Kozhikode

Short History

             Calicut is the anglicised form of ‘Kalikut’ the Arabic for the Malayalam Kozhikode. It is also called the Cock Fort. According to the historian, K.V.Krishnan Iyer, the term means Koyil (Palace) Kodu (fortified). Anyhow, it is a historical town with a hoary past. From time immemorial, the city attracted travellers, with its charming physical features and prosperity. Even today, the glory that Calicut had, has not faded.

             The political history of Kozhikode is a story of treacherous and ill-conceived conspiracies hatched by the Western powers. Vasco Da Gama landed at Kappad (16 kilometers north of Kozhikode) in May 1498, as the leader of a trade mission from Portugal and was received by the Zamorian himself.

             Kozhikode district is situated on the south west coast of India. The district is bounded on the north by Kannur District, on the east by Wayanad district, on the south by Malapuram district and on the west by Arabian sea. It is situated between North Latitudes 110 08’ and
110 50’ and East longitudes 750 30’ and 760 8’.

             Topographically the district has three district regions the sandy coastal belt, the rocky highlands formed by the hilly portion of the Western Ghats and lateritic midland. Of the total area of 2344 sq. Kms., the sandy coastal belt is 362.85 sq. Kms., Lateritic midlands 1343.50 sq. Kms and rocky highlands 637.65 sq. Kms.

             All the three taluks are spread over the three regions. The district has a coastal length of about 80 Kms. The highland region accounts for 26.80 percent and the lowland region for 15.55 percent of the total area of the district.

             The district has a humid climate with a very hot season extending from March to May. The most important rainy season is during the South West Monsoon, which sets in the first week of June and extends up to September. The North East Monsoon extends from the second half of October through November. The average annual rainfall is 3266 mm.

             There is an abundance of wild and marine life here. Though wild elephants and bisons are occasionally seen in the forests, tigers and leopards are very few and rare.
Total area under forests in Kozhikode district is estimated at 291.2268 sq.kms. ie. Reserve Forests 86.1388 sq.kms. and Vested Forests 205.0880 sq.kms).

             Hindus constitute the majority of the population and next come the Muslim and the Christian communities respectively.

             The Muslims of the district are known as Mappilas. A great majority of them are sunnis following the Shafi School of thought. They are noted for their piety.

             Though Christianity is believed to have been introduced in Kerala in 52 A.D. not much progress was made by the Christian of this district before the advent of the Portuguese towards the close of 15th century.

             There were reputed centres of learning and culture in Kozhikode district even in the early and medieval periods. One of the most important of such centres was Kozhikode itself.

             The beginning of western education may be traced back to the first half of the 19th century, when in 1848 the Basel Evangelical Mission started a primary school at Kallai. In 1877, a school for the young rajas was started in Kozhikode.

Secondary education recorded an appreciable progress since 1915.
According to the 2001 census, Total Population is 2,878,498 (Male-1,398,674, Female-1,479,824). Density of Population is 1228 (In 1991 census-1118). The decade growth rate is 9.87%. The percentage of literacy is 92.45 (ie. 96.30% male and 88.86% females.) Total Literates – 2351548, (Male – 1182906, Female – 1168642). Sex ratio is 1058 (in 1991 Census – 1027).
The seat of the University of Calicut is 23 Kms. South of Kozhikode city at Tenhipalam in Malappuram District. The University of Calicut was established in 1968.

             The History of Kozhikode District as an administrative unit begins from January 1957. When the states of the Indian Union were reorganised on linguistic basis on 1st November 1956. The erstwhile Malabar district was separated from Madras State (Tamil Nadu) and added to the new unilingual State of Kerala. But Malabar district was found to be too unwieldy for administrative purposes.

             Kozhikode district occupies a prominent place in the history of Malayalam Journalism. The origin of the Journalism in this district can be traced back to 1880. The ‘Kerala Pathrika‘ is likely to be the earliest newspaper published from Kozhikode. ‘Keralam’, ‘Kerala Sanchari’ and ‘Bharath Vilasam’ are among the Other news papers published from Kozhikode before 1893.

             The Kozhikode station of All India Radio was commissioned on 14th May 1950 and its has two transmitters Kozhikode. A of 10 Kilowatt power and Kozhikode B (Vividh Bharathi) of 1 kilowatt power.

             A television transmitter has been functioning in Kozhikode from 3rd July 1984 relaying programmes from Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram Doordharsan. Besides Cable TV network and Satellite Television are also available in many parts of the District.

             The temples and mosques of this district contains sculptures and inscriptions which are of considerable interest to the students of art. Kozhikode town itself has many temples the most important of which are the Tali Temple, Thiruvannur Temple, Azhokodi Temple, Varakkal Temple, Bilathikulam Temple and Bhairaggi Madam Temple.

There is an art gallery and Krishna Menon Musiam at East hill in Kozhikode City. Lalitha Kala Accademy also has an art gallery adjacent to Townhall, Kozhikode.

             In the field of Malayalam Language and literature kozhikode has made most significant contributions. The district is famous for folk songs or ballads known as Vadakkan Pattukal. The most popular songs among them are those which celebrate the exploits of Thacholi Meppayil Kunhu Othenan ‘The Robinfood of North Malabar’.
             One of the favourite past times of the Muslim of this district is the singing of the Mappilapattu and Oppana. The songs are composed in a composite language of Arabic and Malayalam.

             The famous intellectual debate for vedic scholars to win the coveted position of Pattathanam takes place at Thali temple during the month of Thulam.