page_title: Tamilakam
hierarchical_section_title: Tamilakam
caption_attribution_description: English: Note: This is the standard "textbook" map of the Maurya Empire. Historians are now arguing that the Maurya Empire did not include large parts of India, which were controlled by autonomous tribes. For such a map, see File:Maurya Empire, c.250 BCE.png. Alternative map of Maurya Empire. Sources: Keay, John (2000). India, a History. New York, United States: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN&#160;0-00-638784-5. Kulke, H.; Rothermund, D. (2004), A History of India, 4th, Routledge, ISBN&#160;978-0-415-32920-0 Schwartzberg, J. E. (1992), A Historical Atlas of South Asia: University of Oxford Press Background from http://www2.demis.nl/mapserver/mapper.asp Made with GIMP See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Edicts_of_Ashoka Other sources: Grainger, John D. (1990, 2014). Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom. Routledge. Keay, John (2000). India, a History. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Kulke, H.; Rothermund, D. (2004). A History of India, 4th, Routledge. Puri, Baji Nath (1996). Buddhism in Central Asia. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Raychaudhuri, H. C.; Mukherjee, B. N. (1996). Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty. Oxford University Press. Stein, Burton (1998). A History of India (1st ed.), Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Notes: Sri Lanka and the southernmost parts of India (modern Tamil Nadu and Kerala) remained independent, despite the diplomacy and cultural influence of their larger neighbor to the north (Schwartzberg 1992, p. 18; Kulke &amp; Rothermund 2004, p. 68). The account of Strabo indicates that the western-most territory of the empire extended from the southeastern Hindu Kush, through the region of Kandahar, to coastal Baluchistan south of that (Raychaudhuri &amp; Mukherjee 1996, p. 594). The claim that Aria/Herat was one of the provinces (alongside Arachosia, Gedrosia, and Paropamisadae) ceded by Seleucus to Chandragupta Maurya is often repeated, but Aria (modern Herat) "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded satrapies by some scholars [...] on the basis of wrong assessments of the passage of Strabo [...] and a statement by Pliny." (Raychaudhuri &amp; Mukherjee 1996, p. 594). Seleucus "must [...] have held Aria", and furthermore, his "son Antiochos was active there fifteen years later." (Grainger 2014, p. 109). Schwartzberg (p. 18) speculates about the Buddhist culture and Kharosthi inscriptions/manuscripts found in Khotan, but these texts from Khotan, Turfan, and Tajikstan have all been shown to be later than the 1st century BCE (Puri, p. 185).
context_page_description: Tamilakam refers to the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Traditional accounts and Tholkāppiyam referred these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language and culture of all people. The ancient Tamil country was divided into kingdoms. The best known among them were the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyans and Pallavas. During the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam. Ancient Tamil settlements were also found in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
context_section_description: Tamilakam (or Thamizhagam) refers to the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Traditional accounts and Tholkāppiyam referred these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language  and culture of all people. The ancient Tamil country was divided into kingdoms. The best known among them were the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyans and Pallavas. During the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam. Ancient Tamil settlements were also found in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankan Tamils) and the Maldives (Giravarus).
caption: Tamilakam comprised that part of India south of the Maurya Empire in c. 250 BCE.
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