Tamil Nadu - History
The State of Tamil Nadu has a hoary antiquity. Though early sangam classics throw historical references passes to recorded history only from the Pallavas. Tamil Nadu has a very ancient history which goes back some 6000 years. The State represents Dravidian culture in India which preceded Aryan culture in the country by almost a thousand years. Historians have held that the architects of the Indus Valley Civilization of the fourth century BC were Dravidians and that at a time, anterior to the Aryans, they were spread all over India.
With the coming of the Aryans into North India, the Dravidians appear to have been pushed into the south, where they remained confined to Tamil Nadu, with the other southern States such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala forming repositories of Dravidian culture. The Tamil country was not subjugated by any external power over any long period of time or over large areas, and was not subjected to the hegemony of Hindu or Muslim kingdoms of North India.
The southern states of India were under the hegemony of the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas for centuries. The Pallavas held supremacy from about the second quarter of the fourth century AD. They were the originators of the famous Dravidian style of temple architecture. The last Pallava ruler was Aparajita, in whose reign the later Cholas under Vijayalaya and Aditya asserted themselves by about the 10th century. At the end of the 11th century, Tamil Nadu was ruled by several dynasties like the Chalukyas, Cholas and Pandyas. In the two centuries that followed, the imperial Cholas gained paramountcy over South India.
The rise of Muslim power in India in the 14th century AD had its impact on the South, however, by and large the region remained unaffected by the political upheavals in North and Central India. The Tamil area, for the most part, has maintained a certain political integrity, while at the same time has not insulated itself from the rest of South India.
Tamil Nadu was subject to the rule of four great kingdoms: Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and Pallavas. The Cholas established their supremacy between AD 100 and 200 and continued their dominance over the Cheras in the southwest and the Pandyas in the southeast till the 5th century AD. Karikala Chola, who ruled during this period, is credited with the building of large irrigation tanks, based on harnessing the Cauvery through a system of barrages and tanks. The Pallavas came to the fore in the 6th century AD and their domain extended to a considerable part of present day Tamil Nadu. The Pandyas, who re-emerged during this period, held sway in the southeastern part of the State. The Pallava period extended till the 9th century AD and marked a fusion of Aryan elements with Dravidian culture. This period is known for the establishment of a land revenue system and the emergence of an agrarian economy.
The Cholas re-emerged in the 9th century AD, defeating the Pallavas, and consolidated their empire over the next four centuries. The Chola period witnessed maritime expeditions to neighbouring Sri Lanka and South East Asian countries and forging of trade and cultural links with these countries. Historians refer to the existence of an elaborate bureaucracy during this period with some autonomy for village level political units. The decline of the Cholas saw a brief period of Muslim rule till the rise of the Vijayanagar rulers, who ruled the Tamil territories through Telugu warrior chiefs or Nayaks and through local Tamil chieftains. Dominant landed groups emerged and the rights of share cropping peasants—which was a feature of Chola rule—suffered erosion.
Muslims gradually strengthened their position, which led to the establishment of the Bahamani Sultanate, by the middle of the 14th century. At the same time, the Vijayanagar Kingdom quickly consolidated itself and extended its sway over the whole of South India, and at the close of the century, Vijayanagar became the supreme power in South. However, it crumbled at the battle of Talikota in 1564 to the confederate forces of the Deccan Sultans.
With the decline of the Vijayanagar Empire, the Tamil territories were parcelled out among several petty kings such as the Nayaks of Madurai and Thanjavur who declared themselves independent. This was a period of political, economic and social instability which enabled the British to take full advantage. Even during the period of the tumultuous confusion that followed the battle of Talikota, European commercial interest had appeared as rivals in the area of South India. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English came in quick succession and established trading centres known as 'Factories'. East India Company, which had established its factory at Masulipatnam (now in Andhra Pradesh) in 1611, gradually annexed territories by encouraging enmity among the native rulers.
Tamil Nadu was one of the first of British settlements in India. With the arrival of the East India Company at Madras in 1639, a new chapter was opened in the history of South India and very soon, most of South India came under the hegemony of the British. During the next two centuries, the East India Company gradually extended its influence and obtained possession of the entire area from Cape Comorin to the Northern circars, the Danish station of Tranquebar, the French settlements at Pondicherry and the territories of the five native States1 all of which together came to be called Madras Presidency with its capital city at Madras. The area of the then Madras Presidency was 141,705 sq. miles.
The State is the successor to the old Madras Presidency, which covered the bulk of the southern peninsula in 1901. With India attaining independence in 1947, the Madras Presidency continued in its original form comprising Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and parts of Kerala. However, the agitation for a separate Andhra State compelled the Government of India to bifurcate the Madras Presidency into Andhra with Telugu speaking areas and Madras with Tamil speaking areas. The old capital, Madras, was retained by the new Madras State.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
