33 -INDIAN HISTORY- THE QUEST FOR AKANDA BARATH--MAPS

Bharat (Himalayam Samaarabhya)

Himalayam Samaarabhya Yaavadindusarovaram

Tam Devanirmitam Desam Hindusthaanam Prachakshatey

From the Himalayas all the way to Indian ocean,

the Devas created the sacred land called Hindustan

ASMAKAM, KAMBOJAM, AVANTHI, MATHSYA, SURASENA, MAGADHAM, ANGAM, VANGAM, CHEDI, KAASHI, KOSALAM, VRIJI, MALLA, PANCHALAM, KURU,

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ASOKAN EMPIRE.( Tamil country and Cetlon not included in that).But friendly. ( they were not tributaries). Very educative map showing important places.

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SATHAVAHANA DYNASTY ( இளங்கோ அடிகளின் சிலப்பதிகாரத்தில்

நூற்றுவர் கன்னர் எனப்படுவோர் .

செங்குட்டுவன் வடநாடு செல்ல உதவியவர்கள்

தமிழ் மன்னர்களுடன் பகைமை இல்லாதவர்கள்

(230 BC TO 220 AD) ( 450 YEARS!)

The Sātavāhana Empire (Telugu: శాతవాహన సామ్రాజ్యము, Maharashtri: सालवाहण, Sālavāhaṇa[3]) or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indian dynasty based from Dharanikota and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar (Pune) and Prathisthan (Paithan) in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward. Although there is some controversy about when the dynasty came to an end, the most liberal estimates suggest that it lasted about 450 years, until around 220 CE. The Satavahanas are credited for establishing peace in the country, resisting the onslaught of foreigners after the decline of Mauryan Empire.

Sātavāhanas started out as feudatories to the Mauryan dynasty, but declared independence with its decline. They are known for their patronage of Hinduism and Buddhism which resulted in Buddhist monuments from Ellora (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to Amaravati. The Sātavāhanas were one of the first Indian states to issue coins struck with their rulers embossed. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade as well as the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of India.

They had to compete with the Sungas and then the Kanvas of Magadha to establish their rule. Later, they played a crucial role to protect a huge part of India against foreign invaders like the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas. In particular their struggles with the Western Kshatrapas went on for a long time. The great rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty Gautamiputra Satakarni and Sri Yajna Sātakarni were able to defeat the foreign invaders like the Western Kshatrapas and stop their expansion. In the 3rd century CE the empire was split into smaller states.

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A CLEARER MAP OF SATHAVAJANA DYNASTY WHICH RULED IN DECCAN FOR 400 YEARS ( 200 BC 200AD...WHICH CORRESPONDS EXACTLY WITH SANGAM AGE IN TAMILNAD. THEY WERE VERY FRIENDLY WITH TAMIL. HALA WAS A KING THERE WHO WROTE GATHA SAPTHASATHI. ( similar to Akanaanooru). but not inspired by tamil poem. It was a prakruth language poem. Prakruth simply means ( natural ...(ie) colloquial whereas SAMSKRUTH means adorned ..literary).

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GUPTHA EMPIRE (300 AD to 600 AD) (GOLDEN AGE )

The Gupta Empire (Sanskrit: गुप्त साम्राज्य, Gupta Sāmrājya) was an ancient Indian empire which existed from approximately 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent.[1] Founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta, the dynasty is a model of a classical civilization.[2] The peace and prosperity created under the leadership of the Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.[3] This period is called the Golden Age of India[4] and was marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.[5] Chandra Gupta I, Samudra Gupta the Great, and Chandra Gupta II the Great were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty.[6] The 4th century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, credits Guptas with having conquered about twenty one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas (Persians), the Hunas, the Kambojas tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas etc.[7]

The high points of this cultural creativity are magnificent architecture, sculptures and paintings.[8] The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.[9][10] Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era.[11] Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.[12]

GUPTHA EMPIRE ( Pinnacle of glory in Sanskrit literature, Science, Arts, Overseas trade( not conquest!), culture.

