Maritime History

Chaliyam

Chaliyam is a village situated at the estuary of Chaliyar (River Beypore) in Kozhikode district of Kerala, India. Chaliyam forms an island, bounded by the Chaliyar in the north, and River Kadalundi in south, and the Conolly Canal in the east. It is located just opposite to Beypore port. Chaliyam (Beypore Railway Station) was the former terminus of the South-West Line of the Madras Railway. Chaliyam is the birthplace of Imam Shihabuddeen Ahmed Koya Shaliyathi. Chaliyam is also famous for the Guinness World Records holder Muhammed Adil, a P.M. who covered around seven km in the Chaliyar River with his hands and legs tied with ropes. Different names of Chaliyam: Muslim navigators: al-Shaliat Chaliyam, a small port south of Kozhikode at the time, is not regularly mentioned under this name in the Arabic and Persian geographical literature. It does feature in Abu al-Fida's Taqwin al-Buldan (14th century). Two 14th-century Islamic tombstones are recorded at the site. European navigators: Chale/Challe/Chalia or Chaly Saliyam: the home of the Saliya community. The Saliyas figure as the dominant weaving community in medieval South India. Presently, the Chaliya (Chaliyan or Saliya) is an Other Backward Class in Kerala. Chaliyam is believed to be one of the locations of the founding mosques of Kerala. As per this tradition, the qazi of the mosque established at Chaliyam was Taqy ud-Din. Ibn Batutah seems to have visited Chaliyam in the 14th century. He describes the settlement: "I next came to the city of Shaliat, where the Shaliats are made and hence they derive their name. This is a fine city..." The first railway line in Kerala was laid in 1861 from Tirur to Chaliyam through Tanur, Parappanangadi, Vallikkunnu, and Kadalundi. Some sources allude to the presence of Jewish settlements (12th and 13th centuries) in Chaliyam. As per a peace agreement between Portuguese Viceroy Nuno da Cunha and the Samutiri of Kozhikode, a Portuguese fort was constructed at Chaliyam in 1531. The Fort Chaliyam was eventually besieged, captured and destroyed by the Kozhikode forces in 1571. A certain Portuguese officer called Attaide was in charge of the fort at this time. Chaliyam is also famous for the Khalasi. Beypore Railway Station, incorrectly named, at Chaliyam was the terminus of the Madras Railway (South-West Line).

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See also

• ▸Fraserburgh
• ▸Dunaverty Castle
• ▸Batticaloa

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.