Editing Alappuzha district (section)

===Classical antiquity===
[[File:Light House Alleppey,Kerala.jpg|left|thumbnail|The [[Lighthouse]] at [[Purakkad]]]]
History records that the region which now constitutes the modern-day [[List of districts of Kerala|district]] of [[Alappuzha]] had trade relations with the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], the ancient [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], the ancient [[Levant]], the ancient [[Arabian peninsula]], and the [[Ancient Egypt]] during the [[Sangam period]] in the early centuries of the [[Common Era]].<ref name=AlappuzhaHistoryOld>{{cite web |title=History |url=http://alappuzha.gov.in/pages/aboutalpy-history.htm |website=Official Web Site of Alappuzha District, Kerala State, India |publisher=Collectorate, Alappuzha District, Kerala State, India |access-date=3 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820193526/http://alappuzha.gov.in/pages/aboutalpy-history.htm |archive-date=2016-08-20 }}</ref>

The ancient port town of ''Barace'' which is recorded as an important centre of the [[Indian Ocean trade]] in the ancient [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman travelogues]] such as the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' (written around 50 CE) is often identified with the modern-day coastal town of [[Purakkad]] on the mouth of the [[Pamba River]] in the Alappuzha district.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala"/> This river is also the third-longest river in [[Kerala]] only after to the [[Periyar river]] and the [[Bharathappuzha]] river.<ref name="Mathrubhumi">{{cite book|title=Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus – 2019|publisher=P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode|year=2018|location=Kozhikode|last=Chandran |first=VP |language=ml|edition=Malayalam }}</ref>

Early members of the [[Chera dynasty]] had their home in Kuttanad and were sometimes known as the  ''Kuttuvans''.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala"/> However the regions south of the [[Pamba River]] was ruled by the [[Ay kingdom]] during the ancient period. Pamba is mentioned as ''Baris'' in the ancient Greco-Roman travelogues.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala"/> There are archaeological evidences of the early period of this district, including ancient fossils, stone inscriptions and monuments, in the archeological sites like the excavation sites, the caves, the temples, etc. The literary works of the [[Sangam period]] also help to take a look into the ancient period of the district.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala"/>

Alappuzha district was once a prominent centre of [[Buddhism]] in [[South India]] prior to the arrival of [[Nambudiri]] [[Brahmin]]s into the region.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala"/> [[Sri Mulavasam]] was then a prominent Buddhist pilgrimage centre in the [[Indian peninsula]]. Numerous remnants of once flourished [[Buddhism]] have been found from the [[List of taluks of Kerala|taluks]] of [[Ambalappuzha]] and [[Mavelikara]].<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala"/>