Pandyas

Also called: Pandya dynasty · Topic: Southern Dynasties: Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "New Beginnings: Cities and States"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"

Meaning

The Pandyas were a very old Tamil dynasty of the far south of India. They rose again as a power by the 6th century CE, ruled from Madurai, were swept aside by the Cholas in the 10th century, and came back in the 13th century to take over the shrunken Chola empire.

They matter because their story shows two things. First, south India was linked to sea trade for centuries, through ports like Korkai. Second, a dynasty that lost power was not always finished: it could return and absorb its old conqueror.

Explanation

An old line, revived

• The Pandyas were not a new family. Greek writers already knew of them in the 4th century BCE. [2]
• Ashoka's inscriptions and the early Tamil Sangam poems also name them. This is standard textbook history.
• They were one of the three great kingdoms of Tamilakam (the old Tamil country). The other two were the Cheras and the Cholas. [2][3]
• Their revival as a power:
• NCERT says they rose again by the 6th century CE.
• Britannica links the revival to king Kadungon in the early 7th century CE. [2]

• For the exam, use the NCERT date (6th century).

• From then on they ruled from Madurai (also written Madura) or from places further south, right down to the 16th century. [2]

Land and shifting alliances

• Land held:
• Most of southern Tamil Nadu.

• For a short while, northern Sri Lanka as well.

• Friends today, rivals tomorrow. The Pandyas did not fight every neighbour all the time.

• Sometimes they allied with the Chalukyas of the Deccan.
• At other times they allied with the Pallavas of Kanchipuram.
• This was normal for the period. Three or four big powers each used the others against whichever one was strongest at the time.

Fall and comeback

• The Chola blow (10th century):
• The Cholas swept the Pandyas aside.

• The Pandya kingdom did not disappear, but it was no longer an independent great power.

• The comeback (13th century):

• About three centuries later the Pandyas rose again.
• They took over the shrunken Chola empire.
• So the dynasty that had been beaten absorbed the dynasty that had beaten it.

Trade and culture

• Sea trade:
• Pandya coins and inscriptions show sea trade with Southeast Asia.

• Ports such as Korkai handled this trade.

• Korkai was an old port, not a late one:

• The Periplus Maris Erythraei lists it as "Colchi". The Periplus is a Greek sailing handbook of the 1st century CE, and its author is not known. [4]

• It sits on that list next to Muziris, Poduca and Sopatma. [4]

• What was sold: according to the Periplus, India exported pepper, precious stones, pearls, tortoise shell, ivory, spikenard and malabathrum (two sweet-smelling plants), plus silk and other textiles. [4]

• Pearls are the key link. The Gulf of Mannar coast near Korkai was famous for its pearls.

• Madurai as a centre of culture:

• Madurai was the Pandya capital and a busy cultural centre. It has been linked with Pandya kings for a very long time. [2][5]
• A copper plate records that the Pandyas had a Tamil translation of the Mahabharata made.
• That translation is now lost. We know about it only from the plate. A record can survive even when the book it describes does not.

Time, place and evidence

• Period:
• Known to Greek writers by the 4th century BCE. [2]
• Revived by the 6th century CE according to NCERT, or under Kadungon in the early 7th century CE according to Britannica. [2]
• Eclipsed by the Cholas in the 10th century.
• Re-emerged in the 13th century.

• Ruled to the 16th century. [2]

• Region: southern Tamil Nadu, and for a short time northern Sri Lanka.

• Named places:
• Madurai, the capital. [2][5]

• Korkai, the chief port, called "Colchi" in the Periplus. [4]

• Key people: Kadungon, the king linked to the early 7th-century revival. [2]

• How we know:
• Greek writings, including the 1st-century CE Periplus Maris Erythraei. [4]
• Pandya coins and inscriptions, which show trade with Southeast Asia.
• A copper plate that records the lost Tamil Mahabharata.
• Ashoka's inscriptions and Sangam poetry, for the early period.

Don't confuse with

• Cholas: the Cholas eclipsed the Pandyas in the 10th century. In the 13th century the Pandyas absorbed the shrunken Chola empire. Do not reverse the order of these two events.
• Cheras (Chera Perumals): also one of the three kingdoms of Tamilakam, but they ruled the Kerala (Malabar) coast, not Madurai. [3]
• Korkai vs Muziris: both are ports in the Periplus. Korkai ("Colchi") was the Pandya port on the pearl coast. Muziris was on the Kerala coast. [4]
• Pallavas: a separate dynasty based at Kanchipuram. The Pandyas sometimes allied with them; the two dynasties were never the same.

Prelims Hooks

• Korkai: the chief Pandya port, listed as "Colchi" in the 1st-century CE Periplus Maris Erythraei. [4]
• Madurai: the Pandya capital and a cultural centre. [2][5]
• Kadungon: the king linked to the Pandya revival in the early 7th century CE. Pandya rule from Madurai lasted to the 16th century. [2]
• Order of events: Pandya revival (6th century), then the Chola eclipse of the Pandyas (10th century), then the Pandyas absorb the Chola empire (13th century).
• The Pandyas briefly held northern Sri Lanka.
• A Pandya copper plate records a Tamil translation of the Mahabharata. The translation itself is lost.

Mains Points

• Dynastic decline was rarely final.
• The Pandyas lost their power to the Cholas in the 10th century.
• In the 13th century they returned and absorbed the Cholas.

• So south Indian political history is a cycle of powers that overlap. It is not a straight line of one empire following another.

• Alliances were practical, not permanent.

• The Pandyas allied with the Chalukyas at some times and with the Pallavas at others.

• This shows a balance-of-power system, where each state worked against whichever rival was strongest.

• Long links with world trade.

• Korkai appears in the 1st-century CE Periplus. [4]
• Later Pandya coins and inscriptions show trade with Southeast Asia.
• This continuity argues against the picture of an isolated, self-sufficient south India. Pearls and other coastal goods connected Pandya wealth to faraway markets.

Related concepts

• Chera Perumals

Read more

• Pandyas and Cheras