What was the Political System of the Sangam Age?

By the third century BC, the megalithic people of the Tamil country had reclaimed marshy deltaic area. North Indian cultural contacts and introduction of wet paddy cultivation resulted in social distancing. All this, aided by the flourishing trade with the Roman Empire, contributed to the formation of the three states of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas.

The Three Kingdoms: The Cheras

The Cheras, one of the three ‘crowned kings’ of the Sangam Age, ruled over an area comprising north Travancore, Cochin and south Malabar. Chera rule was extended by early conquests into the interior up to the Kollimalai in Salem on the traditional borders of the Chola kingdom, so that a very large part of Kongu came under their sway.

The site of Vanji, the Chera capital has been located by some scholars near Musiri (Cranganore) while many others identify it with the inland city of Karur on the Amaravati River in the Coimbatore district.

The Cheras had the Ankusha (elephant-goad) and the bow and arrow for their emblem. Musiri was their chief port, but there were many others, e.g. Tondi (Kadalundi), Marandai, Naravu (Naura and Nitrias of the Greek writers) and Bakare (Porkad), etc.

The information on the genealogical history of the Cheras largely comes from the Padirrupattu (Ten Tens). We get the geneology of two collateral lines for three or four generations without any chronological relations between them. Some sundry information is also gathered from the Purananuru and the Silapadhikaram.

One of the earliest and better known Chera rulers was Udiyanjeral (130 CAD). The titles Vanavaramban ‘one whose kingdom is bounded by the sky’ or ‘by the sea’, and Perunjoran Udiyan are applied to him by the poet Mudinagarayar in Puram literature.

Udiyanjeral was famous for his lavish hospitality; and his kitchen had become a bye-word for sumptuous feeding the commentator of Puraunanuru makes out that he supplied the rival armies at Kurukshetra with food. Silappadikaram also records this legend.

However, the poet Mamulanar records in Aham (233) that the king gave a memorial offering to the spirits at the anniversary of the Mahabharata war, in which the heroes from whom he traced his descent, had died.

Udiyanjeral’s royal kitchen was at Kulumur (Ptolemy’s Kourellour) which may have been the original capital of the Cheras. He was married to Nallini, the daughter of Veliyan Venman, later known as Porvaikko-Perunarkilli Chola.

Udiyanjeral was succeeded by his son Nedunjeral Adan (c. AD 155) who is said to have subjugated the ‘Kadambu’ clan and conquered seven kings. He is also praised as having set his bow on the slope of the Himalayas so that his power was known from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas. This is why he is known as Imayavaramban.

In another work, he is said to have captured many Yavanas, and not released them until he received a heavy ransom in the form of diamonds and utensils of fine workmanship. The Yavanas are to have been punished in a strange way their were pinioned behind their back and ghee (claril butter) was poured on their head.

The real behind this harsh treatment is not known. The of Patirrupattu was rewarded with the free gift 500 villages in Umbark Kadu (elephant forest) the revenue for 38 years from the southern provii of the kingdom, by this king who ruled for 58 yei His capital is called Marandai and he fought a with the contemporary Chola king in which the monarchs lost their lives and their queej performed sati. I

Next in line was Pal-Yanai Selkelu-Kuttu’ or ‘Kuttuvan of many elephants’, a brother Nedunjeral Adan. A fierce warrior who was worshipper of Korravai changed over Brahmanism and accepted Nedumbaratayanar his preceptor. He later earned the title Dharmaputra.

Kuttavan was succeeded by his nephew, a of Nedunjeral Adan known as Kalankaik K: Narmudijera (the Chera with the Kalangay festool and the fibre crown) who is said to have defeated the Atiyamanas.

The other son of Nedunjeral Adan wJ Senguttuvan, ‘the Righteous Kuttuva’ (CAD 18(f He was the greatest early Chera king, also known as Pirakottiya Senguttuvan or Red Chera, and wi a contemporary of the poet Parnar, one of the ma celebrated and longest-lived poets of the Sangai era. He is the hero of the fifth decade of th Patirrupattu and the real hero of Silappadikaran the Tamil epic by the Chera prince Ilango Adigal He is said to have conquered vast regions froi Cape Comorin in the south to the Himalayas in the north ‘where the gods dwell’.

