Calicut was one of the most important cities in southwestern India. It was located on the coast of Malabar, which made it a port city. Being a city on the water, Calicut played a big role for the trade in the region it was located, Kerala, and India as well. Calicut was known for the spices that it had imported and exported. Through the years, Calicut went through several civil conflicts politically. However, an agreement was reached between the northern and southern parts of the city through cooperation and negotiation. Calicut had many types of religions in its boundaries such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism and Sikhism. Calicut, from the time period of 600-1450 CE played a prominent role in the region of Kerala through its interference in religion, politics and social aspects.
Politics played a very big part in the city of Calicut from 600-1450 C.E. There were political differences between the city and many changes in government that sometimes took a turn for the worst or for the better. There were two powers that ultimately ruled Calicut: in the north, the Ezhimala kings, and in the south, the Aay Rojas. From 500-800 C.E there was political instability throughout the city and there were many invasions coming from both the north and south. The fighting went on for years, but in 800 the southern part of Calicut finally reached a solid political standpoint among its people and stopped the invasions for good.
The Second Chera Empire was established in the ninth century and ruled until 1122 C.E. The Chera kingdoms had many confrontations with the Chola and Pandya kingdoms. Frequent wars with the two kingdoms weakened the Chera Empire and ultimately led to their destruction. After the fall of the Cheras, Kerala was divided into many different districts, which were called “Nadus.” Some of the Nadus were named Eranad and Polanad. The rulers of the Nadus were confined to small areas instead of large vast spaces. Eventually fighting broke out among the provincial rulers in order to gain more land and expand their kingdom. The ruler of Polanad, Porlarthris, controlled what will later be called Kozhikode.
Once a general of Aluddin Khilji, the Sulthan of Delhi, in 1310, and all the empires that followed patriarchy came to an end. The Samantha Kshatriya and Nair dynasties, who practiced Matriarchy and Naga worship, were established and maintained thereafter. Eranad (a Nadu), ruled by Eradis, was one of the kingdoms that had survived and flourished.
As political disputes continued to go on throughout Calicut, the social part was developing. The people of Calicut continued to live their lives according to their caste system as well as worship their religion. While Kerala was searching for a stable leader to hold together the region, Calicut was introduced to new religions, later making it a multi-faith and religious tolerant city.
During the first Chera Dynasty, which ruled southern India until the twelfth century, Cheras worshiped ‘Kottave’ the mother goddess. Eventually Hinduism developed forming beliefs in gods and goddesses, temples were also built most often to a local goddess or serpent and ancestral worship was common.
The Medieval period of Calicut was a melting pot of people from different regions that all co-existed as they continued to follow their traditional occupation. Some of these included potters, washer men, agricultural workers, merchants, astrologers, etc (Kozhikode, Wapedia).
The city of Calicut had based their caste system on the Hindu religion. In the Hindu religion there is a hierarchy that structures people by class or caste. The religious word for caste is “Varna.” Each Varna has certain duties or rights and its members can only work for occupations in that Varna. Based on Hinduism, they divided their people into separate castes to regulate society (Luce, 2007).
The highest caste was called Brahmans, which were priests, teachers, and judges. Their job was to spread knowledge and teaching. The next caste was the Ksatriyas or the warrior caste. These people dominated government and were rulers and aristocrats. Below this caste were Vaisyas who were landlords, traders, shopkeepers, artisans, and businessmen. The last caste in the hierarchy was the Sudras who were peasants who would serve the other three castes. They had no social or economic rights.
Below all of the castes were the outcasts or the untouchables. These people were considered “pollution” and had jobs that polluted the air. Their jobs involved tasks so far beneath that they were forced to work at night so they were not seen. They were not allowed to enter temples, schools, and water wells from which the higher castes drew water. Calicut used this caste system to control their social
