Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Chinese ceramics

Strongly Supported Archaeology

Pieces of green and blue-and-white Chinese pottery turn up in the sand at old Odisha ports. They had travelled thousands of miles across the sea.

Diggers at Manikapatna and Khalkatapatna found Chinese celadon, porcelain and two little Chinese copper coins.

Diggers at the old port of Manikapatna found pieces of Chinese pottery in the sand. They found green celadon ware and blue-and-white porcelain. They even found a coin from a Chinese emperor [Tripati, 2021, p.1212].

At another old port, Khalkatapatna, archaeologists found the same kinds of pottery. They also found two small Chinese copper coins from around the 14th century [Patra, 2014, pp.119-120].

Historians agree this pottery crossed thousands of miles of ocean. It landed on these shores long ago. The ships that carried it are long gone [Patra, n.d., pp.111-112].

For scholars

The Khalkatapatna pottery dates from about the 12th to 14th century. Manikapatna’s porcelain dates later, from 1368 to 1644 [Tripati, 2021, p.1212; Patra, 2014, pp.119-120]. Finding Chinese pots does not prove Chinese ships sailed here. Southeast Asian traders could have carried these goods here first. Chinese ships did not have to come directly. Two of the four reports used here share the same author [Patra, n.d., pp.111-112].

Facts

Category
Ceramic
Direction
Imported into Kalinga

Carried on these routes

  • Manikapatna to Khalkatapatna

    Manikapatna and Khalkatapatna were both busy ports on the Odisha coast about 800 years ago. Chinese plates and coins have turned up at both places.

    [Patra, 2014, pp. 119-120]; [Patnaik, 2014a, p. 105]
    1. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , pp. 119-120 (Both sites are described with Chinese ceramics: Khalkatapatna's excavation (pp. 119-120) yielded Chinese celadon and porcelain with blue floral design, c. 12th-14th century CE; Manikapatna (p. 120) yielded rouletted ware, amphora and, in its later phase, Chinese wares.)
    2. Sunil Kumar Patnaik. *Puri: A Study of Early Trade and Pilgrim Routes*. in Odisha Review. 2014a , p. 105 (Khalkatapatna excavation finds include 'Chinese Celadonware, Chinese porcelain'; Manikapatna's finds list (pp. 104-105) likewise includes Chinese celadon, porcelain and a Chinese coin.)

Documented at these ports

  • Manikapatna

    Manikapatna is an old port on the shore of Chilika lake. People digging there found coins and broken pots from China, Sri Lanka and lands far to the west.

    [Tripati, 2021, pp. 1211-1212]; [Patra, n.d., pp. 111-112]; [Patnaik, 2014a, pp. 104-105]; [Tripati, 2022, Introduction; Sci. Rep. 12:13559]; [Patra, 2014, p. 120]; [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 23, section 'Manikapatna']
    1. Sila Tripati. *Indo-Arabian stone anchor of Manikapatna, Odisha, east coast of India: an indicator of maritime contacts of Odisha*. in Current Science 120. 2021 , pp. 1211-1212 (p. 1211: OIMSEAS, Bhubaneswar excavated 1989-1993; site lies on the bank of Chilika Lake in Brahmagiri taluk, Puri district. p. 1212: two periods, 2nd c. BCE to 5th-6th c. CE and 9th to 19th c. CE; Kharoshthi inscription, knobbed and rouletted ware, Puri-Kushan and Chola coins, Yuan/Ming porcelain.)
    2. Sushanta Kumar Patra, Benudhar Patra. *Archaeology and the Maritime History of Ancient Orissa*. in Orissa Historical Research Journal XLVII. n.d. , pp. 111-112 (Finds list: Chinese celadon and porcelain, rouletted pottery and amphora fragments, knobbed ware, Burmese and Siamese pottery, a Ceylonese coin of Sahassamalla, Indonesian terracotta, egg-white Arabian ware, and a Kharoshthi potsherd read as 'Dasatradeva'.)
    3. Sunil Kumar Patnaik. *Puri: A Study of Early Trade and Pilgrim Routes*. in Odisha Review. 2014a , pp. 104-105 (Excavation seasons 1989-90 and 1992-93; site c. 45 km south of Puri; mounds topped by the 13th-c. Bhabakundaleswar temple; period I 2nd c. BCE to 5th-6th c. CE, period II 9th c. to early 19th c. CE; East India Company copper coins, Mughal and Shah Alam coins, a British medal.)
    4. Sila Tripati, Jyotiranjan S. Ray, Rudra Prasad Behera, Prakash Babu, Milan Kumar Mahala, Murali Kocherla, Vijay Khedekar. *Geochemical provenance of an Indo-Arabian stone anchor from Manikapatna highlights the medieval maritime trade of India*. in Scientific Reports 12. 2022 , Introduction; Sci. Rep. 12:13559 (Confirms OIMSEAS 1989-1993 and Deccan College 2010 excavations, same two phases; a stone anchor near the mosque, 2018-19. Also: 'Chinese ceramic sherds ... of the 13th to 14th century CE ... produced in Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces of China' (pers. comm. Ran Zhang).)
    5. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , p. 120 (Prints a coordinate for the site: 'Lat. 19 deg 43' 54" N and Long. 85 deg 33' 14" E', in the northern tip of the Chilika Lake, Brahmagiri tahsil, Puri district. Also the Sahassamalla-coin network linking Manikpatna, Polonnaruva and Kotchina (Sumatra), and Maratuan (Burmese) brown glazed ware.)
    6. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint p. 23, section 'Manikapatna' (Independently gives 19 deg 43' N; 85 deg 34' E, agreeing with Patra 2014 to the arc-minute. Records Abul Fazl (1595-96) on Manikapatna as a large port where salt tax was collected. Journal pagination not verified.)

