Digital Rare Books:
Chera Kings of the Sangam Period
By K.G. Sesha Aiyar
Published by Luzac & Co., London - 1937

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The Cheras were the ruling dynasty of the present-day state of Kerala and to a lesser extent, parts of Tamil Nadu in South India. Along with the Ay kingdom in the south and the Ezhimala kingdom in the north, they formed the ruling kingdoms of Kerala in the early Sangam Age. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they were also known as one of the three major kingdoms of Tamilakam.

The recorded history of the Chera dynasty is broadly divided into two phases. The Early Cheras are said to have spanned the period between the 4th century BCE to 5th century CE. The Later Cheras, also known as the Kulasekharas, were in power between the 8th and 12th century. Little is known about the Cheras between these two prominent phases which is often called a 'historical darkness'.[citation needed] The age and antiquity of the Early Cheras is difficult to establish. Most of their history is reconstructed from a body of literature known as the Sangam literature written in Old Tamil around the 3rd century CE. Traveller's accounts suggest that the Cheras existed during the 4th century BCE. Sangam literature records the names of the long line of Chera kings, princes, and the court poets who extolled them. The internal chronology of this literature is still far from settled and a connected account of the history of the period is an area of active research. Uthiyan Cheralathan, Nedum Cheralathan and Senguttuvan are some of the rulers referred to in the Sangam poems. Senguttuvan, the most celebrated of the Chera kings, is famous for the legends surrounding Kannagi, the heroine of the epic Silapathikaram.[4][better source needed]

The exact location of the Chera capital has been subject to some speculation. The Chera capital has been called, 'Vanchi' and 'Karur' in several works. This has led to several theories identifying the Chera capital in places named Karur in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, it is fairly clear that the capital was near the famous port known as Muziris, now identified to be near modern-day Kodungallur. Pliny refers to Muziris as the Chera capital, while the author of the Periplus identifies the capital to be a couple of miles away from the mouth of the river at Muziris. Ptolemy who identifies the capital as 'Karoura' gives a geographical location that is very close to Muziris as well. The capital of the Cheras and the port of Muziris were very close and almost indistinguishable.

It is understood that the Cheras started their imperial expansion from the Kuttanad region and that various other regions such as Tyndis and Kongunad have been gained or lost at various times during the continuous conflicts with the neighbouring kingdoms. The Cheras also seem to have fought battles with other neighbouring dynasties such as the Pallavas, the Rashtrakutas, the Kadambas and even with the Yavanas (the Greeks) on the South Indian coast. After the end of the Sangam era, around the 5th century CE, there seems to be a period where the Cheras' power declined and is, in many ways, a dark period in Chera history.

The Chera kingdom owed its importance to trade with the Middle East, North Africa, Greece, Rome and China. Its geographical advantages, like the navigability of the rivers connecting the Ghat mountains with the Arabian sea, the favourable Monsoon winds which carried sailing ships directly from the Arabian coast to Chera kingdom as well as the abundance of exotic spices combined to make the Chera empire a major power in foreign trade.

While there are several mentions in literary works of Sanskrit and Greek, the primary literary sources giving detailed accounts of the early Chera Kings are the anthologies of Sangam literature, created between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE. They are rich in descriptions about a number of Chera kings and princes, along with the poets who extolled them. However, these are not worked into connected history and settled chronology so far. A chronological device, known as Gajabahu synchronism, is used by historians to help date early Tamil history. Despite its dependency on numerous conjectures, Gajabahu synchronism has wide acceptance among modern scholars and is considered as the sheet anchor for the purpose of dating ancient Tamil literature. The method depends on an event depicted in Silappatikaram, which describes the visit of Kayavaku, the king of Ilankai (Sri Lanka), in the Chera kingdom during the reign of the Chera king, Senguttuvan. The Gajabahu method considers this Kayavaku as Gajabahu, who according Mahavamsa, a historical poem written in Pali language on the kings of Sri Lanka, lived in the latter half of the 2nd century CE. This, in turn, has been used to fix the period Senguttuvan, who ruled his kingdom for 55 years (according to the Pathitrupathu), in the 2nd century CE.

- Wikipedia

Image:
Water-colour by Elisha Trapaud of the Subrahmanya Temple at Tiruchendur, dated c.1805. Inscribed on front in pencil: 'Tiruchendore Pagoda. Gulph of Ma' (illegible).

The celebrated temple of Tiruchendur on the shore of the Gulf of Mannar is the dedicated to Lord Subrahmanya. It is situated in the Tirunelveli District, about 443 miles from Madras. Tiruchendur, meaning sacred and prosperous town of victory, is an important pilgrimage centre. Originally the temple was very modest structure on the sandstone reefs of the beach but the stone began to deteriorate because of the corrosion by the sea. The temple was enlarged during a period of about a thousand years under the patronage of different Pandya and Chera rulers and wealthy local people. The principal entrance to the temple faces south and leads into the first enclosure, a series of four corridors running around the second enclosure. The Mela Gopuram, the west entrance tower, is a gigantic multi storeyed pyramidal tower, 137 feet high decorated with plaster and stucco sculpture that was built in the 18th century. The principal sanctuary of the temple is that of Subrahmanya or Muruga, as he is known in Tamil Nadu and Karttikeya in Northern India.

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