1. The objective of this document is to provide a fairly accurate picture of ruler or major power kingdom/dynasty of Tamil Nadu region in the period 1000 AD to 2000 AD (2nd millennium AD), which is easy to read & understand. It is based on Wikipedia and a youtube video having maps of Indian kingdoms over time (including this period) which seems to be fairly accurate for Tamil Nadu area for 2nd millennium AD.
2. This document has used two categories to reflect amount of territory of Tamil Nadu ruled by a kingdom/dynasty in a particular period:
3. Period calculation is not exact as we are only using year data without month data. So a period like year 1000 to 1215 as shown in map pics can be from slightly more (a day more) than 214 years (31st Dec. 1000 to 1st Jan. 1215) to slightly less (a day less) than 216 years (1st Jan. 1000 to 31st Dec. 1215).
4. The maps referenced in main part of document are from the video: A New History of India: Every Year, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw9psR8MyPI , 9 min. 30 secs., published on 18th March 2018 by Ollie Bye. The video seems to have largely accurate information for the areas and history period covered by this document. In this document, the acronym ANHIOB is used to refer to this video.
5. To get some idea of Tamil Nadu territory in map pics in above ANHIOB video, given below are two links showing Tamil Nadu territory as of today in context of other South India states.
The charts below are the release version (no longer interim).
I did not know how to do the Stacked chart (with dates prior to 1900) shown below. I first tried procedure given here (which is for Excel) : Excel Gantt Chart with Start and End Dates, https://youtu.be/RPmQdDT8w3Q?t=130 but it did not work for me (I use an old version of Excel). Tried roughly the same procedure in Google Sheets and it worked! Also note that Excel seems to have a problem with dates before 1900.
Above pic: Spreadsheet cells and stacked bar chart history timeline of Tamil Nadu Rulers (>≈75% terr.) / Major Powers (>≈50% terr.) from 1000 AD to 2000 AD (2nd millennium AD)
Above pic: Stacked bar chart history timeline of Tamil Nadu Rulers (>≈75% terr.) / Major Powers (>≈50% terr.) from 1000 AD to 2000 AD (2nd millennium AD)
I tried to avoid making any manual changes to the chart picture so as to save time for future changes and regeneration of chart. I made a lot of settings in the properties of the chart to get above chart. But I had to use a hack to avoid the first entry's start date overwriting the label for the first entry by adding spaces and then ' character to the entry.
The associated Google sheet is shared here with force copy option (hope it works as it is the first time I am using this option) so users who have a Google account can make a copy of it and then view and edit it (alternatively they may be able to only view it if they have not made a copy):
Above pic: Single stacked bar chart history timeline of Tamil Nadu Rulers (>≈75% terr.) / Major Powers (>≈50% terr.) from 1000 AD to 2000 AD (2nd millennium AD)
For this chart too, I had to make lot of property settings in the Chart to generate the above automatically. I also had to do some small hacks. First issue was that overlapping periods was creating the wrong bar graph. So I had to merge each overlapping period entries into single entries. I also had to do a small hack of adding start period (1000) to the first entry of duration, so that the horizontal scale started with 1000. While the hacks are not so clean, the great thing is that the above chart is fully generated by Google Sheet and so changing the chart in future when the data changes would be straightforward work (one has to simply provide the new data in the associated spreadsheet cells).
The associated Google sheet is shared here with force copy option so users who have a Google account can make a copy of it and then view and edit it (alternatively they may be able to only view it if they have not made a copy): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15TtznHj7v7XBe2ARV4Nax1tGnFQEWqki9TUQJvHGoGg/copy .
Timeline of Tamil Nadu Rulers (>≈75% terr.) / Major Powers (>≈50% terr.) from 1000 AD to 2000 AD (2nd millennium AD) - Details
1) Tamil Nadu (TN) was ruled (over 75% territory control) by the Cholas in 1000 AD as can be seen in map pic at around 5 min. 47 secs. in ANHIOB video. Small part of northern Tamil Nadu was under Western Chalukya.
2) In 1008, Chola empire expanded with whole of Tamil Nadu territory coming under the Cholas as can be seen from 1007 and 1008 map pics at 5 min. 48 secs. in ANHIOB video.
