Carnatic region
Encyclopedia
The Carnatic coast is the region of South India
lying between the Eastern Ghats
and the Coromandel Coast
, in the modern India
n states of Tamil Nadu
, south eastern Karnataka
and southern Andhra Pradesh
.
There are several theories as to the derivation of the term. It may derive from the Sanskrit
language karņāţakam from karņa = "ear" + aţati = "he pleases" = "that which pleases the ear", thus "Karnāṭaka saṃgīta" = "Karnataka music".
According to Bishop Robert Caldwell
, in his Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages
, the term is derived from kar, black, and nadu, country, i.e. the black country, which refers to the black soil prevalent on the plateau of the Southern Deccan.
Hattangadi Narayan Rao suggests a derivation from karu, elevated, + nadu, land, "an elevated land", also descriptive of the region's geography.
The English spelling "Carnatic" seems to have been influenced by Latin
carnaticus = "pertaining to flesh
".
, in the Presidency of Madras. It is ultimately derived, according to Bishop Caldwell
(Grammar of the Dravidian Languages), from lear, "black", and nadu, "country", i.e. "the black country", a term very suitable to designate the black cotton soil, as it is called, of the plateau of the Southern Deccan. Properly the name is, in fact, applicable only to the country of the Kanarese extending between the Eastern and Western Ghats
, over an irregular area narrowing northwards, from Palghat in the south to Bidar
in the north, and including Mysore. The extension of the name to the country south of the Karnataka was probably due to the Muslim conquerors who in the 16th century overthrew the kingdom of Vijayanagar
, and who extended the name, which they found used of the country north of the Ghats to that south of them. After this period the plain country of the south came to be as called Karnataka Payanghat, or lowlands, as distinguished from Karnataka Balaghat, or highlands. The misapplication of the name Carnatic was carried by the British a step further than by the Mahommedans, it being confined by them to the country below the Ghats, Mysore not being included. Officially, however, this name is no longer applied, the Carnatic having become a mere geographical term. Administratively, the name Carnatic (or rather Karnataka) is now applied only to the Bombay portion of the original Karnataka, viz, the districts of Belgaum
, Dharwar and Bijapur, part of North Karnataka
, and the native states of the Southern Maharashtra agency and Kolhapur.
s as the Carnatic, though no longer a political or administrative division, is of great historical importance. It extended along the eastern coast about 600 kilometers in length, and from 50 to 100 kilometers in breadth. It was bounded on the north by the Guntur
circar, and thence it stretched southward to Cape Comorin. It was divided into the Southern, Central and Northern Carnatic. The region south of the river Coleroon, which passes the town of Trichinopoly, was called the Southern Carnatic. The principal towns of this division were Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madurai
, Tranquebar
, Negapatam and Tinnevelly. The Central Carnatic extended from the Coleroon river to the river Pennar; its chief towns being Madras, Pondicherry, Arcot, Vellore
, Cuddalore
, Pulicat
, Nellore
and a few other towns. The Northern Carnatic extended from the river Pennar to the northern limit of the country; and the chief town was Ongole. The Carnatic, as above defined, comprehended within its limits the maritime provinces of Nellore, Chingleput
, South Arcot
, Tanjore, Madura
and Tinnevelly, besides the inland districts of North Arcot
and Trichinopoly. The population of this region consists chiefly of Brahmanical Hindus, the Mahommedans being but thinly scattered over the country.
or Kerala
formed the three Tamil kingdoms of southern India. The Pandya kingdom
practically coincided in extent with the districts of Madura and Tinnevelly; that of the Cholas extended along the Coromandel coast
from Nellore to Pudukottai, being bounded on the north by the Pennar River (Penner River
) and on the south by the Southern Vellaru.
The government of the country was shared for centuries with these dynasties by numerous independent or semi-independent chiefs, evidence of whose perennial internecine conflicts is preserved in the multitudes of forts and fortresses, the deserted ruins of which crown almost all the elevated points. In spite, however, of this passion of the military classes for war, the Tamil civilization developed in the country was of a high type. This was largely due to the wealth of the country, famous in the earliest times as now for its pearl fisheries. Of this fishery Korkai (the Greek KhXxot), now a village on the Tambraparni River in Tinnevelly, but once the Pandya capital, was the centre long before the Christian era.
