Dot on the international maritime route, Cochin (now Kochi), was a rewarding destination for explorers, traders and chroniclers around the world from time immemorial. Some came to trade in its hottest product, spices, some to escape persecution back home, and a few others for peaceful living with a comfortable career to boot. From royalty down to the rabble, all found warm welcome in abundance.

Cochin surfaced from the sea as the favoured port of call in mid-14th century. As a cluster of marshy islets, not all of which hospitable enough for habitation, it wasn’t much of a landmass to crow about. But slowly and steadily it started growing into a city that is presently closer to being a metropolis.

The history of this small port-town saw the rise and fall of many powers, the complicated trajectories of the diverse people who made a home out of it, and crucially, the confluence of seemingly favoured faiths and conflicting cultures yoked together by visionaries who could imagine a better future of its citizens—here is the story of Cochin’s transformation.