Religious influences

There is yet another aspect of Kerala life and history worth mentioning. The cosmopolitan outlook and character of the Malayalee, which has attracted the attention of many visitors to this region, is because of historical reasons. Kerala appears to have had the largest and longest contacts with the rest of the world, dating back to the millennium preceding the Christian era. There were important trading centres along the Kerala coast viz., Kollam, Kochi, Kodungallor, Kadalundi, Kozhikkod, Dharmadom and Kannur. Egypt, Asia Minor, the Assyrian and Babylonian empires at the height of their power, the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese-all maritime nations, had trade relations with Kerala long before the Christian era.

During the early centuries of the Anno Domine, trade relations existed with the Malayan Peninsula, the Philippines, Jawa and Sumatra.

Ships from these countries of the East and the West, laden with cargo, sailed into the Kerala waters to return rich with the special produces of this land. Traders from Arabia and elsewhere also came in large numbers. The Kerala kings, the Perumals in particular, and later the Zamorins, gave them all help and facilities and even permitted them to settle down here.

It is believed that the Apostle St.Thomas landed in Kerala during the early period of Christianity. The spread of Christianity in Kerala, more than in any other region in India, is attributed to the advent of St.Thomas.

One of the earliest Muslim mosques in India is found near Kodungallor. The history of the advent of Jews to Kerala is also traced back to ancient times. The Jews later established their colony in Kochi and built their synagogue there. The tolerance and the cosmopolitan outlook which characterize the Malayalee is perhaps mainly due to the contacts which Kerala had with the outside world down the centuries.