3) Chola rule over almost all, if not all, of Tamil Nadu (TN) continued till 1216 when Chola territory in TN got reduced to around 50% or slightly lesser with Pandya kingdom acquiring around 50% or slightly more territory. So both the Cholas and Pandyas have to be viewed as major powers in TN from 1216 but neither’s rule was over 75% or more of TN territory. See 1215 and 1216 map pics at 6 min. 30 secs. in ANHIOB video.
The 1216 date is in agreement with Wiki page for Cholas, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_dynasty#Later_Cholas_(1070%E2%80%931279) . Relevant extract from it: “Chola administration and territorial integrity until the rule of Kulothunga Chola III was stable and very prosperous up to 1215, but during his rule itself, the decline of the Chola power started following his defeat by Maravarman Sundara Pandiyan II in 1215–16”.
4) In 1225, Hoysala kingdom acquired lot of territory from the Cholas due to which Pandya kingdom became the only major power in TN with around 50% or slightly more territory, and the Hoysalas and Cholas were each having less than 50% of TN territory. See 1224 and 1225 map pics at 6 min. 32 secs. in ANHIOB video.
5) In 1279, Pandya kingdom captured Chola territory, and had over 75% territory of TN under their control and so we can say that Pandya kingdom started ruling TN then. The Hoysalas had a small part of TN territory under their control. See 1278 and 1279 map pics at around 6 min. 42 secs. in ANHIOB video.
The 1279 date matches wikipedia page for Cholas,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_dynasty#Later_Cholas_(1070%E2%80%931279) . Relevant extract: “The Pandyas in the south had risen to the rank of a great power who ultimately banished the Hoysalas from Malanadu or Kannada country, who were allies of the Cholas from Tamil country and the demise of the Cholas themselves ultimately was caused by the Pandyas in 1279.”
6) In 1310, as per the map pics in the ANHIOB video, the Hoysalas seem to have become vassals of Delhi Sultanate and so, for the first time in its history, a small part of Tamil Nadu territory which was under Hoysalas, which seems to be less than 25% of Tamil Nadu territory, came under an Islamic Sultanate. See 1309 and 1310 map pics at 6 min. 49 secs. in ANHIOB video.
Perhaps the year Hoysalas became vassals of Delhi Sultanate was 1311 and not 1310 as Hoysala king Veera Ballala III’s wikipedia page,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veera_Ballala_III , states: “Halebidu was attacked and plundered in c. 1311, only to be rebuilt in c. 1316. Veera Ballala III had to accept defeat to the Delhi Sultan, pay a handsome tribute, and send his son Veera Virupaksha to Delhi as an act of submission. His son returned in 1313.”
7) In 1323, most of the Pandya territory came under direct Delhi Sultanate rule, and so Delhi Sultanate had over 75% of Tamil Nadu territory. Therefore we can say that Delhi Sultanate began ruling Tamil Nadu from 1323. A tiny part of former Pandya territory in Tamil Nadu is shown under Musunur Nayaks (less than 25% of Tamil Nadu territory) in the 1323 map. See 1322 and 1323 map pics at 6 min. 51 secs. in ANHIOB video.
1323 date is in agreement with Madurai Sultanate wiki page,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai_Sultanate . Relevant extract from it, “Following this there were two more expeditions from the Delhi Sultanate – the second in 1314 CE led by Khusro Khan and the third in 1323 CE by Ulugh Khan. These invasions shattered the Pandyan empire beyond revival. While the previous invasions were content with plunder, Ulugh Khan annexed the former Pandyan dominions to the Delhi Sultanate as the province of Ma'bar.” Note that the first invasion for only plunder and not conquest, of Tamil Nadu by Delhi Sultanate was in 1311 CE (AD) by Malik Kafur.
8) This territory division remains the same as per the maps in the video till 1334. In 1335 Delhi Sultanate had lost most of its territory in Tamil Nadu with only a small area in northern Tamil Nadu remaining to be under Delhi Sultanate. Most of the former Delhi Sultanate territory in Tamil Nadu got split between Ma'bar Sultanate also known as Madurai Sultanate, and what is labelled as Champaraju kingdom (ally of Madurai Sultanate as per
https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Madurai-temple-destroyed-and-what-was-the-impact-of-destruction and
https://jambudveep.wordpress.com/tag/bukkaraya/ ). The Madurai sultanate and what seems to be its ally, Champaraju, territories seem to be around or over 75 percent of Tamil Nadu region. But Madurai Sultanate territory in Tamil Nadu is around or slightly less than 50% and note that Champaraju is an ally and not a vassal of Madurai Sultanate. See 1334 and 1335 map pics at 6 min. 54 secs. in ANHIOB video.
