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Kerala is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. To its east and northeast, Kerala borders Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; to its west and south lie the Indian Ocean islands of Lakshadweep and the Maldives, respectively. Kerala envelops Mahé, a coastal exclave of Pondicherry. Kerala is one of four states that compose the linguistic-cultural region known as South India.
First settled in the 10th century BCE by speakers of Proto-South Dravidian, Kerala was influenced by the Mauryan Empire. Later, the Cheran kingdom and feudal Namboothiri Brahminical city-states became major powers in the region. Early contact with overseas lands culminated in struggles between colonial and native powers. Finally, the States Reorganisation Act of November 1, 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood. Social reforms enacted in the late 19th century by Cochin and Travancore were expanded upon by post-Independence governments, making Kerala among the Third World's longest-lived, healthiest, most gender-equitable, and most literate regions. However, Kerala's suicide and unemployment rates rank among India's highest.[1]
The etymology of Kerala is widely disputed, and is a matter of conjecture. It may derive from Sanskrit keralam, means 'the land added on', with reference to its mythical and geographical origins. Another prevailing theory states that it is an imperfect Malayalam portmanteau that fuses kera ('coconut palm tree') and alam ('land' or 'location' or 'abode of' ). Natives of Kerala—Keralites—thus refer to their land as Keralam. Other theories have that the name is originating from the phrase chera alam (Land of the Chera). Kerala's tourism industry, among others, also use the phrase God's own country.
During Neolithic times, humans largely avoided Kerala's malarial rainforests and wetlands; thus, the first evidence of habitation—potsherds and dolmens—dates to the 10th century BC. These were produced by speakers of the Tamil language from north-western India, suggesting that ancient Kerala and Tamil Nadu (part of Tamilakam) once shared a common language, ethnicity, and culture. By the early 14th century, Kerala had become a linguistically distinct region. The first major recorded kingdom, the Chera, ruled Kerala from Vanchi. Allied with the Pallavas, they warred against the Chola and Pandya kingdoms. A Keralite identity—distinct from the Tamils and associated with the second Chera empire and the development of Malayalam—evolved during the 8th–14th centuries. In written records, Kerala was first mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Aitareya Aranyaka. Later, figures such as Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder[3], and the unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea displayed f a miliarity with Kerala.
The Chera kings' dependence on trade meant that merchants from West Asia established coastal posts and settlements in Kerala. Many—especially Jews and Christians—also escaped persecution, establishing the Nasrani Mappila and Muslim Mappila communities. According to several scholars, the Jews first arrived in Kerala in 573 BC. The works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings states that Thomas the Apostle visited Muziris in Kerala in 52 CE to proselytize amongst Kerala's Jewish settlements. However, the first verifiable migration of Jewish-Nasrani families to Kerala is of the arrival of Knai Thoma in 345 CE. Muslim merchants settled in Kerala by the 8th century CE. After Vasco Da Gama's arrival in 1498, the Portuguese sought to control the lucrative pepper trade by subduing Keralite communities and commerce.
Conflicts between the cities of Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi (Cochin) allowed the Dutch to oust the Portuguese. In turn, the Dutch were ousted at the 1741 Battle of Colachel by Marthanda Varma of Travancore (Thiruvathaamkoor). Meanwhile, Mysore’s Hyder Ali conquered northern Kerala, capturing Kozhikode in 1766. In the late 18th century, Tipu Sultan—Ali’s son and successor—launched campaigns against the expanding British East India Company; these resulted in two of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. He ultimately ceded Malabar District and South Kanara to the Company in the 1790s. The Company then forged tributary alliances with Kochi (1791) and Travancore (1795). Meanwhile, Malabar and South Kanara became part of the Madras Presidency.
Memorial of Veera Pazhassi Raja (the "Lion of Kerala") in Mananthavady, Wayanad. Pazhassi Raja launched a guerilla war against the East India Company in the late 18th century.
Memorial of Veera Pazhassi Raja (the "Lion of Kerala") in Mananthavady, Wayanad. Pazhassi Raja launched a guerilla war against the East India Company in the late 18th century.