From the Himalayas, he is supposed to have got a stone to make an idol of the Goddess Kannagi. Early in his reign, he is said to have subjugated the chieftain of Mogul known as Palaiyan as well as the chief of Kongar, He won a great naval victory and got the title ‘Kadal-Pirakkottiya’, i.e. who destroyed the efficacy of the sea as a refuge.

It was because of this naval victory that Musiri became a safe port and in Guttuvan’s days, Yavana ships called in large numbers. The Mogur chief Nannan Palaiyan again rose in revolt with assistance from the Chola and Pandya rulers, sometime late in his reign. Senguttuvan repressed this revolt and, as a trophy, he wore on his chest the nest of jewels of seven ruling princes.

He is also said to have participated in the civil strife in the Chola kingdom, helped Vzxum-Killis or Nalam-Aj, who was his brother-in-law, and placed him on the throne by defeating the rivals at Nerivayil. The insignia that his royal decrees bore consisted of the bow, the fish, and the tiger. According to Silappadikaram, this monarch was the founder of the famous Pattini cult related to the worship of goddess of Chastity. This function was attended by king Gajabahu of Sri Lanka. Senguttuvan was a great patron of arts and letters and was particularly fond of Kuttu or dancing and the drama which he patronized liberally. This great Chera king reigned for 55 years.

Senaguttuvan was succeeded by his half- brother Perunjeral (or Perumcheral) Adan (c. AD 180) known to Patirrupattu as Adu-Kotpattu- Cheralatan. He was the contemporary of the great Chola king Karikal.

We learn from the poems Puram and Aham, that while fighting against the Cholas in the battle of Venni, Perunjeral Adan received a wound in the back and expiated the disgrace by starving himself to death on the battlefield with his swords in hand.

We also learn that many eminent men gave up their lives when they heard of the king’s demise and the reason for it. It also seems that the sixth decade in which this king is discussed was composed by Naccellaiyar and was married to this king.

All together, seven monarchs of the line of Udiyanjeral are mentioned in the Patirruppattu while there is evidence of another line of Cheras in the Sangam literature. Establishment of this line was the result of the expansion of the Chera kingdom towards the north and placement of a viceroy with headquarters at Tondi. Olval-Ko- Perum-Cheral Irumporai may be regarded as the first of their viceroys as he is said in the colophone to have gone to reign at Karuvur.

However, the kingdom seems to have started with Anduvan Ceral Irumporai who died along with the Chola king Perunarkilli in the battle of Por. Anduvan was succeeded by his son Selvakkadungo Vali Adan. It is recorded that this king won a victory over the combined forces of the Cholas and Pandyas.

Vali Adan was succeeded by his son Perum Cheral Irumporai, a great warrior in whose praise Arisil Kilar has sung the eighth decade of Patirrupattu. Like his father, he is also said to have performed a Yajna. He was renowned for his overthrow of the stronghold of Tagadur, the seat of the power of the Adigaiman Chieftains.

He is also said to have subjugated a rebellious shepherd leader named Kaluvul and captured his fortress. The last king of this dynasty was the son of (or cousin of) Irumporai called Ilam-Cheral Irumporai, the hero of the ninth decade of Patirruppattu. He is said to have fought a battle against ‘the two big kings’ (Pandya and Chola).

Another Chera prince of the northern line deserving mention is Yanaik-Kat-Sey Mandaranjeral Irumporai, i.e. ‘Sey of the elephant look’ (AD 210). He was captured by his Pandya contemporary Nedunjeliyam, but regained his freedom in time to prevent his enemies at home from deposing him.

Another important Chera king was Kanaikkal Irumporai who punished Muvan, a chief, by having his teeth pulled out and fixed on the gate at Tondi as warning. This king was some time later captured by the Chola king Sen-Kanan and later released on request of the poet Poigaiyar but died without water in the Chola prison itself.

The later Chera rulers were continuously at war with the Cholas. This dynasty declined at the end of the third century AD, but its fame lies in liberal patronage to Tamil poets and promotion of trade with the Romans. The famous Chera port Musiri or Muziris was a great centre of Indo-Roman trade.