The Pandyan or Pandiyan or Pandian dynasty was an ancient Tamil dynasty, one of

the three Tamil dynasties, the other two being the Chola and the Chera. The Pand
ya King, along with Chera King and Chola King, were referred to as the Three Cro
wned Kings of Tamilakam.
The dynasty ruled parts of South India from around 600 BCE (Early Pandyan Kingdo
m)[3] to first half of 17th century CE. They initially ruled their country Pandy
a Nadu from Korkai, a seaport on the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, a
nd in later times moved to Madurai. Fish being their flag, Pandyas were experts
in water management, agriculture(mostly near river banks) and fisheries and they
were eminent sailors and sea traders too. Pandyan was well known since ancient
times, with contacts, even diplomatic, reaching the Roman Empire. The Pandyan em
pire was home to temples including Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, and Nellai
appar Temple built on the bank of the river Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli. The Pa
ndya kings were called either Jatavarman or Maravarman Pandyan. From being Jains
in their early ages, they became Shaivaits after some centuries of rule.[4] Str
abo states that an Indian king called Pandion sent Augustus Caesar "presents and
gifts of honour".[5] The country of the Pandyas, Pandi Mandala, was described a
s Pandyan Mediterranea in the Periplus and Modura Regia Pandyan by Ptolemy.[6]
The early Pandyan Dynasty of the Sangam Literature faded into obscurity upon the
invasion of the Kalabhras. The dynasty revived under Kadungon in the early 6th
century, pushed the Kalabhras out of the Tamil country and ruled from Madurai.[7
] They again went into decline with the rise of the Cholas in the 9th century an
d were in constant conflict with them. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Si
nhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they found an opportu
nity for reviving their fortunes during the late 13th century. The Later Pandyas
(1216 1345) entered their golden age under Maravman Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarma
n Sundara Pandyan (c. 1251), who expanded the empire into Telugu country, conque
red Kalinga (Orissa) and invaded and conquered Sri Lanka. They also had extensiv
e trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya and their s
uccessors. The Pandyas excelled in both trade and literature. They controlled th
e pearl fisheries along the South Indian coast, between Sri Lanka and India, whi
ch produced some of the finest pearls in the known ancient world. Traditionally,
the legendary Sangams were held in Madurai under their patronage, and some of t
he Pandya Kings were poets themselves. During their history, the Pandyas were re
peatedly in conflict with the Pallavas, Cholas, Hoysalas and finally the Muslim
invaders from the Delhi Sultanate.
The Islamic invasion led to the end of Pandyan supremacy in South India. 1323, J
affna Kingdom in Sri Lanka declared its independence from the crumbling Pandyan
Empire.[8][9] The Pandyans lost their capital city Madurai to Madurai Sultanate
in 1335. However they shifted their capital to Tenkasi and continued to rule the
Tirulnelveli, Tuticorin, Ramanad, Sivagangai regions. Meanwhile, Madurai sultan
ate was replaced by Nayak governors of Vijayanagar in 1378. In 1529 Nayak govern
ors declared independence and established Madurai Nayak dynasty. The introductio
n of Palaiyakkarar system by Madurai Nayak dynasty vanished the The Pandyan King
dom one and all.
Contents [hide]
1
Etymology
2
Mythology
3
Sources
3.1
Sangam literature
3.2
Epigraphy
3.3
Foreign sources
4
History
4.1
Literary sources
4.1.1 Tamil literary sources
4.1.2 Sanskrit literary sources

4.2
Early Pandyas (3rd century BCE
3rd century CE)
4.3
First Pandian Empire (6th
10th centuries CE)
4.4
Under Chola Influence (10th 13th centuries)
4.5
Second Pandian Empire (13th and 14th centuries)
4.5.1 Pandian Civil War (AD 1308 to 1311)
4.5.2 Delhi sultanate expedition (AD 1311)
4.5.3 Decline and fall
5
Architecture
5.1
Pandyan architecture
6
Coinage
6.1
Pandyan coins
7
Government and Society
7.1
Trade
7.2
Pearl fishing
8
Religion
9
See also
10
Notes
11
References
Etymology[edit]
The word Pandya is derived from the Tamil word "Pandu" meaning very old.[citatio
n needed] Another theory is that the word "Pandya" is derived from the Tamil wor
d "Pandi" meaning bull. Ancient Tamils, considered the bull as a sign of masculi
nity and valor. The earliest Pandyans, probably used the bull as its emblem.[10]
[11]
Another theory suggests that in Sangam Tamil lexicon the word Pandya means old c
ountry in contrast with Chola meaning new country, Chera meaning hill country an
d Pallava meaning branch in Sanskrit. The Chera, Chola and Pandya are the tradit
ional Tamil siblings and together with the Pallavas are the major Kings that rul
ed ancient Tamilakam.
Historians have used several sources to identify the origins of the early Pandya
n dynasty with the pre-Christian Era and also to piece together the names of the
Pandyan kings. Pandyas were the longest ruling dynasty of Indian history.[12] U
nfortunately, the exact genealogy of these kings has not been authoritatively es
tablished yet.
Mythology[edit]
According to the Epic Mahabharatha the legendary Malayadwaja Pandya, who sided w
ith the Pandavas and took part in the Kurukshetra War of the Mahabharata, is des
cribed as follows in Karna Parva (verse 20.25):[13][14]
"Although knowing that the shafts (arrows) of the high souled son of Drona emplo
yed in shooting were really inexhaustible, yet Pandya, that bull among men, cut
them all into pieces".
Malayadwaja Pandya and his queen Kanchanamala had one daughter Thataathagai alia
s Meenatchi who succeeded her father and reigned the kingdom successfully. The M
adurai Meenatchi Amman temple was built after her. The city of Madurai was built
around this temple.[15] It is also notable that the etymology of the name Meena
tchi came from two Tamil words Meen(Fish) and Aatchi(Rule) which collectively me
ans 'Rule of the Fish'.
Sources[edit]
Main article: Early Pandyan Kingdom
Sangam literature[edit]
Four-armed Vishnu, Pandya Dynasty, 8th 9th century CE.
Pandya kings find mention in a number of poems in the Sangam Literature. Among t
hem Nedunjeliyan, 'the victor of Talaiyalanganam', and Mudukudimi Peruvaludi 'of