Also note that in 1335, the small part of Tamil Nadu territory that was earlier shown as Musunur Nayaks territory is now shown as Pandya territory.
9) In 1336, the Musunuri Nayaks acquire large part of Delhi Sultanate territory in South India including the small area of Delhi Sultanate in Tamil Nadu. See 1336 map pic at 6 min. 54 secs. in ANHIOB video.
10) In 1343, Vijayanagara empire takes over Hoysala territory and for the first time, has small territory in Tamil Nadu. See 1342 and 1343 map pics at 6 min. 55 secs. in ANHIOB video.
In the map pics, the Hoysala territory is shown as vassal to Delhi Sultanate from 1310 to 1343 when all of Hoysala territory is shown as having become Vijayanagara territory. But Wikipedia pages of Hoysala empire,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoysala_Empire , as well as of its king, Veera Ballala III,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veera_Ballala_III , give a nuanced account where Hoysalas become vassals of Delhi Sultanate for some time from 1311 but later refuse to pay tribute leading to their capital Halebidu (in Karnataka state, and whose original name is Dorasamudra/Dwarasamudra),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halebidu , getting sacked (again) in 1327 (first sack was in 1311). Veera Ballala took refuge in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu and continued to fight against Delhi Sultanate and the newly formed Madurai Sultanate and is killed in 1343 in a battle against Madurai Sultanate. Harihara I and Bukkaraya I who were the two brothers who had founded the Vijayanagara empire had served Veera Ballala III in a military capacity, as per
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veera_Ballala_III .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoysala_Empire#Increased_influence_and_later_eclipse states, “…Veera Ballala III was killed at the battle of Madurai in 1343, and the sovereign territories of the Hoysala empire were merged with the areas administered by Harihara I in the Tungabhadra River region. This new Hindu kingdom resisted the northern invasions and would later prosper and come to be known as the Vijayanagara Empire.”
11) In 1361 the Champaraju territory is taken over by Vijayanagara empire. This results in Vijayanagara empire now having slightly less than 50% territory, Madurai Sultanate territory in Tamil Nadu continuing to be around or slightly less than 50% and small territories being under Pandyas and Musunuri Nayaks. See 1360 and 1361 map pics at 6 min. 59 secs. in ANHIOB video.
12) In 1368 Vijayanagara empire acquires large portion of Musunuri Nayaks territory in South India, including its small territory in Tamil Nadu. Now Vijayanagara empire territory in Tamil Nadu is around 50%. See 1367 and 1368 map pics at 7 min. 00 secs. in ANHIOB video.
13) In 1378 the Ma'bar or Madurai Sultanate territory as well as the small Pandya territory is taken over by Vijayanagara empire which then has all of Tamil Nadu territory under its control. So Vijayanagara empire rule (>=75%) over Tamil Nadu started in 1378. See 1377 and 1378 map pics at around 7 min. 02 secs. in ANHIOB video.
The 1378 date matches Madurai Sutanate Wikipedia page,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai_Sultanate , which states, “The sultanate was proclaimed in 1335 led by Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan declared his independence Delhi Sultanate of Madurai. Ahsan Khan and his descendants ruled Madurai and surrounding territories until 1378 when the last sultan, Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah fell in battle against the forces of the Vijayanagara Kingdom led by Empire Kumara Kampana.”
14) In 1565, all the territory that was under Vijayanagara empire gets split between Madurai Nayaks with slightly less than or around 75% territory of Tamil Nadu, Gingee Nayaks and Thanjavur Nayaks. See 1564 and 1565 map pics at 7 min. 40 secs. in ANHIOB video.
The major event that triggered this change was the Battle of Talikota,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Talikota . Relevant extract from the wiki page: “The Battle of Talikota (23 January 1565) was a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and an alliance of the Deccan sultanates. The battle resulted in the defeat of Aliya Rama Raya which led to the eventual collapse of the polity and reconfigured Deccan politics.”
