Pandya Dynasty

  • The Pandya kingdom was the second important kingdom in south India during this period. It occupied the region of modern districts of Tirunelveli, Ramnad, and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
  • The capital of Pandya kingdom was Madurai. The Pandyan kingdom was very wealthy and prosperous.
  • The Sangam literature gives information and names of a few kings.
  • Nedunjeliyan was a great Pandya king. He defeated the combined forces of Chera, Chola, and five other minor states in a war against him at Madurai.
  • The Pandyan kings assembled literary assemblies called as ‘Sangam’.
  • Nedunjeliyan had performed several Vedic sacrifices. He may be taken to have ruled around A. D. 210.
  • The capital Madurai and the port city Korkai were the great centres of trade and commerce during the Pandyas’ reign.
  • The traders profited from trade with the Roman Empire.
  • Pandya kings even sent embassies to the Roman emperor Augustus and Trojan.