Fort Cochin- Once Upon a Time

Once a fishing village of no significance in the Kingdom of Kochi in the pre-colonial Kerala, the territory that would be later known as Fort Kochi was granted to the Portuguese in 1503 by the Rajah of Kochi, who also gave them permission to build a fort near the waterfront to protect their commercial interests. The first part of the name Fort Kochi comes from this fort, Fort Emmanuel, which was later destroyed by the Dutch. Behind the fort, the Portuguese built their settlement and a wooden church, which was rebuilt in 1516 as a permanent structure and which today is known as the St Francis Church. Fort Kochi remained a Portuguese possession for 160 years. In 1683 the Dutch captured the territory from the Portuguese, destroyed many Portuguese, particularly Catholic, institutions including convents. The Dutch held Fort Kochi as their possession for 112 years until 1795, when the British took control by defeating the Dutch. Four hundred and forty four years of foreign control of Fort Kochi ended in 1947 with the Indian independence. A mix of old Portuguese, Dutch and British houses from these colonial periods line the streets of Fort Kochi.