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HARSHA VARDHANA

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Pallavas were not Tamil kings at all!Since Pallavas ruled in the territory extending from Bellary to Bezwada, it led to the probability of a theory that the Pallavas were a northern dynasty who having contracted marriages with princesses of the Andhra Dynasty inherited a portion of Southern Andhra Pradesh.

PANDYAN EMPIRE DEFEATS THE IMPERIAL CHOLAS . ( THIS WAS THE TIME WHEN MARCO POLO OF VENICE VISITED TAMILNAD...HAS HIGH PRAISE FOR KORKKAI PORT AND PEOPLE).

Sundara Pandyan came to power in 1216 CE after his elder brother Jatavarman Kulasekara Pandyan. Kulasekara Pandyan was a vassal of the Chola King Kulothunga Chola III. He had opposed and been defeated by Kulothunga Chola III in 1205 CE, when the victorious Chola armies burned down the ancient Pandyan coronation hall in Madurai. This sowed the seed for revenge when Sundara Pandyan took power.[2]

[edit]War against the Cholas

To avenge his brother's humiliation in the hands of the Kulothunga Chola III, Sundara Pandyan invaded the Chola kingdom soon after his accession.[3] Kulothunga Chola III was nearing the end of his long 40 year reign and was hampered by old age and the swiftness of the Pandyan invasion. Sundara Pandyan sacked the Chola cities of Thanjavur and Uraiyur and drove both the Chola king and his crown prince Rajaraja Chola III into exile. To celebrate his victory he performed a virabisheka (lit. anointment of heroes) in the coronation hall of Cholas (mudikondasolapuram) at Ayirattali in Thanjavur district. Later he marched his armies up to Chidambaram and camped at Pon Amaravathi. He commemorated his victories over the Cholas by conducting a Thulabaram (Tamil: துலாபாரம்) - a form of Hindu worship where the devotee offers tribute in equal measure to his weight - at the Chidambaram temple.[4][5]

Kulothunga Chola III appealed for aid to his son-in-law, the Hoysala monarch Veera Ballala II. Ballala sent an army under his son, the crown prince Vira Narasimha II. Buckling under the Hoysala threat Sundara Pandyan agreed to restore the Chola kingdom to Kulothunga, but only after the Cholas acknowledged his suzerainty. Sundara Pandyan's victories over Cholas are described in the Thirukkolur (in present day Tirunelveli district) inscriptions.[5]

[edit]Second Pandyan Empire

Kulothunga made his formal submission to Pandyan rule in 1217 CE at Pon Amaravathi, ending nearly three centuries of Chola domination in the Tamil country and other major parts of South India. This was the beginning of the Pandyan revival and the second Pandyan empire was born and between 1215-1345 AD the [[Pandyas] were the paramount power in South India.[6] Durint the following five decades from 1215 AD, following their defeat to the Pandyas, the Cholas experienced a constant decline in terms of extent of territory, political importance, prestige and remained largely subordinate and subservient to the Pandyas. The Cholas also became dependent on the Hoysalas with whom they had marital relations. Kulothunga Chola III died in 1218 CE, shortly after his defeat by Maravarman Sundara Pandyan and his son successor Rajaraja Chola III proved to be an incapable and incompetent ruler under whose rule the Chola kingdom hurtled from one ignominy to the other, and the process of its decline hastened.

In 1225 CE Sundara Pandyan defeated and drove away a company of Odda (Oriya) Soldiers who had invaded the Chola heartland and occupied Srirangam.[7] He allied himself with the Kadava chieftain Kopperunchinga I against the Cholas and Hoysalas. After the defeat and capture of Rajaraja Chola III at Tellaru in 1231 CE by Kopperunchinga, Vira Narasimha II intervened decisively against the Kadava-Pandiyan alliance by sending an army under his generals Appanna and Goppayya. Kopperunchinga was defeated and Raja Raja Chola III was restored to Chola throne in 1231 CE. While his generals were moving against Kopperrunchinga, Narasimha himself defeated Sundara Pandiyan at Mahendramangalam on the banks of Kaveri in 1231 CE. Sundara Pandyan had to acquiese in the restoration of Raja Raja.[8] After Mahendramangalam, peace was made between the warring Chola, Hoysala, Kadava and Pandyan kingdoms and sealed by dynastic marriages.

