Kingdom of Kozhikode
| Samoothiri of Kozhikode | ||||||||||
| കോഴിക്കോട് സാമൂതിരി | ||||||||||
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 The Zamorin of Calicut on his throne as painted by Veloso Salgado in 1898
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| Capital | Kozhikode | |||||||||
| Languages | Malayalam, Sanskrit | |||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | |||||||||
| Government | Feudal Monarchy | |||||||||
| Samoodiri of Kozhikode | Manavikraman | |||||||||
| Historical era | Late Medieval | |||||||||
| • | Fall of Later Cheras | c. 12th century | ||||||||
| • | Reduded to an estate by the British Raj | 1806 | ||||||||
| Currency | Kozhikode Fanam | |||||||||
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Samoothiri of Kozhikode (Zamorin of Calicut; Malayalam: സാമൂതിരി, Portuguese: Samorim, Dutch: Samorijn) is the hereditary royal title used by the Hindu Eradi Nair rulers of the medieval Kingdom of Kozhikode on the Malabar Coast (present day Kerala). The Samoodiris ruled for almost six centuries, between c. 12th and 18th century AD based at the city of Kozhikode, one of the more important trading centres in southern India.
The Portuguese trader and navigator Vasco da Gama visited Kozhikode in 1498, opening the sailing route directly from Europe to India.
The Eradis with their original base at Nediyiruppu (near present Kondotty) and were land-locked and sought an outlet to the Arabian Sea. The Eradis subsequently moved their capital to the port of Kozhikode ("Calicut" for the Europeans), then also called Thrivikramapuram. According to K. V. Krishna Ayyar, a historian, the city of Kozhikode was founded on a marshy tract along the Malabar coast in the 11th century AD. During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. The name Kozhikode is thought to be derived from Koyil (Palace) and Kota (Fort) meaning 'Fortified Palace'. Others have called the city by different names. The Arabs called it Kalikooth, Tamils called the city Kallikkottai, for the Chinese it was Kalifo. The name of the famous fine variety of hand-woven cotton cloth called Calico that was exported from the port is also thought to have derived from Kozhikode.
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Wikipedia