Kerala saw comparatively little defiance of the British Raj—nevertheless, several rebellions occurred, including the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar revolt. Many actions, spurred by such leaders as Sree Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swamikal, instead protested such conditions as untouchability; notable was the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraham. In 1936, Chitra Thirunal Bala Rama Varma of Travancore issued the Temple Entry Proclamation that opened Hindu temples to all castes; Cochin and Malabar soon did likewise. In 1921, sectarian violence erupted in Kerala, with conflicts between militant Muslims on one hand and Hindus and the British Raj government on the other. The conflict became known as the Moplah Rebellion.
After India's independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin were merged to form Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949. On January 1, 1950 (Republic Day), Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state. Meanwhile, the Madras Presidency became Madras State in 1947. Finally, the Government of India's November 1, 1956 States Reorganisation Act inaugurated a new state—Kerala—incorporating Malabar District, Travancore-Cochin (excluding 4 southern Taluks which was merged with Tamil Nadu), and the taluk of Kasargod, South Kanara. A new Legislative Assembly was also created, for which elections were held in 1957. These resulted in a communist-led government—one of the world's earliest—headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Subsequent social reforms favoured tenants and labourers. This facilitated, among other things, improvements in living standards, education, and life expectancies.
Kerala's fourteen districts are distributed among Kerala's three historical regions: Malabar (northern Kerala), Kochi (central Kerala), and Travancore (southern Kerala). Kerala's modern-day districts (listed in order from north to south) correspond to them as follows:
* Malabar: (
Kasargod,
Kannur,
Wayanad,
Kozhikode,
Malappuram,
Palakkad)
* Kochi: (
Thrissur,
Ernakulam)
* Travancore: (
Idukki,
Alappuzha,
Kottayam,
Pathanamthitta,
Kollam,
Thiruvananthapuram)
Mahe, a part of the Indian union territory of Pondicherry, is a coastal exclave surrounded by Kerala on all of its landward approaches. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital and most populous city; Kochi (the most populous urban agglomeration) , Kozhikode, Palakkad, Kollam and Thrissur are the other major commercial centres of the state. The High Court of Kerala is situated at Ernakulam. Kerala's districts, which serve as the administrative regions used for taxation purposes, are further subdivided into a total of 63 taluks; these have fiscal and administrative powers over settlements within their borders, including maintenance of local land records.
Like other Indian states and Commonwealth countries, Kerala is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy; universal suffrage is granted to residents. There are three branches of government. The legislature, or the legislative assembly, consists of elected members and special office bearers (the Speaker and Deputy Speaker) elected by assemblymen. Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker (or the Deputy Speaker if the Speaker is absent). The judiciary comprises the Kerala High Court (including a Chief Justice combined with 26 permanent and two additional (pro tempore) justices) and a system of lower courts. The executive authority—comprising the Governor of Kerala (the de jure head of state appointed by the President of India), the Chief Minister of Kerala (the de facto head of state: the Legislative Assembly's majority party leader is appointed to this position by the Governor), and the Council of Ministers (appointed by the Governor, with input from
the Chief Minister). The Council of Ministers answers to the Legislative Assembly. Auxiliary authorities known as panchayats, for which local body elections are regularly held, govern local affairs.
Kerala hosts two major political alliances: the United Democratic Front (UDF—led by the Indian National Congress) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF—led by the CPI(M)). At present, LDF is the ruling coalition and V.S. Achuthanandan of the CPI(M) is the Chief Minister. Kerala is one of the few regions in the world where communist parties are democratically elected in a parliamentary democracy. Compared with most other Indians, Keralites are well versed with the political process and many elections are decided by razor thin margins of victory.
The Kerala state government's tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) amounted to 111,248 million INR in 2005, up from 63,599 million in 2000. Its non-tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) of the Government of Kerala as assessed by the Indian Finance Commissions reached 10,809 million INR in 2005, nearly double the 6,847 million INR revenues of 2000. However, Kerala's high ratio of taxation to gross state domestic product (GSDP) has not alleviated chronic budget deficits and unsustainable levels of government debt, impacting social services.
