:Pandya dynasty

{{Infobox Former Country

| conventional_long_name = Pandyan dynasty

| common_name = Pandya Nadu

| native_name =

| image_flag =

| flag_border = no

| flag_caption =

| era = Medieval era

| year_start = 400 BCE

| year_end = 1618 CE

| flag_p1 =

| border_p1 = no

| p2 =

| s1 = Tenkasi Pandyas

| s2 = Madurai Nayak dynasty

| flag_s1 =

| flag_s2 =

| s3 = Vijayanagara Empire

| flag_s3 =

| border_s3 = no

| flag_s4 =

| s4 =

| border_s4 = No

| flag_s5 =

| s5 = Jaffna kingdom

| image_s6 = Sambuvaraya

| image_map = Map of Pandyas.png

| map_width = 350

| image_map_caption = Pandyan Empire at greatest extent{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical Atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=146, map XIV.2 (b)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=183}}

| official_languages = {{ubl|Tamil{{Cite book |last=Upinder Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA46 |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Education India |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |page=46 |quote=Kings of the Chola and Pandya dynasties also issued Tamil and bilingual Tamil inscriptions.}}{{Cite book |last=C. Sivaramamurti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKgQAQAAMAAJ |title=L'Art en Inde |publisher=H. N. Abrams |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-8109-0630-3 |page=60 |quote=Thus the state language was whether the inscriptions were from the north or the south and whether the dynasty was Gupta, Vakatak[a], Vardhana, Maukhari, Pratihara, Paramara, Chandella, Pala, Sena, Gahadavala, Haihaya, Ganga, Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, or Vijayanagar[a]. Inscriptions were sometimes written in regional languages, but they invariably had a preface in Sanskrit.}}}}

| capital = *Korkai (port, early historic){{Cite journal |date=2015-06-05 |title=Classical Indo-Roman Trade |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/26-27/special-articles/classical-indo-roman-trade.html |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language=en |volume=48 |issue=26–27}}

Madurai (till 1335 CE)
Tenkasi (1422–1618 CE)

| religion = {{ublist

|Hinduism (main){{Cite encyclopedia|last=Thapar|first=Romila|title=India – Society and Culture (8th–13th century)|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India|access-date=2021-01-22|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en}}

|Jainism

|Buddhism

}}

| government_type = Monarchy

| leader1 = Nedunjeliyan I (first documented)

| year_leader1 = Around 270 BCE

| leader2 = Kadungon (Pandya revival)

| year_leader3 = 1613–1618 CE

| leader3 = Varagunarama

| year_leader2 = 560–590 CE

| today = India
Sri Lanka

| demonym = Pandiyar

| flag_width =

| map_caption = Greatest extent of the Pandya Empire, 13th Century{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=38, map V.2(d)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=075}}

}}

The Pandya dynasty ({{IPA|ta|paːɳɖijɐr|lang}}), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras.{{cite book |last=Subbarayalu |first=Y. |year=2014 |chapter=Early Tamil Polity |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |editor-first=Noburu |editor-last=Karashima |pages=53–54 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press}} Existing since at least the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE, the dynasty passed through two periods of imperial dominance, the 6th to 10th centuries CE, and under the 'Later Pandyas' (13th to 14th centuries CE). Under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I and Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I, the Pandyas ruled extensive territories including regions of present-day South India and northern Sri Lanka through vassal states subject to Madurai.{{cite book |last=Karashima |first=Noburu |year=2014 |chapter=The Fall of the Old States |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |editor-first=Noburu |editor-last=Karashima |pages=172–73 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press}} The Pandya dynasty is the longest ruling dynasty in the world.{{cite book |last=Harman |first=William. P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_siW9T3ev4C&pg=PA36 |title=The sacred marriage of a Hindu goddess |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1992 |isbn=978-81-208-0810-2 |pages=30–6}}{{cite book |author=Sathayanatha Iyer |title=History of the Nayaks of Madura |year=1924 |page=58}}

