Chronology of Tamil history

The following is a chronological overview of the history of the Tamil people, who trace their ancestry to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the Indian union territory of Puducherry, the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka and the Puttalam District of Sri Lanka. ^{[1] [2]}

Pre-Sangam period

Period	Events
c. 600 BCE	The production process of Wootz steel began in the 6th century BCE and was exported globally by the Chera dynasty as what was termed as "the finest steel in the world," i.e. Seric Iron to the Romans, Egyptians, Chinese and Arabs by 500 BCE and was used to make the famous damascus blades. [3] [4] [5] [6]
c. 600–300 BCE	The Keezhadi excavation site is built. [7] [8] The site is located 12 km southeast of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, near the town of Keezhadi in the Sivagangai district. It comes under the Thiruppuvanam Taluk of the Sivagangai district. A large-scale excavation carried out in Tamil Nadu after the Adichanallur archaeological site. The settlement lies on the bank of the Vaigai River and reflects the ancient culture of the Tamil people. [9] [10]
c. 400 BCE	Kaveripattinam, the ancient capital port city of the Chola Dynasty is destroyed by the sea. [11] [12] [13]

Sangam age

Period	Events
c. 300 BCE–200 CE	The Sangam age begins, during which the books of Sangam Literature are written. [14]
c. 300 BCE	Greek ethnographer Megasthenes describes Madurai as the capital of the Pandya dynasty. [15] [16]
c. 250 BCE	Ashoka's inscription recording the four kingdoms (Chera, Cholas, Pandya and Satyaputra) of the ancient Tamil country.
c. 205 BCE	Elara, a Tamil prince and contemporary of Sinhalese king Dutugamunu, ursurpes the throne of the Anuradhapura Kingdom. He would rule until his defeat by Dutugamunu c. 161 BCE.
c. 13	Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus meets with an ambassador sent by the Pandyan King to Caesar Augustus, Strabo XV.1–73. [17]
c. 1–100	The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a detailed description of early Chera and Pandya kingdom and mentions a part of the Tamil country as Lymirike (misread as "Damirica" by some modern scholars). [18]
c. 77 and 140	Greco-Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy mention Madurai to be ruled by the Pandyans.
c. 113–135	Gajabahu I of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, a contemporary of Chera Senguttuvan and Karikala Chola (the Gajabahu synchronism).
c. 130	Chera king Udayanjeral rules in the Chera country.
c. 190	Chera Kadukko Ilanjeral Irumporai rules in the Chera country. [19]
c. 200	Writing becomes widespread and vattezuttu evolves from the Tamil Brahmi, becoming a mature script for writing Tamil. [20]
c. 210	Pandyan king Neduncheliyan rules in Madurai and defeats his enemies at the battle of Talaiyalanganam.

Post-Sangam period

Period	Events
c. 300–500	End of the Sangam period, many Tamil epics such as Silappatikaram are written
c. 300–590	Kalabhras invade the Tamil country and displace the traditional rulers from their kingdoms.

