Pandyan Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The Pandyan dynasty was an ancient Tamil
dynasty
. The Pandyas were one of the four Tamil dynasties
(the other three being Chola
, Chera
and Pallava), which ruled South India until the 15th century CE. They initially ruled their country Pandya Nadu from Korkai
, a seaport on the Southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai
. Pandyan was well known since the ancient period, with contacts, even diplomatic, reaching the Roman Empire
; during the 13th century AD, Marco Polo
mentioned it as the richest empire in existence. The Pandyan empire was home to temples including Meenakshi Amman Temple
in Madurai
, and Nellaiappar Temple
built on the bank of the river Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli
. The Pandya kings were called either Jatavarman or Maravarman Pandyan. From being Jains in their early ages, they became Shaivaits after some centuries of rule.
The Pandyas of Southern India are believed to have been founded at least five to six centuries before the Christian Era with a very strong possibility of a more ancient date of establishment. Their recorded existence and mention are found in records dating to as early as 550 BCE. Emperor Augustus of Rome
at Antioch
knew of the Pandyan of Dramira and received a Pandyan ambassador with letters and gifts from this ancient Tamil
Kingdom. Strabo described an ambassador to emperor Augustus Caesar from a South Indian King called Pandyan. The country of the Pandyas, Pandi Mandala, was described as Pandyan Mediterranea by Periplus and Modura Regia Pandyan by Ptolemy.
The early Pandyan Dynasty of the Sangam Literature faded into obscurity upon the invasion of the Kalabhras
. The dynasty revived under Kadungon
in the early 6th century, pushed the Kalabhras out of the Tamil country and ruled from Madurai. They again went into decline with the rise of the Cholas in the 9th century and were in constant conflict with them. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they found an opportunity for reviving their fortunes during the late 13th century.
The Later Pandyas (1150–1350) entered their golden age under Maravman Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
(c. 1251), who expanded the empire into Telugu country, conquered Kalinga
(Orissa) and invaded and conquered Sri Lanka
. They also had extensive trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya
and their successors. During their history, the Pandyas were repeatedly in conflict with the Pallava
s, Cholas, Hoysalas and finally the Muslim invaders from the Delhi Sultanate
. The Pandyan Kingdom finally became extinct after the establishment of the Madurai Sultanate
in the 16th century.
The Pandyas excelled in both trade and literature before the Christian Era. They controlled the pearl
fisheries along the South Indian coast, between Sri Lanka and India, which produced some of the finest pearls in the known ancient world. Tradition holds that the legendary Sangams were held in Madurai
under their patronage, and that some of the Pandya Kings were poets themselves.
"Although knowing that the shafts(arrows) of the high souled son of Drona employed in shooting were really inexhaustible, yet Pandya, that bull among men, cut them all into pieces"
Malayadwaja Pandya and his queen Kanchanamala had one daughter Thathagai alias Meenakshi who succeeded her father and reigned the kingdom successfully. The Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple was built after her. The city of Madurai was built around this temple.
Another theory suggests that in Sangam Tamil lexicon the word Pandya means old country in contrast with Chola meaning new country, Chera
meaning hill country and Pallava
meaning branch in Sanskrit
. The Chera
, Chola and Pandya are the traditional Tamil
siblings and together with the Pallavas are the major Kings
that ruled ancient Tamilakkam
.
Historians have used several sources to identify the origins of the early Pandyan dynasty with the pre-Christian Era and also to piece together the names of the Pandyan kings. Pandyas were the longest ruling dynasty of Indian history. Unfortunately, the exact genealogy of these kings has not been authoritatively established yet.
Various Pandya kings find mention in a number of poems in the Sangam Literature. Among them Nedunjeliyan, 'the victor of Talaiyalanganam', and Mudukudimi Peruvaludi 'of several sacrifices' deserve special mention. Beside several short poems found in the Akananuru
and the Purananuru
collections, there are two major works — Mathuraikkanci
and the Netunalvatai
(in the collection of Pattupattu
) — which give a glimpse into the society and commercial activities in the Pandyan kingdom during the Sangam age.
It is difficult to estimate the exact dates of these Sangam age Pandyas. The period covered by the extant literature of the Sangam is unfortunately not easy to determine with any measure of certainty. Except the longer epics Silapathikaram and Manimekalai
, which by common consent belong to an age later than the Sangam age, the poems have reached us in the forms of systematic anthologies. Each individual poem has generally attached to it a colophon on the authorship and subject matter of the poem. The name of the king or chieftain to whom the poem relates and the occasion which called forth the eulogy are also found.
It is from these colophons, and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, that we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets and poetesses patronized by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in which the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another has not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced these colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents.
Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology from these poems should take into consideration the casual nature of these poems and the wide differences between the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian’s attempts to arrive at a continuous history.
Pandyas are also mentioned by Greek Megesthenes where he writes about southern kingdom being ruled by women.Huien tsang also mentions about it citing his Buddhist friend at Kanchi and callas it Malakutta or Malakotta but the capital city is not mentioned.
Pandyas are also mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka
(inscribed 273 – 232 BCE). In his inscriptions Asoka refers to the peoples of south India — the Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and Satiyaputras — as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism. These kingdoms, although not part of the Mauryan Empire, were on friendly terms with Asoka:
Kharavela
, the Kalinga
king who ruled during the 2nd century BCE, in his Hathigumpha inscription
, claims to have destroyed a confederacy of Tamil states (‘’Tamiradesasanghatam’’) which had lasted 132 years, and to have acquired a large quantity of pearls from the Pandyas.
– a historical poem written in the Pali
language, of the kings of Sri Lanka – King Vijaya (543 – 505 BCE) married a Pandyan Princess. Along with Vijaya, all the men in his crew got married to Madurai
girls and arrived Srilanka with a great celebration.
Megasthenes
knew of the Pandyan kingdom around 300 BCE. He described it in Indika as occupying the portion of India which lies southward and extends to the sea. According to his account, it had 365 villages, each of which was expected to meet the needs of the royal household for one day in the year. He described the Pandyan queen at the time, Pandaia as a daughter of Heracles
.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
(c. 60 – 100 CE) describes the riches of a 'Pandian Kingdom':
The Chinese historian Yu Huan
in his 3rd century text, the Weilüe, mentions The Kingdom of Panyue:
The Roman emperor
Julian
received an embassy from a Pandya about 361. A Roman trading centre was located on the Pandyan coast at the mouth of the Vaigai river, southeast of Madurai).
Pandyas also had trade contacts with Ptolemaic Egypt
and, through Egypt, with Rome
by the first century, and with China
by the 3rd century. The 1st century Greek
historian Nicolaus of Damascus
met, at Damascus
, the ambassador
sent by a king from Dramira "named Pandyan or, according to others, Porus" to Caesar Augustus around 13 CE (Strabo XV.1–4, and Strabo XV.1–73).
According to Xuanzang
, the Pandya country was a depot for sea pearls, its people were harsh and of different religions. They were very good at trade.
In the later part of the 13th century Venetian traveler Marco Polo
visited the Pandyan kingdom and left a vivid description of the land and its people. Polo exclaimed that:
"The darkest man is here the most highly esteemed and considered better than the others who are not so dark. Let me add that in very truth these people portray and depict their gods and their idols black and their devils white as snow. For they say that God and all the saints are black and the devils are all white. That is why they portray them as I have described."
, which was believed to have been located to the South of the present-day Kanyakumari
tens of thousands of years ago, between the then Kumari and Pahruli rivers. Pandyan kings such as Chenkon, and the Cheras supposedly ruled this country, tens of thousands of years ago. They fought and defeated the Nagas
, who might have been a Dravidian people. Kalittokai again mentions a war between the combined forces of Villavars (Cheras) and the Meenavars (Pandyas), and the Nagas, their arch-enemies, but eventually losing the war, and subsequently Central India to the Nagas. Bhil Meena
of North India could be the equivalent rulers in North India
.
