Pandya kingdom

• After theKalabhras, the Pandyas established their dynastic rule in southern Tamil Nadu by the end of the sixth century CE.
• The first Pandyan king mentioned in the Sangam works recovered so far is Nedunjeliyan I,who ruled from Korkai, a coastal town at the mouth of the Tamraparni River.
• Pandyas were Muvendars who ruled the southern part of India intermittently until the pre-modern period.
• Muvendar is a Tamil word that means “three chiefs,” and it refers to the heads of three ruling families: the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas.
• The Sangam period Pandya history,from the third century BCE to the third century CE, has been reconstructed using various sources such as megalithic burials, inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi, and Tamil poems from the Sangam literature.
• Accounts of travellers such as Marco Polo,Wassaff, and Ibn-Battuta are useful for learning about the period’s political and socio-cultural developments.
• Another important source of information about the Pandyas is the copper plates, which contain the essence of royal orders, a genealogical list of the kings, and their victory over enemies.
• Madurai Thala Varalaru, Pandik Kovai, and Madurai Tiruvannamalai provide information about Madurai’s later Pandyas.
• The exact date of these Sangam-age Pandyas is difficult to determine. Unfortunately, the period covered by the Sangam’s extant literature is difficult to determine with any degree of certainty.
• With the exception of the longer epics Silappatikaram and Manimekalai,which are thought to date from after the Sangam period, the poems have come down to us in the form of systematic anthologies.

Rising of Pandyas

• TheChola king, Parantaka I, defeated Pandya King Rajasimha II, leading to the decline of the Pandya empire.
• However, this was not the end of the dynasty.
• Following the demise of Adhi Rajendrain the last quarter of the 12th century, the Chola viceroyalty became weak in the Pandya country.
• Taking advantage of this situation, the Pandya chieftains began to govern their respective regions independently.
• Following the decline of the Cholas, the Pandya kingdom emerged as the dominantTamil dynasty in the thirteenth century.
• Sadaya Varman Sundarapandian(1251-1268) was the illustrious ruler of the second Pandya kingdom, who not only ruled over all of Tamil Nadu but also extended his authority up to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
• Following Sundarapandian, Maravarman Kulasekharanruled successfully for 40 years, bringing peace and prosperity to the country.
• Malik Kafur’s invasion was ultimately responsible for the division and fall of the Pandya empire.

Important Pandya Rulers

Imperial Pandyas

• The Pandya empireencompassed vast territories, including large portions of south India and Sri Lanka at times.
• The empire was ruled by several royals, with one having primacy over the others.
• Through the collateral family branches subject to Madurai, the Pandya king at Maduraithus controlled these vast regions.
• Maravarman Sundara, I laid the groundwork for Pandya supremacy in south India in the early 13th century.
• In 1216, he succeeded his older brother Jatavarman Kulasekhara.
• He invaded Chola country, sacked Uraiyur and Thanjavur, and exiled Chola king Kulothunga III.
• Following that, the Chola king made a formal submission to Maravarman Sundara Iand acknowledged his overlordship.

Tenkasi Pandyas

• ThePandya kings, from Sadaavarman Parakrama Pandya to his successors, ruled from Tenkasi.
• With the invasion of the Sultanates, Vijayanagaras, and Nayakars beginning in the fourteenth century, the Pandyas lost their traditional capital of Madurai and were forced to relocate to cities such as Tenkasi and Tirunelveli.
• Tenkasi was the Pandyas’ final capital.
• Sadaavarman Parakrama Pandyaand his descendants were crowned in the Adheenam Mutt in Kasi Viswanathar temple.
• During the same time period, some Pandyas ruled from Tirunelveli.
• Their major cities include Kayathar, Vadakkuvalliyur, and Ukkirankottai.
• Tenkasi’s Kasi Viswanathar temple, Brahmadesam, Cheranmadevi, Ambasamudram, Kalakkad, and Pudukkottai all have inscriptions on them.
• The last Pandyan king known in Pandya history was Kolakonda, who was also a Tenkasi Pandya.

Administration

• Except for the areas fed by rivers, the territory of the Pandyas is known as Pandymandalam, Thenmandalam, or Pandianadu, and it is located in rocky, hilly regions and mountain ranges. Tamiraparani and Vaigai
• The capital of the Pandya kings was Madurai.
• Pandy Mandalam or Pandy Nadu was divided into many valanadus, which were further subdivided into many nadus and kurrams (meaning group of villages)
• Kings and local chiefs established Brahmin settlements with irrigation facilities known as Mangalam or Chaturvedi Mangalam.
• These settlements were given royal names as well as deity names.
• Different titles were given to royal officials:
• Uttaramantriwas the name of the Prime Minister.
• Eluttu Mandapamwas the name of the royal secretariat.
• Palli Velan, Parantakan Pallivelan, Maran Adittan, and Tennavan Tamizhavel were the military commanders’ titles.

