Kozhikode [key], city (1991 pop. 419,531), Kerala state, SW India, on the Malabar coast of the Arabian Sea. Once the leading port of S India, it declined in the 19th cent. but remains the center of India's timber trade. Coconuts, spices, tea, and coffee are exported. Manufactures include wood products, tiles, and hosiery. Kozhikode was (1498) Vasco da Gama's first Indian port of call, and the city soon became a center for European traders. The term calico was first applied to Calicut cotton cloth, which was then an important manufacture. Kozhikode passed to British rule in 1792.
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