History and Culture of Tamil Nadu by Chithra Madhavan

Inscriptions are the most authentic and vital source for reconstructing the history of India. Epigraphs were composed in Sanskrit in various parts of India and the ancient Tamil country was no exception to this practice. Among the thousands of epigraphs found all over Tamil Nadu, a large number are composed in chaste Sanskrit and these as well as the Sanskrit portions of the bi-lingual copper-plate records serve as an important source of data about the conditions which existed in the ancient Tamil country. These Sanskrit inscriptions are also excellent pieces of prose and poetry and reveal the high standard which this language had attained in the ancient past in the Tamil country. This is a comprehensive and interesting work dealing with the Sanskrit inscriptions of ancient Tamil Nadu belonging to the period of the Pallavas, Pandyas and Colas and their vassals. It focuses attention on aspects of civil and military administration, social and economic life, education, literature and also the religious and cultural conditions of those ages. These inscriptions serve to highlight the cultural richness which Tamil Nadu enjoyed specially under the Pallavas, Pandyas and Colas. This book is a valuable contribution to the field of epigraphy and to the history of Tamil Nadu.