Palayakayal
| Palayakayal பழையகாயல் |
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 India
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| State : | Tamil Nadu | ||
| District : | Thoothukudi | ||
| Sub-district : | Srivaikuntam | ||
| Location : | 8 ° 40 ′ N , 78 ° 6 ′ E | ||
| Residents : | 5,024 (2011) | ||
Palayakayal ( Tamil : பழையகாயல் Paḻaiyakāyal [ ˈpaɻɛi̯jəkaːjəl ], "Old Kayal", also Palayakkayal ) is a village in the Thoothukudi district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . The now insignificant village of Palayakayal is possibly identical to the old port city of Kayal (Tamil: காயல் Kāyal [ ˈkaːjəl ]), which was a center of overseas trade in the Middle Ages.
Palayakayal is located on the northern edge of the mouth of the Thamirabarani River, around 15 kilometers south of the district capital Thoothukudi and four kilometers from the sea coast. Through the deposition of sediments, the coastline in the area of the Thamirabarani Delta has continuously shifted into the sea in the course of history. Therefore ports had to be abandoned several times and moved closer to the coast. The oldest port in the Thamirabarani Delta was ancient Korkai , five kilometers southwest of Palayakayal. After Korkai silted up, the port was moved to a place called Kayal. Marco Polo visited Kayal in 1292, which he describes in his travelogue as Cail . According to Marco Polo, Cail was a "great and noble city" and the port of call for all ships coming from the Arabian Peninsula . Robert Caldwell , the Bishop of Tirunelveli , who researched the history of the region in the 19th century, assumed that Marco Polos Cail is identical to today's Palayakayal ("Old Kayal"). Only twelve kilometers south of Palayakayal is the almost eponymous Muslim port town of Kayalpattinam ( pattinam means "city"), which was a center of Arab trade from an early age. Both place names are based on the Tamil word kayal for "lagoon". To make the confusion complete, there is a third port with the name kayal in the Thamirabarani Delta between Palayakayal and Kayalpattinam , namely Punnaikayal , which served as a base for the Portuguese in the 16th century .
Individual evidence
- ^ Census of India 2011.
- ^ Henry Yule: The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the East, London: John Murray, 1871, Vol. 2, pp. 304 f. (Digitized version)
- ^ Robert Caldwell: A Political and General History of the District of Tinnevelly, Madras: Government Press, 1881, p. 36 ff. (Digitized version)
- ↑ JM Flores: “'Cael Velho', 'Calepatanão' and 'Punicale'. The Portuguese and the Tambraparni Ports in the Sixteenth Century ", in: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient 82.1 (1995), pp. 9-26. ( doi: 10.3406 / befeo.1995.2294 )