several sacrifices' deserve special mention. Beside several short poems found i
n the Akananuru and the Purananuru collections, there are two major works
Mathur
aikkanci and the Netunalvatai (in the collection of Pattupattu) which give a gli
mpse into the society and commercial activities in the Pandyan kingdom during th
e Sangam age.
It is difficult to estimate the exact dates of these Sangam age Pandyas. The per
iod covered by the extant literature of the Sangam is unfortunately not easy to
determine with any measure of certainty. Except the longer epics Silapathikaram
and Manimekalai, which by common consent belong to an age later than the Sangam
age, the poems have reached us in the forms of systematic anthologies. Each indi
vidual poem has generally attached to it a colophon on the authorship and subjec
t matter of the poem. The name of the king or chieftain to whom the poem relates
and the occasion which called forth the eulogy are also found.
It is from these colophons, and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, t
hat we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets and poetesses
patronised by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in wh
ich the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another ha
s not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced t
hese colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents.
Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology from these poems should take i
nto consideration the casual nature of these poems and the wide differences betw
een the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian s
attempts to arrive at a continuous history. Pandyas are also mentioned by Greek
Megesthenes where he writes about southern kingdom being ruled by women.Hiuen Ts
ang also mentions about it citing his Buddhist friend at Kanchi and callas it Ma
lakutta or Malakotta but the capital city is not mentioned.
Epigraphy[edit]
The earliest Pandya to be found in epigraph is Nedunjeliyan, figuring in the Min
akshipuram record assigned from the 2nd to the 1st centuries BCE. The record doc
uments a gift of rock-cut beds, to a Jain ascetic. Punch marked coins in the Pan
dya country dating from around the same time have also been found.
Pandyas are also mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka (inscribed 273 232 BCE). In
his inscriptions Ashoka refers to the peoples of south India the Cholas, Cheras,
Pandyas and Satiyaputras
as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism.[16][17] The
se kingdoms, although not part of the Mauryan Empire, were on friendly terms wit
h Ashoka:
The conquest by Dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred y
ojanas (5,400 9,600 km) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there w
here 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.[18]
Kharavela, the Kalinga king who ruled during the 2nd century BCE, in his Hathigu
mpha inscription, claims to have destroyed a confederacy of Tamil states ( Tamirade
sasanghatam' ) which had lasted 132 years, and to have acquired a large quantity o
f pearls from the Pandyas.[17]
Foreign sources[edit]
Temple between hill symbols and elephant coin of the Pandyas Sri Lanka 1st centu
ry CE.
Muziris, as shown in the Tabula Peutingeriana, with a "Templum Augusti".
Megasthenes knew of the Pandyan kingdom around 300 BCE. He described it in Indik
a as occupying the portion of India which lies southward and extends to the sea.

According to his account, it had 365 villages, each of which was expected to me
et the needs of the royal household for one day in the year. He described the Pa
ndyan queen at the time, Pandaia as a daughter of Heracles.[19]
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 60
dian Kingdom':

100 CE) describes the riches of a 'Pan

...Nelcynda is distant from Muziris by river and sea about five hundred stadia,
and is of another Kingdom, the Pandian. This place also is situated on a river,
about one hundred and twenty stadia from the sea.... [20]
The Chinese historian Yu Huan in his 3rd-century text, the Weile, mentions The Ki
ngdom of Panyue:
...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...[21]
The Roman emperor Julian received an embassy from a Pandya about 361. A Roman tr
ading centre was located on the Pandyan coast at the mouth of the Vaigai river,
southeast of Madurai.
Pandyas also had trade contacts with Ptolemaic Egypt and, through Egypt, with Ro
me by the 1st century, and with China by the 3rd century. The 1st-century Greek
historian Nicolaus of Damascus met, at Antioch, the ambassador sent by a king fr
om India "named Pandion or, according to others, Porus" to Caesar Augustus aroun
d 13 CE (Strabo XV.4 and 73).[22][23]
According to Xuanzang, the Pandya country was a depot for sea pearls, its people
were harsh and of different religions. They were very good at trade.[7]
In the later part of the 13th century Venetian traveller Marco Polo visited the
Pandyan kingdom and left a vivid description of the land and its people.[24][25]
Polo exclaimed that:
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 a
nd depict their gods and their idols black and their devils white as snow. For t
hey 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.[26]
History[edit]