Venad was a medieval kingdom between the Western Ghat mountains of India with its capital at city of Quilon. It was one of the major principalities of Kerala, along with kingdoms of Kolathunadu, Zamorin, and Kochi in medieval and early modern period.
The Chera dynasty, was a Sangam age Tamil dynasty which unified various regions of the western coast and western ghats in southern India to form the early Chera empire. The dynasty, known as one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam alongside the Chola and Pandya, has been documented as early as the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE. Their governance extended over diverse territories until the 12th century CE.
Joseph Rabban was a prominent Jewish merchant and aristocrat in the entrepôt of Kodungallur (Muyirikode) on the Malabar Coast, India in early 11th century AD.
The term Kerala was first epigraphically recorded as Cheras (Keralaputra) in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka of Magadha. It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the Cholas, Pandyas and Satyaputras. The Cheras transformed Kerala into an international trade centre by establishing trade relations across the Arabian Sea with all major Mediterranean and Red Sea ports as well those of Eastern Africa and the Far East. The dominion of Cheras was located in one of the key routes of the ancient Indian Ocean trade. The early Cheras collapsed after repeated attacks from the neighboring Cholas and Rashtrakutas.
Mushika dynasty, also spelled Mushaka, was a minor dynastic power that held sway over the region in and around Mount Ezhi (Ezhimala) in present-day North Malabar, Kerala, India. The country of the Mushikas, ruled by an ancient lineage of the Hehaya clan of the same name, appears in early historic (pre-Pallava) south India The dynasty claimed descent from the legendary Heheyas. Early Tamil poems contain several references to the exploits of Nannan of Ezhimalai. Nannan was known as a great enemy of the pre-Pallava Chera chieftains. The clan also had matrimonial alliances with the Chera, Pandya and Chola chieftains. The Kolathunadu (Kannur) Kingdom, which was the descendant of Mushika dynasty, at the peak of its power, reportedly extended from Netravati River (Mangalore) in the north to Korapuzha (Kozhikode) in the south with Arabian Sea on the west and Kodagu hills on the eastern boundary, also including the isolated islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.
Rama Kulasekhara was the last ruler of the Chera Perumal dynasty of medieval Kerala. He was a contemporary to Chola kings Kulottunga I (1070–1120) and Vikrama Chola. Rama Kulaskehara is best known for briefly recovering Kollam-Trivandrum-Nagercoil region from the powerful Chola empire around 1100/02 AD.
Pattanam is a village located in the Ernakulam District in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is located 2 km north of North Paravur, 6 km and East of Chendamangalam 25 km north of Kochi (Cochin).
Kulasekhara, one of the twelve Vaishnavite alvars, was a bhakti theologian and devotional poet from medieval south India. He was the author of "Perumal Tirumoli" in Tamil and "Mukundamala" in Sanskrit. The Perumal Tirumoli, whose second decade is known as "Tetrarum Tiral", is compiled as a part of Nalayira Divya Prabandham. The Trikkulasekharapuram Temple in Kodungallur is associated with Kulasekhara Alvar.
The battle of Kandalur salai, also spelled Kanthaloor salai, was a naval engagement of the Cholas under Rajaraja I against the "salai" at Kandalur in south Kerala. The exact location of Kandalur—somewhere south Kerala—is a subject of scholarly debate. The above event is sometimes assumed to be identical with the "conquest of Vizhinjam by a general of Rajaraja [I]", before the "burning of Lanka", described in the Tiruvalangadu Grant/Plates.
Anjuvannam typically refers to a medieval merchant guild, consisting of non-Indian traders — principally ethnic Persians and Arabs — primarily active in south India. Along with manigramam and ainurruvar, the anjuvannam merchant guild played a major role in the commercial activities of southern India in the medieval period.
The Kollam (Quilon) Syrian copper plates, also known as the Kollam Tarisappalli copper plates, or Kottayam inscription of Sthanu Ravi, or Tabula Quilonensis is an Indian copper plate inscription which documents a royal grant issued by Ayyan Adikal, the chieftain of Kollam, to a Syrian Christian merchant in Kerala named Mar Sapir Iso. The inscription — notably incomplete — is engraved on five copper plates in Old Malayalam or early Middle Tamil, using Vattezhuthu script with some Grantha characters. It is considered the oldest available inscription from the Chera Perumal dynasty.
Rama Rajasekhara was a Chera Perumal ruler of medieval Kerala, south India. Rajasekhara is usually identified by historians with Cheraman Perumal Nayanar, the venerated Shaiva (Nayanar) poet-musician of the Bhakti tradition.
Kulasekhara is a South Asian male name, used as both given and last name, prevalent in south India and Sri Lanka.
Sthanu Ravi Varma, known as the Kulasekhara, was the Chera Perumal ruler of Kerala in southern India from 844/45 to 870/71 AD. He is the earliest Chera Perumal ruler known to scholars.
The Rulers of the Chera dynasty can be
The Paravur Synagogue, also known as the Parur Synagogue, is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Jewish Street in North Paravur (Parur), in the state of Kerala, India. The former synagogue is one of the largest and most complete among the Jewish synagogues in Kerala.
Viraraghava copper plates, dated 1225 CE, ofCochin, or Kottayam plates of Viraraghava Chakravartin, or Syrian Christian copper plate, or Iravi Kortann's Plate, describe the concession made by the local king Viraraghava to Syrian Christian merchant Iravikorttan, the chief of Manikkiramam (Manigiramam) in Makotaiyar Pattinam.
The Thomas of Cana copper plates, or Knanaya copper plates, dated variously between 345 C.E. and 811 C.E., are a lost set of copper-plate grants issued by the unidentified Chera/Perumal king of Kerala "Co-qua-rangon" to Syriac Christian merchants led by Knai Thoma in the city of "Makotayar Pattinam", south India. The royal charters were reportedly engraved in ”Malabar”, Chaldean and Arabic on both sides of two copper plates. Archbishop Francis Ros notes in his 1604 account M.S. ADD 9853 that the plates were taken to Portugal by the Franciscan Order.
Cheraman Perumal dynasty, also known as the Perumal dynasty of Kerala, or Chera Perumals of Makotai or Mahodayapuram, were a ruling dynasty in present-day Kerala, South India. Mahodayapuram, or Makotai, the seat of the Cheraman Perumals, is identified with present-day Kodungallur in central Kerala. Initially, their influence appeared limited to the area between present-day Quilon and Quilandy, but later extended to up to Chandragiri river in north Kerala and to Nagercoil in the south.
Old Malayalam, the inscriptional language found in Kerala from c. 9th to c. 13th century CE, is the earliest attested form of Malayalam. The language was employed in several official records and transactions. Old Malayalam was mostly written in Vatteluttu script. Most of the inscriptions were found from the northern districts of Kerala, those lie adjacent to Tulu Nadu. The origin of Malayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE.