The rulers of the three Tamil dynasties were referred to as the "three crowned rulers (the mu-ventar) of the Tamil Region"{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BbqbAAAAQBAJ&q=pandya+dynasty+tamilakam&pg=PA57|title=Britannica Guide to India|date=2009-03-01|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|isbn=978-1-59339-847-7|pages=57|language=en}} in the southern part of India. The origin and the timeline of the Pandya dynasty are difficult to establish.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Pandya dynasty {{!}} Indian dynasty |language=en |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pandya-dynasty |access-date=2017-09-21}} The early Pandya chieftains ruled their country (Pandya Nadu) from the ancient period, which included the inland city of Madurai and the southern port of Korkai.{{Cite journal |date=2015-06-05 |title=Classical Indo-Roman Trade |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/26-27/special-articles/classical-indo-roman-trade.html?0=ip_login_no_cache=3b49b785309ca821ff5e0a285f43e078 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language=en |volume=48 |issue=26–27}}{{Cite journal|date=2015-06-05|title=Classical Indo-Roman Trade|url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/26-27/special-articles/classical-indo-roman-trade.html|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|language=en|volume=48|issue=26–27|pages=7–8}} The Pandyas are celebrated in the earliest available Tamil poetry (Sangam literature). Graeco-Roman accounts (as early as the 4th century BCE), the edicts of Maurya emperor Ashoka, coins with legends in Tamil-Brahmi script, and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions suggest the continuity of the Pandya dynasty from the 3rd century BCE to the early centuries CE.{{Cite book|last=Vincent|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lldBAAAAcAAJ&q=Ptolemy+pandion&pg=PA401|title=The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea|date=1805|publisher=Cadell and Davies|pages=403|language=en}} The early historic Pandyas faded into obscurity upon the rise of the Kalabhra dynasty in south India.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=327}}

From the 6th century to the 9th century CE, the Chalukyas of Badami or Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, the Pallavas of Kanchi, and Pandyas of Madurai dominated the politics of south India. The Pandyas often ruled or invaded the fertile estuary of Kaveri (the Chola country), the ancient Chera country (Kongu and central Kerala) and Venadu (southern Kerala), the Pallava country, and Sri Lanka.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|pp=85–87}} The Pandyas fell into decline with the rise of the Cholas of Thanjavur in the 9th century and were in constant conflict with the latter. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras against the Chola Empire until it found an opportunity to revive its frontiers during the late 13th century.{{cite book |last=Sastri |first=K. A. Nilakanta |year=1958 |edition=2nd |title=A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar |location=Madras |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=170–172}}

The Pandyas entered their golden age under Maravarman I and Jatavarman Sundara Pandya I (13th century). Some early efforts by Maravarman I to expand into the Chola country were effectively checked by the Hoysalas.{{Cite book|last=Sastri|first=K. A. Nilakanta|title=A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=1958|pages=203–205|chapter=The Age of the Four Kingdoms}} Jatavarman I ({{circa|1251}}) successfully expanded the kingdom into the Telugu country (as far north as Nellore), south Kerala, and conquered northern Sri Lanka. The city of Kanchi became a secondary capital of the Pandyas.The Hoysalas, in general, were confined to the Mysore Plateau and even king Somesvara was killed in a battle with Pandyas.{{Cite book|last=Sastri|first=K. A. Nilakanta|title=A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1958|isbn=|edition=2nd|location=|pages=207–08|chapter=The Age of the Four Kingdoms}} Maravarman Kulasekhara I (1268) defeated an alliance of the Hoysalas and the Cholas (1279) and invaded Sri Lanka. The venerable Tooth Relic of the Buddha was carried away by the Pandyas. During this period, the rule of the kingdom was shared among several royals, one of them enjoying primacy over the rest. An internal crisis in the Pandya kingdom coincided with the Khalji invasion of south India in 1310–11. The ensuing political crisis saw more sultanate raids and plunder, the loss of south Kerala (1312), and north Sri Lanka (1323) and the establishment of the Madurai sultanate (1334{{cite book |last=Karashima |first=Noburu |year=2014 |chapter=The Fall of the Old States |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |editor-first=Noburu |editor-last=Karashima |pages=173–74 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press}}).{{cite book |title=Sri Lanka and South-East Asia: Political, Religious and Cultural Relations from A.D. c. 1000 to c. 1500 |year=1978 |first=W. M. |last=Sirisena |page=57}}{{cite book |title=Politics of Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka |publisher=South Asian Publishers |year=1996 |first=Ambalavanar |last=Sivarajah |page=22}} The Pandyas of Ucchangi (9th–13th century) in the Tungabhadra valley were related to the Pandyas of Madurai.

