Malayaman
Encyclopedia
| Official language Official language An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a... |
Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
| Family Dynasty | Malayamān |
| House | Velirs Velirs Velirs were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakkam in the early historic period of South India. Extolled in Sangam literature for their charity and truthfulness, they were the ancestors and head of the modern Tamil Vellalar caste... (Satyaputo) - Fraternity of Truth |
| Capital | Tirukkoyilur Tirukkoyilur Tirukkoyilur is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Etymology:'Tiru' + 'Kovil + 'oor' = holy temple village/place in Tamil.... (Nadu Naadu) |
The Malayamān family dynasty of the Velir royal house were chiefs (Araiyars) who ruled Nadu Naadu (Tirukkoyilur
Tirukkoyilur
Tirukkoyilur is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Etymology:'Tiru' + 'Kovil + 'oor' = holy temple village/place in Tamil....
) of Tamilakkam during the Sangam period and worked closely with the early Cholas
Early Cholas
The Early Cholas of the pre and post Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Their early capitals were Urayur and Kaveripattinam...
of the Chola Dynasty
Chola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
and the Chera Dynasty
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
. Chiefs of this dynasty readily took the title Chēdirāyan, and delighted in their rule of hill countries. This clan's most famous king was Malaiyamān Thirumudi Kāri. Their royal emblem featured a horse, depicted on their issued coins.
Malayaman in Sangam literature
Sangam literature mentions Thirumudi KaariMalaiyamaan Kaari
Malaiyamān Thirumudi Kāri was one of the kings of the Tamil royal house clan Velir of the Malaiyamān dynasty.. He is one of Kadai ezhu vallal, literally the last of the seven great patrons of art and literature. The Malaiyamān chiefs ruled over the Tirukoyilur area also known as Kovalur...
, a Malayaman king who defeated Valvil Ori, assisted the Chera Dynasty
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
in routing Athiyamān Nedumān Añci
Athiyamān Nedumān Añci
Athiyamān Nedumān Añci was one of the most powerful Tamil Vēlir kings of the Sangam era. A famous royal of the Athiyamān family dynasty, he was the contemporary and the patron of poetess Auvaiyar of the Sangam period. Athiyamān was a dynastic title of the Vēlir line who ruled over the Dharmapuri,...
and was eventually killed by the Chola king Killivalavan
Killivalavan
Killivalavan was a Tamil king of the Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam Literature, and of a period close to that of Nedunkilli and Nalankilli. We have no definite details about this Chola or his reign. The only information we have is from the fragmentary poems of Sangam in the Purananuru.- Sources...
. It also mentions his son Thaervann Malaiyan, a Malayaman chief who fought alongside the early Chola king Perunarkilli
Perunarkilli
Perunarkilli was one of the Tamil king's of the Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam Literature. We have no definite details about this Chola or his reign. The only information we have is from the fragmentary poems of Sangam in the Purananuru poems....
to defeat the Chera Irumporai (Irumporai Cheras). He was a contemporary of the famous horseman and chief Korran
Korran
Korran, also known as Korra and Pittan Korran was an ancient Tamil chief of Kudiramalai, Jaffna kingdom, Tamilakkam, who ruled the world famous ancient international port town Kudiramalai on the western Gulf of Mannar coast of the Vanni Malabar country between the 1st century BCE- late 1st...
of Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai is a headland cape, point and ancient port town on the west coast of Sri Lanka. It was once a flourishing emporium of international trade and the capital of an ancient Kingdom based in Jaffna peninsula of the Naka, before the capital was moved to Nallur in the medieval period...
, a general of the Cheras. Cholas and Cheras both controlled the destiny of a great kingdom during that time.
Malayaman belonged to Malayaman-nadu, according to Sangam literature. They had their capital at Tirucoilur, on the Ponnaiyar River
Ponnaiyar River
The Ponnaiyar is a river in southern India. It rises on the hill of Nandidrug in Kolar District of Karnataka state, and flows south and then east for through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, emptying into the Bay of Bengal at Cuddalore....
. Tirucoilur was situated on the early north-south trade route and traded with the Satavahana dynasty. Their main port was Arikamedu
Arikamedu
Arikamedu is an archaeological site near Pondicherry, southern India, where Mortimer Wheeler conducted his best-known excavation in the 1940s. According to Wheeler, Arikamedu was a Tamil fishing village which was formerly a major Chola port dedicated to bead making and trading with Roman traders...
, in the east.
Region
Having taken the throne at age fifteen, Kaari was tested many times by the Chola emperor and the neighbouring kurunila mannargal (minor kings). His country was fertile and prosperous, because of two rivers: Ponnai Aarru in the north and Vellaarru in the far south. The land attracted both the Cholas and the Cheras. His domain included the North Kolli Malai range, the Chera Varaiyan Malai (the Shervaroy Hills) and Thiuvannaamalai, the ancient homeland of the Siththar, devotees of the god ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and practitioners of meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
and the healing arts.
