Cochin

Cochin
Presidency: Madras
Coordinates:	9.9509843°N 76.251649°E
Altitude:
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Kochi
State/Province:	Kerala
Country:	India
Transport links

FibiWiki Maps
See our interactive map of this location showing places of interest during the British period
Cochin

Cochin (now called Kochi) is a city in the modern state of Kerala. In the British era it was part of the Madras (Presidency). Kochi City comprises three municipalities in the Cochin area: Fort Cochin, Mattancherry and Ernakulam. Ernakulam is the largest urban area.

History

Cochin became the site of the earliest European settlement in India when the Portuguese landed in 1500. The Kingdom of Cochin (see Cochin State) agreed friendly relations with the Portuguese, who cemented their involvement in the city by winning a war with the rulers of Calicut. Although the Raja of Cochin was nominally in charge, the Portuguese effectively ruled the city from 1503-1663. The Dutch then conquered Cochin and ruled the territory until 1773 when Hyder Ali took possession. In 1814, the British acquired Cochin under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in exchange for the island of Banca (in Indonesia).

Fort Cochin area

Built around the old Portuguese Fort Emmanuel, this area is the oldest part of Cochin, with Portuguese, Dutch and British buildings.

Churches

• St Francis Church, Cochin

External links

• Wikipedia:

• Kochi
• History of Kochi
• Kingdom of Cochin
• Ernakulam

• British capture of Fort Cochin Google Books
  
• This India List post about mixed marriages mentions Cochin

Historical books online

• The land of the Permauls: or Cochin, its past and its present by Francis Day 1863 (archive.org)
  
• "Kingdom of Cochin" page 156 A description of the coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning of the sixteenth century by Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese. Translated from an early Spanish manuscript in the Barcelona library with notes and a preface by Henry E. J. Stanley. 1866 Archive.org