Khalkatapatna was a sea port in what is now the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

on the eastern seaboard of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The site is on the north bank of the

Kushabhadra River Kushabhadra River forms the complex of river systems which form the distributaries of the Mahanadi River. It branches off from the Kuakhai River, which is a distributary of the Mahanadi, at Balianta and flows in a south western direction towards ...

. It was a port town during the

Eastern Ganga dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a large medieval era Indian royal dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of ...

during 12th and 15th centuries CE. Khalkatapatna was a link in the riverine and maritime navigation of Odisha and was important port in trade with Arabian countries in the west and Indonesia and China in the east.

Excavations

Excavations have been carried out at the site between 1984–85 and 1994–95. The excavations found a brick jelly floor that may have been used as a loading and unloading platform. Artifacts include two circular Chinese copper coins with square holes in the center from the 14th century AD, Chinese celadon ware and porcelain and glazed chocolate ware of Arabian origin. The site also held wheel-turned bowls, basins, vases and miniature pots, and jewelry made of terracotta, glass and copper. The archaeological excavations shed light that the Kushabhadra river was navigable at the time, and may have been used for transportation of blocks of stone for use in the construction of the

Konark Sun Temple Konark Sun Temple is a (year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about northeast from Puri city on the coastline in Puri district, Odisha, India.Narasimhadeva I Gajapati Langula Narasingha Deva I was an Odia Emperor of Eastern Ganga Dynasty, and a warrior of the early medieval Odisha region who reigned from 1238 CE to 1264 CE. He defeated the Muslim forces of Bengal who constantly threatened the Eastern ...

(1236–1264 AD).

Decline

Satellite images of the region and the river course have shown that the river Kushabhadra had migrated heavily to and fro with respect to the oceanographic processes and in response to the intensity of the natural disasters which led to

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

and shoreline changes whose effects were seen on the archaeological remains. The changing trend of the course of the river and river mouth spatially also gives a clue that the rapid shift of the river mouth and the associated shoaling and erosion on the other side were also responsible for the decline of the port.

References

{{reflist Maritime history of India Archaeological sites in Odisha