A bustling city and commercial capital of Malabar, Calicut has an International Airport, University, Medical College and prestigious Indian Institute of Management and National Institute of Technology(NIT).
Calicut has a very colourful past. Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut (Kappad – 16 KM from the city) in 1498, becoming the first European to reach India by the sea route around the southern cape of Africa.
His arrival heralded the period of Portuguese supremacy in India and the history of Calicut after 1498 was certainly dramatic. The Portuguese attempted to conquer the town, the capital of Malabar under the Zamorins, or lords of the sea.