m 



Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Pandya* [July 



XV. — Selections. 



Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Pandya, Southern Peninsula of 

 India, by Horace Hayman Wilson, Esq. Boden Professor of 

 Sanskrit, Oxford. 



The following sketch of the history of the principality of Pandya, 

 one of the earliest political divisions of southern India, was compiled 

 several years ago, from documents contained in the manuscript col- 

 lections of the late Colonel Mackenzie. It was prepared before the 

 completion and publication of my catalogue of those collections, and 

 it was my intention to have revised it at some future period, with the 

 assistance of such further materials as a more thorough examination 

 of its authorities might have supplied. At the same time, I com- 

 menced similar epitomes of the history of the other chief states of the 

 Peninsula, purposing in like manner to give them the benefit of future 

 revision and comparison with additional sources of information. 

 Time, however, passes away, and I have not had any opportunity of 

 carrying my intentions into execution. When such an occasion may 

 offer is still uncertain, and I have thought, therefore, that it may not 

 be unacceptable to the Royal Asiatic Society to be put at once in 

 possession of what I have effected, at least as far as relates to the 

 kingdom of Pandya. From my subsequent investigation of the Mac- 

 kenzie Collection, I do not expect that any material accession to 

 our knowledge of the remote condition of the Pandya kingdom will 

 be derived from it ; but, at any rate, so much as is here supplied will, 

 in the mean time, contribute to throw some light upon a dark period 

 of Pandya history, and may pave the way for its more complete and 

 more successful elucidation.* 



The historical traditions of the south of India divide the extreme 

 southern portion of the east part of the peninsula, which is termed 

 Dravira Desa, into three principalities, or those of Pandya, Chola, 

 and Chera. The first of these is the subject of the present inquiry. 

 The early existence of the Pandya kingdom we learn from classical 

 authorities. f At the beginning of the Christian era, the Regio Pari- 



* A list of the authorities will be found at the end of this paper. 



+ The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, particularises Nelcynda, oi. 

 Neliceram ; Paralia, Malabar, or Travancore ; and Comari, Cape Comorin ; as 

 V7rh 701/ (3ci(Ti\ea Ylavhlova, u n der king Pandion. Dr. Vincent conjectures, that 

 the king of Madura had extended his power from the eastern to the western side of the 

 peninsula, and was master of Malabar when the fleets from India first visited the coast 

 (vol. ii. 401). He also thinks it likely that the power of Pandion had been superseded in 

 Malabar between the age of the Periplus and Ptolemy ; for Ptolemy reckons Aii next to 

 Limurike on the south, and takes no notice of Pandion till he is past Cape Comorin (ibid). 

 The conjecture derives very strong support from the traditions of these countries. It 

 may be supposed that the embassies sent by Pandion to Augustus, as noticed by classical 