According to tradition, the legendary Sangams ("the Academies") were held in Madurai under the patronage of the Pandyas, and some of the Pandyan rulers claimed to be poets themselves. Pandya Nadu was home to several renowned temples, including the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. The revival of the Pandya power by Kadungon (late 6th century CE) coincided with the prominence of the Shaivite nayanars and the Vaishnavite alvars.{{Cite book |last=A. Soundaram |title=History of People and Their Environs |publisher=Bharathi Puthakalayam |year=2011 |isbn=978-93-80325-91-0 |editor-first=S. |editor-last=Ganeshram |pages=68–69 |chapter=The Characteristic Features of Early Medieval Tamil Society |editor-first2=C. |editor-last2=Bhavani |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crxUQR_qBXYC&pg=PA68}} It is known that the Pandya rulers followed Jainism for a short period of time.{{cite book |first1=M. S. Ramaswami |last1=Ayyangar |first2=B. Seshagiri |last2=Rao | title=Studies in South Indian Jainism | year=1922 | location=Madras |publisher=Premier Press | url=https://archive.org/details/studiesinsouthin00ramarich/page/n74/mode/1up |quote=That after the fifth century A.D. Jainism became so very influential and powerful as to even become the state-creed of some of the Pandyan kings.}}

Etymology and origin legends

The etymology of Pandya is still a matter of considerable speculation among scholars. One theory is that the word pandya is derived from the ancient Tamil word "pandu" meaning "old".{{Cite book |last=Avari |first=Burjor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTaTDAAAQBAJ |title=India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from {{circa|7000 BCE}} to CE 1200 |date=2016-07-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317236733 |pages=249 |language=en}} The theory suggests that in early historic 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.{{Cite book |last=Madras |first=University of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-87AQAAIAAJ&q=pandyan+longest+rule |title=Journal: Humanities |date=1973 |language=en}} Another theory is that the word Pandya is derived from the Sanskrit word Pandu to mean white or pale, in reference to king Pandu and the Pandavas.MALONEY, Clarence Thomas, THE EFFECT OF EARLY COASTAL SEA TRAFFIC ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION IN SOUTH INDIA. University of Pennsylvania, period, 1968 Anthropology, p.35 Apart from these derivations mentioned, several other theories do appear in historical studies.{{Cite book |last=Oppert |first=Gustav saloman |title=On the Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa or India |year=1888 |isbn=9925082196 |pages=104|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand }}

According to the ancient Tamil legends, the three brothers Cheran, Cholan and Pandyan ruled in common at the southern city of Korkai. While Pandya remained at home, his two brothers Cheran and Cholan after a separation founded their own kingdoms in north and west.{{Cite book |last=Caldwell |first=Bishop R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjTneAGmatsC |title=History of Tinnevelly |date=1989 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=9788120601611 |pages=12 |language=en}} Epic poem Silappatikaram mentions that the emblem of the Pandyas was that of a fish.{{Cite book |last=Nākacāmi |first=Irāmaccantiran̲ |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtYBAAAAMAAJ |title=Studies in Ancient Tamil Law and Society |date=1978 |publisher=Institute of Epigraphy, State Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamilnadu |pages=52 |language=en}}

Indian traditions such as the Great Epics and the Puranas often associate southern India with Sage Agastya (who had his ashrama in the south). Agastya appears prominently in medieval Tamil literature also.Karashima, Noburu. 2014. 'Beginnings of South Indian History', in A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations, ed. Noburu Karashima, pp. 25–26. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Folklores attribute Alli Rani (meaning "the queen Alli") as one of the early historic rulers of the Pandyas. She is attributed as an "amazonian queen" whose servants were men and administrative officials and army were women.{{Cite book |first=Vijaya |last=Ramaswamy |title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils |date=2017-08-25 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781538106860 |pages=50 |language=en}} She is thought of ruling the whole western and northern coast of Sri Lanka from her capital Kudiramalai, where remains of what is thought of as her fort are found.{{Cite book |last=Raghavan |first=M. D. |title=Tamil culture in Ceylon: a general introduction |date=1971 |publisher=Kalai Nilayam |pages=59–60 |language=en}} She is sometimes seen as an incarnation of the Pandya associated gods, Meenakshi and Kannagi.{{Cite book |last=Shulman |first=David Dean |title=Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition |date=2014-07-14 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400856923 |pages=124 |language=en}}