Also, the Pandyas, along with the Cheras
and the Cholas, find mention as one of the three ruling dynasties of the Southern region of the then Bharatavarsha in the very ancient (Hindu) epic of the Ramayana
. They are also mentioned in the Aitareya Aranyaka, and the Mahabharata
, where they are (along with the Cheras and the Cholas) believed to have been on the side of the Pandavas in the Great War.
Although there are many instances of the Pandyan Empire being referred to in surviving ancient Hindu
texts including the Mahabharata
, we currently have no way of determining a cogent genealogy of these ancient kings. In order to maintain verifiability of this article, the names of these early Pandya Kings have been omitted. We have a connected history of the Pandyas from the fall of Kalabhras during the middle of the 6th century. Kalittokai mentions that many Tamil Naga tribes such as Maravar, Eyinar, Oliar, Oviar, Aruvalur and Paravar migrated to the Pandyan kingdom and started living there in the Third Tamil
Sangam period 2000 years ago. The Pandyan kings had the title Maran. In Pandyan government, many Pandyan princes ruled the Pandyan imperial kingdom in the middle part of the 13th Century, adhering to a common practice of shared rule involving Pandyan Princes and the main King asserting primacy in the Pandyan Kingdom as Lord Emperor with the title Ellarkku Nayanar - "Lord of All".
After the defeat of the Kalabhras, the Pandya kingdom grew steadily in power and territory. With the Cholas in obscurity, the Tamil country
was divided between the Pallavas and the Pandyas, the river Kaveri being the frontier between them.
After Vijayalaya Chola
conquered Thanjavur by defeating the Muttarayar chieftains who were part of Pandya family tree around 850, the Pandyas went into a period of decline. They were constantly harassing their Chola overlords by occupying their territories. Parantaka I
invaded the Pandya territories and defeated Rajasimha III. However, the Pandyas did not wholly submit to the Cholas despite loss of power, territory and prestige. They tried to forge various alliances with the Cheras and the Kings of Lanka and tried to engage the Cholas in war in order to free themselves from Chola supremacy. But right from the times of Parantaka I
to the early 12th century up to the times of Kulottunga Chola I the Pandyas could not overpower the Cholas who right from AD 880–1210 remained the most powerful empire spread over South India, Deccan and the Eastern and Western Coast of India during this period.
. Chola armies led by Aditya Karikala, son of Parantaka Chola II defeated Vira Pandya in battle. The Pandyas were assisted by the Sinhalese forces of Mahinda IV. Pandyas were driven out of their territories and had to seek refuge on the island of Sri Lanka. This was the start of the long exile of the Pandyas. They were replaced by a series of Chola viceroys with the title Chola Pandyas who ruled from Madurai from c. 1020.
The following list gives the names of the Pandya kings who were active during the 10th century and the first half of 11th century. It is difficult to give their dates of accession and the duration of their rule. Nevertheless, their presence in the southern country requires recognition.
in the middle of the 13th century. The foundation for such a great empire was laid by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan early in the 13th century.
river to the northern half of Sri Lanka, which was invaded by Sundara Pandyan I in 1258 and on his behalf by his leuitenant Jatavarman Vira Pandyan I
from 1262-1264.
The revival of the Pandyan dynasty was to coincide with the gradual but steady decline of the Chola empire. The last two or three Chola kings who followed Kulothunga III were either very weak or incompetent. The Cholas of course did not lack valour but had been unable to stop the revival of the Pandyan empire from the times of Maravaramban Sundara Pandyan, the revival of the Kadava Pallavas at Kanchi under Kopperinchunga I and indeed the growing power and status of the Telugu Cholas, the Renanti and the Irungola Cholas of the Telugu country; for the last three-named had been very trusted allies of the Cholas up to Kulothunga III, having helped him in conquering Kalinga
. The marital alliance of Kulothunga III and one of his successors, Raja Raja III, with the Hoysalas did not yield any advantage, though (initially, at least) Kulothunga III took the help of the Hoysalas in countering the Pandiyan resurgence. Kulothunga III had even conquered Karur, the Cheras
in addition to Madurai, Ilam and Kalinga. However, his strength rested on support from Hoysalas, whose king Veera Ballala II was his son-in-law. However, Veera Ballala II himself had lost quite a bit of his territories between 1208–1212 to his local adversaries in Kannada country, like the Kalachuris, Seunas etc.
The resurgent Pandiyans under Maravarman Sundara Pandyan went to war against Kulothunga and first at Kandai and then near Manaparai on the outskirts of modern Tiruchirappalli, the Pandiyans routed the Chola army and entered Tiruchy, Srirangam and Thanjavur victorious in war. But it appears that in the Tiruchy and Srirangam areas, there was renewed control of the Cholas, presumably with the help of the Hoysalas under Vira Someswara with the Hoysalas later shifting their allegiance to the Pandyans either during the last years of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan or the early years of his successor Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan.
Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan was a very brave, ambitious warrior king, who wanted to completely subjugate the Cholas. He initially tolerated the presence of the Hoysalas under Vira Someshwara with his son Visvanatha or Ramanatha ruling from Kuppam near Samayapuram on the outskirts of Srirangam. This was because other feudatories of the Hoysalas were also growing in power and threatening the Hoysala kingdom itself. Besides, the Delhi Sultanate invasion of the Deccan had started under Malik Kafur. The challenged Hoysalas did have a foothold in and around Tiruchy and Srirangam for a few years and seemed to have indulged in some temple building activity at Srirangam also. But Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan, who subdued Rajendra Chola III in around 1258–1260 AD was an equal antagonist of the Hoysalas whose presence he absolutely disliked in the Tamil country. He first vanquished the Kadava Pallavas under Kopperinchungan-II, who had challenged the Hoysala army stationed in and around Kanchi and killed a few of their commanders.
Though Rajendra III suffered another defeat at the hands of Vira Someshwara, because of the growing power of Pandiyans being felt by both Cholas and Hoysalas, there was a political affinity between the two which was cemented also by marital relations. At the time the Pandiyans and the Kadava Pallavas,with an earlier Chola, Raja Raja III, having been held in captivity by Kopperinchunga II and his release being secured by the Hoysalas. Ultimately, the Kadava Pallavas, Hoysalas and also the Telugu Choda Timma who invaded Kanchi were all one by one vanquished by Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan with the Cholas finally becoming extinct after defeat of Hoysala Ramanatha as well as his ally Rajendra iii around 1279 by Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandiyan.
Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan seized the opportunity with the Hoysalas being in Tiruchy and not having any ally, the rapidly weakening Cholas seeking alliance with the Kadava Pallavas who were themselves being threatened by the Telugu Cholas. In 1254 (or 1260) Jatavarman first dragged the Hoysalas into war by routing his son Ramanatha out of Tiruchy. Vira Someshwara Hoysala, who had given the control of the empire to his sons, had to come out of his slumber and tried to challenge Jatavarman. Between Samayapuram and Tiruchy, the armies of Vira Someshwara were routed with Vira Someshwara losing his life in this battle. This ended the presence of the Hoysalas in Tamil country. Jatavarman did not stop there: he went inside Kannada country after conquering Tiruchy and occupied parts of Hoysala territory up to the Konkana coast and established his son Vira Pandiyan as ruler of those territories. Temporarily, at least, the Hoysalas were in disarray in Kannada country itself.
