Kerala.
Capital: Trivandrum.
Area. 15005 square miles.
Population. 35 million.
Revenue Districts. 14.
Kerala has an area of 15,005 square miles, only about 1 percent of the total area of the country. The state stretches for 360 miles along the Malabar Coast on the south-western side of the Indian peninsula; its width varies from 20 to 75 miles. It is bordered by the states of Karnataka, to the north and Tamil Nadu to the east and by the Arabian Sea to the west. The capital is Trivandrum.
Isolated from the Indian interior by the mountainous belt of the Western Ghats, but possessing a long coastline that opens it to foreign influences, Kerala has evolved a unique culture. It is a highly politicized region, but it has a long tradition of religious amity. It is an educationally advanced state with its own language, Malayalam, and it has the highest rate of literacy among Indian states. Owing to the former matrilineal system, women in Kerala enjoy a high social status. Some of India's most isolated tribes persist in Kerala's wilderness areas.
Kerala is first mentioned as Kerala-putra in a 3rd-century-BC rock inscription left by emperor Asoka. In the last centuries BC this region became famous among the Greeks and Romans for its spices, especially pepper. During the first five centuries AD, the region was a part of Tamil -kam and thus was sometimes partially controlled by the eastern Pandya and Chola dynasties, as well as by the Cheras. In the 1st century AD Jewish immigrants arrived, and Syrian Orthodox Christians believe that St. Thomas the Apostle visited Kerala in the same century. Much of Kerala's history from the 6th to 8th century AD is obscure, but Arab traders introduced Islam later in the period.
Under the Kulashekhara dynasty. Malayalam emerged as a distinct language, and Hinduism became prominent. The Cholas often controlled Kerala during the 11th and 12th centuries. By the beginning of the 14th century, Ravi Varma Kulashekhara of Venad established a short-lived supremacy over southern India. After his death, Kerala became a conglomeration of warring chieftaincies, among whom the most important were Calicut in the north and Venad in the south. The era of foreign intervention began in 1498, when Vasco de Gama landed near Calicut. In the 16th century the Portuguese superseded the Arab traders and dominated the commerce of Malabar. Their attempt to establish sovereignty was thwarted by the Zamorin of Calicut. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese in the 17th century. Marthanda Varma ascended the Venad throne in 1729 and crushed Dutch expansionist designs at the Battle of Kolachel 12 years later. Marthanda Varma then adopted a European mode of martial discipline and expanded the new southern state of Travancore. His alliance in 1757 with the Raja of the central state of Cochin, against the Zamorin, enabled Cochin to survive. By 1806, however, Cochin and Travancore, as well as Malabar in the north, had become subject states under the British Madras Presidency. Two years after India's independence was achieved in 1947, Cochin and Travancore were united as Travancore-Cochin state. The present state of Kerala was constituted on a linguistic basis in 1956 when Malabar and the Kasargod taluka of South Kanara were added to Travancore-Cochin. The southern portion of the former Travancore-Cochin state was attached to Tamil Nadu.
Kerala is the most densely populated state in India. While only about one-fifth of the population is urban, this low proportion is deceptive because of the close proximity of scattered rural houses, especially in the coastal plain. Thus, in parts of the state there are tropical-rural equivalents of megalopolises. The major urban and industrial complexes are Cannanore, Calicut, Alwaye, Cochin-Ernakulam, Alleppey, and Quilon.
Most Malayalis, are of Dravidian ancestry, with some Indo-European admixture representing the ancient so-called Aryan influx. The latter element remains strongest among the Nambudiri caste of orthodox Hindus. A few tribal people in the mountains may exhibit affinities with the Negrito local race of South-east Asia. Kerala has a unique record in India of harmonious coexistence of diverse religions. The majority of the Malayalis are Hindus. There is no conflict between the Dravidian naga worship and that of Kali goddess on the one hand and the Hindu pantheon on the other, nor between the rival sects of Shaivism and Vaisnavism. The small population of Jainas live mainly in the far north. The Jewish community remains a small, exclusive sect; there is an ancient synagogue at Cochin. The Christians, who form more than a third of the population, belong broadly to the Orthodox Syrian, Roman Catholic, and Protestant churches, though each has many sects. While Muslims reside throughout the state, the Mapillas of the Malabar Coast constitute Kerala's largest Islamic community.