The Vijayanagara empire wiki page,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara_Empire#Defeat_and_decline , does not give the date when Madurai Nayaks, Gingee Nayaks and Thanjavur Nayaks declared independence from Vijayanagara empire, but says, “During this period, more kingdoms in South India became independent and separate from Vijayanagara, including the Nayakas of Chitradurga, Keladi Nayaka, Mysore Kingdom, Nayak Kingdom of Gingee, Nayaks of Tanjore, and Nayaks of Madurai.” The “period” refers to the decline of Vijayanagara empire but it is not clear when exactly the Nayaks of Gingee, Thanjavur (Tanjore) and Madurai became independent.
15) As per the ANHIOB video, in 1648 Bijapur sultanate acquires Gingee Nayakas territory which is small but significant size part of Tamil nadu. Madurai Nayaks continue to have slightly less than or around 75% territory. See 1647 and 1648 map pics at around 7 min. 56 secs. in ANHIOB video.
16) But, as per the ANHIOB video, Bijapur Sultanate was able to retain the territory only till 1669, a period of around 21 years, after which Gingee Nayakas rule that territory again for a few years. See 1668 and 1669 map pics at 8 min. 01 secs. in ANHIOB video.
17) In 1674, Thanjavur area comes under Marathas. See 1673 and 1674 map pics at around 8 min. 01 secs. in ANHIOB video. This matches Thanjavur Maratha kingdom wiki page,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanjavur_Maratha_kingdom , which states, “Status”, “Kingdom from 1674 to 1799.”
18) In 1677, Gingee Nayaks territory came under Marathas, including Gingee Nayaks territory in Tamil Nadu. But total Maratha territory in Tamil Nadu was still around or slightly less than 25% with Madurai Nayaks continuing to hold around 75% of territory. See 1676 and 1677 map pics at 8 min. 02 secs. in ANHIOB video.
19) As per ANHIOB video, in 1685 Mughal empire acquired small amount of territory in northern Tamil Nadu. Perhaps it had tiny amount of northern Tamil Nadu territory under its control in 1684 itself. In 1686 Mughal empire expanded its territory in Tamil Nadu when it controlled almost all of the territory that was former Bijapur sultanate territory in Tamil Nadu. But that territory was slightly less than or around 25% of Tamil Nadu territory. Madurai Nayaks continued to have around 75% of TN territory. See 1683 to 1686 map pics at around 8 min. 03 secs. in ANHIOB video.
20) In 1710 the Mughal empire territory in TN came under the Carnatic Sultanate. Carnatic Sultanate also got some additional territory of Thanjavur as per the map pic. But its territory in Tamil Nadu was only around or slightly more than 25%. The dominant power in Tamil Nadu continued to be Madurai Nayakas with around or slightly less than 75% of territory under their control. See 1709 and 1710 map pics at 8 min. 09 secs. in ANHIOB video.
21) This picture changes in a very big way in 1736 when Madurai Nayakas territory comes under Carnatic Sultanate, which makes Carnatic Sultanate the dominant power of Tamil Nadu with almost all, if not all, of Tamil Nadu territory under its control. See 1735 and 1736 map pics at 8 min. 14 secs. in ANHIOB video.
Some additional info.: In 1740, Marathas invaded parts of Carnatic Sultanate and killed its king. But that seems to have been an invasion for plunder and tribute rather than conquest. From the Carnatic Sultanate wiki page,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnatic_Sultanate , “In 1740, the Maratha forces descended on Arcot. They attacked the Nawab, Dost Ali Khan, in the pass of Damalcherry. In the war that followed, Dost Ali, one of his sons Hasan Ali, and a number of prominent persons lost their lives.” This wiki page does not mention that Carnatic Sultanate territory got ruled by Marathas. Note that the ANHIOB video does not show any such Maratha conquest of Carnatic Sultanate territory in 1740s.
22) As per ANHIOB video, in 1769, Mysore (under Hyder Ali then) acquired substantial territory of Carnatic Sultanate in Tamil Nadu. Carnatic Sultanate territory reduces (in 1769) to over 50% but less than 75% of TN due to which we have used Major Power status for it, instead of ‘rule’ which needs around or more than 75% territory. Mysore (Sultanate) territory in TN seems to be somewhat lesser than 50% and somewhat more than 25%, and so Mysore cannot be viewed as a major power in TN then. See 1768 and 1769 map pics at 8 min. 21 secs. in ANHIOB video.
