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Athiyaman, also known as Athiyan, Adhiyaman, Adigaman, or as Sathiyaputhra in Indo-Aryan, were a line of rulers based in Thagadur, present day
The inscription records the endowment of a cave-shelter by the ruler Athiyan Neduman Anchi, who bears the title "Sathiyaputho". It provides the names of his dynasty ("Athiyan"), his father ("Neduman"), and himself ("Anchi").I. Mahadevan, RECENT DISCOVERIES OF JAINA CAVE INSCRIPTIONS IN TAMILNADU The Athiyan ruler Neduman Anchi mentioned in the inscription is also referenced in early historic Tamil works such as
Dharmapuri
Dharmapuri is a city in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by splitting it from ...
, in northern Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
country, dating back to at least the 3rd century BCE. They were one of the four major powers of the Tamilakam (the Tamil country) during the second half of the first millennium BCE, bordered by the Cheras to the southwest and the Pandyas
The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...
and Cholas
The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
to the south.
The Athiyamans are mentioned in early historic Tamil literature (the Sangam Literature), as well as in inscriptions such as the edicts of the Maurya
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...
emperor Asoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was Emperor of Magadha from until his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynasty. His empire covered a large p ...
(3rd century BCE) and a Tamil-Brahmi
Tamil-Brahmi, also known as Tamili or Damili, was a variant of the Brahmi script in southern India. It was used to write inscriptions in Old Tamil.Richard Salomon (1998) ''Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prak ...
cave record from Jambai. The Tamil-Brahmi inscription at Jambai, Tirukkoyilur, provide details of their sovereignty in the 1st century CE. The most well-known ruler of this dynasty was Athiyaman Neduman Anchi, who is listed as one of the kadai ezhu vallal (the last seven great patrons) in early historic Tamil literature.
Their rule is mentioned in the Gummireddipura plates, with the added title "Sathyaputhra" — meaning "Members of the Fraternity of Truth" — a term synonymous with the Chera dynasty. Vidukathazhagiya Perumal, a late 12th century AD century ruler of this family, is described as the descendant of a certain Ezhini, an Adigaman of the Chera
The Chera dynasty ( or Cēra, ), also known as Keralaputra, from the early historic or the Sangam period in Tamil-speaking southern India, ruled over parts of present-day states Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Cheras, known as one of the mu-ventar ...
(Sanskrit: Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
) family.
Inscriptional records
Inscriptions of Ashoka
TheMaurya
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...
emperor Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
(3rd century BCE) mentions the Athiyaman dynasty—as the Sathiyaputhras—in his inscriptions, alongside the Cholas
The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
, Pandyas
The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...
, and Cheras (referred to as the Keralaputhras). This suggests that the Athiyamans held significant importance in south India during Ashoka's time, on par with the Cheras, Cholas, and Pandyas.
Jambai inscription
ATamil-Brahmi
Tamil-Brahmi, also known as Tamili or Damili, was a variant of the Brahmi script in southern India. It was used to write inscriptions in Old Tamil.Richard Salomon (1998) ''Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prak ...
inscription, generally dated to the 1st century CE, found at Jambai in Tirukkoyilur, Viluppuram district
Viluppuram, Villupuram or Vizhuppuram is one of the 38 districts that make up the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded on 30 September 1993, prior to which it was part of the Cuddalore district. Vizhuppuram district lies in the way of the ...
(formerly South Arcot) in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, refers to the Athiyaman dynasty as the Sathyaputhras.
The inscription records the endowment of a cave-shelter by the ruler Athiyan Neduman Anchi, who bears the title "Sathiyaputho". It provides the names of his dynasty ("Athiyan"), his father ("Neduman"), and himself ("Anchi").I. Mahadevan, RECENT DISCOVERIES OF JAINA CAVE INSCRIPTIONS IN TAMILNADU The Athiyan ruler Neduman Anchi mentioned in the inscription is also referenced in early historic Tamil works such as Purananuru
The ''Purananuru'' (, literally "four hundred oemsin the genre puram"), sometimes called ''Puram'' or ''Purappattu'', is a classical Tamil literature, Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') i ...
and Akananuru.''Dr. R. Nagasamy, Asoka and the Tamil Country: The Evidence Of Archaeology'' The discovery of this inscription enabled historians to identify the title "Athiyaman", found in early Tamil literature, with the "Sathiyaputras" mentioned in Ashoka's inscriptions.
The Gummireddipura plates also mention the Sathyaputhra Adigaman dynasty.
See also
*Velir
The Velir were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakam in the early historic period of South India. They had close relations with Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers through ruling and coronation rights. Med ...
* Kingdoms of Ancient India
The Mahājanapadas were sixteen kingdoms and aristocratic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period.
History
The 6th–5th centuries BCE are often regarded as a m ...
Notes
References
* Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta, ''A History of South India'' (1955), OUP, New Delhi * {{DEFAULTSORT:Athiyamaan Tamil history Kingdoms in the Puranas Tamil empires and kingdoms