The earliest evidence of human habitation in the district are rock-cut caves and megalithic burial sites of the Neolithic age. The Taliparamba-Kannur-Thalassery area abounds in rock-cut caves, dolmens, burial stone circles and menhirs, all of megalithic burial order. The district was part of the Chera kingdom, which ruled most of Kerala during the first several centuries CE. Later Kannur was the capital of the Kolattiri Rajas, whose kingdom had trading relations with Arabia and Persiain the 12th century and 13th centuries.[2]
Kannur District witnessed one of the longest and bloodiest resistance toBritish rule in India. This revolt led by Pazhassi Raja in the 1792–1806 period kept a large part of the district in a state of war.
Kannur District played an important role in the Indian freedom movement. TheIndian National Congress, founded in 1885, established a Malabar District committee in 1908. A branch of the All India Home Rule League, founded by Dr. Annie Besant, functioned in Thalassery during this period and among its active workers was V.K. Krishna Menon. By the end of 1939, a branch of theCommunist Party of India was formally established at Pinarayi, a village near Thalassery.