page_title: Industry in ancient Tamil country
section_title: Pearl fishing
hierarchical_section_title: Industry in ancient Tamil country / Pearl fishing
caption_attribution_description: A white pearl necklace.
context_page_description: During the Sangam age, industrial activity was considered ancillary to agriculture and was mostly domestic, not factory-based. Simple workshops where the blacksmith made the wheel or the carpenter his wooden wares could be called factories of a sort. Weaving, pearl fishing, smithy and ship building were some of the prominent industries of the ancient Tamil country. Cotton and silk fabrics from Madurai and Urayur were in great demand; the textiles from these regions were well known for their high quality. Korkai was the center of pearl trade and produced pearls that were sought after not only in Tamilakam, but in the kingdoms of north India and Rome. Smithy was an essential industry, because the blacksmith manufactured many of the tools and objects used in daily life. The flourishing overseas trade was supported by the shipbuilding industry that produced a variety of ocean and river craft. There were several ancillary industries such as carpentry, fishing, salt manufacture and construction that supported the trade and economic activity of this age.
context_section_description: Pearl fishing was another industry that flourished during the Sangam age. The Pandyan port city of Korkai was the center of pearl trade. But
  Thoothukudi is used for pearl fishing in these days. So Thoothukudi is now called as "Pearl City". Written records from Greek and Egyptian voyagers give details about the pearl fisheries off the Pandyan coast. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions that "Pearls inferior to the Indian sort are exported in great quantity from the marts of Apologas and Omana". The inferior variety of pearls that the Tamils did not require for their use was in very great demand in the foreign markets. Pearls were woven along with nice muslin cloth, before being exported. The most expensive animal product that was imported from India by the Roman Empire was the pearl from the Gulf of Mannar.
  The pearls from the Pandyan kingdom were also in demand in the kingdoms of north India. Several Vedic mantras refer to the wide use of the pearls. The royal chariots were decked with pearls, as were the horses that dragged them. The use of pearls was so high that the supply of pearls from the Ganges could not meet the demand. Literary references of the pearl fishing mention how the fishermen, who dive into the sea, avoid attacks from sharks, bring up the right-whorled chank and blow on the sounding shell. Convicts were used as pearl divers in Korkai.
caption: Pearl fishing was an important industry in ancient Tamilakam
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