= Chandra-vamsa =

The medieval Pandya kings were claimed to have belonged to the Chandra-vamsa or the Lunar Race.{{Cite book |last=James Henry Nelson |title=The Madura Country: A Manual |publisher=Asian Educational Services, 1989 |page=44}} They claimed Pururavas and Nahusha as ancestors.{{Cite book |last=Irā Nākacāmi, Irāmaccantiran̲ Nākacāmi |title=Art and Culture of Tamil Nadu |publisher=Sundeep Prakashan, 1980 |page=2}} Pururavas is listed as one of the ancestors in the Velvikudi Inscription of Nedunjadaiyan Varaguna-varman I (Jatila Parantaka Nedunjadaiyan).{{Cite book |last=H. K. Sastri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0VwmsGA7ZuoC |title=Epigraphia Indica |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |year=1983 |volume=17 |page=305 |chapter=Velvikudi Grant of Nedunjadaiyan |author-link=H. Krishna Sastri}}

Sources of Pandya history

The Greek ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya, Megasthenes mentions Queens of Pandyas as 'Pandaia' and locates them in the south of India extending into the ocean. It consisted of 365 villages which met the needs of the royal palace each day of the year. He described the queen Pandaie as daughter of Heracles (by some author as Shiva or Krishna).{{Cite web|date=2020-01-28|title=Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/three-crowned-kings-tamilakam/|access-date=2021-04-10|website=National Geographic Society|language=en}} Madurai, capital of Pandyas is mentioned in Kautilya's Arthashastra (4th century BCE) as 'Mathura of the south'.

= Archaeological sources =

File:Mangulam inscription (south India).jpg

Pandyas are also mentioned in the inscriptions of Maurya emperor Asoka (3rd century BCE). In his inscriptions (2nd and 13th Major Rock EdictKarashima, Noburu. 2014. 'Beginnings of South Indian History', in A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations, ed. Noburu Karashima, pp. 26–27. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.), Asoka refers to the peoples of south India – the Cholas, the Cheras, Pandyas and Satiyaputras.Kulke and Rothermund, p104Keay, p119 These polities, possibly not part of the Maurya empire, were on friendly terms with Asoka:

{{cquote|The conquest by dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanas (5,400–9,600 km) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni river.
(Major Rock Edict No.13), Ven. S. Dhammika translation[http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html S. Dhammika, The Edicts of King Ashoka: An English Rendering] Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy (1994) {{ISBN|955-24-0104-6}}

}}

{{blockquote| Everywhere within the conquered province of King Piyadasi (Ashoka), the beloved of the gods, as well as in the parts occupied by the faithful, such as Chola, Pandya, Satiyaputra, and Keralaputra, even as far as Tambapanni (Ceylon) and within the dominions the Greek (of which Antiochus generals are the rulers ) everywhere the heaven-beloved Raja Piyadasi’s double system of medical aid is established- both medical aid for men and medical aid for animals.
(Major Rock Edict No.2), James Prinsep translation{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25520/page/117/mode/1up|title=Complete Works of Alexander Cunningham: Inscriptions of Asoka Vol I|last=Cunningham|page=117|first=Alexander|date=1969|publisher=Indological Book House, Varanasi}}}}

The earliest Pandya to be found in epigraph is Nedunjeliyan, figuring in the Tamil-Brahmi Mangulam inscription (near Madurai) assigned to 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE.{{Cite book |last=Umamaheshwari |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRxJDwAAQBAJ&q=Mangulam+inscription+jain&pg=PA43 |title=Reading History with the Tamil Jainas: A Study on Identity, Memory and Marginalisation |date=2018-01-25 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-81-322-3756-3 |language=en}} The record documents a gift of rock-cut beds, to a Jain ascetic. It is assumed that the people found in the Mangulam inscription, Nedunjeliyan, Kadalan, and Izhanchadikan predate rulers such as Talaiyanganam Nedunjelyan and Palyaga-salai Mudukudimi Peruvaludi.Subbarayalu, Y. 2014. 'Early Tamil Polity', in A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations, ed. Noburu Karashima, pp. 48–49. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Kharavela, the Kalinga king who ruled during c. 1st century BCE, in his Hathigumpha inscription, claims to have destroyed an old confederacy of Tamil countries ("the tamira–desa–sanghata") which had lasted 132 years, and to have acquired a large number of pearls from the Pandyas.

