Back سلالة تشيرا الحاكمة Arabic চের রাজবংশ Bengali/Bangla Tierniezh Chera Breton Txera Catalan Čérové Czech Chera German Dinastía Chera Spanish Chera French चेर राजवंश Hindi Chera (famiglia) Italian
Chera dynasty | |
|---|---|
| c. 3rd century BCE–c. 5th century CE | |
.jpg) Approximate extent of Chera influence in early historic south India (Gurukkal, 2002) | |
| Capital | |
| Official languages | |
| Religion | |
| Government | Monarchy |
| History | |
• Established | c. 3rd century BCE |
• Disestablished | c. 5th century CE |
| Today part of | |
| Chera dynasty |
|---|
  |
The Chera dynasty (or Cēra, IPA: [t͡ʃeːɾɐ]), also known as Keralaputra,[1] from the early historic or the Sangam period in southern India, ruled over parts of present-day states Kerala and Tamil Nadu.[2][3] The Cheras, known as one of the mu-ventar (the Three Crowned Kings) of Tamilakam (the Tamil Country) alongside the Cholas and Pandyas, have been documented as early as the third century BCE.[4][5] The Chera country was geographically well placed at the tip of the Indian peninsula to profit from maritime trade via the extensive Indian Ocean networks. Exchange of spices, especially black pepper, with Middle Eastern or Graeco-Roman merchants is attested to in several sources.[6][7][8] Chera influence extended over central Kerala and western Tamil Nadu until the end of the early historic period in southern India.[2]
The Cheras of the early historical period (c. second century BCE – c. third/fifth century CE) had their capital in interior Tamil country (Vanchi-Karur, Kongu Nadu), and ports/capitals at Muchiri-Vanchi (Muziris) and Thondi (Tyndis) on the Indian Ocean coast of Kerala.[8] They also controlled Palakkad Gap and the Noyyal River valley, the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and eastern Tamil Nadu.[9] The bow and arrow, or just the bow, was the traditional dynastic emblem of the Chera family.[10]
The major pre-Pallava polities of southern India—ruled by the Cheras, Pandyas, and Cholas—appear to have displayed a rudimentary state structure.[11] Early Tamil literature, known as the Sangam texts, and extensive Graeco-Roman accounts are the major sources of information about the early historic Cheras.[3] Other corroborative sources for the Cheras include Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions,[12][1] silver portrait coins with Tamil-Brahmi legends, and copper coins depicting the Chera symbols of the bow and the arrow on the reverse.[13] After the end of the early historical period, around the third to fifth centuries CE, the Cheras' power significantly declined.[14]
"Kadal Pirakottiya" Chenkuttuvan, the most celebrated Chera ruler of early Tamil literature, is famous for the traditions surrounding Kannaki, the principal character of the Tamil epic poem Chilappathikaram.[6][15] Several medieval dynasties, such as the Keralas/Cheras of Karur (Kongu country), Satiyaputra Cheras of Thagadur, and the Chera Perumals of Mahodayapuram (Kerala) claimed descent from the pre-Pallava or early historic Chera rulers.[16] The ruling lineage of the kingdom of Venad, the Kulasekharas, was also known as the "Chera dynasty".[17][18]
- ^ a b Veluthat 2018, pp. 13–31.
- ^ a b Karashima 2014, pp. 49–51.
- ^ a b Zvelebil 1973, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Gurukkal 2002, p. 142.
- ^ Singh 2024, pp. 1028–30.
- ^ a b Thapar 2018.
- ^ Balfour 1871, p. 584.
- ^ a b Gurukkal 2015, pp. 26–27.
- ^ The Hindu 2007.
- ^ Singh 2024, pp. 216–17.
- ^ Singh 2024, pp. 1039.
- ^ Pletcher 2018.
- ^ Majumdar 2016.
- ^ Menon 2007, p. 118.
- ^ Narayanan 2013.
- ^ Narayanan 2013, pp. passim.
- ^ Thapar, Romila (2003) [2002]. "The Politics of the Peninsula". The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 (PDF). Penguin Books. pp. 368–69.
- ^ Karashima 2014, p. 124.