Editing Tamil Nadu (section)

=== Sangam period (5th century BCE–3rd century CE) ===
{{Main|Sangam period|Tamilakam|Sangam landscape}}
[[File:South India in Sangam Period.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tamilakam]] during the [[Sangam Period]] (500&nbsp;BCE&ndash;300&nbsp;CE)]]

The [[Sangam period]] lasted for about eight centuries, from 500 BCE to 300 CE with the main source of history during the period coming from the Sangam literature.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jesudasan|first=Dennis S.|date=20 September 2019|title=Keezhadi excavations: Sangam era older than previously thought, finds study|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/keeladi-findings-traceable-to-6th-century-bc-report/article29461583.ece|access-date=12 August 2021|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603082058/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/keeladi-findings-traceable-to-6th-century-bce-report/article29461583.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dr. Anjali|title=Social and Cultural History of Ancient India|publisher=OnlineGatha—The Endless Tale|date=2017|location=Lucknow|pages=123–136|isbn=978-9-386-35269-9}}</ref> Ancient [[Tamilakam]] was ruled by a [[Three Crowned Kings|triumvirate]] of monarchical states, [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]], [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/three-crowned-kings-tamilakam/|title=Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=24 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224093728/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/three-crowned-kings-tamilakam/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Cheras controlled the western part of Tamilkam, the Pandyas controlled the south, and the Cholas had their base in the [[Kaveri]] delta. The kings called ''Vendhar'' ruled over several tribes of ''Velala'' (peasants), headed by the ''[[Velirs|Velir]]'' chiefs.<ref>{{cite book|title=From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|first=Upinder|last=Singh|year=2008|isbn=978-8-131-71120-0|publisher=Pearson Education|page=425}}</ref> The rulers patronized multiple religions including [[Historical Vedic religion|vedic religion]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]] and sponsored some of the earliest Tamil literature with the oldest surviving work being [[Tolkāppiyam]], a book of Tamil grammar.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Kamil Zvelebil|title=Comments on the Tolkappiyam Theory of Literature|journal=Archiv Orientální|volume=59|year=1991|pages= 345–359}}</ref>

The kingdoms had significant diplomatic and trade contacts with other kingdoms to the north and with the [[Roman Empire|Romans]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Edicts of King Ashoka|url=https://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html|access-date=1 November 2023|publisher=Colorado State University|quote=Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the [[Velirs|Satyaputras]], the Keralaputras, as far as Tamraparni|archive-date=11 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511083821/http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Much of the commerce from the Romans and Han China were facilitated via seaports including [[Muziris]] and [[Korkai]] with [[spices]] being the most prized goods along with [[pearls]] and [[silk]].<ref>{{cite book|first=K.A.|last=Neelakanta Sastri|title=A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times To the Fall of Vijayanagar|publisher=Oxford|isbn=978-0-195-60686-7|year=1955|pages=125–127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/issue/7/2|title=The Medieval Spice Trade and the Diffusion of the Chile|date=26 October 2021|journal=Gastronomica|volume=7|access-date=31 January 2021|archive-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026111301/https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/issue/7/2|url-status=live}}</ref> From 300&nbsp;CE, the region was ruled by the [[Kalabhra dynasty|Kalabhras]], warriors belonging to the [[Vellalar]] community, who were once feudatories of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chakrabarty|first=D.K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84|title=The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties|publisher=Oxford|year=2010|isbn=978-0-199-08832-4|page=84|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004104153/https://books.google.com/books?id=EIAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84|url-status=live}}</ref> The Kalabhra era is referred to as the "dark period" of Tamil history, and information about it is generally inferred from any mentions in the literature and inscriptions that are dated many centuries after their era ended.<ref>{{cite book|author=T.V. Mahalingam|title= Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference|year=1981|publisher= South Indian History Congress|pages=28–34}}</ref> The twin Tamil epics [[Silappatikaram]] and [[Manimekalai]] were written during the era.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient Tamil Country: Its Social and Economic Structure|author=S. Sundararajan|publisher=Navrang, 1991|page=233}}</ref> Tamil classic [[Tirukkuṟaḷ|Tirukkural]] by [[Valluvar]], a collection of couplets is attributed to the same period.<ref>{{cite book|title=Tamil Culture as Revealed in Tirukkural|author=Iḷacai Cuppiramaṇiyapiḷḷai Muttucāmi|publisher=Makkal Ilakkia Publications|page=137|year=1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Social Philosophy of Tirukkural|first=Subramania|last=Gopalan|publisher=Affiliated East-West Press|page=53|year=1979}}</ref>