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THIS IS THE EXTENT OF FINAL PANDYAN EMPIRE DESCRIBED BY VENETIAN INTERBNATIONAL TRAVELLER AND MERCHANT MARCO POLO WHO HAD EARLIER VISITED AND STAYED IN CHINA, AS THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!

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MARCO-POLO TRAVEL ROUTES. HE VISITED PANDYAN KINGDOM ON HIS JOURNEY FROM CHINA BACK TO HIS HOME IN ITALY

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There is a huge gap in the history of North India from 650AD to 1200AD! This corresponds to period of Pallava Empire& Imperial Chola empire . Historians like Jadhnath Sarkar have written in detail that The Gangetic plain was under the rule of numerous Rajput clans. Chola emperor after Kulothungan had very friendly relations with the Rajputs of Gangetic plain. and used to settle succession disputes in the North. Rajaraja's son Rajendran went on an expedition to Bengal to support the Rajputs. King Boja of Ujjain a great scholar was a conteporary. I have read somewhere that

all the Hindu kings raised a common army against Gazni's father.

( It was the time of crusades in Europe..King Richard the First and King John of Shakespeare fame. Also Ivanhoe and Robroy as presented by Sir Walter Scott.......Kalki followed the historical romance tradition of Scott and Alexander Duma). During this period Rashtrkutas ( Deccan) were powerful and had great trade with Arabs.

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Prithvi Raj III, commonly known as Prithviraj Chauhan (1149–1192 CE), was a king of the Hindu Chauhan (Chauhamana) dynasty, who ruled the kingdom of Ajmer and Delhi in northern India during the latter half of the 12th century.

Prithviraj Chauhan belonged to the Rajput Chauhan clan, which according to a legend mentioned in later manuscripts of Prithviraj Raso was part of Agnivanshi Rajputs, derived its origin from a sacrificial fire-pit. Chauhan was the last independent Hindu king to sit upon the throne of Delhi. He succeeded to the throne in 1169 CE at the age of 20, and ruled from the twin capitals of Ajmer and Delhi which he received from his maternal grandfather Arkpal or Anangpal III of the Tomara dynasty in Delhi. He controlled much of present-day Rajasthan and Haryana, and unified the Rajputs against Muslim invasions. His elopement in 1175 with Samyukta (Sanyogita), the daughter of Jai Chandra Rathod, the Gahadvala king of Kannauj, is a popular romantic tale in India, and is one of the subjects of the Prithviraj Raso, an epic poem composed by Chauhan's court poet and friend, Chand Bardai.

Prithviraj Chauhan defeated the Muslim ruler Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghori in the First Battle of Tarain in 1191 and set him free as a gesture of mercy. Ghauri attacked for a second time the next year, and Prithviraj was defeated and captured at the Second Battle of Tarain (1192). Sultan Ghauri took Prithviraj to Ghazni and blinded him, legend states that in an archery show, Prithviraj's poet Chand Bardai gave him the physical location of Ghori in the arena via poem and then as Ghori ordered the start of show, Prithviraj shot him dead with a Shabdbhedi-baan. After his defeat Delhi came under the control of Muslim rulers.

PLEASE, PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE --HOW THE GREAT PANDYAN EMPIRE WAS LOOTED BY MALIK KAFUR ON BEHALF OF DELHI SULTANATE ALLAUDDIN KILJI (1310)

Raids by Malik Kafur

[edit]Defeat of Sundara Pandyan

Scenarios changed during 1311, when Alauddin Khilji of Khilji dynasty sent his general Malik Kafur on an expedition to the kingdoms of the south which led to the capture of Warangal, the overthrow of the Hoysala Empire south of the Krishna River, and the occupation of Madurai in the extreme south.[35] Malik Khafur was not seeking to expand the borders of the Delhi Sultanate; he was engaging in a military treasure-hunt on the Sultan's behalf. Malik's victory over Veera Ballala III and loot of Hindu temples at Halebidu sent alarming bells to the Pandyan Kingdom. Malik Kafur on the other hand, heard about the raised strength of the Pandyan army and its defensive position within the walls of Madurai was reluctant in carrying out his expedition further south. It was Alauddin Khilji himself ordered and sent reinforcements to Malik Kafur to attack Madurai after hearing the richness of it via Veera Virupaksha Ballala who was sent to Delhi as an act of peace by his defeated father Veera Ballala III.

