Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the third largest city (pop. 801,190:1991) and a municipal corporation in the southern state of Kerala in India. It is the headquarters of Kozhikode district, and was formerly the capital of an independent kingdom, and later of the erstwhile Malabar District. This city is famous as the nearest town to Kappad where Vasco da Gama, the first European to sail directly from Europe (from Lisbon, Portugal) to India, landed in 1498.
