CANNANORE, or KANANORE  , a town of British India, in the Malabar district of Madras, on the coast, 58 m . N. from Calicut and 470 M. by rail from Madras . Pop . (Igor) 27,811 . Cannanore belonged to the Kalahasti or Cherakal rajas till the invasion of Malabar by Hyder Ali . In 1498 it was visited by Vasco da Gama; in 1501 a Portuguese factory was planted here by Cabral; in 1502 da Gama made a treaty with the raja, and in 1505 a fort was built . In 1656 the Dutch effected a settlement and built the present fort, which they sold to Ali Raja in 1771 . In 1783 Cannanore was captured by the British, and the reigning princess became tributary to the East India Company . Here is the residence of the Moplah chief, known as the Ali Raja, who owns most of the Laccadive Islands . Cannanore was the military headquarters of the British on the west coast until 1887 .