Prehistoric Times of Pondicherry

The origin of Pondicherry is buried in legends. M. G. Jouveau Dubreuil, the French mathematician, believed that the town was once called as Vedapuri and was a seat of Vedic culture and the abode of Sage Agastya. The Ashram of Agastya was on the very spot where the main building of Sri Aurobindo Ashram stands today. However, this legend is believed even today by some scholars who make it as true history through some of their publications and one among them is the Gazetteer of Pondicherry.

Based on the Mediterranean materials found at Arikamedu, Wheeler undoubtedly believed that Pondicherry was an ancient sea-port. This has been often compared to the 'Poduke Emporium' of classical writers. However, since Casals, J.M and G hitherto believed that the early settlement of Pondicherry as late-chalcolithic and that it has moved towards the end of the second century BC or contemporaries of Iron Age settlement of Arikamedu. Recently Sundara has compared the stone axes, certain forms and decorative motifs on grey ware, which were found on the surface and in the excavations of Arikamedu, with Neolithic times. The previous studies on early history of Pondicherry, focusing on the external trade of Pondicherry, contributed greatly to the emergence of an international port-town in the early Christian era, which had many production centers of beads and textiles.

No specific study on prehistoric times of Pondicherry, though it was a prominent commercial production center and an international seaport during early Christian era, has been made until now. The present work, therefore, is an attempt to explore the early human activity and habitation, which led to the urbanization of Pondicherry.