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Archaeological Survey of India archaeologists have found brick structures in the bed of the Kollidam river at Koogur, near Lalgudi in Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu.
They have been provisionally identified as the remains of an Early Historic or Sangam-age irrigation structure, dated to around the 3rd-4th century CE.
Two structures were recorded - a semi-circular brick wall, and a pair of parallel walls that may have formed an entrance or water channel, possibly a sluice, inlet or outlet.
Large rectangular and wedge-shaped bricks point to Early Historic construction; the remains resemble water-management features found at Vanagiri near Kaveripattinam (Poompuhar).
Firm dating awaits systematic excavation and scientific analysis.
The Sangam age refers to the earliest period of Tamil literary and political history, named after the sangams or assemblies of poets said to have been convened under royal patronage at Madurai. It is broadly placed between roughly the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, and is known chiefly through the Sangam corpus - the Ettuthogai (Eight Anthologies) and Pattuppattu (Ten Idylls) - alongside Tolkappiyam, the earliest Tamil grammar. Politically it was dominated by three crowned dynasties, the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas, with a well-developed maritime trade reaching Rome. Archaeologists prefer the wider term 'Early Historic' because material remains rarely align neatly with literary chronology, which is why this find is described as Early Historic or Sangam-age rather than being pinned to a single reign.
Simple Analogy: Think of it as the Tamil country's classical age - the period its later literature looks back to the way North Indian tradition looks back to the Vedic and epic ages.
Central agency for archaeological research and the protection of monuments and sites of national importance; conducts exploration, excavation and conservation
GS Paper 1 > Ancient Indian history and culture; Art and culture - archaeology and material remains
General Awareness > Ancient Indian History; Geography of India - rivers
A gated channel that regulates the flow of water into or out of a reservoir, tank or canal.
The archaeological term for the phase from roughly the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE in India, marked by writing, coinage, urbanisation and long-distance trade.
A dam or weir built across a river to divert water into irrigation channels - from the Tamil 'anai kattu', meaning dam construction.
A branch that leaves the main channel of a river and does not rejoin it, typical of deltas - the opposite of a tributary.
A tapered brick used in curved or arched construction; its presence helps archaeologists date and interpret a structure.