RAS question
The three Sangam dynasties of ancient South India were:
Correct answer: (D) Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras.
The three Sangam dynasties of ancient South India were the Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras.
Explanation
The Sangam Age refers to the early historic Tamil cultural world, and the dynasties associated with it were the Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras. This age is placed between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the Cholas at Uraiyur, the Pandyas at Madurai, and the Cheras at Vanji. Encyclopaedia Britannica supports the same core identification by describing Tamilakam as consisting of the Pandya dynasty in Madurai, the Chera dynasty on the Malabar Coast, and the Chola dynasty in the Thanjavur and Kaveri valley region, and by linking this setting with Sangam literature of the early Common Era. Therefore, option D is the only set made entirely of Sangam-era Tamil dynasties.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Pandyas belong to the Sangam dynastic set, but Chalukyas and Satavahanas are not Sangam dynasties.
- (B) Cholas are a Sangam dynasty, but Pallavas and Hoysalas are post-Sangam dynasties rather than part of the three ancient Tamil dynasties named here.
- (C) Pallavas, Chalukyas, and Rashtrakutas belong to a later early-medieval political context, not to the Sangam triad of Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras.
Concept
This tests ancient South Indian political history, especially the Sangam Age and Tamilakam. It recurs in RAS because examiner traps often mix Sangam dynasties with later Deccan and South Indian powers.