1st to 9th centuries

The early Cholas reigned between 1st and 4th centuries A.D. The first and the most famous king of this period was Karikalan, who built the Kallanai (kall - stone, anai - bund), a dam across the Kaveri River, which is considered to be an engineering marvel of that time. The Cholas occupied the present Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli districts and excelled in military exploits.

In the height of their glory, the Chola kings had spread their influence as far as Ceylon (SriLanka) in the south and hundreds of kilometers across the northern region. As is common amongst the Tamil kings, the Cholas revelled in building magnificent temples. Brahadeswarer’s Temple or more popularly called as the Big temple in Tanjore (Thanjavur)is a classical example of the magnificent architecture of the Chola kingdom.

Around A.D. 580, the Pallavas, great temple builders, emerged into prominence and dominated the south for another 150 years. They ruled a large portion of Tamil Nadu with Kanchipuram as their base. They subjugated the Cholas and reigned as far as Sri Lanka. Among the greatest Pallava rulers were Mahendravarman I and his son Narasimhavarman.

Dravidian architecture reached its epitome during Pallava rule. The last great Pallava King was Rajasimha, whose death in A.D. 728 ended the glorious days of the Pallavas. Though his successors ruled over smaller territories, the rise of later Cholas ended Pallava domination. The last independent Pallava king Aparajitha was defeated by Aditya Chola towards the end of the 9th century.

9th to 13th centuries

The Medieval Cholas again rose to power by the 9th century. Under Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola, the Cholas rose as a notable power in Asia. The Chola Empire stretched as far as the Himalaya Mountains and West Bengal. Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India, and annexed parts of Sri Lanka by defeating the Pandyas.

Rajendra Chola went beyond, occupying coastal Burma, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Sumatra, Java, Malaya in South East Asia and Pegu islands with his fleet of ships. He defeated Mahipala, the king of Bihar and Bengal, and to commemorate his victory he built a new capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Chola armies exacted tribute from Thailand and Cambodia. The power of the Cholas declined around the 13th century. The Cholas were the first Indian empire to engage in naval conquest overseas.

14th century

With the decline of the Cholas, the Pandyas rose to prominence once again in the early 14th century. This was short lived — they were soon subdued by Muslim Khilji invaders from the north in 1316. The city of Madurai was ransacked and completely destroyed. The invasion weakened both the Cholas and Pandyas and led to the establishment of Bahmani Kingdom in the northern Deccan.

This 14th century invasion caused a retaliatory reaction from the Hindus, who rallied to build a strong new kingdom, called the Vijayanagara empire. It absorbed all strongholds of Cholas and other local Hindu rulers to check the Muslims. Governors called Nayaks were engaged to run different territories of the empire.

With Hampi as the Capital, Vijayanagar Empire was the most prosperous dynasty in the south. But by 1564 the empire came to an end at the hands of Deccan sultans in the battle of Talikota. The empire was split into many parts and was given to the Nayaks to rule. Tamil Country under the Telugu Nayaks was peaceful and prosperous. The Nayaks of Madurai and Thanjavur were most prominent of them all. They reconstructed some of the oldest temples in the country.

17th century

Around 1609, the Dutch established a settlement in Pulicat. In 1639, the British, under the British East India Company, established a settlement further south, in present day Chennai. The British used petty quarrels among the provincial rulers (divide and rule) to expand their sphere of influence.

The British fought with the various European powers, notably the French at Vandavasi (Wandiwash) in 1760, and the Dutch at Tharangambadi (Tranquebar), driving the Dutch away entirely, and reducing the French dominions in India to Pondicherry. The British also fought four wars with the Kingdom of Mysore under Hyder Ali and later his son Tipu Sultan, which led to their eventual domination of India’s south. They consolidated southern India into the Madras Presidency.

Some notable Chieftains or Poligars who fought the British East India Company as it was expanding, were Veerapandya Kattabomman, Maruthus and Pulithevan.

20th century

When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became Madras State, comprising of present day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh, northern Kerala, and the southwest coast of Karnataka.

The state was subsequently split up along linguistic lines. In 1953 the northern districts formed Andhra State, later Andhra Pradesh, and Bellary district was split between Andhra and Mysore states. Under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, Madras State lost its western coastal districts. South Kanara District was ceded to Mysore state, and Malabar District became the northern half of the new Malayalam-speaking state of Kerala.

The predominantly Tamil-speaking Kanyakumari District, formerly part of the state of Travancore-Cochin, was transferred to Madras. In 1968, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu, partly to resist the imposition of Hindi as a national language by the Central Government.