The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.38

c35.s1.38

Scholars are now agreed that Chera and Kerala are only variant forms of the one word.¹ The name of Kerala is still well remembered, and there is no doubt that the ancient kingdom so called was equivalent to the Southern Konkans or Malabar coast, comprising the present Malabar District with Travancore and Cochin. The southern portion of Travancore, known as Ven or Venādu, was attached to the Pāṇḍya kingdom in the first century after Christ. In later times the Chera kingdom included the Kongu country, the modern Coimbatore District with the southern part of Salem, but it is doubtful whether or not such was the case in early days. Generally, Kerala means the rugged region of the Western Ghāts south of the Chandragiri river. Of course, the boundaries of the three kingdoms varied much from time to time.