Kongunadu

Kongu Nadu கொங்குநாடு
Geographical area
Coimbatore, largest metropolitan city in the region.
Kongu Nadu region within Tamil Nadu
Coordinates: 11°0′45″N 78°9′36″E / 11.01250°N 78.16000°E / 11.01250; 78.16000Coordinates: 11°0′45″N 78°9′36″E / 11.01250°N 78.16000°E / 11.01250; 78.16000
Country	India
Region	South India
Government
• Body	Government of Tamil Nadu
Area
• Total	25,864 km2 (9,986 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	17.6 million
• Density	607/km2 (1,570/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	635-642xxx
Vehicle registration	TN 27-42, TN 47, TN 52, TN 54, TN 56, TN 66, TN 77-78, TN 88, TN 99
Largest city	Coimbatore
Literacy	62.61%
Civic agency	Government of Tamil Nadu

Kongu Nadu is a region and aspirant state of India comprising the western part of the Tamil Nadu and parts of the states of Karnataka and Kerala. In the ancient Tamilakam, it was the seat of the Chera kings, bounded on the east by Tondai Nadu, on the south-east by Chola Nadu and on the south by Pandya Nadu regions.

There is no definite origin for the word Kongu. Kongu Nadu is believed to have come from "Kongadesam", "Konga" a derivant of the term "Ganga", meaning "land of the Gangas". Kongu may also mean nectar of flowers.

Archaeological data from Kodumanal, a village on the banks of the Noyyal River, suggests the beginning of civilization around 4th century BCE. Kodumanal was situated on the ancient trade route between across the Palghat gap in the Western Ghats and yielded remains belonging to the Sangam age. Tamil-Brahmi writings were found on coins, seals and rings obtained from Amaravathi river bed near Karur, the erstwhile capital of the Cheras. A musical inscription in Tamil Brahimi was found in a cave in Arachalur, dating from the 4th Century CE and Iravatham Mahadevan writes that these are syllables used in dance.

The region was ruled by the Cheras during Sangam period between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE and the medieval Cholas conquered the Kongu Nadu in the 10th century CE. Much of Tamil Nadu came under the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire by the 15th century. In the 1550s, Madurai Nayaks, who were the military governors of the Vijayanagara Empire, took control of the region. After the Vijayanagara Empire fell in the 17th century, the Madurai Nayaks established their state as an independent kingdom. They introduced the Palayakkarar system under which Kongu Nadu region was divided into 24 Palayams. In the latter part of the 18th century, the region came under the Kingdom of Mysore, following a series of wars with the Madurai Nayak dynasty. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the British East India Company annexed the region to the Madras Presidency in 1799. The region played a prominent role in the Second Poligar War (1801), when it was the area of operations of Dheeran Chinnamalai.