Palakkad district

Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts of the Indian state of Kerala. The city of Palakkad is the district headquarters. Palakkad is bordered on the northwest by the Malappuram District, on the southwest by the Thrissur District and on the east by Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The district is 13.62% urbanised. The district is nicknamed "the granary of Kerala".

Name

In earlier times Palakkad was also known as Palakkattussery. Some etymologists trace the word "Palakkad" from the word Palai nilam, which means "dry lands". The commonly held belief, however, is that the name is a fusion of two Malayalam words, Pala, a tree (Alstonia scholaris) that is found abundantly in Palakkad, and Kadu, which means forest.

History

In earlier days, Palakkad along with most parts of Kerala were under the rule of the Chera kings (Perumals). With the decline of Chera dynasty, parts of this district were ruled by Palakkad Rajas who were believed to be a branch of Zamorins (Samudiri Rajavamsam) of Calicut who later declared independence. Some parts were under Kollengode Rajas of Vengunad and the Valluvanad part of the district was ruled by Valluvakonathiris (who are considered to be descendants of a branch of Pallava dynasty who might have ruled parts of Kerala at an earlier date). For a brief period, some areas of the district near Chittur came under the attack of the nearby Kongu king when the local people resisted the Kongu...
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