Malabar Coast
Malabar Coast | |
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Tropical (Köppen ) |
The Malabar Coast is the southwestern region of the
Kuttanad, which is the point of the lowest altitude in India, lies on the Malabar Coast. Kuttanad, also known as The Rice Bowl of Kerala, is among the few places in the world where cultivation takes place below sea level.[4][5] The peak of Anamudi, which is also the point of highest altitude in India outside the Himalayas, lies parallel to the Malabar Coast on the Western Ghats.
The region parallel to the Malabar Coast gently slopes from the eastern highland of Western Ghats ranges to the western coastal lowland. The moisture-laden winds of the Southwest monsoon, on reaching the southernmost point of the Indian subcontinent, because of its topography, divide into two branches; the "Arabian Sea Branch" and the "Bay of Bengal Branch".[6] The "Arabian Sea Branch" of the Southwest monsoon first hits the Western Ghats,[7] making Kerala the first state in India to receive rain from the Southwest monsoon.[8][9] The Malabar Coast is a source of biodiversity in India.
Etymology
Until the arrival of the British, the term Malabar was used in foreign trade circles as a general name for Kerala.[1] Earlier, the term Malabar had also been used to denote Tulu Nadu and Kanyakumari which lie contiguous to Kerala in the southwestern coast of India, in addition to the modern state of Kerala.[10][11] The people of Malabar were known as Malabars. The term Malabar is often used to denote the entire southwestern coast of India.
Additionally, European traders and scholars referred to all Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka as Malabars. In the 18th century, J. P. Fabricius described his Tamil-English Dictionary as the "Dictionary of Malabar and English".[12]
From the time of Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century CE) itself, the Arab sailors used to call Kerala Male. The first element of the name, however, is attested already in the Topography written by Cosmas Indicopleustes. This mentions a pepper emporium called Male, which clearly gave its name to Malabar ('the country of Male'). The name Male is thought to come from the Tamil word Malai ('mountain').[13][14] The second part of the name is thought by scholars to be the Arabic word barr ('continent') or its Persian relative bar ('country').
Al-Biruni (AD 973 - 1048) must have been the first writer to call this state Malabar.[1] Authors such as Ibn Khordadbeh and Al-Baladhuri mention Malabar ports in their works.[15] The Arab writers had called this place Malibar, Manibar, Mulibar, and Munibar. Malabar is reminiscent of the word Malanad which means the land of mountains.
According to William Logan, the word Malabar comes from a combination of the Dravidian word Mala (mountain) and the Persian/Arabic word Barr (country/continent).[1][16]
Definitions
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2023) |
The term Malabar Coast, in historical contexts, refers to India's southwestern coast, which lies on the narrow coastal plain of Karnataka and Kerala between the Western Ghats range and the Arabian Sea.[17] The coast runs from south of Goa to Kanyakumari on India's southern tip. India's southeastern coast is called the Coromandel Coast.[18]
In ancient times the term Malabar was used to denote the entire south-western coast of the Indian peninsula. The region formed part of the ancient kingdom of Chera until the early 12th century. Following the breakup of the Chera Kingdom, the chieftains of the region proclaimed their independence. Notable among these were the Zamorins of Kozhikode, Kolathunadu, Perumbadappu Swaroopam, Venad, Kingdom of Valluvanad of Kingdom of Valluvanad.[citation needed]
The name Malabar Coast is sometimes used as an all-encompassing term for the entire Indian coast from Konkan to the tip of the subcontinent at Kanyakumari.[17] This coast is over 845 km (525 mi) long and stretches from the coast of southwestern Maharashtra, along the region of Goa, through the entire western coast of Karnataka and Kerala, and up to Kanyakumari. It is flanked by the Arabian Sea on the west and the Western Ghats on the east. The southern part of this narrow coast is referred to as the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests.[citation needed]
Malabar is also used by ecologists to refer to the Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of southwestern India (present-day Kerala).[citation needed]
Geography
Geographically, the Malabar Coast can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands; rugged and cool mountainous terrain, the central mid-lands; rolling hills, and the western lowlands; coastal plains.[19]
The Western Ghats mountain range lie parallel to the coast on the eastern highland and separate the plains from the Deccan Plateau. These mountains recognised as one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity and is listed among UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[20] The peak of Anamudi in Kerala is the highest peak in India outside the Himalayas, is at an elevation of 2,695 m (8,842 ft).[21] The chain's forests are considered to be older than the Himalaya mountains.[20]
Malabar's western coastal belt is relatively flat compared to the eastern region,
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Kerala Backwaters
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The Athirappilly Falls is located on Chalakudy River.
-
Periyar, the longest river of Kerala.
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Sandy beaches dotted with swaying coconut palms are a ubiquitous sight along the Malabar coast
Physical geography
The term Malabar Coast is sometimes used as an all-encompassing term for the entire Indian coast from the western coast of
Malabar rainforests
The Malabar rainforests include these ecoregions recognized by biogeographers:
- the Malabar Coast moist forests formerly occupied the coastal zone, up to the 250 meters in elevation (but 95% of these forests no longer exist)
- the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests grow at intermediate elevations
- the South Western Ghats montane rain forests cover the areas above 1000 meters
The Monsooned Malabar coffee bean comes from this area.
