The herbs used for both grow in abundance in Kerala's moist climate, many of them in the hilly, forested areas of the hinterland where they are harvested by tribal people. Every town and village in Kera...

During this period, Calicut was ruled by king Zamorin and Kochi was ruled by the Maharaja of Cochin. This was the time when the first Portuguese ships berthed at the Malabar Coast: Vasco da Gama in Calicut and Pedro Álvares Cabral in Kochi. The Mahar...