Kannur

KANATHUR -KANNAN'S UR- KANNUR

Kannur district derived its name from the location of its headquarters at Kannur town. The old name 'Cannanore' is the anglicised form of the Malayalam word Kannur. According to one opinion, 'Kannur' is a derivation from Kanathur, an ancient village, the name of which survives even today in one of the wards of Kannur Municipality. Another version is that Kannur might have assumed its name from one of the , deities of the Hindu pantheon, a compound of two words, Kannan (Lord Krishna) and Ur (place) making it the place of Lord Krishna. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the deity of the Katalayi Sreekrishna temple was originally installed in a shrine at Katalayi Kotta in the south eastern part of the present Kannur town.

Demographics\

According to the 2001 census of India,^[5] Kannur has a population of 63,795. Males constitute 48% of the population and females, 52%. Kannur has an average literacy rate of 83%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. Male literacy is 84% and female literacy is 83%. In Kannur, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[\]Etymology

The name Kannur may have been derived from Kanathur, an ancient village. Another opinion holds that Kannur was originally a portmanteau derived from two Malayalam words: Kannan(Krishna), a Hindu deity, and Ur (place)—making it "the place of Lord Krishna". One support for this theory is that the deity of the Kadalayi Srikrishna Temple was originally installed in a shrine at Kadalayi Kotta in the southeastern part of the present Kannur town. During the British Raj, the city was known as Cannanore, the anglicised form of the Malayalam wordKannur.^[6]

A view of the Arabian Sea from St. Angelo Fort, Kannur

[edit]Geography

Kannur is located at approximately 11.8689°N 75.3555°E. It has an elevation of 1.02 metres (2.98 ft) along the coast of the Arabian Sea, with a sandy coastal area. The town has an 8 km-long seashore and a 3 km-long beach at Payyambalam.

[edit]Climate

Kannur experiences a humid tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification. In April and May, the average daily maximum temperature is about 35 °C (95 °F). Temperatures are low in December and January: about 20 °C (68 °F). Like other areas on the Malabar Coast, this town receives heavy rainfall during the Southwest Monsoon. The annual average rainfall is 3438 mm, around 68 percent of which is received in July.^[7]

St. Angelo Fort

[\]History

It can be identified with Naura in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. From the twelfth century AD onwards, Kannur was a port town ofKolathunadu, which was ruled by the Kolathiris. The city was an important port on the Arabian Sea and carried on trade with Persia andArabia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It also served as the British military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. In conjunction with her sister city, Tellicherry, it was the third largest city on the western coast of British India in the eighteenth century afterBombay and Karachi.

St. Angelo Fort was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India. It is situated by the Arabian Sea about 3 km from Kannur town. In 1507, the fort was besieged by the local ruler in the Siege of Cannanore (1507). The ownership of the fort has changed hands several times. In 1663, the Dutch captured it. They subsequently gave the fort its present appearance and the original Portuguese fort was ultimately demolished. The Dutch sold the fort to the Arakkal royal family in 1772. During this time, the Arakkal sultanate began issuing coins.^[8] The British conquered it in 1790 and used it as one of their major military stations on the Malabar Coast. It is fairly well preserved as a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry as a background is on display at the Rijksmuseumin Amsterdam. Kunjali Marakkar's head was removed from his body and exhibited in the Fort after his assassination. During the 17th century, Kannur was the capital city of the only Muslim Sultanate of Kerala, known as Arakkal.^[8] Before that, Kannur was under Kolathiri Raja of Chirakkal. During the British Raj, Kannur was part of the Madras province in the District of North Malabar.