Silver punch-marked coins with the fish symbol of the Pandyas dating from around the same time have also been found.{{Cite book |last=Champakalakshmi |first=Radha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGTaAAAAMAAJ&q=silver+pandya |title=Trade, ideology, and urbanization: South India 300 BC to AD 1300 |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=123 |isbn=978-0-19-563870-7 |language=en}}

= Early Tamil literature =

The early historic Pandyas are celebrated in the earliest available Tamil poetry. The poems refers to about twelve Pandya rulers.Subbarayalu, Y. 2014. 'Early Tamil Polity', in A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations, ed. Noburu Karashima, pp. 47–48. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. According to tradition, the legendary Sangams ("the Academies") were held in Madurai under the patronage of the Pandyas. Several Tamil literary works, such as Iraiyanar Agapporul, mention the legend of three separate Sangams and ascribe their patronage to the Pandyas.{{Cite book |last=Husaini |first=Abdul Qadir |title=The History of the Pandya Country |page=5}}

File:Andal Temple.jpg built by Pandyas primarily, is the official emblem of Tamil Nadu.Rao, A.V.Shankaranarayana (2012). Temples of Tamil Nadu. Vasan Publications. pp. 195–99. ISBN 978-81-8468-112-3.]]

Pandya rulers from early historic south India{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ&q=A+History+of+South+India+from+the+Early+Times+to+the+Fall+of+Vijayanagar+nilakanta+sastri|title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|last=Sastri|first=Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta|date=1976|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=22–25|isbn=978-0-19-560686-7|language=en}}

Mudattirumaran
Koon Pandya
Nedunjeliyan I ("Aariyap Padai Kadantha")
Puda-Pandya
Palyagasalai Mudukudumi Peruvaludi
Nedunjeliyan II
Nan Maran
Nedunj Cheliyan III ("Talaiyaalanganathu Seruvendra")
Maran Valudi
Kadalan Valuthi
Musiri Mutriya Cheliyan
Ukkirap Peruvaludi
Bootha Pāndiyan
Arivudainampi

Pandya rulers – such as Nedunjeliyan, the Victor of Talaiyalanganam, and Mudukudimi Peruvaludi, the Patron of Several Sacrificial Halls ("the Palyaga-salai") – find mention in several poems (such as Mathuraikkanci).Subbarayalu, Y. 2014. 'Early Tamil Polity', in A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations, ed. Noburu Karashima, pp. 52–53. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Besides several short poems found in the Akananuru and the Purananuru collections, there are two major works – Mathuraikkanci and Netunalvatai – which give a glimpse into the society and commercial activities in the Pandya country during the early historic period.{{Cite book |last1=Venkataramaiah |first1=K. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pAMAQAAMAAJ&q=Maduraikkanci |title=A handbook of Tamil Nadu |last2=Linguistics |first2=International School of Dravidian |date=1996 |publisher=International School of Dravidian Linguistics |isbn=9788185692203 |pages=548 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Karuṇāniti |first1=Kalaiñar Mu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5b94AAAAIAAJ&q=Netunalvatai+pandya |title=Gleanings from Sangam verses: English version of Sangat Thamizh |last2=Araṅkacāmi |first2=Pal̲ani |last3=Kal̲akam |first3=Tañcai Tamil̲p Palkalaik |date=1997 |publisher=Tamil University |pages=245 |isbn=9788170902485 |language=en}} The Purananuru and Agananuru collections contain poems sung in praise of various Pandya rulers and also poems that were claimed to be composed by the rulers themselves.

Besides the poems, king Peruvaludi is also mentioned in later copper-plate grant (8th–9th century CE). In the work Mathuraikkanci, the author Mankudi Maruthanar, refers to his patron, Talaihalanganum Nedunjeliyan, as the Lord of Korkai and the Warlord of the Southern Parathavar People. It contains a full-length description of Madurai and the Pandya country under the rule of Nedunjeliyan. In the famous battle of Talaiyalanganam (in east Tanjore), the Pandya is said to have defeated his enemies (which included the Chera and the Chola). He is also praised for his victory of Mizhalai and Mutturu, two "vel" centres along the ocean (in Pudukkottai). The Netunalvatai (in the collection of Pattupattu) by Nakkirar contains a description of king Nedunjeliyan's palace.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xx7ICQAAQBAJ&q=pandyan+purananuru+poem&pg=PA55|title=Warfare in Pre-British India – 1500BCE to 1740CE|last=Roy|first=Kaushik|date=2015-06-03|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317586920|pages=55|language=en}}

= Foreign sources =

The Buddhist text Mahavamsa (composed in the 5th century CE) mentions a Pandya king in the context of Prince Vijaya's (543–505 BCE) arrival in Sri Lanka with his 700 followers.

