Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and

municipal corporation Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally o ...

in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the administrative headquarters of the

Kannur district Kannur () is one of the 14 Districts of Kerala, districts along the west coast in the state of Kerala, India. The city of Kannur is the district headquarters and gives the district its name. The old name, Cannanore, is the anglicized form of th ...

and situated north of the major port city and commercial hub

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

and south of the major port city and a commercial hub,

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

. During the period of British colonial rule in India, when Kannur was a part of the

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in ...

(Madras Presidency), the city was known as Cannanore. Kannur is the fifth largest urban agglomeration in Kerala. As of 2011 census, Kannur Municipal Corporation, the local body which administers mainland area of city, had a population of 232,486. Kannur was the headquarters of

Kolathunadu Kolattunādu () (Kola Swarupam, as Kingdom of Cannanore in foreign accounts, Chirakkal (Chericul) in later times) was one of the four most powerful kingdoms on the Malabar Coast during the arrival of the Portuguese Armadas in India, along w ...

, one of the four most important dynasties on the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

, along with the

Zamorin of Calicut The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edi ...

Kingdom of Cochin The kingdom of Cochin or the Cochin State, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It originated in the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until i ...

and Kingdom of Quilon. The Arakkal kingdom had right over the city of Kannur and Laccadive Islands in the late medieval period. Kannur

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

was formed on 1 November 1866 by the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns Act 1850)
-
-
- of the

British Indian Empire The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, along with the municipalities of

Thalassery Thalassery () (also called Tellicherry) is a city and municipality on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe and Kozhikode. Thalassery municipality has a population of just under ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

and Fort Kochi, making them the first modern municipalities in the state. It was upgraded into a

in 2015. Kannur Cantonment is the only

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

board in Kerala. The Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala is Asia's largest, and the world's third-largest, naval academy. Muzhappilangad beach is the longest drive-in beach in Asia and appeared among the top six best beaches for driving in the world in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

''Top Gear'' article. During

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

, Kannur's chief importance laid in producing Thalassery pepper.

History

Pre-history and Ancient era

The earliest evidence of human habitation in the region are rock-cut caves and megalithic burial sites of the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

age. The

Taliparamba Taliparamba (also known as Perinchelloor and Lakshmipuram) is a Municipalities of Kerala, Municipality and List of taluks of Kerala, Taluk of Kannur district in Kerala state, India. The municipal town spreads over an area of and is inha ...

-Kannur-

area abounds in rock-cut caves,

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s, burial stone circles and

menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

s, all of

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

. Kannur District was the seat of powerful kingdom based at Ezhimala in the

Sangam period The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...

(1st–5th century CE). The ancient port of ''Naura'', which is mentioned in the ''

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and Roman commerce, trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports lik ...

'' as a port somewhere north of

Muziris ''Muciṟi'' (, ), commonly anglicized as Muziris (, Malayalam, Old Malayalam: ''Muciṟi'' or ''Muciṟipaṭṭaṇam'', possibly identical with the medieval ''Muyiṟikkōṭŭ'') was an ancient harbour and urban centre on India's Malabar C ...

is identified with Kannur.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

(1st century CE) states that the port of '' Tyndis'' was located at the northwestern border of ''Keprobotos'' (

Chera dynasty The Chera dynasty ( or Cēra, ), also known as Keralaputra, from the early historic or the Sangam period in Tamil-speaking southern India, ruled over parts of present-day states Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Cheras, known as one of the mu-ventar ...

). The region, which lies north of the port at ''Tyndis'', was ruled by the kingdom of Ezhimala during the

. According to the ''

'', a region known as ''

Limyrike Limyrikê is a historical region of present-day India, mentioned in the ancient Greco-Roman texts. It generally corresponds to the present-day Malabar Coast of Kerala. Extent According to the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (53:17:15-27) ...

'' began at ''Naura'' and '' Tyndis''. However the

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

mentions only '' Tyndis'' as the ''

s starting point. The region probably ended at Kanyakumari; it thus roughly corresponds to the present-day

. The value of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

's annual trade with the region was estimated at around 50,000,000 sesterces.

mentioned that ''

'' was prone by pirates. The Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that the ''

'' was a source of peppers. The kingdom of Ezhimala had jurisdiction over two ''Nadu''s – The coastal ''Poozhinadu'' and the hilly eastern ''Karkanadu''. According to the works of

Sangam literature The Sangam literature (Tamil language, Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil language, Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cā ...

