A city’s misfortune always marks the rise of another city. We see this often in medieval India. The greatest example is the destruction of Vijayanagara and the rise of Vijayapura, both in Karnataka. The former’s devastation and loot and the possession of the fertile Raichur Doab enabled the Adil Shahi Sultans to invest in great buildings at Vijayapura. This, indeed, was a man-made destruction. A similar story occurred in Kerala but by an act of God. Major floods in the Periyar River in 1341 CE destroyed the ancient port city of Muziris. Though the same flood gave birth to the port of Kochi, it also allowed another port city on the Malaibar coast to prosper. That port was Qāliqūṭ, as the medieval travellers referred to it, or Kozhikode as we know it now.
The writings of Ibn Battuta, the celebrated Moroccan traveller, tell us how Muziris stopped being a port of call on the west coast. Battuta, as Mohammed bin Tughluk’s ambassador to China, visited Kozhikode at least six times. His itinerary mentions most of the ports on the west coast, like Mangalore, Valapattanam, Pantalayini and Kollam, but ignores Muziris and Kochi, clearly hinting at the destruction of Muziris. Ibn Battuta was elated to see the big Chinese ships which could carry more than a thousand people. He also reports that ports which could accommodate these ships were Haili [Ezhimala, North Kerala], Kozhikode and Kollam [South Kerala]. Comparing Battuta’s travelogue with present-day geographical locations, we can assume that the Kozhikode port of call also included ports of call at Pantalayini, Kappad [where Vasco Da Gama landed], Elatthoor, Kozhikode, Chaliyum and Beypore, many of them on the estuaries of the Rivers like Korappuzha, Kallayippuzha, and Chaliyar. After the downfall of Muziris, the spice export business might have been looking for an alternate port of call on the west coast, and Kozhikode was the answer.
Kozhikode’s ascendance is also linked to the emergence of a dynasty that remained the patron of the flourishing trade. This ruling house is known as the Samutiris or Zamorins. The ancestors of the Samutiris, principal rulers of northern Kerala from the 14th century onwards, were the Eratis of Nediyirippu. The Keralopatti relates that after the Eratis received a gift of land from Cheraman Perumal, they moved north to Kozhikode, from where they set about subduing their rivals, the Porlatiris of Polanad in the fertile hinterland to the East. KV Krishna Ayyar, in his book, The Zamorins of Calicut, informs, “Samutiri founded a town called Vikramapuram with a Siva temple at its centre.
But this name did not become popular. The people called it Kolikkotu.” Many misunderstood the word deriving from the Malayalam for rooster, Koli [Kozhi]. Krishna Ayyar clarifies: “The town derives its name from Koyilkotu or Koyilkotta, the fortified palace of Zamorin, which was its commanding feature.” Though we know that the palace of Samutiri was somewhere near Tali Siva Temple, presently, no building can claim such a position. Even the traces of the Kotta [Fort] is nonexistent. Samutiri, exploiting his geographical position established and nurtured Kozhikode as a centre of international trade with the help of Arabian merchants from Yemen, Oman and Mecca. Soon Kozhikode was preeminent among northern Kerala’s numerous and active ports, enabling the Samutiris to develop lucrative mercantile connections with the Red Sea, Persia, Malaysia and China.
The picture Ibn Battuta paints of Kozhikode is that of a great metropolitan city. Noting the ruler as non-Muslim, Ibn Battuta was surprised to see a Bahraini Muslim, Shihab-ud-Din Khasarunias, as the port officer [Shahbandar]. He also reports that Muslims controlled all commerce in Kozhikode. “The greatest part of the Mohammadan merchants of this place [Kozhikode] are so wealthy that one them can purchase the whole freightage of such vessels as put in here and fit out others like them.” Another merchant Ibn Battuta met was Nakhuda Midkhal from Yemen. It might have been the same person, Nakhuda Mishkal, who built the magnificent Mishkal Palli in the Kuttichira principality of Kozhikode.
Kuttichira is between the erstwhile palace complex of the Samutiris and the Kozhikode beach. Built around a water tank [Chira], this locality still has some old houses and two mosques dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. The oldest of the Mosques is Muchundi Mosque which has a granite inscription, the script of which is datable to the 13th century CE. The text is written half in Malayalam Vattelutthu script and the rest in Arabic, recording the endowment to the Mosque by Samutiri himself. It also mentions one Shahab al-din Raihan as the chief patron.
Mishkal Palli, on the other bank of Kuttichira Tank, is one of the unique mosques in India. Built fully of wood, it has exquisite decorative motifs and calligraphy carved out of wood. The great settlement of the Mohammadan merchants, which Ibn Battuta mentions in his travelogue, is probably the same. But the Mishkal mosque might have been under construction during his visit because Battuta is silent about the mosque. Such a magnificent structure would have meant a lot to an eloquent traveller like Ibn Battuta to write about, along with the description of Kozhikode, the great metropolis of the East, the medieval destination city.
Dr Jayaram Poduval
Head, Department of Art History & Aesthetics, Faculty of Fine Arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat
(jpoduval@gmail.com)