Calicut, also Kozhikode, city, southwestern India, in Kerala State, a seaport on the Arabian Sea. It is a railroad junction and shipping center of a rich agricultural region. Coffee, coconuts, tea, ginger, pepper, and other spices are the chief exports. Industrial establishments include sawmills, textile mills, coffee-processing plants, and factories producing soap and tile. The University of Calicut (1968) is in the area. Calicut was visited in 1487 by the Portuguese explorer Pero da Covilhão. In May 1498 the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrived here after completing the first voyage from Europe to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese established a trading post at Calicut, then a prosperous cotton-weaving center, in 1513. They withdrew in 1525. Trading stations were founded in the city by the English East India Company in 1664 and by the French in 1698. The British seized Calicut in 1790 in retaliation against attempts by the local rulers to expel European merchants. In 1792 the British annexed the city, with much of the surrounding region. Population (1991) 419,831.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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