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Tamilnadu
History
The
history of the Tamils presents an exciting pageant of a powerful civilization
whose origin dates back to ancient times. It is clear that the Tamils, who belong
to the Dravidian race, were the first major occupants of the country and settled
in the north-western part of India long before the coming of the Indo-Aryans.
Excavations have revealed that the features of the people of the Indus Valley
Civilization bore a strong resemblance to this race.
However, with the
advent of the Aryans, the Dravidians were pushed back into the deep south where
they ultimately settled.
As is the case with most of the early history
of the state, it is impossible to pin-point the exact period, when the great Tamil
Sangam (Academy) flourished, though it can be said with some certainty that two
Sangams were held well before the Christian era and the third between 100 and
250 AD. The Tamil Sangam, which marks the Golden Age of Tamil literature is the
one major source of knowledge about the administration, art, architecture and
economic conditions that existed then.
Among some of the greatest compositions
of the four centuries of Sangam age are Tiruvalluvar's Thirukkural which consists
of 1330 couplets about morality in private and public life combined with some
of life's greatest truths, compositions of the saint-poetess Avviayar, Pathupatu
or ten Idylls which is a compilation of the work of several authors on philosophy,
intermingled with descriptions of the natural world and Ettuthogai or the eight
anthologies. Of these, the last is historically the most important as it contains
a description of the daily life of the people. This collection of poems is the
earliest record of its kind as far as the history of the Tamils is concerned.
Even
after the end of the Sangam age, Tamil writers, under the patronage of Royal Dynasties,
continued to produce excellent literature like the two Tamil epics Silapathikaram
written between 200 - 300 AD by Ilango Adigal, the son of a Chera King, and Manimekalai
by Sattanar also written between the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Both contain vivid
descriptions of life during their times. Over the ages, the south was to see other
great poets like the Nayanmars and the Alwars and, later, the poet Kamban who
composed the Tamil version of Ramayana.
The Pallavas ruled between the
6th and 8th century AD over a large portion of Tamil Nadu with Kanchipuram as
their base. Their reign was marked by battles with the Chalukyas of the north
and the Pandyas of the south. Among the greatest Pallava rulers were Mahendravarman-l
and his son Narasimhavarman.
Among the famous temples built by the Pallavas
are the temples of Kanchipuram, the Kapaliswarar and Parthasarathy temples at
Chennai, and last but not the least, the magnificent poetry in rock and stone
at Mamallapuram. Kanchi has been described extensively by the Chinese traveller
Huan Tsu Ang who visited the city in the middle of the 6th century AD, and according
to him it was a major centre of learning.
Among its more famous citizens
was Dharmapala, the Vice-Chancellor of the Nalanda University. Quite probably
the most ancient of the dynasties of the south, the Cholas had their headquarters
first at Uraiyur and later at Thanjavur and ruled over most of modern Tamil Nadu
(as well as Karnataka.)
The
early
Cholas reigned between the 1st and 4th century AD and the first and most famous
king of this period was Karikalan. What remains of his reign today is the magnificent
civil engineering achievement of the Grand Anicut which was constructed during
the 2nd century and is used even to this day.
The later Cholas, who went
on to become a force to reckon with by defeating both the Pallavas and Pandyas,
made their appearance in the 9th century under the leadership of Vijayalaya Chola
and continued to dominate the South until the 13th century.
The greatest
of the later Cholas was Rajaraja Chola (985-1014 AD) under whose reign several
islands in the Indian Ocean including (Lakshadweep, Maldives) and Sri Lanka were
conquered. It was during the reign of Rajaraja that Chola architecture attained
its peak with the building of the Brahadeeshwarar (Big) Temple at Thanjavur .
Tamilnadu
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