"Tamil nadu inscription bell found in new zealand"

"Tamils have long been seafarers and traders. It is believed that they reached northern Australia by the 14th century, and there is a suggestion that they may have got as far as New Zealand. In 1836 the missionary explorer William Colenso found this bell, which had been used by Māori as a cooking vessel for generations. Inscribed on it in Tamil are the words ‘Mohoyideen Buk’s ship’s bell’. The bell is now held at the national museum, Te Papa. Theories abound, but the precise origins of the bell and how it got to New Zealand remain a mystery." The Tamil Bell

" Around 1836, the missionary William Colenso met Māori near Whangarei using the bell as a kohua (iron pot) to cook potatoes. It is bronze, thirteen centimetres long and nine centimetres deep, and has an inscription. Colenso was told that the bell had been found after a heavy gale had blown down a large tree; it was uncovered from the tree roots. Its owners believed that the bell had been in the possession of the iwi (tribe) for several generations. Colenso swapped an iron pot for the bell. After his death he bequeathed the bell to the Colonial Museum, forbear to Te Papa Tongarewa.

The bell produced a lot of interest when it was exhibited, and discussions and theories abounded about its origins. The bell was photographed and copies sent to England and various people in India. Tamils in Southern India immediately recognised the writing on the bell. The bell has been identified as a type of ship's bell. Some of the characters in the inscription are of an archaic form no longer seen in modern Tamil script; thus suggesting that the bell could be about 500 years old." 
-Museum of New Zealand