According to the Mahavamsa, emissaries laden with precious gifts were sent from Sri Lanka to the city of Madhura in southern India. Their mission was to secure a bride for Prince Vijaya. The Pandya King of Madurai agreed to the proposal. He not only sent his own daughter to marry Prince Vijaya but also requested other families to offer their daughters to marry the prince's ministers and retainers. So, along with the Princess and hundreds of maidens, craftsmen and a thousand families from the eighteen guilds were also sent to Sri Lanka.{{Cite book |last=Geiger |first=Wilhelm |url=http://archive.org/details/mahavamsagreatch00geigrich |title=Mahavamsa : the great chronicle of Ceylon |last2=Bode |first2=Mabel Haynes |date=1912 |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
Greek and Latin sources (early centuries CE) refer to the ancient Tamil country, same as the Tamilakam, as "Lymyrike" or "Damirice" (or Dymirice/Dimirixe or Damirice) and its ruling families.
Pandyas are also mentioned by Greek author Megasthenes (4th century BCE) where he writes about the south Indian kingdom being ruled by women.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjTneAGmatsC&q=t&pg=PA12|title=History of Tinnevelly|last=Caldwell|first=Bishop R.|date=2004|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120601611|pages=16|language=en}} He described the Pandya country in Indika as "occupying the portion of India which lies southward and extends to the sea". According to his account, the kingdom 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 Pandya queen at the time, Pandaia as the daughter of Herakles.India By John Keay{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjTneAGmatsC&q=megasthenes&pg=PA12|title=History of Tinnevelly|last=Caldwell|first=Bishop R.|date=2004|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120601611|pages=15|language=en}}
Pliny the Elder refers to the Pandya ruler of Madurai in general terms (first century CE).
The author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (first century CE) describes the riches of a "Pandian kingdom"{{quote|...Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river and sea about five hundred stadia, and is of another kingdom, the Pandian. This place [Nelcynda] also is situated on a river, about one hundred and twenty stadia from the [Arabian] sea....Periplus 54. {{langx|el|"Ἡ δὲ Νέλκυνδα σταδίους μὲν ἀπὸ Μουζιρέως ἀπέχει σχεδὸν πεντακοσίους, ὁμοίως διά τε ποταμοῦ (καὶ πεζῇ) καὶ διὰ θαλάσσης, βασιλείας δέ ἐστιν ἑτέρας, τῆς Πανδίονος· κεῖται δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ παρὰ ποταμὸν, ὡσεὶ ἀπὸ σταδίων ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι τῆς θαλάσσης."}}}}
The country of the Pandyas was described as Pandya Mediterranea and Modura Regia Pandionis by Ptolemy ({{circa|140 CE}}).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rj5WAAAAYAAJ&q=Ptolemy+pandi+mandala|title=The Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia|last=Balfur|first=Edward|date=1968|publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt|pages=105|language=en}}
Strabo states that an Indian king called Pandion sent Augustus Caesar "presents and gifts of honour".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&pg=PA72 |title=The First Spring: The Golden Age of India |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |publisher=Penguin |year=2011 |isbn=9780670084784 |access-date=12 July 2013}} The 1st-century Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus met, at Antioch, the ambassador sent by a king from India "named Pandion or, according to others, Porus" to Caesar Augustus {{circa|13 CE}} (Strabo XV.4 and 73).Strabo, Geography, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D73 Book XV, Chapter I, section 73]. Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 12 July 2013.Keay, p121
The Roman emperor Julian received an embassy from a Pandya about 361 CE.
Chinese historian Yu Huan in his 3rd-century CE text, the Weilüe, mentions the Panyue kingdom:{{quote|...the kingdom of Panyue is also called Hanyuewang. It is several thousand li to the southeast of Tianzhu (northern India) ...The inhabitants are small; they are the same height as the Chinese ...}}
Scholar John E. Hill identified Panyue as the Pandya kingdom.Hill, John{{cn|date=July 2024}} However, others have identified it with an ancient state located in modern Burma{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZQMAQAAMAAJ|title=Between winds and clouds: the making of Yunnan (second century BCE to twentieth century CE)|first=Bin |last=Yang|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-231-14254-0}} or Assam.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbjLO5l1PCkC&pg=PA12|title=A History of Sino-Indian Relations|first=Yukteshwar |last=Kumar|publisher=APH|year=2005|isbn=978-81-7648-798-6|page=12}}
The Chinese traveler Xuanzang mentions a kingdom further south from Kanchipuram, a kingdom named Malakutta, identified with Madurai described by his Buddhist friends at Kanchipuram.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XXGhAL1WKcC&q=Hiuen+Tsang+malakotta&pg=PA453|title=The Early History of India|last=Smith|first=Vincent A.|date=1999|publisher=Atlantic |isbn=9788171566181|pages=453|language=en}}
In the later part of the 13th century (in 1288 and 1293 CE) Venetian traveller Marco Polo visited the Pandya kingdom and left a vivid description of the land and its people.Rubiés, Joan-Pau. [https://books.google.com/books?id=adpkHQ9SCq0C&pg=PA5 Travel and ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European eyes]More, J. B. Prashant. [https://books.google.com/books?id=11FYACaVySoC&pg=PA9 Muslim identity, print culture, and the Dravidian factor in Tamil Nadu].{{quote|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 as 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.Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (1972). [https://books.google.com/books?id=O8jnnQEACAAJ The Pāṇḍyan Kingdom From the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century]}}

