Historical geography of Eranad

Abstract

History and geography are more closely connected. History is concerned with the past of people, who occupy geographical space. Many historical events have geographical linkages. Geographical factors have impacts on history. Every historical event has taken place in or at a geographical location. The formation of a region depends upon geographical and cultural forms. The present study entitled ‘Historical Geography of Eranad’ is an attempt to study the process of the evolution of Eranad from the Iron Age early historic period to the medieval period.Historical geography is the geographic study of a place or region at a specific time or period in the past or the study of geographic change in a place or region over a period of time. Land and landscapes are key concept in historical geography. Historical geography remained a relatively undeveloped field of study until the 17th century, when Philipp Cluser, the German geographer, considered the founder of historical geography, published A Historical Geography of Germany, combining knowledge of the classics with knowledge of land. The geo-historical study centered on the region’s history, geography, religion, agriculture, technology and intellectual climate. We can see the examples of regional studies in Indian context, south Indian context and also Kerala. So the regional formation in Kerala has been connected with the formation of nadus. So, the present study tries to understand the process of the formation of Eranad. Eranad is the largest and most typical nadu or province in the erstwhile Malabar district of Madras presidency. The area comes under the major portions of present Malappuram and some portions of the Kozhikode district of Kerala state.Geographically, Eranad is situated on both sides of the River Chaliyar and adjacent to Walluvanadu. The present study explores the varied aspects of the historical geography of Eranad. It covers natural and environmental, political, social, anthropological, cultural and economic geography and so on – in brief how various factors together moulded the geo-cultural and socio-political entity of the region, which in turn imparted an identity and uniqueness to the nadu. We have a few studies on the formation of the nadus of Kerala in general, and certainly several works on the Zamorins, but a micro-study on the historical geography of Eranad has not been undertaken yet. The main objectives of the present study is to analyse the relation between man and the environment in the region, to know the concept of human and environmental geography from a historical perspective, to understand the relationship between the landscape and ecosystem of Eranad, to analyse the process of the evolution of Eranad from early historic times to the medieval period, to analyse the historical formation of Eranad as an agrarian settlement, to an economic zone and a nadu identity and to analyse the role of the factors including geographical, cultural, economic and political in the formation of Eranad etc. This work is using the tools provided by historical and human geography