Calicut

Calicut (also known as Kozhikode) is the chief town and a port on the Malabar coast of southwest India. It is known as the first contact point for Indo-European maritime trade in southern Asia when the Portuguese Vasco Da Gama arrived there in 1498. Whereas in those early days the Portuguese carracks could shelter from the June-September south-west monsoons inside the estuary of any local river, ships today need to anchor in the roadstead up to 3 miles offshore and deliver-receive their cargoes via lighter from piers built out into the sea.

The current population is about half a million.

The name of the cloth, calico, derives from Calicut.