A painting of the Mahabalipuram Shore Temple, Chengalpattu, built by the Pallavas.
Tamil dynasties (தமிழ் பேரரசுகள்) are the
Cheras
.
The
revival of the Cholas. The Cholas went on to become a great power. Their decline saw the brief resurgence of the Pandyas. This period was also that of the re-invigorated Hinduism during which temple building and religious literature
The Pallavas are most noted for their patronage of architecture, the finest example being the
Grantha ultimately took form. This script eventually gave rise to several other Southeast Asian scripts such Khmer. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited Kanchipuram
during Pallava rule and extolled their benign rule.
The Pandya dynasty, also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient dynasty of South India, and among the three great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other two being the Cholas and the Cheras. Extant since at least the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE, the dynasty passed through two periods of imperial dominance, the 6th to 10th centuries CE, and under the 'Later Pandyas' (13th to 14th centuries CE). The Pandyas ruled extensive territories, at times including regions of present-day South India and northern Sri Lanka through vassal states subject to Madurai.
The rulers of the three Tamil dynasties were referred to as the "
until it found an opportunity for reviving its frontiers during the late 13th century.
The Pandyas entered their golden age under
Tungabhadra
Valley were related to the Pandyas of Madurai.
According to tradition, the legendary
Sangams ("the Academies") were held in Madurai under the patronage of the Pandyas, and some of the Pandya rulers claimed to be poets themselves. Pandya Nadu was home to a number of renowned temples, including the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. The revival of the Pandya power by Kadungon (7th century CE) coincided with the prominence of the Shaivite nayanars and the Vaishnavite alvars
The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the
Rajendra Chola I undertook and by naval raids on cities of the city-state of Srivijaya, as well as by the repeated embassies to China. The Chola fleet represented the zenith of ancient Indian maritime capacity
.
During the period 1010–1153, the Chola territories stretched from the islands of the
Pandyan dynasty
, which ultimately caused their downfall.
The Cholas left a lasting legacy. Their patronage of
Brihadisvara
temple at Thanjavur, commissioned by the most famous Chola king, Rajaraja Chola in 1010 CE.
The Chera country was geographically well placed to profit from maritime trade via the extensive Indian Ocean networks. Exchange of spices, especially
Sangam period between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and Tamil Nadu. However the southern region of present-day Kerala state (The coastal belt between Thiruvananthapuram and southern Alappuzha) was under Ay dynasty, who was more related to the Pandya dynasty of Madurai
.
The early historic pre-Pallava Tamil polities are often described as a "kinship-based redistributive economies" largely shaped by "pastoral-cum-agrarian subsistence" and "predatory politics".
Chilapathikaram
. After the end of the early historical period, around the 3rd–5th century CE, there seems to be a period where the Cheras' power declined considerably.
Chera Perumal kingdom (c. 9th- 12th century AD). The exact nature of the relationships between the various branches of Chera rulers is somewhat unclear. Some of the major dynasties of medieval south India – Chalukya, Pallava, Pandya, Rashtrakuta, and Chola – seems to have conquered the Chera or Kerala country. Kongu Cheras appear to have been absorbed into the Pandya political system by 10th/11th century AD. Even after the dissolution of the Perumal
kingdom, royal inscriptions and temple grants, especially from outside Kerala proper, continued to refer the country and the people as the "Cheras or Keralas".