Being a strong Saivite, Sundara Pandyan was enraged by the destruction of the Hindu temples by the Muslim armies. He assembled his army and planned to march them at once to face the invading armies of the Delhi Sultanate. This idea was however opposed by Vira Pandyan who felt that taking a defensive position might be more advantageous. Sundara Pandyan ignored his words and ordered his army to march leaving Vira Pandyan to safeguard Madurai with his men. The Pandyan army managed to march well intact till Melaithirukattupalli. But their reliance on the river Kaveri as the water source turned disastrous as the river ran dry during the hot summer of 1311. The already exhausted Pandyan army planned to march west in search of nearby water source. Their speed was drastically reduced due to the general's decision of marching on the dried beds of River Kaveri. Malik Kafur's forces on the other hand tactically planned on their ration and water supplies, met Sundara Pandyan much before Thiruchirapalli. The physically exhausted Pandyan infantry easily fell prey for the Sultanate's army. However, the Pandyan cavalry revived its attack on the Delhi Sultanate cavalry. But, the cavaliers were well armed with turcopoles and chain mail armors while Pandyan horsemen were inferiorly armored and heavily relied on heavy swords. Tactical strikes by Malik Kafur's crossbow men over the Pandya cavalry, followed by the Delhi Sultanate infantry's attack blocked any possible retreat for the Sundara Pandyan's army. The generals of Kafur's army took Sundara Pandyan as captive and beheaded all the others captured. Few Pandyan cavaliers managed to escape to Madurai to report their defeat to Vira Pandya. The victorious Sultanate went on plundering the temples of Thiruchirapalli and Srirangam.

[edit]Siege of Madurai

Meenakshi Amman temple, Madurai

The walled city of Madurai was now left only with the Vira Pandyan's men. Their sole aim was to safeguard Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. Understanding the fact that they were largely outnumbered, the defenders' only hope is to delay their enemies long enough for them to negotiate. Kafur's siege on Madurai continued for weeks, however, it turned futile as his army lacked any Ballistas or Trebuchets and relied on Battering Rams of inferior quality. On the other hand, continuous archery attack by Pandyan soldiers and surprise cavalry attacks on the Delhi Sultanate infantry during night times tremendously increased the casualties on Kafur's side. Malik Kafur lost about half of his army, and then managed to breach the wall after weeks of siege. Vira Pandyan and his soldiers still managed to hold the line, thus making Malik Kafur to finally come down for negotiation.

Malik Kafur offered the following terms to Vira Pandyan:

1. Hand over all the treasures belonging to the Meenakshi Temple and Madurai Treasury which included 96,000 gold coins and precious stones

2. Half of the rice rationed inside the walls of Madurai

3. All the elephants and horses available with Pandyas[citation needed].

In return, Vira Pandyan was promised the release of his brother, Sundara Pandyan and safety of the deities in the inner sanctum of the Meenakshi Temple.

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VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE ...THE BULWARK IN THE SOUTH OF ANCIENT TRADITIONS( KRUSHNA DEVA RAYA 1500 WAS A NEAR CONTEMPORARY TO BABAR WHO HAD JUST THEN COME TO INDIA) RUINED BY ITS NEUGHBOURS..BAHMANI KINGDOMS OF BIJAPUR etc

vijayanagar city

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara

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EXTENT OF VIJAYA NAGAR EMPIRE, THE PRECURSOR TO NAICKER KINGDOMS OF TAMIL NAD.

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