The Tamil Bell, a broken bronze bell discovered in approximately 1836 by Cornish Christian missionary William Colenso, had been used as a pot to boil potatoes by Māori women near Whangarei in the Northland Region of New Zealand.

The bell, thirteen centimeters long and nine centimeters deep, has an inscription running around the rim of the bell that has been identified as old Tamil.

Translated, it says "Muhayideen Baksh’s 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 five hundred years old, or possibly even earlier, from the Later Pandya period.

The discovery of the bell has led to speculation about a possible Tamil presence in New Zealand.

Seafarers from Trincomalee may have reached New Zealand during the period of increased trade between the Vanni country and South East Asia.

The bell might have been dropped off the shore by a Portuguese ship, whose sailors had been in touch with the Indians.

Also, a number of Indian vessels are captured by the Europeans during the period; thus, another possibility is that the bell might have belonged to a such a wrecked vessel, cast away on the New Zealand shores.