Kulasekhara (sometimes in Tamil and Malayalam: Kulachekara) is a South Asian male name, used as both given and last name, prevalent in south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka.
Medieval Chera kings of Kerala, was formerly referred by historians as Kulasekharas. It was assumed that the all medieval Chera kings of Kerala bore the regnal name 'Kulasekhara'. [1] [2] It is now known that the kings did not bear the specific abhishekanama 'Kulasekhara'. [2] [1]
Several Pandya royals with the 'regnal name' Kulasekhara are known to scholars. [3]
Two medieval Chera kings of Kerala, with the name 'Kulasekhara' are known from epigraphy. [4]
The Pandyan dynasty, also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing since at least the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE, the dynasty passed through two periods of imperial dominance, the 6th to 10th centuries CE, and under the 'Later Pandyas'. Under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I and Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I, the Pandyas ruled extensive territories including regions of present-day South India and northern Sri Lanka through vassal states subject to Madurai.
Venad was a medieval kingdom lying between the Western Ghat mountains and the Arabian Sea on the south-western tip of India with its headquarters at the port city of Kollam/Quilon. It was one of the major principalities of Kerala, along with kingdoms of Kannur (Kolathunadu), Kozhikode (Nediyiruppu), and Kochi (Perumpadappu) in medieval and early modern period.
The Chera dynasty, was a Sangam age dynasty who unified various regions of the western coast and western ghats in southern India to form the early Chera empire.
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 and it is believed that Mushika dynasty has their descents from Heheya Kingdom. 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.
CheranChenkuttuvan, literally 'the Alluring Kuttuvan Chera', identified with Katal PirakottiyaVel Kezhu Kuttuvan, was the most celebrated Chera dynasty ruler of the early land of Tamilnadu in early historic South India.
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.
Kulasekhara, one of the twelve Vaishnavite alvars, was a bhakti theologian and devotional poet from medieval south India. The Trikkulasekharapuram Temple in Kodungallur is considered as the Alvar's birth place. (Kerala). 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 considered as the Alvar's birth place.
The Mukundamala is a Sanskrit hymn composed by the Hindu poet-saint Kulasekhara, seventh of the twelve Alvars of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Comprising 40 verses, the hymn is addressed to the deity Krishna.
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.
Arikesari Maravarman, also known as Parankusa, was a Pandya king of early medieval south India.
Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai, known as Elamkulam, was an Indian historian, linguist and academic from southern Kerala, India. He was a pioneering scholar of southern Indian history, Kerala history, in particular. Although only holding academic degrees in Sanskrit and Malayalam, and having no formal training as a historian, Elamkulam is considered one of the pioneers of modern Kerala historiography.
Jewish copper plates of Cochin, also known as Cochin plates of Bhaskara Ravi-varman, is a royal charter issued by the Chera Perumal king of Kerala, south India to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish merchant magnate of Kodungallur. The charter shows the status and importance of the Jewish colony in Kodungallur (Cranganore) near Cochin on the Malabar Coast.
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.
Srimara Srivallabha was a Pandya king of early medieval south India.
Jayantavarman, known in Tamil as Seliyan Sendan, was a Pandya ruler of early historic south India. He is best known for extending the Pandya rule to the Chera country (Kerala). He was succeeded by his son Maravarman Arikesari Parankusan.
Vazhappally copper plate is a copper plate inscription in Malayalam language from Vazhappally, in the state of Kerala, south India. Recent scholarship puts the date of the plate in c. 882/83 AD.
Cheraman Perumal dynasty, also known as the Perumal dynasty of Kerala, or Chera Perumals of Makotai, 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, 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.
Tamil dynasties are the kingdoms who ruled over present day Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha. These include the Pallavas, the Pandyas, the Cholas and the Cheras.
Perumal is the name of a Hindu deity.