Arakkal kingdom

Origins

The Arakkal family were Mappila Muslim ministers and admirals of the Kolathiri rulers of Kolathunadu, based at Cannanore. By the 16th century, as the Portuguese disrupted the coast, they became an autonomous power, holding the title Ali Raja, lord of the sea, and ruling the town and the Lakshadweep islands.

Rule and society

The Arakkal rulers followed matrilineal succession, so that the eldest member of the family, male or female, reigned; several women ruled with the title Arakkal Beevi. Their wealth came from trade in pepper, coir and cowries and from the islands. They opposed the Portuguese and later allied with Hyder Ali of the Kingdom of Mysore.

Decline and legacy

The British East India Company captured Cannanore in 1790, and the kingdom is conventionally dated to end in 1819. The family kept its Laccadive islands until the British sequestrated them in 1875; they were formally surrendered for a pension in 1908. The Arakkal family survives in Kannur and maintains a museum in its old palace.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.