History

= Early historic Pandyas =

File:A_sunrise_over_Vaigai_River_in_Madurai_Tamil_Nadu_India.jpg in Madurai]]

Mauryan emperor Asoka (3rd century BCE) seems to have been on friendly terms with the people of south India and Sri Lanka (the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Satiya Putras, the Kerala Putras and the Tamraparnis). There are no indications that Asoka tried to conquer the extreme south India (the Tamilakam – the Abode of the Tamils).{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=184}}

The three chiefly lines of early historic south India – the Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas – were known as the mu-vendar ("the three vendars"). They were traditionally based at their original headquarters in the interior Tamil Nadu (Karur, Madurai and Uraiyur respectively). The powerful chiefdoms of the three ventar dominated the political and economic life of early historic south India.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=231}} The frequent conflicts between the Chera, the Chola and the Pandya are well documented in ancient (the Sangam) Tamil poetry.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=242}} The Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas also controlled the ports of Muziris (Muchiri), Korkai and Kaveri respectively (for the trade with the Graeco-Roman world). The gradual shift from chiefdoms to kingdoms seems to have occurred in the following period.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=231}}File:Temple between hill symbols and elephant coin of the Pandyas Sri Lanka 1st century CE.jpg)|223x223px]]The famous inscription of king Kharavela at Hathigumpha (mid-first century BCE) mentions the defeat of a confederacy of the "Tramira" countries which had been a threat to Kalinga. It also remembers the precious pearls brought to the capital as booty from the "Pandya" realm.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=211-212}} The Pandya chiefdom was famous for its pearl fisheries and silk industry. Korkai and Alagankulam are believed to have been the exchange centres of the Pandyas. Korkai, a port at the mouth of the river Tambraparni, was linked to the famous pearl fisheries and Alagankulam was also developed as a port.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=229}}

Several coins attributed to early historic Pandyas are found were Severalin the region.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=242}} Inscriptions, datable to c. 2nd century BCE, recording royal grants – both from royals and wealthy commoners – were also discovered from the Pandya country.Thapar, Romila. Southern Indian kingdoms "India". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. https://www.britannica.com/place/India/The-Shunga-kingdom#ref46870

The Pandya seems to be the most prominent of the three "ventar" rulers. There are even references to a Pandya queen from 3rd century BCE representing a confederacy of the Tamil countries. Madurai, in south Tamil Nadu, was the most important cultural centre in south India as the core of the Tamil speakers. Megalithic relics such as menhirs, dolmens, urn burials, stone circles and rock-cut chambers/passages can be found in south India. Burial goods include iron objects, ivory ornaments, Black-and-Red Ware and even some Roman Imperial coins.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=230}} The so-called "velir" hill chieftains are assumed to be associated with these megalithic burials.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=231}}

Greek and Latin accounts (early centuries CE), coins with legends in Tamil-Brahmi script, and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions suggest the continuity of the Pandya dynasty from the 3rd century BCE to early centuries CE. The early Pandyas, along with the Cheras and the Cholas, were eventually displaced by the Kalabhra dynasty.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=327}}

