About

About Anjengo

The whole area here is situated with heart capturing sceneries. The endless music raising from raring wages, evening breeze making everyone asleep, drought unknown rivers flowing in the east, coconut trees all around providing shade through the movement of the seen. The fish folk live here happy with great grateful to the mother sea.

Portuguese arrived in ANCHUTHENGU in the same year when they arrived in Kozhikode for the first time in 1498. It was with the permission of Samoothiri by means of preaching the religion.

Later in the 16th century they had built the church in ANCHUTHENGU, at that time it was governed by the Attingal queen. During that period Portuguese and the Dutch people were in a good term with the queen. There fore they were allowed to do pepper business. So in 1684, the East India Company launched a business centre in ANCHUTHENGU with the permission of the queen.

There was a good deal between them and the queen. She allowed them to build a fort in ANCHUTHENGU on 1690 to increase their commerce. After five years the fort was built completely in a squared type. It had four inner platforms; eight cannon were placed excluding the other twenty cannon.

Here exists Amman temple near ANCHUTHENGU junction. It was built for the Chettiyaar to pray, who were brought from Thirunnalveli to build the fort. Thattans who came with them too had also built up Muthumari Amman temple near to and stayed there itself.

After Bombay, British found ANCHUTHENGU as suitable place for them to protect themselves and also to improve there commerce through sea route. The nature itself provided with a merchant situation with the hide and vast sea shore and the pure water facility in ANCHUTHENGU. So it was like an inn for those back water and those who came very tired. The neighboring locality of ANCHUTHENGU namely ‘Puthidom’ (today’s Poothura) also favored them in increasing their business.

75 Venetian coins give as rent for the fort every year. It was all around 251 acres was been made use for the company.

The British were at first time attacked in 1697 and probably it might have been the first attack in Kerala targeted against them. They could not succeed in there first attempt, hence they prepared themselves to attack the British round about the fort. It lasted for six months, but by the time they blocked Mr. Gifford and his army while they were on the way to Attingal. They cut off the penis of Gifford’s servant Marchinoss, and Gifford’s body was nailed to the wood and thrown in to the back water. They attacked the whole troop and murdered every one in the fort. Later 300 army men and Massford from Thalasseri came and captured the fort again from the locals of ANCHUTHENGU.

During the year 1792 ANCHUTHENGU lost its importance and its business went into a dark time. The Veluthampi revolution in 1809 had shacked the fort a bit but it did not last long for. In 1810 ANCHUTHENGU was under the political government of Thiruvithamcore and all the business deal which was going on there was put a half in 1813. After time there were only a group of fisher men family and the isolated fort left out. The fisher folk surrender there Friday’s one third of income to the church of immaculate Mary the mother.

There were few European hammed/ cemetery which were 250 meters away from the local Roman Catholic Church in ANCHUTHENGU, and among them the very oldest one was the Dutch’s tomb, it was in 1709. The cemetery measured with the square feet of 60 cents. At present we find the panchayath office in the same place. There were also panchayath unions during the British rule from the year 1928. There was an inn near the fort earlier. Later it had become the police out post.

There was also a magistrate court near the fort and the magistrate had the power of Thahasildar, sub registrar and munisif second class magistrate. We could find the ANCHUTHENGU hospital (kachery hospital) in the same place. Even today we can see the stone of magistrate near the ANCHUTHENGU fort. The inscription of the stone reads like this, “their imperial majestic silver jubilee memorial munisif magistrate (1910-1935) J.X. Fernandez”.

At a Glance


geographical coordinates: 8° 40' 0" North, 76° 46' 0" East
geographical location: Thiruvananthapuram (Triv), Kerala, India, Asia
original name: Anjengo
Location :Anchuthengu is about 36 km north of Thiruvananthapuram and 10 km north-west of Attingal.
The nearest airport :Trivandrum International Airport.
The nearest Railway Station :Varkala Railway Station



About the name Anjengo