Calicut

By: Lindsey
Throughout the Middle Ages, cities in Afro-Eurasia grew as trade centers due to advantages such
as the central location which gave it easy access to goods and a variety of products. Calicut
brought together merchants from Persia, China, India, Southeast Asia, and Portugal because of
the products, such as spices, that were best grown in the spice islands that were very close to
Calicut. As a result of the exchanges that happened in Calicut, merchants that came wanted to
trade there because the government protected them through laws and policies. As a result, Calicut
became a tolerant, multicultural city. With all of the merchants coming and going, it lead to
conflict with pirates.
The more people that came to Calicut the more the city became rich with culture. Calicut became
a tolerant, multicultural city. In Calicut the travels of Ibn Battuta, written between 1325
and 1354, Ibn Battuta stated,It is visited by men from China, Sumatra, Ceylon, the Maldives,
Yemen, Fars, and merchants from all over the world. Calicut was a frequently visited place that
was filled with people from all over the world. In his 1498-1499 work, Round Africa to India,
Vasco da Gama said We were greatly astonished to hear his talk, for we never expected to
hear our language spoken so far from Portugal. This means that there were people who lived in
Calicut and spoke Portuguese. This relates to cultural understanding because it states that many
different people came to Calicut from many different places and spoke different languages and
that made Calicut even more of a multicultural city.
Foreign and local merchants traded in Calicut. Merchants of Calicut were protected by the Sultan
through laws and policies. Merchants wanted to trade in Calicut because the government
protected them through laws and policies.In Calicut the travels of Ibn Battuta, written
between 1325 and 1354, Ibn Battuta stated,His police officers were beating the people to
prevent them from plundering what the sea cast up. This means that the Sultan was protecting
the content of the ship for the owner and for himself because the more cargo was sold the more
tax dollars he got. In his 1442 work, Description of Calicut, Abdu Razzak said, Security and
justice are also firmly established in this city, so that the most wealthy merchants bring in big
cargoes, which they unload and unhesitatingly send into the markets without thinking in the

meantime of any security, or checking the amount, or keeping watch over the goods. Meaning
there are strict rules that Calicut follows so the merchants feel safe trading in the city. The
merchants came to Calicut because the Sultan made a policy to protect the merchants and to make
them feel safe and comfortable in Calicut.
Traveling in Calicut was dangerous because of the ongoing piracy in the area. Long distance
traveling and trading in Calicut lead to a lot of conflict with pirates. In the letter from Mahruz B.
Jacob to Abu Zikri, written in 1145, Goitein stated, I wish to inform you, my lord, that I was
very sad to hear that your ship had been seized by pirates. It means that the lords ship had been
attacked by pirates. In his 1325-1354 work, Zheng Hes ship, Ibn Battuta said, A ship carries
1,000 men, 600 sailors and 400 soldiers, including archers, men with shields, arbalists, who throw
naphtha. Based on the number of soldiers and the number of weapons you can tell that the
people on the ship were prepared for a conflict with pirates. This relates to war because the
pirates were tearing ships apart in Calicut and that people were worried that they would get
attacked and have to fight the pirates.
As a result of the exchanges that happened in Calicut, the merchants in the city were protected
with laws and policies, it became a multicultural city, and there were a lot of piracy. Calicut had
such a big impact on trading in Afro-Eurasia.