  • Palur

    Palur is an old port village near the mouth of the Rushikulya river in south Odisha. People found bits of Chinese and Mediterranean pots there, which shows traders came from far away.

    [Patra, n.d., p. 109]; [Patra, 2014, p. 121]; [Dayalan, 2019, offprint pp. 20-21, section 'Palur']; [Sahu, 2026, Times of India, 1 August 2026]
    1. Sushanta Kumar Patra, Benudhar Patra. *Archaeology and the Maritime History of Ancient Orissa*. in Orissa Historical Research Journal XLVII. n.d. , p. 109 (Prints 'Palur (Lat 19 deg 27' E. and Long 85 deg 11' N.)' with the labels reversed. Exploration by A. Nath (ASI) and K. S. Behera at Palur (Kantigarh) found Chinese celadon, rouletted ware and amphora pieces; K. K. Basa's survey found a possible lighthouse pillar and a stamped boat motif nearby.)
    2. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , p. 121 (Gerini: Ptolemy's Paloura = modern Palur, 'at Lat. 19 deg 27' N and Long. 85 deg 11' E, just above the mouth of Rushikulya'. Same page: 'On linguistic grounds, S. Levi identifies Dantapura ... and Dandagula of Pliny with Paloura of Ptolemy', citing Indian Antiquary LV (1926), pp. 98-99.)
    3. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint pp. 20-21, section 'Palur' ('Palur (19 deg 27' N; 85 deg 11' E), situated in the Ganjam district of Odisha, was mentioned as an important port on the eastern coast of India.' Kantigarh explorations yielded Chinese celadon, rouletted ware and Mediterranean amphora. Journal pagination not verified.)
    4. Diana Sahu. *Digging at Palur reveals thriving maritime hub from pre-Mauryan era*. in The Times of India. 2026 , Times of India, 1 August 2026 ('Nine cultural layers ... nearly three metres ... from the pre-Mauryan period through the Early Historic and Early Medieval phases.' NBPW, knobbed and red polished ware; 363 graffiti sherds; beads. A conference report on the 2023-25 dig, not yet published; 'lends strong support' to Palur=Paloura.)

  • Khalkatapatna

    Khalkatapatna was a busy river port near Konark about 800 years ago. Diggers found Chinese plates, Chinese coins and a hard brick floor for loading boats.

