HistoriCity | Tamil Nadu: A Brief History from Presidency to Tamilakam

TAmil Nadu is among the richest states in republic of india by any yard measure, be it by GDP or by per capita income. It is also the to the highest degree endowed when it comes to chronicle, imperial beard power, cultural artefacts and literature. For the rest of India, particularly the regions above the Vindhyas, people living south of the mountain range were referred to as ‘Madrasi’. This was not entirely without basis, the English East India Company and later the English government created the Madras presidency which covered an area more than 362,000 square kilometres and population of over 30 million between 1870 and 1920. The regions that the British administered from Fort St. George as Madras presidency were historically antagonistic to each other, linguistically disparate, and were also distinct geophysically. From the southern districts of Odisha (Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangir and others), to Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep, large parts of Karnataka and present day Telangana to most of Tamil Nadu itself, what was termed the Madras presidency also consisted of fertile deltas as well as the Nilgiris where tea and coffee plantations were developed. The presidency outlasted English colonial rule which ended in 1947. It was only after Potti Sriramulu died fasting demanding a separate state of Andhra Pradesh that this artificial administrative construct finally broke up and the present state of Tamil Nadu came into existence.Ancient TamilakamArchaeological excavations at Attirampakkan near Chennai (earlier Madras) have provided evidence of Hominids through the presence of stone axes and other tools that were likely used more than 170,000 years ago. In fact, Chennai itself has provided similar dates for tools on typo-technological basis, unearthed at Kalapakkam these cores (fist-sized stone tools with sharp and pointed ends) indicate continuous human existence from the middle-paleolithic period.During the last 3,000 years that encompass Sangam (2nd BCE-4th CE) and and post-Sangam periods there have been three major monarchical dynasties that ruled roughly the similar area that is identified as Tamil Nadu today. Tamilakam, therefore, preceded the Madras presidency. It was an expansive area, ruled by the Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras, and it covered today’s Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and the southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. One of the most certain sources of the presence of these three dynasties comes to us from Mauryan emperor Ashoka’s major rock edict at Girnar in Gujarat. In that edict, Ashoka (reign: 304-232 BCE) refers to the kingdoms present at the borders of his own dominion, among these he lists the Cholas, the Pandyas, and the Keralaputras, as well as those in the north-west such the Greek Antiochus and that of Tamraparni in the east.Also Read: HistoriCity | The pre-colonial roots of Christianity in IndiaIn Sangam literary texts these territories appear as a single cultural zone where while Tamil was the main language it was by no means the only one. Malayalam and Kannada too emerged from this zone and period. The ancient region of Tamilakam has changed continuously both politically as well as territorially, however, besides cultural continuity trade too has remained a constant. Both the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st CE) and Marco Polo’s account (11th CE) vouch for presence of international trade in Tamil Nadu. Pearls, pepper, ivory and other goods were the mainstay of this international trade. When the Portuguese, Dutch, English and French arrived in the second half of the second millennium CE the textile trade took place on the western coast while that in spice happened on the eastern coast. Tamil Nadu and its territories like Pondicherry benefitted from both.Kalbharas and Malik Kafur: Conquerors of TamilakamThe triumvirate of early Cholas, early Pallavas, and Cheras who had kept up rivalries between each other faced a sudden and powerful foe between the 3rd and 6th centuries. Scholars have been unable to accurately identify the Kalabhras, their area of origin, the period of their rule or even the territory that they conquered after defeating the ancient triumvirate.SC Mishra and Manisha Agnihotri write in “Viewing the Kalabhras as a Hoax or Historical Reality”, “…We come across conflicting views about the historical reality of the Kalabhras. Some treat them as dreaded rulers’ bringing in consternations