In Pliny
's day, owing to the silting up of the harbour, its glory had already decayed and the Pandya capital had been removed to Madura (Hist. Nat. vi. cap. XXiii. 26), famous later as a centre of Tamil literature. The Chola kingdom, which four centuries before Christ had been recognized as independent by the great Maurya king Asoka, had for its chief port Kaviripaddinam at the mouth of the Cauvery, every vestige of which is now buried in sand.
For the first two centuries after Christ, a large sea-borne trade was carried on between the Roman empire
and the Tamil kingdoms; but after Caracalla's massacre at Alexandria
in A.D. 215, this ceased, and with it all intercourse with Europe for centuries also. Henceforward, until the 9th century, the history of the country is illustrated only by occasional and broken lights.
The 4th century saw the rise of the Pallava
power I, which for some 400 years encroached on, without extinguishing the Tamil
kingdoms. When in A.D. 640 the Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang visited Kanchi (Conjevaram), the capital of the Pallava
king, he learned that the kingdom of Chola (Chu-li-ya) embraced but a small territory, wild, and inhabited by a scanty and fierce population; in the Pandya kingdom
(Malakuta), which was under Pallava suzerainty, literature was dead, Buddhism all but extinct, while Hinduism and the naked Jain saints divided the religious allegiance of the people, and the pearl fisheries continued to flourish.
The power of the Pallava kings was shaken by the victory of Vikramaditya Chalukya in AD 740, and shattered by Aditya Chola at the close of the 9th century. From this time onward, the inscriptional records are abundant. The Chola Dynasty
, which in the 9th century had been weak, now revived, its power culminating in the victories of Rajaraja the Great, who defeated the Chalukyas after a four years war, and, about AD 994, forced the Pandya kings to become his tributaries. A magnificent temple at Tanjore, once his capital, preserves the records of his victories engraved upon its walls. His career of conquest was continued by his son Rajendra Choladeva I, self-styled Gangaikonda owing to his victorious advance to the Ganges, who succeeded to the throne in AD 1018. The ruins of the new capital which he built, called Gangaikonda Cholapuram, still stand in a desolate region of the Trichinopoly district. His successors continued the eternal wars with the Chalukyas and other dynasties, and the Chola power continued in the ascendant until the death of Kulottunga Chola III in 1278, when a disputed succession caused its downfall and gave the Pandyas the opportunity of gaining for a few years the upper hand in the south.
In 1310, however, the Mahommedan invasion under Malik Kafur overwhelmed the Hindu states of southern India in a common ruin. Though crushed, however, they were not extinguished; a period of anarchy followed, the struggle between the Chola kings and the Mussulman
s issuing in the establishment at Kanchi of an usurping Hindu dynasty which ruled till the end of the 14th century, while in 1365 a branch of the Pandyas succeeded in re-establishing itself in part of the kingdom of Madura, where it survived till 1623.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the whole country had come under the rule of the kings of Vijayanagar; but in the anarchy that followed the overthrow of the Vijayanagar empire by the Mussulmans in the 16th century, the Hindu viceroys (nayakkas) established in Madura, Tanjore and Kanchi made themselves independent, only in their turn to become tributary to the kings of Golconda
and Bijapur, who divided the Carnatic between them.
