Kottayam
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Kottayam (कोट्टायम) is a city and district in the Indian state of Kerala.
Variants
Location
It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-west Kerala. Kottayam is located in the basin of the Meenachil River at an average elevation of 3 metres above sea level, and has a moderate climate. It is located 150 km north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
History
Kottayam literally means the interior of a fort "Kotta" meaning fort and "Akam" meaning inside. Rulers of Munjanad and Thekkumkur had their headquarters at Thazhathangadi in the present Kottayam town. Marthanda Varma of Travancore attacked Thekkumkur and destroyed the palace and the Thaliyil fort. The remnants of the palaces and forts are still seen here.
The present Kottayam district was previously a part of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Earlier, the Travancore state consisted of two revenue divisions viz. the southern and northern divisions, under the administrative control of a ‘Diwan Peshkar’ for each. Later in 1868 two more divisions Quilon (Kollam) and Kottayam were constituted. The fifth division Devikulam came next but only for a short period, which in course of time, was added to Kottayam. At the time of the integration of the State of Travancore and Cochin (Kochi) in 1949, these revenue divisions were renamed as districts and the Diwan peshkars gave way to District Collectors, paving the way for the birth of the Kottayam District in July 1949.[1]
कोट्टनर
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[2] ने लेख किया है ... कोट्टनर (AS, p.232): कोट्टनर का उल्लेख प्राचीन रोम के इतिहास लेखक 'प्लिनी' ने किया है। उसने भारत के सुदूर दक्षिण के इस प्रदेश का उल्लेख करते हुए इसे 'काली मिर्च' का समुद्र तट कहा है, क्योंकि रोम साम्राज्य से जो व्यापार भारत के साथ ई. सन के प्रारंभिक काल से होता था, उसमें काली मिर्च प्रमुख पण्य वस्तु थी। कोट्टनर के प्रदेश में काली मिर्च बड़ी प्रचुरता से उत्पन्न होती थी। विंसेंट स्मिथ के मत में कोट्टनर, केरल राज्य में स्थित वर्तमान 'कोट्टायम' और 'क्विलन' का इलाका रहा होगा। (अर्ली हिस्ट्री ऑफ़ इंडिया, पृ. 476.)