Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Alagankulam

Probable Archaeology

Alagankulam is a very old port on the Vaigai river in Tamil Nadu, close to the sea. Diggers found broken Roman jars and real Roman coins buried there.

Alagankulam is a very old port. It sits on the Vaigai river in Tamil Nadu, close to the sea. Diggers found broken Roman jars there, called amphorae. They also found a lot of stamped pottery. They found real Roman coins too, made for the emperors Valentinian, Theodosius I and Arcadius I. [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 6, section ‘Alagankulam’]

For scholars

Only one source was read here. So the tier stops at Probable. The original dig reports were not read directly. Some scholars link this port to a place named by Ptolemy. Others link it to an old Tamil port called Caliyur. These are ideas, not proven facts. Alagankulam is not a Kalinga port. It is a Bay of Bengal trading partner, with dated Roman coin finds. [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 6, section ‘Alagankulam’]

Facts

Coordinates
9.35°, 78.97°
[Dayalan, 2019]
  1. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019
Modern name
Alagankulam, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu
Also known as
Salour (proposed identification, Ptolemy), Caliyur (proposed Sangam-age name)
Region
south-india
Scholar notes

Only one source was read, so the tier stops at Probable; the excavation reports themselves (Nagaswamy 1991; Tamil Nadu Dept. of Archaeology 2005) were not read directly. The identification with Ptolemy's Salour and the Sangam port Caliyur are proposals Dayalan reports, not settled facts. Not a Kalinga port; included as a documented Bay of Bengal trading partner with directly dated Roman coin finds.

  1. 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. 6, section 'Alagankulam' ('Alagankulam (09 deg 21' N; 78 deg 58' E) is an ancient seaport ... on the banks of the Vaigai River ... Excavations ... brought to light ... amphorae, a large quantity of rouletted ware sherds, stamped pottery and Roman coins of Vallentine, Theodosius I and Arcadius I.')