The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.37

c35.s1.37

According to the most generally received traditions, the Chola country (*Choḷamaṇḍalam*) was bounded on the north by the Pennār, and on the south by the Southern Vellāru river; or, in other words, it extended along the eastern, or Coromandel, coast from Nellore to Pudukottai, where it abutted on the Pāṇḍya territory. On the west it extended to the borders of Coorg. The limits thus defined include Madras and several other British districts on the east, as well as the greater part of the Mysore State. But the ancient literature does not carry the Tamil Land farther north than Pulicat and the Venkata or Tirupathi Hill, 100 miles to the north-west of Madras. On the other hand, in the seventh century, the Chola country, as known to Hiuen Tsang, was a small territory, nearly coincident with the Cuddapah District, and did not extend to the south. Chola-mandalam, or the Coromandel coast, called Dravida by the pilgrim, was then in the hands of the Pallava kings, whose capital was at Kānchī (Conjeeveram) 45 miles WSW. from the city of Madras.