Pallava and Pandya

Period	Events
c. 560–580	Pallava Simhavishnu retakes power from the Kalabhras in Tondaimandalam.
c. 560–590	Pandyan Kadungon rules from Madurai and displaces the Kalabhras from the south.
c. 590–630	Pallava Mahendravarman I rules in Kanchipuram.
c. 610	Saiva saint Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) converts Mahendravarman from Jainism.
c. 628	Chalukya Pulakesi II invades the Pallava kingdom and lays siege on Kanchipuram.
c. 630–668	Pallava Narasimhavarman I (Mamalla) rules in Tondaimandalam.
c. 642	Pallava Narasimhavarman I launches a counter-invasion into the Chalukya country and sacks Vatapi. Pulakeshin I is killed in battle.
c. 640–690	Pandya Arikesari Parankusa Maravarman rules in Madurai.
c. 690–725	Pallava Rajasimha builds the Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram and many of the shore temples in Mamallapuram.
c. 710–730	Pandya king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran expands the Pandya kingdom into the Kongu country
c. 731	Pandya Maravarman Rajasimha allies with the Chalukya Vikramaditya II and attacks the Pallava king Nandivarmam.
c. 735	Chaluka Vikramaditya II invades the Pallava country and occupies the capital Kanchipuram.
c. 760	Pallava Nandivarman II invades and defeats the Ganga kingdom at the battle of Villande.
c. 768–815	Pandya Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (Varaguna Pandyan) rules in Madurai. [21]
c. 767	Pandya forces defeat the Pallavas on the south banks of the Kaveri river.
c. 800–830	Varagunan I becomes Pandya king and extends his empire up to Tiruchirapalli by defeating the Pallava king Dandivarman.
c. 830–862	Pandya Sirmara Srivallabha rules in Madurai.
c. 840	Srimara Srivallabha invades the Anuradhapura Kingdom and captures the northern provinces of king Sena I of Anuradhapura. [22]
c. 848	The rise of Vijayalaya Chola in Tanjavur after the defeat of the Muttaraiyar. [23]
c. 846–869	Pallava Nadivarman III leads an invasion against the Pandya kingdom and defeats the Pandyas at the battle of Tellaru. The territory of the Pallava kingdom now extends to the river Vaigai.
c. 859	Pandya Srivallaba defeats the Pallavas in battle at Kumbakonam.
c. 862	Sinhalese forces led by Sena II of Anuradhapura invade the Pandyan kingdom and sack Madurai. Srimara is killed in battle.

Chola period

Period	Events
c. 903	Chola king Aditya I defeats the Pallava king Aparajitavarman. [24]
c. 949	Battle of Takkolam.
c. 985	Accession of Rajaraja Chola I. [24]
c. 1010	Rajaraja completes the Brihadisvara Temple.
c. 1012	Accession of Rajendra Chola I. [24]
c. 1017	Rajendra invades and annexes the Anuradhapura Kingdom. [25] Cholas capture the crown, queen, daughter, and wealth of King Mahinda V of Anuradhapura and take king himself as a prisoner to Tamil Nadu, where he eventually died in exile in 1029.
c. 1023	Rajendra's Expedition to the Ganges. [26]
c. 1025	Chola navies defeat the king of Srivijaya [27]
c. 1054	Rajadhiraja Chola dies in the battle of Koppam against Western Chalukyas [27]
c. 1070	Accession of Kulothunga Chola I [27]
c. 1118	Vikrama Chola [27]
c. 1133	Kulothunga Chola II [27]
c. 1146	Rajaraja Chola II [27]
c. 1163	Rajadhiraja Chola II [27]
c. 1178	Kulothunga Chola III [27]
c. 1216	Rajaraja Chola III [27]
c. 1246	Rajendra Chola III [27]

Chola to Pandya transition

Period	Events
c. 1190–1260	Bana Dynasty rule begins in Magadaimandalam with family title of 'ponparappinan' and headquarters at Aragalur. [27]
c. 1215	Kalinga Magha invades Sri Lanka leading to the fall of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom. The Jaffna Kingdom, a Tamil kingdom in Sri Lanka, is established.
c. 1216–1238	The Kadava dynasty and Maravarman Sundara Pandyan establish rule over regions of South India. [28]

Pandiya revival and Muslim rule

Period	Events
1251	Accession of Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I. [29]
1279	End of the Chola dynasty with the death of Rajendra Chola III. [27]
1268–1310	Kulasekara Pandiyan rules in Madurai. [29]
1308	Malik Kafur, a general of Alauddin Khalji, invades Devagiri en route to Tamil Nadu. [30]
1310	Sundara Pandian III, son of Kulasekara Pandiyan, appointed as co-regent by his father. This angered his other son Vira Pandyan and prompted him to kill his father and defeat his elder brother, who then fled to Alauddin Khalji to become king. [31]
1311	Malik Kafur invades the Pandiya country and attacks Madurai. [30]
1327–1370	Madurai under the rule of the Madurai Sultanate. [30]

