HISTORY

              One of the beautiful backwater houseboats places in the world. To label Alleppey the 'Venice of the East' might today appear a far-etched clichés of travelogue writers, but this quaint little town is certainly the Venice of the East. Nowhere else will you find, spread out across the center of town, a unique crisscrossing network of canals & lagoons on which thatch covered country boats punt (houseboats) along leisurely. The proximity of lakes adds to the Venetian ambience.
            But when Raja Kesavadasan, the Dewan of Travancore (king), founded the town in 1762, there was just one canal through the strip of sand between the backwaters and the sea. This soon grew into a bustling waterway, with shops, factories and commercial establishments springing up on either bank of the canal. This attracted merchants from other parts of the country from Europe, America and some other business countries. By the mid-19th Century, the sea had receded a mile, offering more land along the sand strip. Trading vessels soon began to call on Alleppey. In 1859 the first organized coir factory & products was started here and began producing matting from coir yarn on a loom developed by an English sea captain. Soon other British company -owned weaving establishments followed.
            Meanwhile, in 1816, the Church Missionary Society set up its local headquarters in Alleppey (Christ Society of India ) and three years later the first Anglican Church was built. In 1851 Alleppey had the honor of housing the first post office in the erstwhile Travancore State. The commercial importance of Alleppey began to decline after the late 1920s with the development of Cochin into a major port.
However, Alleppey is still a major center for trade in coir products, copra (dried coconut meat) and coconut oil for cooking and Ayurvedic products. Thanks to its long beach coast, Alleppey is also a center for fishing and marine products processing.

Palaeolithic Age:-
            The history of the district in the palaeolithic age is obscure. It is presumed that the coastal taluks of Cherthala, Ambalapuzha and Karthikappally might have been under water and these areas were formed by the accumulation of silt and sand later than the other parts of the district. Kuttanad was well known even from the early periods of the Sangam age. The early Cheras had their home in Kuttanad and they were called 'Kuttuvans' named after this place. Some archeological antiques like stone inscriptions, historical monuments etc, found in temples, churches, rock-out caves etc., and literacy works like "Unninili Sandesam" give some insight into the ancient period of this district. The famous travelers Pliny and Ptolemy of the first and second centuries had mentioned about places like Purakkad(Barace) in their classical works. Christianity had a strong foot-hold in this district even from the 1st Century A.D. The church located at Kokkomangalam or Kokkothamangalam was one of the seven churches founded by St.Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. It is generally believed that he landed at Maliankara in Muziris Port, presently known as Cranganore or Kodungallur in 52 A.D and preached Christianity in South India. During 9th to 12th century AD the district flourished in the field of religion and culture under the second Chera Empire. The famous literary work of this period was ‘Ascharya Choodamani’ a Sanskrit drama written by Sakthibhadra who was a scholar of Chengannur gramam.

16th Century:-
           During 16th century small principalities like Kayamkulam (presently Karthikappally and Mavelikkara taluks), Purakkad which was often called Ambalappuzha or Chempakasseri (present Ambalappuzha and Kuttanad taluk) and Karappuram comprising of two principalities called Moothedath and Iledath (present Cherthala Taluk) emerged into power. In the same period the Portuguese came into prominence in the political scene of the district. Christianity became popular in all parts of the district and they built several churches of which the churches located at Purakkad and Arthinkal are well known. The kingdom of Chempakasseri was at its zenith during the reign of Pooradam Thirunal Devanarayana, a great scholar and a poet who was the author of ‘Vedantha Retnamala’, a commentary on the first verse of Bhagavat Geetha. It is said that Sreekrishna Swami temple at Ambalappuzha was constructed and the idol of Lord Krishna installed during that time. It is believed that Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, Sri Neelakanta Deekshithar and Sri Kumaran Namboothiri were eminent scholars who patronized his court.

17th Century:-
             In the 17th century the Portugese power declined and the Dutch had a predominant position in the principalities of this district. As a result of several treaties signed between the Dutch and the Rajas of Purakkad, Kayamkulam and Karappuram, the Dutch built factories and warehouses in various places of the district for storing pepper, ginger etc. In course of time they inferred in the political and cultural affairs of the district. It was at that time Maharaja Marthandavarma, the ‘Maker of modern Travancore’ interfered in the political affairs of those principalities. The annexation of the Kingdoms of Kayamkulam, Ambalappuzha, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur and Karappuram to Travancore gave the Dutch a setback from the political scene of the district. Marthandavarma Maharaja had a remarkable role in the internal progress of the district. He gave special attention to the development of Mavelikkara as an administrative as well as a commercial centre. The Krishnapuram Palace, which is now a protected monument of the State Archaeology Department, was constructed during that period. It was at that time that the great and talented poet Kunjan Nambiar was installed in the court at Trivandrum.

Modern Alleppey:-
             During the reign of Dharmaraja the district was improved by all means. Raja Kesava Das, the then Diwan of Travancore who was known as the ‘Maker of modern Alleppey’ made Alappuzha a premier port town of Travancore. He constructed several roads and canals to improve communications and built warehouses. He gave all facilities to merchants and traders from far and near. During the reign of Balaramavarma Maharaja, Velu Thampi Dalava took keen interest in the development of the town and port. He brought the whole area of the island Pathiramanal under coconut cultivation and large tracts under paddy cultivation. The role of Velu Thampi Dalava in the development of Alappuzha is worth mentioning. In the 19th century the district attained progress in all spheres. One of the five subordinate courts opened in the state in connection with the reorganization of the judicial system by Colonel Munro was located at Mavelikkara. The credit of having the first post office and first telegraph office in the erstwhile Travancore state goes to this district. The first modern factory for the manufacture of coir mats and mattings was also established in 1859 at Alappuzha. The town Improvement Committee was set up in 1894.
              Carved out of erstwhile Kottayam and Kollam districts, Alleppey district was formed on 17th of August 1957.The name of the district Alleppey, the anglicized form was changed as ‘Alappuzha’ as per GO(P) No.133/90/RD dated 07-02-1990 It is assumed that the name of Alappuzha was derived by the geographical position and physical features of the place which means “the land between the sea and the network of rivers flowing into it”. At present, Alappuzha district comprises of six taluks namely Cherthala, Ambalapuzha, Kuttanad, Karthikappllly, Chengannur and Mavelikkara.