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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 9, p. 290.

290 CALICUT CITY could be heard over. The Zamorins, with the help of Arab traders settled at Beypore, soon extended their powers and made the town the centre of a dominion extending from Tikkodi to Chetwai. The Arab writers of the thirteenth century describe Calicut as one of the great ports of the west coast, full of magnificent buildings, and noted for the security to trade afforded by the power of the Zamorin and the justice with which he treated foreign settlers. In the fifteenth century the place seems to have been the most important town in Malabar. It was the first port of India visited by Europeans, and gave its name to calico, one of the chief articles of the early trade ; but, owing to the opposition of the Arab traders, the European settlements here were not so impor- tant as those at COCHIN and CANNANORE. The Portuguese adventurer Covilham was the first European to visit Calicut (in 1486) ; but trade only began with the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498. A factory was established, but Da Gama was badly treated by the Zamorin. Two years later Cabral established a factory of seventy Portuguese, which was immediately destroyed by the Mappillas, and most of the inmates murdered. In revenge the town was bombarded, and the port was then left alone by the Portuguese for some years. In 15io Albuquerque attacked Calicut at the instigation of the Raja of Cochin, but was repulsed. A year later the Zamorin allowed the Portuguese to build a fort on the north bank of the Kallayi river; but he continued secretly hostile to their trade, the fort was abandoned in 1525, and the Portu- guese did not again attempt a settlement at Calicut itself. The English connexion with the town dates from 1615, when Captain Keeling arrived with three ships and concluded a treaty with the Zamorin; but no settlement was established till 1664, when a trading agreement was made with the Zarnorin by the East India Company. The Zamorin, however, gave little encouragement to the Company, and it was not until 1759 that they were allowed to tile their factory. The French settlement dates from 1698. During the wars with France it thrice came into the possession of the English, but was finally restored to France in 1819. It at present consists of about 6 acres of ground, called the Loge, near the sea-shore south of the pier. The Danish Government established a factory at Calicut in 1752. It was partially destroyed in 1784, and soon afterwards incorporated in the British settlement. The Dutch never had any station at the place. During the Mysore Wars the town suffered severely, and was twice pillaged by the Muhammadan armies, in 1773 and 1788. On the latter occasion Tipa Sultan made a determined effort to establish a rival capital at Ferokh on the south bank of the Beypore river, but the attempt failed. In 1790 Calicut was occupied by the British in their operations against Tipfi, and by the Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792 it finally passed under the dominion of the Company.