Since its incorporation as a state, Kerala's economy largely operated under welfare-based democratic socialist principles; nevertheless, the state is increasingly—along with the rest of India—liberalising its economy, thus moving to a more mixed economy with a greater role played by the free market and foreign direct investment. Kerala's nominal gross domestic product (as of 2004–2005) is an estimated 89451.99 crore INR, while recent GDP growth (9.2% in 2004–2005 and 7.4% in fiscal year 2003–2004) has been robust compared to historical averages (2.3% annually in the 1980s and between 5.1% and 5.99% in the 1990s). Nevertheless, relatively few major corporations and manufacturing plants choose to operate in Kerala; this is mitigated by remittances sent home by overseas Keralites, which contributes around 20% of state GDP. Kerala's per capita GDP—11,819 INR—is significantly higher than the all-India average, although it still lies far below the world average. Additionally, Kerala's Huma n Development Index and standard of living statistics are the nation's best. This apparent paradox—high human development and low economic development—is often dubbed the "Kerala phenomenon" or the "Kerala model" of development, and arises mainly from Kerala's strong service sector.
The service sector (including tourism, public administration, banking and finance, transportation, and communications—63.8% of statewide GDP in 2002–2003) along with the agricultural and fishing industries (together 17.2% of GDP) dominate Kerala's economy; nearly half of Kerala's people are dependent on agriculture alone for income. Some 600 varieties of rice (Kerala's most important staple food and cereal crop) are harvested from 310,521 ha (a decline from 588,340 ha in 1990) of paddy fields; 688,859 tonnes are produced per annum. Other key crops include coconut (899,198 ha), tea, coffee (23% of Indian production, or 57,000 tonnes), rubber, cashews, and spices—including pepper, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Around 10.50 lakh (1.050 million) fishermen haul an annual catch of 6.68 lakh (668,000) tonnes (1999–2000 estimate); 222 fishing villages are strung along the 590 km coast, while an additional 113 fishing villages are spread throughout the hinterland. Traditional industries manufact uring su ch items as coir, handlooms, and handicrafts employ around ten lakh (one million) people. Around 1.8 lakh (180,000) small-scale industries employ around 909,859 Keralites, while some 511 medium- and large-scale manufacturing firms are located in Kerala. Meanwhile, a small mining sector (0.3% of GDP) involves extraction of such materials as ilmenite (136,908.74 tonnes in 1999–2000), kaolin, bauxite, silica, quartz, rutile, zircon, and sillimanite. Home gardens and animal husbandry also provide work for hundreds of thousands of people. Chhattisgarh is planning a massive Jatropha planting compaign to employ farmers as well as to achieve biofuel sef-sufficiency. Other significant economic sectors are tourism, manufacturing, and business process outsourcing. Kerala's unemployment rate is variously estimated at 19.2% and 20.77%, although underemployment of those classified as "employed", low employability of many job-seeking youths, and a mere 13.5% female participation rate are significant problems. Estimates of the statewide poverty rate range from 12.71% to as high as 36%.
Kerala has 145,704 km of roads (4.2% of India's total). This translates into about 4.62 km of road per thousand population, compared to an all-India average of 2.59 km. Virtually all of Kerala's villages are connected by road. Traffic in Kerala has been growing at a rate of 10–11% every year, resulting in high traffic and pressure on the roads. Total road length in Kerala increased by 5% between. Kerala's road density is nearly four times the national average, reflecting the state's high population density. India's national highway network includes a Kerala-wide total of 1,524 km, which is 2.6% of the national total. There are eight designated national highways in the state. Upgrading and maintenance of 1,600 km of state highways and major district roads have been taken up by the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), which includes the GIS-based Road Information and Management Project (RIMS). Most of Kerala's west coast is accessible through two National Highways, NH 47, and NH 17.
The state has major international airports in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode that link it with the rest of the nation and the world. Alappuzha has a excellent waterway network unique to its Backwater territory. The Indian Railways' Southern Railway linr runs throughout the state, connecting all major towns and cities except the highland districts Idukki and Wayanad.
