Kozhikode Fairvalue
Kozhikode city was formerly known as Calicut. This city is located on the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala. It is considered as the biggest urban area and 195th largest urban area in the world. During the middle ages period, Kozhikode city was well known for spices. It was the major trading point of eastern spices and is mentioned as the ‘City of Spices’. It was the capital city for many independent kingdoms ruled by the Samoothiris (Zamorins). It was followed by British rule till India’s freedom under Malabar district.
Role of Vasco Da Gama
In the early 7th century, the Arab merchants traded with the region. The city’s first recorded contact with Europe by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama among the leaders of a trade mission from Portugal dropped anchor at Kappad which is 18 kilometers north of Kozhikode to open a trade route between Europe and Malabar on 20 May 1498. Vasco da Gama was received by Sri Samoothiri Maharaja himself. Until the fall of Calicut, a Portuguese factory and fort functioned in Kozhikode for a short period between 1511 and 1525.During the period of Sri Samoothiri Maharajas, who ruled this region before the British rule had Kozhikode as the capital of Malabar.
People called this city in different names
The history of this city is well-known to the people in different names. People speaking in Malayalam traditionally called it Kozhikode and Tamil called it Kallikkottai. The merchants from Arabia called it Qaliquit and Chinese called it Kalifo. The British called it Calicut. But, the city’s official name is Kozhikode. The word Calicut was derived from the word Calico which means a fine variety of hand-woven cotton cloth that was exported from the Calicut port. Due to various architectural sculptures located in various parts of the city, the tag name City of Sculptures (Shilpa Nagaram) was given to Kozhikode on 7 June 2012.
Under the British Rule
In 1615, English landed here and constructed a trading post in 1665. In 1698, the French followed it and the Dutch in 1752. Mysore captured Kozhikode as part of the conquest of the Malabar Coast. This city has a long recorded history. The prosperity of this city attracted travelers throughout the world for a long period. For more than 500 years, the traders like Jews, Arabs, Phoenicians and Chinese had trade relations in black pepper and cardamom. This port offered full freedom and security. It was opened to all merchants in the world, especially with Arabs and Chinese.