among the southern powers with their incursions, whereas some treat them as predators,’ still others assigned a phase for them in the Tamilkam as “Kalabhra interregnum”. They are also treated as a widespread tribe, who caused political and social upset due to their leanings towards heretical faiths (Jainism and Buddhism).”But from inscriptional evidence such as that found at Pulankurichi (dated 270 CE) and the 8th century Velvikudi copper plate inscription, it is clear that this dynasty did exist. Mishra and Agnihotri write about the inscription, “...it is said that a king named Kalabhran took possession of the extensive earth driving away numberless great kings (adhiraja) and resumed the (village mentioned) above. The inscription supplies a genealogy of the Pandya rulers starting from Pandu born as Buddha, Pururava, Maravarman, Ranadhir, Mr Kadungan, Mana Chendan, Arikesari, Chedaiyan, Mar then Nedumjadaiyan. Nedunjaidaiyan is credited with defeating the Kadava, Kurumbas and is styled as the King of Neriyar (i.e. The Cholas)”. The Kalabhras were eventually destroyed and perhaps owing to their anti-Brahmanical leanings were wiped out from history completely by the triumvirate.The Imperial Cholas and Conquest of Kalinga and BengalThe greatest dynasty to rule Tamil Nadu was the later Cholas whose founder was Vijayalaya who exploited the feud between Pandya and Pallava kingdoms, and in 850 CE captured Tanjore (Thanjavur) and revived the Chola dynasty. A string of kings followed and pursued wars with the Rashtrakutas, Eastern and Western Chalukyas and by the 11th century the Cholas emerged as the pre-eminent power under Raja Raja Chola I (947- 1014 CE). Raja Raja brought under Chola control Maldives, Sri Lanka and all other neighbouring kingdoms. After the conquest of Kalinga and Bengal, Rajendra Chola I moved the Chola capital from Thanjavur to a new city. Nilakanta Sastri writes in the Cholas, “Gangaikonda-cholapuram, at the meeting point of the modem districts of Trichinopoly, Arcot and Tanjore, rose into prominence as the Chola capital in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and is now a small place with a magnificent temple in ruins”.However, in a few decades after his demise the Chola empire came close to crumbling due to Chalukyan interference and palace intrigues. However, it was Kulottanga I, who was born in a friendly Chalukyan family, who became king and restored Cola power and extended diplomatic relations not only across India but also to China. Sastri writes, “The Chola Empire under Kulottunga maintained extensive foreign connections in India and outside. An incomplete Gahadval prasasti engraved on the walls of the temple of Gangaikonda-Cholapuram shows that Chola diplomacy in this period embraced the northern India states within the range of its orbit. This prasasti which begins Akuntkotkantha must belong to Madanapala or his son Govindacandra of Kanauj. The inscription opens by citing the forty-first regnal year of Kulottunga, and then gives a good part of the Gahadval prasasti, but stops without giving the name of the actual ruler who makes the record or detailing the gift which furnishes the occasion for it. This prasasti in the distant Cola capital is perhaps evidence of some dynastic connection, otherwise unknown, between these two dynasties”Also Read: HistoriCity | Transgender identities always a part of India’s cultural discourseBy the middle of the 13th century the Pandyas were back in control over the Tamil heartland.However, a new power had emerged up north in Delhi. Sultan Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316 CE) dispatched his army under the generalship of Malik Kafur, an eunuch slave of Hindu descent who had risen up the ranks and was one of the most trusted generals of Khilji. His conquest of Ma’abar or medieval Tamil Nadu is described well by B.R.Modak in Sayana, “at this period king Maravarman Kukashekhara of Pandya dynasty expired in Madura and there started a quarrel between his two sons Vira Pandya and Sundara Pandya. The latter sought the help of Alauddin Khalji. Alauddin directed Malik Kafur to help Sundara Pandaya. Accordingly Malik Kafur started with a big army and taking the side of Sundara Pandya defeated Vira Pandya… He advanced up to Rameshwar and plundered the cities on his way and returned to Delhi with 312 elephants, twenty thousand horses and a very big treasure of gold and jewels.”Author Valay Singh’s HistoriCity is a column about a city in the news based on its documented history, mythology, and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal.