Anchuthengu ("Five

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

Palms"), formerly known as Anjengo, Angengo or Anjenga, is a coastal panchayath and town in the Thiruvananthapuram District of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. It is situated 9km south-west of

Varkala Varkala, is a major coastal municipality situated in the northern suburb of Trivandrum, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the headquarters of Varkala Taluk and important government institutions such as the taluk office, court ...

Town along Trivandrum - Varkala - Kollam coastal highway. The town contains old Portuguese-style churches, a lighthouse, a 100-year-old convent and school, tombs of Dutch and British sailors and soldiers, and the remains of the

Anchuthengu Fort The fort was the East India Company's first permanent post on the Malabar Coast. In November 1693, John Brabourne was sent by the British East India Company (EIC) to Attingal, where he obtained from Rani Ashure a grant of a site for a fort on t ...

. Kaikara village, the birthplace of the famous

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

poet

Kumaran Asan Mahakavi Kumaran Asan (Malayalam: എൻ. കുമാരൻ ആശാൻ) (12 April 1873 – 16 January 1924) was a poet of Malayalam literature, Indian social reformer and a philosopher. He is known to have initiated a revolution in Malayalam ...

, is located nearby. Temples in the area are Parambil Sree Bhadrakali Yogeeshwara Kshethram and Sree Bala Subrahmanya Swami Kshethram. Anchuthengu is about north of

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. The nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport.

Kadakkavur Kadakkavoor is a developing special grade town consisting central government postal office, railway station, sub treasury, police station, electricity board, telecom office and banks; Thiruvananthapuram district in the state of Kerala, India. ...

Railway Station is away.

History

Anjengo is located in an oxbow at the mouth of Parvathy Puthanaar canal. Originally, it was an old Portuguese settlement between

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

and

, and near

. In 1694, the Queen of

Attingal Attingal is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala state, India. It was the location of the Attingal kingdom, under Travancore. It is the headquarters of Chirayinkeezhu Taluk, and the ...

granted the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

(EIC) the right to establish a factory and a fort at Anjengo, which became the Company's first trade settlement in Kerala. The Anjengo Fort was erected in 1694-8. Because of its location, it was an occasional port of call for East Indiamen. There they might leave or get news warning shipping of war in India or Europe. In 1728 Anjengo was the birthplace of Robert Orme (1728-1801), historiographer of the

, and in 1744 of Eliza Draper who would become a muse and correspondent of Laurence Sterne. The fort played an important role in the

Anglo-Mysore Wars The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of four wars fought during the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore#Under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, Sultanate of Mysore on the one hand, and the British East India Company (r ...

of the 18th century but, by the 19th century, the fort was considered an unnecessary expense. The EIC abandoned it, and the factory, in 1813. In the 19th century, the town remained known for its excellent

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...

s (manufactured from the local palms) and also exported

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

, homespun cotton cloth, and drugs. Anchuthengu was a part of

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (19 ...

during

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

References

Sources

* .

External links

{{Tourism in Kerala Kingdom of Travancore Beaches of Kerala Populated coastal places in India Villages in Thiruvananthapuram district Archaeological sites in Kerala

History

See also

References

Sources

External links