back
8 comments
I'm from Kozhikode and the most interesting theory I have iss to do with floods. If you visit the museum in Kochi you will see a map displaying how the coastline changed due to floods and how it lead to formation of the island itself. The same could have happened at the same time in Kozhikode. If you look at the traditional Zamorin settlements you will see that all of them are up river in Thiruvannur, Mankavu apart from Chalappuram. It only makes sense that the port was downstream. Upstream the river would take you to Nilambur where the Teak would be brought in. The same could be done in Beypore too but without any known settlement there.

My theory is that the port was destroyed by floods and its debris making it difficult for ships to dock. There was a ship dock bridge at the beach in my childhood but it was never used back then because the beach was already too sandy. Trenching was never done either.

Also Kozhikode aka Calicut is not a dot. Beypore is very well part of the city. A lot of traditional settlements moved away after the attack by Tipu and his establishment of Feroke.

> Why have the oral histories of other cultures been met with such skepticism and doubt over the course of Western history, while that same critical gaze is not turned to our own written accounts?

I can answer that question: histories change every time they're copied or told. Written accounts are copied much less frequently, and the copiist can compare it to the original; and sometimes you can even find the original source.

A better question –IMO– would be: how reliable are your sources? But then the writer (how in the hell is "University of the Sunshine Coast" an author?) wouldn't have had the opportunity to take an easy stab at Western history.

> how in the hell is "University of the Sunshine Coast" an author?

It isn’t — it’s an affiliation! The authors are Patrick Nunn and Roselyn Kumar, both at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The formatting on the paper is admittedly a bit confusing though; at least in my field affiliations are usually printed as footnotes or similar.

In the case of phys.org, they just repost (or maybe re-host is a better word?) University press releases, among other things, verbatim, so this probably is just the press release from the University of Sunshine Coast or the authors or something, which is probably why the university is credited in the article.
What in particular constitutes "an easy stab"? Is it the idea that oral histories face skepticism, or the idea that Western accounts face insufficient skepticism? The former seems to be plainly true, and in many cases justifiably so. The latter, if it were true, would be a more serious accusation. To refute it, I'm trying to think of a Western historical narrative that has faced enough skepticism that it has been replaced with a more accurate narrative... perhaps you can help me?

Or perhaps you would defend the latter idea as a good thing? I want to assume better of an HN interlocutor, but that would fit better with your mention of copying and original sources.

If we must "stab" something as vast and varied as "Western history", ISTM the most common choices of focus and emphasis are more questionable than the accuracy.

These two locations are about 6 miles apart, and both squarely within city limits of modern Kozhikode.

The research paper's history of the port seems to be largely plausible from what I can see, and it's plausible precisely because this wasn't some massive misidentification, but merely a shift from one area of the coast to another one nearby.

Similarly I would like to read a good account of the relationship between India the country, West "Indies" group of islands, and the native "Indians" of North America. I don't suppose they share any roots with the word 'indigenous'.
Nah, the name for India comes from the Indus (ancient word for river), while indigenous comes from Latin for born in the country.

The Indians and West Indies thing is just about some sea travellers being dumb and thinking they'd reached India.