Malabar, also known by the name of its main settlement Cochin

Kochi

-Places:* Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin* Kingdom of Cochin, a former feudal city-state on Malabar Coast, India** Fort Kochi, one of the three main urban components which constitute the present day city of Kochi, Kerala, India...

, was a commandment of the Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 on the Malabar Coast

Malabar Coast

The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...

 between 1661 and 1795, and is part of what is today collectively referred to as Dutch India

Dutch India

Dutch India is a term used to refer to the settlements and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. It is only used as a geographical definition, as there has never been a political authority ruling all Dutch India...

. Dutch presence in the region started by the capture of Quilon

Kollam

Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

 from the Portuguese, and ended by the occupation of Malabar by the British in 1795.

History

Although also motivated by the lucrative pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

 trade on Malabar, the primary aim for the Dutch in capturing the coast from the Portuguese was to secure Dutch Ceylon from Portuguese invasions. After failed attempts to capture the main Portuguese fort Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

 in 1604 and 1639, the Dutch decided to aim for the secondary Portuguese trading posts on the Malabar Coast. This was first successful in December 1661, when Quilon was captured. A little more than a year later, in January 1663, Cochin was captured as well, which now became the primary trading post of the colony. In 1669, Dutch Malabar became a separate commandment of the Dutch West India Company; before this year it had been governed from Batavia

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

.

The Dutch never succeeded in establishing a pepper trade monopoly in Malabar, and were all the more frustrated in their attempts when the raj of Travancore

Travancore

Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

 started to expand his kingdom. The Travancore–Dutch War that followed culminated into the Battle of Colachel

Battle of Colachel

The Battle of Colachel was fought on between forces of the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company, during the Travancore-Dutch War...

, which was disastrous for the Dutch.

As a result of the Kew Letters

Kew Letters

The Kew Letters were a number of letters, written by stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange between 30 January and 8 February 1795 from the "Dutch House" at Kew Palace, where he temporarily stayed after his flight to England on 18 January 1795...

, the Dutch settlements on the Malabar Coast were surrendered to the British in 1795, in order to prevent being overrun by the French. Dutch Malabar remained British after the conclusion of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814

Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 was a treaty signed between Great Britain and the Netherlands in London on August 13, 1814...

, which traded the colony with Bangka Island

Bangka Island

Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. Population 626,955. Area: c.4,600 sq mi .There is an additional small island named Pulau Bangka in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.-Geography:...

.

Forts and trading posts

Settlement	Type	Established	Disestablished	Comments
Fort Cochin Fort Kochi Fort Kochi is a region in the city of Kochi in the state of Kerala, India. This is part of a handful of water-bound regions toward the south-west of the mainland Kochi, and collectively known as Old Kochi or West Kochi. Adjacent to this is Mattancherry...	Fort and factory	1663	1795	Established by the Portuguese as their first settlement in India. Captured by the Dutch in 1663, who made it the capital of Dutch Malabar.
Fort Cranganore Cranganore Fort Cranganore Fort, otherwise known as Kodungallur Fort, was built by the Portuguese in 1523 A.D. and was called Fortaleza da Sao Tome. The Dutch took possession of it in 1661 and later it came under the control of Tipu Sultan. The Dutch wrested it back from Tipu Sultan, but the fort eventually came...	Fort	1662	1770	Fell under the command of Fort Cochin and meant to protect the latter. In 1662, the formerly Portuguese fort was first given back to the Zamorin of Calicut as a reward for his alliance with the Dutch, but in 1666 the Dutch started to renovate the dilapidated fort for their own purposes.
Fort Pallipuram Pallipuram Fort Pallipuram Fort is in Ernakulam district of Kerala, south India. It was built by the Portuguese in 1503. It is the oldest existing European fort in India. In 1789 the Dutch captured the fort in 1661 and sold it to the State of Travancore in 1789. This fort is situated in the northern extremity of...	Fort	1661	1789	Fell under the command of Fort Cochin and meant to protect the latter. Sold to the Kingdom of Travancore in 1789.
Purakkad Purakkad -History:The literal meaning of Purakkad is "out of forest". The village of Purakkad was the scene of battle between Travancore and Kochin forces in 1754 AD ad between Travancore and the forces of Zamorin in 1756 AD. There was an ancient port at Purakkad. The Dutch East India Company had a factory...	Factory	1662	?	Fell under the command of Fort Cochin.
Fort Quilon Kollam Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...	Fort and factory	1661	1795	The first Portuguese fort to be captured by the Dutch in December 1661. Capital of Dutch Malabar until the capture of Cochin in 1663.
Kayamkulam Kayamkulam Kayamkulam is a town and a municipality in Alappuzha district of the Indian state of Kerala. It is an ancient maritime trading centre. One of the largest power plants in Kerala, run by the NTPC, is located in Kayamkulam. Krishnapuram Palace is located nearby and an old cashew factory.Kayamkulam is...	Factory	1661	?	Fell under the command of Fort Quilon.
Fort Cannanore St. Angelo Fort St. Angelo Fort , is a fort facing the Arabian Sea, situated 3 km from the town of Kannur, a city in Kerala state, south India.-History:...	Fort and factory	1663	1790	Captured on 15 February 1663 from the Portuguese.
Vengurla Vengurla Under the Köppen climate classification, Vengurla features a tropical monsoon climate. The highest temperature in summer reaches 42°C while in winter, temperature drops up to 10°C. The annual precipitation is .-Demographics:...	Factory	1637	1693	Established before the establishment of the Malabar commandment to spy on the nearby Portuguese settlement of Goa. Fell directly under the command of Batavia Jakarta Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...  until 1673, and then under command of Suratte Suratte Suratte or Soeratte was a famous trading city on the north coast of what is now India, in the modern state of Gujarat, lying on the river Tapti. The city, now known as Surat, became a directorate of the Dutch East India Company in 1616. The British had established a factory in the Suratte in 1609... . From 1676 onwards, the command was with Dutch Malabar.
Barselor Kundapura -Languages and culture :The town mainly consists of Kannadigas who speak Kundagannada, Konkanis and Tuluvas. The Goud Saraswat Brahmins who fled Goa during the Portuguese arrival in the 16th century arrived by Boat in Basrur and some settled in Kundapura and surrounding villages. These people and...	Factory	1667	1682	Established by treaty with the local ruler. The unreinforced factory traded in rice and pepper, and was closed in 1682 after problems with local merchants.