There is no unanimity among historians about the history of ancient Kerala with much of it is cloaked in myths and conjectures. Stone Age carvings in the Edakkal Caves are pictographs believed to be dating to at least 5000 BC, indicating the presence of a prehistoric settlement in this region. Kerala finds mention in the annals of international trade from as early as 3000 BC as the major spice trade centre of the world. West Asians - primarily traders were encouraged to settle and set up trading outposts and factories by the local kings. Later many other migrations into Kerala were to escape religious or racial persecution. The Jews of Kerala claimed to be remnants of the Jews that left Israel following the Assyrian invasion of 721 BCE. Thomas the Apostle is said to have visited this region in 52 CE and introduced Christianity in Kerala.

With the advent of Islam in West Asia the traders visiting Kerala's shores contained ever larger proportions of Muslims. Malik Ibn Dinar created the first Muslim settlement in Kerala in the 7th century CE. Arab Muslims eventually dominated the sea trade with Kerala until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century. Vasco da Gama's voyage to Kerala from Portugal in 1498 was largely motivated by Portuguese determination to break the Arabs' control over trade of spices grown in Kerala.

Da Gama established India's first Portuguese fortress at Cochin (Kochi) in 1503 and taking advantage of rivalry between the royal families of Calicut and Cochin, ended the Arab monopoly. Following in the footsteps of the Portuguese, the Dutch reached Kerala and established the Dutch East India Company in 1592. In 1604, the Dutch army arrived at the Malabar coast. Making use of the rivalry between Kochi and Kozhikode kingdoms, their arrival marked the beginning of another phase of European domination. The Portuguese slowly began to loose control over the spice trade to the Dutch. Dutch established their base in various parts of Kerala and made a number of treaties for trade with local rulers. Dutch supremacy lasted only for briefly before the British entry into Kerala, also attracted by the spices and other natural treasures of the land. British supremacy in Kerala started by the mid seventeenth century and lasted for the next 200 years until India achieved independence from colonial rule.