= Medieval Pandyas =

== Pandya revival (7th–10th centuries CE) ==

File:S-TN-71 Vettuvan Koil Tuticorin.jpg, Kalugumalai, Tuticorin. Pandya kingdom, 8th century CE|alt=]]

File:FourArmedVishnuPandyaDynasty8-9thCentury.jpg, Pandya dynasty, second half of the 8th–early 9th century CE (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)|298x298px]]

File:The Hindu Saint Manikkavacakar LACMA AC1997.16.1 (1 of 12).jpg, Shaiva poet-saint and minister of Pandya king Varaguna II (dated to early 12th century) Los Angeles County Museum of Art|374x374px]]

The Pandya kingdom was revived by king Kadungon (r. 590–620 CE{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=85-87}}) towards the end of the 6th-century CE.{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2003|p=331}} In the Velvikudi inscription, a later copper-plate, Kadungon appears as the "destroyer" of the "anti-Brahmanical" Kalabhra kings.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=85-87}} With the decline of the Kalabhra dynasty, the Pandyas grew steadily in power and territory. With the Cholas in obscurity in Uraiyur, the Tamil country was divided between the Pallavas of Kanchi and the Pandyas of Madurai.

From the 6th century to the 9th century CE, the Chalukyas of Badami, the Pallavas of Kanchi, and the Pandyas of Madurai dominated the politics of south India. The Badami Chalukyas were eventually replaced by the Rashtrakutas in the Deccan.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=84-85}} The Pandyas took on the growing Pallava ambitions in south India, and from time to time they also joined in alliances with the kingdoms of the Deccan Plateau (such as with the Gangas of Talakad in late 8th century CE). In the middle of the 9th century, the Pandyas had managed to advance as far as Kumbakonam (north-east of Tanjore on the Kollidam river).

Sendan (r. 654–70 CE), the third king of the Pandyas of Madurai, is known for expanding his kingdom to the Chera country (western Tamil Nadu and central Kerala). Arikesari Maravarman (r. 670–700 CE), the fourth Pandya ruler, is known for his battles against the Pallavas of Kanchi. Pallava king Narasimhavarman I (r. 630–668 CE), the famous conqueror of Badami, claimed to have defeated the Pandyas. Chalukya King Paramesvaravarman I "Vikramaditya" (r. 670–700 CE) is known to have fought battles with the Pallavas, the Gangas, and probably with the Pandyas too, on the Kaveri basin.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=85-87}}

Kirtivarman II (r. 744/5–55 CE), the last Chalukya king, managed to lose to his southern countries as a result of his battles with the Pandyas. Pandya kings Maravarman Rajasimha I (r. 730–65 CE) and Nedunjadaiyan/Varagunavarman I (r. 765–815 CE) threatened Pallava king Nandivarman II Pallavamalla (r. 731–96 CE) who had managed to defeat the Gangas in {{circa|760 CE}}. Varagunavarman I invaded the Pallava country and conquered the Kongu country (western Tamil Nadu) and Venadu (south Kerala). King Srimara Srivallabha (r. 815–62 CE) sailed to Sri Lanka, subjugated and overpowered King Sena I, and sacked his capital Anuradhapura (the Panya invasion of Sri Lanka followed a period of vassalage).{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=85-87}} However, Srimara Srivallabha was soon overpowered by Pallava king Nripatunga (r. 859–99 CE). Sena II, the king of Sri Lanka, invaded the Pandya country, sacked Madurai and chose Varagunavarman II (r. c. 862–880 CESastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar. Madras, Oxford University Press. 165.) as the new king soon after.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=85-87}} It is proposed that the start of the Kollam Era, the Kerala calendar, in 825 CE marked the liberation of Venadu from Pandya control.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=89}}

During the rule of Dantivarman (r. 796–847 CE), the Pallava territory was reduced by the encroachment from the Pandyas from the south (and Rashtrakutas and the Telugu-Cholas from nand orth). Pallava king Nandivarman III (r. 846–69 CE) was able to defeat the Pandyas and Telugu-Cholas (and even the Rashtrakutas) with the help of the Gangas and the emerging Cholas.{{sfn|Noboru Karashima|2014|p=85-87}}

class="wikitable"

|+Pandya kings (6th–10th century CE)

!Pandya ruler

!Reign

!Ref.

Kadungon

|c. 590–620 CE