the district had only two taluks. The decision to implement a gas-based power plant at Cheemeni was taken by the second Chandy government.[57] A government medical college was allowed for Kasaragod district, as a part of the government's new policy to establish at ensure availability of at least one government medical college in all 14 districts of the state in 2013.[58][59]
^Caldwell, Robert (1998). A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages. Asian Educational Services. pp. 6, 16, 17–19, 20, 21–25, 31. ISBN978-81-206-0117-8. Malayalam is spoken along the Malabar coast, on the western side of the Ghauts, or Malaya range of mountains, from the vicinity of Chandragiri (river and fort) near Mangalore, where it supersedes Canarese and Tuļu, to Trivandrum, where it begins to be superseded by Tamil. The people by whom this language is spoken in the native states of Travancore and Cochin, and in the East India Company's districts of Malabar and Canara, may be estimated at two and a half millions. (Pages 6, 16, 20, 31)
^Bhat, N. Shyam (1998). South Kanara, 1799-1860, A Study in Colonial Administration and Regional Response. Mittal Publications. p. 6. ISBN9788170995869.
^Caldwell, Robert (1998). A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages. Asian Educational Services. p. 31. ISBN9788120601178.
^ abPg 58, Cultural heritage of Kerala: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978
^Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98.
^Barbosa, Duarte (1989). The Book of Duarte Barbosa: An Account of the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants (Volume 2). Asian Educational Services. pp. 1–7. ISBN9788120604513. Per Barbosa, Malabar begins at the point where the kingdom of Narasyngua or Vijayanagar ends, that is at Cumbola (Cambola) on the Chandragiri river. But, as he (Barbosa) says, the Malayalam language extends as far north as the Chandragiri, and Malabar may be reckoned as extending south from this point to Cape Comorin.
^"About Institute". CPCRI.in. Central Plantation Crops Research Institute. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016. The Coconut Research Station at Kasaragod in Kerala was initially established in 1916 by the then Government of Madras and subsequently it was taken over by the Indian Central Coconut Committee in 1948
^Kerala, Directorate of Census Operations. District Census Handbook, Kasaragod(PDF). Thiruvananthapuram: Directorate of Census Operations, Kerala. p. 86,87. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^Giridhar Khasnis (17 May 2015). "Finding everland". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
Notes
^“Malayalam is spoken along the Malabar coast, on the western side of the Ghauts, or Malaya range of mountains, from the vicinity of Chandragiri (river and fort) near Mangalore, where it supersedes Canarese and Tuļu, to Trivandrum, where it begins to be superseded by Tamil. The people by whom this language is spoken in the native states of Travancore and Cochin,
and in the East India Company's districts of Malabar and Canara, may
be estimated at two and a half millions.” (Page 7)
"Kottara: This is the name of a place in the country of the 'Aii', or ' Paralia ' (identical with South Travancore), which is called ‘Kottiara Metropolis' by Ptolemy, ' Cottora' by Pliny. Undoubtedly the town referred to is ‘Kôțţâra' or, as it is ordinarily spelled by Europeans, ‘ Kotaur,' the principal town in South Travancore, and now, as in the time of the Greeks, distinguished for its commerce. The name of the place is derived from ‘ Kôd-u, ' Tam., a line of circumvallation, a fortification, and “ ârú, ' a river. It is a rule in the Tamil and the Malayalam, that when a word like ‘Kôd is the first member of a compound, the final ' ' must be doubled for the purpose of giving the word the force of an adjective : it is another rule that sonants when doubled become surds. Consequently the compound ‘kôd- ara' becomes by rule 'kôţt-âra' . It is interesting to perceive that in the time of the Greeks the same peculiar phonetic rules existed which are now in operation . It is also worth noticing that the Greek writers represent the last syllable of the name of the town, not as ' âru ,' but as 'âra . The Tamil has ' âru, ' the Malayalam 'ara ' At Kotaur, the dialectic peculiarities of the Malayalam language begin to supersede those of the Tamil; and this appears to have been the case even in the time of the
Greeks." (Page 62-63)[8]
Further reading
General
Chandran, VP (2018). Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus - 2019 (Malayalam ed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode.
M. K. Devassy (1965), 1961 Census Handbook- Cannanore District(PDF), Directorate of Census Operations, Kerala and The Union Territory of Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands
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