Tenkasi Pandyas, Vijayanagar and Nayak period

Period	Events
1370	Bukka, ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire and his son Kumara Kamapna capture Madurai from madurai sultanate and annex with Vijayanagar.
1375	Rajanarayana Sambuvarayar allied with the Vijayanagar ruler Harihara I against the Sultanate of Madura but was later betrayed and killed by Harihara's brother Bukka Raya I & Bukka raya's son Kumara Kampana who sought to bring most of South India under his rule.
1428	Sadaavarman Parakrama Pandya started to rule from tenkasi Tenkasi Pandyas , making tenkasi as capital
c. 1447–1450	Bhuvanaikabahu VI of Kotte conquers the Jaffna Kingdom, and the kingdom becomes a part of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Kotte.
1467	The Jaffna Kingdom regains independence from the Kingdom of Kotte.
1518	The Portuguese land on Coromandel Coast in Pulicat. [32]
1525	The Chola ruler Veerasekara Chola invaded the Madurai country and deposed the Pandya king Chandrasekara Pandyan. The Pandya king asked help from Vijayanagara, and an expedition under Kotikam Nagama Nayaka was sent to his aid. Nagama suppressed the Chola ruler and took Madurai, but then suddenly he threw off his allegiance and declining to help the Pandya king, usurped the throne and his son Viswanatha Nayak founded Madurai Nayak dynasty under the protection of the Vijayanagar.
1532–1580	Sevappa Nayak rules as the first independent Nayak ruler in Tanjavur.
1547	Vettum Perumal pandiyar , A pandiyan king ruling Tirunelveli along with his soldiers were attacked unexpectedly by Vijayanagara Nayak invaders. In this attack ten Pandiya soldiers were killed. To commemorate the death of these ten soldiers, ten Hero stones were installed and the stones are now exhibited in the Tirunelveli museum.
1560–1621	Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom – the Portuguese invade and annex the Jaffna Kingdom and take king Cankili II as a POW, thus marking the end of the Jaffna Kingdom.
1609	The Dutch establish a settlement in Pulicat.
1616 – 1617	Battle of Toppur the battle which cause the complete disintegration of the Vijayanagar Empire, which was reviving slowly. This civil war caused severe problems to the Vijayanagara Empire..
1620–1625	With the death of Kollankondan son of pandian king Varagunarama Pandya, The Tenkasi Pandyas Kingdom ends.
1625	With no inheritors in Ponnjar royal family, The Poonjar dynasty , A branch of pandiyan Kingdom ends. However another pandian branch continues to rule as Pandalam dynasty till 1820 in present day kerala
1600–1645	Ragunatha Nayak, the greatest of the Tanjavur Nayaks.
1659	Ragunatha Sethupathi saves madurai from Mysore/ Vijayanagar raid in the war of noses.,While Tirumalai Nayak rules in Madurai
1639	The British East India Company purchases Chennapatinam and establishes Fort St. George.
1652	Tanjavur and Gingee fall to the Bijapur Sultan.
1656	Mysore army invades Salem against the Madurai Nayak Tirumalai.,Ramnad king, Raghunatha Sethupathi win the war against mysore army and helps Tirumalai nayak to recover his kingdom
1676	Maratha army from Bijapur marches into Tanjavur, Ekoji declares himself king. [33]
1692	The Carnatic Sultanate established by Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Khan, a viceroy of the Mughal emperor.
1707	Raghunatha Kilavan liberated the Marava country (area around Rameswaram) from the control of Madurai Nayak. After defeating Rani Mangammal’s army, he declared independent Marava country in 1707 and annexed some territories Aranthangi, Thirumayam, Piranmalai of Madurai Kingdom.
1746	Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais of the French East India Company attacks and captures Fort St. George from the British.

