History of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu, one of the hottest tourist destination ofserved as their capital. In the 6th century they
India. This state, located in southern peninsula of of ourdefeated the Cholas and ruled as far as Sri Lanka. In
country has a rich history.the 9th century, the last Pallava king was defeated by
Hemmed by azure water of Bay of Bengal and IndianAditya Chola.
Ocean, Tamil Nadu is known as 'the country of Tamil'.Medieval History (9th to 14th century) - In the 9th
Since 1500 B.C, Tamil Nadu has been the home ofcentury, once again Cholas came to power, under the
Tamil civilization which is evident from numerousreign of Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola.
archaeological sites that are dotted in the entire state.They have extended their empire to parts of Orissa,
The most important archaeological site beingWest Bengal, parts of Ceylon( present day Srilanka),
Adichanallur, which is located near Tirunelveli town.islands of Andaman-Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Sumatra,
Even the language, Tamil is also very old and tracesJava, Malaya and the islands of Pegu by defeating
back its history to 2, 500 years. Since that era, thisrulers of Cheras and Pandyas. After such glorious
classical language of India has been used in inscriptionsdays, Cholas started loosing their power around the
and literature.13th century.
History of Tamil Nadu can be classified into variousWith the decline of Cholas, in the 14th century Pandyas
eras such as prehistoric era, eras of empires, andonce again came to power. But soon Muslim invaders
British era.have destroyed both Chola and Pandya dynasty
Pre-historic era - Pre historic era of Tamil Nadu can becompletely and created Bahmani kingdom in the
classified into Old Stone Age, New Stone Age, MetalNorthern Deccan. To take revenge of this defeat,
Age and Megalithic age.Archaeological evidencesHindu rulers has joined hands together and build a new
found in Adichanallur, located just 24 km fromkingdom known as Vijayanagara Empire. But, in 1564
Tirunelveli. 169 clay urns containing human skulls,A.D, Deccan Sultans have defeated the ruler of
skeletons and bones, plus husks and grains of rice,Vijayanagara Kingdom in the battle of Talikota.
charred rice and Neolithic Celts, are found here whichModern History (17th century) - Modern history of
confirms the Neolithic period( 3800 years ago). ApartTamil Nadu starts with the settlement of Dutch in
from this, a group of Indian geologists are connectingPulicat in 1609 A.D. And in the year 1639 A.D, Britishers
the history of Tamil Nadu with Jurassic era. They haveunder the banner East India Company has established
found hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs, perhaps oftheir settlement at Chennai. With the help of divide and
65 million years old, underneath a stream in a smallrule policy, Britishers has extend their area. They fought
village in Ariyalur district.with other European powers like Dutch and French to
Age of Empires (600 -1300 B.C)drive away them from India. Britishers have also fought
Ancient History (1st to 9th century) - After pre-historicwith Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore Kingdom and
era, now its turn for ancient period. The history of thisbrought the entire southern region under their reign.
period mainly showcases the rise and fall of manyThey merged Southern India under Madras Presidency.
empires. Some of these kings have extended theirBut, from late 18th century, nationalist movement has
empires to other parts of India as well as overseas. Instarted in Tamil Nadu. Poligars of Poligars of Tirunelveli
the first few centuries of this period, there was veryand Shivagana, and the sepoy revolt at Vellore in 1806
little trace of existence of Chola dynasty, who werehas infused the early manifestation of anti-colonial
very active during the Sangam period. But, rivalryfeeling in the natives of Tamil Nadu.
between Pallavas and Pandyas has helped the CholasIn 1947 after India's independence, Madras Presidency
to regain their strength. They have ruled the region likebecame Madras State in 1953. On the basis of linguistic
Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli districts in between 1st anddifference, in 1953 Kannada-speaking areas were
4th centuries C.E.transferred to Mysore (now Karnataka), and the
During the later half of 4th century, Pallavas has ruledMalayalam areas to Kerala. In 1968, the name of
the south for nearly 400 years. They have ruled aMadras was changed to Tamil Nadu.
large portion of the region from Kanchipuram which