THE (LATER) PANDYAS

THE (LATER) PANDYAS

• The Pandyas, along with the Cheras and the Cholas, are considered to be among the oldest Indian dynasties
• The Pandyas are mentioned as the hosts of the third Tamil Sangam (3^rd century BC-3^rd century CE), and as hosts of the supposedly even earlier first two Sangams
• However, this article only deals with the later Pandyas, who rose to prominence in the 13^th century, and about whom concrete literary, archaeological and epigraphical evidence is available
• Throughout their existence, the capital city of the Pandyas was Madurai
• After several centuries of submission under the Cholas, the Pandyas rose to prominence under the Maravarman Sundara Pandyan in the 13^th century (1216-1238 CE). In 1217 CE, Maravarman Pandyan defeated the Chola monarch Rajaraja III, thereby ending centuries of Chola suzerainty in southern India
  
• At its peak, the Pandyan kingdom extended from the Godavari in the north to northern Sri Lanka in the south
• The Pandyan kingdom reached its zenith under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan (1250-1268 CE) who dissolved the Chola Empire, which had already been in decline
• Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan was given the title of Pon Veindha Perumalfor gold plating the roofs of the Chidambaram Temple and the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam. He also built a gate at the Srirangam Temple engraving the names of all four dynasties of Tamil Nadu i.e. Cheras, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas, recognising the contribution of each
• The Pandyan kingdom was disestablished in 1311 following defeat by Malik Kafur, the general of Alla-ud-din-Khilji, who was on an expedition to subjugate South India.
• The city of Madurai passed to the Madurai Sultanate, established in 1335 CE by Sayyid Jalal-ud-din Ahsan. However, the Sultanate itself was dissolved by the rising Vijayanagara Empire in 1375 CE
• Following this, Madurai was ruled by Nayaks, governors of the Vijayanagara Empire. Following the collapse of Vijayanagar in 1646 CE, the Nayaks ruled Madurai independently until the arrival of the British in 1736 CE