Why in news?

Fresh underwater excavations off Poompuhar, the ancient Chola port city in Tamil Nadu, have found new evidence of its maritime connections. The 18-day exploration was carried out by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) with the Indian Maritime University.

Key findings include: A fragment of a West Asian torpedo jar; Four terracotta ring wells; More than 250 ceramic fragments. Much of the ancient settlement is believed to lie beneath the sea today.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About Poompuhar
• A Busy Trading Port
• Significance of the Torpedo Jar
• Other Structures and Objects
• The Lost City: How Poompuhar Went Under

About Poompuhar

• Poompuhar, also called Kaveripoompattinam, lies in present-day Mayiladuthurai district.
• It sits at the mouth of the 800-km-long Cauvery river, where the river empties into the Bay of Bengal.
• It is believed to have been the capital of the early Cholas and features prominently in Sangam and post-Sangam literature.
• A 2011 archaeology report says the city existed from the 5th–4th century BCE, based on the carbon dating of a wooden log recovered there.
• The city is said to have had three major divisions:
  • Maruvurppakkam — along the seashore.
  • Pattinappakkam — to the west.
  • Nalangadi — between the two.

A Busy Trading Port

• The port was thronged during the Chola period. Exports were stamped with a tiger symbol, the Chola customs seal, marking their origin.
• Merchants from across India and Southeast Asia came seeking markets.
• Imports included articles from the Ganges region, food products from Ceylon, and spices from Java.
• Earlier research supports this picture:
  • The 1996 paper notes that ships from Tamralipti (West Bengal) and Palur (Odisha) visited Poompuhar. From there, sea-going vessels sailed to Southeast Asia, Arabia and Rome.
  • Sreelata Menon'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.

Significance of the Torpedo Jar

• The recovered fragment is of fine ceramic, with an estimated diameter of 30–35 cm.
• Torpedo jars were historically used to carry liquid cargo such as wine and olive oil across ocean routes. This is proof of Poompuhar's links with West Asia and the Mediterranean world.
• The discovery is not entirely new, but it adds to evidence already gathered by earlier studies.

Other Structures and Objects

• Earlier offshore work found:
  • Brick structures, terracotta ring wells, storage jars and clay patches of the Sangam period.
  • Remains that experts believe are of a public building, wharf and reservoir.
  • Megalithic pottery and associated ware, showing that ancient habitation extended beyond the present shoreline.
• Why The Ring Wells Matter - Ring wells were built on dry land to reach freshwater. Finding them on the seabed may point to a buried palaeochannel, meaning an ancient riverbed later submerged by coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

The Lost City: How Poompuhar Went Under

• Natural Explanations - Catastrophic floods are believed to have hit the coast around the 4th or 5th century CE, swallowing large parts of the city.
  • Studies also suggest a major tsunami around the 3rd century CE may have contributed to its submergence.
• Legend - According to analysts, the port's king, grieving his son'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.
• Scholarly View - Scholars differ. Either the entire city was submerged and rebuilt after the sea receded, or only part of it was engulfed.

Conclusion

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.

Much of the city still lies underwater, so the seabed remains one of India's richest unread archives of maritime history.