, who in 1692 appointed Zulfikar Ali, Nawab of the Carnatic
, with his seat at Arcot. Meanwhile, the Mahratta power had begun to develop; in 1677 Sivaji
had suppressed the last remnants of the Vijayanagar power in Vellore
, Gingee
and Kurnool
, while his brother Venkoji, who in 1674 had overthrown the Nayaks of Tanjavur, established in that city a dynasty which lasted for a century. The collapse of the Delhi power after the death of Aurangzeb
produced further changes. The Nawab Saadet-Allah
of Arcot (1710–1732) established his independence; his successor Dost Ali (1732–1740) conquered and annexed Madura in 1736, and his successors were confirmed in their position as Nawabs of the Carnatic by the Nizam of Hyderabad after that potentate had established his power in southern India. After the death of Nawab Mahommed Anwar-ud-din
(1744–1749), the succession was disputed between Mahommed Ali
and Husein Dost. In this quarrel, the French and English, then competing for influence in the Carnatic, took opposite sides. The victory of the British established Mahommed Ali
in power over part of the Carnatic till his death in 1795. Meanwhile, however, the country had been exposed to other troubles. In 1741 Madura
, which the Nawab Dost Ali (1732–1740) had added to his dominions in 1736 after the demise of the Nayaks of Madurai, was conquered by the Mahrattas; and in 1743 Hyder Ali
of Mysore overran and ravaged the central Carnatic. The latter was re-conquered by the British, to whom Madura
had fallen in 1758; and, finally, in 1801 all the possessions of the Nawab of the Carnatic
were transferred to them by a treaty which stipulated that an annual revenue of several lakhs of pagodas should be reserved to the nawab, and that the British should undertake to support a sufficient civil and military force for the protection of the country and the collection of the revenue. On the death of the nawab in 1853, it was determined to put an end to the nominal sovereignty, a liberal establishment being provided for the family.
The southern Carnatic, when it came into the possession of the British, was occupied by military chieftains called Poligars, who ruled over the country. Under British rule their forts and military establishments were destroyed.
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
lying between the Eastern Ghats
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats or Eastern Ghauts are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the...
and the Coromandel Coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
, in the modern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n states of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, south eastern Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
and southern Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
.
There are several theories as to the derivation of the term. It may derive from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
language karņāţakam from karņa = "ear" + aţati = "he pleases" = "that which pleases the ear", thus "Karnāṭaka saṃgīta" = "Karnataka music".
According to Bishop Robert Caldwell
Robert Caldwell
Bishop Robert Caldwell was an Evangelist missionary and linguist, who academically established the Dravidian family of languages. He served as Assistant Bishop of Tirunelveli from 1877. He was described in The Hindu as a 'pioneering champion of the downtrodden' and an 'avant-garde social reformer'...
, in his Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
, the term is derived from kar, black, and nadu, country, i.e. the black country, which refers to the black soil prevalent on the plateau of the Southern Deccan.
Hattangadi Narayan Rao suggests a derivation from karu, elevated, + nadu, land, "an elevated land", also descriptive of the region's geography.
The English spelling "Carnatic" seems to have been influenced by Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
carnaticus = "pertaining to flesh
Flesh
In vertebrate animals, flesh is the colloquial for biological tissue which consists of skeletal muscles and fat as opposed to bones, viscera and integuments. Flesh may be used as food, in which case it is called meat....
".
Geographic location
The region is located in Southern India, between the Eastern Ghats and the Coromandel CoastCoromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
, in the Presidency of Madras. It is ultimately derived, according to Bishop Caldwell
Robert Caldwell
Bishop Robert Caldwell was an Evangelist missionary and linguist, who academically established the Dravidian family of languages. He served as Assistant Bishop of Tirunelveli from 1877. He was described in The Hindu as a 'pioneering champion of the downtrodden' and an 'avant-garde social reformer'...
(Grammar of the Dravidian Languages), from lear, "black", and nadu, "country", i.e. "the black country", a term very suitable to designate the black cotton soil, as it is called, of the plateau of the Southern Deccan. Properly the name is, in fact, applicable only to the country of the Kanarese extending between the Eastern and Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
, over an irregular area narrowing northwards, from Palghat in the south to Bidar
Bidar
Bidar is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the north-eastern part of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Bidar District....
in the north, and including Mysore. The extension of the name to the country south of the Karnataka was probably due to the Muslim conquerors who in the 16th century overthrew the kingdom of Vijayanagar
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire , referred as the Kingdom of Bisnaga by the Portuguese, was an empire based in South Indian in the Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of the Yadava lineage. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts...
, and who extended the name, which they found used of the country north of the Ghats to that south of them. After this period the plain country of the south came to be as called Karnataka Payanghat, or lowlands, as distinguished from Karnataka Balaghat, or highlands. The misapplication of the name Carnatic was carried by the British a step further than by the Mahommedans, it being confined by them to the country below the Ghats, Mysore not being included. Officially, however, this name is no longer applied, the Carnatic having become a mere geographical term. Administratively, the name Carnatic (or rather Karnataka) is now applied only to the Bombay portion of the original Karnataka, viz, the districts of Belgaum
Belgaum
Belgaum is a city and a municipal corporation in Belgaum district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the fourth largest city of the state of Karnataka, the first three being Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad....
