Calicut Heritage Forum
Preserving Calicut's history, culture and heritage
Proceedings (*Updated March 2010)
Further Readings Malabar Days - Nick Balmer's Blog Calicut : The City of Truth Revisited, book by Dr.M.G.S Narayanan Zamorins of Calicut - From the Earliest Times to AD 1806,by K.V Krishna Ayyar Dr. N.M Nampoothiris' Home Page Link to Columbia University Web Page with Paintings and Manuscripts about Calicut Maddy's musings on Malabar*New
| The rise of Calicut (also known as Kozhikode) as the capital of a flourishing centre of manufacturing and trade coincided with the emergence of the benign rule of the Zamorins in the 12th century AD. It was known as the "City of Truth" due to its reputation for honesty and fair trade - at a time when piracy and plunder were generally acceptable.
Over the next 800 years Calicut witnessed the rise and fall of the Zamorin, the Portuguese, the Mysore Kingdom and the British. These turbulent times have left behind their record in the shape of monuments, documents, cultural practices and folklore. Much of this has been preserved for the sake of posterity. However, we feel a lot more needs to be identified and documented. Ours is a humble effort in this direction. This task can be achieved only with the collaboration of the citizens of Calicut who take pride in the unique composite culture which symbolises our city's heritage. |