I was not able to get proper references for this territorial gain by Mysore from Carnatic Sultanate. But what is clear is that Mysore (under Hyder Ali and later under Tipu Sultan) fought wars with British forces in Tamil Nadu and Mysore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Mysore_War tells us, “The First Anglo-Mysore War (1766–1769) was a conflict in India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Asaf Jah II, the Nizam of Hyderabad, who sought to divert the company's resources from attempts to gain control over the Northern Circars.” This wiki page also states that the Nawab of the Carnatic was on the side of (an ally of) the British then.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Mysore_Wars#First_Anglo-Mysore_War states, “The First Anglo-Mysore War (1767 – 1769) saw Hyder Ali enjoy some measure of success against the British, almost capturing Madras.” So it is possible that one outcome of the first Anglo-Mysore war was loss of some territory in Tamil Nadu by Carnatic Sultanate to Mysore, which would fit in with the ANHIOB video map pics of TN in this period.
What the above Wiki pages convey clearly is that Britain had become an important military force in Tamil Nadu in this period. However, perhaps Britain did not directly control any territory in Tamil Nadu outside of Madras port-city, and instead was allied with Carnatic Sultanate which controlled significant territory in Tamil Nadu even after Mysore got control of some of the territory of Carnatic Sultanate in TN. Perhaps that’s why the map pics in the ANHIOB video do not show any British territory in Tamil Nadu other than Madras port-city till 1784.
23) As per ANHIOB video, the British acquired small but significant territory in Tamil Nadu in 1784, in additiona to their ‘factories’ and port-cities like Madras, by acquiring areas near Madras. But the territory controlled by Carnatic Sultanate continues to be around 50% or slightly more and so has to be viewed as a “Major Power” but the British cannot be viewed as a major territorial control power at this stage as its territory control is very little (less than 25%). See 1783 and 1784 map pics at around 8 min. 23 secs. in ANHIOB video.
24) In 1792 the British acquires additional territory in Tamil Nadu from what was formerly Mysore (sultanate) kingdom territory in TN. But at this point the total territory of Tamil Nadu under British control is less than 25%. See 1791 and 1792 map pics at 8 min. 25 secs. in ANHIOB video.
In 1792, Britain wins the third Anglo-Mysore war,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Mysore_Wars#Third_Anglo-Mysore_War . Relevant extract from the Wiki page: “The war ended after the 1792 Siege of Seringapatam and the signing of the Treaty of Seringapatam, according to which Tipu had to surrender half of his kingdom to the British East India Company and its allies.”
25) In 1799, the British acquire all of Tamil Nadu territory. See 1798 and 1799 map pics at around 8 min. 26 secs. in ANHIOB video.
About the fourth Anglo-Mysore war from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Mysore_Wars#Fourth_Anglo-Mysore_war : “The British won a decisive victory at the Siege of Seringapatam (1799). Tipu was executed during the defence of the city. Much of the remaining Mysorean territory was annexed by the British, the nizam, and the Marathas. The remaining core, around Mysore and Seringapatam, was restored to the Indian prince Yuvaraja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III (later Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III) under his grandmother's regency…” This matches what is shown in the ANHIOB video map for 1799.
26) British rule over Tamil Nadu continued for a period of 148 years from 1799 till 1947 when India became independent.
Madras Presidency, During the Company rule (1801–1858),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Presidency#During_the_Company_rule_(1801%E2%80%931858) and Madras Presidency, British Raj (1858–1947),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Presidency#British_Raj_(1858%E2%80%931947) , sections of the wiki page indicate that whole of Tamil Nadu which was part of Madras presidency, was under continuous rule by the British from 1801 to 1947, which largely matches the ANHIOB video map pic period of 1799 to 1947. The wiki page mentions in the section prior to “During the Company rule (1801-1858)”, “In 1801, the Nawab of Arcot, Azim-ud-Daula signed the Carnatic Treaty bringing the Carnatic region under British rule. In return, Azim-ud-Daula was entitled to one-fifth of the total revenue of the state and the honour of a 21-gun salute.” So 1801 seems to be the date from which whole of Tamil Nadu formally came under British rule. But perhaps right after 1799, informally the whole of Tamil Nadu was under British rule and so the ANHIOB video shows British rule of whole of TN from 1799 instead of 1801.
[I thank Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
9th Dec. 2022 content
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