The beginning of the ninth Century A.D is the age of the Kula- sekharas.
At that time, Kottayam was a part of the Vempolinad, which belonged
to the Kulasekhara Empire (1090 - 1102 A.D.). The Vembanad lake
itself derives its name from Vempolinad.The Kingdom of Vempolinad
split itself into the Kingdom of Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur by about
1100 A.D. and later these two kingdoms were annexed by Marthanda-
Varma of Travancore between 1749 and1754. The Portuguese and the
Dutch had their business relations with both Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur
Kingdoms, pepper and other spices being the main attractions. In
addition to Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur, Marthanda Varma brought
two more small principalities in Kottayam under his control - Poonjar
and Meenachil.
After Marthanda Varma Dharma Raja (1758-1798) placed Kottayam in
a key position in the new defence strategy against Haider Ali and
Tippu Sultan of Mysore. Apart from this, Kottayam afforded asylum
to a number of refugee princes who left Malabar in the wake of Mysore
invasions.
Kottayam occupied a predominant position in the cultural life of
the Travancore princely court,the main reason being migration of
Ramapurathu Warrier, the famous poet of Vadakkumkur to Thiruvananthapuram
following the annexation of Kottayam by Marthanda Varma.
Kottayam has played its role in all the political agitations of
modern times. The 'Malayali Memorial' agitation may be said to have
had its origin in Kottayam. The Malayali Memorial sought to secure
better representation for educated Travancoreans in the Travancore
civil service against persons from outside. The Memorial, which
was presented to the Maharaja Sri Mulam Thirunal (1891) was drafted
at a public meeting held in the Kottayam Public Library. The event
marked the beginning of the modern political movement in the state.
It was here that the famous Vaikom Satyagraha (1924 -25) an epic
struggle for eradication of untouchability, took place. Scheduled
castes and other backward classes in Travancore were not only denied
entry into temples, but also access to temple roads. Vaikom, the
seat of a celebrated Siva Temple, was the venue of the symbolic
satyagraha. It is of immense historic significance that national
leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari, Acharya Vinoba
Bhave and E.V. Ramswami Naykar, associated with the struggle.
The Nivarthana agitation of the early thirties, to secure adequate
representation for the non-caste Hindus, Christians and Muslims
in the State Legislature, enjoyed considerable support from the
district.
The district was also a centre of the agitation led by the State
Congress for responsible Government in Travancore. The agitation
had a triumphant end, with the overthrow of Sir. C.P. Ramaswami
Iyer, the then Dewan of Travancore.
At A Glance
Kottayam district has a total area of 2208 sq. km. lying a little
south to central Kerala, the district is bordered on the north by
Ernakulam, on the east by Idukki and on the south by Alappuzha and
Pathanamthitta districts. The Vembanad lake forms the western boundary.
The district is naturally divided into high land, mid land and low
land, the bulk being constituted by the mid land regions. Meenachil
and Kanjirappally taluks have high land and mid land areas while
Kottayam, Changanassery and Vaikkom taluks have mid land and low
land areas. Kanjirappally and Meenachil taluks have laterite soil,
where as Vaikom taluk and part of Changanassery and Kottayam taluks
have aluvial soil. The district has no coastal area. Kottayam lies
between Latitude 9
0 15' and 10
0 21' and Longitude
76
0 22' and 77
0 25'.
Classification of Geographical area (1998-99, in Hec.). Total 219550,
forests 8141, land put to non agricultural uses 23077, barren and
uncultivable land 1376, permanent pastural and other grazing land
two, land under tree crops 129, cultivable waste 1874, fallow other
than current fallow 2625, current fallow 4924, net area sown 177409,
area sown more than once 39382, total cropped area 216784.
Climate
The district has a tropical climate with an oppressive hot season
in the plains and plenty of rain fall through out. The hot season
from March to May, is followed by the south west monsoon from June
to September. October and November constitute the post-monsoon or
retreating monsoon season, when day temperature increases gradually
and the heat is nearly as in summer. December to February forms
the north east monsoon. Rain cease early in January. The district
normally gets an annual average rain fall of 3130.33 mm.
The important rivers of the district are the Meenachil, the Muvattupuzha
and the Manimala. The 78 kms. long Meenachil river flows through
the taluks of Meenachil, Vaikom and Kottayam. It has a catchment
area of 1272 Sq.km. and utilisable water resource of 1110 Cubic
mm. The river is formed by several streams originating from the
Western Ghats in Idukki district. At Erattupetta, Poonjar river
also joins it, takes a sharp turn and flows towards the west. At
Kondur, it is joined by the Chittar and at Lalam, it receives the
Payapparathodu and flows in a south-west direction till it reaches
Kottayam. Here, it branches into several streams before emptying
into the Vembanad lake. The important towns in the basin are Pala,
Poonjar, Ettumanoor and Kottayam. Meenachil Medium Irrigation project
is having a net ayacut of 9960 hectares, 155 sq.km. catchment area
and a water spread area of 228 hectares.
The Muvattupuzha river originates from Ernakulam district, flows
through Vaikom taluk and empties into the Vembanad lake. The most
important town in the basin is Vaikom, the famous pilgrim centre.
The Manimala river flows through Kanjirappally and Changanassery
taluks. The Chittar joins it on its course further down the west
as it flows to Alappuzha district. The important town in the basin
is Mundakkayam.
