Kannur

Kannur (Malayalam: കണ്ണൂർ Kaṇṇūr [ˈkaɳːuːɾ]), formerly Cannanore, is a city (Municipal Corporation) in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Kannur is located on the Malabar coast in northern Kerala and had a population of 63,797 at the time of the 2001 census. The city is the administrative headquarters of Kannur district.

Kannur was an important port early on and became a center of overseas trade with Arabia and Persia in the 12th and 13th centuries. After Vasco da Gama had already visited Kannur in 1498 during his first voyage to India, the place became one of the first Portuguese bases in India. In 1501, Pedro Álvares Cabral founded a factorial in Kannur, followed four years later by the construction of Fort St. Angelo under Francisco de Almeida. In 1506, the Portuguese defeated the Zamorin of Calicut (Kozhikode) in a naval battle off Kannur, consolidating their power on the Malabar coast. Kannur remained under Portuguese control before being conquered by the Dutch in the mid-17th century. The latter sold the town in 1771 to the local ruling family of the Ali Rajas, Kerala's only Muslim ruling dynasty. In the Mysore Wars, Kannur sided with Tipu Sultan, resulting in the British first capturing the town in 1783 and finally in 1790. Kannur was incorporated into the Madras Presidency as part of the Malabar district. After Indian independence, the city joined the newly formed state of Kerala in 1956 and became the administrative headquarters of Kannur district.