Kozhikode is a town with a long recorded history. From time immemorial, the city has attracted travelers with its prosperity. It has traded in spices like black pepper and cardamom with Jews, Arabs, Phoenicians, and Chinese for more than 500 years. As Kozhikode offered full freedom and security, the Arab and the Chinese merchants preferred it to all other ports. The globe-trotter Ibn Batuta (A.D. 1342-47) said:
"We came next to Kalikut, one of the great ports of the district of Malabar, and in which merchants of all parts are found."
Kozhikode was the capital of Malabar during the time of Zamorins (in Malayalam Samoothiri), who ruled the region before the British took over.
The city's first recorded contact with Europe was when Vasco da Gama landed at Kappad (18 km north) in May 1498, as the leaders of a trade mission from Portugal. He was received by the Zamorin himself.
Early Kozhikode in foreign accounts
Accounts of the city and the conditions prevailing then can be gleaned from the chronicles of travelers who visited the port city.
Ibn Battuta (1342–1347), who visited six times, gives us the earliest glimpses of life in the city. He describes Kozhikode as "one of the great ports of the district of Malabar" where "merchants of all parts of the world are found". The king of this place, he says "is an infidel who shaves his chin just as the Haidari Fakeers of Rome do...The greater part of the Muhammedan merchants of this place are so wealthy that one of them can purchase the whole freightage of such vessels put here and fit out others like them".
Ma Huan (1403 AD), the Chinese Muslim sailor part of the Imperial Chinese fleet under Cheng Ho (Zheng He) lauds the city as a great emporium of trade frequented by merchants from around the world. He makes note of the 20 or 30 mosques built to cater to the religious needs of the Muslims, the unique system