Next the Pandiyan prince Jatavarman concentrated on completely wiping out the Chola empire. Rajadhiraja III had interfered in an earlier Pandiyan war of succession and defeated a confederation of Pandiyan princes. The predecessors of Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan had suffered at the time of the Chola invasion and he wanted to take revenge. This was his opportunity. Rajendra III had been counting on Hoysala assistance in case he was challenged by the Pandiyans, keeping in mind the earlier marital alliance of the Cholas with the Hoysalas. Unfortunately for Rajendra III, the Hoysalas had lost any claim to regional power in Kannada and the Tamil countries, as they had been wiped out of Tamizhagam and indeed lost territories inside Kannada country itself to Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan. Initially, Jatavarman consodlidated the Pandiyan hold on Tiruchy and Srirangam and marched towards Tanjore and Kumbakonam. The Chola capital of Gangaikondacholapuram, too, was not far from reach. During the years 1270–1276 it appeared that Rajendra III ruled mainly in and around Gangaikondacholapuram and Tanjore. Tiruchy and Srirangam had been lost to the Cholas forever, at least from 1254 AD. Though Rajendra III had been opposed to the Hoysalas due to their alliance with the Pandiyans, with new hostilities emerging between Hoysalas and the Pandiyans, Rajendra III had hoped for renewed friendship and military alliance with the Hoysalas.
When challenged by Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan, the brave but tactically naive Rajendra III marched against the Pandiyans between Tanjore and Tiruchy, hoping for assistance and participation in war from the Hoysalas. However, the already vanquished Hoysalas were in a defensive position. They did not want to go to war and risk yet another defeat by the resurgent Pandiyans. Rajendra III, hopelessly isolated, was thoroughly routed and humiliated in this war, which is variously dated as between 1268–1270. The known rule of Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan is of course, up to 1268 only. Probably Rajendra III fled the battlefield and had continued in obscurity up to 1279 but without any of the erstwhile Chola territories. By 1280 AD, the Chola empire was no more.
On the death of Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I in 1308, a conflict stemming from succession disputes arose amongst his sons. Sundara Pandyan and Vira Pandyan fought each other for the throne. Sundara Pandyan however with the help of his loyal generals and Veera Ballala III
was successful in suppressing Vira Pandyan into a petty army chief with just 500 soldiers who was indeed supported for the throne by his father Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I and the people of madurai. Since then an uneasy truce existed between the two brothers. The Kingdom now under Sundara Pandyan revived its infrastructure and military strength to gain autonomy and drive out Hoysala Empire
from its political affairs.
of Khilji dynasty
sent his general Malik Kafur
on an expedition to the kingdoms of the south which led to the capture of Warangal
, the overthrow of the Hoysala Empire
south of the Krishna River, and the occupation of Madurai
in the extreme south. Malik Khafur was not seeking to expand the borders of the Delhi Sultanate; he was engaging in a military treasure-hunt on the Sultan's behalf. Malik's victory over Veera Ballala III and loot of Hindu temples at Halebidu
sent alarming bells to the Pandyan Kingdom. Malik Kafur on the other hand, heard about the raised strength of the Pandyan army and its defensive position within the walls of Madurai was reluctant in carrying out his expedition further south. It was Alauddin Khilji himself ordered and sent reinforcements to Malik Kafur to attack Madurai after hearing the richness of it via Veera Virupaksha Ballala who was sent to Delhi as an act of peace by his defeated father Veera Ballala III.
Being a strong Saivite, Sundara Pandyan was enraged by the destruction of the Hindu temples by the Muslim armies. He assembled his army and planned to march them at once to face the invading armies of the Delhi Sultanate. This idea was however opposed by Vira Pandyan who felt that taking a defensive position might be more advantageous. Sundara Pandyan ignored his words and ordered his army to march leaving Vira Pandyan to safeguard Madurai with his men. The Pandyan army managed to march well intact till Melaithirukattupalli. But their reliance on the river Kaveri as the water source turned disastrous as the river ran dry during the hot summer of 1311. The already exhausted Pandyan army planned to march west in search of nearby water source. Their speed was drastically reduced due to the general's decision of marching on the dried beds of River Kaveri. Malik Kafur's forces on the other hand tactically planned on their ration and water supplies, met Sundara Pandyan much before Thiruchirapalli. The physically exhausted Pandyan infantry
easily fell prey for the Sultanate's army. However, the Pandyan cavalry
revived its attack on the Delhi Sultanate cavalry. But, the cavalier
s were well armed with turcopoles and chain mail
armors while Pandyan horsemen were inferiorly armored and heavily relied on heavy swords. Tactical strikes by Malik Kafur's crossbow
men over the Pandya cavalry, followed by the Delhi Sultanate infantry's attack blocked any possible retreat for the Sundara Pandyan's army. The generals of Kafur's army took Sundara Pandyan as captive and beheaded all the others captured. Few Pandyan cavaliers managed to escape to Madurai to report their defeat to Vira Pandya. The victorious Sultanate went on plundering the temples of Thiruchirapalli and Srirangam
.
The walled city of Madurai was now left only with the Vira Pandyan's men. Their sole aim was to safeguard Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. Understanding the fact that they were largely outnumbered, the defenders' only hope is to delay their enemies long enough for them to negotiate. Kafur's siege on Madurai continued for weeks, however, it turned futile as his army lacked any Ballista
s or Trebuchet
s and relied on Battering Ram
s of inferior quality. On the other hand, continuous archery attack by Pandyan soldiers and surprise cavalry attacks on the Delhi Sultanate infantry during night times tremendously increased the casualties on Kafur's side. Malik Kafur lost about half of his army, and then managed to breach the wall after weeks of siege. Vira Pandyan and his soldiers still managed to hold the line, thus making Malik Kafur to finally come down for negotiation.
Malik Kafur offered the following terms to Vira Pandyan:
1. Hand over all the treasures belonging to the Meenakshi Temple and Madurai Treasury which included 96,000 gold coins and precious stones
2. Half of the rice rationed inside the walls of Madurai
3. All the elephants and horses available with Pandyas .
In return, Vira Pandyan was promised the release of his brother, Sundara Pandyan and safety of the deities in the inner sanctum of the Meenakshi Temple.
Following this there were two other expeditions from the Khilji Sultanate in 1314 CE led by Khusro Khan
(later Sultan Nasir-ud-din) and in 1323 CE by Ulugh Khan (later Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq
) under Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
. No inscriptions about Pandyas are known since then. Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din Ahsan was appointed Governor of the newly created southern-most Ma'bar province of the Delhi sultanate by Muhammad bin Tughluq
. In 1333 CE, Sayyid declared his independence and created Madurai Sultanate
which was replaced by Nayak governors in 1378. Nayak governors were appointed to rule Madurai. These Nayaks continued to govern Madurai until the arrival of British forces.
reported about the pearl fisheries of the Pandyas, indicating that the Pandyas derived great wealth from the pearl trade.
, Jainism gained a foothold in the Pandyan kingdom. With the advent of Bhakti movements, Saivism and Vaishnavism resurfaced. The latter-day Pandyas after 600 AD were Hindus who claimed to descend from Lord Shiva
and Goddess Parvati
. Pandyan Nedumchadayan was a staunch Vaishnavite.
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,...
dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
. The Pandyas were one of the four Tamil dynasties
History of Tamil Nadu
The region of Tamil Nadu in modern India has been under continuous human habitation since prehistoric times, and the history of Tamil Nadu and the civilization of the Tamil people are among the oldest in the world. Throughout its history, spanning the early Paleolithic age to modern times, this...
(the other three being Chola
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...
, Chera
Chera 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...
and Pallava), which ruled South India until the 15th century CE. They initially ruled their country Pandya Nadu from Korkai
Korkai
Korkai is a small village in the Srivaikuntam taluk of Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated about 3 km north of the Thamirabarani River and about 6 km from the shore of Bay of Bengal. Korkai was the capital, principal center of trade and important port of the Early Pandyan...
, a seaport on the Southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, and in later times moved to 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...
. Pandyan was well known since the ancient period, with contacts, even diplomatic, reaching 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....
