"KAYAL Stood Originally On Or Near The Sea-Beach, But It Is Now About A
Mile And A Half Inland, The Sand Carried Down By The River Having Silted
Up The Ancient Harbour, And Formed A Waste Sandy Tract Between The Sea And
The Town.
It has now shrunk into a petty village, inhabited partly by
Mahommedans and partly by Roman Catholic fishermen of
The Parava caste,
with a still smaller hamlet adjoining inhabited by Brahmans and Vellalars;
but unlikely as the place may now seem to have been identical with 'the
great and noble city' described by Marco Polo, its identity is established
by the relics of its ancient greatness which it still retains. Ruins of
old fortifications, temples, storehouses, wells and tanks, are found
everywhere along the coast for two or three miles north of the village of
Kayal, and a mile and a half inland; the whole plain is covered with
broken tiles and remnants of pottery, chiefly of China manufacture, and
several mounds are apparent, in which, besides the shells of the
pearl-oyster and broken pottery, mineral drugs (cinnabar, brimstone, etc.),
such as are sold in the bazaars of sea-port towns, and a few ancient coins
have been found. I send you herewith an interesting coin discovered in one
of those mounds by Mr. R. Puckle, collector of Tinnevelly.[2]
"The people of the place have forgotten the existence of any trade between
Kayal and China, though the China pottery that lies all about testifies to
its existence at some former period; but they retain a distinct tradition
of its trade with the Arabian and Persian coasts, as vouched for by Marco
Polo, that trade having in some degree survived to comparatively recent
times.... Captain Phipps, the Master Attendant at Tuticorin, says:
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