, ''Poozhinadu'' consisted much of the coastal belt between

and

. ''Karkanadu'' consisted of

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

- Gudalur hilly region with parts of

Kodagu Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative List of districts of Karnataka, district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged ...

(Coorg). It is said that Nannan, the most renowned ruler of Ezhimala dynasty, took refuge at

hills in the 5th century CE when he was lost to Cheras, just before his execution in a battle, according to the Sangam works.

Early Middle Ages

According to Kerala Muslim tradition, Kannur along with surrounding Madayi and Dharmadom were home to three of the oldest mosques in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. According to the Legend of Cheraman Perumals, the first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at Kodungallur with the mandate of the last ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of

, who left from Dharmadom to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

during the lifetime of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

(c. 570–632). According to '' Qissat Shakarwati Farmad'', the ''Masjids'' at

Kodungallur Kodungallur (; formerly also called as Cranganore (anglicised name), Portuguese language, Portuguese: Cranganor; Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of Per ...

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

, Madayi, Barkur,

, Kasaragod, Kannur,

Dharmadam Dharmadom or Dharmadam is a census town, census village in Thalassery City in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India. This town is located in between Anjarakandi River and Ummanchira River, and Palayad town and Arabian Sea. It is known f ...

, Panthalayani, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest ''Masjid''s in the

. It is believed that Malik Dinar died at Thalangara in Kasaragod town.Pg 58, Cultural heritage of

: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978 Mappila Bay Fishing Harbour3

Ezhimala kingdom was succeeded by Mushika dynasty in the early medieval period, most possibly due to the migration of Tuluva Brahmins from

Tulu Nadu Tulu Nadu, or Tulunad, is a region and Proposed states and union territories of India, proposed state on the southwestern coast of India. The Tulu people, known as 'Tuluva' (pl. 'Tuluver') are speakers of Tulu language, Tulu, a Dravidian langu ...

. The '' Mushika-vamsha Mahakavya'', written by Athula in the 11th century, throws light on the recorded past of the Mushika Royal Family up until that point. The Indian anthropologist Ayinapalli Aiyappan states that a powerful and warlike clan of the Bunt community of

was called ''Kola Bari'' and the Kolathiri Raja of Kolathunadu was a descendant of this clan. The kingdom of

, who were the descendants of Mushika dynasty, at the peak of its power reportedly extended from Netravati River (

) in the north to Korapuzha (

) in the south with

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

on the west and

hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...

in the

. An

Old Malayalam Old Malayalam, or Early Malayalam, the inscriptional variety found in Kerala from ''c.'' mid-9th to ''c.'' 13th century CE, is the earliest attested form of Malayalam language. The language was employed in several administrative records and tran ...

inscription ( Ramanthali inscriptions), dated to 1075 CE, mentioning king Kunda Alupa, the ruler of Alupa dynasty of

, can be found at Ezhimala near Kannur. The

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

inscription on a copper slab within the Madayi Mosque in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE. In his book on travels ('' Il Milione''),

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

recounts his visit to the area in the mid 1290s. Other visitors included

Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...

, the Buddhist pilgrim and

Ibn Batuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebis, Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his ...

, writer and historian of Tangiers. The

in the late medieval period emerged into independent 10 principalities i.e., Kadathanadu ( Vadakara), Randathara or Poyanad ( Dharmadom),

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

(

), Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu ( Panoor, Kurumbranad etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions. The Nileshwaram dynasty on the northernmost part of Kolathiri dominion, were relatives to both Kolathunadu as well as the

Zamorin The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edi ...

of Calicut, in the early medieval period. Kannur was an important trading center in the 12th century, with active business connections with

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. The port at

held the superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur,

, and

, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather.''The Portuguese, Indian Ocean and European Bridgeheads 1500–1800''. Festschrift in Honour of Prof. K. S. Mathew (2001). Edited by: Pius Malekandathil and T. Jamal Mohammed. Fundacoa Oriente. Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities of MESHAR (Kerala)

Era of European influences

Kannur served as the East India Company military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. The modern town is referred to as Kannur Town. Kannur, as a district and surrounding areas, were mostly ruled by the famous Kolathiri Rajas. When the state of Kerala was formed the district took the name Kannur since the administrative offices were established here. Before that, Kannur was the headquarters of Chirakkal

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. During the period of

Company rule in India Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj, from Hindi , ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established its first trading post in India ...

