A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c7.21

c7.21

Changes in the level of the Coromandel coast in historical times are attested to in different ways; the once wealthy commerical cities of Korkai and Kāyal on the Tinnevelly coast, which were flourishing in the thirteenth century, are now buried under sand dunes miles from the sea; on the other hand in some places not very distant from those named above the sea has encroached on the land, and large parts of once-flourishing ports like Kāvēripaṭṭinam and Māmallapuram (Mahābalipuram) seem to have disappeared under the waves. In some instances, particularly Kāvēripaṭṭinam, popular tradition preserves the memory of the occurrence though with no clue to its date. Similar changes have occurred in the Gulf of Cambay and its neighbourhood.