It gets its name from the Sanskrit term "Tāmra," or copper, which was mined nearby at Ghatsila in the Singbhum region of the Chota Nagpur Plateau and traded through this port.

During the Gupta dynasty, Tamralipta was the main emporium, serving as a point of departure for trade with Ceylon, Java, and China, as well as the west.

It was linked by roads with the major cities of ancient India of that time, i.e., Rajagriha, Shravasti, Pataliputra, Varanasi, Champa, Kaushambi, and Taxila.

The Bay of Bengal, along with these incredible waterways, and their innumerable branches, built up an affluent and easy water navigation framework that cultivated commerce, culture, and early contacts with people from other parts of the world.

[n 1] It was also mentioned by the Greek astronomer-geographer Ptolemy, the Roman author and philosopher Pliny, and the Chinese monk travellers Fa-hien, Hsuan-tsang, and Yi Jing.

According to Hiuen-Tsang, this port town spanned approximately 250 miles and served as the point of convergence of the land and sea trade routes.

Yijing travelled up the Ganga from Tamralipti to the Buddhist monastery complex of Nalanda, which was the home of thirty-five hundred monks at that time.

[15][16][8][17] Archaeological explorations have unveiled a chronology of habitations extending back to a period in which stone axes and rudimentary pottery were in use.

Excavations in the Indian state of West Bengal have revealed a steatite seal with hieroglyphic and pictographic signs, thought to be of the Mediterranean root.

[6][4] Excavations at Moghalmari confirmed the presence of Buddhist vihars in the area, which was mentioned by Chinese travellers Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang.

The terracotta seals, protected in the Tamralipta museum as examined by Mukherjee, are inscribed in the Kharoshti Brahmi script of the early centuries of the Christian era.

[19][4] The textual references have prompted academics to identify Tamralipti as one of the most prominent hubs of trade and commerce of early historic India.

[n 10] According to Darian, with the rise of the Mauryan Empire, Tamralipti rose to universal popularity as the chief harbour of the entire basin.

[14] According to Sengupta, the difference in descriptions of the location of Tamralipta as made by Fa-Hien and Hiuen-Tsang indicates a profound geographical change that had occurred in between their visits.

[14] According to Chattopadhyay, in comparison to Chandraketugarh, the settlement aspects of Tamralipti addressed by the area of Tamluk on the right bank of the Rupnarayan, a feeder of the Bhagirathi, are as yet unclear.

[20] Man-made issues such as political disorder, taxes, and foreign attack, as well as natural factors such as alteration in the courses of rivers, siltation, and erosion, have all contributed to the progressive deterioration of the Tamralipta port.

Since 700 A.D., the Saraswati had abandoned its allegiance to the Rupnarayan and migrated eastwards, opening a new outlet along the Sankrail, resulting in the decline of the port of Tamralipta.