In North Kerala lies the area which thelegendary traveller Marco Polo described in 1320 A.D. as the ’’greatprovince of Malabar’’. Much of this richness today lies buried in theglory of a past grandeur, a past replete with the trading visits ofEuropean voyagers calling on the ancient port of Kozhikode on theirregular journeys of commerce, lured by timber, ivory, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and other spices.
Kozhikode has given its Englishname, Calicut, to `calico’, the fine variety of handwoven cotton clothsaid to have originated from this place. The word ’teak’ has alsooriginated from Malabar. Kozhikode was also Vasco da Gama’s first haltin India. He set foot on the sands of Kappad beach, north of today’scity, on 27 May 1498 A.D., a landing commemorated by a small stonemonument at the beach. The word "khaki"
Kozhikode is an important tradingcentre for spices and tiles, and hunting ground for famous delicacies.Beypore, 11 km from Kozhikode, is a small coastal townfamous for centuries as a ship-building centre and still is known todayfor its country crafts called uru built by traditional shipbuilders.Beypore is still a favoured destination for Arabs shopping for largeboats. It is widely believed that the craftsmen of Beypore madeCleopatra’s barges. The head craftsman never used sketches.https://2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/vipin/www/kozhikode.html (Thanks toVipin)