Kozhikode

Kozhikode (pronounced [koːɻikːoːɖɨ̆] ), also known as Calicut, is a historic city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. The city is also known as the City of Spices. It was among the most important ports in the world during medieval times and have received visitors from Marco Polo to Ibn Batuta to Zheng He to Vasco da Gama. It is the nineteenth-largest urban agglomeration in the country and the second-largest one in Kerala. Calicut city is the second-largest city proper in the state with a population of 609,224 within its municipal boundaries. Calicut is classified as a Tier-2 city by the Government of India. It is the largest city on the Malabar Coast and was the capital of the British-era Malabar district. It was the capital of an independent kingdom ruled by the Samoothiris (Zamorins). The port at Kozhikode acted as the gateway to the medieval South Indian coast for the Chinese, the Persians, the Arabs, and finally the Europeans. In 2023, Kozhikode was recognised by UNESCO as India's first City of Literature.