Ports of Andhra Pradesh
Kalingapatnam, the ancient port city of Kalinga, is situated at the mouth of the river Vamsadhara. The Chicacole grant (Fleet 1984) of King Indravarman and Narasingapalli plates (Majumdar 1984) of King Hastivarman of the Eastern Ganga dynasty refer to Kalinganagara, the capital city situated near the seashore. Explorations at Kalingapatnam revealed megalithic Black and red ware along with black and grey ware treated in kaolin paint under a black slip, red slipped ware, Rouletted ware, bricks of 44x22x8 cm, a stupa and habitational mounds at Kalingapatnam and Nagarlapet (IAR1976-77: 10). The excavations in the stupa mound between 1977-78 and 1979-80 brought to light a wheel plan stupa, megalithic black and red ware, micaceous black ware etc; and also included a number of Gupta period gold coins (Rao 2002). Pre-stupa occupation of Kalingapatnam has been dated to 300 BC. Scholars are of the opinion that the sea washed out Kalingapatnam and some remains can be noticed in the nearshore region while the rest has been silted up over the years (Rao 1971-72). The Korni Plates of Anantavarma Chodaganga (Sitapati 1926) refer to Dantapura, situated on the southern banks of river Vamsadhara approximately 6 km from Srikakulam Road Railway station. Ptolemy refers to the apheterion immediately to the South of Palur, where the vessels were bound for the Malay Peninsula. S. Levi mentions that Dantapura was a trade centre having contacts with the other ports of India and Persia during the 6th century BC. Dantapura had trade contact with Tamralipti, Burma, Ceylon and Far East countries (Law 1967). The excavations at Dantavaktrunikota by the Department of Archaeology, Andhra Pradesh in 1994 revealed a row of Buddhist stupas and ruins of brick structures as well an earthen rampart surrounding the site. The pottery include Northern Black Polished ware (NBP), Rouletted ware, grey ware, dull red ware, red slipped ware and knobbed ware spread over an area of 500 hectares of land (Subrahmanyam 1994) showing the trade contacts of Dantapura with other parts of India. Pithunda was another flourishing port of Andhra. The Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela (1st century BC) states that Kharavela invaded the coastal belt of Andhra and captured Pithunda and renovated the port (Jayaswal 1983). The explorations at Pithapuram (identified as Pithunda), 20 km north of Kakinada yielded brick structures, sherds of Rouletted ware and Black and red ware from a mound datable to the Early Historic Period. Bhattiprolu of Krishna district has also been identified with Pithunda of 8 the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela. Levi (1926) mentions that Pithunda was a centre of textile industry in the region of Maisolia. The Jaina text Uttaradhyayanasutra mentions that Pithunda had trade relations with Champa (modern Kampuchea) even in the days of Mahavira and was a seat of Jainism (Sarma 1990). The excavations at Dharanikota brought to light a rock-cut navigation channel of 15 feet depth and 70-85 feet width, connected with the river Krishna. The wooden wharf was constructed at right angles to the navigational channel, which extended to a height of 3.36 m. A brick structure was constructed close to the wooden wharf all along the channel on its inner side and an earthen embankment was raised at the back. The presence of a warehouse on the bank of River Krishna indicates Dharanikota as an inland port of the early centuries of the Christian era (Raghavachary 1972-73). The findings include glass earrings, glass bangles, glass objects, copper and lead coins, black and red ware, NBP ware and sherds with Brahmi inscriptions (Ghosh 1989). The presence of Rouletted ware, arretine ware, Roman amphorae, Roman coins and double mast ship motif Satavahana coins testifies to its contacts with other parts of the world (Sarma 1980). Several excavations, which were carried out at Dharanikota suggest that Dharanikota was an inland port and Buddhist centre which flourished from 4th century BC to 14th century AD.
MOTUPALLI :
Archaeological and inscriptional evidences testify that Motupalli, also known as Desuya Konda Pattana, served as a port during the rule of the Satavahanas, Kakatiyas, Reddys and Vijayanagars. It is situated near Bapatla in Prakasam district. The discovery of Rouletted ware and stamped ware suggests that Motupalli served as a port during the Early Historical Period (Reddy 1999). The inscription on a pillar in the premises of Motupalli temple (Fig. 10) of Ganapatideva, the Kakatiya ruler, states that the lives of both foreign and Indian mariners are treated as being as valuable as that of the ruler Ganapatideva himself. Further, it provides a long list of import and export trade items which invariably show the busy activities of this port. Motupalli had trade contacts with Japan, China, Sri Lanka, Burma, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. Large ships were plying from Motupalli having capacity of 200 to 300 passengers. Chinese ships such as Jongu, Zu and Kakam visited Motupalli port frequently (Sree Padma 1992). Ptolemy mentioned Kottapatnam port as Kottis. Presently it is a small village in Nellore district of Andhra. Presently, the ancient port site is 500 meters away from the seashore and an irregular shaped creek passes through this village. It appears that the creek could be an artificial channel, which was dug probably for berthing of ships. The 9 findings include Rouletted ware, Roman glass pieces, stamped ware, Caolin pottery, Porcelain, Chinese ceramics and glazed ware and the Ming dynasty coin (Fig. 12) having Chinese script with a square hole (Rao 1994). The ancient habitational remains in the region have been scattered over more than one kilometre. The archaeological evidences indicate that Kottapatnam continued as a port from 3rd century BC to 15th century AD (Rao 2001). In ancient times Machilipatnam was known as Masulipatnam and Ptolemy refers to it as Maisolia. Masulipatnam was a point of departure of vessels bound for Southeast Asian and West Asian countries. The inland trade route which started from Masulipatnam, connected to Broach passed through Ter, Paithan and Ajanta. The Indo-Roman trade activities continued through this route connecting the east and west coasts of India. Ships laden with varieties of cotton cloth, yarn, silk, cowries, semi precious stone, glazed ware, etc. sailed to Burma, Ceylon, Indonesia and other countries. The port declined because of formation of sandbars, narrowness and shallow water, which did not allow movement of bigger ships for handling the cargo.
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