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Musiris - Kodungallur

Famous geographer Ptolemy had recorded about Musiris among the ports and towns of his time. It is called as 'Murachipatanam' in Sanskrit and Muchiri in Tamil. Later it was also called as Makothai, Mahodayapuram, Mahodayapattanam. Musiris was an important town in the pre-historic era, Kodungallur was a part of it and was the capital of the Cheraman Kings during 7th AD. It was an established trade link in the Indian sea trading. It had regular trade links with Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt and many other Middle East countries during the pre-historic periods. The city was known for exports of many spices, the prime item was pepper, known as yavana priya. Kodungallur was the cultural and religious gateways for Christianity, Islam and also for the foreign rulers.

Musiris was cited in many epics and ancient literature like Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Chilappathikaram and Akananuru. This had got valuable mentioning in the travelogues of Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder. This had even recorded in the stone writings of Asoka.

It is believed that Thomas the Apostle of Jesus had landed in Azhikode near Cranganore (present Kodungallur) in AD 52 to spread Christianity in India. The first Christian church in India was built in this place. The first Muslim religious place in India, the Cheraman Juma Masjid was also built in Kodungallur in 629 AD.