Chera Dynasty

சேரர்
Cheras

Chera territories
Official language	Tamil
Capitals	Kizhanthur-Kandallur (Vanchi Muthur, Kodungallur)
Government	Monarchy
Preceding state	Unknown
Succeeding states	Gangas, Zamorins, Kochi, Travancore, Hoysala, Vijayanagara

The term Chera Dynasty (Tamil: சேரர்) refers to two Tamil dynasties that ruled before the Sangam era (300 BC - AD 250) until the twelfth century AD. The first Chera dynasty ended in the 3rd Century AD:^[1] the second ruled from the 9th century CE. Little is known about the Cheras between the two dynasties. The Kalabhras invaded Tamil country, displaced the existing rulers, and ruled for around three centuries before being displaced by the Pallavas and the Pandyas in the sixth century AD.

The early Cheras ruled Kerala, Kongu Nadu, Salem and Dharmapuri. The dynasty probably added the Southern Nagapattanam and Thiruvarur districts after the marriage of the second king of the first Chera Dynasty into the royal family of the Cholas.

Their ancient capital was Vanchi Muthur in the Kanthallur-Kizhanthur region of the Idukki district of Kerala.^[1]. They moved their administrative capital to Karur (Karur Vanchi) in second century. The second dynasty ruled from the outskirts of Muziris on the banks of River Periyar ^[2].

Contents 1 Origins 2 History 2.1 Pathirruppaththu 2.2 Extent and trade 2.3 Religion 2.4 The second dynasty 3 Notes 4 References

Origins

In the Sangam Tamil lexicon the word Chera or Khera means "hill country", derived from Cheral, meaning "declivity or mountain slope" in classical Tamil.^[3] The Chera Kings were called Chera-alatan ("Lord of the Slopes") in classical Tamil.^[4]

The only sources available regarding the early Chera Kings are the anthologies of Sangam literature, now generally agreed to belong to the first few centuries AD and a few mentions in the writings of ancient Greek and Romans such as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.^[5] The Cheras, the Pandyas and the Cholas are the three ruling dynasties of the southern region (Bharatavarsha) in the Hindu epic of the Ramayana.^[6][7] They are also mentioned in the Aitareya Aranyaka, and the Mahabharata, where they take the side of the Pandavas in the Great War.^{[1][8][9][10]}

In Sanskrit Kera means "coconut" and "Kerala" (Kera Alam) is "Kera kingdom". Sangam Literature never uses the name Kerala but Ashoka's edicts mention an independent dynasty known by the name Kedalaputho who were outside Ashoka's empire in 261 BC. Pliny, the Roman historian of the first century, who probably visited Kerala, called the area Caelobothras in his Natural History^[11]. The unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions Chera as Cerobothra ("Keralaputhra") whose capital is Karur.

The Kalitokai, a Sangam work, describes the Cheras as a Villavar (hunter) people. Tamil literature calls the Chera king "Villavar Kon", the king of Villavar tribe. The Chera flag was emblazoned with a bow and arrow, the insignia of Villavar people. Archaeology has found epigraphic evidence of the early Cheras:^[12] some inscriptions trace the dynasty from the Puranic kings of the Chandraditya dynasty. The most important inscription is that at Pugalur (Aranattarmalai) which refers to three generations of Chera Rulers; Athan Cheral Irumporai, his son Perumkadungo and his grandson Ilamkadungo when Perumkadungo was ruler and Ilamkadungo appointed prince.

The earliest Tamil literary works, such as the Kalittokai, mention a continent called Kumari Nadu or Kumari Kandam, which was believed to have been located to the South of the present-day Kanyakumari tens of thousands of years ago, between the then Kumari and Pahruli rivers. Pandyan kings such as Chenkon, and the Cheras, supposedly ruled this country. They fought and defeated the Nāgas, who might have been a non-Dravidian people, or another species of living beings. Kalittokai again mentions a war between the combined forces of Villavars and the Meenavars (the Cheras and the Pandyas respectively), and the Nāgas, their arch-enemies, eventually losing the war, and subsequently Central India to the Nagas. Bhil Meena of North India could be the equivalent rulers in North India.

Sangam literature is full of names of kings and princes, along with the poets who extolled them but these are not worked into connected history so far and the chronology is not settled. Their then capital is stated to be modern Karur in Tamil Nadu.

History

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Stone Age	before 3300 BCE
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The Chera, Chola and Pandya are traditional Tamil siblings and descendants of the Kings of ancient Tamilakam, Pandya meaning old country, Chola meaning new country and Pallava meaning branch in Sanskrit. The Cholas ruled in the eastern Coromandel Coast and the Pandyas in the South Central Peninsula. Chera rulers engaged in frequent warfare with the Pandyas and Cholas.

In early Tamil literature the great Chera rulers are referred to as Cheral, Kuttuvan, Irumporai, Kollipurai and Athan. Chera rulers were also called Kothai or Makothai. The nobility among the Cheras were called Cheraman in general. The word Kerala, of possible Prakrit origins, does not appear in Sangam Literature.

Pathirruppaththu

Pathirruppaththu, the fourth book in the Ettuthokai anthology, mentions a number of Kings of the Chera dynasty. Each King is praised in ten songs sung by the Court Poet and the Kings are in the following order:

1. Nedum Cheralathan
2. Palyane Chel Kezhu Kuttuvan
3. Kalankai Kanni Narmudi Cheral
4. Chenkuttuvan Cheran (Kadal Pirakottiya Vel Kezhu Kuttuvan)
5. Attu Kottu Pattu Cheralathan
6. Chelva Kadunko Azhi Athan
7. Thakadur Erintha Perum Cheral Irumporai
8. Kudako Ilam Cheral Irumporai.

