Chinese Settlement in Calicut

I learned about the Chinese settlement in Calicut from Manu S Pillai’s The Ivory Throne. It’s a fascinating piece of Kerala’s maritime history that’s often overlooked.

During the reign of the Ming emperors, massive Chinese vessels regularly visited Kozhikode (Calicut). Thousands of Chinese soldiers lived in Calicut, and they left behind a half Chinese half-Malayali community called Chinna Kribala.

Even after the arrival of the Chinese ceased, this lineage of mixed Malayali and Chinese heritage remained in Kozhikode. Chinali, the famous pirate and sailor, was born into this lineage.

Archaeological Evidence

According to a comment from Calicut Heritage Forum on the Historic Alleys blog post:

There is considerable evidence of Ming Chinese settlement in Panthalayini Kollom. According to Dr. Raghava Varier (who was a member of the Karashima team) this medieval port was the main ship repair centre and all Chinese ships had to dock here. He explains that during test digging in Elayedath paramba and Illath paramba in Panthalayani Kollom, he obtained Chinese ceramic sherds at a depth of 1 metre. Taisho University Press has published the findings of Karashima in 2004. Incidentally, Karashima identifies the Chinese Gulifo with Panthalayini Kollom (and not Calicut, as some of us had erroneously assumed).

The findings were published by Taisho University Press in 2004.

Related Concepts

• [[Legend of Prester John]] - Another historical connection between medieval Europe and the East, also from The Ivory Throne

Sources

• [[The Ivory Throne by Manu S Pillai]]
• Deccan Chronicle - Travancore Surprises
• Historic Alleys - Was there ever a Chinese settlement at Calicut?
• Calicut Heritage Forum comment on Historic Alleys blog post - Archaeological evidence about Panthalayini Kollom