Cochin

Cochin, once the capital of the principality above described, but now a seaport of the district of Malabar, in the presidency of Madras, stands on the south side of the principal channel between the open ocean and the backwater mentioned in the preceding article. In spite of the bar, Cochin is next to Bombay on this coast for shipbuilding and maritime commerce, the annual exports reaching a value of £700,000. Here the Portuguese erected their first fort in India in 1503. They were supplanted by the Dutch in 1663; and in 1796 Cochin was captured by the British. Pop. (1891) 17,601, of whom 9768 were Christians and 3000 Mohammedans (fanatical Moplahs, descendants of the old Arab traders). Close by, in the native state, is another Cochin (pop. 14,000).