, Dharwar and Bijapur, part of North Karnataka
North Karnataka
North Karnataka is an arid plateau from elevation in the Karnataka state of southwest India. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra...
, and the native states of the Southern Maharashtra agency and Kolhapur.
Sub-divisions of Carnatic
The region generally known to EuropeanEuropean ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
s as the Carnatic, though no longer a political or administrative division, is of great historical importance. It extended along the eastern coast about 600 kilometers in length, and from 50 to 100 kilometers in breadth. It was bounded on the north by the Guntur
Guntur
Guntur , is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north and west of the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately to the south of the national capital, New Delhi and south east of state capital, Hyderabad. Guntur is the fourth largest city in Andhra...
circar, and thence it stretched southward to Cape Comorin. It was divided into the Southern, Central and Northern Carnatic. The region south of the river Coleroon, which passes the town of Trichinopoly, was called the Southern Carnatic. The principal towns of this division were Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madurai
Madurai
Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, Tranquebar
Tranquebar
Tharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 15 km north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary of the Kaveri River. Its name means "place of the singing waves"...
, Negapatam and Tinnevelly. The Central Carnatic extended from the Coleroon river to the river Pennar; its chief towns being Madras, Pondicherry, Arcot, Vellore
Vellore
Vellore It is considered one of the oldest cities in South India and lies on the banks of the Palar river on the site of Vellore Fort. The city lies between Chennai and Bangalore and the Temple towns of Thiruvannamalai and Tirupati...
, Cuddalore
Cuddalore
Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...
, Pulicat
Pulicat
Pulicat is a historic seashore town in Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is about 60 km north of Chennai and 3 km from Elavur, on the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon...
, Nellore
Nellore
Nellore , is a city and headquarters of Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore District, formerly Nellore district.And in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Ancient name of Nellore was "Vikrama Simhapuri"....
and a few other towns. The Northern Carnatic extended from the river Pennar to the northern limit of the country; and the chief town was Ongole. The Carnatic, as above defined, comprehended within its limits the maritime provinces of Nellore, Chingleput
Chingleput
Chingleput or Chengalpattu or Chengalpet is a city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The name of the city is derived from the old nomenclature 'chenkazhuneer patru'...
, South Arcot
South Arcot
South Arcot is a former district of India, located in the state of Tamil Nadu.South Arcot was the southern portion of the Mughal province of Arcot. Arcot came under the control of a local Nawab after Mughals lost control southern India in the 18th century...
, Tanjore, Madura
Madura
Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.-History:...
and Tinnevelly, besides the inland districts of North Arcot
North Arcot
The Indian District of North Arcot was split on 30-09-1989 into Tiruvannamalai-Sambuvarayar and North Arcot Ambedkar .- History :...
and Trichinopoly. The population of this region consists chiefly of Brahmanical Hindus, the Mahommedans being but thinly scattered over the country.
Early history
At the earliest period of which any records exist, the country known as the Carnatic was divided between the Pandya and Chola kingdoms, which with that of Chera dynastyChera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
or Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
formed the three Tamil kingdoms of southern India. The Pandya kingdom
Pandya Kingdom
The Pandyas were fierce warriors who took part in the Kurukshetra War as per the epic Mahabharata. A Pandya king named Sarangadhwaja, is mentioned as participating in the Kurukshetra War, siding with the Pandavas. It is not clear if Pandyas were linked to the Pandavas of North India...
practically coincided in extent with the districts of Madura and Tinnevelly; that of the Cholas extended along the Coromandel coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
from Nellore to Pudukottai, being bounded on the north by the Pennar River (Penner River
Penner River
The Penner is a river of southern India. The Penner rises on the hill of Nandi Hills in Chikballapur District of Karnataka state, and runs north and east through the state of Andhra Pradesh to empty into the Bay of Bengal...
) and on the south by the Southern Vellaru.
