Madurai is one of the of the oldest continually inhabited city in the World (along with Varanasi in India), which I had already mentioned in my older post. So, obviously it has a very long and eventful history. So, this is an effort to summarize the history so far in few words, and the primary sources of this article were several well-written Wikipedia articles and ofcourse other literary sources. Here it goes ...
History of Madurai can be started atleast from 500 BCE (though there is a mention that first Sangam - a sort of - academy happened in Madurai around 9000 BCE) , wherein Pandya kings were ruling the region. There have been numerous references to kings and the town in texts of Ramayana, and Mahabharata. An interesting part is that the Pandya king sided with Pandavas during the war, especially king Malayadwaja Pandya (son of Kulashekara Pandyan) - the father of Meenakshi (an avatar of Goddess Parvati) who later ruled Madurai. Though there have been confusions raised stating that the Pandians / Pandyas were actually Pandavas, it is amply clear that Pandya/Pandian kings were separate members as they have found mention even in Ramanyana which predates Mahabharata and the Pandavas were one branch of descendants from the Kuru.
Cut to 3rd Century AD - the end of the last Sangam period. Pandyas and Madurai appear to be flourishing as they appear to have established trade relationships with Rome, and Egypt. Historians of China mention them after Greek historian mentioned them in 1st Century AD. Jainism then followed by Buddhism appear to have taken dominance in the region during this period. Archaeologists and Historians concur that Elukadal Street (one of the streets of Madurai), is said to have been the biggest trade market street of those days. So, Pandyas / Pandian kings dominated Madurai from 500 BCE till 400 AD, and then again from 1190 AD to 1334 AD.
Cut to 1300's. Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan, an viceroy of the Delhi Sultanate proclaimed independence in 1335 (then ruled by Mohammed Bin Tuglhaq) and established the first independent sultanate. The Madurai Sultan rule continued till 1378, after which the kingdom of Vijaynagar during Harihara II's rule in 1378, invaded it and formally declared as its possession. Kumara Kampana, also known as Kampana Udaiyar, an army officer in the Vijayanagar Empire led the successful invasion of the Madurai Sultanate. He had previously conquered or subdued the Sambuvarayar Dynasty (a vassal of Delhi Sultanate) in Kanchipuram.
Nayaka's dominance and dynasties start from 1538. They were originally military governors under the supervision of the Vijayanagara Empire, but after the downfall of Vijayanagara Empire, many of them declared independence. In 1538 AD, the Vijayanagara commander Kotikam Nagama Nayaka defeated Veerasekara Chola who occupied the Pandyan region. However, Nagama Nayaka declared independence from the Vijayanagar dynasty instead of handing back the Viyanagara kingdom. To check the rebellion of Nagama Nayaka, emperor Krishnadeva Raya sent a large force under Viswanatha Nayaka (who is actually the son of Nagama Nayaka). Viswanatha eventually defeated and imprisoned his father. However later he only obeyed the orders of the Vijayanagar king nominally, and placed the Pandya on the throne who ruled for a while. However, Vishwanatha Nayaka later set out to rule on his own account; and in 1559 when the Vijayanagara Kingdom was in decline, he established a dynastic rule, and there was born the Madurai Nayak dynastic line.
Thirumalai Nayakar the most famed ruler of the Nayak dynasty established the famous palace in 1636 in Indo-Saracenic Style. Earlier his capital was in Dindugal, which he moved to Madurai. The structure of Meenakshi Temple was significantly expanded during his reign - which is the structure that we see today - sprawling around 17 acres. The nayaks rule of Madurai came to a complete end by 1739. Ceylon (now called as Sri Lanka) was invaded during his period. There was a brief period (1734-1740) of domination by Chanda Sahib, who started as a sepoy under the Mughal emperors and controlled Madurai from 1736. From 1740 onwards he had to fight wars and with many potential rulers like the Marathas, Nawabs, French & the Britishers, entering in and around Madurai. Meanwhile in 1750's Hyder Ali, the nawab of Mysore said to have plundered wealth from temples in and around Madurai. Yusuf Khan (Marudhanayagam) who served under Chanda Sahib, then fought with Hyder Ali, and pushed him to Dindugal said to have helped in restoring some of wealth and glory of the temples back.
British Rule in Madurai started after 1750s and after 1800's they ruled comfortably till independence without any troubles. (before 1800, they had to fight the polygar wars - with palayakarrars, (a title given to administrators assigned by Nayak rulers controlling a territory;) like Puli Thevan, Veerapandya Kattabomman and the Marudhu brothers). Cut to 1900s. Mahatma Gandhi visited Madurai 5 times, first in 1919 to enlist supporters for Satyagraha against the Rowlatt act. It is in Madurai, he renounced his traditional attire and switched to simple clothes. He refused to enter Meenakshi temple until all classes of people were allowed to enter it, and after it happened he visited in 1946. Here's an video of Madurai of 1947
