COCHIN, ko-chen'. A native State. tributary to Madras, India (q.v.). bounded northwest, north, and northeast by Malabar and Coimbatur; east and south by Travaneore, and west by the Indian Ocean (Map: India, C 6). It has an area of 1362 square miles. consisting chiefly of low lam], lying between a narrow stretch of raised coast-line and the Western (:hints (q.v.), part of which are included in the State and separate it from inner India. Behind the eoast-line lies the shallow' backwater. 120 miles long, and varying in breadth from a few hundred yards to ten miles; it has three connections with the ocean, and is fed by the variable mountain torrents of the Ghats. During the wet season the backwater forms a navigable channel. The region is one of the most humid in the world, especially during the southwest monsoon of June, duly. August. September; even the remainder of the year dry weather is comparatively unknown. The cocoanut is the most valuable product of the country; (lie forests also produce red eedar. leak,
and other hard woods„but these arc becoming scarce. Rice, pepper. carda moms. ginger. betel nut, yams, arrowroot, sweet potatoes, and •offee are cultivated in the low country. There are manufactures of salt on the eoast. The capital is Ernakolam, although the ruler's palace is situ ated at Tripunthora ; the chief seaport. besides the British town of Cochin (q.v.), is Malipuram. Population, in 1891, 723.000; in 1900. 815,200, consisting chiefly of Hindus: there are a few Mohammedans and a large number of Christians and dews. The .Ye•s are classified into white and black; and the Christians. estimated at one fifth of the population, are divided between the Syrian and Romish churches: they trace their origin partly to the Portuguese conquest and partly to the missionary labors of Saint Thomas, the Apostle. Consult: Day. Land of the Pcr mauls: or, Cochin, its Past and Present clras, 1863).