; during the 13th century AD, Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
mentioned it as the richest empire in existence. The Pandyan empire was home to temples including Meenakshi Amman Temple
Meenakshi Amman Temple
Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple or Tiru-alavai is a historic Hindu temple located in the south side of river Vaigai in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India...
in 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...
, and Nellaiappar Temple
Nellaiappar Temple
Nellaiappar Temple is one of the famous Shiva Temples situated at the heart of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.-History:...
built on the bank of the river Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...
. The Pandya kings were called either Jatavarman or Maravarman Pandyan. From being Jains in their early ages, they became Shaivaits after some centuries of rule.
The Pandyas of Southern India are believed to have been founded at least five to six centuries before the Christian Era with a very strong possibility of a more ancient date of establishment. Their recorded existence and mention are found in records dating to as early as 550 BCE. Emperor Augustus of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
at Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
knew of the Pandyan of Dramira and received a Pandyan ambassador with letters and gifts from this ancient 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,...
Kingdom. Strabo described an ambassador to emperor Augustus Caesar from a South Indian King called Pandyan. The country of the Pandyas, Pandi Mandala, was described as Pandyan Mediterranea by Periplus and Modura Regia Pandyan by Ptolemy.
The early Pandyan Dynasty of the Sangam Literature faded into obscurity upon the invasion of the Kalabhras
Kalabhras
The Kalabhras dynasty ruled over the entire Ancient Tamil country between the 3rd and the 6th century in an era of South Indian history called the Kalabhra interregnum. The Kalabhras displaced the kingdoms of the early Cholas, early Pandayan and Chera dynasties. Information about its origin and...
. The dynasty revived under Kadungon
Kadungon
Kadungon was a Pandya king who revived the Pandya rule in South India in the 7th century CE. Along with the Pallava king Simhavishnu, he is credited with ending the Kalabhra rule, marking the beginning of a new era in the Tamil speaking region. Most historians, including R. C...
in the early 6th century, pushed the Kalabhras out of the Tamil country and ruled from Madurai. They again went into decline with the rise of the Cholas in the 9th century and were in constant conflict with them. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they found an opportunity for reviving their fortunes during the late 13th century.
The Later Pandyas (1150–1350) entered their golden age under Maravman Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan...
(c. 1251), who expanded the empire into Telugu country, conquered Kalinga
Kalinga (India)
Kalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...
(Orissa) and invaded and conquered Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. They also had extensive trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya
Srivijaya
Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
and their successors. During their history, the Pandyas were repeatedly in conflict with 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...
s, Cholas, Hoysalas and finally the Muslim invaders from the Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
. The Pandyan Kingdom finally became extinct after the establishment of the Madurai Sultanate
Madurai Sultanate
The Madurai Sultanate or the Ma'bar Sultanate was a short lived independent Muslim kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India during the 14th century CE. It lasted from 1335 until 1378...
in the 16th century.
The Pandyas excelled in both trade and literature before the Christian Era. They controlled the pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
fisheries along the South Indian coast, between Sri Lanka and India, which produced some of the finest pearls in the known ancient world. Tradition holds that the legendary Sangams were held in 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...
under their patronage, and that some of the Pandya Kings were poets themselves.
Etymology
The word Pandya is derived from the Tamil word "Pandi" meaning bull. Ancient Tamils, considered the bull as a sign of masculinity and valor. Pandya became the epithet of the first Pandyan king of Madurai, Kulasekharan Pandya as he was built like a bull. It was used as an epitome of masculinity. His son, the second king of Madurai, the legendary Malayadwaja Pandya who sided with the Pandavas and took part in the Kurukshetra is described as follows in Karna Parva(verse 20.25):"Although knowing that the shafts(arrows) of the high souled son of Drona employed in shooting were really inexhaustible, yet Pandya, that bull among men, cut them all into pieces"
Malayadwaja Pandya and his queen Kanchanamala had one daughter Thathagai alias Meenakshi who succeeded her father and reigned the kingdom successfully. The Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple was built after her. The city of Madurai was built around this temple.
Another theory suggests that in Sangam Tamil lexicon the word Pandya means old country in contrast with Chola meaning new country, Chera
Chera 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...
meaning hill country and 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...
meaning branch in 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...
. The Chera
Chera 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...
, Chola and Pandya are the traditional 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,...
siblings and together with the Pallavas are the major Kings
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
that ruled ancient Tamilakkam
Ancient Tamil country
The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...
.
Historians have used several sources to identify the origins of the early Pandyan dynasty with the pre-Christian Era and also to piece together the names of the Pandyan kings. Pandyas were the longest ruling dynasty of Indian history. Unfortunately, the exact genealogy of these kings has not been authoritatively established yet.
Sangam Literature
Akananuru
Akananuru , a classical Tamil poetic work, is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. It contains 400 Akam poems dealing with matters of love and separation...
and the Purananuru
Purananuru
Purananuru is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 200 BCE – 100 CE. Purananuru is part of the Ettuthokai anthology which is the oldest available collection of poems of Sangam literature in Tamil....
collections, there are two major works — Mathuraikkanci
Mathuraikkanci
Mathuraikkanci, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Mathuraikkanci contains 583 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter...
and the Netunalvatai
Netunalvatai
Netunalvatai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. "Netunalvatai" is part of the Pattupattu collection, which is the oldest available collection of long poems in Tamil literature....
(in the collection of Pattupattu
Pattupattu
PathuPattu – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mid length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 300 BCE and 200 CE...
) — which give a glimpse into the society and commercial activities in the Pandyan kingdom during the Sangam age.
It is difficult to estimate the exact dates of these Sangam age Pandyas. The period covered by the extant literature of the Sangam is unfortunately not easy to determine with any measure of certainty. Except the longer epics Silapathikaram and Manimekalai
Manimekalai
Manimekalai or Maṇimekalai , written by the Tamil Buddhist poet Seethalai Saathanar is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature. It is considered to be one of the five great epics of Tamil literature. Manimekalai is a poem in 30 cantos...
, which by common consent belong to an age later than the Sangam age, the poems have reached us in the forms of systematic anthologies. Each individual poem has generally attached to it a colophon on the authorship and subject matter of the poem. The name of the king or chieftain to whom the poem relates and the occasion which called forth the eulogy are also found.
It is from these colophons, and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, that we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets and poetesses patronized by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in which the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another has not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced these colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents.
Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology from these poems should take into consideration the casual nature of these poems and the wide differences between the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian’s attempts to arrive at a continuous history.
Pandyas are also mentioned by Greek Megesthenes where he writes about southern kingdom being ruled by women.Huien tsang also mentions about it citing his Buddhist friend at Kanchi and callas it Malakutta or Malakotta but the capital city is not mentioned.
Epigraphy
The earliest Pandya to be found in epigraph is Nedunjeliyan, figuring in the Minakshipuram record assigned from the second to the 1st centuries BCE. The record documents a gift of rock-cut beds, to a Jain ascetic. Punch marked coins in the Pandya country dating from around the same time have also been found.Pandyas are also mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka
Pillars of Ashoka
The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the northern Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BCE. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen survive with inscriptions. Many are...
(inscribed 273 – 232 BCE). In his inscriptions Asoka refers to the peoples of south India — the Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and Satiyaputras — as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism. These kingdoms, although not part of the Mauryan Empire, were on friendly terms with Asoka:
- "The conquest by DharmaDharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanaYojanaA Yojana is a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient India. The exact measurement is disputed amongst scholars with distances being given between 6 to 15 kilometers ....
s (5,400–9,600 km) away, where the Greek king AntiochosAntiochus II TheosAntiochus II Theos was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom who reigned 261 BC – 246 BC). He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC...
rules, beyond there where the four kings named PtolemyPtolemy II PhiladelphusPtolemy II Philadelphus was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BCE to 246 BCE. He was the son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice, and was educated by Philitas of Cos...