Geographic and geologic factors seriously circumscribe the Keralan economy. The amount of arable land is deficient for the needs of the crowded population. The state lacks major deposits of fossil fuels and minerals, except for ilmenite, the principal ore of titanium, rutile titanium dioxide, and monazite a mineral consisting of cerium and thorium phosphates, which are found in beach sands. Kerala has great hydroelectric potential, and the Idukki complex is the largest power-generating facility. The educational system, a developed banking system, and excellent transport facilities provide optimum conditions for further economic development.
Agriculture is the state's main economic activity. Commercial plantings on less than half of the total land under cultivation earn a sizable amount of foreign exchange but have also necessitated the importation of food for local consumption. Kerala's principal cash yielders are perennial areca nut, cardamom, cashew nut, coconut, coffee, ginger, pepper, rubber, and tea; the major food crops are annual rice, pulses e.g., peas and beans, sorghum, and tapioca. Commercial poultry farming is well developed. The forests yield valuable timbers such as ebony, rosewood, and teak, as well as industrial raw materials such as bamboo, used in the paper and rayon industries, wood pulp, charcoal, gums, and resins. Foreigners regularly attend the tea and timber auctions held in Cochin. Kerala ranks first among Indian states in fish production.
Most of the population is unaffected by industrialization. Unemployment is acute, and a high level of education among the jobless accentuates the problem. Traditional low-wage cottage industries, such as the processing of coconut fibre and cashews or weaving, employ most workers. More than one-fourth of Kerala's workers provide services.
Food processing is the largest industrial employer. Other products include fertilizers, chemicals, electrical equipment, titanium, aluminum, plywood, ceramics, and synthetic fabrics. Kerala has well-developed road and railway systems. It is connected with the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka by national highways. A railway coming from the east through the Palghat Gap meets with a railway running from north to south through the state and on to Kanya-kumari, the southernmost town of India. There are three major ports--Calicut, Cochin-Ernakulam, and Alleppey--that handle both coastal and foreign traffic. Cochin-Ernakulam also has major shipyard and oil refining facilities and serves as the headquarters for Indian coast guard and navy commands. More than 1,100 miles of inland waterways form main arteries for carrying bulk freight to and from the ports. Trivandrum has an international airport, and Calicut and Cochin have airports for domestic flights.
Kerala's cultural heritage contains elements of ancient Hindu culture that have been enriched by centuries of contact with both East and West. The state's impressive array of Hindu temples with copper-clad roofs, later Islamic mosques with "Malabar gables" triangular projections at the rooftops, and Portuguese colonial Baroque churches attests to this interweaving. Traditional art forms include intricate paintings on wood, thematic murals, and an amazing variety of indoor and outdoor lamps, which has earned Kerala the sobriquet "Land of Lamps." Literature and learning, in both Tamil and Sanskrit, flourished from the 2nd century AD. The Malayalam language, though an offshoot of Tamil, has absorbed the best in Sanskrit and has a prolific literature. Notable names in Malayalam poetry are Tuñchattu Eluttaccan and Kuñcan Nampiyar among classical poets, and Kumaran Asan and Vallathol in the present century. In 1889 Chandu Menon wrote Indulekha, the first outstanding novel in Malayalam, for which he received a certificate from Queen Victoria. The premier modern Malayali novelist is Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.Most traditional dances pertain to great Indian epics or to the honouring of specific Hindu deities.
In kathakali, the classical martial dance form of Kerala, male performers portray both male and female characters. By contrast, the bharat-natyam style, dating to early Tamil times, is practiced exclusively by females.
The administration of Kerala is headed by a Governor, a Council of Ministers presided over by a chief minister, and a unicameral Legislative Assembly, 140 of whose 141 members are elected. The independent judiciary is hierarchical, with the High Court at the apex headed by a chief justice. Appeals may go to the Supreme Court of India.
For provincial administration the state is divided into 14 districts; these in turn are subdivided for revenue purposes into talukas and villages. Kerala's modern political experience has been one of unstable government. The proliferation of political parties has made coalition governments inevitable.
Despite being outlawed by the constitution of India, elements of the caste system still prevail. The matrilineal joint family has given way to nuclear families with paternal inheritance. Both polygamy and polyandry were once widespread but today are illegal, with the exception of Muslim Polygamy.
