Thanjavur - History

History

There are no references to Thanjavur in any of the Sangam period records though some scholars believe that the city has been existing since then. Kovil Venni, situated at a distance of 15 miles to the east of Thanjavur, was the site of the Battle of Venni between Karikala and a confederacy of the Cheras and the Pandyas. The Cholas seemed to have faced an invasion of the Kalabhras in the 3rd century AD after which the kingdom faded into obscurity. The region around the present-day Thanjavur was conquered by the Mutharayars in the 6th century AD and ruled up to 849 AD.

The Chola Empire 850-1279 AD

The Cholas came once more into prominence through the rise of the Medieval Chola monarch Vijayalaya in about 850 AD. Vijayalaya conquered Thanjavur from mutharayar king Elango Mutharayar and built a temple to the Hindu goddess Nisumbhasudani at this place. His son Aditya I consolidated their hold over the city. The Rashtrakuta king Krishna II, a contemporary of the Chola king Parantaka I claims to have conquered Thanjavur but there exists no evidence to support his claim. Gradually, Thanjavur became the greatest and most important city in the Chola Empire and remained its capital till the construction of Gangaikonda Cholapuram in about 1025 AD.

During the first decade of the eleventh century AD, the Chola king Raja Raja Chola I constructed the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur. The temple is considered to be one of the best specimens of South Indian temple architecture.

When the Chola Empire began to decline in the 13th century AD, the Pandyas from the south invaded and captured Thanjavur twice, the first in 1218-19 and the second in 1230. During the second invasion, the Chola king Rajaraja III was driven out of his kingdom and sought the help of the Hoysala king Narasimha to get it back. Thanjavur was eventually annexed along with the rest of the Chola kingdom by the Pandya king Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I in 1279 AD and the Chola kings were forced to accept the suzerainty of the Pandyas. The Pandyas ruled Thanjavur from 1279 AD to 1311 AD when their kingdom was raided and annexed by Malik Kafur and the forces of the Delhi Sultanate.

Medieval Period 1311-1679 AD

The Sultanate extend its authority directly over the conquered regions from 1311 to 1335 and then through the semi-independent Ma'bar Sultanate from 1335 to 1378. Starting from the 1350s, the Ma'bar Sultanate was steadily absorbed into the rising Vijayanagar Empire. Thanjavur is believed to have been conquered by Kampanna Udayar during his invasion of Srirangam between 1365 and 1371. Deva Raya's 1443 inscription, Thirumala's 1455 inscription and Achuta Deva's land grants dated 1532 and 1539 attest Vijayanagar's overlordship over Thanjavur.

Sevappa Nayak, the Vijayanagar viceroy of Arcot, established himself as an independent monarch in 1532 (1549, according to some sources) and founded the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom. Achuthappa Nayak, Raghunatha Nayak and Vijaya Raghava Nayak are some of the important rulers of the Nayak dynasty. The dynasty came to an end when Thanjavur fell to the Madurai Nayak king Chokkanatha Nayak in 1673. Vijaya Raghunatha Nayak was killed and Chokkanatha's brother Alagiri Nayak was installed as the ruler. Vijaya Raghunatha's son approached the Nawab of Bijapur for help. Thanjavur was successfully conquered in 1674 by Ekoji I, the Maratha feudatory of the Nawab of Bijapur and half-brother of Shivaji. Ekoji founded the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom which ruled Thanjavur till 1855.

The Marathas and the British

The Marathas exercized their sovereignty over Thanjavur throughout the last quarter of the 17th century and the whole of the 18th. The Maratha rulers patronized art and literature and played an active part in support of the British against the French in the Carnatic Wars. In 1787, Amar Singh, the regent of Thanjavur deposed the minor Raja, his nephew Serfoji II and captured the throne. Serfoji II was restored in 1799 with the assistance of the British who induced him to relinquish the administration of the kingdom and left him in charge of Thanjavur fort and surrounding areas alone. The kingdom was eventually absorbed into British India in 1855 by the Doctrine of Lapse when Shivaji, the last Thanjavur Maratha ruler, died without a legitimate male heir.

Five years after its annexation, the British replaced Negapatam (Nagaippatinam) with Tanjore (Thanjavur) as the seat of the district administration. Under the British, Tanjore emerged as an important regional centre. The 1871 India census recorded a population of 52,171, making Tanjore the third largest town in the Madras Presidency.