BRIEF HISTORY - Government of Kerala

underwent radical changes resulting in conflicts with the Zamorin. Ponnani (which now forms part of
the district) also was an important target of the Portuguese. In 1507 Almeida raided Ponnani and
started building a fortress there in 1585. By the close of the 16 th century, the Portuguese supremacy
in the Malabar Coast started dwindling and it slowly declined giving political advantage to the Dutch.
Unmindful of Portuguese opposition, the Zamorin entered into a treaty with the Dutch East India
Company on 11 th November 1604. This was followed by another treaty in 1608, which confirmed the
earlier treaty and the Dutch assured assistance to Zamorin in expelling the Portuguese. By the middle
of the 17 th century, the Dutch had monopoly of the foreign trade in the Kerala coast except for small
English factories at Ponnani and Calicut. The arrival of Captain Keeling at Kozhikode in 1650 and
the conclusion of a treaty with the Zamorin paved way for the British supremacy in the region.
Though the British had to face stiff resistance in Malabar from the Portuguese, the Dutch and the
French, the English in the earlier years mainly concentrated in fostering trade rather than involving
themselves in military exercises.
The Mysorean invasions during the period had political overtones in Malabar. During his
conquest between 1766-93, Haider Ali marched to Ponnani facing stiff resistance from the local
Nairs. Haider Ali adopted severe and primitive means for punishing enemy troops. With headquarters
at Manjeri, his troops spread all over the district capturing men, women and children. His draconian
measures produced an outward calm in the district though it did not last for long. During 1768-73
Haider was busy with his campaigns against the Mahrattas, but at the end of 1773, he again invaded
Malabar through the Thamarasseri pass. In 1778 a rebellion broke out against the authority of
Mysorean ruler. The English East India Company encouraged the local rulers and they helped the
local people to rise to shake off the Mysorean yoke. The British force under Col. Humberstone had to
face the Mysorean army led by Makhdum Ali, which ended in the death of the latter in April 1782.
The greater part of his army was also lost. At this juncture, Haider Ali sent his son Tippu Sultan to
restore his authority over Malabar. But Tippu could not continue for long in Malabar as his father
passed away and he had to inherit his father’s throne. In 1788 Tippu Sultan again invaded Kerala
with a large army and without facing much resistance he could establish his suzerainty and establish
Feroke as his capital. But the signing of the treaty at Serinagapatanam in 1792 resulted in the collapse
of the Mysore throne and the large tract of Malabar, which was under the authority of Mysoreans,
was ceded to the British. The British Commissioner’s effected a political settlement and thereby the
rulers of Parappanad and Vettathunad were required to pay their revenues through the Zamorin, who
was also temporarily vested the powers to administer justice over all these petty Rajahs. these
arrangements also did not last long as the revenues of the district could not be paid by the Zamorin to
the British promptly. Under the strict orders of the Governor of Bombay on 5 th July 1796, the
Commissioners took the direct management of the Zamorin’s estates, but on payment of dues they
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