Historical Geography of Ancient India c7.265

c7.265

*Kerala country*.—Kerala is the Kanarese form of the Tamil Ceraḷa. Pāṇini mentions it in his *Aṣṭādhyāyī* (4. 1. 175). The *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* refers to it (X. 79, 19; X. 82, 13). The country was anciently called Ceraḷam or Ceraḷa-nāḍu. Ceraḷam means mountain range. The Kerala country (*S.I.I.*, I, pp. 51, 59, 86, 90, 92, 94) is the same as Cera. According to V. A. Smith, Kerala generally means the rugged region of the Western Ghats south of the Candragiri river (*E.H.I.*, p. 466). It was conquered by Rājendra-Coḷa. It is present Malabar, Cochin and Travancore.