Etymon: paTTaN, pattan, patan

[DR.S.KALYANARAMAN]

Hi,

Close to the Sarasvati River, we have names of ancient settlements such as
Prabhas Patan (SaurASTra), Pattan Minara (Bahawalpur Province) (cf.
Mughal, Ancient Cholistan, 1997 where a 'pre-Islamic' shrine is identified
on the banks of the River).

paTTaNa is a common suffix in names of ports such as chennappaTTaNam,
macilIpaTTaNam, vizAkhapaTTaNam.

Is the etymon paTTaN related to an ancient port of call? Is it related to
paTTi, a street? If so, Pattan Minara could have been a terminal port town
on the desiccated river?

I would deeply appreciate receiving guidance on this.

Thanks and Regards,
Kalyanaraman
kalyan97 at yahoo.com