SKETCH OF THE DYNASTIES OF SOUTHERN INDIA.
GENERAL HISTORICAL SKETCH.
In the earliest days of which we have any knowledge as to the sovereignties ruling the continent of India, it appears that the great Maurya dynasty held the north, while the south was divided amongst the Pandiyans of Madura, who governed the extreme south, the Cholas, who held the country to their north and east, and the Cheras (Keralas), who ruled over the tracts to their north and west. This was in the fourth century B.C. I say "it appears" because, although we are certain of the Mauryas (probably B.C. 325-188) and the Pandiyans as existent in the time of Megasthenes (B.C. 302), we have only the fact of the Cholas and Keralas (or Cheras) being mentioned in the inscriptions of Asoks (B.U. 250) to verify their existence at that still earlier period. But tradition mentions no earlier kingdoms than those of Påndiya, Chola, and Chera in the south of India, and always speaks of them as contemporary. As we are oertain of the Pandiyan, therefore, in B.C. 302, we may safely place the Cholas and Cheras as far back as that date. The Keralas appear to have occupied the whole Western Coast under the ghāta, and it is probable that the Eastern Coast was also inhabited almost throughout its entire length; but there is no evidence of any kingdom having been in existence throughout the Dakhan, and it is quite possible that almost the whole of its entire area was waste (the Dandakaranya[1]) or inhabited only by a few half-wild tribes under their own chiefs, such as those so often mentioned in the Puranas. It is necessary for students of history to remember that very large areas now oultivated and populated were absolutely waste-mere barren tracts of rook, forest, and wild plaing till oomparatively modern times, and this seems especially to have been the case with the Dakhan country.[2] It must not be forgotten, however, that the earliest Buddhist legends speak of the kingdom of Kalinga as then in existence.
At some period subsequent to that of Asoka, the Pallavas[3] appear to have grown into importance on the Eastern Coast, and they gradually increased in power till they constituted themselves & great kingdom, with extensive foreign trade, and proved a source of danger to the Cholas and their other neighbours. They appear to have held the entire Eastern Coast from Conjeeveram to the borders of Orissa. At present there is no evidence as to when they arose from obscurity into the dignity of a kingdom, but they seem to have been one of the principal southern powers when the first Chalukyas immigrated from Northern India about the fifth oentury A.D.
To the Mauryas in the north succeeded the Sanga dynasty (B.C. 188-76) and this was followed by the short Kanva dynasty (B.C. 76-81). The last of these kings being murdered, the Andhra or Andhrabritya dynasty succeeded, and ruled from B.C. 31 to A.D. 436. (P) They were Buddhists, and it was by them that the magnificent marble stupa at Amaravati was erected. About this period, i.e., the fifth century A.D., began to grow into importance the Chalukyan sovereignty of the Western Dakhan, and it is in connection with the early Chalukyas that we hear of the Nalas (probably a Western Coast tribe), the Mauryas (possibly descendants of the earlier Mauryas) who inhabited part of the Konkaņa, the Sendrakas, Mātangas (apparently a barbarous tribe, perhaps aboriginal), the Katachohuris,[4] the
- ↑ See Mr. Foulkes' article on the "Civilization of the Dakhan down to the sixth century B.C." (Ind. Ant. VIII, 1-10.)
- ↑ According to the Ramdyana, Bk. IV, Ch. 41, the races inhabiting the country south of the Tungabhadri where the Mekhalas, Utkalas, Dasarpas, Vidarbhas, Rishikas, Mahitakar, Matoya, Kalingas, Kasikas, Andhras, Pundras, Cholas, Pandyas, and Keralas.
- ↑ Mr. Lewis Rice thinks that a dynasty of the Mahavali-kula reigned over the eastern coast of the peninsula prior to the rise of the Pallavas, and that they gave their name to Mahavalipuram, or the "Seven Pagodas." (Ind. Ant. X, 88.)
- ↑ Mr. Fleet's Dynasties of the Kanarsu Districts, p. 10, and note. Their descendants (p) were called Kalachuris.
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