, the

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

preferred Madras and Cochin as their major stations and Kannur started to lose its old glory. The people of Kannur are still waiting for their old glory to get back and they feel they are being sidelined because the state administration is located the exact opposite side of the state. Part of the original city of Kannur was under Kerala's only Muslim Royalty called the Arakkal and this area is still known as city. The Portuguese explorer

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

arrived at Kappad

in 1498 during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

, thus opening a direct sea route from Europe to South Asia. In 1501 a Portuguese factory was planted here by

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral (; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; ) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in history to ever be on four continents, ...

, and in 1502 da Gama made a treaty with the Raja. The St. Angelo Fort at Kannur was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India. The Dutch captured the fort from the Portuguese in 1663. They modernised the fort and built the bastions Hollandia, Zeelandia, and Frieslandia that are the major features of the present structure. The original Portuguese fort was pulled down later. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry behind it can be seen in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The Dutch sold the fort to king Ali Raja of Arakkal in 1772. During the 17th century, Kannur was the capital city of the only

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Sultanate in Kerala, known as Arakkal, who also ruled the Laccadive Islands in addition to the city of Kannur. Arakkal Kingdom and Chirakkal kingdom were two vassal kingdoms based in the city of Kannur. The island of Dharmadom near Kannur, along with

, was ceded to the

as early as 1734, which were claimed by all of the ''Kolattu Rajas'', ''Kottayam Rajas'', '' Mannanar'' and ''Arakkal Bibi'' in the late medieval period, where the British initiated a factory and English settlement following the cession. Then the East India Company captured the fort Kannur in 1790 and used it as one of their major military stations on the

. During the period of British colonial rule, Kannur was part of the

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

province in the Malabar District. In 1761, the British captured Mahé, and the settlement was handed over to the ruler of Kadathanadu. The British restored Mahé to the French as a part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In 1779, the Anglo-French war broke out, resulting in the French loss of Mahé. In 1783, the British agreed to restore to the French their settlements in India, and Mahé was handed over to the French in 1785. Initially the British had to suffer local resistance against their rule under the leadership of

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja () (3 January 1753 – 30 November 1805), also known as Cotiote Rajah and Pychy Rajah, was the '' de facto'' head of the Kottayam Kingdom in the Malabar region of Kerala between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with the ...

, who had popular support in

region. The guerrilla war launched by Pazhassi Raja, the ruler of Kottayam province, against the East India Company had a huge impact on the history of Kannur. Pazhassi’s Cav

in Cherambadi, Nilgiris, played a crucial role as a guerrilla warfare site during the Second Pazhassi War against the British. Changes in the socio-economic and political sectors in Kerala during the initial decades of the 20th century created conditions congenial for the growth of the Communist Party. Extension of English education initiated by Christian missionaries in 1906 and later carried forward by government, rebellion for wearing a cloth to cover upper parts of body, installing an idol at Aruvippuram in 1888, Malayali Memorial in 1891, establishment of SNDP Yogam in 1903, activities, struggles etc. became factors helpful to accelerate changes in Kerala society during a short time. These movements eventually coalesced into the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. Very soon, ideas about socialism and Soviet Revolution reached Kerala. Such ideas got propagated in Kerala through the works of Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai, Sahodaran Ayyappan, P. Kesavadev and others. By the beginning of the 1930s, some other useful developments were taking place. Important among them was Nivarthana Agitation in Travancore. That was the demand of people suppressed so far as untouchables and weaker sections for participation in government. This brought to the forefront struggles like proportional representation in government and reservation of jobs. This imparted a new enthusiasm among oppressed masses. File:Cannonore fort & Bay'; a watercolor by John Johnston, c.1795-1801.jpg, Cannonore fort & Bay'; a watercolor by John Johnston, c.1795-1801 File:City of Cannanore, 1572.jpg, A portrait of Kannur drawn in 1572, from Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's atlas ''Civitates orbis terrarum'', Volume I

