Kolathunadu

Kolathunadu was the kingdom of the Kolattiri rajas in North Malabar, between the Chandragiri and Korappuzha rivers. Its old seat at Ezhimala lay near Kannur, and its rulers rivalled the Zamorins of Kozhikode.

The realm gradually split into vassal chiefdoms. A Bednur invasion in 1736 and 1737 weakened the ruling house, whose title passed to the Chirakkal raja. From 1766 to 1792 the armies of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore plundered North Malabar and drove the family into Travancore; after the British defeated Mysore, they returned as Company landlords.