Ancient History South India

The ancient history of southern India, which includes the Sangam Age, the three kingdoms of Chola,
Chera and Pandya, and Sangam Literature are very important topics for the IAS exam. In this article,
you will read a comprehensive note on the ancient history of South India including the social, political
and religious life of people under the three kingdoms.

Ancient History - South India

(From megalithic to the state polities of Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas)

The beginning of the historical period is marked by the settlements of large scale rural communities
which practised agriculture with the help of iron implements, the formation of the state system, the rise
of social classes, use of writing, beginnings of written literature, use of metal money and so on.
However, all these phenomena did not emerge in a linear fashion in southern India, especially at the tip
of the peninsula with the Kaveri delta as the nuclear zone, until about the 2nd century BCE. The
Neolithic phase of south India which was marked by the use of polished stone axe and blade tools was
succeeded by the Megalithic phase (around 1200 BCE - 300 BCE).

 The upper portions of the peninsula were inhabited by people who were called the Megalith
builders.
 They are not known from their actual settlements which are rare but from their graves.
 These graves are called megaliths because they were encircled by big/mega stone pieces and
were in most cases located outside the settlement area.
 They contain not only skeletons of the people who were buried but also pottery, iron objects and
grains.
 Black and red ware pottery has been found buried in these megaliths.
 The first iron objects from south India which include arrowheads, spearheads, tridents
(associated with Shiva), hoes, sickles, etc. have been excavated from these megaliths.
 The number of agricultural tools found at megalithic sites is lesser in comparison to tools meant
for hunting and fighting implying that the megalithic people did not practise an advanced type of
agriculture.
 The megalithic people produced paddy and ragi, and it seems that the cultivated land was very
limited and generally they did not settle on the plains or low lands.
 The megaliths are found in all upland areas of the peninsula but their concentration is more in
eastern Andhra and in Tamil Nadu.

The Cholas, Pandyas and the Keralaputras (Cheras) mentioned in the Ashokan inscriptions probably
belonged to the last phase of Megalithic culture.
Chera, Chola, Pandya

The early three kingdoms - The Pandyas, the Cholas and the Cheras

The southern end of the Indian peninsula situated south of the Krishna river was divided into three
kingdoms - Chola, Pandya and Chera (or Kerala).

Kingdom Capital Emblem Premium Port

The Pandyas:
Madurai Fish Korkai
Covers modern Tirunelveli, Madurai, Ramnad districts
and south Travancore.
The Cholas:
Puhar (modern
Uraiyur Tiger
Covers modern Tanjore and Tiruchirappalli districts of Kaveripattanam)
Tamil Nadu.
The Cheras:
Vanji /
Bow Tondi and Muchiri
Karuvur
Covers mostly the Kerala coast.
Pandyas

The Pandya territory occupied the southernmost and the south-eastern portion of the Indian Peninsula.
The Pandyas are first mentioned by Megasthenes, wherein he refers to a Pandya kingdom celebrated for
pearls and ruled by a woman, suggesting that the Pandya society was matriarchal.

 The Sangam literature mentions Pandya rulers and describes the kingdom as wealthy
and prosperous. The Pandya kings benefited from the trade with the Roman empire and even sent
embassies to the Roman emperor Augustus.
 The Brahmanas enjoyed considerable influence and the Pandya kings performed Vedic
sacrifices.
 Nediyon, Palshalai Mudukudumi were the early Pandyan kings and the other prominent kings are
discussed below.

Nedunjeliyan Ⅰ

It is believed that he died of remorse due to his tragic role (as he ordered the execution) in the death of
Kovalan, the hero and the husband of Kannagi from the epic Silappadikaram.

Nedunjeliyan Ⅱ
  He is considered to be an important Pandya ruler, as he acquired territories from other chieftains.
 He defeated a confederacy of Cheras, Cholas and five other chieftains in the battle of
Talaiyalanganam.
 In Mangulam, two Tamil Brahmi inscriptions pertaining to the 2nd century BCE mention that a
subordinate and relative of Nedunjeliyan presented gifts to Jaina monks.
 A first century BCE inscription from Alagarmalai mentions a person named Katumara Natan
who was either a Pandyan prince or subordinate.

Cholas

The Chola kingdom was called Cholamandalam or Coromandel and was situated to the north-east of the
territory of the Pandyas, between the Pennar and the Velar rivers. Their chief centre of political power
and capital Uraiyur was famous for cotton trade. It seems that in the middle of the 2nd century BCE, a
Chola king named Elara conquered Sri Lanka and ruled over it for nearly 50 years. The Cholas also
maintained an efficient navy. The main source of wealth of the Cholas was their trade in cotton cloth.
Some of the important Chola kings of the era are talked about below.

