History of South India

• Tamilakam, was the area south of Maurya Empire (Kerala, TN and a bit of Andhra)
  • Consisted of Cheras, Pandyas, Cholas and Pallavas, etc.
  • In the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam
  • Ancient Tamil settlements were also established in Sri Lanka and Maldives
• Chera Dynasty, Chola Empire (maritime), Pandya Dynasty, Chalukya Dynasty, etc.
• Samoothiri of Calicut, Kingdom of Travancore and Kingdom of Cochin
• Invasion by Hyder Ali of Calicut and Kingdom of Cochin

• British Raj

• Ays (Claimed to be from Yadava lineage (from Yadu of Chandravamsha dynasty)) > Venad (Vel-Nadu; part of Chera/Perumals) (ruled by Venad Cheras or Kulasekharas) > Kingdom of Travancore (Marthanda Verma)

• Ay-Vel family (Vels mean the people of Ay)
• Pandya king sacked Vizhinjam port by defeating the Vel Mannan and took possession of the Ay-Vel country
• The Pandya foray bought Chera-Perumal rulers to fight in the Pandya-Ay/Chera conflict

• Ay-Vel was split into Vel-Nadu and Ay, with its base at Vizhinjam under the control of Pandya ruler Srimara Srivallabha

• Velir were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and chieftains in Tamilakam. Medieval inscriptions and Sangam literature claim that they belong to the Yadu dynasty

• Velirs (18 groups of Vellalars), included Haihayas, Pallavas, Andhras, Yadhavas, Chalukyas, etc.
• The Ay Velirs linked themselves with Haihaya origins.

Unrelated

• Purakkad experiences Chakara, also experienced in Kodungallur of Kochi and in South America. The Tulu regions call it Palke. This phenomenon was mentioned in the Malayalam film Chemmeen.
  • Apparently this is the movie I didn't finish watching in Thiruvalla, when I was a kid. It was 6 PM - 7 PM. I thought it was a short 5 min movie?
• First Battle of Purakkad (1746)
  • Between Travancore (under Marthanda Varma) and combined forces of Odanad (ruled by Kotha Varma)
• Battle between Travancore and Cochin (1754)

• Battle between Travancore and Samoothiri (1756)

• Proto-Indo-European *Manu and *Yemo (Swayambhava Manu and Yama (his twin))

• Manus are one of 14 rulers of Earth in each kalpa
  • Each kalpa has 14 Manuvratas, headed by a different Manu
  • The current universe, is asserted to be ruled by the 7th Manu named Vaivasvata. He was the king of Dravida before the flood. He was warned of the flood by the Matsya avatar of Vishnu, and built a boat that carried the Vedas, Manu's family and the seven sages to safety, helped by Matsya. This is similar to the flood of Gilgamesh and Noah.
  • The flood could have been inspired by the floods in the wake of the Last Glacial Period.