The Pattanam site has produced a plethora of artefacts belonging to the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean littoral indicating an extensive transoceanic network in the early historic period. The finds strengthen the hypotheses that Pattanam could be Muziris or Muciri Pattinam or an integral part of that legendary port. Whatever name by which this site may be identified we consider it an important and unique Indian port site with Chinese, Arabian and Roman Empire connections. In fact, it is always safe to refrain from seeking individual or place names from archaeological records. This may help us to keep our mind open, free from prejudices and subjective considerations, which may yield more positive information on the people and life of the times.
Pattanam in Indian Ocean Exchanges
It is the strategic location of Pattanam or Muziris in the Indian Ocean which made it a port city extolled in both Indian and European classical sources as the ‘first emporium of India’. If contextualised in relation to contemporary port sites across the Indian Ocean and beyond we will realise the fact that Pattanam cannot be treated in isolation. Quanzhou & Hepu (South China) Khao Sam Kaco (South Malay Peninsula) Tampralipti, Arikamedu, Kaveri Pattinam, Barygaza (India) Manthai, Anuradhapura and Manthai (Sri Lanka) Khor Rori (Oman), Cana (Yemen), Berenike, Myos Hormos and Alexandria (Egypt), Aqaba (Jordan) etc with over 40 sites were its contemporary sites connected directly or indirectly with it. The recently excavated site of Keezhadi, near Madurai is also a contemporary site of Pattanam like Kodumanal or Porunthal or many other hinterland site of Tamilakam in the Sangam Age- the Pattanam archaeological record is capable of revealing the presiding role played by this network in the Indian Ocean and beyond to enrich the cultural and technological legacy of humanity.
Pattanam seems to be a prominent site in the Indian subcontinent where East met West 2000 years ago. This is also due to various other factors which I am not going to discuss here. But I may share with you a disturbing fact that the world by its silent consensus of ‘oddity’ or apathy to hard archaeological evidence still consider the arrival of Vasco-da Gama as the beginning of the Indo-
European maritime contacts. Pattanam is a pointer to the possibility that hundreds of Vasco da Gamas from here as well as Europe were engaged in brisk maritime exchanges 15 c centuries before Vasco da Gama arrived on the Kerala coast.
Evolution and decline of muziris port
As indicated by the geological, stratigraphic and chronometric evidence, its unique geographic location facilitated the exposure of the Pattanam Iron Age people (1000 BCE to 500 BCE) to the expanding Indian Ocean trade systems. Gradually, by the beginning of the early historic period (300 BCE to CE 500 CE), Pattanam witnessed commercial crossings from the Arabian and Mesopotamian regions. As per archaeological evidence, the peak of commercial transactions was during the Roman Empire period (100 BCE to CE 300). Thereafter, the trade and exchange dwindled (CE 500 to CE 1000) and the site probably remained deserted until the arrival of the European colonists in the 17th c CE.