Kadai ezhu vallal
Malayamaan Thirumudi Kaari is considered one of the seven greatest "bestowers" (Kadai Ezhu Vallalgal) of the last Sangam,which including Pari vallal, Valvil Oari, Athiyamān Nedumān AñciAthiyamān Nedumān Añci
Athiyamān Nedumān Añci was one of the most powerful Tamil Vēlir kings of the Sangam era. A famous royal of the Athiyamān family dynasty, he was the contemporary and the patron of poetess Auvaiyar of the Sangam period. Athiyamān was a dynastic title of the Vēlir line who ruled over the Dharmapuri,...
, Perumpeyar Pegun (or Perunceyal Paegan), Aai Eyinan (Aay Kandiran) and Nalli. His contemporaries saw him as modest. He was generous to his subjects, and the visitor who came on foot would usually return mounted on a horse or an elephant of his choice. He did not refer to himself as a king, but a "rightful servant of his beloved people". His people lived in prosperity. Ev ery citizen had a job, and none of them starved. The descendants of Malayamaan Thirumudi Kaari are collectively known as the Parkavakulam
Parkavakulam
-Parkavakulam:Parkavakulam ,பார்க்கவகுலம் a Tamil-speaking community from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The main sub-divisions of the community are Nathaman, Nainar, Malaiyaman, Suruthiman, Moopanar...
caste.
Dennis B. McGilvray in his book "Crucible of conflict" states "Malayaman is a section of the udaiyar caste in south arcot today, but Burton Stein also finds the title in a thirteenth-century inscription identifying Vanniyar subcastes of south arcot in the left-right caste classification typical of the chola empire"
Malayamans were related to Kadava
Kadava
Kadava was the name of a Tamil ruling dynasty who ruled parts of the Tamil country during the thirteenth and the fourteenth century CE. Kadavas were related to the Pallava dynasty and ruled from Kudalur near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu.The Kadava kingdom was at the height of their power briefly...
rayars through marriages
"The Modest"
During peacetime, the king of Mulloor and Thirukkoiloor would begin his day in the paddyRice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
(nel), saamai and thinai fields working with his plough and sickle. He was strong, and reputed to be so kind-hearted that he would rather plough his fields by hand than to trouble bulls to work for him. In one story about Kaari, the Tamil poet and saint Auvaiyar
Auvaiyar
The Avvaiyars "respectable women" was the title of more than one poet who was active during different periods of Tamil literature. The Avvaiyar were some of the most famous and important female poets of the Tamil canon. Abithana Chintamani states that there were three female poets titled...
happened to pass by his field during a long journey. Kaari quickly recognized the tired "Mother" and, without introducing himself, requested that she look after his field for a few minutes and help herself to his rations, so that he could go to a nearby pond to fetch some water. The king was away for a long time, and the saint ate well and fell asleep. When sun rose the next day, Kaari returned to the field to find Old Mother angry. Kaari revealed his identity and explained that since she was a great friend of Athiyamān of Thagadooru
Thagadooru
Thagadooru is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Nanjangud taluk of Mysore district in Karnataka.-Demographics:As of 2001 India census, Thagadooru had a population of 7280 with 3600 males and 3680 females....
(who was his arch-rival), he feared she would not consent if he asked her to rest in his land. Therefore, he wanted to make her stay awhile and bestow his land with her saintly presence. Auvaiyar, flattered, blessed his country with perennial prosperity.
Tirukkoyilur
TirukkoyilurTirukkoyilur
Tirukkoyilur is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Etymology:'Tiru' + 'Kovil + 'oor' = holy temple village/place in Tamil....
has many temples built before the 12th century. Many saintly poets visited these temples and wrote poems in praise of the gods. Thirukoyilur Sri Veerateshwarar Temple is a well-known ashtaveeratanam temple in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
.
Copper-plate grant
Vanavan Mahadevi, a princess from the Malayaman clan, was the mother of the emperor Raja Raja Chola I. She committed satiSati (practice)
For other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
at the king’s death and her image may have been installed at the Thanjavur temple by her daughter, Kundavai Pirāttiyār
Kundavai Pirattiyar
Ālvār Sri Parāntakan Sri Kundavai Pirāttiyār also Parāntakan Kundavai Ālvār or more popularly referred to as Kundavai Pirāttiyār was one of the most powerful queens of the Chola empire. She was the daughter of Ponmaligai-tunjiya-devar , the elder sister of Rajaraja Chola I and the aunt of Rajendra...
.
Malayaman coins
The Malayamans issued copper coins of quadrilateral shape which bore their royal emblem, a horse (sometimes facing left, and sometimes right). In some of the early coins, the legend "Malayaman" above the horse motif decorates the coin obverseObverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
. Most of their coins carried the symbolic map of their territory on the reverse: "A wide curved river with fishes flowing in it, and a hillock on side of the river". This depicted the territory over which they ruled. The Malayaman coins generally weighed from 2–4 gm and were thin, unlike the contemporary Chera coins.