Geography and climate

Kannur has an elevation of along the coast of the Laccadive Sea, with a sandy coastal area. The city has an -long seashore and a -long beach at Payyambalam. Kannur is located north of

, south of

Kasargod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the 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 Ker ...

and

, west of the Western Ghat regions of

and

, and east of the Laccadive Sea. Mappila Bay harbour at Ayikkara. On one side, there is St. Angelo Fort (built in 1505) and on the other side is Arakkal palace. Muzhappilangad Beach, the longest Drive-in Beach in Asia, is located in Kannur. Vayalapra Lake is near Madayi.

Climate

Kannur experiences a very wet

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(''Am'' under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

.) In the months of April and May, the average daily maximum temperature is about . Temperatures are moderate in December and January: about . Like other areas on the

, this city receives heavy rainfall during the

Southwest monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

. The annual average rainfall is , around 68 per cent of which is received in summer.Climate: Kannur (Cannanore)
CalicutNet.com

Civic administration

Kannur municipality was formed on 1 November 1866 according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850) of the

, along with the municipalities of

, and Fort Kochi, making them the first modern municipalities in the state. It was upgraded into a

Municipal Corporation Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally o ...

in the year 2015. The city is administered by the Kannur Municipal Corporation, headed by a mayor. The corporation is headed by a Mayor and council, and manages 78.35 km² of Kannur city, with a population of about 232,486 within that area. For administrative purposes, the city is divided into 55 divisions, from which the members of the corporation council are elected for five years. Kannur Municipal Corporation is divided into six zones: Kannur town, Pallikunnu, Puzhathi, Edakkad, Elayavoor, and Chelora. Kannur Corporation is the fifth City Corporation in Kerala after the creation of the state. Established in 2015, Kannur Corporation's first mayor was E. P. Latha. Kannur corporation has two assembly constituencies –

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

and Azhikode – both of which are part of

parliamentary constituency.

Kannur Municipal Corporation Election 2020

Kannur Municipal Corporation Election 2015

Law and order

The Kannur City Police is headed by a commissioner, an

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...

(IPS) officer. The city is divided into some zones each under a circle officer. Apart from regular law and order, the city police comprise the traffic police, bomb squad, dog squad, fingerprint bureau, women's cell, juvenile wing, narcotics cell, riot force, armed reserve camps, district crime records bureau and a women's station. It operates several police stations functioning under the Home Ministry of

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

Demographics

According to the 2011 census of India, Kannur city has a population of . Males constitute 46.2% of the population and females 53.8%. Kannur has an average literacy rate of 96.23%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male literacy is 98% and female literacy is 94%. In Kannur, 12% of the population is under six years of age. The

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

community in Kannur live mainly in the Kannur Cantonment of Burnacherry and its surrounding areas of Thillery, No.3 Bazaar and Camp Bazaar.

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

is the administrative and local language.

Education

Indian Naval Academy is situated in Ezhimala, Kannur. Naval cadets are trained here in 2500 acres vast campus. Kannur District has five

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of Government of India, central government schools in India. Governed by the Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,257 schools in India, ...

at Kannur, Keltron Nagar, Payyanur, Ezhimala, and Thalassery, Peringome. Kannur University was established by Act 22 of 1996 of the

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 30 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 ...

. The university by the name "Malabar University" had come into existence earlier by the promulgation of an ordinance by the governor of Kerala, on 9 November 1995. The university was inaugurated on 2 March 1996 by A. K. Antony, the Chief Minister of Kerala. The objective of the Kannur University Act 1996 was to establish in the state of Kerala a teaching, residential and affiliating university so as to provide for the development of higher education in

and

revenue districts and the

Mananthavady Mananthavady is the Grade 3 municipality in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. The municipal boundaries are defined by Tirunelli Panchayat to the north, Kabani River to the east and south, and Thavinhal Panchayat to the west. Mananthavady i ...

