Prakkad

Prakkad, or Purakkad, is a coastal settlement in the backwater country of southern Kerala. Its rulers controlled a small kingdom known to European merchants for the pepper and ginger brought from the interior. Rivers and lagoons connected the coast with the fields and hill country behind it, giving the port access to produce from a wide hinterland.

The Dutch made treaties with the rajas of Purakkad and neighbouring states, building trading posts and warehouses to store spices. Their position depended on agreements with local rulers as well as on the movement of goods through the waterways. In the eighteenth century the expansion of Travancore absorbed Ambalappuzha and other neighbouring kingdoms, weakening Dutch political influence in the region. The older coastal trading centres thus became part of a larger kingdom.