🗺 History by state

History of Tamil Nadu

Kingdoms and empires20

Events on the map22

Historic places2

Population (2011)72,138,958

👑 Who held this land

Kingdoms, empires and cultures whose territory, as drawn on our map, covered a large part of today’s Tamil Nadu, or that were based here. Extents are approximate, so treat this as a guide to who held the region — not as exact borders.

Early Pandyas (Sangam era) c. 400 BCE – c. 300 CE · based here

Early Cholas (Sangam era) c. 300 BCE – c. 300 CE · based here

Sangam-era Tamil Chieftaincies (Velir) c. 300 BCE – c. 300 CE · based here

Kalabhra Interregnum c. 250 CE – c. 600 CE · based here

Pallava Dynasty c. 275 CE – c. 897 CE · based here

Pandya Kingdom (First Empire) c. 590 CE – c. 920 CE · based here

Chola Empire c. 848 CE – 1279 · based here

Pandya Empire (Second Empire) c. 1190 – 1345 · based here

Delhi Sultanate 1206 – 1526

Madurai Sultanate 1335 – 1378 · based here

Vijayanagara Empire 1336 – 1646

Kingdom of Mysore 1399 – 1950

Madurai Nayaks 1529 – 1736 · based here

Thanjavur Nayaks 1532 – 1673 · based here

British East India Company 1600 – 1858

Dutch Coromandel (Pulicat) 1610 – 1825 · based here

Danish Tranquebar 1620 – 1845 · based here

Fort St George, Madras 1639 – 1858 · based here

Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom 1674 – 1855 · based here

Carnatic (Nawabs of Arcot) 1692 – 1855 · based here

400 BCE1950

📅 Events in Tamil Nadu

c. 275 CE Pallava rule begins at Kanchi · Kanchipuram
c. 700 CE Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram · Mahabalipuram
949 CE Battle of Takkolam · Takkolam
985 CE Rajaraja I becomes Chola king · Thanjavur
1010 ★ Brihadisvara Temple completed · Thanjavur
1014 Rajendra I becomes Chola king · Thanjavur
c. 1023 Rajendra's Ganga expedition; Gangaikonda Cholapuram founded · Gangaikonda Cholapuram
1025 ★ Chola naval expedition to Srivijaya · Nagapattinam
1279 End of the Chola dynasty · Thanjavur
1292 Marco Polo visits the Pandya coast · Kayal
1311 Malik Kafur's southern campaign reaches Madurai · Madurai
1378 Vijayanagara annexes the Madurai Sultanate · Madurai
1639 Fort St George founded at Madras · Chennai
1741 Battle of Colachel · Colachel
1746 French capture Madras (First Carnatic War) · Chennai
1749 Battle of Ambur · Ambur
1751 Siege of Arcot · Arcot
1760 Battle of Wandiwash · Vandavasi
1769 Treaty of Madras · Chennai
1780 Battle of Pollilur · Pollilur
1806 Vellore mutiny · Vellore
1991 Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi · Sriperumbudur

🏛 Historic places

Mahabalipuramc. 630 CE Brihadisvara Temple1010

How this is made: nothing here is new — it is YugMap’s own map data sorted by today’s states. A kingdom is listed if its territory on our map covered at least 40% of the state at some point, or if its centre or capital lies here; events and places are listed where their map point falls inside the state. State outlines follow India’s official map.