Although the Pallavas are mentioned in records from the 3rd century, they did not rise to prominence as an imperial dynasty until the 6th century. The dynasty does not appear to have been Tamil in origin, and, although they rapidly adopted Tamil ways and the Tamil language, Tamil society was transformed during their reign. The Pallavas sought to model themselves after great northern dynasties such as the Mauryas and Guptas. They therefore transformed the institution of the kingship into an imperial one, and sought for the first time to bring vast amounts of territory under their direct rule. The Pallavas also encouraged the growth of devotional worship centered around Siva and Vishnu, and began the culture of building large, ornate temples with many murals and sculptures. The caste system is thought to have been formalised and institutionalised during this period (Hart 1987).

The Pallava dynasty was overthrown in the 9th century by the resurgent Cholas and Pandyas. The Cholas become dominant in the 10th century and established an empire covering most of southern India and Sri Lanka. The empire was sustained by strong trading links with China and Southeast Asia. The Cholas were the first dynasty in South India to possess a navy that went as far as Thailand, Burma and Sumatra. A major and successful naval campaign was conducted by the empire against the Srivijaya Empire as a result of trade disputes. Chola power declined in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Pandya dynasty enjoyed a brief period of resurgence thereafter, but repeated Muslim invasions from the 15th century onwards placed a huge strain on the empire's resources, and the dynasty came to an end in the 16th century (Sastri 2002).

No major empires arose thereafter, and Tamil Nadu was for a while ruled by a number of different local chiefs, such as the Nayaks of the present-day Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh regions. From the 17th century onwards, European powers began establishing settlements and trading outposts in the region. A number of battles were fought between the British, French and Danish in the 18th century, and by the end of the 18th century most of Tamil Nadu was under British rule.

The western Tamil lands became increasingly politically distinct from the rest of the Tamil lands after the Chola and Pandya empires lost control over them in the 13th century. They developed their own distinct language and literature, which increasingly grew apart from Tamil, evolving into the modern Malayalam language by the 15th century (Chaitanya 1971).

There is little consensus on the history of the Tamil-speaking parts of Sri Lanka prior to the Chola period. The most radical Sinhalese historians argue that there was no organised Tamil presence in Sri Lanka until the invasions from southern India in the 7th century, whereas many Tamil historians contend that Tamils are the original inhabitants of the island.

The historical evidence is not conclusive either way. A few poems from the Sangam period are attributed to a poet called "Pūtan̲r̲evan̲ār from īl̲am." Il̲am, also spelled Eelam, is an old Tamil name for Sri Lanka, and this is generally used by Tamils as evidence that there were Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka at that time. Sinhalese historians, however, do not accept that and claim that there is no archaeological evidence of Tamil settlement in Sri Lanka until much later. Accounts from that period, whilst not offering conclusive evidence either way, demonstrate that Tamils fought wars against the Sinhalese kingdoms and occasionally ruled over parts of Sri Lanka, and served as counsellors to Sri Lankan kings from a fairly early date. It is, however, unclear whether these Tamils came from India or were native to Sri Lanka.

The historical record does establish that the Tamil kingdoms of India were closely involved in Sri Lankan affairs from a very early date. There is evidence of Tamil traders in Anuradhapura quite early on. Tamil adventurers invaded the island as far back as 75 BC. From the 7th century onwards, the empires of Tamil Nadu played a significant role in Sri Lankan politics, and there is concrete evidence of Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka during that period. Tamil wars against Sri Lanka culminated in the Chola annexation of the island in the 10th century, which lasted until the latter half of the 11th century.

The decline of Chola power in Sri Lanka was followed by the re-establishment of the Polonnaruwa monarchy in the late 11th century. In 1215, the Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty established an independent Jaffna kingdom in the Jaffna peninsula and parts of northern Sri Lanka. The Arya Chakaravarthi expansion into the south was halted by Alagakkonara, a Tamil in the service of the Sinhalese monarch. Alagakkonara built a fortress at Kotte, and held the Arya Chakravarthi army there while he defeated the invading fleet at Panadura. A descendent of Alagakkonara (Tamil-Alagakonar)later became King of the Sinhalese, but this line was deposed by the Ming admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) in 1409.

The Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty ruled over large parts of northeast Sri Lanka until 1619, when it was conquered by the Portuguese. The coastal areas of the island was then taken by the Dutch, and in 1796 these became part of the British Empire.

Tamil visual art displays considerable unity across its three main forms, architecture, sculpture and painting, and is clearly situated within the South Asian artistic tradition. As with other South Asian art, Tamil art stresses the plasticity and fluidity of forms. Most traditional Tamil art is at least nominally religious, usually centred on Hinduism, although the religious element is often only a means to represent universal—and, occasionally, humanist—themes (Coomaraswamy 1946). The classical art forms continue to be practiced, and therefore represent a living tradition.

