The legacies of those who settled in this town and rendered rich contributions to its evolution from a place inhabited by agrarian families to a town of trade and commerce are imprinted in its contemporary cultural and commercial tapestry. The Cannanore of Yore , a recently launched book authored by Chandini Santhosh, captures those legacies through narration of the stories of the settlers of this town and old photographs.
The 224-page book in English features the transition of Kannur from a place of largely laidback agrarian populace to a commercial town. The author follows the trail of that transition and narrates how outsiders who made this town their own brought in a culture of trade and commerce and accelerated that transition. Old snapshots in the book give a visual experience of the metamorphosis of this place from the agrarian to the commercial.
“In this book written for the layman, I have tried to show how the outsiders, including foreign colonial powers and settlers, shaped the economic, cultural, religious, educational and infrastructural fabric of this town,” Ms. Santhosh says.
The narration covers the changes brought in by the entry of Arabs, the Gowd Saraswath Brahmins from Goa who fled persecution by the Portuguese, the English families who lived here, Gujarati families who reached here after fleeing from severe droughts of Gujarat and Christians of southern Kerala who migrated and settled in the eastern hill areas of the district, said Ms. Santhosh. One of the chapters in the book deals with relics the foreigners have left including bridges, roads, tombs churches, forts, and schools, and stories associated with it. The book chronicles the achievements of Basel Mission and the industrial culture it brought.
