​KODUNGALUR (orCranganur), a town of southern India,in Cochin state, within the presidency of Madras. Though nowa place of little importance, its historical interest is considerable.Tradition assigns to it the double honour of having been the firstfield of St Thomas’s labours (A.D. 52) in India and the seat ofCheraman Perumal’s government. The visit of St Thomas isgenerally considered mythical; but it is certain that the SyrianChurch was firmly established here before the 9th century(Burnell), and probably the Jews’ settlement was still earlier.The latter, in fact, claim to hold grants datedA.D. 378. Thecruelty of the Portuguese drove most of the Jews to Cochin. Upto 1314, when the Vypin harbour was formed, the only openingin the Cochin backwater, and outlet for the Periyar, was atKodungalur, which must then have been the best harbour on thecoast. In 1502 the Syrian Christians invoked the protectionof the Portuguese. In 1523 the latter built their first fort there,and in 1565 enlarged it. In 1661 the Dutch took the fort, thepossession of which for the next forty years was contestedbetween this nation, the zamorin, and the raja of Kodungalur.In 1776 Tippoo seized the stronghold. The Dutch recapturedit two years later, and, having ceded it to Tippoo in 1784, soldit to the Travancore raja, and again in 1789 to Tippoo, whodestroyed it in the following year. The country round Kodungalurnow forms an autonomous principality, tributary to theraja of Cochin.