Kanchipuram in the pre-Pallava period
The Kanchipuram district is in North Tamil Nadu Kanchipuram is believed to have been mentioned in the Tamil epic Manimekhalai. In the 4th century AD, Kanchipuram emerged from an obscure past to become the capital of the Pallava Empire. The city was at the height of its power during the 7th century AD when it was visited by the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang. Etymology Some scholars believe that Kanchipuram might have been derived from the "Kanjiyur" which is mentioned in early Tamil poems. Kanjiyur is a place in the Chola country and its name means "place surrounded by Kanji trees". Kanjiyur is mentioned in several early texts, one among them being the Puṟanāṉūṟu. However, Dravidologist and professor of history, P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, in his book History of the Tamils from the Earliest Times to 600AD, claims that the Kanjiyur mentioned in early Tamil poems was not Kanchipuram at all but a different town altogether. Srinivasa Iyengar claims that Kanchipuram was a Sanskrit word and that the town had no Tamil name. In support of his claim, he states that Kanchipuram is mentioned in the books of the Sanskrit grammarian Patanjali, who lived in the 3rd–2nd century BC. On the