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The Muvendar
Though the three Tamil ruling families
were known to Ashoka in the third century BCE
itself, some individual names are known only
from the Sangam poems of the first century and
later. Known as muvendar, ‘the three crowned
kings’, the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas
controlled major agrarian territories, trade
routes and towns. But the Satiyaputra (same as
Athiyaman) found in the Ashokan inscription
along with the above three houses is a Velir
chief in the Sangam poems.
The Cholas controlled the central and
northern parts of Tamil Nadu. Their core area
of rule was the Kaveri delta, later known as
Cholamandalam. Their capital was Uraiyur
(near Thiruchirapalli town) and Puhar or
Kaviripattinam was an alternative royal
residence and chief port town. Tiger was their
emblem. Kaviripattinam attracted merchants
from various regions of the Indian Ocean.
Pattinappalai, composed by the poet Katiyalur
Uruttirankannanar, offers elaborate descriptions
of the bustling trading activity here during the
rule of Karikalan.
Karikalan, son of Ilanjetchenni, is
portrayed as the greatest Chola of the Sangam
age. Pattinappalai gives a vivid account
of his reign. Karikalan’s foremost military
achievement was the defeat of the Cheras and
the Pandyas, supported by as many as eleven
Velir chieftains at Venni. He is credited with
converting forest into habitable regions and
developing agriculture by providing irrigation
through the embankment of the Kaveri and
building reservoirs. Another king, Perunarkilli
is said to have performed the Vedic sacrifice
Rajasuyam. Karikalan’s death was followed by
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