19-05-2024
Our last stop on this tour is seaside resort Kozhikode. The city's English name is Calicut. Not to be confused with Calcutta, which is all the way in the far east of India.
Kozhikode is where Vasco da Gama landed in India, thus shaping the history of the subcontinent. Before then, the Chinese, Arabs and Romans were already trading with the Indians in Calicut. The port was Malabar's biggest trading port, more important than Kochi. When eventually the British controlled the Indian subcontinent, Calicut was even the capital of the Malabar. Sadly, however, not much of this remains. Of the two major piers that the British had constructed, only some piles in the waters of the Arabian Sea remain.
Some of the legacy of the Arabs can still be found. Among other things, in the relatively large proportion of Muslims in the city. There is also still a fourteenth-century mosque, the Mishqal Mosque. Built in 1340 by a rich merchant from Yemen, who had settled in Kozhikode and from here traded with the rest of India, China, Yemen and Persia with a fleet of trading vessels. The building was not built in Persian architecture, but in the typical Kerala style. In 1510, the mosque was partially destroyed during an attack by the Portuguese. The Zamorin (king) of Calicut then provided timber from his fort to repair the mosque.
Even slightly older than the mosque, is the Tali Maha Shiva Kshetram temple. Also built in the 14th century, by the Zamorin of Calicut. It is suggested that this temple is even the namesake of the city. Its ancient name is said to be Koyil-kota (Koyil=temple, Kota=castle/fortress in Malayalam). Naturally, we went to visit the temple, but unfortunately we were not dressed appropriately -Simon was not wearing his dhoti and I was wearing my western trousers. Moreover, the temple is not open to non-Hindus. Oh well, we are back in Kerala again. Here, people are generally stricter about allowing tourists into shrines.
In the middle of the city is SM Street (SweetMeat Street), Mittayi Theruvu. A narrow but very busy street, full of trade in anything and everything. The street is the oldest trading street in Kozhikode. In the Middle Ages, this was the main place to trade spices and silks. So even then, salesmen from all over the world walked around here. And this remained so until the British made the city their own. Now it is a tourist hotspot with its small shops.
Again Tipu Sultan
At their peak, the Zamorins of Calicut controlled all of northern Kerala. As a result, they fought with many surrounding kingdoms and rulers. Wars with Travancore and Kochi prevailed and they fought with the British, French, and Portuguese. Alliances were made with Venice, Persia and the Dutch. Our ancestors had apparently helped the Zamorins so much that they were even offered a trade monopoly, and land to build warehouses to store their trade.
In the 18th century, Kozhikode was attacked by Mysore, led by Hyder Ali. His son Tipu -there he is again- identified a place to build a fort on a visit to the region. On/in a hill along the Chaliyar river, the remains of Tipu Sultan's naval base can be found. Gradually, that man is starting to become an obsession, so we had to look for the ruins. A bungalow was built on top of the remains of the fort some 150 years ago. The area has since been secured by the archaeological department, but they haven't really gotten around to excavating the remains. We only saw a piece of a corridor, but a well with a spiral staircase also seems to have been found. And several more corridors, coins and utensils.
The beaches of Kozhikode
There was plenty of water, besides the sea, during our visit to Kozhikode. The summer rains have started, heralding the monsoon. During the bus journey here, we had already had a lot of rain, causing a delay for the bus. But during our stay, it also rained heavily every day. Fortunately not all day. However, the showers were heavy enough to cause wells to overflow and water to flow knee-high through the streets.
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