Taluk of

district. Kannur University is a multi-campus university. Government Brennen College, the first college in Kannur, established in the year 1862, provide education to more than 2500 students. Government College of Engineering, Kannur was established in 1986 near Dharmasala, Kannur as a center for imparting engineering education in northern Kerala. The college is among the top ten engineering colleges of the state, providing higher studies in the field of technical education. The Government Medical College, Kannur was established in 1993 at Pariyaram to serve Kannur city and surroundings. The thirteenth National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Campus is located at Dharmashala, Kannur north of Kannur City.

Media

Many local cable television channels are available in Kannur. The most popular cable channels are City Channel, City Gold, City Juke, Network Channels, Zeal Network, Kannur Vision, World Vision, Worldvision Music, Chakkarakkal, Gramika channel Koothuparamba and Kannurone.

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

is broadcast in Kannur at 101.5 MHz. Private FM radio stations in Kannur include: Radio Mango 91.9 ( Malayala Manorama Co Ltd), Club FM 94.3 ( Mathrubhumi Printing And Publishing Co Ltd), Red FM 93.5 ( Sun Network) and Best FM 95.0 (Asianet Communications Ltd). A number of newspapers are published from Kannur, including the ''

Malayala Manorama '' Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1888, and currently has a rea ...

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. ...

, Madhyamam, Deshabhimani, Deepika, Rashtra Deepika, Chandrika, Kerala Kaumudi, Mangalam, Janmabhumi, Veekshanam, Thejas'', '' Siraj'', Suprabhaatham, Janayugom and

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

Kannur Cuisine

The Kannur cuisine depicts it culture and heritage. It is famous for Malabar biriyani. The city is also famous for Haluva called as ''Sweet Meat'' by Europeans due to the texture of the sweet. Another specialty is banana chips, which are made crisp and wafer-thin. Other popular dishes include seafood preparations (

prawns Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (members of the order of decapods), some of which are edible. The term ''prawn''Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature's most ...

mussels Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, whic ...

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

) . Vegetarian fare includes the sadya. Kannur cuisine is a blend of traditional

, Persian, Yemenese and

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

food culture. This confluence of culinary cultures is best seen in the preparation of most dishes. ''Kallummakkaya'' (

)

curry Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internatio ...

, ''irachi puttu'' (''irachi'' meaning meat), ''parottas'' (soft flatbread), '' Pathiri'' (a type of rice pancake) and ''ghee'' rice are some of the other specialties. The characteristic use of spices is the hallmark of Kannur cuisine—

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

and

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

are used profusely. The Kerala version of '' biryani'', popularly known as ''kuzhi mandi'' in

is another popular item, which has an influence from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. Various varieties of ''biriyanis'' like Thalassery ''biriyani'', and Kannur ''biriyani'', are prepared here. The snacks include '' unnakkaya'' (deep-fried, boiled ripe banana paste covering a mixture of cashew, raisins and sugar), '' pazham nirachathu'' (ripe banana filled with

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), 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, ...

grating,

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

or sugar), '' muttamala'' made of eggs, '' chatti pathiri'', a dessert made of flour, like a baked, layered ''chapati'' with rich filling, ''arikkadukka'', and more.

Transportation

Kannur has a good road network connecting to

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

and

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

. The

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

is also well connected to all parts of India. The Kannur International Airport which is about 26 km from the city began operations on 9 December 2018 and is the fourth international airport in the state. Other nearby airports are at Calicut,

and

. Kannur is on National Highway 66 or (formerly National Highway 17) between

and

. This highway is scheduled to be expanded to four lanes. A bypass for Kannur city is proposed under the NH widening project. Kannur is connected to

and

in Karnataka by the Kannur- Coorg-

Highway. This highway was upgraded to National Highway in 2017. Kannur railway station is one of the major stations of the

Southern Railway zone Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Rai ...

