Tamluk is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Tamluk subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Tamralipta Tamralipta, the port in ancient India, is believed by scholars to have been around modern-day Tamluk. It is mentioned in the writings of Ptolemy (150 AD), the Greco-Egyptian writer, Faxian (earlier referred to as Fa Hien) (405-11 AD), the Chinese Buddhist monk, who travelled to India on foot, and Xuanzang (earlier referred to as Hiuen Tsiang) (seventh century AD), the Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller and translator. It was the main port used by Ashoka, the Mauryan emperor. With too much siltation the port lost its importance around the 8th century A.D. Geography Purba Medinipur district is part of the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain and Eastern coastal plains. Topographically, the district can be divided into two parts – (a) almost entirely flat plains on the west, east and north, (b) the coastal plains on the south. The vast expanse of land is formed of alluvium and is composed of younger and coastal alluvial. The elevation of the district is within 10 metres above mean sea level. The district has a long coastline of 65.5 km along its southern and south eastern boundary. Five coastal CD Blocks, namely, Khejuri II, Contai II (Deshapran), Contai I, Ramnagar I and II, are occasionally affected by cyclones and tornadoes. Tidal floods are quite regular in these five CD Blocks. Normally floods occur in 21 of the 25 CD Blocks in the district. The major rivers are Haldi, Rupnarayan, Rasulpur, Bagui and Keleghai, flowing in north to south or south-east direction. River water is an important source of irrigation. The district has a low 899 hectare forest cover, which is 0.02% of its geographical area. Naikuri is located at . Tamluk CD Block is bounded by Panskura, Kolaghat and Sahid Matangini CD Blocks in the north, Shyampur I and Shyampur II CD Blocks, in Howrah district across the Rupnarayan, in the east, Nandakumar CD Block in the south and Moyna CD Block in the west. It is located to the west of Tamluk, the district headquarters. Tamluk CD Block has an area of 123.50 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 12 gram panchayats, 161 gram sansads (village councils), 107 mouzas and 99 inhabited villages. Tamluk police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Tamluk. Gram