The most important form of Tamil painting is Tanjore painting, which, as the name suggests, originated in Tanjore (now Thanjavur) in the 9th century. The paintings are prepared on a base of cloth coated with zinc oxide, over which the image is painted using dyes and decorated with semi-precious stones and gold or silver thread. A style which is related in origin, but which exhibits significant differences in execution, is used for painting murals on temple walls, the most notable example being the murals on the Mīn̲āṭci temple of Madurai. Tamil painting in general is known for its stylistic elegance, rich colours and attention to small details.


Tamil sculpture is usually worked with bronze (using the lost wax technique) or stone (usually associated with temples), and surviving pieces date from the 7th century onwards. Unlike most Western art, the material in Tamil sculpture does not influence the form taken by the sculpture; instead, the artist imposes his vision of the form on the material. As a result, one often sees in stone sculptures the sort of flowing forms that would normally be reserved for metal (Sivaram 1994). As with painting, these sculptures show a fine eye for detail, with great care being taken in sculpting minute details of jewellery worn by the subjects of the sculpture. The lines tend to be smooth and flowing, and many pieces capture movement with great skill. The cave sculptures at Mamallapuram are a particularly fine example of the technique, as are the bronzes of the Chola period. A particularly popular motif in the bronzes was the depiction of Siva as Nataraja, in a dance posture with one leg upraised and a fiery circular halo surrounding his entire body.


Tamil temples were often simply treated as sculptures on a grand scale. The temples are most notable for their high spires, known as Gopura, consisting of a number of stepped levels, each with its own miniature shrine. These spires tended to be simple and elegant and only sparsely adorned with sculpture in the earliest temples, but they became progressively more elaborate and ornate, as exemplified by the Brihadīsvara temple of Thanjavur. From the 13th century onwards, the entrance gates to the temples—called gopurams in Tamil—also began to grow bigger and more elaborate. The temples at Chidambaram and Srirangam have particularly impressive gopurams, covered with sculptures and reliefs of various scenes and characters from Hindu mythology (Pillai 1976).

As with Indian art in general, Tamil art does not traditionally aspire to portraiture or realism. Much more emphasis is placed on the representation of ideal prototypes and on depicting the symbols with which the theme of the artistic work is associated. This means that small details, such as the direction which a hand faces, the animals or trees portrayed, or the time of day depicted, are often of critical importance to understanding the meaning of a work of art.

The traditional Tamil performing arts have ancient roots. The royal courts and temples have been centres for the performing arts since at least the classical period, and descriptions of performances in classical Tamil literature and the Natya Shastra, a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, indicate a close relationship between the ancient and modern artforms. Much like other Indian traditions, Tamil tradition stresses the unity of the various performance arts, and their symbiotic relationship with the visual arts and literature. The aim of a performance in Tamil tradition is to bring out the rasa—the flavor, mood, or feeling—inherent in the text, and its quality is measured by the extent to which it induces the mood in the audience.

Tamil shares a classical musical tradition, called carnatic music, with the rest of South India. Carnatic music evolved from the ancient music forms of South India, some of which are recorded in classical Tamil literature, and was influenced by the musical theory of the Natya Shastra. It is primarily oriented towards vocal music, with instruments functioning either as accompaniments or imitating the role of the singer. Carnatic music is organized around the twin notions of melody types (rāgam) and cyclical rhythm types (thāl&

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According to Tamil legend, the Chola, Chera and Pandya kings fought a hundred-year war at the beginning of the 1st century, during which they perfected the art of fighting. Various martial arts are believed to have evolved from this, including Kuttu Varisai, Varma Kalai, Silambam Nillaikalakki, Maankombukkalai (Madhu) and Kalarippayattu, all of which are still practised today in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While the most recent art called Kalarippayattu of Kerala includes weapons, each weapon in Tamil Nadu is a mastery of itself. Not only is there Silambam and Maankombukkalai (madhu), there is, Yeratthai Mulangkol (double stick), Surul Pattai (spring sword), Val Vitchi (single sword), and Yeretthai Val (double sword). These are just a few amongst the many other weapons used.

Silambam Nillaikalakki is the art of staff combat, and uses a staff 1.6 metres long. Its techniques were designed to enable a person to use a traveller's walking-staff to defend himself against an attack by several enemies. Its techniques focus on using the staff without stopping its movement, and synchronising staff, foot and body motion. Kuttuvarisai is a martial art which teaches empty hand combat employing the hands and legs. Varma Kalai is a martial art which trains people to attack the vital points of an opponent's body with hands or weapons. maankombukkalai involves fighting with a weapon made from the antlers of a stag tipped with metal. Kalarippayattu focus on all aspects of fighting, including unarmed combat and combat with wooden and metal weapons. The Kalarippayattu tradition is strongest in Kerala, where it is known as Kalaripayattu.

The ancient Tamil art of unarmed bullfighting, popular amongst warriors in the classical period, has also survived in parts of Tamil Nadu, notably Alanganallur near Madurai, where it is known as Jallikaṭṭu or mañcuvirat&

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