Pandya was the name of a dynasty (series of rulers who belong to the same family) that was a great maritime trading power in the far south of India, in what is now southern Tamil Nadu. It is not known exactly when the Pandyas first came to power, although they are mentioned in Mauryan inscriptions dating from the 200’s B.C. There are also records of a Pandyan ambassador to ancient Rome. The Pandya dynasty continued, in one form or another and with varying amounts of power, until the A.D. 1500’s, when it was finally replaced by the Vijayanagar Empire.
The Pandyas’ territory was centered on their capital, Madurai, and extended to the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, Cape Comorin. At different times, Pandya power extended over much of what is now Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The island of Sri Lanka was at one time a subject state of the Pandyas. The Pandyas’ main rivals were the other kingdoms of southern India, including the Pallavas, the Chalukyas, and the Cheras. The Pandyas sometimes formed alliances with one of these kingdoms in order to defeat another.
The main periods of Pandya strength were from the A.D. 600’s to the 1200’s. In the 800’s, the Pandyas allied themselves with the Cholas to end the rule of the Pallava dynasty, who controlled what is now northern Tamil Nadu. The Cholas turned against the Pandyas during the 900’s and dominated south India until the 1200’s. In 1279, the Pandyas decisively defeated the Cholas, and the Chola Empire fell. The Pandyas extended their rule as far north as Nellore, on the east coast of India in what is now the state of Andhra Pradesh.
In 1294, the Muslim rulers of Delhi began a round of political expansion in southern India. The attacks were led by Ala-ud-din Khalji, a Turkic general and, later, sultan. In 1311, Malik Kafur, the general of Ala-ud-din, reached the Pandya capital and raided and robbed the city of precious stones, jewels, and other rare treasures. This led to subsequent raids by other Muslim sultans. In 1323, the Pandya kingdom became a province of the Delhi Sultanate, under the Tughluqs, the most famous Turkic dynasty during this period.
The Pandyas continued as minor local rulers in the region after this, gradually losing power and territories until their lands were completely absorbed into the Vijayanagar Empire in the 1500’s.
