[27] It is said that Nannan, the most renowned ruler of Ezhimala dynasty, took refuge at Wayanad hills in the 5th century CE when he was lost to Cheras, just before his execution in a battle, according to the Sangam works.

[27] Ezhimala kingdom was succeeded by Mushika dynasty in the early medieval period, most possibly due to the migration of Tuluva Brahmins from Tulu Nadu.

The Koyilandy Jumu'ah Mosque contains an Old Malayalam inscription written in a mixture of Vatteluttu and Grantha scripts which dates back to the 10th century CE.

The Perumal kingship remained nominal compared with the power that local rulers (such as that of the Mushika in the north and Venatu in the south) exercised politically and militarily.

Kolattunādu had its capital at Ezhimala and was ruled by Kolattiri royal family and roughly comprised the North Malabar region of Kerala state in India.

The Kolathiri Dominion emerged into independent 10 principalities i.e., Kadathanadu (Vadakara), Randathara or Poyanad (Dharmadom), Kottayam (Thalassery), Nileshwaram, Iruvazhinadu (Panoor), Kurumbranad etc., under separate royal chieftains due to the outcome of internal dissensions.

Initially the British had to suffer local resistance against their rule under the leadership of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, who had popular support in Thalassery-Wayanad region.

[4] The guerrilla war launched by Pazhassi Raja, the ruler of Kottayam province, against the East India Company had a huge impact on the history of Kannur.

Changes in the socio-economic and political sectors in Kerala during the initial decades of the 20th century created conditions congenial for the growth of the Communist Party.

Extension of English education initiated by Christian missionaries in 1906 and later carried forward by government, rebellion for wearing a cloth to cover upper parts of body, installing an idol at Aruvippuram in 1888, Malayali Memorial in 1891, establishment of SNDP Yogam in 1903, activities, struggles etc.

Traditionally North Malabar has remained the source of an erstwhile aristocracy for many of the southern territories of Kerala through displacement and adoptions including the Travancore royal family.

Kottiyoor Vysakha Mahotsavam is a 27-day yearly pilgrimage commemorating the mythology of Daksha Yaga, which attracts thousands of Hindu pilgrims from the Malabar region.

Unlike other parts of erstwhile matrilineal-Kerala, polyandry was a strict taboo in North Malabar and exceptional customs such as Putravakaasham (purse/estate grants to children of male members) were occasionally allowed.

In North Malabar, the Kolathiri Kings had the ritualistic status of Perumaal such that their official designates or sthanis retained their jurisdiction all over Kerala except for the Rajarajashwara Temple at Taliparamba.

Unlike in the rest of Kerala it is not uncommon to see Hindu natives of this region cook and eat non-vegetarian food during their festivals including Vishu and Onam and sometimes even in marriage households.

Bakery-cuisine is well developed in the area and has led to large numbers of natives operating popular bakeries in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Mysore, Pune and Southern Kerala.

North Malabar represents one of the earliest and largest pockets of exposure to other cultures in Kerala through Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Tuluvas, Rashtrakutas, Kodavas, Tulus, Arabs, Persians, Portuguese, Dutch, French, British, and through early employment and migrations in government and military services from the time of its incorporation into the Madras Presidency.

Translation of the phrase Aa chaa rya vaa ga bhed ya (meaning Shankaracharya's word/law is unalterable) into numbers in the Katapayadi notation produces 0 6 1 4 3 4 1 and these written backwards give the age of the Kali Yuga in the first year of the Kollam era.

[citation needed] In 1617, the Kolathiri Raja Udayavarman, wished to attain the higher status of kshatriya by undergoing the Hiranyagarbham ritual in honour of Hiranyagarbha, the creator of the universe.

At the same time, people recognised the potential of the large uncultivated lands in the northern regions called Malabar, which was then part of the Madras Presidency under British Rule.

This was followed by immigration of Christians from Knanaya into the North Malabar Region in search of virgin land to cultivate and to seek relief from the poverty and financial strain caused by the Second World War.

The Diocese of Kottayam made also arrangements with the Latin Ordinaries to have pastoral ministry and liturgical celebrations according to their own Syro-Malabar Rite.

The number of large land owning private-Tharavad-owned schools in North Malabar expanded in the first half of the twentieth century partly due to the availability of government grant-in-aid for such enterprises from 1939 onwards.

Furthermore, corporate expansion of land owning Tharavads and a decrease in European engineered proletysing of the depressed classes also contributed to the growth pattern.

[86] In democratic Kerala however, many of these schools evolved as public and government enterprises, which led to the recruitment of teachers from the southern provinces and the subsequent immigration of teaching staff of all ethno-religious backgrounds, many of whom preferred to settle in the area permanently.

From 1766 to 1792, during the era of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, multiple military invasions, plunder and systematic forcible religious conversions took place in both North and South Malabar.

Thus at various times between 1766 and 1792, all female members and many male members of the different royal families of North and South Malabar: Chirackal, Parappanad, and Calicut, and chieftains' families: Punnathoor, Nilambur, Kavalapara and Azhvanchery Thamprakkal (titular head of all Namboothiri Brahmins), sought asylum in Travancore and temporarily settled in different parts of the kingdom.

Even after the fall of Tipu Sultan's regime in Srirangapatnam, some of the Malabar nobility, wholly or partly, preferred to remain in Travancore because of fear of atrocities if they returned home.

However many of these families still retain their links to their native area through marriage association, partial retention of natal property and often a characteristic sacerdotal North Malabar self-identity.

[109] The snacks include unnakkaya (deep-fried, boiled ripe banana paste covering a mixture of cashew, raisins and sugar),[111] pazham nirachathu (ripe banana filled with coconut grating, molasses or sugar),[111] muttamala made of eggs,[109] chatti pathiri, a dessert made of flour, like a baked, layered chapati with rich filling, arikkadukka,[112] and more.