TRICHY: Poompuhar, the submerged ancient port city located in modern-day Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, might have existed 15,000 years earlier, and not 2,500 years back as was earlier thought, scientists at the department of remote noticing of Bharathidasan University (BDU) have actually said.
No sample, however, has been gathered or dated.Earlier studies had actually developed that Poompuhar, likewise called Kaveripoompattinam, had maritime trade relate to South East Asia and Egypt, before it disappeared from the maritime map around 1,000 years earlier.
While initially it was believed that the port city that gained prominence during the Chola dynasty was around 2,500 years old, the most recent research study based upon offshore explorations and geological functions interpreted on the sea flooring estimates it was at least 15,000 years old, the university stated in a press release.If scientific dating verifies the quote, Poompuhar might be the oldest known town in India and, arguably, across the world.
Similar undersea expeditions in the Gulf of Cambay off the Gujarat coast in the early 2000s had actually found a lost city thought to be the ancient Dwaraka, then dated to 7,500 BC (which predates Mohenjodaro by 4,500 years).
The Poompuhar research study, sponsored by the department of science and innovation and technically supported by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), found structures that couldve been a harbour, dockyards, human settlements and a lighthouse, around 40km from today coast, at a depth of 50m-100m.
Sometime in the middle of 2019, when researchers on board Sagar Tara and Sagar Anveshika, research vessels from National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), neared Poompuhar off Tamil Nadu coast, they knew they were floating over history.
Just that they didnt know how old the civilization, whose remnants lay about 100m underneath their feet, was.
Poompuhar, the ancient Tamil port city lost to the sea, was earlier believed to have had to do with 2,500 years old, when the Chola kings set sail to record remote lands in the east.
Now, the research study group from Bharathidasan Universitys department of remote picking up says they have reasons to believe it was 15,000 years of ages.
The study, sponsored by the department of science and technology and technically supported by NIOT, compared offshore expedition findings near Poompuhar coast with sea level data created by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
In the next phase, NIOT will collect samples from the sea to validate the findings.
The team said the geological features of the sea flooring - a harbour, dockyards, human settlements and a lighthouse -have actually matched water level conditions that existed 15,000 years ago.
Poompuhar had a harbour that stretched over 11km in length and 3km in breadth, with breakwaters and canals to handle and save merchandise.
We have actually found evidence of a primitive dockyard that might handle 70-80 ships at a time, S M Ramasamy, professor of eminence and nationwide organizer, Project Poompuhar, Bharathidasan University, stated.
The university has released the part on harbour in the journal Current Science.
D Rajasekhar, head, NIOT vessel management cell, stated the team studied around 6,000 sqkm and discovered most of the ruins at a depth of 25m to 50m listed below the seabed.
A multibeam echosounder attached to the ship was used to study the variation in depth of the sea (bathymetry).
Based on data collected by the echosounder, a sub-bottom profiler mapped the seafloor.
In the next phase, NIOT will release a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to record images.
We have actually completed a trial run with an ROV, which was connected with a video camera and a finder.
We prepare to collect some coring samples, he stated.
The research study found rowed settlements with substance walls and geological evidence of pits dug on the seafloor.
Remains of an ancient lighthouse were discovered at a depth of 50m, with a spiral staircase and causeway pillars having a style like the Cleopatra lighthouse of Egypt.
How did the old city go under? Ramaswamy said the region was prone to floods, tsunamis and sped up impact of sea level rise and cyclone-induced storms.
Poompuhar was transferred a minimum of six times prior to settling at the present location.
Due to marine disobedience, the sea may have reached the land till the present day Mayiladuthurai around 6,000 years ago and fallen back later, the task planner said.
Around 12 federal government and personal educational institutions including Tamil University, Annamalai University and SASTRA University will be participated in additional research studies of the research study.
The research study will go on for another year and the findings will encourage a comparable study to check out Kumari Kandam, a mythical lost continent in the Indian Ocean, the research study team stated.
(With inputs from U Tejonmayam)