Page 35 - history_Classical

Fort at Kannur was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India.
The Dutch captured the fort from the Portuguese in 1663. They modernized the fort and built the bastions
Hollandia, Zeelandia, and Frieslandia that are the major features of the present structure. The original
Portuguese fort was pulled down later. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry behind it can be seen
in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The Dutch sold the fort to king Ali Raja of Arakkal in 1772.
During the 17th century, Kannur was the capital city of the only Muslim Sultanate in Kerala, known
as Arakkal, who also ruled the Laccadive Islands in addition to the city of Kannur. Arakkal
Kingdom and Chirakkal kingdom were two vassal kingdoms based in the city of Kannur. The island
of Dharmadom near Kannur, along with Thalassery, was ceded to the East India Company as early as
1734, which were claimed by all of the Kolattu Rajas, Kottayam Rajas, Mannanarand Arakkal Bibi in the
late medieval period, where the British initiated a factory and English settlement following
the cession.[46][40] Then the East India Company captured the fort Kannur in 1790 and used it as one of
their major military stations on the Malabar Coast. During the period of British colonial rule, Kannur was
part of the Madras province in the Malabar District.

In 1761, the British captured Mahé, and the settlement was handed over to the ruler of Kadathanadu. The
British restored Mahé to the French as a part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In 1779, the Anglo-French war
broke out, resulting in the French loss of Mahé. In 1783, the British agreed to restore to the French their
settlements in India, and Mahé was handed over to the French in 1785.
Initially the British had to suffer local resistance against their rule under the leadership of Kerala Varma
Pazhassi Raja, who had popular support in Thalassery-Wayanad region. The guerrilla war launched
by Pazhassi Raja, the ruler of Kottayam province, against the East India Company had a huge impact on
the history of Kannur. Changes in the socio-economic and political sectors in Kerala during the initial
decades of the 20th century created conditions congenial for the growth of the Communist Party.
Extension of English education initiated by Christian missionaries in 1906 and later carried forward by
government, rebellion for wearing a cloth to cover upper parts of body, installing an idol at Aruvippuram
in 1888, Malayali Memorial in 1891, establishment of SNDP Yogam in 1903, activities, struggles etc.
became factors helpful to accelerate changes in Kerala society during a short time. These movements
eventually coalesced into the Indian independence movement.
Very soon, ideas about socialism and Soviet Revolution reached Kerala. Such ideas got propagated in
Kerala through the works of Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai, Sahodaran Ayyappan, P.
Kesavadev and others. By the beginning of the 1930s, some other useful developments were taking place.
Important among them was Nivarthana Agitation in Travancore. That was the demand of people
suppressed so far as untouchables and weaker sections for participation in government. This brought to
the forefront struggles like proportional representation in government and reservation of jobs. This
imparted a new enthusiasm among oppressed masses.

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