Tamil Nadu: 17th Century AD

 This blog covers my general thoughts on the book and what stuck with me. First, I seem to be the wrong audience for the book. It feels more like a textbook and is written for more serious historians. I do plan to revisit and reread the book later. 

The book starts where the book my Nilakanta Shastri ends. They complement each other perfectly. My suspicion is that if somebody reads and masters the materials in these two books they would know the high level contours of South Indian history. While the book covers the story across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Coorg and Karantaka, I was largely interested in Tamil Nadu.

1.  1600-1650:Vijaynagara had become less powerful after the Battle of Tallikota in 1565.  Vijaynagar Viceroy's became independent rulers and established Nayak dynasties with capitals at Chandragiri (Tondai Nadu), Gingee (Nadu Nadu), Madurai (Pandiya Nadu and Kongu Nadu) and Thanjavur (Kaveri Delta).


2. 1650-1680: The sultanates turned their gaze towards Tamil Nadu. The Chandragiri Nayak was defeated and Tondai Nadu under the influence of Golconda Sultanate.  Nadu nadu area (Gingee + Vellore area) was under the influence of Bijapur Sultanate. Madurai Nayak and Thanajvur Nayak sued for peace by paying huge tributes Bijapur. 

3. 1675-1700: As the forces in Deccan changed from the Sultanates to the Mughals and the Marathas, that also happened in Tamil Nadu.  

  • First came the Marathas. The Marathas took over Gingee fort area from the Bijapur Sutanate. They also overthrew the Tanjore Nayak and established the Tanjore Maratha Dynasty. 
  • Aurangazeb defeated the Deccan Sultanates, and became the overlords of the Deccan. They appointed the Nizam of Hyderabad as the Mughal Governor.  The Mughal armies marched from Deccan to northern Tamil Nadu to consolidate the areas that were under the Sultanates. The Gingee Maratha resisted, was overthrown and the Gingee fort was under Mughal Control. This was the famous siege of Gingee and was a pyrric victory. The Mughal army was exhausted and did not pursue further conquests down south. Instead, they left behind a representative (the famous "Desinguraja"'s father) as the Qiladar of Gingee. The other Nayaks paid tributes and pledged vassalage to the Mughals. The Mughals appointed a Nawab for the Carnatic region as their representative.  


4. Europeans: The Portugese were at San Thome Factory by 1600 AD. In the next 100 years all the European powers arrived on the East coast. The Dutch set up factory at Pulicat, Danes at Tranquebar, French at Pondicherry, and the British at Fort. St George and Fort St. David.  The dominant power in the 17th century were the Dutch. They got the Nagapattanam factory from the Portugese in the 1650s and occupied Pondicherry in 1690s.  An interesting name is Sadras (modern day Chengalpattu) that sounds so much like Madras! But, in general the European's were marginal players in the political landscape and were restricted to small coastal enclaves. They were here for trade, but on a few occassions supported different local rulers in the wars 

There were two interesting developments that affected Tamil Nadu region. 


End of 1700

The primary players in Tamil Nadu around 1700 AD were the Mughals through their representatives (Nawab of Carnatic and Nizam of Hyderabad), the Marathas (Tanjore Maratha), European factories in small costal factories and the Madurai Nayak 


 

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