Sangam Age: Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas

Political History of Sangam Age

During the Sangam Period, the Chera, Chola, and Pandya dynasties ruled over the Tamil region.

Cholas

• The kingdom of the Cholas with its capital at Kaveripattinam was started from Kavery delta to the adjoining region of modern Tanjore and Trichinopoly
• One of their early kings, Karikala(AD 190), who figures very prominently in ancient literature, is credited with victories over the rulers of the neighboring Pandya and Chera kingdoms and is believed to have even extended his authority over Ceylon
• Towards the beginning of the fourth century AD, the power of the Cholas began to decline mainly because of the rise of Pallavas on one hand and the continuous wars waged by the Pandyas and the Cheras on the other

Pandyas

• The kingdom of the Pandyas with its capital at Madurai extended to the modern districts of Madura, Ramnad, Tinnevelly and the southern parts of Travancore
• References to   the   Pandyas   occur in ancient literary works like the Mahabharata and the Jatakas as well as in Indica of Megasthenes.
  According to Ashokan edicts, the Pandyas were independent people living beyond the southern border of the Mauryan Empire. A Pandya king is also known to have been sent as ambassador to the court of the Roman emperor Augustus and Trojan

Cheras

• The first reference to the Chera (Keralaputra) kingdom can be traced in the Ashokan inscriptions. It comprised the modern districts of Malabar, Cochin and Northern Travancore
• Its capital was Vanji, which is identified by some with a site on Periyar River, by others with Karur or Karuvur located in the western most Taluq of the Trichinopoly district
• The people of Chera Kingdoms were sea-faring people who established close commercial relationships with Egypt and the Roman Empire. Tondi, Muziris, Kaveripattinam and Korkai were among the well-known trade centres of Peninsular India

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