Season 1, Episode 1
The Lost Port of Muziris
2,000 years ago, traders and visitors representing 40 different cultures traveled to Muziris, the fabled port on the southwest coast of India. Ships of Roman Egypt set out from ports on the Red Sea and sailed across the Indian Ocean on the monsoon winds. They delivered gold and perfumes in exchange for spices — especially the coveted black pepper — and luxury goods such as elephant tusks and textiles. Muziris flourished as a prosperous and peaceful urban settlement on the Periyar River.
For more than a decade, archaeologists have been searching for the lost port of Muziris. Their excavations are focused in Pattanam, a sleepy village 25km north of Kochi in Kerala. Incredible finds point to maritime trade and links with many cultures, including the Roman Empire: amphorae, semi-precious stones and beads, intaglios, and pottery from throughout the Indian Ocean world. Join us on a visit to Pattanam to learn more about these artifacts and whether this village really is the site of the lost port of Muziris.
Time Markers (mins: sec)
- 0:00 Please wear your headphones
- 0:17 Prologue
- 1:32 Travel to Pattanam
- 2:51 Meeting Dr PJ Cherian
- 3:36 Ancient ports
- 4:01 Searching for ancestors
- 5:24 Welcome to Scrolls & Leaves
- 6:28 Description of Pattanam excavations
- 7:48 Romila Thapar
- 8:55 Chapter 1, Chera Kingdom
- 10:28 Tamil Sangam poetry
- 11:50 Monsoons for navigation
- 12:46 Boat ride on the Periyar River
- 14:22 Fictional story of a merchant in Muziris
- 18:14 Fate of Muziris
- 19:02 Chapter 2, a visit to Sukumaran’s house
- 23:44 Chapter 3, description of intaglio
- 28:19 Greco-Roman carved head
- 30:05 40 cultures visited Muziris
- 30:36 Chapter 4, excavating the wharf complex
- 33:22 Canoe discovery
- 36:25 Is this Muziris?
- 37:18 Individuals in history
- 39:02 Credits
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Reading List
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Kerala Council for Historical Research. Unearthing Pattanam, Histories, Cultures, Crossings. Catalogue for the 2014 Exhibition, National Museum, New Delhi. https://www.pama.org.in/docs/amity20/PAMA_Amity_Excavation_Catalogue_Masterlayout_Unearthing_Pattanam.pdf
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Malekandathil, Pius. Muziris and the Trajectories of Maritime Trade in the Indian Ocean in the First Millennium CE. Chapter 14 of Imperial Rome, Indian Ocean Regions and Muziris. Edited by K.S. Mathew. 2016. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315276823
Parker, Grant. Ex Oriente Luxuria: Indian Commodities and Roman Experience. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 45, No. 1 (2002), pp. 40-95. Brill. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3632707
Paul, Jiji. How Periyar’s dance of death changed Kerala’s landscape. July 22, 2018. OnManorama. https://www.onmanorama.com/travel/travel-news/2018/07/22/periyar-floods-muziris-port.html
Rathbone, Dominic W. Muziris Papyrus. March 26, 2019. Oxford University Press. https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8258
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Singh, Sukriti and Gosavi, Swati. Port Towns of Arikamedu and Pattanam: A Glimpse into the Ancient Maritime History of India. Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, Volume-08, Jan 2018 Special Issue (01).
Vishnu, Uma. In uncle’s backyard, student finds stone linking Kerala to Roman empire. October 4, 2020. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/in-uncles-backyard-student-finds-stone-linking-kerala-to-roman-empire-6692560/