Karikala

 One of the famous Chola kings who founded Puhar (identified with Kaveripattanam) which was
a great centre of trade and commerce and had a large dock.
 Karikala constructed 160 km of embankment along the Kaveri river, which was built with a
labour of 12,000 slaves brought as captives from Sri Lanka.
 He defeated a confederacy of Pandyas, Cheras and other allies at the battle of Venni. In Sangam
literature, it is mentioned that eleven rulers lost their drums in the field (royal drum was an
important insignia of royal power).
 The major victory at Vahaipparandalai was credited to his cap, in which several chieftains lost
their umbrellas (according to Sangam literature).

Tondaiman Ilandiraiyan

 He is considered to be another important Chola ruler who was either an independent ruler or a
subordinate to Karikala.
 He was a gifted poet and in one of his poems, he says that in order to rule well, a king should
possess a strong personal character.

Under Karikala’s successors, the Chola empire rapidly declined. The two neighbouring powers - the
Pandyas and the Cheras expanded at the cost of the Cholas. Later, the Pallavas from the north wrested a
lot of their territories. From the 4th to 9th century CE, the Cholas played only a marginal role in south
Indian history.
Cheras

The Chera or the Kerala country was situated to the west and north of the land of the Pandyas. It
included the narrow strip of land between the sea and the mountains and covered a portion of modern
Kerala state. It was an important and prosperous kingdom owing to its trade with the Romans. The
Romans set up two regiments at Muziris (near modern Kochi) to protect their interests and also built
there a temple of Augustus.

Udiyanjeral

 Earliest known Chera king.

Nedunjeral Adan

 He is considered to be one of the prominent kings of the Chera dynasty, who probably defeated
seven crowned kings and also won the title of ‘adhiraja’.
 He fought a war against the Cholas and in this war both the principal adversaries (the Chola king
and Nedunjeral) lost their lives.
 One of his sons is also described as an ‘adhiraja’ who was victorious against Anji (a chieftain of
Tagadur).

Senguttuvan

 He was the son of Nedunjeral Adan and according to Chera poets, was their greatest king. He
was also known as the Red Chera or Good Chera.
 Silappadikaram (post-Sangam text) describes his military conquest against Vayalur in the land of
Nannan and capture of the Kodukur fortress in Kongu country.
 It is said that he invaded the north and crossed the Ganga.

Kudakko Ilanjeral Irumporai

 He is believed to be one of the last Chera kings (as is mentioned in the Sangam literature) and
had won wars against the Cholas and the Pandyas.

After the 2nd century CE, the Chera power declined and not much is known of their history till the 8th
century CE.

The main interest of the political history of the above three kingdoms lies in the continuous wars they
fought with one another and also with Sri Lanka. The kingdoms were immensely rich in spices, ivory,
pearls, precious stones, muslin, silk, etc.
 o The didactic texts are called Kilkanakku - consisting of 18 minor works.
Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural is an important example of Tamil didactic work, which
is a famous work on ethics, philosophy, polity and love, and is considered the
fifth Veda of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil epics - Silappadikaram and Manimekalai are also didactic texts
(kilkanakku).
These didactic texts were written in the period between the 5th and 6th
centuries.
Silappadikaram deals with the love story of Kovalan, who prefers a
courtesan Madhavi of Kaveripattnam to his noble wedded wife Kannagi.
Manimekalai is a sequel to Silappadikaram and is called the ‘Odyssey of
Tamil poetry’, which deals with the adventures of the daughter born of the
union of Kovalan and Madhavi and her subsequent conversion to
Buddhism.