, under the jurisdiction of the . All trains including the Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express and Garib Rath stop at Kannur. Six daily trains and around 15 weekly or bi-weekly trains connect Kannur to the capital

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. Kannur is well connected through rail with

and

. Kannur South railway station and Edakkad railway stations are located under Kannur Corporation limits. Chirakkal railway station is located north of the city. Only passenger trains halt at these three stations. Kannur International Airport in

Mattanur Mattanur, also spelled as Mattannur, is a municipality and an aerotropolis in Kannur district, Kerala, India. Mattanur is about 27 km east of Kannur and Thalassery, two major towns of the district. Mattanur lies between Kannur, Th ...

was inaugurated on 9 December 2018. It is the fourth international airport in Kerala. The airport has a runway (the longest in the State) and state of the art passenger terminal as well other amenities. It is well connected by a comprehensive network of roads and a proposal for railway line has also been mooted. In the 2016–17 Union Railway budget, were dedicated for this under Extra Budgetary Resource (EBR) in which a part of the bill will be borne by the State Government towards the railway line.

Notable people

Literature: Sukumar Azhikode, Oyyarathu Chandu Menon, Cherusseri Namboothiri, N. Prabhakaran, T. Padmanabhan, T. K. D. Muzhappilangad Sports: Manuel Frederick, Jimmy George, V. P. Sathyan, Denson Devadas, C. K. Vineeth,

Sahal Abdul Samad Sahal Abdul Samad (born 1 April 1997) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan and the India national team. Club career Early life and youth career Sahal was born in Al Ain, UAE ...

, Tintu Luka, Chundangapoyil Rizwan, Sudha Shah Political leaders: M. V. Raghavan,

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian politician who has served as the List of chief ministers of Kerala, Chief Minister of Kerala since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), politburo ...

, K. Karunakaran, E. K. Nayanar, K. K. Shailaja, E. Ahamed, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, John Brittas, E. P. Jayarajan, Kadannappalli Ramachandran, K. Sudhakaran Actors: Sreenivasan, M. N. Nambiar, Malavika Mohanan, Samvrutha Sunil, Mamta Mohandas,

Vineeth Vineeth Radhakrishnan (born 23 August 1969) is an Indian actor, Bharatanatyam dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also appeared in a few Hindi and Kannada films. He h ...

, Vineeth Kumar, Deepak Parambol,

Sanusha Sanusha Santhosh is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. She started her career as a child artist to leading actress and supporting character roles. She also appears in some Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films too. Ear ...

, Sanoop Santhosh, Nikhila Vimal, Nivetha Thomas, Sreekala Sasidharan, Sneha Paliyeri, Anju Aravind, Athmiya Rajan, Sruthi Lakshmi, Parvathy Nambiar, Ganapathi S Poduval, Madonna Sebastian, Sana Khan, Santhosh Keezhattoor,

Shamna Kasim Shamna Kasim, also known by her stage name Poorna is an Indian actress, dancer, and model, who appears in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. Early life She was born in Kannur to a Malayalee couple Kasim and Ramla. She has done her ...

Filmmakers:

Bejoy Nambiar Bejoy Nambiar (born 12 April 1979) is an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work in Bollywood. He is mostly known for his critically acclaimed short films, ''Rahu'' and '' Reflections'', starring Mohanlal. He was the winner o ...

, Salim Ahamed,

Vineeth Sreenivasan Vineeth Sreenivasan (born 1 October 1984) is an Indian actor, director, producer, dubbing artist, screenwriter, playback singer and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is the eldest son of actor and screenwriter Sreeniva ...

, Dhyan Sreenivasan Music (Composers): Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, Kannur Rajan, Deepak Dev, Ifthi,

Shaan Rahman Shaan Rahman (born 30 December 1979) is an Indian composer and singer, best known for his compositions in the Malayalam film industry. Shaan made his debut as a music director in the 2009 film '' Ee Pattanathil Bhootham'' directed by Johny An ...

, Sushin Shyam, Sayanora Philip Music (Playback singers):

, Sushin Shyam, Sayanora Philip, Arun Alat Cinematographer: K. U. Mohanan

References

External links

GeoHack - Kannur

Official website

Official website (Alternative URL)
{{Authority control Metropolitan cities in India Former Portuguese colonies Cities and towns in Kannur district Populated coastal places in India