Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/74

Rh appears that the founder of the Southern Pandyan Kingdom was a princess. Megasthenes who resided as an ambassador of Seleukus in the Court of Chandragupta at Pataliputra, has the following account of the origin of the Pandyas: “Herakles begat a daughter in India whom he called Pandaia. To her he assigned that portion of India which lies to southward and extends to the sea, while he distributed the people subject to her rule into three hundred and sixty-five villages, giving orders that one village should each day bring to the treasury the royal tribute, so that the Queen might always have the assistance of the men whose turn it was to pay the tribute, in coercing those who for the time being were defaulters in their payments.” Pliny gives a similar account, “next come the Pandœ the only race in India ruled by women. They say that Hercules having but one daughter, who was on that account all the more beloved, endowed ier with noble kingdom. Her descendants rule over 300 cities and command an army of 150,000 foot and 500 elephants.” Ancient Tamil poems seem to support this tradition because they refer to woman as the founder of the Pandyan Dynasty. She appears to have been subsequently worshipped as a goddess in Madura. In the Chilappathikaram she is spoken of as Mathurapathi or “Queen of Madura” and she is described as dressed half in the attire of a warrior and half in that of a prin-