Kannur is sometimes identified with Naura in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. In the Middle Ages, Kannur was a port town ofKolathunadu, which was ruled by the Kolathiris. The city was an important port on the Arabian Sea and carried on trade with Persiaand Arabia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It also served as the British military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. In conjunction with her sister city, Tellicherry, it was the third largest city on the western coast of British India in the eighteenth century after Bombay and Karachi.
St. Angelo Fort was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India. It is situated by the Arabian Sea about 3 km from Kannur town. In 1507, the fort was besieged by the local ruler in the Siege of Cannanore (1507). The ownership of the fort has changed hands several times. In 1663, the Dutch captured it. They subsequently gave the fort its present appearance. The Dutch sold the fort to the Arakkal royal family in 1772. During this time, the Arakkal sultanate began issuing coins. The Britishconquered it in 1790 and used it as 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 as a background is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Kunjali Marakkar's head was removed from his body and exhibited in the fort after his assassination.
During the 17th century, Kannur was the capital city of the only Muslim Sultanate of Kerala, known as Arakkal. During the British Raj, Kannur was part of the Madras province in the District of North Malabar
