Malappuram district

Malappuram district, with its headquarters at Malappuram, is a district in the state of Kerala, India. The district was formed on 16 June 1969. Malappuram district is composed of portions of the former Palakkad and Kozhikode districts: Ernad taluk and portions of Tirur taluk in Kozhikode district, and portions of Perinthalmannna and Ponnani taluks in Palakkad district.

The district includes Thirunavaya, the classic medieval center of Vedic learning;Kottakkal, home of Ayurveda medicine; Ponnani, one of the oldest centres of Islamic education in the region. In 1921 the present-day Malappuram district was part of the Moplah rebellions, followed by decades of stagnant economic, social and political development. In the early years of Communist rule in Kerala, Malappuram experienced land reform under the Land Reform Ordinance. During the 1970s Persian Gulf oil reserves were opened to commercial extraction, and thousands of unskilled workers migrated to the Gulf. They sent money home, supporting the rural economy, and by the late 20th century the region had First World health standards and near-universal literacy.

Malappuram

Malappuram (also Malapuram; Malayalam: മലപ്പുറം Malappuṛaṃ) is a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 33.61 km² (12.98 sq mi). The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarters of Malappuram district. Divided into 40 electoral wards, the city has a population density of 2,083 per square kilometre (5,390 per square mile). As per the 2011 census Malappuram Urban Agglomeration is the fourth largest urban agglomeration in Kerala state with a total population of 1,698,645. Malappuram is situated 54 km southeast of Calicut, 90 km northwest of Palghat, and 140 km northwest of Coimbatore.

Etymology

The name Malappuram means "terraced place atop the hills" or simply "hilltop", derived from the general geographical characteristics of the city.

History

Malappuram was a military headquarters from ancient times though the ancient history of the city is hardly seen recorded. However, there are some pre-historic relics, particularly Rock-cut caves found in some parts of the city like Oorakam, Melmuri, Ponmala, Vengara etc. manifesting the inhabitancy. During the Sangam period, Eranadan Malappuram was under the Chera Empire. But no further details are available about the life and culture of the people either during the Sangam age or in the post-Sangam age. Archeological relics found in Malappuram also include the remnants of palaces of the eastern branch of the Zamorin reign. Details of the rulers of erstwhile Malappuram, who were the ancestors of later Zamorins, figure in the Jewish copper plates of Bhaskara Ravi Varman (1000 AD) and in the Kottayam copper plates of Veera Raghava Chakravarthy (1225 AD). The later history of the city is interwoven with the history of Zamorin's rule.