THE WORLD ATLAS

Realm · approximate borders · 300 BCE – 282 CE

Tondai Nadu (Kanchi and the Tiraiyar)

The northern line follows the Venkatam (Tirupati) hills, with Pulicat on the coast. These are the limits given by the Tolkappiyam preface, which is a later addition to the text, and by medieval commentators.

Sastri finds no sign that Ilandiraiyan was subject to the Cholas. The claim that Karikala settled Tondai rests on a medieval document. The Pallavas held Kanchi by the late 3rd century.

See Tondai Nadu (Kanchi and the Tiraiyar) on the map in 300 BCE

On the map
300 BCE – 282 CE
Capital
Kanchi (Kachchi)
Ports
Sopatma of the Periplus (location uncertain; Kanakasabhai's Eyil-pattinam)
Attested in
Perumbanarruppadai (on Ilandiraiyan); Tolkappiyam preface and Akananuru (Venkatam as the northern limit, beyond it the Vadugar); Ptolemy's Malanga (Kanchi, per Kanakasabhai)

Rulers named in the sources

Tamilakam in the Sangam age

Sangam poetry (the Purananuru, Akananuru, Ten Idylls and Patirruppattu) describes a Tamil country running from the Venkatam hills to Cape Kumari. It was shared by three 'crowned kings' and a ring of Velir chiefs in the hills between them. The Cholas held the Kaveri delta, the Pandyas the Vaigai and Tamirabarani basins, and the Cheras the Malabar coast and later Kongu. Ashoka's edicts, the Hathigumpha inscription, the Periplus, Pliny, Ptolemy, Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and digs at Keezhadi, Kodumanal, Arikamedu and Pattanam confirm the kingdoms, capitals and ports. No source draws a frontier, though. The changes over time follow Nilakanta Sastri's dating, which puts most named kings in c. 100–250 CE. Other scholars place them a century or more earlier.

Sources