History of Coimbatore in short

History of Coimbatore in a gist

Coimbatore is one of the oldest cities of India, with a history dating all the way back to the Sangam period of the pre-Christian era. The glory of Coimbatore returned in a diminished form in the earlier part of this millennium; it later on came under the rule of the Vijayanagar kingdom after being ransacked by the ravaging armies of Delhi (Malik Kafur). During the 16th and 18th centuries, Coimbatore was ruled by the Nayak Emperors, the foremost of whom was Tirumalai Nayakar. The Sangam period poet Nakkeerar is associated with some of the Tiruvilayaadal episodes of Sundareswarar - that are enacted as a part of temple festival traditions even today.

The Sangam age or the Golden age of Tamil literature � produced masterpieces way back in the pre-Christian era and in early 1st Millennium Coimbatore was the seat of the Tamil Sangam or Academy of learning. The entire city of Coimbatore, is built around the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple � the temple par excellence. Concentric rectangular streets surround the temple, symbolizing the structure of the cosmos.

As early as the 3rd century BC, Megasthanes visited Coimbatore. Later many people from Rome and Greece visited Coimbatore and established trade with the Pandya kings. Coimbatore flourished until the 10th century AD when it was captured by Cholas, the archrivals of the Pandyas.

The Cholas ruled Coimbatore from 920 AD till the beginning of the 13th century. In 1223 AD Pandyas regained their kingdom and once again become prosperous. Pandian Kings patronised Tamil language in a great way. During their period, many masterpieces were created. "Silapathikaram", the great epic in Tamil was written based on the story of Kannagi who burnt Coimbatore as a result of the injustice caused to her husband Kovalan. In April 1311, Malik Kafur, the general of Alauddin Khilji who was then the ruler of Delhi, reached Coimbatore and raided and robbed the city for precious stones, jewels, and other rare treasures. This led to the subsequent raids by other Muslim Sultans. In 1323, the Pandya kingdom including Coimbatore became a province of the Delhi Empire, under the Tughlaks.

The 1371, the Vijayanagar dynasty of Hampi captured Coimbatore and it became part of the Vijayanagar empire. Kings of this dynasty were in habit of leaving the captured land to governors called Nayaks. This was done for the efficient management of their empire. The Nayaks paid fixed amount annually to the Vijayanagar Empire. After the death of Krishna Deva Raya (King of Vijayanagar empire) in 1530 AD, the Nayaks became independent and ruled the territories under their control. Among Nayaks, Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) was very popular, even now he is popular among people, since, it was he who contributed to the creation of many magnificent structures in and around Coimbatore. The Raja Gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, The Pudu Mandapam and The Thirumalai Nayakar's Palace are living monuments to his artistic fervor.

Coimbatore started slipping into the hands of the British's East India Company. In 1781, British appointed their representatives to look after Coimbatore. George Procter was the first collector of Coimbatore.

Now after India's independence, Coimbatore is one of the major districts of Tamilnadu State. Later on Coimbatore district was bifurcated into two districts namely Coimbatore and Dindugul Districts. In Coimbatore District, there are 15 state assembly constituencies and two parliament constituencies.