Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Pandya dynasty ruled continuously from roughly 400 BCE to 1618 CE, a span of over two thousand years, making it one of the longest-ruling dynasties in world history. Its territorial extent varied greatly during that period, with two major peaks of imperial power.
The Pandya dynasty was famous for its pearl fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar, centered at the ancient port of Korkai at the mouth of the Tambraparni river. Greek historian Megasthenes reported that the Pandyas derived great wealth from the pearl trade, and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea noted that pearls from the Pandya country were exported widely.
Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya, described the Pandya kingdom in the 4th century BCE. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Ptolemy around 140 CE, and Strabo all mention the Pandyas. The Roman emperor Julian received a Pandya embassy around 361 CE.
After the death of Maravarman Kulasekhara I in 1310, his sons Vira Pandya IV and Sundara Pandya IV fought a civil war that coincided with the arrival of Malik Kafur's Khalji forces in March 1311. The Pandya brothers fled, the Khaljis withdrew by late April 1311, and by 1312 the Pandyas had lost control of south Kerala. The Madurai Sultanate was established around 1334.
The Tooth Relic of the Buddha was a sacred Buddhist object held in Sri Lanka. Maravarman Kulasekara I invaded Sri Lanka, ruled by Bhuvanaikabahu I, and carried away the Tooth Relic to the Pandya country along with the island's wealth, keeping Sri Lanka under Pandya control until around 1308-1309 CE.
According to tradition, the legendary Sangams, the academies of Tamil scholarship, were held in Madurai under Pandya patronage, and several Pandya rulers claimed to be poets themselves. The Purananuru and Agananuru collections include poems attributed to Pandya kings as authors, and the work Mathuraikkanci gives a full description of Madurai under king Nedunjeliyan's rule.