The Tamil word 'muvendar' mentioned in the Sangam poems means ________.

The correct answer is three chiefs.

Key Points

• The Sangam poems mentioned the Muvendar.
• This is a Tamil word meaning three chiefs, used for the needs of three ruling families, The Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas who became powerful in south India around 2300 years ago.
• Many poets whose compositions are found in the Sangam collection composed poems in praise of chiefs who often rewarded them with precious stones, gold, horses, elephants, chariots and fine cloth.

Additional Information

• Dhamma mahamatta was the officer appointed by Ashoka. They used to go from place to place teaching people about dhamma.
• During the Mughal reign, panchayats were headed by headmen known as Muqaddam.
• The chief function of the Headmen was to supervise the preparation of village accounts, 
• The Sangam Age was the period of the history of ancient south India and Sri Lanka spanning from the 1st to 3rd Century AD.
• Three early kingdoms of the Sangam period were The Chola , The Cheras and The Pandya.
• Cheras:
  • Vanji was the capital of the Cheras Kingdom.
  • The scripts and inscriptions were written in the Malayalam language.
• Cholas:
  • Known as Imperial Cholas of Tanjore.
  • The founder of the Chola Dynasty was Vijayalaya who was at first a feudatory of Pallavas.
• Pandyas:
  • The Pandyas ruled present-day Southern Tamil Nadu.
  • The Pandya kings patronized Tamil poets and scholars.