According to data compiled by economics research firm Indicus Analytics on residences, earnings and investments, Kannur is one of the best ten cities in India to reside. Indicus considered six parameters — health, education, environment ...

Kannur is the fourth largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode with a population of 498,175. According to data compiled by economics research firm Indicus Analytics on residences, earnings and investments, Kannur is one of the best ten cities in India to reside. Indicus considered six parameters — health, education, environment, safety, public facilities and entertainment — for preparing the 'reside-in' index. It is popularly known as the city of Looms and Lores. Theyyam is the famous performing art of Kannur. Kannur is also famous for its beautiful virgin beaches. Another attraction of Kannur is the Handlooms. Kannur is of strategic military importance. It houses one of the 62 cantonments in the country and is the current seat of the Defence Security Corps. Kannur was an important port on the Arabian Sea which carried out trade with Persia and Arabia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and it was the British military headquarters on India's west coast up to 1887. In conjunction with her elder sister Tellicherry it was the third largest city on the western coast of British India in the eighteenth century, after Bombay and Karachi. St. Angelo's Fort was built in 1505 by Sir Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India and is on the Arabian sea about 3 km from Kannur town. The fort changed hands several times. In 1663 the Dutch captured it and sold it to the Arakkal Royal Family. The British conquered it in 1790 and transformed it into one of their major military stations on the Malabar Coast. It is fairly well preserved as a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry behind it can be seen in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.The body of Kunjali Marakkar was exhibited in this Fort after his assassination. During the British rule in India, Kannur was known by the English name Cannanore. However, the usage of the name Cannanore is still not uncommon.

Source: godsowncountry