Kerala (
Malayalam: കേരളം
?; Kēraḷaṁ) is a
state located in southwestern
India. Neighbouring states include
Karnataka to the north and
Tamil Nadu to the south and east, and the
Arabian sea is to the west. Major cities include the state capital of
Thiruvananthapuram,
Kochi,
Kollam,
Palakkad,
Thrissur,
Kozhikode and
Kannur.
Malayalam is the principal
spoken language.
A 3rd-century-BC rock inscription by emperor
Asoka the Great attests to a Keralaputra.
[2] Around 1 BC the region was ruled by the
Chera Dynasty, which traded with the
Greeks,
Romans and
Arabs. The Tamil
Chera dynasty,
Ays and the
Pandyan Kingdom were the traditional rulers of Kerala whose patriarchal dynasties ruled until the 14th century AD.
Pliny the Elder who visited Kerala in the first century AC reported in his book
Natural History (Pliny) that the Northern Kerala was ruled by the Chera Kings while the southern Kerala was ruled by
Pandyan Kingdom who had the capital at Nelcynda with port at Porakkad (Ambalapuzha).
[3][4] The Dravidian
Villavar tribe which established the Chera Kingdom were Patriarchal in descendency.
Ay kings ruled southern Kerala. The Later Chera Kingdom otherwise called the Kulasekhara dynasty was founded by King Kulasekhara Alwar who is considered as a Vaishnavaite saint. After the repeated attacks of
Rashtrakutas in the end of first millennium the northernmost portions of Kerala. Later Chera dynasty came to an end weakened by the Rashtrakuta and Chola invaders.
Feudal
Namboothiri Brahmin and
Nair city-states subsequently gained control of the region.
[5] Kolla Varsham or Malayalam Era, which is assumed to have been established by King Udaya Marthanda Varma, King of Kollam, in 825 AD, serves as the official calendar of Kerala.
[6] Early contact with Europeans gave way to struggles between colonial and native interests. Kerala state was created on 1 November 1956 via the
States Reorganisation Act which merged the former state of
Travancore-Cochin,
Malabar district of the former
Madras State, and
Kasaragod taluk of
Dakshina Kannada.
The state has a 91 percent literacy rate, among the highest in India. A survey conducted in 2005 by
Transparency International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country.
[8] Kerala has witnessed significant migration of its people, especially to the
Gulf countries, starting with the
Kerala Gulf boom, and is uniquely dependent on
remittances from its large Malayali expatriate community. Kerala has the lowest rate of population growth in India, with a fertility rate of 1.6 per parents.
