Back سلالة تشيرا الحاكمة Arabic চের রাজবংশ Bengali/Bangla Tierniezh Chera Breton Txera Catalan Čérové Czech Chera German Dinastía Chera Spanish Chera French चेर राजवंश Hindi Chera (famiglia) Italian
Chera dynasty | |
|---|---|
| c. 3rd century BCE–c. 5th century CE | |
.jpg) Approximate extent of Chera influence in early historic south India (Gurukkal, 2002) | |
| Capital | |
| Official languages | |
| Religion | |
| Government | Monarchy |
| History | |
• Established | c. 3rd century BCE |
• Disestablished | c. 5th century CE |
| Today part of | |
| Chera dynasty |
|---|
  |
The Chera dynasty (or Cēra, IPA: [t͡ʃeːɾɐ]), also known as Keralaputra,[1] from the early historic, or the Sangam period, Tamil-speaking southern India, ruled over parts of present-day states Kerala and Tamil Nadu.[2][3] The Cheras, known as one of the mu-ventar (the Three Crowned Kings) of Tamilakam (the Tamil Country) alongside the Chola and Pandya, has been documented as early as the third century BCE.[4][5] The Chera country was geographically well-placed at the tip of the Indian peninsula to profit from maritime trade via the extensive Indian Ocean networks. Exchange of spices, especially black pepper, with Middle Eastern or Graeco-Roman merchants, is attested in several sources.[6][7][8] Their influence extended over central Kerala and western Tamil Nadu until the end of the early historic period in southern India.[2]
The Cheras of the early historical period (c. second century BCE – c. third/fifth century CE) had their capital in interior Tamil country (Vanchi-Karur, Kongu Nadu), and ports/capitals at Muchiri-Vanchi (Muziris) and Thondi (Tyndis) on the Indian Ocean coast of Kerala.[8] They also controlled Palakkad Gap and the Noyyal river valley, the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and eastern Tamil Nadu.[9] The bow and arrow or the bow was the traditional dynastic emblem of the Chera family.[10]
The major pre-Pallava polities of southern India—ruled by the Cheras, Pandyas, and Cholas—appear to have displayed a rudimentary state structure.[11] The early Tamil literature, known as the Sangam texts, and extensive Graeco-Roman accounts are the major sources of information about the early historic Cheras.[3] Other corroborative sources for the Cheras include Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, one of which describes Kadunkon Ilam Kadunko, son of Perum Kadunkon, and the grandson of Chera ruler Athan Cheral of the Irumporai clan,[12][1] silver portrait coins with Tamil-Brahmi legends, and copper coins depicting the Chera symbols the bow and the arrow on the reverse.[13] After the end of the early historical period, around the third-to-fifth centuries CE, the Cheras' power significantly declined.[14]
"Kadal Pirakottiya" Chenkuttuvan, the most celebrated Chera ruler of early Tamil literature, is famous for the traditions surrounding Kannaki, the principal character of the Tamil epic poem Chilappathikaram.[6][15] Several medieval dynasties, such as the Keralas/Cheras of Karur (Kongu country), Satiyaputra Cheras of Thagadur, and the Cheras of Mahodayapuram (Kerala) claimed descent from the pre-Pallava/early historic Chera rulers.[16]
- ^ a b Veluthat 2018, pp. 13–31.
- ^ a b Karashima 2014, pp. 49–51.
- ^ a b Zvelebil 1973, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Gurukkal 2002, p. 142.
- ^ Singh 2024, pp. 1028–30.
- ^ a b Thapar 2018.
- ^ Balfour 1871, p. 584.
- ^ a b Gurukkal 2015, pp. 26–27.
- ^ The Hindu 2007.
- ^ Singh 2024, pp. 216–17.
- ^ Singh 2024, pp. 1039.
- ^ Pletcher 2018.
- ^ Majumdar 2016.
- ^ Menon 2007, p. 118.
- ^ Narayanan 2013.
- ^ Narayanan 2013, pp. passim.
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