Political aspect

• During the Pandya reign, royal palaces were named Tirumaligai and Manaparanan Tirumaligai, and the royal couches they used were named after local chiefs, attesting to the legitimacy of the kings’ overlordship.
• The following was the political division of land:
• Salabogamwas the land allotted to Brahmins.
• Tattarkaniwas the name given to the land assigned to ironsmiths.
• Taccu-maniyam was the name given to the Carpenters’ land.
• Bhattavriuttiwas the name given to the land donated to the Brahmin group for educational purposes.
• According to Wassaff, horse trading was very common during this time period.
• Spices, pearls, precious stones, elephants,and birds were among the other items traded.
• Kayalpattinamwas the busiest port town in the Pandyas (now in Thoothukudi district)
• Literacywas also promoted during this time period, and administrators used a variety of methods to accomplish this.
• To promote literacy,singers were appointed to recite Bhakti hymns in temples, and theatre plays based on similar issues were produced.

Economy and Trade

• The ancient Tamil country, present-day Southern India and Sri Lanka, was frequented by Roman and Greek traders.
• Securing trade with the seafaring Tamil states of thePandyan, Chola, and Chera dynasties and establishing trading settlements that secured trade with South Asia by the Greco-Roman world since the time of the Ptolemaic dynasty a few decades before the start of the Common Era and remained long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
• According to Strabo, Emperor Augustusof Rome received an ambassador from a South Indian King named Pandyan at Antioch.
• They also outlastedByzantium’s loss of the ports of Egypt and the Red Sea due to Muslim conquests (639-645).
• The Christian kingdomof Axum fell into a slow decline after the severing of communications between the Axum and the Eastern Roman Empire in the seventh century, fading into obscurity in western sources.
• Despite pressure from Islamic forces, it lasted until the eleventh century, when it was reconfigured in a dynastic feud.
• Another industry that thrived during the Sangam period was pearl fishing. The pearl trade was centred in thePandyan port city of Korkai.
• The Pandyan kingdom’spearls were also in high demand in the kingdoms of north India.
• Several Vedic mantras mention the widespread use of pearls.

Coinage

• Early Tamilakam coins featured the Three Crowned Kings, a tiger, a fish, and a bow, which represented the Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras.
• Pandyacoins bear the legend of various Pandya rulers at various times.
• During the early period, the Pandyasissued silver punch-marked and die-stricken copper coins.
• The Pandya rulers of this period were credited with a few gold coins. These coins featured the image of a fish, either alone or in pairs, as their emblem.
• Some of the coins bore the names Sundara, Sundara Pandya,or simply the letter ‘Su.’ Some of the coins featured a boar and the legend ‘Vira-Pandya.’
• Pandya coins were essentially square. On one side of the coins, an elephant was etched, while the other side was left blank.
• During the Pandyas, the inscriptions on silver and gold coins were in Tamil-Brahmi,while copper coins bore Tamil legends.
• The Pandya coins with fish symbols were known as ‘Kodandaraman‘ and ‘Kanchi’ Valangum Perumal’.
• Aside from these, the word ‘Ellam Thalaiyangam’ was seen on coins depicting a standing king on one side and a fish on the other.
• The words ‘Samarakolahalam’ and ‘Bhuvanekaviram’ were discovered on coins depicting a Garuda, ‘Konerirayan’ on coins depicting a bull, and ‘Kaliyugaraman’ on coins depicting a pair of feet.

Architecture

• Pandyan architecture includes rock cut and structural temples.
• The early Pandyan temples had features such as vimana, mandapa, and shikhara.
• Small temple clusters can be found in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district. A Nandi stands in front of the Maha Mandapa in Shiva temples.
• Finely sculpted idols, portals of temples, or gopurams on “Vimanas” were developed in the later stages of Pandya rule.
• Gopurams are temple entrances and portals that are rectangular in shape. The area above the entrance has a pyramidal shape. Gopurams gradually surpassed Shikaras in importance.
• During the reign of the Pandyas, Meenakshi Temple in Madurai and Nellaiappar Temple in Tirunelveli were built.

Religion

• The Pandyasare thought to have followed Jainism at first before switching to Saivism.
• Many temples were repaired and endowed with gold and land by mediaeval and later Pandyas.
• Vedic practices were also given patronage.
• The invocatory portions of the Pandya inscriptions also reveal rulers’ impartiality toward both Saivism and Vaishnavism.
• Many temples were built by the early Pandyas.
• The mediaeval and later Pandyas did not build any new temples, but they did ensure that the existing ones were well maintained.

Decline of Pandyas

• Maravarman Kulasekhara I(1310) died, and his sons Vira Pandya IV and Sundara Pandya IV fought a succession war for control of the empire.
• Maravarman Kulasekharaappears to have wanted Vira Pandya to succeed him (who in turn was defeated by Sundara Pandya after a short period of time).
• Unfortunately, the Pandya civil war occurred at the same time as the Khalji raids in south India.
• The neighbouring Hoysala king Ballala IIItook advantage of the political situation and invaded Pandya territory.
• Family feuds and sultanate invasions shattered the Pandya empire beyond repair, and coinage discoveries indicate that thePandyas were confined to the old South Arcot region.
• The Jaffna kingdomdeclared independence from the crumbling Pandya influence in 1323.