Administration and Social Life in the Three Early Kingdoms

The Economy in the Sangam Age

 Tolkappiyam refers to the five-fold division of lands called Tinais in the whole of Tamilakam.
o These were Kurinji (hilly tracks), Mullai (pastoral), Palai (arid zone), Marudam
(agricultural land) and Neital (sea coast).
o These land divisions were based on their economic resources.
o The people in different tinais had their own mode of subsistence. For example, in Kurinji
it was hunting and gathering, in Mullai people practised animal husbandry, in Palai
people could hardly produce anything, so they took to raiding and plundering, in
Marudam it was agriculture and in Neital people practised fishing and salt making.
 Agriculture was the main occupation and the chief crops were rice, cotton, ragi, sugarcane,
pepper, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, etc.
o This region is devoid of perennial rivers, so the agricultural activities were facilitated by
building tanks and dams.
o The Chola king, Karikala of the Sangam Age, is credited with constructing a dam on the
Kaveri river, which is considered to be the earliest dam in the country.
o Spinning, weaving, ship-building, carpentry, making of ivory products were some of the
handicrafts which were widely practised.
 Trade, both inland and foreign, was well established.
o The economy of all the three kingdoms flourished due to large scale local and long-
distance trade.
o This helped in the emergence of important towns and craft centres.
 o Muziris on the south-west coast was the important port of the Cheras and the Roman
ships laden with gold used to land at this port and take along consignments of pepper.
o The capital city of the Pandyas, Madurai, was an important centre of textile and ivory
making.
o Korkai - an important Pandya port was famous for its pearls.
o The capital city of the Cholas - Uraiyur was a grand city with huge buildings.
o Kaveripattinam or Puhar was the main Chola port.
o The market places (called avanam), roads and highways were maintained and guarded to
prevent robbery and smuggling.
o The flourishing trade with the Romans was the most important feature of the Sangam
economy.
The author of “Periplus of the Erythrean sea”, gives the most valuable account of
the trade between India and the Roman empire.
Pliny, a Roman writer, in his book “Natural History”, complains that the Roman
empire was drained of gold on account of her trade with India.
Indian items of export to Romans were spices, perfumes, jewels, ivory and fine
textiles (muslin), several precious and semi-precious stones like diamond,
sapphire, carnelian, pearls, sandalwood, iron, etc.
Against these items of export, Romans exported gold and silver to India which is
authenticated by the recovery of large numbers of Roman gold coins in south
India.
The western traders also brought tin, lead, corals and slave girls to the
subcontinent.
 A landmark in the development of communications was the discovery of the monsoon winds by
the Greek sailor Hippatus, around 46 - 47 CE.
o This led to an increase in the number of sea voyages for trading purposes.
o Important ports of India on the western coast were Muziris, Bharukachchha (Broach),
Sopara, and Kalyana.
o Through the Red Sea, ships from these ports sailed to the Roman empire.
o The important ports on the eastern coast of India were Tamralipti (West Bengal),
Arikamedu (Tamil Nadu coast).
 The chief source of states' income was land revenue while a customs duty was levied on foreign
trades. Tributes paid by feudatories and war booty (arai) constituted a considerable part of royal
resources.

To know the political history of the Sangam Period, aspirants can follow the linked article.

Social Structure and Organisation

 The Tamil Brahmi inscriptions mention the kings as Ko and the chieftains as Ko or Kon. The
Brahmanas first appeared in Tamil land in the Sangam age. Many Brahmanas functioned as
poets and were generously rewarded by the king. The Tamil Brahmanas took meat and wine. The
concept of varna was known in the Sangam age but social classes were not marked by acute
caste distinctions in the early Sangam period (caste distinctions became prominent in the later
stage). The most relevant basis of stratification was Kuti (clan-based descent groups) where there
was no restriction on inter-dining and social interactions among Kuti groups. The ruling caste
was called the arasar, and its members had marriage relations with the vellalas (rich peasants)
who constituted the fourth class. The vellalas held the bulk of the land and employed labourers
(Kadaisiyar - lowest class) to do the manual farm work. There were sharp inequalities in the age
of Sangam - the rich lived in houses of brick and mortar while the poor lived in mud houses.
 The class of warriors was an important element in polity and society. Captains of the army were
given the title “enadi” at a formal ceremony. The state had a rudimentary army which consisted
of chariots drawn by oxen, elephants, cavalry and infantry. Elephants played an important part in
wars and the horses were imported by sea into the kingdom. The memorial stones called
“nadukul” or “virukkal” were very significant in the Sangam period and were erected in honour
of those who died while fighting.
 In the domain of religion, the Sangam period witnessed peaceful and close interactions between
north India and south Indian traditions. The kings performed Vedic sacrifices. A Pandya ruler
named Mudukudomi took the title Palshalai, as he had many sacrificial halls. The people mainly
worshipped a deity called Murugan, who was also called Subramaniya. There are also references
to the presence of Buddhists and Jainas in the Tamil region. The Brahmanas also popularized the
worship of Vishnu, Indra and Shiva in south India.
 The megalithic practice of providing for the dead continued in this age and cremation was also
introduced.
 As many poems were contributed by the women poets to the corpus of Sangam literature, it
testifies the belief that women were educated and also respected in the Sangam age. However,
there is also mention about the sati being practised in Tamil society and it was called
“tippayadal”. Sangam poems also mention “Chevilittai” who were like foster mothers and had a
close association with the family members.