Nagapattinam Port (nākappaṭṭinam, previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a port in the South Indian town of Nagapattinam in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a natural port located in the shores of Bay of Bengal. The port came to prominence during the period of Medieval Cholas (9th −12th century CE) and served as their important port for commerce and east bound naval expeditions. Nagapattinam was settled by the Portuguese and, later, the Dutch under whom it served as the capital of Dutch Coromandel from 1660 to 1781 CE. In November 1781, the town was conquered by the British East India Company. The port was an important port for the colonial empires until Thoothukudi port became the primary port in the Coromandel Coast. The modern day port has a commercial port complex and a dockyard that are protected by a river mouth sand bar facing the port. The port handles only limited amount of edible oil imports. The Nagapttinam lighthouse is the first conventional lighthouse tower built inside the port premises by the British in 1869. The port and the lighthouse are maintained by the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board under the Government of India. Geography The port of Nagapattinam is located in the town of Nagapattinam, a town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of Bay of Bengal and in the mouth of river Kuduvayyar. The coast along the port is generally flat and the depths along the coast is shallow. Historically, the underwater ridge along the coast is a navigational hazard. The port is deemed unsafe for anchorage especially during the receding monsoon season of November and December. Till Tsunami in 2004, a small bridge connected a village named Keechakuppam with Nagapattinam town. The construction of an expanded and an elevated bridge was completed after 2008, which enabled the expansion of the port as well as the fishing harbour. The adjacent land of the port has Kudavayar backwater. As is the case with the Kaveri river tributaries, the estuarine portion of the mouth of Kudavayyar to Bay of Bengal is shallow. The adjoining land once was filled with mangroves, but now remains a marshy land. Post Tsunami, many self help groups and the forest department of the Government of Tamil Nadu have been actively involved in creating bioshields, by planting mangrove forest to prevent effects of future disaster. History The port came