"MALA-BAAR"

First part of the word Malabar, ie; “MALA” is of Dravidian origin. MALA means mountains or hills and the second part ”BAR” is probably of Arabic Origin. BAR in Arabic means continent. So MALABAR as a whole is the Land of mountains or hills, a name well suited for its physical features. [Quoted according to William Logan (1887)]

Malabar-Spice cOast Of Kerala- An IntrO..

Geographical location: Malabar region falls between 100 15’ and 12o 18’ North latitude and 750 14’ and 750 56’ East longitude, and constitutes a narrow strip of land separated from the Deccan Plateau by the Western Ghats mountain range.Malabar is a region in the northern part of the beautiful south Indian state Kerala. The Malabar region includes 6 districts in Kerala – Calicut, Kannur, Kasargode, Malappuram, Palakkad & Wayanad. It covers an area of 17,41,030 hectares.

This beautiful strip of land was renowned world over as the home and center of world trade in the choicest tropical spices. It lost much of its pride and glory now, even the name MALABAR is not much used except by the tourism administration and some local organizations. Malabar is no longer an administrative unit now. Under British India Malabar was a part of the Madras Presidency. Later it merged with the Southern Princely states of Cochin and Travancore to form the present Kerala State in November1956.