Chaliyam is a village situated at the estuary of Chaliyar (River Beypore) in Kozhikode district of Kerala, India. Chaliyam forms an island, bounded by the Chaliyar in the north, and River Kadalundi in south, and the Conolly Canal in the east. It is located just opposite to Beypore port. Chaliyam (Beypore Railway Station) was the former terminus of the South-West Line of the Madras Railway. Chaliyam is the birthplace of Imam Shihabuddeen Ahmed Koya Shaliyathi. Chaliyam is also famous for the Guinness World Records holder Muhammed Adil, a P.M. who covered around seven km in the Chaliyar River with his hands and legs tied with ropes.
Different names of Chaliyam:
Muslim navigators: al-Shaliat Henry Yule. Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Volume 1 Taylor & Francis, 2017 Chaliyam, a small port south of Kozhikode at the time, is not regularly mentioned under this name in the Arabic and Persian geographical literature. It does feature in Abu al-Fida's Taqwin al-Buldan (14th century). Two 14th-century Islamic tombstones are recorded at the site.Hall. Secondary Cities & Urban Networking in the Indian Ocean Realm, c. 1400-1800 Lexington Books, 1955 European navigators: Chale/Challe/Chalia or Chaly Saliyam: the home of the Saliya community. The Saliyas figure as the dominant weaving community in medieval South India. Presently, the Chaliya (Chaliyan or Saliya) is an Other Backward Class in Kerala.Kerala Public Service Commission
Chaliyam is believed to be one of the locations of the founding mosques of Kerala. As per this tradition, the qazi of the mosque established at Chaliyam was Taqy ud-Din.William Logan. Malabar: District Manual, Volume 1 Asian Educational Services, 1887 Ibn Batutah seems to have visited Chaliyam in the 14th century. He describes the settlement: "I next came to the city of Shaliat, where the Shaliats are made and hence they derive their name. This is a fine city..." The first railway line in Kerala was laid in 1861 from Tirur to Chaliyam through Tanur, Parappanangadi, Vallikkunnu, and Kadalundi.
Some sources allude to the presence of Jewish settlements (12th and 13th centuries) in Chaliyam.Jewish Virtual Library
As per a peace agreement between Portuguese Viceroy Nuno da Cunha and the Samutiri of Kozhikode, a Portuguese fort was constructed at Chaliyam in 1531. The Fort Chaliyam was eventually besieged, captured and destroyed by the Kozhikode forces in 1571. A certain Portuguese officer called Attaide was in charge of the fort at this time.K. M. Panikkar. A History of Kerala 1498-1801. pp. 102
Chaliyam is also famous for the Khalasi.
Beypore Railway Station, incorrectly named, at Chaliyam was the terminus of the Madras Railway (South-West Line).
History
The ancient maritime port of Tyndis is identified with Kadalundi-Chaliyam-Beypore region. Tyndis was a major center of trade, second only to Muziris, between the Cheras and the Roman Empire.Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-modern India, Yogesh Sharma, Primus Books 2010 Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) states that the port of Tyndis was located at the northwestern border of Keprobotos (Chera dynasty).Gurukkal, R., & Whittaker, D. (2001). In search of Muziris. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 14, 334-350. The North Malabar region, which lies north of the port at Tyndis, was ruled by the kingdom of Ezhimala during Sangam period.A. Shreedhara Menon, A Survey of Kerala History According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a region known as Limyrike began at Naura and Tyndis. However, Ptolemy mentions only Tyndis as the Limyrike'''s starting point. The region probably ended at Kanyakumari; it thus roughly corresponds to the present-day Malabar Coast. The value of Rome's annual trade with the region was estimated at 50,000,000 sesterces.According to Pliny the Elder, goods from India were sold in the Empire at 100 times their original purchase price. See Pliny the Elder mentioned that Limyrike was prone by pirates.Bostock, John (1855). "26 (Voyages to India)". Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. London: Taylor and Francis. The Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that the Limyrike was a source of peppers.Indicopleustes, Cosmas (1897). Christian Topography. 11. United Kingdom: The Tertullian Project. pp. 358–373.Das, Santosh Kumar (2006). The Economic History of Ancient India. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 301.
According to the Legend of Cheraman Perumals, the first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at Kodungallur with the mandate of the last the ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) of Chera dynasty, who converted to Islam during the lifetime of Muhammad (c. 570–632). According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayini, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in the Indian subcontinent.Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98. It is believed that Malik Dinar died at Thalangara in Kasaragod town.Pg 58, Cultural heritage of Kerala: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978
Chaliyam, on the southern bank of Chaliyar river and the northern bank of Kadalundi River, was a part of the kingdom of Parappanad during the medieval period. The rulers of Parappanad were vassals to the Zamorin of Calicut. The headquarters of the Parappanad royal family was the coastal town of Parappanangadi in the present-day Malappuram district. In the 15th century, Parappanad Swaroopam was divided into two - Northern Parappanad (Beypore Swaroopam) and Southern Parappanad (Parappur Swaroopam). Kadalundi, Vallikkunnu, and Parappanangadi, were included in Southern Parappanad. Beypore, Cheruvannur, and Panniyankara, on northern bank of Chaliyar, became Northern Parappanad.
It is also known that the ruler of the Kingdom of Tanur (Vettathunadu Swaroopam''), assisted the Portuguese in building a fort in Southern Parappanad, which was later destroyed during the Siege of Chaliyam in 1571. Feroke became a part of the Kingdom of Mysore in the late 18th century CE. Chaliyam became a part of the Kingdom of Mysore in the late 18th century. Following the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the subsequent Treaty of Seringapatam, Chaliyam became a part of Malabar District under British Raj. Chaliyam was included in Eranad Taluk in the Malappuram Revenue Division of Malabar District with its Taluk headquarters at Manjeri. Following the formation of the state of Kerala in 1956, Chaliyam became a part of Tirurangadi Revenue block of Tirur Taluk. On 16 June 1969, Eranad Taluk, Tirur Taluk, Tirurangadi, and Parappanangadi, were transferred to the newly formed Malappuram district. However, three revenue villages of Tirur Taluk, namely, Feroke, Ramanattukara, and Kadalundi, remained in Kozhikode district, as they were much closer to Kozhikode city centre. However Kadalundi Nagaram beach (where Kadalundi River flows into Arabian Sea, a part of Vallikkunnu Grama Panchayat), Tenhipalam, the centre of University of Calicut, and Karippur, the site of Calicut International Airport, became parts of Malappuram. Feroke, Ramanattukara, and Kadalundi are parts of Kozhikode Taluk and Kozhikode metropolitan area.
Important landmarks
Lighthouse, Chaliyam Umbhichi Hajee Higher Secondary School Chaliyam NIRDESH Project Itti Achuthan Memorial Hortus Malaricus Plants Museum Noorudheen Shaikh Jaram (Darga) Seawalk (one km) Puzhakkara Srambia with ancient shadow-clock. Engattil Mazjid (Old Srambia) Vadakkumbad Kamaliyya School (100 yeara old) Jankar service across Chaliyar River to Beypore port Relics of the old Chaliyam fort Chaliyam Coastal Police Station Sreekandeswara Temple
Suburbs and villages Vallikkunnu, Anangady and Anappady Kacherikunnu, Athanikkal and Anayarangadi Kottakkadavu, Pediyattukunnu and Edachira Kadalundi, Vattaparambu and Pazhanjannor Kadukkabazar and Chaliyarkadavu
See also Imam Shihabuddeen Ahmed Koya Beypore Feroke Kadalundi Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary Karuvanthuruthy Vallikkunnu Chaliyar river Siege of Chaliyam
Image gallery
References