RAS question
The Pandya king who sent an embassy to the Roman Emperor Augustus, as mentioned by classical sources, was from:
Correct answer: (D) Madurai.
The Pandya king associated in classical sources with an embassy to Emperor Augustus was from Madurai.
Explanation
Classical evidence links early south Indian polities with the Roman world. Strabo and other classical writers recorded that a Pandya king sent an embassy to Augustus around 20 BCE. The embassy belonged to the Pandyas of Madurai, whose Roman trade contacts form the historical setting. IGNCA: Madurai Through the Ages treats Madurai as the Pandya centre in the Sangam-age discussion, including the tradition that modern Madurai became the capital after the earlier Tenmadurai. The Pandya king was associated with Madurai, not another Tamil urban centre.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Kanchipuram does not fit the Madurai-centred Pandya context associated with the classical embassy to Augustus.
- (B) Uraiyur belongs outside the Pandyas of Madurai and the supporting Sangam-age context.
- (C) Thanjavur is not the location linked to the Pandya embassy tradition; Madurai was the Pandya centre.
Concept
Ancient south Indian polities and Indo-Roman contact survive in classical sources. RAS repeats such facts because they connect Sangam-age dynasties, capitals, trade, and external literary evidence in one historical pattern.