Kannur

Kannur is a city and municipal corporation in the south Indian state of Kerala. It was once an ancient trading port. Enduring monuments such as 16th-century St. Angelo Fort, once occupied by European colonial forces, show the city’s significant role in the spice trade. Housed in a former palace, the Arakkal Museum highlights Kerala's one Muslim royal family. The palm-fringed sands of Payyambalam Beach run along Kannur’s western shore

History

The earliest evidence of human habitation in the district are rock-cut caves and megalithic burial sites of the Neolithic age. The Taliparamba-Kannur-Thalassery area abounds in rock-cut caves, dolmens, burial stone circles and menhirs, all of megalithic burial order. The district was part of the Chera kingdom, which ruled most of Kerala during the first several centuries CE. Later Kannur was the capital of the Kolattiri Rajas, whose kingdom had trading relations with Arabia and Persiain the 12th century and 13th centuries.

Kannur District witnessed one of the longest and bloodiest resistance to British rule in India. This revolt led by Pazhassi Raja in the 1792–1806 period kept a large part of the district in a state of war.

Kannur District played an important role in the Indian freedom movement. The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, established a Malabar District committee in 1908. A branch of the All India Home Rule League, founded by Dr. Annie Besant, functioned in Thalassery during this period and among its active workers was V.K. Krishna Menon. By the end of 1939, a branch of the Communist Party of India was formally established at Pinarayi, a village near Thalassery.