, AntigonosAntigonus II GonatasAntigonus II Gonatas was a powerful ruler who firmly established the Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia and acquired fame for his victory over the Gauls who had invaded the Balkans.-Birth and family:...
, MagasMagas of CyreneMagas of Cyrene was a Greek Macedonian nobleman. Through his mother’s second marriage he was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He became King of Cyrenaica and he managed to wrestle independence for Cyrenaica from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt.-Family Background & Early Life:Magas...
and AlexanderAlexander II of EpirusAlexander II was a king of Epirus, and the son of Pyrrhus and Lanassa, the daughter of the Sicilian tyrant Agathocles.-Reign:He succeeded his father as king in 272 BC, and continued the war which his father had begun with Antigonus II Gonatas, whom he succeeded in driving from the kingdom of Macedon...
rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as TamraparniTamraparniTamraparni or Tambapanni is an old name of Sri Lanka. Tamraparniya is a name given to the Theravada school lineage in Sri Lanka...
(Sri Lanka)."
Kharavela
Kharavela
Khārabēḷa was the third and greatest emperor of the Mahāmēghabāhana Dynasty of Kaḷinga . The main source of information about Khārabeḷa is his famous seventeen line rock-cut Hātigumphā inscription in a cave in the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar, Orissa.During the reign of Khārabēḷa, the Chedi...
, the Kalinga
Kalinga
Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
king who ruled during the 2nd century BCE, in his Hathigumpha inscription
Hathigumpha inscription
The Hathigumpha inscription , from Udayagiri, near Bhubaneshwar in Orissa, was written by Kharavela, the king of Kalinga in India, during the 2nd century BCE...
, claims to have destroyed a confederacy of Tamil states (‘’Tamiradesasanghatam’’) which had lasted 132 years, and to have acquired a large quantity of pearls from the Pandyas.
Foreign sources
According to the MahavamsaMahavamsa
The Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka...
– a historical poem written in the Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
language, of the kings of Sri Lanka – King Vijaya (543 – 505 BCE) married a Pandyan Princess. Along with Vijaya, all the men in his crew got married to 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...
girls and arrived Srilanka with a great celebration.
Megasthenes
Megasthenes was a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica.He was born in Asia Minor and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of Syria possibly to Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain...
knew of the Pandyan kingdom around 300 BCE. He described it in Indika as occupying the portion of India which lies southward and extends to the sea. According to his account, it had 365 villages, each of which was expected to meet the needs of the royal household for one day in the year. He described the Pandyan queen at the time, Pandaia as a daughter of Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea or Periplus of the Red Sea is a Greco-Roman periplus, written in Greek, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and India...
(c. 60 – 100 CE) describes the riches of a 'Pandian Kingdom':
- ...Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river and sea about five hundred stadia, and is of another Kingdom, the Pandian. This place also is situated on a river, about one hundred and twenty stadia from the sea....
The Chinese historian Yu Huan
Yu Huan
Yu Huan was a scholar and writer of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.-Works:Yu was a native of present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi, and most notable for two works of his, the Weilue , and Dianlue, which are listed in the Book of Sui as volumes 33 and 89 respectively...
in his 3rd century text, the Weilüe, mentions The Kingdom of Panyue:
- ...The kingdom of Panyue is also called Hanyuewang. It is several thousand li to the southeast of TianzhuTianzhu-Locations in China:*Mount Tianzhu , in Anhui*Tianzhu County, Guizhou , in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou*Tenzhu Tibetan Autonomous County , or Tianzhu, of Wuwei, Gansu...
(Northern India)...The inhabitants are small; they are the same height as the Chinese...
The Roman emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Julian
Julian the Apostate
Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
received an embassy from a Pandya about 361. A Roman trading centre was located on the Pandyan coast at the mouth of the Vaigai river, southeast of Madurai).
Pandyas also had trade contacts with Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter invaded Egypt and declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to...
and, through Egypt, with Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
by the first century, and with China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
by the 3rd century. The 1st century Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
historian Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was born around 64 BC....
met, at Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, the ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
sent by a king from Dramira "named Pandyan or, according to others, Porus" to Caesar Augustus around 13 CE (Strabo XV.1–4, and Strabo XV.1–73).
According to Xuanzang
Xuanzang
Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
, the Pandya country was a depot for sea pearls, its people were harsh and of different religions. They were very good at trade.
In the later part of the 13th century Venetian traveler Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
visited the Pandyan kingdom and left a vivid description of the land and its people. Polo exclaimed that:
"The darkest man is here the most highly esteemed and considered better than the others who are not so dark. Let me add that in very truth these people portray and depict their gods and their idols black and their devils white as snow. For they say that God and all the saints are black and the devils are all white. That is why they portray them as I have described."
History
The earliest Tamil literary works, such as the Kalittokai, mention a continent called Kumari Nadu or Kumari KandamKumari Kandam
Kumari Kandam is the name of a supposed sunken landmass referred to in existing ancient Tamil literature...
, which was believed to have been located to the South of the present-day Kanyakumari
Kanyakumari
Kanyakumari is a town in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is also sometimes referred to as Cape Comorin. Located at the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, it is the geographical end of the Indian mainland. The district in Tamil Nadu where the town is located is called Kanyakumari...
tens of thousands of years ago, between the then Kumari and Pahruli rivers. Pandyan kings such as Chenkon, and the Cheras supposedly ruled this country, tens of thousands of years ago. They fought and defeated the Nagas
Naga people
The term Naga people refers to a conglomeration of several tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part of India and north-western Burma. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority ethnic group in the Indian state of Nagaland...
, who might have been a Dravidian people. Kalittokai again mentions a war between the combined forces of Villavars (Cheras) and the Meenavars (Pandyas), and the Nagas, their arch-enemies, but eventually losing the war, and subsequently Central India to the Nagas. Bhil Meena
Bhil Meena
The Bhil Meena are a tribal group found in the state of Rajasthan in India. According to some traditions, they are said to be descended from those Meenas and Rajputs who, in the wars between their own tribes or with Muslims, were compelled to quit their native home and seek refuge in the vastness...
of North India could be the equivalent rulers in North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
.
Also, the Pandyas, along with the Cheras
Chera 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...
and the Cholas, find mention as one of the three ruling dynasties of the Southern region of the then Bharatavarsha in the very ancient (Hindu) epic of the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
. They are also mentioned in the Aitareya Aranyaka, and the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, where they are (along with the Cheras and the Cholas) believed to have been on the side of the Pandavas in the Great War.
Although there are many instances of the Pandyan Empire being referred to in surviving ancient Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
texts including the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, we currently have no way of determining a cogent genealogy of these ancient kings. In order to maintain verifiability of this article, the names of these early Pandya Kings have been omitted. We have a connected history of the Pandyas from the fall of Kalabhras during the middle of the 6th century. Kalittokai mentions that many Tamil Naga tribes such as Maravar, Eyinar, Oliar, Oviar, Aruvalur and Paravar migrated to the Pandyan kingdom and started living there in the Third 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,...
Sangam period 2000 years ago. The Pandyan kings had the title Maran. In Pandyan government, many Pandyan princes ruled the Pandyan imperial kingdom in the middle part of the 13th Century, adhering to a common practice of shared rule involving Pandyan Princes and the main King asserting primacy in the Pandyan Kingdom as Lord Emperor with the title Ellarkku Nayanar - "Lord of All".