East India Company

Period	Events
1749	British regain Fort St. George through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, arising out of the War of the Austrian Succession.
1751	Robert Clive attacks Arcot and captures it. [34]
1756	The British and the French sign the first Carnatic treaty. Mahommed Ali Walajah is recognized as Nawab of the Carnatic
1759	The French, led by Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally, attack Madras.
1760	The Battle of Vandavasi between the British and the French.
1767	Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore attacks Madras against the British, but is defeated by the British at the Battle of Chengam.
1773	The British Government passes the Regulating Act. The administration of Madras comes under British government review.
1777–1832	Serfoji II rules in Tanjavur.
1799	Serfoji cedes the Tanjavur kingdom to the British.
1801	Maruthu Pandiyar of Sivaganga organise the South Indian Chieftains against the East India Company. After a series of battles, they were captured and hanged in Tiruppathur Fort.
1803	Bentinck appointed governor of Madras.
1800–1805	Poligar Wars
1806	The Vellore Mutiny: Indian soldiers of the East India Company Vellore mutiny against governor William Bentinck in Vellore fort. 114 British officers are killed and 19 mutineers are executed.

British rule

Period	Events
1892	British government passes the Indian Councils Act.
1909	Minto-Morley Reforms – Madras Legislative Council formed.
1920	1920 Madras Presidency Legislative Council election – the first regional elections held in Madras. The Justice Party wins the election without any significant opposition and forms a government. [35]
1927	The Madras Congress passes a resolution for "full independence"
1928	The Simon Commission visits Madras. Mass protests result in several deaths.
1937	The Indian National Congress (INC) led by C. Rajagopalachari wins the 1937 legislative council elections and forms a government in Madras, defeating the incumbent Justice Party which held power for nearly 17 years.
1938	E. V. Ramasamy organises a separatist agitation demanding Dravida Nadu, a proposed sovereign state for the speakers of Dravidian languages in South India, consisting of the Indian states of Madras, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
1944	"Periyar" E.V. Ramasamy and C. N. Annadurai establish the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK).
	The All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), the first Sri Lankan Tamil political party, is founded by G. G. Ponnambalam.

Post-independence period

Period	Events
1947	The Madras Presidency, comprising Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is established
1949	C. N. Annadurai splits from the DK to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
	A group of three Sri Lankan Tamil politicians, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, C. Vanniasingam and Senator E. M. V. Naganathan, split from the ACTC to form the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK).
1953	Madras State comes into being along linguistic lines.
1956	The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), also known as the Sinhala Only Act is passed by the Parliament of Ceylon. [36] The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the controversial exclusion of Tamil.
1958	The Sinhala Only Act is amended and the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act of 1958 is passed in Ceylon, thus making Tamil an official language of Ceylon.
1965	Widespread anti-Hindi agitations in response to the union government's decision to make Hindi as the national language of India.
1967	An alliance led by the DMK wins the 1967 Madras elections and replaces the INC government in Madras State; C. N. Annadurai becomes the first non-INC Chief Minister of Madras post-independence.
1969	Madras state is renamed as Tamil Nadu (country of the Tamils). [37] [38]
1972	After decades of oppression of Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese government, Velupillai Prabhakaran founds the Tamil New Tigers, which would later be renamed as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1976. It was a Sri Lankan Tamil militant group which advocated for the creation of an independent state of Tamil Eelam in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.
1983–2009	The Sri Lankan Civil War is fought between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It ended in May 2009 with the total military defeat of the LTTE, the killing of Velupillai Prabhakaran and a total of 80,000–100,000 deaths.

