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Tamilnadu Tourism >
Tamilnadu History
The history of the Tamils presents an exciting pageant of a powerful
civilization whose origin dates back to ancient times. It is clear that the
Tamils, who belong to the Dravidian race, were the first major occupants of
the country and settled in the north-western part of India long before the
coming of the Indo-Aryans. Excavations have revealed that the features of
the people of the Indus Valley Civilization bore a strong resemblance to
this race.
However, with the advent of the Aryans, the Dravidians were pushed back into
the deep south where they ultimately settled.
As is the case with most of the early history of the state, it is impossible
to pin-point the exact period, when the great Tamil Sangam (Academy)
flourished, though it can be said with some certainty that two Sangams were
held well before the Christian era and the third between 100 and 250 AD. The
Tamil Sangam, which marks the Golden Age of Tamil literature is the one
major source of knowledge about the administration, art, architecture and
economic conditions that existed then.
Among some of the greatest compositions of the four centuries of Sangam age
are Tiruvalluvar's Thirukkural which consists of 1330 couplets about
morality in private and public life combined with some of life's greatest
truths, compositions of the saint-poetess Avviayar, Pathupatu or ten Idylls
which is a compilation of the work of several authors on philosophy,
intermingled with descriptions of the natural world and Ettuthogai or the
eight anthologies. Of these, the last is historically the most important as
it contains a description of the daily life of the people. This collection
of poems is the earliest record of its kind as far as the history of the
Tamils is concerned.
Even after the end of the Sangam age, Tamil writers, under the patronage of
Royal Dynasties, continued to produce excellent literature like the two
Tamil epics Silapathikaram written between 200 - 300 AD by Ilango Adigal,
the son of a Chera King, and Manimekalai by Sattanar also written between
the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Both contain vivid descriptions of life during
their times. Over the ages, the south was to see other great poets like the
Nayanmars and the Alwars and, later, the poet Kamban who composed the Tamil
version of Ramayana.
The Pallavas ruled between the 6th and 8th century AD over a large portion
of Tamil Nadu with Kanchipuram as their base. Their reign was marked by
battles with the Chalukyas of the north and the Pandyas of the south. Among
the greatest Pallava rulers were Mahendravarman-l and his son
Narasimhavarman.Among the famous temples built by the Pallavas are the
temples of Kanchipuram, the Kapaliswarar and Parthasarathy temples at
Chennai, and last but not the least, the magnificent poetry in rock and
stone at Mamallapuram.
Kanchi has been described extensively by the Chinese traveller Huan Tsu Ang
who visited the city in the middle of the 6th century AD, and according to
him it was a major centre of learning. Among its more famous citizens was
Dharmapala, the Vice-Chancellor of the Nalanda University. Quite probably
the most ancient of the dynasties of the south, the Cholas had their
headquarters first at Uraiyur and later at Thanjavur and ruled over most of
modern Tamil Nadu (as well as Karnataka.)
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