The first recorded King was Uthiyan Cheralathan. His queen was Veliyan Nallini. Their son Imayavaramban Kudako Nedum Cheralathan is praised in the second pathu of Patirrupatthu, the pathikam of this decade refers to his parents, though they are not praised in the first pathu which is blank. The third, fourth and fifth kings were sons of Nedum Cheralathan, while the mother of fourth King (also known as Chenkuttuvan) was Chola Princess Manikilli. Chelva Kadunko Vazhiyathan was the son of Anthuvan Cheral Irumporai and Porayan Perumthevi. Perum Cheral Irumporai was the son of Aazhiyathan and Ilam Cheral Irumporai was the son of a Chera ruler Kuttuvan Irumporai,son of Mantharan Cheral Irumporai, the celebrated ancestor of ninth King Ilam Cheral Irumporai.

'Purananuru' refers to a certain Udiyan Cheral. It is said that he fed the rival armies during the war of Mahabharata. Imayavaramban Neduncheralathan, another Sangam Age King claimed to have conquered Bharatavarsha up to the Himalayas and to have inscribed his emblem on the face of the mountains. Senguttuvan was another famous Chera, whose contemporary Gajabahu I of Sri Lanka of Lanka according to Mahavamsa visited the Chera country.^[13]

Extent and trade

The early Cheras controlled a large territory of the Kongu region. Senguttuvan won a war against Kongar or Ganga people Western Ganga Dynasty. They also ruled the Kodunthamizh regions of Travancore (Venadu) and the Malabar (Kuttanadu) West Coast through vassals. They were in contact with the Satavahanas in the north and with the Romans and Greeks.^[14] Trade flourished overseas and there was a considerable exchange of gold and coins, as seen by archaeological evidence and literature. The Romans brought vast amounts of gold in exchange of 'Kari' (Pepper) from Malainadu.^[15] Muziris has been referred to by the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an inland port probably near Kodungallur.

Religion

It is believed that the Cheras were Shaivites.^[16] Some kings of the dynasty referred to themselves as Vanavaramban, Imayavaramban etc.^[17] While Cheras had their own 'Kottave', the mother goddess, who was later on assimilated into the present day (Hinduism) in the form of Devi. Other religious traditions like Jainism and Buddhism came to this area during the period of the Chera Kings.

The second dynasty

The Chera dynasty was revived in 800 C.E with the rise of the Kulasekharas who ruled from Kodungallur.

Little is known about the Cheras between third century A.D and the eighth century A.D. An obscure dynasty, the Kalabhras, invaded the Tamil country, displaced the existing kingdoms and ruled for around three centuries. They were displaced by the Pallavas and the Pandyas in the sixth century AD. A Pandya Ruler, Arikesari Parankusa Maravarman (c.730 – 765AD), mentioned in a number of Pandya copper-plate inscriptions, was a prominent ruler during this period. He claims to have defeated a prominent Chera King. The name of the Chera King is not known, however from the details of the battles between the Pandya and the Chera, the Chera territory ceded seems to have included the entire Malabar and Travancore (Kuttanadu and Venadu) and the Southern Pandya country from Kanyakumari to Thirunelveli, the seat of the Cheras being in Karur Kongu Nadu. The Chera kings took the title of Perumal during this period and patronised the Vaishnavite sect. Kulasekara Alwar who ruled in the 8th century became a devotional Vaishnavite poet. Pallavas also mention in their inscriptions their battles with the Cheras. Pulakesin II, in his Aihole inscription mentioned " Pulikesin II, driving the Pallava behind the forts of Kanchi, reached as far south as the Kaveri river, and there caused prosperity to the Chola, Chera and Pandya".^[18]

During the reign of Pandya Parantaka Nedumjadaiyan (765 – 790), the Cheras were still in Karur and were a close ally of the Pallavas. Pallavamalla Nadivarman defeated the Pandya Varaguna with the help of a Chera king. Cultural contacts between the Pallava court and the Chera country were common.^[19]

The Chera Kings Rajashekhara Varman and Kulashekhara Varman spearheaded Hindu religious movements in their roles as celebrated Saivite and Vaishnavite saints. Kulasekhara became one of the celebrated Alvars and his poems came to be called the Perumal thirumozhi. Kulashekhara Varman ruled around the eighth and the ninth centuries A.D. He called himself Kongar Kon (the king of the Kongu people) hailing from Kollinagar (Karur). Though Kongar were defeated by Cheran Senguttuvan in the second century A.D, the Kongu region had been occupied by the Kongars of Karnataka Western Ganga Dynasty around 470 AD. The title 'Kongar Kon' indicates Kulasekhara had regained control of Kongu from the Western Ganga Dynasty around 800 AD. Other titles of Kulasekhara mentioned in the Perumal thirumozhi are Villavar Kon, Malayar Kon, Kollikkavalan, Koikkon and Koodal Nayagan.^[20] Adi Shankara was his contemporary. Kongumandala Satakam also says that Rajashekhara Varman went to Kayilai with Sundarar from Kongu Nadu.

The kingdom perished in 1102 C.E soon after the Chola King ransacked the Chera Capital at Kodungallur. As a result, the last of the Cheraman Perumal, Rama Varma Kulashekhara moved to Kollam and ruled from there. He finally succeeded in driving away the Cholas but could not regain power due to the enmity he earned from the Brahmins. His kingdom was confined to the South of Kerala and was called Venad. The Travancore dynasty originated from the remnants of the Second Chera Dynasy.

Notes

References