Malabar District was an administrative district of Madras Presidency in British India and independent India's Madras State. The British district included the present-day districts of Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad (excluding some areas of Alathur and Chittur Taluks), Chavakad Taluk of Thrissur district (former part of Ponnani Taluk), and Fort Kochi area of Ernakulam district in the northern and central parts of present Kerala state, the Lakshadweep Islands, and the Gudalur taluk and Pandalur taluk of Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu. The district lay between the Arabian Sea on the west, South Canara District on the north, the Western Ghats to the east, and the princely state of Cochin to the south. The district covered an area of , and extended along the coast and 40-120 kilometers (25-75 miles) inland. The name Mala-bar means the hillside slopes. Kozhikode was the capital of Malabar. It was divided into North Malabar and South Malabar in 1793 for administrative convenience.