Ancient Tamilakam was a country of villages, and each village was a self-contained unit with farms, orchards, water sources, cottage…
Read More Village life in ancient Tamilakam
Homes of the Wealthy
Kaveri-Poom-Pattinam, also known as Poom-Puhar, was the capital of the Cholas in ancient Tamilakam. Now, the city lies below the…
Read More Homes of the Wealthy
Town Planning in Ancient Tamilakam
Vanchi was the ancient capital of the Chera Kingdom in southwest India and that famed city’s layout provides insights to…
Read More Town Planning in Ancient Tamilakam
Ancient South Indian Military
The king prepared the ground and orchestrated the call to arms. It was customary of the king to lead in…
Read More Ancient South Indian Military
Stirrings of War in Ancient Tamilakam
From what little we know, ancient Tamilakam did not produce treatises on the art and science of war. This is…
Read More Stirrings of War in Ancient Tamilakam
Village Administration in Ancient Tamilakam
Just as the family was the basic building block of society, the village was the basic administrative unit in ancient…
Read More Village Administration in Ancient Tamilakam
64 Arts of Life
The learned people of ancient South India strove to master the 64 arts of life, what we might refer to…
The Council
The (royal, governing, advisory) Council included five people who represented five groups plus one important individual: Chief Minister: civil administration…
Demands on the King
The early kings of ancient South India were not autocrats. They faced a system of checks and balances from the…
The State
The notion of state rested in kingdoms and according to the norms of Tamilakam, these had seven constituents: Land Suitable…
