The seaport is at the mouth of two rivers one from the north and the other Nethravathi which runs southern from the ullal and stands beyond the bay of salt water.
Mangalore also called Mangaluru by canarese, Kodial by Konkans, Kudla by the native Tuluvas, which means the confluence of two rivers. Maikala by the Beary muslim community.
It’s one of the epicenter trading ports across the western sea of the Indian subcontinent before Christ’s era.
Till the Portuguese arrived this port was ruled by many Kingdoms from the Maurya dynasty to the Keladi dynasty of the Ghat region.
After it was annexed by the Mysore kingdom and British India respectively.
The port was used to ferry goods and passengers to Lakshadweep island and middle east countries and now fishing has become a main activity of this harbor.
In 1623 Pietro Della Valle an Italian traveler visited the court of Queen of Ullal(Rani Abbakadevi Chowta) and he anchored his ship at this port.
The Portuguese travelers said, Mangalore was one of five pepper exporting ports of Malabar
Rice is the grand article of export. It was sent to Muscat, Bombay, Goa, and Malabar
Next to Rice, Supari(Betelnut), and pepper as the chief export are sent to Surat, Bombay, and Kutch.
The chief imports according to the merchants, are blue cotton cloths from Surat, cutch/Kutch, and Madras- mentioned in Francis Buchanan in 1801 in his document.
From the below account of canarese merchants, these merchants owned vessels and did sea trading to these countries, Mainly by Konkans, Bearys, Lingavanta banajigas, Komati, and a few Bunts
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