The Kingdom of Cochin is a late medieval Hindu kingdom and later Princely State on the Malabar Coast, South India.
Once controlling much of the territory between Ponnani and Kochi in Malabar, the Cochin kingdom shrinks to its minimal extent as a result of invasions by the Zamorin of Calicut.
When Portuguese armadas arrive in India, Cochin is in vassalage to Zamorin and is looking for an opportunity to break away.
King Unni Goda Varma Tirumulpadu (Trimumpara Raja) warmly welcomes Pedro Álvares Cabral on December 24, 1500, and negotiates a treaty of alliance between Portugal and the Cochin kingdom, directed against the Zamorin of Calicut.
Cochin becomes a longtime Portuguese protectorate (1503–1663) providing assistance against native overlords.
After the Portuguese, the Dutch East India Company (1663–1795) followed by the English East India Company (1795–1858, confirmed on May 6, 1809), protect the Cochin state.The Kingdom of Cochin, originally known as Perumpadappu Swarupam, is under the rule of the Later Cheras in the Middle Ages.
The Brahmin chief of Perumpadappu (Chitrakuda, Vannerinadu, Ponnani taluk) marries the sister of the last Later Chera king, Rama Varma Kulashekhara, and as a consequence obtains Mahodayapuram, and Thiruvanchikkulam Temple along with numerous other rights, such as that of the Mamankam festival.
After the fall of the Mahodayapuram Cheras in the twelfth century, along with numerous other provinces Perumpadappu Swarupam becomes a free political entity.
However, it is only after the arrival of Portuguese colonizers on the Malabar Coast that the Perumpadappu Swarupam acquires any political importance.
Perumpadappu rulers have family relationships with the Nambudiri rulers of Idappally.
After the transfer of Kochi and Vypin from Idappally rulers to the Perumpadappu rulers, the latter come to be known as kings of Kochi.
Ma Huan, the Muslim voyager and translator who accompanies Admiral Zheng He on three of his seven expeditions to the Western Oceans, describes the king of Cochin as being a Buddhist.
