The Word Kolla & The Connected Toponyms

Malayalam word Kolla കൊല്ല has the following meaning as per Malayalam lexicon ശബ്ദതാരാവലി compiled by Srikanteswaram G. Padmanabha Pilla (published by Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham, in 1983) According to this the word has the following meaning:-

 ചിറ = a bank, a bund, an embankment, a reservoir, a natural pool, pond.

Again Kolla is a Persian word meaning treasury official. Etymology of kolla is unknown. For that most of the words in the lexicon is silent. Thus kolla is a water body. When അം sound is added to kolla it becomes kollam. Since Kerala was formed by gradual recession of sea, water trapped in low lands below sea level took the form of natural ponds and lakes. An agrarian society where money was not in existence water was one of the precious things. But in this case the word is derived from Persian word ghalla meaning grain tax or tax on the produce.

In the historical administrative systems of Kerala, particularly under the influence of Mysore Sultanate, the official responsible for collecting the tax on produce or grain tax was referred to by a term derived from ghalla.  Over time it was phoneticised into Malayalam as kolla (കൊല്ല) 

This explains how a word that sounds a common word for pond came to represent a high ranking official. It is a perfect example of how trade and taxation brought Persian administrative terminology into the heart of Malayalam records.

Kolla as pond is purely of Dravidian origin. It is derived from the proto Dravidian root "Koll" which relates to a hollow, a valley, or a place that receives or contains water. Its Dravidian cognates are:-

Tamil Kollai often refers to a dry land or backyard.  But in older context it relates to an enclosed or a bounded area.

In Kannada kolla (കൊള്ള) specifically means a valley, a deep place or glen.

In Telugu kollu (കൊല്ലു) means hollow or pit. 

° Semantic evolution:-

The word evolved from describing a natural hollow or valley to a man made reservoir or pond, because these water bodies (like chira or kulam were typically constructed by embanking natural depression to collect rain water. Alternatively, rain water gathers in these natural depression.

Kollam indicates the abundance of kolla in a place. We have two Kollam, one in the south and another in the north. We have two kollamkode, one in Thiruvananthapuram and another in Palakkad.

Other toponyms connected with kolla is Kolleri.