THE WORLD ATLAS

Realm · approximate borders · 150–300

Kongu under the Irumporai Cheras (Karuvur)

Sastri credits 'Kuttuvan of many elephants' with conquering Kongu, so the change is placed c. 150 CE.

The Pugalur inscriptions, dated 1st–2nd century CE, could put it earlier. Whether Vanji, the Chera capital, was Karur or a site in Kerala is still debated.

See Kongu under the Irumporai Cheras (Karuvur) on the map in 150

On the map
150–300
Capital
Karuvur (Karur) on the Amaravati, identified as Vanji by Sastri
Attested in
Pugalur Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions (Mahadevan 2003); Patirruppattu (Irumporai decads); Ptolemy's 'Karoura, royal seat of Kerobothros'

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