South India: Sangam Age, Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas and Pallavas
Domain focus
This section tests early Tamilakam as described in Sangam literature and the later Pallava kingdom: political organisation, trade, society, poetry and temple architecture.
Core concepts
- Sangam corpus: Tolkappiyam, Ettuthogai and Pattuppattu; Puram poems on war and Akam poems on love; hero stones and velir chiefs.
- Three ruling houses: Cheras in Kerala, Cholas in the Kaveri region, Pandyas in the south; ports such as Muziris and Korkai.
- Indo-Roman trade is attested by pepper, beads and coins; Arikamedu is an important early historic port site.
- Pallavas ruled from Kanchipuram; Mahendravarman and Narasimhavarman patronised rock-cut and structural temples; Mamallapuram has monolithic rathas and bas-reliefs.
Worked example
A poem praises a chief, mentions paddy fields and a port, and refers to Yavana traders. Reasoning: the Tamil language and Sangam conventions place it in early Tamilakam; the port and Yavana reference support Indo-Roman trade, not Mughal or Sultanate history.
Traps
Sangam chronology is debated; do not fix it to one century. Tamilakam was not politically unified. Pallavas are later than the classical Sangam period. Do not treat poems as unbiased administrative records.