Reconstruction of the ancient Port, Korkai in Tuttukkudi District of Tamil Nadu

摘要

Chronologically, Korkai is the oldest port site of Tamil country possibly since the beginning of the first millennium BC. However, its emergence as a significant emporium may have been only around the fourth and fifth century BC. Korkai (8°40'N; 78°5'E) is recognized by the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea as Colchis and by Ptolemy as Kolkhoi. Correct indentification came in 1838. Early archaeological excavations carried out by Caldwell in the Tamiraparani delta in the 19th century, affirmed its present site almost in ruins close to a place called Eral.