Malabar Coast part of this narrow coast is referred to as the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests. The Malabar Coast, throughout recorded history from about 3000BC, had been a major trading center in commerce with Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Jerusalem and the Arab world. Its most famous ports (both defunct and functional) were 'Naura (Kannur), Balita (Vizhinjam), Kochi (formerly Ernakulam), Calicut (formerly Kozhikode [see List of renamed Indian cities and states]), and Mangalore, the most famous of them being Muziris, and the Oddeway Torre settlement (part of Danish India) have served as centers of the Indian Ocean trade, for centuries. Because
Malabar District Varam means "slope" or "side of a hill". In Northern and North-Central Kerala (including all Malabar districts except Palakkad and parts of Malappuram district), where Malabar proper is located, words that start in Southern Malayalam/Tamil with the letter "V" tend to be pronounced with the letter "B". Thus, Malabar comes from the Northern Malayalam words "Mala-Bar(am)" meaning "hillside land". The district was widely scattered and consists of the following parts:- kasaragod District Kannur District Wayanad District Kozhikode District Malappuram District Palakkad District Thrissur District The Malabar cuisine depicts it culture and heritage. It is famous for Malabar biriyani. The city