THE WORLD ATLAS

Realm · approximate borders · 170–300

Kolli hills under the Cheras

The date is set between Kapilar's floruit and Irumporai's reign on Sastri's chronology, and is approximate.

See Kolli hills under the Cheras on the map in 170

On the map
170–300
Capital
Kolli hills
Attested in
Kapilar via Sastri: Kari 'transferred his mountain, Kollimalai, to the Cheras'; Patirruppattu titles

Rulers named in the sources

Tamilakam in the Sangam age

Sangam poetry (the Purananuru, Akananuru, Ten Idylls and Patirruppattu) describes a Tamil country running from the Venkatam hills to Cape Kumari. It was shared by three 'crowned kings' and a ring of Velir chiefs in the hills between them. The Cholas held the Kaveri delta, the Pandyas the Vaigai and Tamirabarani basins, and the Cheras the Malabar coast and later Kongu. Ashoka's edicts, the Hathigumpha inscription, the Periplus, Pliny, Ptolemy, Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and digs at Keezhadi, Kodumanal, Arikamedu and Pattanam confirm the kingdoms, capitals and ports. No source draws a frontier, though. The changes over time follow Nilakanta Sastri's dating, which puts most named kings in c. 100–250 CE. Other scholars place them a century or more earlier.

Sources