In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale

Ghosh describes the beauty of Mangalore and its geography, noting especially that the lagoon that leads into the city used to be a harbor. It would have been from here that Ben Yiju would have first seen Mangalore. It is, however, only the geographical location of the city that remains from Ben Yiju’s time, as the city was sacked multiple times. The name of the “Old Port” area has remained the same: Bandar, Persian for “port.” Bandar was home to Mangalore’s large community of expatriate merchants. Ghosh states that it is now hard to imagine visitors being drawn to Bandar but, for hundreds of years, many were. The region of Mangalore was known as Malabar, of which Mangalore was the northernmost extremity. The area directly surrounding Mangalore is called Tulunad, deriving its name from the language that was spoken here. Until the beginning of the 15th century, Tulunad managed to maintain its independence from its surrounding powers and it was as part of this independent state that Mangalore grew as a key port of the Indian ocean.

Ben Yiju would have been drawn here by the economic opportunities of the region. Later, this wealth would attract colonial attention and, as a result, would lose its old identity.