70 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY PART II 



been tolerant of Buddhism like many of their contemporaries. In Hiuen Tsang's days 

 the latter religion was still followed by great numbers of the populace, especially in 

 Orissa and Southern India ; elsewhere Hinduism was rapidly becoming the popular 

 religion and the mass of the people were of this faith when the last Valabhi dynasty 

 ended. 



As the chank is a religious symbol both to Hindus and to Buddhists, we may 

 reasonably conclude that the remains of chank bangles found in Valabhipur were made 

 for the use of the women of the town and neighbourhood not later than the eighth 

 century. The trade must have been long established at that time to judge by the excel- 

 lence of the work turned out, which fully equals that of average Bengal workmanship 

 of the present day. 



Taking all facts into consideration I am inclined to date the majority of the bangle 

 fragments found in the Kathiawar and Gujarat sites as roughly contemporary with the 

 Valabhipur specimens or at most not antedating them by more than 300 to 400 years. 



To date the Deccan chank -bangle factories is more difficult ; one outstanding 

 fact is the simplicity of all the patterns. The great majority are devoid of ornament 

 save for a boss roughly carved at one side. This plainness of design would seem to 

 bespeak less skill on the part of the Deccan workman than on that of his fellow craftsman 

 in Gujarat. If that be the explanation, and if it be not due to lack of taste or of the 

 means to pay for good work on the part of the buyers, then we may reasonably date 

 the majority of these fragments back to the first few centuries before or after the 

 beginning of the Christian era. The presence among the pottery mixed with the bangle 

 fragments found near Srinivaspur in Mysore of a flat sherd similar in pattern to one 

 found with the Buddhist remains at Gudivada in Kistna District is noteworthy as 

 lending further countenance to this conclusion. 



(d) The finds made by Mr. Bruce Foote argue two great centres of chank -bangle 

 manufacture and usage apart from that in the extreme south of the Madras Presidency, 

 namely, one in the Southern Deccan and the other round the shores of the Gulf of 

 Cambay. It is most probable that other centres of the industry did exist, but at present 

 there is no direct evidence to this effect. For instance, it is not likely that an industry 

 which was firmly established in Eastern Bengal at the time of the arrival of the 

 Portuguese in India ' and of Tavernier's travels in the seventeenth century, and which 

 continues to flourish at the present day, should be of modern growth. 



With regard to the third known seat of the industry in ancient times, that which 

 flourished in. the early centuries of the Christian era in the Tinnevelly district, its 

 geographical location in the coastal section of the Pandyan kingdom made it the natural 

 centre and home of a great chank-cutting industry. Its Pandyan sovereigns were from 

 time immemorial overlords of the Pearl and Chank Fisheries of the Gulf of Mannar and 



1 Garcia da Orta writing in the sixteenth century states that the chank was then an article of 

 importance in the Bengal trade, though less valuable than formerly. 



