A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c13.42

c13.42

The history of the Chera country during this period is still obscure. Apparently the land continued under the Perumāls, though several rulers of different dynasties claim to have overrun Kerala, generally a vague assertion not supported by tangible evidence. We have seen that Pallava Narasimhavarman I claimed victory over the Cheras as also the Pāndya Śendan. Nandivarman II Pallavamalla allied himself with the ruler of Kerala against his Pāndyan contemporary, Varaguna I. Other Pallava rulers like Simhavishnu and Nandivarman III also claim suzerainty over Kerala. Cultural contact between the Chera country and the Pallava court is rather well attested. The *Mattavilāsa* of Mahendravarman became one of the favourite theatricals of the Chākkiyār, the hereditary play-actors of Malabar. In his *Avantisundarī Kathāsāra* Dandin reveals a vivid knowledge of Kerala and refers to several learned brahmins of Kerala who visited Kāñchi while he was in the Pallava Court. Among the Pāṇḍyas, besides Śēndan, almost every other ruler claims success against the Chera, as do also Pulakeśin II, Vikramāditya I, Vikramāditya II and Kirtivarman II among the Bādāmi Chālukyas, and Dantidurga, Govinda III and Krishna III among the Rāshṭrakūṭas.