Early Pandyas
The following is a partial list of Pandyan emperors who ruled during the Sangam age:The lists of the Pandya kings are based on the authoritative A History of South India from the Early Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar by K.A.N. Sastri, Oxford U Press, New Delhi (Reprinted 1998).- Koon Pandiyan
- Nedunj Cheliyan I (Aariyap Padai Kadantha Nedunj Cheliyan)
- Pudappandiyan
- Mudukudumi Paruvaludhi
- Nedunj Cheliyan II
- Nan Maran
- Nedunj Cheliyan III (Talaiyaalanganathu Seruvendra Nedunj Cheliyan)
- Maran Valudi
- Kadalan valuthi
- Musiri Mutriya Cheliyan
- Kadalul Maintha Ukkirap Peruvaludi
First Pandya Empire
After the close of the Sangam age, the first Pandyan empire was established by Kadungon in the 6th century by defeating the Kalabhras. The following chronological list of the Pandya emperors is based on an inscription found on the Vaigai riverbeds. Succeeding kings assumed the titles of "Sadaiyavaramban" and "Maaravaramban" alternately, denoting themselves as followers of Lord Sadaiyan (Sankan(r)/Sivan) and Lord Thiru Maal respectively.- KadungonKadungonKadungon was a Pandya king who revived the Pandya rule in South India in the 7th century CE. Along with the Pallava king Simhavishnu, he is credited with ending the Kalabhra rule, marking the beginning of a new era in the Tamil speaking region. Most historians, including R. C...
560 – 590 AD - Maravarman Avani Culamani 590 – 620 AD
- Cezhiyan Cendan 620 – 640 AD
- Arikesari Maravarman Nindraseer NedumaaranArikesari MaravarmanArikesari Maravarman was a Pandyan king who ruled the ancient Tamil kingdom between 670 and 710 AD. He was the successor of Jayantavarman. Arikesari was succeeded by his son Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran.-Conquests:...
670 – 710 AD - Kochadaiyan RanadhiranKochadaiyan RanadhiranKochadaiyan Ranadhiran was a Pandyan king. He was the son and successor of Arikesari Maravarman.-Conquests:He asserted his superiority over the Cheras and Cholas and subdued the Marathas in the city of Mangalapuram, the modern day Mangalore. He's an Indian . He also started the hostilities with...
710 – 735 AD. - Arikesari Parankusa Maravarman Rajasimha IMaravarman Rajasimha IMaravarman Rajasimha I was an one of early Pandyan kings. He was the son and successor of Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran. He ruled over the Pandyan kingdom aggressively and gained territory by forging an alliance with Chitramaya against the Pallava king, Nandivarman Pallavamalla.-Wars and Conquests:Kongu...
735 – 765 AD - Parantaka Nedunjadaiyan 765 – 790 AD
- Rasasingan II 790 – 800 AD
- Varagunan I 800 – 830 AD
- Sirmara Srivallabha 830 – 862 AD
- Varagunavarman IIVaragunavarman II-Death:Varagunavarman tried to assert his independence but suffered defeat at the handsof Apaajita, the son of Pallava king Nripatunga at Sri Purambiyam near Kumbhakonam. He died shortly after and was succeeded by his younger brother Parantaka Viranarayan Sadaiyan in 880 AD.-References:...
862 – 880 AD - Parantaka Viranarayana 880 – 900 AD
- Maravarman Rajasimha IIMaravarman Rajasimha IIMaravarman Rajasimha II was the last Pandyan king of the first Pandyan empire. He was the son and successor of Parantaka Viranarayana. He ruled the Pandyan kingdom from 900 to 920 AD.-Conquests:...
900 – 920 AD
After the defeat of the Kalabhras, the Pandya kingdom grew steadily in power and territory. With the Cholas in obscurity, the Tamil country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
was divided between the Pallavas and the Pandyas, the river Kaveri being the frontier between them.
After Vijayalaya Chola
Vijayalaya Chola
Vijayalaya was the Chola king of South India Thanjavur during c. 848 C.E. and re-established the Chola dynastic rule.-Dark age of Cholas:The ancient Chola kingdom once famous in Tamil literature and in the writings of Greek merchants and geographers faded in to darkness after c 300 C.E. Cholas...
conquered Thanjavur by defeating the Muttarayar chieftains who were part of Pandya family tree around 850, the Pandyas went into a period of decline. They were constantly harassing their Chola overlords by occupying their territories. Parantaka I
Parantaka I
Parantaka Chola I ruled the Chola kingdom in southern India for forty-eight years. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success and prosperity.-The Invasion of the Pandya Kingdom:...
invaded the Pandya territories and defeated Rajasimha III. However, the Pandyas did not wholly submit to the Cholas despite loss of power, territory and prestige. They tried to forge various alliances with the Cheras and the Kings of Lanka and tried to engage the Cholas in war in order to free themselves from Chola supremacy. But right from the times of Parantaka I
Parantaka I
Parantaka Chola I ruled the Chola kingdom in southern India for forty-eight years. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success and prosperity.-The Invasion of the Pandya Kingdom:...
to the early 12th century up to the times of Kulottunga Chola I the Pandyas could not overpower the Cholas who right from AD 880–1210 remained the most powerful empire spread over South India, Deccan and the Eastern and Western Coast of India during this period.
Under the Cholas
The Chola domination of the Tamil country began in earnest during the reign of Parantaka Chola IIParantaka Chola II
Parantaka Chola II ruled for approximately twelve years. Parantaka II was also known by the name Madhurantakan Sundara Chola. He was the son of Arinjaya Chola. His mother’s name was Kalyani, a princes from the clan of Vaidumbas...
. Chola armies led by Aditya Karikala, son of Parantaka Chola II defeated Vira Pandya in battle. The Pandyas were assisted by the Sinhalese forces of Mahinda IV. Pandyas were driven out of their territories and had to seek refuge on the island of Sri Lanka. This was the start of the long exile of the Pandyas. They were replaced by a series of Chola viceroys with the title Chola Pandyas who ruled from Madurai from c. 1020.
The following list gives the names of the Pandya kings who were active during the 10th century and the first half of 11th century. It is difficult to give their dates of accession and the duration of their rule. Nevertheless, their presence in the southern country requires recognition.
- Sundara Pandya I
- Vira Pandya I
- Vira Pandya II
- Amarabhujanga Tivrakopa
- Jatavarman Sundara Chola Pandya
- Maravarman Vikrama Chola Pandya
- Maravarman Parakrama Chola Pandya
- Jatavarman Chola Pandya
- Srivallabha Manakulachala (1101–1124)
- Maaravaramban Seervallaban (1132–1161)
- Parakrama Pandiyan (1161–1162)
- Kulasekara Pandyan III
- Vira Pandyan III
- Jatavarman Srivallaban (1175–1180)
- Jatavarman Kulasekaran IJatavarman Kulasekaran IJatavarman Kulasekaran I was a Pandyan king, who ruled regions of South India between 1190-1216 CE.-Accession and Background:Kulasekaran acceded to the Pandyan throne after his father Vikkirama Pandyan in 1190 CE. Vikkirama Pandyan had gained the throne of Madurai with the help of Kulothunga Chola...
(1190–1216)
Pandya Revival
The 13th century is the greatest period in the history of the Pandyan Empire. This period saw the rise of seven prime Lord Emperors (Ellarkku Nayanar - Lord of All) of Pandyan, who ruled the kingdom alongside Pandyan princes. Their power reached its zenith under Jatavarman Sundara PandyanJatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan...
in the middle of the 13th century. The foundation for such a great empire was laid by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan early in the 13th century.
- Maravarman Sundara Pandyan (1216–1238)
- Sundaravaramban Kulasekaran II (1238–1240)
- Maravarman Sundara Pandyan IIMaravarman Sundara Pandyan IIMaravarman Sundara Pandyan II was a Pandyan king, who ruled regions of South India between 1238–1240 CE.-Shared Rule:Sundara Pandiyan II was one of two Pandyan princes who accceded to power in 1238 after Maravarman Sundara Pandyan I. He shared his rule with his elder brother Jatavarman...
