Kasargod was a part of ancient Tamilakam in the ancient period. According to the ancient Tamil works of Sangam period, the regions lying in the district was included in Puzhinadu, which had included much of the regions between Kozhikode and Mangalore in the southwestern coast of India. It was a part of Ezhimala kingdom, with its capital at Ezhimala in present-day Kannur district. At the largest extend of its power, the kingdom of Kolathunadu, which later emerged as one of the 4 most powerful kingdoms of Kerala during the medieval period, had extended from Kasaragod in the north to Korapuzha in the south, and Arabian sea in the west to Kodagu Hills in the east.