The Brahmins came to Southern India not as conquerors, but as peaceful settlers and instructors; and their influence was obtained through their superior civilization and learning. They gave the name of Sudra to all the upper and middle classes of native Dravidians, while the servile classes were not, as in Hindustan, called Sudras, but Pariars. Thus, while in the north a Sudra is a low-caste man, in the south he ranks next to a Brahmin. It is said that, after the avatur of Rama, pilgrims came in great numbers to visit the scenes of his triumphs, and, settling in the country, cleared land for cultivation, and laid the foundations of future principalities. One of these settlers was a man named Pandya, of the Vellaler or agricultural caste, who established himself in the south; and his descendant Kula Sekhara, son of Sampanna Pandya, was the first king of Madura. Some centuries elapsed, probably five, before the foundation of the city of Madura, during which the settlers were occupied in clearing the ground, and forming themselves into an organized state; and it has been conjectured that the building of the capital was commenced between 500 and 600 B.C. Previously the kings of the Pandyan dynasty resided at a place called Kurkhi.[443] Another tradition states that a merchant lost his way in the forests, and discovered an ancient temple dedicated to Siva and his wife Durga, which had been erected by the God Indra. The merchant was directed by the God to announce to the Pandyan king, named Kula Sekhara, that it was the will of Siva that a city should be erected on the spot. Kula Sekhara, therefore, cleared the forest, rebuilt the temple, and founded a city. On the completion of the work a shower of nectareal dew fell from heaven, spreading a sweet film on the ground, and hence the name of _Madura_ (sweet).[444] The wife of Siva became incarnate as the daughter and successor of this prince, under the name of Minakshi; and Siva himself as Sundara, or the handsome, was her mortal husband. Thus the Pandyan kings, like many of the dynasties of ancient Greece, placed their gods at the head of their genealogical tree. The immigration of a colony of Aryan Brahmins from Magadha into the Madura country, and the commencement of Tamil civilization and literature, have been placed, by Mr. Caldwell and others, in about the seventh century B.C.