Calicut(Kozhikode)-The starting
point of Foreign rule in India
Almost 511 years back,
precisely speaking on 20 May 1498 Vasco Da Gama, a sailor cum trader from Lisbon in Portugal
landed at Kappad, a sleepy village near Kozhikode in Kerala. It was for the first time a sea route to India from Europe
was established. Gradually it paved the way for others like the Dutch , the
French and the British to seek their fortunes through their trade with India.
Gama was accompanied by 170 men in four ships. It took 8 months and 12 days for
them to reach Kozhikode after a strenuous and
tiresome journey through sea. Gama was heading a trade delegation. At that
time, trade was mainly with the Chinese and the Arabs. The spices and hand
woven silk were the main components of trade. Samoothiri (Zamorin) was ruling this
part at that time. Gama signed a trade treaty with Samoothiri and this literally pushed the Chinese and the
Arabs out of trading scenario. He returned to Portugal on August 29, 1498. He
carried with him , ship loads of pepper, silk and other spices. In the return
trip to Portugal,
Gamma had to face a major tragedy- 50% of his team members fell sick and died.
Almost after a gap of 4 years,
Gama ventured upon his second trip to India.
This time he brought with him twenty ships. He reached Calicut on 12 February 1502.He wanted to
expand his trading activities but Samoothiri did not accede to it. Gama was
compelled to move out of Kozhikode to Cochin.
Subsequently in 1604, the
Dutch came to Kozhikode and entered into a
trade treaty with Samoothiri.
The neighbouring state of Mysore was ruled by Hyder Ali. He wanted to
expand his kingdom. In 1766, Tippu
Sultan attacked Samoothiri and after a fierce battle defeated him. The rule of
Tippu Sultan continued till 1792 when the British attacked Tippu, defeated him and
established their rule in Malabar. British named Kozhikode as Calicut. Malabar was then part of Madras presidency.
British rule continued till August 15, 1947.
In 1956 when states were
reorganised on linguistic basis,. Malabar was amalgamated with Travancore - Cochin and Kerala state
was formed on November 1. Subsequently on January 1,1957 Malabar was split into
three districts- Kannur, Kozhikod and Palghat. Further division took place and
now there are six districts in erstwhile Malabar-Kasarkod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Palghat.
Tremendous changes have taken
place since then in the overall scenario
of Kozhikode. Multi story residential
buildings, shopping complexes , coupled with the increased population and traffic congestion have mutilated the tranquility of the city. Some parts of the city still keep its original flavour to a
certain extent. These are S M Street, Mananchira and Beach. Manachira is still
the heart of the city. Old institutions like Town Hal, District Library and Common Wealth Trust Office are
still there in their original positions. Sweet Meat Street which was once famous
for its halwa and other sweet stalls haven given way to other types of shops. Kozhikode beach is nice for enjoying sunset and nice cool
breeze.
Kozhikode has emerged as the
third largest city of Kerala, the other two
being Trivandrum
and Kochin. According to 2001 census,
the population of Calicut
City is 4.37 lakhs which
is 16.5% of population of Kozhikode District. Kozhikode
is well connected by air, rail and sea. There are direct flights from here to all important
towns in India ,Middle East
and Ceylon.
The major educational institutions are Calicut Medical College(CMC), National
Institute of Technology(NIT), and Indian Institute of Management(IIM). Lot of
people from this area have gone to the Middle East
for employment and business and the subsequent inflow of foreign money has
changed the economy and way of living of the people.
If Vasco Da Gama takes a rebirth and visits Calicut, no doubt he will
be wonder struck with the vast changes that have taken place in the city and
its surroundings.
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