I've been meaning to do a write up on one of the most underrated yet one of the longest surviving kingdoms, the Pandyas (300 BCE- 17th century CE). The Pandyas called the southern tip of Indian subcontinent their home, and slightly to the east were the Cholas, who often overshadowed them, and their relationship date back to 300 BCE! While for the most part they fought among each other, they did form coalitions when a common enemy knocked on their borders, for instance when the Mauryan empire under Ashoka was extending throughout India, the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas banded under the lead of Nedunjeliyan I, who's title reads as 'Aariya Padai kadantha Nedunjeliya Pandiyan' (A Pandyan King, who defeated the Aryan intrusion), c. 270 BCE. This time period is known as the Sangam period, when Tamil kingdoms shared and developed the Tamil literature, producing numerous poems and epics that are still taught in schools! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangam_literature They also traded with the Greeks, Ptolemies, and the Romans, as the ancient Greek source 'Periplus of the Erythraean Sea' mentions the Pandian kingdom as a place 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.... The Roman emperor Julian received an embassy from a Pandya about 361 CE. A Pandyan coin from the Sangam period depicting an elephant, and a stylized fish (their royal emblem). Between 4th-7th century AD, with the raise of other regional kingdoms, Pallavas and Kalabhras, the original kingdoms waned in power. However the Pallavas and Pandyas formed a coaliton and defeated the Kalabhras, with the Pallavas taking control of the Northern Tamil region with Cholas as their tributaries, and Pandyas taking control of the south with Cheras as their tributaries around 650 AD. Pallava coin featuring a humped bull and a 'wheel of Karma', c. 600-650 AD. Nothing much changed up until the mid 9th century AD when the Chola chieftain Vijayalaya Chola rebelled and made progress against the Pallavas, with his son Aditya I putting an end to the Pallavas by 900 AD, this was a big blow to the Pandyas, as their trusted ally is now gone! With the subsequent successions of powerful and effective Chola emperors, the Pandyan kingdom, along with the Cheras finally came under the Cholas by the mid 10th century AD. A coin of Uttama Chola (970–985 CE) commemorates the subjugation of Cheras and Pandyas and with the Cholan tiger flanked by Pandyan twin fish and the Cheran bow, all under an umbrella. For the next 250 years the Pandyas were nothing but just one of the tributaries of the Cholas. But with every society, good times creating bad men, and bad men creating bad times, the Cholas were weakened by the mid 13th century, and the Pandyas wasted no time in regaining their dominance, and by the 1250s, not only the Pandyas became independent, but also planned to conquer their conquerors! and they successfully invaded and subjugated the Cholas in 1279 AD. A later Pandyan coin depicting a Chola style standing king on the obv, with seated king on rev with their emblem fish, and to signify sovereignty, a sceptre to the right. And a Pandyan coin probably issued under Jatavarman Sundara Pandya I (1251-1268), on obv shows standing king with pellets and their royal symbol fish to the top right, and the rev reads Sundara Pandya in Tamil, with a crescent above and a conch below. By the late 13th/early 14th century AD, Pandyas once again became the dominant force in South India, however, their streak didn't last long when they had a civil war between two Pandyan brothers that lead to the intervention of the Delhi Sultanate, which then ultimately lead to their decline, but the Pandyas still persevered by moving their capital from Madurai to a small city called Tenkasi in the south along the river Tamiraparani. From there, they ruled as Tenkasi Pandya chiefs, with their last record being from the early 17th century, and slowly diluting into smaller chiefs until the British took control of most of India! For anyone interested in the 2000+ years of Tamil history, this YouTube video shows as a timeline slideshow (although there is no subtitle).
Fantastic writeup and cool coins, @JayAf47. Many thanks for expanding our (please nclude, my) horizons!
you’re welcome! It’s kinda disappointing that these mighty kingdoms never receive the attention that they deserve
