History[edit]

Main article: History of Tamil Nadu

Prehistory[edit]
Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the
Indian peninsula.[16] In Attirampakkam, archaeologists from the Sharma Centre for Heritage
Education excavated ancient stone tools which suggests that humanlike population exists in the
Tamil Nadu region somewhere around 300,000 ago before homo sapiens arrived from Africa.[17]
[18]
In Adichanallur, 24 km (15 mi) from Tirunelveli, archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI) unearthed 169 clay urns containing human skulls, skeletons, bones, husks, grains of rice,
charred rice and celts of the Neolithic period, 3,800 years ago.[19] The ASI archaeologists have
proposed that the script used at that site is "very rudimentary" Tamil Brahmi.[20]Adichanallur has been
announced as an archaeological site for further excavation and studies. [21] About 60 per cent of the
total epigraphical inscriptions found by the ASI in India are from Tamil Nadu, and most of these are in
the Tamil language.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]
A new study of Indigenous Australian DNA suggests there was some form of migration from India to
Australia about 4,000 years ago.[31] Genetic evidence suggests that just over 4 millennia ago a group
of Indian travellers landed in Australia and stayed. The evidence emerged a few years ago after a
group of Aboriginal men’s Y chromosomes matched with Y chromosomes typically found in Indians.
The study found a pattern of SNPs that is found in genetics of Dravidian speakers from South India.
[32][33][34]

Indus valley script between 2000 and 1500 BCE[edit]

A Neolithic stone celt (a hand-held axe) with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-
Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu. According to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this
was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. According to
Mahadevan, the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, and therefore that the
"Neolithic people of the Tamil country spoke a Harappan language". The date of the celt was
estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE.[35] .[36]

Sangam period (300 BCE – 300 CE)[edit]

Main articles: Sangam period, Tamilakam, and Sangam landscape

Sage Agastya father of Tamil literature, Sangam period

The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known
as Sangam literature. Numismatic, archaeological and literary sources corroborate that the Sangam
period lasted for about six centuries, from 300 BC to AD 300. The recent excavations
in Alagankulam archaeological site suggests that Alagankulam is one of the important trade centre
or port city in Sangam Era.[37]

Bhakti Movement[edit]
Main article: Bhakti Movement

Sambandar, one of the sixty-three Nayanars, (Bhakti Movement)

The Bhakti movement originated in Tamil speaking region of South India and spread northwards
through India. The Bhakti Movement was a rapid growth of bhakti beginning in this region with
the Saiva Nayanars (4th–10th centuries)[38] and the Vaisnava Alvars who spread bhaktipoetry and
devotion.[38][39] The Alwars and Nayanmars were instrumental in propagating the Bhakti tradition.

Medieval period (600–1300)[edit]

Kallanai or Grand Anicut, an ancient dam built on the Kaveri River in Tiruchirappalli by Karikala Chola around
the 2nd century AD[40][41][42][43]
Shore Temple built by the Pallavas at Mamallapuram during the 8th century, now a UNESCO World Heritage
Site

During the 4th to 8th centuries, Tamil Nadu saw the rise of the Pallava
dynasty under Mahendravarman I and his son MamallaNarasimhavarman I.[44] The Pallavas ruled
parts of South India with Kanchipuram as their capital. Tamil architecture reached its peak during
Pallava rule. Narasimhavarman II built the Shore Temple which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Meenakshi Amman Temple

Much later, the Pallavas were replaced by the Chola dynasty as the dominant kingdom in the 9th
century and they in turn were replaced by the Pandyan Dynasty in the 13th century. The Pandyan
capital Madurai was in the deep south away from the coast. They had extensive trade links with the
south east Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya and their successors, as well as contacts, even
formal diplomatic contacts, reaching as far as the Roman Empire. During the 13th century, Marco
Polo mentioned the Pandyas as the richest empire in existence. Temples such as the Meenakshi
Amman Temple at Madurai and Nellaiappar Temple at Tirunelveli are the best examples of Pandyan
temple architecture.[45] The Pandyas excelled in both trade and literature. They controlled the pearl
fisheries along the south coast of India, between Sri Lanka and India, which produced some of the
finest pearls in the known ancient world.
Chola Empire[edit]
Main article: Chola dynasty

The Chola Empire at its greatest extent, during the reign of Rajendra Chola I in 1030

During the 9th century, the Chola dynasty was once again revived by Vijayalaya Chola, who
established Thanjavur as Chola's new capital by conquering central Tamil Nadu
from Mutharaiyar and the Pandya king Varagunavarman II. Aditya I and his son Parantaka
I expanded the kingdom to the northern parts of Tamil Nadu by defeating the last Pallava
king, Aparajitavarman. Parantaka Chola II expanded the Chola empire into what is now interior
Andhra Pradesh and coastal Karnataka, while under the great Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra
Chola, the Cholas rose to a notable power in south east Asia. Now the Chola Empire stretched as far
as Bengal and Sri Lanka. At its peak, the empire spanned almost 3,600,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi).
Rajaraja Chola conquered all of peninsular south India and parts of Sri Lanka. Rajendra Chola's
navy went even further, occupying coasts from Burma (now ) to Vietnam, the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, Lakshadweep, Sumatra, Java, Malaya, Philippines[46] in South East Asia and Pegu islands.
He defeated Mahipala, the king of Bengal, and to commemorate his victory he built a new capital
and named it Gangaikonda Cholapuram.
The Cholas were prolific temple builders right from the times of the first medieval king Vijayalaya
Chola. These are the earliest specimen of Dravidian temples under the Cholas. His son Aditya I built
several temples around the Kanchi and Kumbakonam regions. The Cholas went on to becoming a
great power and built some of the most imposing religious structures in their lifetime and they also
renovated temples and buildings of the Pallavas, acknowledging their common socio-religious and
cultural heritage. The celebrated Nataraja temple at Chidambaram and the Sri Ranganathaswami
Temple at Srirangam held special significance for the Cholas which have been mentioned in their
inscriptions as their tutelary deities. Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola built temples such
as the Brihadeshvara Temple of Thanjavur and Brihadeshvara Temple of Gangaikonda Cholapuram,
the Airavatesvara Temple of Darasuram and the Sarabeswara (Shiva) Temple, also called the
Kampahareswarar Temple at Thirubhuvanam, the last two temples being located near
Kumbakonam. The first three of the above four temples are titled Great Living Chola Temples among
the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Architecture from Chola period From left to right: Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram; Natarajan, Shiva as
celestial dancer; and Parvathi, the consort of Shiva
Vijayanagar and Nayak period (1336–1646)[edit]
Main article: Vijayanagara Empire

Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal at Madurai

The Muslim invasions of southern India triggered the establishment of the Hindu Vijayanagara
Empire with Vijayanagara in modern Karnataka as its capital. The Vijayanagara empire eventually
conquered the entire Tamil country by c. 1370 and ruled for almost two centuries until its defeat in
the Battle of Talikota in 1565 by a confederacy of Deccan sultanates. Subsequently, as the
Vijayanagara Empire went into decline after the mid-16th century, many local rulers, called Nayaks,
succeeded in gaining the trappings of independence. This eventually resulted in the further
weakening of the empire; many Nayaks declared themselves independent, among whom
the Nayaks of Madurai and Tanjore were the first to declare their independence, despite initially
maintaining loose links with the Vijayanagara kingdom. [45] The Nayaks of Madurai and Nayaks of
Thanjavur were the most prominent of Nayaks in the 17th century. They reconstructed some of the
well-known temples in Tamil Nadu such as the Meenakshi Temple.

Power struggles of the 18th century (1692–1801)[edit]

By the early 18th century, the political scene in Tamil Nadu saw a major change-over and was under
the control of many minor rulers aspiring to be independent. The fall of the Vijayanagara empire and
the Chandragiri Nayakas gave the sultanate of Golconda a chance to expand into the Tamil
heartland. When the sultanate was incorporated into the Mughal Empire in 1688, the northern part of
current-day Tamil Nadu was administrated by the nawab of the Carnatic, who had his seat
in Arcot from 1715 onward. Meanwhile, to the south, the fall of the Thanjavur Nayaks led to a short
lived Thanjavur Maratha kingdom. The fall of the Madurai Nayaks brought up many small Nayakars
of southern Tamil Nadu, who ruled small parcels of land called palayams. The chieftains of these
Palayams were known as Palaiyakkarar (or 'polygar' as called by British) and were ruling under the
nawabs of the Carnatic.

Fort Dansborg at Tharangambadi built by the Danish

Europeans started to establish trade centres during the 17th century in the eastern coastal regions.
Around 1609, the Dutch established a settlement in Pulicat,[47] while the Danes had their
establishment in Tharangambadi also known as Tranquebar.[48] In 1639, the British, under the East
India Company, established a settlement further south of Pulicat, in present-day Chennai. British
constructed Fort St. George[49] and established a trading post at Madras.[50]By 1693, the French
established in trading posts at Pondichéry. The British and French were competing to expand the
trade in the northern parts of Tamil Nadu which also witnessed many battles like Battle of
Wandiwash as part of the Seven Years' War.[51] British reduced the French dominions in India to
Puducherry. Nawabs of the Carnatic bestowed tax revenue collection rights on the East India
Company for defeating the Kingdom of Mysore. Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah surrendered much of
his territory to the East India Company which firmly established the British in the northern parts. In
1762, a tripartite treaty was signed between Thanjavur Maratha, Carnatic and the British by which
Thanjavur became a vassal of the Nawab of the Carnatic which eventually ceded to British.
In the south, Nawabs granted taxation rights to the British which led to conflicts between British and
the Palaiyakkarar, which resulted in series of wars called Polygar war to establish independent
states by the aspiring Palaiyakkarar. Puli Thevar was one of the earliest opponents of the British rule
in South India.[52] Thevar's prominent exploits were his confrontations with Marudhanayagam, who
later rebelled against the British in the late 1750s and early 1760s. Rani Velu Nachiyar, was the first
woman freedom fighter of India and Queen of Sivagangai. [53] She was drawn to war after her
husband Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar (1750–1772), King of Sivaganga was murdered at Kalayar
Kovil temple by British. Before her death, Queen Velu Nachi granted powers to the Maruthu
brothers to rule Sivaganga.[54] Kattabomman (1760–1799), Palaiyakkara chief of Panchalakurichi who
fought the British in the First Polygar War.[55] He was captured by the British at the end of the war and
hanged near Kayattar in 1799. Veeran Sundaralingam (1700–1800) was the General of
Kattabomman Nayakan's palayam, who died in the process of blowing up a British ammunition dump
in 1799 which killed more than 150 British soldiers to save Kattapomman Palace. Oomaithurai,
younger brother of Kattabomman, took asylum under the Maruthu brothers, Periya Marudhu and
Chinna Marudhu and raised an army[56]. They formed a coalition with Dheeran Chinnamalai and
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja which fought the British in Second Polygar Wars. Dheeran
Chinnamalai(1756–1805), Polygar chieftain of Kongu and feudatory of Tipu Sultan who fought the
British in the Second Polygar War. After winning the Polygar wars in 1801, the East India Company
consolidated most of southern India into the Madras Presidency.

Srivilliputhur Andal TempleGopuram has been adopted as the official Seal of Tamil Nadu

During British rule (1801–1947)