Underwater Archaeology off Poompuhar: Evidence of a Lost Maritime World

04 Oct 2026

Tags: Indian Heritage & Culture   Art Forms   Visual arts

Source: The Indian Express

Context: Underwater archaeological exploration off Poompuhar (Kaveripoompattinam), Tamil Nadu, has uncovered pottery fragments and structural remains about 1.8–2.2 km offshore at depths of 10–12 metres.

• The findings provide new evidence about the ancient port city, maritime trade and changing coastal landscape of the Chola period.
• The discoveries also raise the possibility that the ancient settlement extended significantly farther offshore than previously understood.

Poompuhar and the Underwater Discoveries

• Archaeologists have recovered pottery fragments believed to have West Asian origins, along with pieces resembling torpedo jars, a distinctive transport vessel associated with long-distance maritime trade.
• The finds are being used to reconstruct Kaveripoompattinam, the celebrated port city described in ancient Tamil literature and now largely submerged beneath the Bay of Bengal.
• The third phase of underwater exploration is part of a larger project by the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, in collaboration with Indian Maritime University, to map the ancient port and its installations.
• The project also seeks to understand ancient shipwrecks, sea-level changes and the changing course of the Cauvery.

Significance of the Finds

• Only around 10% of the planned underwater exploration has reportedly been completed, indicating considerable scope for further discoveries.
• Images of the finds have been sent to international specialists, including experts in Italy, for comparison and identification.
• The finds broadly correspond to the Early Historic and immediately succeeding periods, but archaeologists have not yet conclusively dated the torpedo-jar fragments.
• A radiocarbon date of 316 ± 103 BCE was obtained from Arikamedu near Puducherry, another important archaeological site associated with India's early maritime contacts with the Mediterranean world.

Evidence of Long-Distance Maritime Trade

• Torpedo jars were transport vessels that circulated for centuries and can provide clues about the movement of commodities and maritime connections.
• Their archaeological identification can help determine where vessels or containers originated, the routes they travelled and the commercial networks connecting different regions.
• Comparable finds at Pattanam in Kerala, identified by some scholars with the ancient port of Muziris, include Roman amphorae and West Asian ceramics.
• At Alagankulam in Tamil Nadu, near the Vaigai, excavations have yielded hundreds of Mediterranean-related potsherds, including amphora fragments.
• Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found at Alagankulam have been dated to the 1st century BCE, adding evidence of an early literate and maritime-linked society.

Other Archaeological Evidence

• Pattanam: Archaeological excavations have produced evidence of long-distance trade, including Roman amphorae, West Asian ceramics and turquoise-glazed pottery.
• Arikamedu: One of India's important archaeological sites for understanding Indo-Mediterranean maritime contacts, particularly with the Roman world.
• Alagankulam: Its Mediterranean pottery and Tamil-Brahmi evidence indicate participation in wider Indian Ocean trade networks.

Poompuhar in Tamil Literature

• Ancient Tamil literature describes Puhar/Kaveripoompattinam as a prosperous cosmopolitan port city.
• Pattinappalai, a Sangam-era poem, describes Kaveripoompattinam as a major urban centre inhabited by people from different regions and linguistic backgrounds.
• Silappathikaram and the Buddhist epic Manimekalai provide further descriptions of Puhar as an important urban and maritime centre.
• Tamil traditions refer to the presence of Yavanas near the waterfront, along with merchants, artisans, warehouses and imported goods.
• The term Yavana, originally associated with “Ionian” peoples and Greeks, acquired a broader meaning in Indian usage and came to refer to people arriving from the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean world and other western regions.

Why Did Poompuhar Disappear?

• The latest underwater exploration is attempting to determine where the ancient city was located and how far its inhabited landscape extended offshore.
• Archaeologists have identified foreign/local pottery fragments, ring-well fragments and structural formations embedded in the seabed.
• Ring wells are important archaeological indicators of urban habitation and water-management practices.
• The evidence may help reconstruct the coastal geomorphology and processes responsible for the submergence or relocation of the ancient settlement.

Importance for Understanding Ancient India

• Maritime archaeology: Underwater remains provide evidence unavailable from land-based excavations and help reconstruct ancient coastal settlements and trade routes.
• Indian Ocean trade: Mediterranean, West Asian and South Asian artefacts demonstrate the integration of peninsular India into long-distance maritime exchange networks.
• Coastal geomorphology: Changes in sea level, shoreline position and river courses, particularly the Cauvery, are crucial for understanding the disappearance of ancient coastal settlements.
• Literary–archaeological correlation: Archaeological discoveries can be compared with descriptions in Sangam literature and later Tamil epics to reconstruct ancient urban and commercial life.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Poompuhar/Kaveripoompattinam → Ancient Tamil port city → Bay of Bengal, Tamil Nadu.
• Pattinappalai → Sangam literature → Describes the prosperity and cosmopolitan character of Puhar.
• Silappathikaram & Manimekalai → Tamil epics containing descriptions of Puhar.
• Arikamedu → Puducherry → Evidence of ancient Indo-Mediterranean/Roman trade.
• Pattanam → Kerala → Associated by some scholars with ancient Muziris.
• Alagankulam → Tamil Nadu → Mediterranean pottery + Tamil-Brahmi evidence.
• Torpedo jars → Transport vessels associated with long-distance maritime trade.
• Indian Maritime University → Participating in the Poompuhar underwater archaeological project.