…Pandya remain independent of Maurya control.

The Sangam literature mentions the early Pandya dynasty, which is believed to have gone into obscurity during the Kalabhra interregnum.

The dynasty is revived by Kadungon, who becomes king of the Pandyan Kingdom in about 590.

He is considered as the first important Pandya ruler.

Most of the scant knowledge of Kadungon comes from the Velvikudi (or Velvikkud) inscription of the Pandya king Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (also Nedunjadaiyan or Nedunchezhiyan).

According to this inscription, Kadungon defeated several petty chieftains and destroyed "the bright cities of unbending foes".

It describes him as the one who liberated the Pandya country from the Kalabhras and emerged as a "resplendent sun from the dark clouds of the Kalabhras".

His defeat of Kalabhras (who are probably Jains or Buddhists) is hailed as the triumph of Brahminism.

Kadungon's title is "Pandyadhiraja", and his capital is Madurai.

He is succeeded by his son Maravarman Avanisulamani.

Kochadaiyan (also known as Ranadhira) ascends the Pandya throne in 700.

Pandya monarch Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran conducts wars of territorial aggression, expanding his kingdom in 720 to include …

The might of the Cholas is fading in South India and the Muslim invasion is imminent.

The Pandyas, who have been in constant conflict with the Cholas, had allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they find an opportunity for reviving their fortunes under Jatavarman Sundara, who had become the Pandyan king in 1251.

Starting his reign from an imperial platform well laid by his predecessor Maravarman, Jatavarman’s ascendancy has been greatly aided by the rapid decline of the Cholas and Pallavas who had held sway over the subcontinent for centuries.

During his reign the Pandyan kingdom attains its greatest splendor, expanding into Telugu country on the banks of the Godavari river and to the northern half of Sri Lanka, which the Pandyas conquer in 1258.

Repeatedly in conflict with the Cholas and the Hoysalas, the Pandyas also have extensive trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya and their successors.

The Delhi expedition, having engulfed the Hoysalas, overruns Madurai, the deserted former capital of the Pandya state, and reaches the coast opposite Sri Lanka.

The invaders make Madurai a province and install a military governor there to supervise tribute collection and other matters.

Madurai, the former Pandyan capital, having fallen into the hands of the invading armies of the Delhi Sultanate in the 1340s, the Pandyas seek the help of the recovering Hindu state of Vijayanagar.

After liberating Madurai from more than four decades of oppressive Muslim rule, making all India south of the Kristna River Hindu, the Vijayanagar kingdom appoints Nayak governors to rule from Madurai.