Port of Beypore

Beypore or Beypur is a port town in Kozhikode district in the state of Kerala, India. It is located opposite to Chaliyam, the estuary where the river Chaliyar empties into the Arabian Sea. Beypore is part of Kozhikode Municipal Corporation. The town was formerly known as Vaypura or Vadaparappanad and also as Beydary. Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, named the town Sultan Pattanam. There is a marina and a beach, while Beypore port is one of the oldest ports in Kerala, which historically traded with the Middle East. Beypore is noted for building wooden ships, known as dhows or urus in the Malayalam language. These ships were usually bought by Arab merchants for trading and fishing but are now used as tourist ships. According to Captain Iwata, founder member of the Association of Sumerian Ships in Japan, Sumerian ships might have been built in Beypore. There is evidence to prove that Beypore had direct trade links with Mesopotamia and was a prominent link on the maritime silk route. The first railway line of Kerala was laid in 1861 from Tirur to Beypore (Chaliyam), passing through Tanur, Parappanangadi, Vallikkunnu, and Kadalundi.