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, or the Northern, Eastern Province and Puttalam District[1] of Sri Lanka.[2]

Pre-historic period

Period	Events
c. 150,000-100,000 BCE	Evidence for presence of Hominins with Acheulean technology in north Tamil Nadu.[3]
c. 30,000 BCE	Paleolithic industries in north Tamil Nadu[4]
c. 8000-3000 BCE	Pre-pottery microlithic industries[5]
c. 3000-1000 BCE	Neolithic and fine microlithic industries[6]

Pre-Sangam period

Period	Events
c. 1000-300 BCE	Megalithic age[7]
c. 600 BCE	The Wootz steel production process started in the 6th century BC and exported globally by Chera dynasty what was termed the finest steel in the world, i.e. Seric Iron to the Romans, Egyptians, Chinese and Arabs by 500 BC and was used to make the famous damascus blades[8][9][10][11]
c. 400 BCE	Kaveripattinam, The ancient capital port city of the Chola Dynasty was destroyed by the sea[12][13][14]
c. 300 BCE	Greek ethnographer Megasthenes describes Pandyan Dynasty's capital Madurai[15][16]
c. 250 BCE	Asoka's inscription recording the four kingdoms (Chera, Cholas, Pandya and Satyaputra) of the ancient Tamil country
c. 200 BCE	Elara, a Tamil prince and contemporary of Dutte Gamini, rules Lanka

Sangam age

Period	Events
c. 300 BCE-200 CE	Sangam age during which books of Sangam Literature are created [17]
c. 13	Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus met an ambassador sent by Pandyan King to Caesar Augustus, Strabo XV.1-73.[18]
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).[19]
c. 77 and 140	Greco-Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy mention Madurai ruled by Pandyan.
c. 130	Chera king Udayanjeral rules in the Chera country
c. 175-195	Gajabahu I of Lanka a contemporary of Chera Senguttuvan and Karikala Chola (the Gajabahu synchronism)
c. 190	Chera Kadukko Ilanjeral Irumporai rules in the Chera country [20]
c. 200	Writing becomes widespread and vattezuttu evolved from the Tamil Brahmi becomes a mature script for writing Tamil [21]
c. 210	Pandya Neduncheliyan rules in Madurai and defeats his enemies at the battle of Talaiyalanganam

Post-Sangam period

Period	Events
c. 300-590	Kalabhras invade the Tamil country and displace the traditional rulers
c. 300-500	Post-Sangam period, Tamil epics such as Silappatikaram written

Pallava and Pandya

Period	Events
c. 560-580	Pallava Simhavishnu overthrows the Kalabhras in Tondaimandalam
c. 560-590	Pandya 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. Pulakesi is killed in battle
c. 670-700	CE-Pandya Arikesari Parankusa Maravarman rules in Madurai
c. 700-728	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 aligns with the Chalukya Vikramaditya II and attacks the Pallava king Nandivarmam
c. 731-765	Pandya Maravarman Rajasimha aligns 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[22]
c. 767	Pandya forces defeat the Pallavas on the south banks of the Kaveri
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 invades Lanka and captures the northern provinces of the Lanka king Sena I[23]
c. 848	Rise of Vijayalaya Chola in Tanjavur after defeating the Muttaraiyar[24]Muthuraja rulers of kaveri delta
c. 846-869	Pallava Nadivarman III leads an invasion against the Pandya kingdom and defeats the Pandyas at the battle of Tellaru. Pallava kingdom extends up to the river Vaigai
c. 859	Pandya Srivallaba defeats the Pallavas at a battle at Kumbakonam
c. 862	Sinhala forces under Sena II invade the Pandya country and sack Madurai. Srimara is killed in battle

Chola period

Period	Events
c. 903	Chola defeats the Pallava king Adithya Aparajita [25]
c. 949	Battle of Takkolam. Rashtrakuta Krishna III defeats the Chola army [25]
c. 985	Accession of Rajaraja Chola I [25]
c. 1010	Rajaraja completes the Brihadisvara Temple
c. 1012	Accession of Rajendra Chola I [25]
c. 1023	Rajendra's Expedition to the Ganges [26]
c. 1025	Chola navies defeat the king of Srivijaya [27]
c. 1041	Rajendra invades Lanka [28]
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 Magadaimandalam with family title of 'ponparappinan' and headquarters at Aragalur [27]
c. 1216 - 1238	Kadava Dynasty and Maravarman Sundara Pandyan ruled regions of South India[29]

Pandiya revival and Muslim rule

Period	Events
1251	Accession of Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I[30]
1279	End of the Chola dynasty with the death of Rajendra Chola III[27]
1268-1310	Kulasekara Pandiyan rules in Madurai[30]
1308	Malik Kafur a general of Allaudin Khilji invades Devagiri en route to Tamil Nadu[31]
1310	Sundara Pandian, son of Kulasekara Pandiyan, kills his father and becomes king. In the ensuing civil war he is defeated by his brother Vira Pandiyan.[32]
1311	Malik Kafur, invades Pandiya country and attacks Madurai[31]
1327-1370	Madurai under the rule of Madurai Sultanate[31]

