South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c9.s2.7.4

c9.s2.7.4

Battelar, which according to Marco Polo is the place where the ships collect before going on a pearl fishing expedition seems much rather to refer to a port on the continent than to one in Ceylon. We have a port in the peninsula near Maṇḍapam which goes by the name Vēdāḷai now, and it is just on the southern shore of the peninsula, and at the head of the Gulf of Mannar, a convenient starting point for the fisher-folk. There is a harbour to the east of it that is called Toṇitturai even now, apparently the place where boats assembled on their fishing expeditions for pearls.