Kerala : History
The earliest known inhabitants of Kerala were the Negritos. Descendants of this race still inhabit the mountain regions of the state.
After the Negritoes came the Proto-Australoids (Austrics), who spread over the whole of India. These belonged to the same race as the present-day Australian Aborigines. They introduced snake-worship in Kerala.
By 700 B.C., the Dravidians (The Mediterranean People), who migrated from the Mediterranean region, spread to the whole of India especially in the south, supplanting the Austrics and Negritoes alike. The Dravidians are the ancestors of majority of the present day Malayalees.
After the Dravidians came the Aryans who had already settled over northern India from the Mesopotamian region. The Aryans migrated to Kerala from the north around the fifth century B.C. With them, they brought Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Around 1 BC the Kerala region was ruled by the Chera Dynasty, which traded with the Greeks, Romans and Arabs.
The Tamil Chera dynasty, Ays and the Pandyan Empire were the traditional rulers of Kerala, until the 14th century.
By around 50 - 125 A.D., the Chera kings captured parts of northern Kerala. During this period, also, Kerala had strong trade with the West.
AD 216 : As per the book Keralolpathy, the period up to 216 A.D. is known as 'Parasurama period' and the period 216 A.D. to 428 A.D. is known as age of 'Perumals'.
The period ranging from the middle of 7th century to the early part of the 9th century is known as the Post - Sangham period. This was the period when Buddhism began to decline. The main rulers of this period were Cheraman Perumal and Kulasekara Alwar. Both these kings later abdicated their thrones. Kulasekara Alwar later became a Vaishnavite poet and Cheraman Perumal accepted Islam and went to Mecca.
Adi Shankara (Sankaracharya, 788 - 820 A.D.) lived and propagated the Advaida philosophy during this period.
AD 800 - AD 1102 : Cheraman Perumal is a title given to the kings of the second Chera dynasty who ruled present day Kerala and surrounding regions from 800 to 1102 AD. Kulashekhara Varman (800-820 CE) , Rajashekhara Varman (820-844 CE) ….. Rama Varma Kulashekhara (1090- 1102 AD) was the last king of the Chera Dynasty
With the breakdown of Chera empire the next phase of Kerala history began. This was the period of the provincial rulers.
Provincial rulers were those who took control of a small province rather than a large empire.
Arrival of the Europeans marked the beginning of another era in the history of Kerala. Making use of the rivalry between the provincial rulers, they started by providing military assistance to one ruler against the other. By and by, their influence increased to such an extend that they began running the administration with the rulers acting as puppets in their hands.
Following the Portuguese, the Dutch reached Kerala. Then the British.
The World Wars weakened the colonial powers and this gave a boost to the nationalist movements in the colonies.
A number of big and small movements arouse until 1947, when finally the land was free from the clutches of colonialism.
On July 1, 1949, the princely states of Travancore and Cochin were integrated to form Travancore - Cochin (Thiru-Cochi) state.
But it was on November 1, 1956, that Kerala as a state came into existence. This was by the consolidation of Malabar province, which was a part of the Madras Presidency and the Travancore - Cochin state.
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