. The Sangam Age The last three centuries before the common Era and the first three centuries of the Common Era are widely accepted as the Sangam Period. The details about this period are mainly derived from the Sangam literature. Based on the archaeological evidences apart from the literary sources we can assume that this sangam Era was started atleast two centuries earlier than what we widely believe.
Generally this age can be taken as the beginning of historic age in Tamilnadu. The Muvendar Though the three Tamil ruling families were known to Ashoka in the third century BCE itself, some individual names are known only from the Sangam poems of the first century and later. Known as muvendar , ‘the three crowned kings’, the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas controlled major agrarian territories, trade routes and towns. But the Satiyaputra (same as Athiyaman) found in the Ashokan inscription along with the above three houses is a Velir chief in the Sangam poems.
The Cholas controlled the central and northern parts of Tamil Nadu. Their core area of rule was the Kaveri delta, later known as Cholamandalam. Their capital was Uraiyur (near Thiruchirapalli town) and Puhar or Kaviripattinam was an alternative royal residence and chief port town. Tiger was their emblem.
Kaviripattinam attracted merchants from various regions of the Indian Ocean. Pattinappalai , composed by the poet Katiyalur Uruttirankannanar, offers elaborate descriptions of the bustling trading activity here during the rule of Karikalan. Karikalan, son of Ilanjetchenni, is portrayed as the greatest Chola of the Sangam age. Pattinappalai gives a vivid account of his reign.
Karikalan’s foremost military achievement was the defeat of the Cheras and the Pandyas, supported by as many as eleven Velir chieftains at Venni. He is credited with converting forest into habitable regions and developing agriculture by providing irrigation through the embankment of the Kaveri and building reservoirs. Another king, Perunarkilli is said to have performed the Vedic sacrifice Rajasuyam. Karikalan’s death was followed by XI History - Lesson - - Evolution of Society in South India a succession dispute between the