(1238–1251) - Jatavarman Sundara PandyanJatavarman Sundara PandyanJatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan...
(1251–1268) - Maaravaramban Kulasekara Pandyan IMaaravaramban Kulasekara Pandyan IMaravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I was a Pandyan king, who ruled regions of South India between 1268–1308 CE. His death lead to the Pandyan Civil war of 1308-1323 CE.-Accession and shared rule:...
(1268–1308) - Sundara Pandyan IV (1309–1327)
- Vira Pandyan IV (1309–1345)
Zenith of the Pandya power
The Pandyan kingdom was replaced by the Chola princes who assumed the title as Chola Pandyas in the 11th century. After being overshadowed by the Pallavas and Cholas for centuries, Pandyan glory was briefly revived by Maravaramban Sundara Pandyan and by (probably his younger brother or son) the much celebrated Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I in 1251. The Pandya power extended from the Telugu countries on banks of the GodavariGodavari River
The Godavari is a river that runs from western to southern India and is considered to be one of the big river basins in India. With a length of 1465 km, it is the second longest river in India , that runs within the country and also the longest river in South India...
river to the northern half of Sri Lanka, which was invaded by Sundara Pandyan I in 1258 and on his behalf by his leuitenant Jatavarman Vira Pandyan I
Jatavarman Vira Pandyan I
Jatavarman Vira Pandyan I was a Pandyan Prince and co-King, who ruled regions of Tamilakkam between 1253–1275 CE.- Shared Rule :Jatavarman Vira Pandiyan I was coronated between the 22nd and 27th June 1253...
from 1262-1264.
The revival of the Pandyan dynasty was to coincide with the gradual but steady decline of the Chola empire. The last two or three Chola kings who followed Kulothunga III were either very weak or incompetent. The Cholas of course did not lack valour but had been unable to stop the revival of the Pandyan empire from the times of Maravaramban Sundara Pandyan, the revival of the Kadava Pallavas at Kanchi under Kopperinchunga I and indeed the growing power and status of the Telugu Cholas, the Renanti and the Irungola Cholas of the Telugu country; for the last three-named had been very trusted allies of the Cholas up to Kulothunga III, having helped him in conquering Kalinga
Kalinga
Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
. The marital alliance of Kulothunga III and one of his successors, Raja Raja III, with the Hoysalas did not yield any advantage, though (initially, at least) Kulothunga III took the help of the Hoysalas in countering the Pandiyan resurgence. Kulothunga III had even conquered Karur, the Cheras
Chera 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...
in addition to Madurai, Ilam and Kalinga. However, his strength rested on support from Hoysalas, whose king Veera Ballala II was his son-in-law. However, Veera Ballala II himself had lost quite a bit of his territories between 1208–1212 to his local adversaries in Kannada country, like the Kalachuris, Seunas etc.
The resurgent Pandiyans under Maravarman Sundara Pandyan went to war against Kulothunga and first at Kandai and then near Manaparai on the outskirts of modern Tiruchirappalli, the Pandiyans routed the Chola army and entered Tiruchy, Srirangam and Thanjavur victorious in war. But it appears that in the Tiruchy and Srirangam areas, there was renewed control of the Cholas, presumably with the help of the Hoysalas under Vira Someswara with the Hoysalas later shifting their allegiance to the Pandyans either during the last years of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan or the early years of his successor Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan.
Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan was a very brave, ambitious warrior king, who wanted to completely subjugate the Cholas. He initially tolerated the presence of the Hoysalas under Vira Someshwara with his son Visvanatha or Ramanatha ruling from Kuppam near Samayapuram on the outskirts of Srirangam. This was because other feudatories of the Hoysalas were also growing in power and threatening the Hoysala kingdom itself. Besides, the Delhi Sultanate invasion of the Deccan had started under Malik Kafur. The challenged Hoysalas did have a foothold in and around Tiruchy and Srirangam for a few years and seemed to have indulged in some temple building activity at Srirangam also. But Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan, who subdued Rajendra Chola III in around 1258–1260 AD was an equal antagonist of the Hoysalas whose presence he absolutely disliked in the Tamil country. He first vanquished the Kadava Pallavas under Kopperinchungan-II, who had challenged the Hoysala army stationed in and around Kanchi and killed a few of their commanders.
Though Rajendra III suffered another defeat at the hands of Vira Someshwara, because of the growing power of Pandiyans being felt by both Cholas and Hoysalas, there was a political affinity between the two which was cemented also by marital relations. At the time the Pandiyans and the Kadava Pallavas,with an earlier Chola, Raja Raja III, having been held in captivity by Kopperinchunga II and his release being secured by the Hoysalas. Ultimately, the Kadava Pallavas, Hoysalas and also the Telugu Choda Timma who invaded Kanchi were all one by one vanquished by Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan with the Cholas finally becoming extinct after defeat of Hoysala Ramanatha as well as his ally Rajendra iii around 1279 by Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandiyan.
Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan seized the opportunity with the Hoysalas being in Tiruchy and not having any ally, the rapidly weakening Cholas seeking alliance with the Kadava Pallavas who were themselves being threatened by the Telugu Cholas. In 1254 (or 1260) Jatavarman first dragged the Hoysalas into war by routing his son Ramanatha out of Tiruchy. Vira Someshwara Hoysala, who had given the control of the empire to his sons, had to come out of his slumber and tried to challenge Jatavarman. Between Samayapuram and Tiruchy, the armies of Vira Someshwara were routed with Vira Someshwara losing his life in this battle. This ended the presence of the Hoysalas in Tamil country. Jatavarman did not stop there: he went inside Kannada country after conquering Tiruchy and occupied parts of Hoysala territory up to the Konkana coast and established his son Vira Pandiyan as ruler of those territories. Temporarily, at least, the Hoysalas were in disarray in Kannada country itself.
Next the Pandiyan prince Jatavarman concentrated on completely wiping out the Chola empire. Rajadhiraja III had interfered in an earlier Pandiyan war of succession and defeated a confederation of Pandiyan princes. The predecessors of Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan had suffered at the time of the Chola invasion and he wanted to take revenge. This was his opportunity. Rajendra III had been counting on Hoysala assistance in case he was challenged by the Pandiyans, keeping in mind the earlier marital alliance of the Cholas with the Hoysalas. Unfortunately for Rajendra III, the Hoysalas had lost any claim to regional power in Kannada and the Tamil countries, as they had been wiped out of Tamizhagam and indeed lost territories inside Kannada country itself to Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan. Initially, Jatavarman consodlidated the Pandiyan hold on Tiruchy and Srirangam and marched towards Tanjore and Kumbakonam. The Chola capital of Gangaikondacholapuram, too, was not far from reach. During the years 1270–1276 it appeared that Rajendra III ruled mainly in and around Gangaikondacholapuram and Tanjore. Tiruchy and Srirangam had been lost to the Cholas forever, at least from 1254 AD. Though Rajendra III had been opposed to the Hoysalas due to their alliance with the Pandiyans, with new hostilities emerging between Hoysalas and the Pandiyans, Rajendra III had hoped for renewed friendship and military alliance with the Hoysalas.
When challenged by Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan, the brave but tactically naive Rajendra III marched against the Pandiyans between Tanjore and Tiruchy, hoping for assistance and participation in war from the Hoysalas. However, the already vanquished Hoysalas were in a defensive position. They did not want to go to war and risk yet another defeat by the resurgent Pandiyans. Rajendra III, hopelessly isolated, was thoroughly routed and humiliated in this war, which is variously dated as between 1268–1270. The known rule of Jatavarman Sundara Pandiyan is of course, up to 1268 only. Probably Rajendra III fled the battlefield and had continued in obscurity up to 1279 but without any of the erstwhile Chola territories. By 1280 AD, the Chola empire was no more.
