History of Tamil Nadu
The ancietn history of Tamil Nadu dates back about 6000 years and the
origin of its people is topic debate related to the Aryan invasion
theory. Those who believe in this theory support the view that the
Tamils belong to the Dravidian race and were part of the early Indus
Valley settlers. Later with the advent of the Aryan invasion, the
Dravidians were forced to remain back into the deep south, where they
ultimately settled. The present day states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh constitute the Dravidian culture.
¤ Ancient History (1st to 9th centuries)
 Tamil
Nadu was ruled by the early Cholas between 1st and 4th centuries CE.
Karikalan was the first and the most famous king, who built the
Kallanai (kall - stone, anai - bund), a dam across the Cauvery River,
which is considered to be an engineering wonder of that time. The
Cholas ruled the present Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli districts and
were excellent in military expertise. At the peak of their glory, the
Chola kings expanded their influence as far as Cylon (SriLanka) in the
south and hundreds of kilometers across the northern region. Cholas
comprises the major part of ancient history of Tamil Nadu. Almost all
the Chola Kings build magnificent temples. Brahadeswarer's Temple or
more popularly called as the Big temple in Tanjore (Thanjavur)is a
classical example of the magnificent architecture of the Chola
kingdom.
During the later half of 4th century, Pallavas the great temple
builders emerged into prominence and dominated the south for another
400 years. A large portion of Tamil Nadu was ruled by then with
Kanchipuram as their base. In the 6th century they defeated the Cholas
and ruled as far as Sri Lanka. Among the greatest Pallava rulers were
Mahendravarman-l and his son Narasimhavarman. Dravidian architecture
reached its epitome during Pallava rule. The last Pallava King was
Aparajitha. He was defeated by Aditya Chola towards the end of the 9th
century.
¤ Medieval History (9th to 14th centuries)
Under Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola, the Cholas again
rose as a notable power in 9th century in South India. The Chola
empire extended to the central Indian states like, Orissa and parts of
West Bengal. Rajaraja Chola conquered the eastern Chalukya kingdom by
defeating the Cheras, and also occupied parts of Ceylon by defeating
the Pandyas. Rajendra Chola went beyond, occupying the islands of
andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Sumatra, Java, Malaya and the
islands of Pegu with his fleet of ships. He defeated Mahipala, the
king of Bihar and Bengal, and to mark his victory he built a new
capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram. The Cholas started loosing
their power around the 13th century.
As Cholas declined, the Pandyas once again emerged as a power, in the
early 14th century. But this was short lived and soon they were
subdued by Muslim Khilji invaders from the north in 1316. The city of
Madurai was plundered and completely destroyed. The invasion destroyed
the Chola and Pandya dynasties and led to the establishment of Bahmani
Kingdom in the northern Deccan.
Due to the 14th century invasion, the Hindus retaliated in reaction
and rallied to build a strong new kingdom, called the Vijayanagara
empire. This empire included all the strongholds of Cholas and other
local Hindu rulers to check the Muslims. Governors called Nayaks were
employed to run different territories of the empire. Vijayanagar
Empire was the most prosperous dynasty in the south, with Hampi as the
Capital. But by 1564 the empire came to an end at the hands of Deccan
sultans in the battle of Talikota. The empire, dismantled into many
parts and was given to the Nayaks to rule. Tamil Country under the
Telugu Nayaks was peaceful and prosperous. The Nayaks of Madurai and
Thanjavur were most prominent of them all, who reconstructed some of
the oldest temples in the country.
¤ Modern History (17th century)
The Dutch accomplished a settlement in Pulicat around 1609. The
British, under the British East India Company, established a
settlement further south, in present day Chennai, in the year 1639.
The British took advantage of the petty quarrels among the provincial
rulers (divide and rule) to expand their area of power.
The British fought with the various European powers, notably the
French at Vandavasi (Wandiwash) in 1760, and the Dutch at
Tharangambadi (Tranquebar), driving the Dutch away entirely, and
reducing the French dominions in India to Pondicherry. The British
also fought four wars with the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and
later his son Tipu Sultan, which led to their eventual domination of
India's south. They consolidated southern India into the Madras
Presidency.
The nationalist movement in Tamil Nadu was a movement of historical
depth. Its starting point is the late eighteenth century. Early
manifestations of anti-colonial feeling in Tamil Nadu were the
rebellions led by the Poligars of Tirunelveli and Shivagana, and the
sepoy revolt at Vellore in 1806.
Some important Chieftains or Poligars of Tamil Nadu, who fought the
British East India Company as it was expanding, were Veerapandya
Kattabomman, Maruthus and Pulithevan.
¤ Tamil Nadu After Independence
After India gained independence in 1947, Madras Presidency became
Madras State, comprising of present day Tamil Nadu, coastal andhra
Pradesh, northern Kerala, and the southwest coast of Karnataka.
The state was later divided on the basis of linguistic lines. In 1953
the northern districts formed Andhra Pradesh. Under the States
Reorganization Act, 1956, Madras State lost its western coastal
districts. The Bellary and South Kanara districts were given to Mysore
state, and Kerala was formed from the Malabar district, the former
princely states of Travancore and Cochin. Finally, in 1968, when the
Central Government imposed Hindi as the national language, the state
of Madras was renamed Tamil Nadu, to reduce the resistance against
this decision of the government.
Today, Tamil Nadu is one of the most prominent states of India,
famous for its tourist attractions and drawing innumerable visitor's
to the state.
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