Part 1.5 - Pandyan Dance

The Pandyan dynasty was one of three ancient Tamil dynasties, with the Chola and Chera dynasties. The kings of the aforementioned dynasties are known as the "Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam".

The first Pandyans controlled the southern regions of India from the 4th to the 16th century, when the Pandyan government was concluded. At first they had decided "Pandya Nadu" his country of Kokai, which was a port on the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. From there, they moved to Madurai. The Pandyanos were experts in water management, agriculture (near riverbanks, fish farming) and fisheries; his flag being a fish, they were prominent seamen and merchants of the sea. They were well known even beyond the national boundary, having international diplomatic relations with the Roman Empire. Pandyan kingdom has been characterized by the possession of many ancient temples such as Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai and Nellaiaippar Temple built on the bank of the river in Tirunelveli Thamirabani.

They were known as "Jatavarman" or "Maravarman". Although Jains initially, they became Shaivaites later. Ptolemy described Pandyan's country, Pandi Mandala, as "Pandyan Mediterranea" in the Periplus and "Modura Regia Pandyan".

The invasion of Kalabra meant that the Sangam literature of the Pandyan dynasty ceased to exist. After the invasion, the beginning of the 6th century marked the revival of the Pandyan dynasty under Kadungon after the Kalabhras expulsion from Tamil Nadu and continue its reign of Madurai. Although, the rise of the Cholas in the ninth century led to the fall of the Pandyan dynasty. In constant conflict with the Pandyas Chola led to alliance with the Sinhalese and Cheras to harass Chola until they found a way to revive their fortune at the end of the thirteenth century. The last Pandyas years prevailed at the time 1216-1345 when they entered their golden age under Maravarman Sundara Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarman Pandyan who had extended the empire in Telugu country, conquered Kalinga (Orissa) and invaded and conquered Sri Lanka. They also had extensive commercial ties with the maritime empires of Southeast Asia of Srivijaya and their successors. The Pandyans had excelled in commerce and literature. They had completed the pearl fisheries that were conducted along the south coast of India, between Sri Lanka and India, producing some of the most beautiful pearls known in the ancient world.

Pandyans are characterized by repeated conflicts with the Pallavas, Chola, Hoysalas and finally the Muslim invaders of the Delhi Sultanate. Pandyans ended with the beginning of the Muslim rule in southern India. The kingdom of Jaffna in Sri Lanka broke their chains with pandanians in 1323. The Pandyans lost their capital, Madurai in the Madurai Sultanate in 1335. However, they changed their capital in Tenkasi and continued to dominate the Tirulnelveli regions, Tuticorin, Ramanand and Sivagangai.

The term "Pandya" is derived from the Tamil word "Pandu", which roughly translates to "very old". An alternative theory suggests that the word "Pandya" was derived from the Tamil word "Pandi", which means "bull"; the bull was maniac to denote masculinity and courage. There was evidence of early Panydans using the bull as the official emblem.

According to the Sangam Tamil Lexicon, the word Pandya means "old country", which contrasts with the "new country" of Chola. Chera, on the other hand, means "country of the hill" and the Pallava which means "branch" in Sanskrit. The traditional Tamil brothers consist of Chera, Chola and Pandyas; they form with the Pallavas the principal kings who reigned over the ancient Tamilakam.

According to historians, the Pandyas were the longest ruling dynasty in the history of India. They attempted to identify the early origins of the Pandyan dynasty with preChristian era to reconstruct the names of the Pandyan kings. However, the exact lineage of the kings mentioned above has not been authoritatively permitted.

Foreign Sources

For Megasthenes, the Pandyas were the "Indikas": those who occupied the part of India that extends to the south and extends to the sea. According to him, he had 365 villages, each designated with responsibility to satisfy a specific need of the royal house during a day of the year. Queen Pandyan has been described by him as "Pandaia", daughter of Heracles.

According to the Eritrean Sea Journey (circa 60-100 AD), the riches of the Pandian Kingdom were "Nelcyndis is distant from Muziris by the river and sea about five hundred stadia, and another kingdom, the Pandian. This place too It is located on a river, about one hundred and twenty stadia from the sea."

The "Weilue" written by the Chinese historian Yu Huan in the third century describes that the kingdom of Panyue is also called "Hanyuewang". According to him, it is several thousand li southeast of Tianzhu (north of India). The inhabitants are small; same height as those of the Chinese. In addition, John E. Hill identified Panyue as the kingdom of Pandya. However, the same kingdom has been found by others as located in modern Burma or Assam.

Julian, a Roman emperor, had received an embassy from a Pandya about 361, indicating that a Roman trading center was located on the Pandyan coast, at the mouth of the Vaghai River, southeast of Madurai.

Testimonies from anonymous sources also show that Pandyas also had business contacts with Ptolemaic Egypt in the first century expanding trade across Egypt. The same road was extended to Rome in the first century and China in the third century. In Antioch, the first century Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus met the ambassador who was sent by the king of India called "Pandion" or even "Porus" August Ceasar around 13 CE.

For Xuanzhang, the country of Pandyan was a deposit of pearls of sea. The people who composed were hard and of different religions. They were good at business and marketing.

At the end of the 13th century, a Venetian traveler named Marco Polo visited the Pandyan Kingdom where he observed the following about the land and its inhabitants: "The black man here is the most esteemed and considered better than the others who are not so dark. Let me add that, indeed, these people portray and represent their gods and black idols and white demons like snow. Because they say. God and all the saints are black and the demons are all white is why depict them as I described it "-says the Venetian traveler Marcopolo.

Religion

Shaivism was the main indicator of religious connotations during the historic Madurai. Jainism gained strength in the Pandyan kingdom after the invasion of Kalabhras. The advent of the Bhakti movements led to the reactivation of Shaivism and Vaishnavism. The inscriptions claim that the Pandyas of the last days were Saivitas after 600 a. They had claimed to be descendants of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Pandyan Nedumchadayan was a devoted Vaishnavite of the Pandyan era.