by the Greco-Roman world flourished since the time of the Ptolemaic dynasty a few decades before the start of the Common Era and remained long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.The cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia By Edward Balfour The contacts between south India and the Middle East continued even after the Byzantium's loss of the ports of Egypt and the Red Sea in the 7th century CE. The early historic Pandya country was famous for its supply of pearls. The ancient port of Korkai, in present-day Thoothukudi, was the center of pearl trade. Written records from Graeco-Roman and Egyptian voyagers give details about the pearl fisheries off the Gulf of Mannar. Greek historian Megasthenes reported about the pearl fisheries, indicating that the Pandyas derived great wealth from the pearl trade. Convicts were according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea used as pearl divers in Korkai. The Periplus even mentions that "pearls inferior to the Indian sort are exported in great quantity from the marts of Apologas and Omana". The pearls from the Pandya country were also in demand in the kingdoms of north India. Literary references of the pearl fishing mention how the fishermen, who dive into the sea, avoid attacks from sharks, bring up the right-whorled chank and blow on the sounding shell. Pandya coinage The early coins of Tamilakam bore the symbols of the Three Crowned Kings, the tiger, the fish and the bow, representing the symbols of the Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras. Coins of Pandyas bear the legend of different Pandya ruler in different times. The Pandyas had issued silver punch-marked and die struck copper coins in the early period. A few gold coins were attributed to the Pandya rulers of this period. These coins bore the image of fish, singly or in pairs, which were their emblem. Some of the coins had the names Sundara, Sundara Pandya or merely the letter 'Su' were etched. Some of the coins bore a boar with the legend of 'Vira-Pandya. It had been said that those coins were issued by the Pandyas and the feudatories of the Cholas but could not be attributed to any particular king. The coins of Pandyas were basically square. Those coins were etched with elephant on one side and the other side remained blank. The inscription on the silver and gold coins during the Pandyas, were in