Vijayanagar and Nayak period

Period	Events
1370	Bukka, the Vijayanagara ruler and his son Kumara Kamapna capture the entire Tamil country
1518	Portuguese land on the Coromandel Coast in Pulicat[33]
1532 to 1580	Sevappa Nayak rules as the first independent Nayak ruler in Tanjavur
1600to 1645	Ragunatha Nayak, the greatest of the Tanjavur Nayaks
1609	the Dutch establish a settlement in Pulicat
1623 to 1659	Tirumalai Nayak rules in Madurai
1639	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
1676	Maratha army from Bijapur marches into Tanjavur, Ekoji declares himself king[34]
1692	Nawab of Arcot established by Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Khan, a viceroy of the Moghul Emperor
1746	La Bourdonnais of the French East India company attacks and takes Fort St. George

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.[35]
1756	The British and the French sign the first Carnatic treaty. Mahommed Ali Walajah was recognized as Nawab of the Carnatic
1759	French under Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally, attack Madras
1760	Battle of Vandavasi between the British and the French. Birth of Veerapandya Kattabomman
1767	Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore attacks Madras against British, but defeated by the British at the Battle of Chengam
1773	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. Kattabomman executed by British
1803	Bentinck appointed governor of Madras
1800-1805	Poligar Wars
1806	Vellore Mutiny East India Company's Indian soldiers in Vellore mutiny against governor Bentinck in Vellore fort. 114 British officers killed and 19 mutineers executed.

British rule

Period	Events
1892	British government passes the Indian Councils Act
1909	'Minto-Morley Reforms'. Madras Legislative Council formed
1921	First regional elections held in Madras. Justice party forms government[36]
1927	Madras Congress passes a resolution for 'Full Independence'
1928	Simon Commission visits Madras. Mass protests result in several deaths
1937	Congress party under C. Rajagopalachari wins provincial elections and forms government in Madras
1938	Periyar E. V. Ramasamy organises a separatist agitation demanding Dravida Nadu consisting of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
1941	Indian Muslim League holds its congress in Madras. Muhammad Ali Jinnah delivers keynote speech
1944	Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and C. N. Annadurai organise Dravidar Kazhagam

Post independence period

Period	Events
1947	Madras Presidency, comprising Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka established
1953	'Madras state comes into being along linguistic lines
1965	Widespread agitations in response to the Federal Government's directive of Hindi being the National Language
1969	Madras state is renamed as Tamil Nadu (Country of the Tamils)[37][38]

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. Pappu, Shanni; et al. "Early Pleistocene Presence of Acheulian Hominins in South India". Science Magazine. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
4. "Excavations at the Palaeolithic Site of Attirampakkam, South India". Antiquity journal. September 2003. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
5. "Evidence of pre-historic humans in Thanjavur". The Hindu. Thanjavur, India. 10 May 2009.
6. "Bedrock on which Neolithic man sharpened stone tools found in T.N." The Hindu. India. 3 April 2013.
7. "Kanchi district, gold mine of megalithic sites". IBN Live. Tamil Nadu, India. 14 March 2012.
8. 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.
9. Coghlan, Herbert Henery (1977). Notes on prehistoric and early iron in the Old World (2nd ed.). Pitt Rivers Museum. pp. 99–100.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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 2011-01-24 at the Wayback Machine
13. Gaur A. S. and Sundaresh, Underwater Exploration off Poompuhar and possible causes of its Submergence, 1998, Puratattva, 28: 84-90. Available online at
14. "Indian town sees evidence of ancient tsunami", Associated Press report, Poompuhar,1/14/2005. Available online at
15. Allan Dahlaquist. Megasthenes and Indian Religion
16. Keay, John (2000) [2001]. India: A history. India: Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3797-0.
17. Singh, Upinder (2009). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India 1st Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. ISBN 978-8131716779.
18. Strabo XV.1
19. 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.
20. Zvelebil, Kamil Veith (1991). Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-9004093652.
21. 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.
22. "Preserving the past". The Hindu. India. 3 February 2010.
23. "Sinhala king and South Indian invasions". Daily News. Sri Lanka. 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013.
24. "Chapter 1-4.pmd" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
25. Kulke and Rothermund (2010). A History of India. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN 9780415485432.
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. Meyer, Holger (1999). Umsatzsteuer - Binnenmarkt. Berlin: Boorberg. p. 73. ISBN 978-3415026131.
29. Sethuraman, N (1980). Medieval Pandyas, A.D. 1000-1200. University of Michigan.
30. Thinakaran, Alice Justina (15 May 2007). The Second Pandyan Empire, A.D. 1190-1312. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. p. 225.
31. Aiyangar, Sakkottai Krishnaswami (1921). South India and her Muhammadan Invaders. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 222–223.
32. Aiyangar, Sakkottai Krishnaswami (1921). South India and her Muhammadan Invaders. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 97.
33. "Portuguese on the Coromandel". The Hindu. India. 17 May 2004.
34. "Historical Moments". Thanjavur Municipality, Tamil Nadu state Government. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
35. "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.
36. "A history of agitational politics". Frontline. India. 10 April 2004.
37. http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/index.htm
38. http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/reviews/Review%204_67-70.pdf

• 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/