See also

• History of Tamil Nadu
• Tamil culture
• Tamil diaspora

References

1. Manual of the Puttalam District of the North-Western Province of Ceylon (1908), Frank Modder, p.55.
2. Minahan, James (2012). Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-1-59884-659-1.
3. Srinivasan, Sharada (15 November 1994). "Wootz crucible steel: a newly discovered production site in South India". Papers from the Institute of Archaeology. 5: 49–59. doi: 10.5334/pia.60 .
4. Coghlan, Herbert Henery (1977). Notes on prehistoric and early iron in the Old World (2nd ed.). Pitt Rivers Museum. pp. 99–100.
5. Sasisekharan, B. (1999). "Technology of Iron and Steel in Kodumanal" (PDF). Indian Journal of History of Science. 34 (4). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2015.
6. Ward, Gerald W. R. (2008). The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 380. ISBN   978-0-19531-391-8.
7. Dennis S. Jesudasan (20 September 2019). "Keezhadi excavations: Sangam era older than previously thought, finds study". The Hindu.
8. "Keeladi | Department Of Archaeology". www.tnarch.gov.in. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
9. "Keeladi: Unearthing the 'Vaigai Valley' Civilisation of Sangam era Tamil Nadu".
10. எஸ். அண்ணாமலை (18 June 2015). "அகழ்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டது: பாண்டிய-ரோம வணிகத் தொடர்பு (ஆங்கிலத்தில்)". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
11. Marine archaeological explorations of Tranquebar-Poompuhar region on Tamil Nadu coast, Rao, S.R.. Journal of Marine Archaeology, Vol. II, July 1991. Available online at Archived 24 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
12. Gaur A. S. and Sundaresh, Underwater Exploration off Poompuhar and possible causes of its Submergence, 1998, Puratattva, 28: 84–90. Available online at
13. "Indian town sees evidence of ancient tsunami", Associated Press report, Poompuhar,14 January 2005. Available online at
14. Singh, Upinder (2009). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India 1st Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. ISBN   978-8131716779.
15. Allan Dahlaquist. Megasthenes and Indian Religion
16. Keay, John (2000) [2001]. India: A history. India: Grove Press. ISBN   0-8021-3797-0.
17. Strabo XV.1
18. Lionel Casson (2012). The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Princeton University Press. pp. 213–214. ISBN   978-1-4008-4320-6.
19. Zvelebil, Kamil Veith (1991). Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   978-9004093652.
20. Coningham (), Robin; et al. "Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) Project, Phase I: ASW2". Arts and Humanities Research Council. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
21. "Preserving the past". The Hindu. India. 3 February 2010.
22. "Sinhala king and South Indian invasions". Daily News. Sri Lanka. 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013.
23. "Chapter 1-4.pmd" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
24. Kulke and Rothermund (2010). A History of India. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN   9780415485432.
25. Meyer, Holger (1999). Umsatzsteuer – Binnenmarkt. Berlin: Boorberg. p. 73. ISBN   978-3415026131.
26. Majumdar, R.C. (1934). Ancient Indian Colonies In The Far East. Dacca: Asoke Humar Majumdar Ramna. p. 407.
27. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (2005). A History of South India. New Age International Limited (P). p. 158.
28. Sethuraman, N (1980). Medieval Pandyas, A.D. 1000–1200. University of Michigan.
29. Thinakaran, Alice Justina (15 May 2007). The Second Pandyan Empire, A.D. 1190–1312. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. p. 225.
30. Aiyangar, Sakkottai Krishnaswami (1921). South India and her Muhammadan Invaders. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp.  222–223.
31. Aiyangar, Sakkottai Krishnaswami (1921). South India and her Muhammadan Invaders. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p.  97.
32. "Portuguese on the Coromandel". The Hindu . India. 17 May 2004. Archived from the original on 1 August 2004.
33. "Historical Moments". Thanjavur Municipality, Tamil Nadu state Government. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
34. "Excerpts from a Sergeant's Diary recounting Robert Clive's capture of Arcot, September–October 1751". Project South Asia. South Dakota State University, USA. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
35. "A history of agitational politics". Frontline. India. 10 April 2004.
36. Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts
37. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
38. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2015.

• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. A History of South India, OUP, Reprinted 2000
• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A., Srinivasachari, Advanced History of India, Allied Publishers Ltd, New Delhi, Reprinted 2000
• Read, Anthony, The Proudest Day – India's Long Ride to Independence, Jonathan Cape, London, 1997

External links

• Tamil Sentiment. Tamil shrines, Tamil culture, the history of Tamils, by Kavi Yogi Dr. Shuddhananda Bharati
• Historical Atlas of South India-Timeline-http://www.ifpindia.org/Historical-Atlas-of-South-India-Timeline.html (French Institute of Pondicherry)
• Codrington, Humphry William, A Short History of Lanka <http://lakdiva.org>
• Veluppillai, Prof. A., Religious Traditions of the Tamils http://tamilelibrary.org/