Kozhikode (Malayalam: [koiko]( listen), also known as Calicut, is a major city in the state of Kerala in southern India. Kozhikode is the headquarters of the Kozhikode district on the Malabar Coast. Kozhikode is the third largest city in Kerala and is part of the second largest urban agglomeration in Kerala with a metropolitan population of 2,030,519 as per 2011 census. During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikode (Calicut) was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District. Muslim Arab merchants traded with Kozhikode as early as 7th century, and Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed at Kozhikode on May 20, 1498. A Portuguese trading post and fort was intact in Kozhikode for short period (15111525, until the Fall of Calicut), the English landed in 1615 (constructed a trading post in 1665),...