The government of the country was shared for centuries with these dynasties by numerous independent or semi-independent chiefs, evidence of whose perennial internecine conflicts is preserved in the multitudes of forts and fortresses, the deserted ruins of which crown almost all the elevated points. In spite, however, of this passion of the military classes for war, the Tamil civilization developed in the country was of a high type. This was largely due to the wealth of the country, famous in the earliest times as now for its pearl fisheries. Of this fishery Korkai (the Greek KhXxot), now a village on the Tambraparni River in Tinnevelly, but once the Pandya capital, was the centre long before the Christian era.
In Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
's day, owing to the silting up of the harbour, its glory had already decayed and the Pandya capital had been removed to Madura (Hist. Nat. vi. cap. XXiii. 26), famous later as a centre of Tamil literature. The Chola kingdom, which four centuries before Christ had been recognized as independent by the great Maurya king Asoka, had for its chief port Kaviripaddinam at the mouth of the Cauvery, every vestige of which is now buried in sand.
For the first two centuries after Christ, a large sea-borne trade was carried on between the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and the Tamil kingdoms; but after Caracalla's massacre at Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
in A.D. 215, this ceased, and with it all intercourse with Europe for centuries also. Henceforward, until the 9th century, the history of the country is illustrated only by occasional and broken lights.
The 4th century saw the rise of the Pallava
Pallava
The Pallava dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which ruled the northern Tamil Nadu region and the southern Andhra Pradesh region with their capital at Kanchipuram...
power I, which for some 400 years encroached on, without extinguishing the Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
kingdoms. When in A.D. 640 the Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang visited Kanchi (Conjevaram), the capital of the Pallava
Pallava
The Pallava dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which ruled the northern Tamil Nadu region and the southern Andhra Pradesh region with their capital at Kanchipuram...
king, he learned that the kingdom of Chola (Chu-li-ya) embraced but a small territory, wild, and inhabited by a scanty and fierce population; in the Pandya kingdom
Pandya Kingdom
The Pandyas were fierce warriors who took part in the Kurukshetra War as per the epic Mahabharata. A Pandya king named Sarangadhwaja, is mentioned as participating in the Kurukshetra War, siding with the Pandavas. It is not clear if Pandyas were linked to the Pandavas of North India...
(Malakuta), which was under Pallava suzerainty, literature was dead, Buddhism all but extinct, while Hinduism and the naked Jain saints divided the religious allegiance of the people, and the pearl fisheries continued to flourish.
The power of the Pallava kings was shaken by the victory of Vikramaditya Chalukya in AD 740, and shattered by Aditya Chola at the close of the 9th century. From this time onward, the inscriptional records are abundant. The Chola Dynasty
Chola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
, which in the 9th century had been weak, now revived, its power culminating in the victories of Rajaraja the Great, who defeated the Chalukyas after a four years war, and, about AD 994, forced the Pandya kings to become his tributaries. A magnificent temple at Tanjore, once his capital, preserves the records of his victories engraved upon its walls. His career of conquest was continued by his son Rajendra Choladeva I, self-styled Gangaikonda owing to his victorious advance to the Ganges, who succeeded to the throne in AD 1018. The ruins of the new capital which he built, called Gangaikonda Cholapuram, still stand in a desolate region of the Trichinopoly district. His successors continued the eternal wars with the Chalukyas and other dynasties, and the Chola power continued in the ascendant until the death of Kulottunga Chola III in 1278, when a disputed succession caused its downfall and gave the Pandyas the opportunity of gaining for a few years the upper hand in the south.
In 1310, however, the Mahommedan invasion under Malik Kafur overwhelmed the Hindu states of southern India in a common ruin. Though crushed, however, they were not extinguished; a period of anarchy followed, the struggle between the Chola kings and the Mussulman
Mussulman
Mussulman, Musselman, Mussulmann, Musselmann, Musulman, Muselman, Musulmann, Muselmann, Musselmen may have one of the following meanings....
s issuing in the establishment at Kanchi of an usurping Hindu dynasty which ruled till the end of the 14th century, while in 1365 a branch of the Pandyas succeeded in re-establishing itself in part of the kingdom of Madura, where it survived till 1623.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the whole country had come under the rule of the kings of Vijayanagar; but in the anarchy that followed the overthrow of the Vijayanagar empire by the Mussulmans in the 16th century, the Hindu viceroys (nayakkas) established in Madura, Tanjore and Kanchi made themselves independent, only in their turn to become tributary to the kings of Golconda
Golconda
Golconda may be:Places:* Golkonda, ruined city and fortress in India* Golconda, Illinois, town in the United States* Golconda, Nevada, former town in the United StatesOther:* Golconda...
and Bijapur, who divided the Carnatic between them.