Port cities
The Malabar Coast featured (and in some instances still does) several historic port cities. Notable among these were/are
Because of their orientation to the sea and to maritime commerce, the Malabar coast cities feel very
History
Prehistory
A substantial portion of the Malabar Coast including the western coastal lowlands and the plains of the midland may have been under the sea in ancient times. Marine fossils have been found in an area near
Ancient and medieval history
The Malabar Coast has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BCE, according to
According to the
The term
During the early
In 1498,
British colonialism: Malabar District
After the Anglo-Mysore wars, the parts of the Malabar Coast, those became British colonies, were organized into a district of
During the
After Indian independence
With India's independence, Madras presidency became
See also
- Coromandel Coast
- Coastal South West India
- Battle of Thrissur
- Dutch Malabar
- Kerala Backwaters
- List of rivers of Kerala
- Travancore
- Venad (kingdom)
- Zamorin
- Thiru-Kochi
- Malabar (disambiguation)
- Malabar District
- Malabars
- Portuguese Empire
- Portuguese India
- Thalassery cuisine
References
- ^ ISBN 9788126415885. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ K. V. Krishna Iyer (1938). Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806. Norman Printing Bureau, Kozhikode.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
- ^ a b Press Trust of India (1 June 2020). "Kerala Boat Ferries Lone Passenger To Help Her Take Exam". NDTV. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ Suchitra, M (13 August 2003). "Thirst below sea level". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-8183320818. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-8181373991. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-8131758304. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-8120914667. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ J. Sturrock (1894). "Madras District Manuals - South Canara (Volume-I)". Madras Government Press.
- ^ V. Nagam Aiya (1906). The Travancore State Manual. Travancore Government Press.
- ^ Fabricius, Johann Philipp (1809). A Malabar and English dictionary. The Library of Congress. Vepery.
- ^ C. A. Innes and F. B. Evans, Malabar and Anjengo, volume 1, Madras District Gazetteers (Madras: Government Press, 1915), p. 2.
- ^ M. T. Narayanan, Agrarian Relations in Late Medieval Malabar (New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 2003), xvi–xvii.
- ^ Mohammad, K.M. "Arab relations with Malabar Coast from 9th to 16th centuries" Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 60 (1999), pp. 226–234.
- ISBN 978-81-206-0446-9.
- ^ a b Malabar Coast, Britannica.com. Accessed 7 March 2023.
- ^ Map of Coromandel Coast Archived 10 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine on a website dedicated to the East Indian Campaign (1782–1783).
- ^ ISBN 978-81-8069-294-9.
- ^ a b "UN designates Western Ghats as world heritage site". The Times of India. 2 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Hunter, William Wilson; James Sutherland Cotton; Richard Burn; William Stevenson Meyer; Great Britain India Office (1909). The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Vol. 11. Clarendon Press. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ISBN 978-0415773362. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-8131767344. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ Suchitra, M (13 August 2003). "Thirst below sea level". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-0070702882. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI—Ministry of Shipping) (2005). "Introduction to Inland Water Transport". IWAI (Ministry of Shipping). Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2006.
- ISBN 965-278-179-7.
- ^ The Clash of Cultures in Malabar : Encounters, Conflict and Interaction with European Culture, 1498-1947 Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, Myeong, Do Hyeong, Term Paper, AP World History Class, July 2012
- ISBN 978-8126415786. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ISBN 978-8177552577. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ^ "Wayanad". kerala.gov.in. Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ Pradeep Kumar, Kaavya (28 January 2014). "Of Kerala, Egypt, and the Spice link". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-264-1578-6. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ According to Pliny the Elder, goods from India were sold in the Empire at 100 times their original purchase price. See [1]
- ^ Bostock, John (1855). "26 (Voyages to India)". Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. London: Taylor and Francis.
- ^ Indicopleustes, Cosmas (1897). Christian Topography. 11. United Kingdom: The Tertullian Project. pp. 358–373.
- ^ Das, Santosh Kumar (2006). The Economic History of Ancient India. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 301.
- ^ Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia.Archived 27 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Ed. by Edward Balfour (1871), Second Edition. Volume 2. p. 584.
- ^ Joseph Minattur. "Malaya: What's in the name" (PDF). siamese-heritage.org. p. 1. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ISBN 978-8170990260. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ISBN 978-0670084784. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ISBN 978-8120601451. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ^ "Kerala." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 26 December 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-60520-492-5. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- ^ "The Travels of Marco Polo/Book 3/Chapter 17 - Wikisource, the free online library". en.wikisource.org. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Shungoony Menon, P. (1878). A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times (pdf). Madras: Higgin Botham & Co. pp. 162–164. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- JSTOR 1785406.
- ISBN 978-81-206-0169-7.
- ^ "The land that arose from the sea". The Hindu. 1 November 2003. Archived from the original on 17 January 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
- ^ "Kerala. Encyclopædia Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 8 June 2008.
- ^ Pamela Nightingale, 'Jonathan Duncan (bap. 1756, d. 1811)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009
- ^ Boag, GT (1933). The Madras Presidency (1881–1931) (PDF). Madras: Government of Madras. p. 63.
- Chandran, VP (2018). Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus – 2019 (Malayalam ed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode.
Further reading
- K. V. Krishna Iyer (1938). Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806. Norman Printing Bureau, Kozhikode.
- William Logan (1887). Malabar Manual (Volume-I). Madras Government Press.
- William Logan (1887). Malabar Manual (Volume-II). Madras Government Press.
- Menon, A. Sreedhara (2007). A Survey of Kerala History. DC Books. ISBN 9788126415786.
- S. Muhammad Hussain Nainar (1942). Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin: An Historical Work in The Arabic Language. University of Madras.
- Panikkar, K. M. (1929). Malabar and the Portuguese: being a history of the relations of the Portuguese with Malabar from 1500 to 1663.
- Panikkar, K. M. (1931). Malabar and the Dutch.
- Panikkar, K. M. (1953). Asia and Western dominance, 1498–1945. London: G. Allen and Unwin.
External links
- Media related to Malabar Coast at Wikimedia Commons
- Malabar travel guide from Wikivoyage