Kayal Coast

Kayal lies on the southern Tamil coast, facing the Gulf of Mannar and its pearl fisheries. The old port was connected to Ceylon and to other settlements along the shore, including Kilakarai and Adirampattinam. Arab merchants from Egypt and Yemen came to trade here, and the town acquired a lasting Muslim community. Marco Polo mentioned Kayal in his travels at the end of the thirteenth century; the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta also recorded the port in the century that followed.