On the death of Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I in 1308, a conflict stemming from succession disputes arose amongst his sons. Sundara Pandyan and Vira Pandyan fought each other for the throne. Sundara Pandyan however with the help of his loyal generals and Veera Ballala III
Veera Ballala III
Veera Ballala III was the last great king of the Hoysala Empire that ruled over what is now the South Indian state of Karnataka. Veera Ballala's commanders, Harihara and Bukkaraya are perhaps better known in Kannada folklore as the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire...
was successful in suppressing Vira Pandyan into a petty army chief with just 500 soldiers who was indeed supported for the throne by his father Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I and the people of madurai. Since then an uneasy truce existed between the two brothers. The Kingdom now under Sundara Pandyan revived its infrastructure and military strength to gain autonomy and drive out Hoysala Empire
Hoysala Empire
The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
from its political affairs.
Defeat of Sundara Pandyan
Scenarios changed during 1311, when Alauddin KhiljiAlauddin Khilji
Ali Gurshap Khan better known by his titular name as Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji was the second ruler of the Turko-Afghan Khilji dynasty in India.He was a well and capable ruler. He belonged to the Afghanized Turkic tribe of the Khiljis...
of Khilji dynasty
Khilji dynasty
The Khilji Sultanate was a dynasty of Turko-Afghan Khalaj origin who ruled large parts of South Asia from 1290 - 1320. They were the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India...
sent his general Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
on an expedition to the kingdoms of the south which led to the capture of Warangal
Warangal
Warangal is a city and a municipal corporation in Warangal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Warangal is located northeast of the state capital of Hyderabad and is the administrative headquarters of Warangal District. This district is a combination of three cities: Warangal,...
, the overthrow of the Hoysala Empire
Hoysala Empire
The Hoysala Empire was a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu....
south of the Krishna River, and the occupation of 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...
in the extreme south. Malik Khafur was not seeking to expand the borders of the Delhi Sultanate; he was engaging in a military treasure-hunt on the Sultan's behalf. Malik's victory over Veera Ballala III and loot of Hindu temples at Halebidu
Halebidu
Halebidu is located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Halebidu was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples. Halebidu literally means ruined city...
sent alarming bells to the Pandyan Kingdom. Malik Kafur on the other hand, heard about the raised strength of the Pandyan army and its defensive position within the walls of Madurai was reluctant in carrying out his expedition further south. It was Alauddin Khilji himself ordered and sent reinforcements to Malik Kafur to attack Madurai after hearing the richness of it via Veera Virupaksha Ballala who was sent to Delhi as an act of peace by his defeated father Veera Ballala III.
Being a strong Saivite, Sundara Pandyan was enraged by the destruction of the Hindu temples by the Muslim armies. He assembled his army and planned to march them at once to face the invading armies of the Delhi Sultanate. This idea was however opposed by Vira Pandyan who felt that taking a defensive position might be more advantageous. Sundara Pandyan ignored his words and ordered his army to march leaving Vira Pandyan to safeguard Madurai with his men. The Pandyan army managed to march well intact till Melaithirukattupalli. But their reliance on the river Kaveri as the water source turned disastrous as the river ran dry during the hot summer of 1311. The already exhausted Pandyan army planned to march west in search of nearby water source. Their speed was drastically reduced due to the general's decision of marching on the dried beds of River Kaveri. Malik Kafur's forces on the other hand tactically planned on their ration and water supplies, met Sundara Pandyan much before Thiruchirapalli. The physically exhausted Pandyan infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
easily fell prey for the Sultanate's army. However, the Pandyan cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
revived its attack on the Delhi Sultanate cavalry. But, the cavalier
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
s were well armed with turcopoles and chain mail
Chain Mail
"Chain Mail" is a single by Mancunian band James, released in March 1986 by Sire Records, the first after the band defected from Factory Records. The record was released in two different versions, as 7" single and 12" EP, with different artworks by John Carroll and, confusingly, under different...
armors while Pandyan horsemen were inferiorly armored and heavily relied on heavy swords. Tactical strikes by Malik Kafur's crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
men over the Pandya cavalry, followed by the Delhi Sultanate infantry's attack blocked any possible retreat for the Sundara Pandyan's army. The generals of Kafur's army took Sundara Pandyan as captive and beheaded all the others captured. Few Pandyan cavaliers managed to escape to Madurai to report their defeat to Vira Pandya. The victorious Sultanate went on plundering the temples of Thiruchirapalli and Srirangam
Srirangam
Srirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
.
Siege of Madurai
Ballista
The ballista , plural ballistae, was an ancient missile weapon which launched a large projectile at a distant target....
s or Trebuchet
Trebuchet
A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of...
s and relied on Battering Ram
Battering ram
A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times and designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates...
s of inferior quality. On the other hand, continuous archery attack by Pandyan soldiers and surprise cavalry attacks on the Delhi Sultanate infantry during night times tremendously increased the casualties on Kafur's side. Malik Kafur lost about half of his army, and then managed to breach the wall after weeks of siege. Vira Pandyan and his soldiers still managed to hold the line, thus making Malik Kafur to finally come down for negotiation.
Malik Kafur offered the following terms to Vira Pandyan:
1. Hand over all the treasures belonging to the Meenakshi Temple and Madurai Treasury which included 96,000 gold coins and precious stones
2. Half of the rice rationed inside the walls of Madurai
3. All the elephants and horses available with Pandyas .
In return, Vira Pandyan was promised the release of his brother, Sundara Pandyan and safety of the deities in the inner sanctum of the Meenakshi Temple.
Expeditions by Khusro Khan and Ulugh Khan
Khusro Khan
Khusro Khan was a medieval Indian military leader, and ruler of Delhi, as Sultan Nasir-ud-din, for a short period of time. He was a native of the Bawariya region of Saurashtra in Gujarat.-Capture and enslavement:...
(later Sultan Nasir-ud-din) and in 1323 CE by Ulugh Khan (later Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq.He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan. His wife was daughter of the raja of Dipalpur...
) under Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
Ghiyas ud-Din Tughluq , real name Ghazi Malik was the founder and first ruler of the Turkic Muslim Tughluq dynasty in India, who reigned over Sultanate of Delhi . He has been the founder of the third city of Delhi called Tughluqabad.Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq was in origin a poor Qarauna who took...
. No inscriptions about Pandyas are known since then. Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din Ahsan was appointed Governor of the newly created southern-most Ma'bar province of the Delhi sultanate by Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq.He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan. His wife was daughter of the raja of Dipalpur...
. In 1333 CE, Sayyid declared his independence and created Madurai Sultanate
Madurai Sultanate
The Madurai Sultanate or the Ma'bar Sultanate was a short lived independent Muslim kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India during the 14th century CE. It lasted from 1335 until 1378...
which was replaced by Nayak governors in 1378. Nayak governors were appointed to rule Madurai. These Nayaks continued to govern Madurai until the arrival of British forces.
Trade
MegasthenesMegasthenes
Megasthenes was a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica.He was born in Asia Minor and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of Syria possibly to Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain...
reported about the pearl fisheries of the Pandyas, indicating that the Pandyas derived great wealth from the pearl trade.
Religion
Historical Madurai was a stronghold of Saivism. Following the invasion of KalabhrasKalabhras
The Kalabhras dynasty ruled over the entire Ancient Tamil country between the 3rd and the 6th century in an era of South Indian history called the Kalabhra interregnum. The Kalabhras displaced the kingdoms of the early Cholas, early Pandayan and Chera dynasties. Information about its origin and...
, Jainism gained a foothold in the Pandyan kingdom. With the advent of Bhakti movements, Saivism and Vaishnavism resurfaced. The latter-day Pandyas after 600 AD were Hindus who claimed to descend from Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and Goddess Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
. Pandyan Nedumchadayan was a staunch Vaishnavite.