Kozhikode or Calicut is a city in the Kerala area of southern India on the Malabar coast. Calicut is the largest urban area in the state and the 192nd-largest urban area in the world. The city is located about 275 kilometers west of Bangalore. In medieval times, Kozhikode was called the “City of Spices” as it was the actual trans-shipment point for eastern spices.
In the Middle Ages, Kozhikode was the capital of a free kingdom controlled by the Samoothiris Zamorins, and later of the former Malabar District under British rule.