"Underwater Poompuhar Excavations Reveal Tamil-West Asia Trade Links"
Torpedo jar
a West Asian ceramic vessel historically used to transport liquid cargo like wine and olive oil.
Palaeochannel
an ancient riverbed later buried or submerged by erosion and rising sea levels.
Poompuhar, also called Kaveripoompattinam, sits where the 800-km Cauvery river meets the Bay of Bengal. It is traditionally identified as the capital of the early Cholas, a lineage that predates the imperial Chola Empire later centred at Thanjavur. Carbon dating of a wooden log recovered from the site suggests the settlement existed as far back as the 5th-4th century BCE, placing it firmly in the Sangam period. The ancient city was divided into three parts: Maruvurppakkam along the shore, Pattinappakkam to its west, and Nalangadi lying between the two.
Poompuhar did not function in isolation. It was one of three major ports repeatedly associated with early historic peninsular India, alongside Korkai, the Pandya port near the Thamiraparani river, and Muchiri (Muziris), the Chera port on the Periyar river in present-day Kerala. Together these three harbours formed the main maritime gateways linking the Tamil macro-region to both the Mediterranean-West Asian trade circuit and Southeast Asia.
This westward trade link is distinct from, but related to, the maritime power the Cholas projected centuries later. Under Rajaraja I, the empire annexed the Maldives and parts of northern Sri Lanka, and his son Rajendra I led a naval campaign against the Srivijaya kingdom, which controlled the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java. Where that campaign shows the Chola navy's eastward reach into Southeast Asia, the fresh finds at Poompuhar show the same civilisation's older, westward commercial reach toward Arabia, the Mediterranean and Rome.
The most significant recent find is a fragment of a fine-ceramic West Asian torpedo jar, estimated at 30-35 cm in diameter. Such jars were historically used to carry liquid cargo like wine and olive oil across long-distance sea routes, and their presence at Poompuhar is direct physical evidence of trade contact with West Asia and the Mediterranean world, beyond what textual references alone could establish. Exports from the port were stamped with a tiger symbol, the royal emblem of the Cholas, distinguishing Chola goods from Pandya (fish emblem) or Chera (bow emblem) merchandise in a shared regional trading system. …
With reference to ancient South India, Korkai, Poompuhar and Muchiri were well known as
Who among the following led a successful military campaign against the kingdom of Srivijaya, the powerful maritime State, which ruled the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and the neighbouring islands?
Consider the following statements about Poompuhar:
1.It has been carbon-dated to around the 5th-4th century BCE.
2.It is traditionally regarded as the capital of the early Pandya kings.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Match List I (ancient port) with List II (associated river):
List I:
1.Poompuhar
2.Korkai
3.Muchiri (Muziris)
List II:
A.Periyar
B.Cauvery
C.Thamiraparani
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
Consider the following statements regarding royal emblems of ancient Tamil dynasties:
1.The tiger was the emblem of the Cholas.
2.The fish was the emblem of the Pandyas.
3.The bow was the emblem of the Cheras.
How many of the above statements are correct?
With reference to Chola maritime power, consider the following statements:
1.Rajaraja I's inscriptions record conquest of islands identified with the Maldives.
2.Rajendra I led a naval campaign against the Srivijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The 'torpedo jar' fragment recently found at Poompuhar is best associated with which of the following?
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