Abstract:
The Gulf of Mannar was one of the most abundant sources of natural pearls
in the world for more than two millennia. Pearls were the most valuable
aquatic resource in Sri Lanka and were exploited since ancient times, more
than 3500 years time._Pearl-producing bi-valve molluscs Pinctada genus of
saltwater oysters (mainly Pinctada radiate and Pinctada fucata) populated the
low-lying shoals and rock and coral formations of the Gulf of Mannar. But
some historical and archaeological evidences extend more than two millennia,
because Sri Lanka known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean. The pearl beds
of South India and Sri Lanka constituted one of the two major sources of pearls
in the world, rivalled in size only by that of Hainan. The exploitation of pearl
fisheries continued during the Dutch and the British colonial rule. The
British earned considerable revenue from pearls of Ceylon, e.g from March
1828 to May 1837 alone Sterling Pounds 227,131 were credited as revenue
into the Ceylon Treasury on account of the pearl fisheries. But, the pearling
industry is all extinct today.
