{"id":126510,"date":"2026-09-28T11:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T05:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=126510"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T05:52:18","slug":"poompuhar-underwater-excavations-reveal-tamil-links-to-west-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/poompuhar-underwater-excavations-reveal-tamil-links-to-west-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Poompuhar: Underwater Excavations Reveal Tamil Links to West Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Poompuhar Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fresh underwater excavations off <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poompuhar<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><b>ancient Chola port city<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Tamil Nadu, have found new evidence of its maritime connections.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 18-day exploration was carried out by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) with the Indian Maritime University.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key findings include: A fragment of a <\/span><b>West Asian torpedo ja<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">r; <\/span><b>Four terracotta ring wells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; More than 250 ceramic fragments. Much of the ancient settlement is believed to lie beneath the sea today.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>About Poompuhar<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poompuhar, also called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kaveripoompattinam<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, lies in present-day Mayiladuthurai district.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It sits at the mouth of the 800-km-long <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/kaveri-river-system\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Cauvery river<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where the river empties into the Bay of Bengal.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is believed to have been the <\/span><b>capital of the early Cholas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and features prominently in Sangam and post-Sangam literature.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2011 archaeology report says the city existed from the 5th\u20134th century BCE, based on the carbon dating of a wooden log recovered there.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The city is said to have had <\/span><b>three major divisions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b><i>Maruvurppakkam<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 along the seashore.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b><i>Pattinappakkam <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 to the west.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b><i>Nalangadi <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 between the two.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>A Busy Trading Port<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The port was thronged during the Chola period. Exports were stamped with a <\/span><b>tiger symbol<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Chola customs seal, marking their origin.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Merchants from across India and Southeast Asia came seeking markets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imports included articles from the Ganges region, food products from Ceylon, and spices from Java.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier research supports this picture:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 1996 paper notes that ships from <\/span><b><i>Tamralipti <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(West Bengal) and <\/span><b><i>Palur<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Odisha) visited Poompuhar. From there, sea-going vessels sailed to Southeast Asia, Arabia and Rome.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sreelata Menon&#8217;s In Search of Lost Cities (2025) describes ships from Rome, Egypt, China and Arabia docking round the clock, with cargo, including horses, stamped with the tiger seal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Significance of the Torpedo Jar<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recovered fragment is of fine ceramic, with an estimated diameter of 30\u201335 cm.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Torpedo jars were historically used to carry liquid cargo such as wine and olive oil across ocean routes. This is proof of Poompuhar&#8217;s links with West Asia and the Mediterranean world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discovery is not entirely new, but it adds to evidence already gathered by earlier studies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Other Structures and Objects<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier offshore work found:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brick structures, <\/span><b>terracotta ring wells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, storage jars and clay patches of the Sangam period.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remains that experts believe are of a public building, wharf and reservoir.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Megalithic pottery and associated ware, showing that ancient habitation extended beyond the present shoreline.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Why The Ring Wells Matter<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Ring wells were built on dry land to reach freshwater. Finding them on the seabed may point to a <\/span><b>buried palaeochannel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, meaning an ancient riverbed later submerged by coastal erosion and rising sea levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Lost City: How Poompuhar Went Under<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Natural Explanations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Catastrophic floods are believed to have hit the coast around the 4th or 5th century CE, swallowing large parts of the city.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies also suggest a major tsunami around the 3rd century CE may have contributed to its submergence.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Legend<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; According to analysts, the port&#8217;s king, grieving his son&#8217;s death, failed to celebrate Indra Vizha, a festival honouring Indra (Vendhan) as ruler of rain, thunder and lightning. Enraged, the goddess of Poompuhar made the sea swallow the city.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Scholarly View<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Scholars differ. Either the entire city was submerged and rebuilt after the sea receded, or only part of it was engulfed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poompuhar shows that Tamil coastal trade was global long before the modern era. Ships from Rome, Arabia and Southeast Asia met here, and a single jar fragment now confirms that link once more.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Much of the city still lies underwater, so the seabed remains one of India&#8217;s richest unread archives of maritime history.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-history\/poompuhar-excavation-west-asia-jar-chola-port-tamil-nadu-10893973\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/city\/chennai\/chola-city-lost-to-tsunamis-throws-up-evidence-of-glorious-past\/articleshow\/134425366.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ToI<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Poompuhar&#8217;s underwater excavations have uncovered a West Asian torpedo jar fragment, ring wells and ceramics, strengthening evidence of its ancient maritime trade links.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":126519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,10081,22,59],"class_list":["post-126510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-poompuhar","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126510"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126545,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126510\/revisions\/126545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}