Port City of Kochi- A Cultural Mosaic

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Monsoons, both South West and North East, played a significant role in the socio-economic and political history of the subcontinent of India as well as that of a number of nations connected with India from time immemorial. The port of Cochin which began to attract the merchants from China and West Asia since the first decade of the fifteenth century subsequent to the establishment of the headquarters of Perumpadappu Swarupam in 1405 CE, gradually turned out to be a major centre of trade in spices. The merchants like the foreign Muslims and Jews besides those from the Coromandel, Konkan and Gujrat coasts settled down in the vicinity of the port with their mercantile establishments. Thus the port town of Cochin started to develop as a centre bustling with various activities connected with trade and commerce. This port town, with a rich hinterland, opened itself to the European foreland, prior to any other port in the subcontinent of India and became a target for various European powers like the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English vying with each other for a foothold. Cochin, right in the third decade of the sixteenth century, became a charted city on par with a developed European city with autonomous administration carried out by elected persons. The society in the port city grew by leaps and bounds with inhabitants descending from interracial conjugal and extra marital relations. It presented itself as a cultural mosaic.

With the astute and calculated hard work of Robert Bristow, the well-known harbour Engineer, the natural and all-weather port of Cochin became the haven of all those ships that pass through Suez Canal and moor in the harbour conveniently. The present Willingdon Island was formed out of an existing tiny island offering necessary infrastructural facilities for shipping and related activities replacing Fort Cochin. The two wharves namely Mattancherry and Ernakulam are housed on this Island along with attendant installations. The colonial port city of Cochin was converted into a major port of India with immense developmental potentiality by the Union Government of India since it is the only port in India in close proximity to the maritime thoroughfare connecting Australia with the West. International Container Transshipment Centre, first of its kind in India, the Cochin Shipyard, the largest shipbuilding and maintenance Center in India and the Cochin Refinery are in fact the precious jewels on the crown of the "Queen of the Arabian" sea added by Independent India while Fort Cochin and Mattancherry continue to be a heritage area and cultural mosaic of international fame.

Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, the Executive and Academic Head of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, is a Scholar of History and Mass Communication, a Writer, a Poet and Theatre Person He was the Founder Vice Chancellor of the Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism and Mass Communication, Raipur. He served as Vice Chancellor for two terms (10 years) He was also the Founder Registrar of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal He served as Dean (Academics) in the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal too. He has written extensively on Media, Communication, History, Culture, Education, Policy, and other relevant issues. He has been delivering lectures on Communication, Gender Sensitization, Research for Resurgence, Personality Development, Art and Culture etc. He has been writing extensively and edited the Speeches of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for Publication Division of the IGNCA, besides many other prestigious publications. Some of his recent published works include "Sachchidanand Joshi ki Lokpriya Kahaniya (2017), "Kuchh Alpa Viraam" (2018), "Pal Bhar ki Pahchan" (2019), and Putrikameshti (2021) three poetry collections. His speeches have been compiled in two volumes titled "Mera Desh Mera Dharm. "He has also been the Chairman of the Academic Committee on Cultural Landscapes", a multidisciplinary project of Government of India.

"Mausam: Maritime Routes and K. S. Mathew after taking Master's degree in History from the Poona University with a first class first in the Department, obtained his M. Phil and Ph.D degrees in History as well as postgraduate diploma in Portuguese from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi besides a postgraduate diploma in German from the M.S University of Baroda. His doctoral dissertation was on Portuguese Trade on the Malabar Coast. He served as Lecturer and later Reader in the M.S. University. Subsequently he worked as Professor and Head of the Department of History, Hyderabad Central University Later he was appointed as the founder head of the department of History, Pondicherry Central University. He worked as visiting fellow/professor in the Wisconsin University, Madison, USA, Ottawa University, Canada, Bordeaux University, France and Heidelberg University, Germany. He was awarded the Full Bright fellowship from USA After retirement from the Pondicherry Central University, he founded the Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities recognised as research centre by the Kannur and Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi and directed research activities for ten years from 2004.

He was a fellow of the International Service of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal, Fundação Oriente, Portugal, UGC, ICHR and Indian Science Academy, New Delhi. He was appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India as a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi for a term of three years. He has to his credit 28 books and a large number of research articles published in national and international journals. University Grants Commission, Government of India honoured him as Eminent Professor and also awarded him National and Emeritus Fellowships. Recently the Maritime History Society, Western Command of Indian Navy, Bombay offered him Life Time Achievement Award for his contribution to Maritime History.

J. Kuriakose is educated at Kerala, Delhi University, National Law Universities of Delhi as well as Hyderabad and London School of Economics. His background primarily is in Economics and Law (with Degrees in Economics, Law, Political Science, Social Anthropology, Aviation Law & Air Transport Management, besides Post Graduate Diplomas in Competition Law & Policy, Industrial Relations & Personnel Management). He has travelled extensively in India, Europe, North America and different South East Asian Countries. Currently, he is focussing on Port Cities to develop a different level of new knowledge for India and the World out of his multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning.