A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c14.68

c14.68

There is little steady light on the history of the Chera country in this period. There are inscriptions of the several kings of the ninth century of whom Sthānuravi, the contemporary of Āditya I noticed above, was the most important. He ruled in the last quarter of the ninth century, and the Syrian Christian Kottayam copper plates are associated with him. These grants record the settlement of workmen on the church called Tarīsāpalli erected at Kollam by one Iso Tapir. Sthānuravi was perhaps succeeded by Vijayarāgadeva, described as manager of the temple or palace (kōyil adigārigaḷ) in the Kottayam plates, and as Kerala rāja in the Tiruvorriyur epigraph. Among the kings that followed, Bhāskara Ravivarman (c. A.D. 1047-1106) deserves mention. Śrivallabhan Kodai and Govardhana Martāndavarman of Vēnād were his contemporaries. A copper plate grant now in the possession of the Jews of Cochin was issued by Bhāskara Ravivarman: it records a royal gift to Isuppu Irappan (Joseph Rabban) of the rights of the Anjuvaṇṇam together with the 72 proprietory rights, such as the collection of tolls and other revenue as also the perpetual right to use a palanquin, for him and his successors. The inscriptions of Bhāskara Ravivarman have been found spread over a relatively large area from Changanasseri in the south to Tirunelli temple in Wynad taluq in the north. Under Rājarāja I and his successors, the Chola rule extended over the bulk of Chera country. The country revolted during the troubles preceding the accession of Kulottunga I whose reconquest of and establishment of military colonies in south Chera country have been noticed above. In the twelfth century there are inscriptions of the rulers of Vēnād, identified with Cheranādu on the one hand, and Kūpakadeśa on the other; one of these rulers was conquered by Parāntaka Pāndya, a feudatory of Vikrama Chola.