in ancient times the vedar rajas ruled wayanad. later the pazhassi raja of the kottayam royal dynasty ruled. then there was a mysorean invasion. later, the british took over india, which lasted for 200 years. the british fought the pazhassi rajah. when the state of kerala started in 1956, wayanad was part of the cannannore district. in 1957, south wayanad was added to kozhikode district and north wayanad stayed with cannannore district. the district was formed on 1 november 1980 as the 12th district in kerala by carving out areas from kozhikode and kannur districts.