Cochin

During the times of the Ancient Age, Kerala was dominated by the Chera ruling class, of which the settlement of Mahodayapuram (modern-day Kodungallur) was the capital and the only other town flourishing on its coast was Muchiri or Muziris (around Kondungallur as well). Even when the Kulashekharas of Kerala (allied with the Pandyas and Lambakannas of Sri Lanka) were under the suzerainty of the Cholas between the 10th to 13th centuries, townships such as Kollam, Kandalur (in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu), Vilinam (Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram) and Kottar (in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu) were more prevalent than Kochi. The Arab knowledge about Kerala (known to them as Manibar) and its ports was that of Jirbattan (Kannur / Cannanore), Fandaryna (a forgotten medieval port of Panthalayani Kollam, in today's Kozhikode), Kabashkan (Cranganore / Kodungallur), Kudafarid (Azhimukham beach, Purathar district, Kerala), Sinjli (near Cranganore / Kodungallur) and Kawlam (Quilon / Kollam). During the middle-ages, the ancient site of Tripunitturai (today's Thrippunithura, Kochi district) was identified as one of the important Vaishnavite sites in Kerala. However, all throughout the middle-ages, the ports of Kollam (or Quilon) and Kozhikode (or Calicut) were of significantly more importance, connecting Malabar to Arab and African ports. 

Much before the arrival of European trade routes, the city of Kochi or Cochin also had an interesting Jewish history attached to it. The town of Kunjakari (today's Chendamangalam, Ernakumal district) has seen a Jewish settlement back in the 14th century AD (or maybe even before that) and built a synagogue that exists even today. The site is also popular for having an Islamic mosque, a Hindu temple, a Christian church along with the Jewish synagogue back in the middle-ages, a brave attempt of strengthening communal harmony in that period. The Malabar shores were in extensive trade connections with as far as Egypt, Sumatra and China, and the ports of Kollam, Calicut (spelt as Qalqut) and Kunjakari were major trading hubs, back in the 14th century. 

In the 15th century, the Malabar was now ruled by the Zamorins (or Samudris / Samoothiri), the Perumpadappus and the Varmans and ports like Kadangalur (Cranganore / Kodungallur), Vanchi (referring to Thiruvanchikulam temple, Kodungallur), Ponani (Ponnani, in today's Malappuram district), Kalikod (another variant for Kozhikode / Calicut), Kunjakari, Kollam and Anantasayanan  (referring to the deity Padmanabhaswamy in the Ananthashayana posture, at the Padmanabhaswamy temple, Thiruvananthapuram. Also, one of the ancient etymologies of the city as well) were the major ones. None of the Islamic empires ever reached the shores of the Malabar although the region has a considerable amount of Muslim population and interestingly, the oldest mosque in the entire subcontinent is the Cheramaan Juma Mosque, built in the 7th century AD at Kodungallur. The Zamorins maintained their independence at the time of European arrival to the subcontinent, with Vasco da Gama's Calicut trip in 1498 being the first one. 

If we look at the 16th-century maps of India by early European cartographers, Malabar is dotted with names such as Cochin, Calecut (referring to Calicut / Kozhikode), Colua (Coulão / Kollam), and Cananor (Cannanore / Kannur). These names would be prominent all throughout the consecutive centuries with additional settlements of Tilceri (Tellicherry / Thalassery), Bargara, Odianpera, Baliepatan (Valapattanam, in Kannur district), Labora de Porca (Purakkad, in Alappuzha district), Cranganor, Paliapour (Pallippuram, in Kochi) etc. appearing on various maps. Cochin is misspelt as Cochim on several of the initial maps till about the mid-18th century. 

The 17th century was the time when almost every European had their trade centres opened on Indian shores. Kerala became one of the favourites with Portuguese, Dutch, British and French arrivals all throughout the century. Between 1662 to 1663, the Dutch seized Quilon, Cranganore and Cochin from the Portuguese and replace them as dominant commercial and military power in Kerala. The Portuguese were disbanded from Cannanore (1654), Pallipuram (1662), Beypore (1571) and Ponnani (1655) and the next century would see a Dutch dominance in Kerala. And among them, Cochin emerged as one of the most successful trading hubs where the Dutch dominated between 1664 to 1782, later to be succeeded by the British. Cochin was quite a special case as although Cochin and Travancore were two major Princely States (falling under the Madras States) in Kerala, with the Malabar district as part of the Madras Presidency, the port of Cochin was held by the British (along with Tangasseri and Anjengo) till 1947. The Malabar coast was popular for its spices, especially pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and other items such as coirs and calicoes. The Kingdom of Cochin finally came under British protection in 1791 and the port of Cochin was surrendered by the Dutch in 1814. The other European settlement apart from the British were the French at Mahé, which is now part of Pondicherry or Puducherry. 

Another interesting aspect is, with respect to administration in pre-independent India, the Princely State of Cochin (including the enclave of Chittur-Thathamangalam, which was in the then Malabar district and is today part of Palakkad district) and the port of Cochin were geographically separated by the Princely State of Travancore. Historically, the Cochin region is a group of fragmented islands such as the Willingdon Island, Fort Kochi (the actual location of Cochin harbour that was under the British till 1947) and the Mattancherry island. On the 19th century maps, one would find the Cochin District referring to what today is the Thrissur district (spelt as Trichoor) and the thin strip of islands including the old Portuguese settlement of St. Louis as part of the district, geographically separated by Travancore. This boundary adjustment was later adjusted when in 1949, the two Princely States of Cochin and Travancore were merged to form the state of Travancore-Cochin. On the 1st of November 1956, the Malabar District of Madras State was merged with Travancore-Cochin to form the new state of Kerala. 

Today, there is no such confusion with respect to boundaries and Kochi (changed in 1996) is now the headquarters of Ernakulam district, with Thrissur headquartering the Thrissur District. 

The name 'Cochin' is also associated with a region that has nothing to do with today's Kochi or even Malabar. The southern part of Vietnam when it was warring with the Dutch and the French in the 17th-18th centuries, was referred to as Cochin-China, to an extent where the lower region of Vietnam, as part of the French Indochina, was called the French Cochinchina. With the name Kochi, there is yet another interesting trivia attached that it's also the name of one of the Japanese prefectures located on the Shikoku island. Although it has nothing to do with Cochin or Kochi and even the pronunciation is different, but the only similarity is its spelling. 

Here's a recreation of Cochin's map dating 1821, originally part of 'Improved Map of India' by Aaron Arrowsmith (1750 - 1823). The pink shade denotes the English territories, while the other points to the Princely States. The name 'Cochin-Travancore' denotes what was the united territory in 1949.