This
Kolam, Though Resembling Kollam, Is Really A Separate Word, And
Never Confounded With The Latter By The Natives.
The prince of Kolam
(North Malabar) is called Kolastri or Kolattiri[A].
Compare also
Kolagiri, the name of a hill in the Sanskrit dictionaries, called
also the Kolla giri. The only possible derivations for the Tamil and
Malayalim name of Quilon that I am acquainted with are these: (1)
From Kolu, the 'Royal Presence' or presence-chamber, or hall of
audience. Kollam might naturally be a derivation of this word; and
in confirmation I find that other residences of Malabar kings were
also called Kollam, e.g. Kodungalur or Cranganore. (2) From Kolu,
the same word, but with the meaning 'a height' or 'high-ground'. Hence
Kollei, a very common word in Tamil for a 'dry grain field, a
back-yard'. Kolli is also, in the Tamil poets, said to be the name of
a hill in the Chera country, i.e. the Malabar coast. Kolam in
Tamil has not the meaning of pepper; it means 'beauty', and it is said
also to mean the fruit of the jujuba. (3) It might possibly be derived
from Kol, to slay; - Kollam, slaughter, or a place where some
slaughter happened ... in the absence, however, of any tradition to
this effect, this derivation seems improbable."
[A] see II. 387.
[3] Burnell.
[4] The translated passage about 'Apuhota is a little obscure. The
name looks like Kapukada, which was the site of a palace north
of Calicut (not in Kaulam), the Capucate of the
Portuguese.
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