    [Patra, 2014, p. 119]; [Patra, n.d., p. 112]; [Patnaik, 2014a, p. 105]; [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 22, section 'Khalkattapatna']; [Tripati, 2015, pp. 373-374]
    1. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , p. 119 ('The excavation at Khalkattapatna (Lat. 19 deg 51' 13" N and Long. 86 deg 02' 40" E) in the Puri district by the Excavation Branch IV of the ASI (1984-1985)'. 11 km east of Konarak on the left bank of the Kushabhadra. Material assigned to c. 12th-14th century CE; a single cultural deposit.)
    2. Sushanta Kumar Patra, Benudhar Patra. *Archaeology and the Maritime History of Ancient Orissa*. in Orissa Historical Research Journal XLVII. n.d. , p. 112 (Brick-jelly floor read as a loading platform; Chinese celadon and porcelain with blue floral design, egg-white glazed and chocolate glazed ware; two circular Chinese copper coins with a square central hole, c. 14th century CE; 143 antiquities including beads, bangles and coins of native rulers.)
    3. Sunil Kumar Patnaik. *Puri: A Study of Early Trade and Pilgrim Routes*. in Odisha Review. 2014a , p. 105 ('the excavation at Khalkatapatna near Konark focuses on the trade activities during Ganga period ... flourished during 11th century A.D. The evidence found from excavation (1987, ASI) are a brick jetty floor, Chinese Celadonware, Chinese porcelain ...')
    4. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint p. 22, section 'Khalkattapatna' (Gives 19 deg 51' N; 86 deg 02' E and the same 12th-14th century CE range, citing Indian Archaeology 1985-86 - A Review, p. 56 and B. K. Sinha (1992). Journal pagination not verified.)
    5. Sila Tripati, R. Mani Murali, Jaya Kumar Seelam, Atula Kumar Pradhan, Rudra Prasad Behera, Richa Choudhury. *Khalkattapatna port: the lost archaeological heritage of Odisha, east coast of India*. in Current Science 109. 2015 , pp. 373-374 (Confirms the brick jelly floor read as a loading platform, and Chinese celadon/porcelain. Gives three Chinese coins (two fragmentary, one intact), where older sources here count two. Parallels the stamped ware with finds at Kota China, Johore Lama and Bagan, and at Kottapatnam/Motupalli.)

  • Cuttack

    Cuttack stands on a tongue of land where the Mahanadi river splits in two. Boats carried its fine cloth and silver work down the river and out to sea.

    [Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries), n.d., Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, pp. 92, 98]; [Hunter, 1872, vol. ii, p. 40]; [Patra, n.d., p. 111]
    1. *Imperial Gazetteer of India (Orissa entries)*. n.d. public domain , Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. XI, pp. 92, 98 (p. 98: 'Cuttack City (Kataka, the fort) ... situated in 20 deg 29' N. and 85 deg 52' E., on the peninsula formed by the bifurcation of the Mahanadi'; 'connected by canal with Chandbali and False Point'. p. 92: chief trade centres are Cuttack city, False Point and Chandbali; weekly steamers.)
    2. William Wilson Hunter. *Orissa: Or the Vicissitudes of an Indian Province under Native and British Rule*. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1872. public domain , vol. ii, p. 40 ('the Orissa factors bought up at the lowest prices for ready money the fine muslins of Cattack' - Cuttack cloth reaching the sea through the English factories at Pippli and Balasore in the 17th century.)
    3. Sushanta Kumar Patra, Benudhar Patra. *Archaeology and the Maritime History of Ancient Orissa*. in Orissa Historical Research Journal XLVII. n.d. , p. 111 (Excavation at Barabati fort, on the right bank of the Mahanadi in Cuttack district, yielded 'a few sherds of Chinese ceramics'. The printed coordinate ('Lat 20 deg 29' N. and Long. 85 deg E') has a defective longitude.)
Scholar notes

Khalkatapatna's Chinese material is dated c. 12th-14th century; Manikapatna's porcelain to 1368-1644. Its celadon is described only as 'datable to different centuries', so no earlier or later period is tagged. Finding Chinese pots does not prove Chinese ships called here: the goods may have moved through Southeast Asian middlemen. Two of the four sources share an author (Benudhar Patra).

  1. Sila Tripati. *Indo-Arabian stone anchor of Manikapatna, Odisha, east coast of India: an indicator of maritime contacts of Odisha*. in Current Science 120. 2021 , p. 1212 (Manikapatna finds include 'Chinese porcelain (1368-1644 CE)... belonging to Yuan and Ming dynasties' and a coin of the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty.)
  2. Sushanta Kumar Patra, Benudhar Patra. *Archaeology and the Maritime History of Ancient Orissa*. in Orissa Historical Research Journal XLVII. n.d. , pp. 111-112 ('Chinese celadone ware, white porcelain, blue, white and brown glazed porcelain sherds' at Manikapatna; celadon, porcelain and two Chinese copper coins of c. 14th century at Khalkatapatna.)
  3. Sunil Kumar Patnaik. *Puri: A Study of Early Trade and Pilgrim Routes*. in Odisha Review. 2014a , p. 105 (Manikapatna finds list includes Chinese celadon, porcelain and a Chinese coin.)
  4. Benudhar Patra. *Ports in Ancient Odisha: Historical Perspective*. in Odisha Review. 2014 , pp. 119-120 (Khalkatapatna, c. 12th-14th century CE: Chinese celadon ware, porcelain with blue floral design on white, two Chinese copper coins datable to c. 14th century.)