Kadungon | |
---|---|
Pandyadhiraja | |
Reign | c. 590–620 CE |
Successor | Maravarman Avanisulamani |
Issue | Maravarman Avanisulamani |
Dynasty | Pandya |
Religion | Saivism |
Pandya dynasty |
---|
Early Pandya polity |
Early Medieval Pandyas |
|
Kadungon was a Pandya king who revived the Pandya rule in South India in the 6th century CE. Along with the Pallava king Simhavishnu, he is credited with ending the Kalabhra rule, marking the beginning of a new era in the Tamil speaking region. [1]
Kadungon's title was "Pandyadhiraja", [2] and his capital was Madurai. He was succeeded by his son Maravarman Avanisulamani. [3]
Most historians, including R. C. Majumdar, state the period of Kadungon rule as 590–620 CE. [4] [5] [6] [7]
The Sangam literature mentions the early Pandya dynasty, which is believed to have gone into obscurity during the Kalabhra interregnum. The last known king of this dynasty was Ugrapperuvaludi. [12]
Kadungon is the next known Pandyan king. [12] Not much information is available about him. [13] Most of the knowledge about him comes from the Velvikudi inscription of the Pandya king Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (also Nedunjadaiyan or Nedunchezhiyan). According to this inscription, Kadungon defeated several petty chieftains and destroyed "the bright cities of unbending foes". [3] [14] It describes him as the one who liberated the Pandya country from the Kalabhras and emerged as a "resplendent sun from the dark clouds of the Kalabhras". [15] His defeat of Kalabhras (who were probably Jains or Buddhists) was hailed as the triumph of Shaivism. [16]
The Tamil Sangams were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past. Scholars believe that these assemblies originally known as kooṭam or "gathering," which was also a name for Madurai. Three assemblies are described. The legend has it that the first two were held in cities since "taken by the sea", the first being called Kapatapuram, and the third was held in the present-day city of Madurai.
The Pandyan dynasty, also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing since at least the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE, the dynasty passed through two periods of imperial dominance, the 6th to 10th centuries CE, and under the 'Later Pandyas'. Under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I and Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I, the Pandyas ruled extensive territories including regions of present-day South India and northern Sri Lanka through vassal states subject to Madurai.
Pandya Nadu or Pandi Nadu is a geographical region comprising the southern part of the present day state of Tamil Nadu. The region is bounded on its West by the Venad/Ay Nadu, Northeast by the Chola Nadu and Northwest by the Kongu Nadu. It comprises the present-day districts of Madurai, Theni, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, parts of Pudukkottai and Dindigul.
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty in southern India. At its height, it ruled over an expansive maritime empire known as the Chola empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya empire. The Chola empire was at its peak and achieved imperialism under the Medieval Cholas in the mid-9th century CE. As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, along with the Chera and Pandya, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territories until the 13th century CE.
Vijayalaya Chola was a descendant of the Early Cholas, who revived the Chola dynasty and founded the Imperial Chola Empire. He ruled over the region to the north of the river Kaveri. Vijayalaya Chola is one of the descendants of famous Sangam age Chola king Karikala Chola. According to Anbil plates of Parantaka Chola II, Vijayalaya's predecessor is a Telugu Chola king Srikantha Choladhiraja who was ruling Renadu region and belongs to Pottapi Chola lineage and is a descendant of ancient Tamil king Karikala Chola. Vijayalaya was succeeded by his son Aditya Chola I, who laid the foundation of Imperial Chola Empire.
Karikala often referred to as Karikala the Great was a Tamil Emperor of the Early Cholas of the Chola dynasty who ruled ancient Tamilakam in the Southern India from Uraiyur. He is credited with the construction of the flood banks of the river Kaveri. He is recognised as the greatest of the Early Cholas. In Thiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra Chola I, Medieval Tamil Cholas listed Karikala Chola as one of their ancestors. In Malepadu plates of Renati Chola king Punyakumara, Telugu Cholas claimed that they belong to the family of Karikala Chola and praises him for stopping the overflow over the banks of river Kaveri.
The Kalabhra dynasty, also called Kaḷabrar, Kaḷappirar, Kallupura or Kalvar, were rulers of all or parts of Tamil region sometime between the 3rd century and 6th century CE, after the ancient dynasties of the early Cholas, the early Pandyas and Chera. Information about the origin and reign of the Kalabhras is uncertain and scarce. It is believed by historians that the Kalabhras belonged to the Vellalar community of warriors who were possibly once the feudatories of the Cholas and the Pallavas. Their proposed roots vary from southeast region of modern Karnataka, Kalappalars of Vellalar community, to Kalavar chieftains. This age is generally called "The Augustan age of Tamil Literature", in a 1922 book by the name "Studies in South Indian Jainism" written by M. S. Ramaswami Ayyangar and B. Seshagiri Rao. The Kalabhra era is sometimes referred to as the "dark period" of Tamil history, and information about it is generally inferred from any mentions in the literature and inscriptions that are dated many centuries after their era ended.
The Chola Empire, often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval empire established by Pottapi branch of the Chola dynasty that rose to prominence during the middle of the 9th century CE and successfully united southern India under their rule.
The Early Pandyas of the Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country, the other two being the Cholas, and Cheras Dynasty. As with many other kingdoms around this period, most of the information about the Early Pandyas come to modern historians mainly through literary sources and some epigraphic, archaeological and numismatic evidence. The capital of the Early Pandyan kingdom was initially Korkai, Thoothukudi and was later moved to Koodal during the reign of Nedunjeliyan I. The kingdom lay to the south of the Maurya Empire of India.
Maravarman Sundara Pandyan I was a Pandyan king, who ruled regions of South India between 1216–1238 CE. He laid the foundation for the Pandya revival, after being dominated by the Chozhas for several centuries.
Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and mastery of sources and was a recipient of the third highest Indian civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan.
Maravarman Rajasimha I, also known as Pallavabhanjana, was a Pandya king of early medieval south India. He was the son and successor of Ko Chadaiyan Ranadhira. He remembered for his important successes against the Pallavas and in the Kongu country.
Arikesari Maravarman, also known as Parankusa, was a Pandya king of early medieval south India.
Varagunavarman II, also described as Varaguna II, was a king of the Pandya dynasty in south India whose reign lasted from c. 862 until c. 879 CE. Varaguna II was famously defeated by a contingent of troops led by Pallava king Aparajita around 879 CE.
Maravarman Vikkiraman II was a Pandyan king, who ruled regions of South India between 1250–1251 CE.
Madurai is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and a popular Hindu pilgrimage centre.
Srimara Srivallabha was a Pandya king of early medieval south India.
Maravarman Avanisulamani was a Pandya ruler of early historic south India. He was the son and successor of Kadungon, who revived the Pandya dynastic power after the Kalabhra interregnum. Not much information is available about either of these kings.
Jayantavarman, known in Tamil as Seliyan Sendan, was a Pandya ruler of early historic south India. He is best known for extending the Pandya rule to the Chera country (Kerala). He was succeeded by his son Maravarman Arikesari Parankusan.
The Velvikudi inscription is an 8th-century bilingual copper-plate grant from the Pandya kingdom of southern India. Inscribed in Tamil and Sanskrit languages, it records the renewal of a grant of the Velvikudi village to a brahmana by the Pandya king Nedunjadaiyan Varaguna-varman I alias Jatila Parantaka in c. 769-770 CE.