It was cited in old folklore that the area of Kanhangad was under the reign of king Nanda Raja of Mushaka Rajya, headquartered in Ezhimala Kannur region during the Sangam period. The historic region was known as Poozhinadu and later Paduvanadu. However, the history of Kanhangad can be clearly understood only by the 8th century. During this period the area was a part of the 2nd Chera Dynasty. It was one of the 32 Tulu villages under the administration of Payyannur kazhakam of Chera Dynasty. The illustrations of a Chera King, Bhaskaran Ravi Varman II obtained from Pullur shows the political sovereignty of the Chera Kingdom in this region.

Later, when Kolathunadu of Kolathiri dynasty from Kannur administered the region, Kolathiri appointed Kanhan as the baron of the region. So the name Kanhante Naadu, meaning 'Kanhan's Province' contracted to Kanhangad.

Due to the collapse of the Kolathiri Dynasty, the reign of Elamkoor came to an end and the powerful elite barons renowned as Ettadukkal lords gained the strength. Among them, the mightiest was Allohalan, whose reign was concentrated around Madiyan Kovilakam. With the help of the Zamorin, Kolathiri has assassinated him and established a new dynasty at Neeleswaram headquarters. Earlier Kanhangad was a crucial port in all sense. Hence the Vijayanagara kings attacked Kanhangad too during their conquest of Tulu Nadu. After the fall of the Vijayanagara dynasty, the Ikkeri Kings have been attacking this area since the 1630s.

Since Kanhangad became a part of Nileshwaram kingdom following the reign of the Kolathunadu, the land witnessed frequent conflicts between Nileshwaram kingdom and Ikkeri Nayaks of Bednore. When the Ikkeri Nayaks defeated the Nileshwaram kingdom, the region came under the Keladi Nayaka Kingdom. In 1713 Somashekara Nayaka constructed a new fort to resist further attacks from Nileshwaram kingdom. The fort is now known as Puthiyakotta or Hosdurg, meaning 'New Fort' in Malayalam and Kannada respectively.

In the 1760s Haidar Ali captured the land from Ikkeri Nayaks and the region came under the Mysore Kingdom which was later forcibly merged with the south Kanara district. In 1799, soon after the death of Tipu Sultan the entire region came under the control of East India Company. Till 1862, Kanhangad was in Bekal Taluk under Bombay Presidency. On 15 April 1862 when the Dakshina Kannada region shifted to Madras Presidency, the region came under Kasaragod taluk. After the formation of Kerala State, Kasaragod taluk was divided and Kanhangad came under Hosdurg taluk on 1 January 1957.

Politics

Kanhangad was an important centre of the Indian National movement. The Congress Working Committee joined at Kanhangad on 1 January 1925 and decided to launch a massive Khadi centre. It has given good direction to the freedom struggle in addition to the increase in the enthusiasm which the promotion of Khaadi had. In January 1925, the Hosdurg unit of the Indian National Congress was formed. AC Kannan Nair was the first President and KT Kunhiraman Nambiar was the first Secretary.

Many members of the Janmis or Noblemen and ordinary people from this region attended the Simon Commission for boycotting and Civil Disobedience movement. In April 1926, Vidwan P. Kelu Nair setup the Vighyanadayini National Sanskrit School in Vellikoth (Bellikoth) to promote National education. Later the school became the main centre of the National Movement in the region. The prominent Congress leaders like AC Kannan Nair, KT Kunhiraman Nambiar, Damodara Bhaktan, Vidwan P Kelunayar and E Raghava Panikkar were the teachers in this school. Keralite K. Madhavan and Gandhi Krishnan Nair were students here.

They attended the State Congress Conference held at Payyannur on 26 and 27 May in 1928 and K. Madhavan participated in it as a volunteer. In 1930, five people participated in the Salt Satyagraha protest under the leadership of K. Kelappan. There was active participation of people from Kanhangad in the 1921 Guruvayoor Satyagraha and the 1942 Quit India Movement.

AC. Kannan Nair who was the Congress president of Hosdurg Thaluk in 1925 has fought against untouchability. He also started the Vallabhai Library in Kottacherry which helped the National movement a lot in the region. The prominent leaders who participated in the Indian freedom struggle from Kanhangad include Vidwan P. Kelu Nair, who has a high graduation in Sanskrit language, Gandhi Krishnan Nair, who lost his eyes during Toddy shop picketing, H. Vasudev who has worked in National Movement since a young age, Damodara Shenoy, K. Madhavan, who participated in the Salt Satyagraha, Achyutha Shenoy who was tortured by Police for participating in the Quit India Movement, editors of Shakti Magazine, and K.T Kunhiraman Nambiyar who was famous as a person who was the volunteer captain of the Kerala Congress Conference in 1926.

Smrithi Mantapam Erected by Kanhangad Municipality - In remembrance of Freedom Fighters on the 50th Independence day - 15 August 1997
Exceptional activities like the boycott of foreign dress or Swadeshi Movement, anti-alcoholism, Harijan upliftment etc. were also conducted here. A handwritten magazine called "Shakti" was initiated from here under the editorship of Kunjiraman Nambiar.

Post Independence

Hosdurg area was a sub-taluk of Kasaragod taluk. This information was recorded in the first censorship after independence in 1951. Following the linguistic state reorganization, Kasaragod taluk was split from the southern Karnataka region and was merged with Malabar district and the state of Kerala was formed on 1 November 1956. On 1 November 1957, Malabar was divided into 3 districts of Kannur, Kozhikode and Palakkad. The division of Kasaragod and Hosdurg Taluk were under Kannur district.

The Kasaragod district came into being on 24 May 1984 and Kanhangad municipality was formed on June 1984. On 28 May 2013, Kasaragod Taluk was divided into Kasaragod and Manjeswaram taluks and Hosdurg taluk were split into Hosdurg and Vellarikundu taluks.