Punnaikayal
| Punnaikayal புன்னைக்காயல் |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| State : |
 India
|
||
| State : | Tamil Nadu | ||
| District : | Thoothukudi | ||
| Sub-district : | Tiruchendur | ||
| Location : | 8 ° 38 ' N , 78 ° 7' E | ||
| Residents : | 7,684 (2011) | ||
Punnaikayal ( Tamil : புன்னைக்காயல் Puṉṉaikkāyal [ ˈpunːɛi̯kːaːjəl ], also Punnakayal, formerly Punicale ) is a village in the Thoothukudi district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . The population is around 7,700 (2011 census).
Punnaikayal is about 20 kilometers as the crow flies south of Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) in the delta of the Thamirabarani River. Punnaikayal is a protected natural harbor located around one kilometer from the coast on an estuary of the Thamirabarani . Administratively, the place belongs to the Taluk Tiruchendur of the Thoothukudi district.
Punnaikayal is one of several historic ports in the Thamirabarani Delta. The earliest port, the ancient Korkai , silted up early and is now in the interior (six kilometers west of Punnaikayal). Then the port was moved to Kayal, today's Palayakayal (four kilometers northwest of Punnaikayal), but it also silted up. Probably from the 14th century the Muslim port city of Kayalpattinam (eight kilometers south of Punnaikayal) became the most important port in the Thamirabarani Delta. When the Portuguese began to colonize the region in the 16th century, they made Punnaikayal their base. From the 1540s, Punnaikayal was the main Portuguese port on the fishing coast and a center of Christianity in the region. At the same time, the place was involved in constant clashes with the Muslims of Kayalpattinam. From the 1580s, Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) rose to become the most important Portuguese base in the region and Punnaikayal sank to an insignificant fishing village.
The name Punnaikayal is made up of punnai, the Tamil name of a tree species that often occurs near the coast ( Calophyllum inophyllum ) and the word kayal for "lagoon", which is also the basis for the place names Palayakayal and Kayalpattinam.
Individual evidence
literature
- Jorge Manuel 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 )