Muslim era
Towards the close of the 17th century, the country was reduced by the armies of AurangzebAurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
, who in 1692 appointed Zulfikar Ali, Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawabs of the Carnatic , ruled the Carnatic region of South India between about 1690 and 1801. They initially had their capital at Arcot,vellore city...
, with his seat at Arcot. Meanwhile, the Mahratta power had begun to develop; in 1677 Sivaji
Sivaji
The name Sivaji can be referred to:* Sivaji , an Indian film directed by S. Shankar* Sivaji , an Indian soundtrack album by A. R...
had suppressed the last remnants of the Vijayanagar power in Vellore
Vellore
Vellore It is considered one of the oldest cities in South India and lies on the banks of the Palar river on the site of Vellore Fort. The city lies between Chennai and Bangalore and the Temple towns of Thiruvannamalai and Tirupati...
, Gingee
Gingee
Gingee is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The nearest town with a railway station is Tindivanam, 28 km away....
and Kurnool
Kurnool
Kurnool is located at . It has an average elevation of 273 metres .Kurnool lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. The Handry and Neeva rivers also flow through the city. The K.C...
, while his brother Venkoji, who in 1674 had overthrown the Nayaks of Tanjavur, established in that city a dynasty which lasted for a century. The collapse of the Delhi power after the death of Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
produced further changes. The Nawab Saadet-Allah
Muhammed Saadatullah Khan I
Muhammed Saiyid was the Dewan to Daud Khan till 1710, when he was himself appointed as the Nawab of the Carnatic. Moved the capital from Gingee to Arcot....
of Arcot (1710–1732) established his independence; his successor Dost Ali (1732–1740) conquered and annexed Madura in 1736, and his successors were confirmed in their position as Nawabs of the Carnatic by the Nizam of Hyderabad after that potentate had established his power in southern India. After the death of Nawab Mahommed Anwar-ud-din
Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan
Muhammad Anwaruddin was the 1st Nawab of Arcot of the second Dynasty. He was a major figure during the Second Carnatic War.He was a direct descendant of Hazarath Omar, the Second Caliph of Islam . Nawab Anwaruddin Khan was born at Gopamau, a place in Hardoi District, United Provinces, India in...
(1744–1749), the succession was disputed between Mahommed Ali
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was a niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia, sometime Naib suba...
and Husein Dost. In this quarrel, the French and English, then competing for influence in the Carnatic, took opposite sides. The victory of the British established Mahommed Ali
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was the Nawab of Arcot in India and an ally of the British East India Company. Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah was born to Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan, by his second wife, Fakhr un-nisa Begum Sahiba, was a niece of Sayyid Ali Khan Safavi ul-Mosawi of Persia, sometime Naib suba...
in power over part of the Carnatic till his death in 1795. Meanwhile, however, the country had been exposed to other troubles. In 1741 Madura
Madura
Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.-History:...
, which the Nawab Dost Ali (1732–1740) had added to his dominions in 1736 after the demise of the Nayaks of Madurai, was conquered by the Mahrattas; and in 1743 Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...
of Mysore overran and ravaged the central Carnatic. The latter was re-conquered by the British, to whom Madura
Madura
Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.-History:...
had fallen in 1758; and, finally, in 1801 all the possessions of the Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawab of the Carnatic
Nawabs of the Carnatic , ruled the Carnatic region of South India between about 1690 and 1801. They initially had their capital at Arcot,vellore city...
were transferred to them by a treaty which stipulated that an annual revenue of several lakhs of pagodas should be reserved to the nawab, and that the British should undertake to support a sufficient civil and military force for the protection of the country and the collection of the revenue. On the death of the nawab in 1853, it was determined to put an end to the nominal sovereignty, a liberal establishment being provided for the family.
The southern Carnatic, when it came into the possession of the British, was occupied by military chieftains called Poligars, who ruled over the country. Under British rule their forts and military establishments were destroyed.