Vasco Da Gama's first step on Indian soil, a then overwhelmingly prosperous land, the great province of Malabar, this is Calicut, now Kozhikode. Calicut is derived from the word 'calico,' meaning fine variety of hand-woven cotton cloth, said to have originated from this place. In 1498, Vasco Da Gama, set foot here on the Kappad beach. A small stone monument commemorates this. Small commemoration indeed of a mighty task.. Once the capital of the powerful Zamorins and a prominent trade and commerce centre, Kozhikode was the most important region of Malabar in the days gone by.