Cochin

COCHIN, a feudatory state of southern India, in political sub ordination to Madras, with an area of 1,418 square miles. It is bounded on the north by British Malabar, on the east by British Malabar, Coimbatore and Travancore, on the south by Travan core, and on the west by British Malabar and the Arabian Sea. The state may be divided into three regions : the eastern zone, consisting of broken forested portions of the western Ghats, which, gradually decreasing in height, merge into (2) the central belt comprising the uplands and plains that dip towards the back waters along the coast (see COCHIN : town), beyond which lies (3) the western zone, forming the littoral strip. The low country is naturally flat and swampy, but has been drained and cultivated. An undulating country with grassy flats, naked hills and wooded terraces, intersected by numerous torrents, and dotted with home steads, orchards and cultivated fields, extends up to the foot of the Ghats. Here are great forests which form a considerable source of wealth.

In 1931 the population was 1,205,016, and 568 in every thousand are literate. More than a quarter are Christians, mostly Syrians and Roman Catholics. The tribute is 113,333, and the financial condition of the state is flourishing. The principal products are rice, coconuts and timber. Cochin is the centre of the coconut oil trade and coconut products are the chief export. Salt is manu factured along the coast. The capital is Ernakulam, but the maharaja resides at Tripunthora. The principal commercial centre is Mattancheri, adjoining the British town of Cochin. The chief means of communication is by boat along the backwaters; but the line of the Cochin State railway connects Ernakulam with Shora nur, and a tramway for work in the forests runs to Chalakudi, a distance of 52 miles.

History.

What is now the native State of Cochin was, until about the middle of the 9th century A.D., part of the Chera or Ker ala kingdom (see KERALA) . Its port of Kodungalur was from early times one of the chief centres for the trade between Europe and India. The history of Cochin is exceedingly obscure previous to the arrival of the Portuguese. The rajas of Cochin, who are of pure Kshattriya blood, claim descent from the Chera king Chera man Perumal. About the middle of the 9th century this king, according to tradition, resigned his kingdom, embraced Islam, and went on pilgrimage to Arabia, where he died. Towards the end of the century the Chera kingdom was overrun and dismembered by the Cholas. In 1498 Vasco da Gama reached the Malabar coast; and in 1502 the Portuguese were allowed to settle in the town of Cochin, where they built a fort. By the end of the century their influence had become firmly established, largely owing to the effective aid they had given to the rajas of Cochin in their wars with the Zamorin of Calicut. In 1663, however, the Dutch cap tured Cochin and held it for about i oo years. In 1776 Hyder Ali of Mysore invaded the State and forced the raja to ac knowledge his suzerainty and pay tribute. In 1791 Tippoo, son of Hyder Ali, ceded the sovereignty to the British, who entered into a treaty with the raja, by which he became their vassal and paid an annual tribute of a lakh of rupees. On October 17, 1809, in consequence of an attempt of the hereditary chief minister, Paliyath Achan, in 1808, to raise an insurrection against the British without his master's knowledge, a fresh treaty was made by which the raja undertook to hold no correspondence with any foreign State and to admit no foreigners to his service, with out the sanction of the British Government.

From this time the State greatly advanced in prosperity under successive rajas. For over ioo years trade was developed until the annual revenue reached 7 o lakes of rupees. In 1923 Cochin with Travancore, Pudukkottai and two smaller States were placed in direct relation with the Government of India as the Madras States.