There are
urn burials in and around the city from the
Sangam period indicating some level of human habitation. Except the mention in
Ptolemy as 'Νίγαμα Μετρόπολις,' there are no direct references to Nagapattinam during the 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE. The neighbouring port,
Kaveripoompattinam (modern-day Poompuhar), was the capital of the
Chola kingdom of the Sangam Age, referred to widely in Tamil scriptures such as
Paṭṭiṉappālai. The
Soundarajaperumal temple finds a mention in the
Brahmanda Purana in the Utharkanda Gyana Yoga section. The temple is revered in
Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 5th to 9th century CE Vaishnava canon, by
Alvars. It is considered one of the important temples visited by Thirumangai Alvar. The Alvar has sung praise, imagining himself as a lady and Soundaraja as his lover. The temple is classified as a
Divya Desam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. The early works of
Tevaram by the 7th-century poets
Appar and
Tirugnanasambandar mention the town had fortified walls, busy road building and a busy port. The inscriptions from the Kayarohanswami temple indicate the construction was initiated during the reign of the Pallava king,
Narasimha Pallava II (691–729 CE). A Buddhist pagoda was built under Chinese influence by the Pallava king and the town was frequented by Buddhist travelers. In the 11th century CE,
Chudamani Vihara, a Buddhist monastery, was built by the Sailendra king of
Srivijaya Sri Mara Vijayattungavarman with the patronage of
Raja Raja Chola. Nagapattinam was the prominent port of Cholas for trade and a conquering gateway to the east. In the early 16th century the Portuguese made commercial contacts with the town and established a commercial centre in 1554 CE. The Portuguese also conducted missionary enterprise here. In 1658, the Dutch made an agreement with King Vijaya Nayakkar of Thanjavur on 5 January 1662, by which ten villages were transferred from the Portuguese to the Dutch – Nagapattinam Port, Puthur, Muttam, Poruvalancheri, Anthanappettai, Karureppankadu, AzhingiMangalam, Sangamangalam, Thiruthinamangalam, Manjakollai, Nariyankudi. Ten Christian churches and a hospital were built by the Dutch. They released
Pagoda coins with the name Nagapattinam engraved in Tamil. As per agreement between the first Maratha King,
Ekoji Raje of
Thanjavur, and the Dutch, Naagapattinam and surrounding villages were handed over to the Dutch on 30 December 1676. In 1690, the capital of
Dutch Coromandel changed from
Pulicat to Nagapattinam. This town fell into the hands of the British in 1781 after the two naval battles between British and French fleets were fought off the coast of Negapatam, as it was then known: the
first in 1758 as part of the
Seven Years' War and the
second in 1782 as part of the
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. The town was
taken by the British from the Dutch in 1781 (who had been
formally brought into the war in 1780). When the Dutch and British
reached a peace agreement in 1784, Nagapattinam was formally ceded to the British. 277 villages, with Nagore as the headquarters, were handed over to the
East India Company. From 1799 to 1845 CE, Nagapttinam was the headquarters of Tanjore district. Nagapattinam and Nagore were incorporated as a single municipality in 1866 CE. The town remained one of the chief ports to the
Madras Presidency. The port suffered decline after the inclusion of
Tranquebar and
Tuticorin ports. After India's independence, Sirkazhi continued to be a part of
Thanjavur district until 1991, and later became part of the newly created Nagapattinam district. Nagapattinam was severely affected by the
tsunami which followed the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It is well developed in the year 2016 where there are many Big textiles showroom (Krishna, Murasons etc.), Confectionery Houses (Mehala traders, Uma etc.), Schools, Colleges and Variety of fishes available in here. ==Geography==