The 

Pandya dynasty, also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil

dynasty of South India, and among the three great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other two being
the Cholas and the Cheras.[6] Existing since at least the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE, the dynasty
passed through two periods of imperial dominance, the 6th to 10th centuries CE, and under the
'Later Pandyas' (13th to 14th centuries CE). The Pandyas ruled extensive territories, at times
including regions of present-day South India and northern Sri Lanka through vassal states
subject to Madurai.[7][8]
The rulers of the three Tamil dynasties were referred to as the "three crowned rulers (the mu-
ventar) of the Tamil country".[6][9] The origin and the timeline of the Pandya dynasty are difficult to
establish.[8] The early Pandya chieftains ruled their country (Pandya Nadu) from the ancient
period, which included the inland city of Madurai and the southern port of Korkai.[10][11] The
Pandyas are celebrated in the earliest available Tamil poetry (Sangam literature").[8] Graeco-
Roman accounts (as early as 4th century BCE[8]), the edicts of Maurya emperor Ashoka, coins
with legends in Tamil-Brahmi script, and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions suggest the continuity of the
Pandya dynasty from the 3rd century BCE to the early centuries CE.[12][