Give detail about cheran dynasty
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The Chera dynasty (Cēra) was one of the principal lineages in the early history of the present day states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in southern India.[1][2] Together with the Cholas of Uraiyur and the Pandyas of Madurai, the early Cheras were known as one of the three major powers (muventar) of ancient Tamilakam (a macro region[3] in south India) in the early centuries of the Common Era.[1][4][5]
Cheras
Capital
Early Cheras
Vanchi Karuvur (Kondungallur)
Muchiri (Muziris)
Thondi (Tyndis)
Kongu Cheras
Karur
Kodungallur Cheras (Kulasekharas)
Kodungallur (Makotai/Vanchi)
Venadu Cheras
Kollam
Common languages
Old Tamil
Religion
Hinduism
Today part of
India
The people of the Chera country owed their importance to exchange of spices, especially black pepper, with Middle Eastern and Graeco-Roman merchants.[6][7][2] The age and antiquity of the dynasty is difficult to establish.[8][9][10] The Cheras of the early historical period (c. third century BCE - c. third century CE[3]) are known to have had their original centre at Karur/Karuvur-Vanchi in interior Tamil Nadu and strategic outlets to their harbours at Muchiri (Muziris) and Thondi (Tyndis) on the Indian Ocean coast (Kerala).[10][11] The early historic Chera chiefdom is often described as a redistributive economy based on kinship. It was largely shaped by agriculture, of both crops and livestock, and "predatory politics".[3] Inscriptions discovered from Karur dated to c. 1st - 2nd century CE, describe Ilam Kadungo, son of Perum Kadungo, and the grandson of Ko Athan Cheral of the Irumporai clan.[12] Inscribed portrait coins with Brahmi legends give a number of names, such as Mak-kotai, Kuttuvan Kotai, Kollippurai, and Kolli Irumporaii.[13] Reverse of these coins often contained the bow and arrow symbol.[13]
The anthologies of early Tamil poems mention the names of a number of Cheras, and the "court poets" who extolled them. The internal chronology of this collection is still far from completely settled and a connected account of the history of the period is an area of active research.[5] Chenguttuvan Chera, the most renowned of the early Cheras, is also famous for the traditions surrounding Kannaki, the principal female character of the Tamil epic poem Chilapathikaram.[14][10] Major sources for the early Cheras include Tamil Brahmi cave label[15] inscriptions and coins, classical Sanskrit works and accounts by Graeco-Roman writers.[10] After the end of the early historical period, around the 3rd-5th century CE, there seems to be a period where the Cheras' power declined considerably.[16]
The 'Kongu' Cheras are also known to have controlled Karur-Vanchi in central Tamil Nadu at various points in time.[10] The Cheras of Makotai/Vanchi (former Muchiri, modern Kodungallur), also known as Kulashekharas, were in power between c. 9th and 12th century in Kerala.[17][18] The exact nature of the relationships between the various branches of Chera rulers is somewhat unclear.[10] It is known that the Cheras, of both Makotai and Karur, were intermittently subject to the Pandya Kingdom and the Chola Empire among others.[16] The rulers of Venadu ("the Venadu Cheras"), based out of the port of Kollam in southern Kerala, claimed their ancestry from the Kodungallur Cheras.[16] Ravi Varma Kulasekhara, their most ambitious ruler, set out to expand his kingdom by annexing the ruins of the other southern kingdoms.[19] In the modern period the rulers of Cochin and Travancore (in Kerala) also claimed the title "Chera".[18]