We are in the middle of a discussion on the 6 verses
of Pandikkovai that say that the Pandyan king Kon
Nedumaran engraved the emblems of all the three Tamil dynasties on a
peak in the Himalayas. After a discussion on “Panjavan”
and “Pāzhi” in the previous article in this
series, we are now taking up the next verse which gives a clue on Cheran kings.
This verse (numbered 200) says
“கெண்டை வட வரை மேல் வைத்த வானவன் மாறன்”
It means “Vānavan Māran who affixed ‘Keṇdai’
(fish) on top of the northern mountain”.
Vānavan Māran is a title for the Pandyan king for
having conquered Vānavan. (Pandyans are known as Mārans). Vānavan refers to
Cheran kings, but this name is very rare and found at two poems in Purananuru (39 & 126) and at one place in Silappadhikaram. (27-247). But there is no clue in these verses to derive the origin of this name for the Cheran king. This name is
not found in the all- Cheran text of the Sangam literature namely, Padiṛṛuppattu. An old Tamil Grammar book called “Puṛapporuḷ Veṇbāmālai” mentions this name for Cheran. (1)
The name Vānavan is unique because it means ‘celestial’
or ‘Deva’ or ‘Indra’! Vānavan implies that Cheran was equated with Indra or
there was something unique about the Cherans.
Thinking about this uniqueness, one finds that the
Cherans were always mentioned first among the three dynasties– as ‘Chera, Chola and Pandya”. No reason for this is given
in any text or commentary.
That this order was followed by poets is known from
the commentary to Silapapdhikaram by the olden
commentator Adiyārkkunallār. In Silappadhikaram
a chapter is dedicated to the song and dance sequences done by the Ayar women
(Tamil equivalent of Yadavas) called “Aycchiyar Kuravai”.
A part of it is in praise of all the three kings of the Tamil lands. In that,
the Pandyans were praised first, followed by the praises on Cholan and Cheran
kings. Writing on it, Adiyārkkunallār says that the poet Ilangovadigal chose to mention Pandyans first and not
Cherans, because the land where the Ayars were singing this song belonged to the
Pandyans. (2)
One might think that this order (of names of the
three dynasties) is alphabetical. But the sequence found in Tholkāppiyam while
mentioning the official flowers of the three dynasties has Cheran in the lead
followed by Pandyan and Cholan.
The verse “Bōndai vēmbē
ārena varūm” (3)
mentions the flowers of Cherans, Pandyans and then Cholans. It is not known
whether any rationale was there in having kept this order and having Cherans in
the beginning.
The same order (Cherans, Pandyans and Cholans) is
repeated in the first 15 verses of Purananuru. The very first verse in
Purananuru (after the Prayer-verse) is on the Cheran king only.
It is a matter of research whether this prime
position is related to their name as Vānavan (Indra) as this name seems to be
olden and is indicative of some unique connection with Indra or Deva. This name
was not in vogue even in Sangam texts.
Kon Nedumaram seems to have had some pride in having
conquered the Cheran king of his times or else he would not have got the title
as ‘Vānavan Māran’ which implies the Pandyan
superiority over the Cheran king. In the same way, Kon Nedumaran had another
title called “Sembian Māran”. The Cholas were
known by the title Sembian after Sibi’s name. This was Sibi who offered his
flesh to the hawk to save the pigeon. Kon Nedumaram came to be called as Sembian
Māran, after he subjugated Cholans of his times.
The name Sembian is
often found in Sangam literature. A few Sangam verses mention Pandyans as “Panjavan” the olden name we explained in the previous
article. In contrast the Cheran name “Vānavan”
is conspicuously absent in the Sangam literature. Only Pandikkovai mentions it
9 times. Kon Nedumaran is mentioned as “Vānavan Māran” at 10 places in
Pandikkovai. This shows the widespread use of the name Vānavan at an olden time.
While looking
for justification of the name Vānavan having the meaning “celestial”, there is
a surprising hint coming from the flower connected with the Cherans. The
official flower of the Cherans is also known as ‘celestial’
flower by Tamils.
Celestial flower of the Cherans.
His official flower was Bōndai
– the flower of the Palmyra tree, known in Tamil as Panai maram (பனை
மரம்).
This tree is regarded as “Karpaga-th-tharu” the
celestial tree as every part of it is useful. It is the official tree of
Tamilnadu now.
Palmyra trees are native to Asia and tropics and had a greater presence in the
submerged Tamil lands of yore. The submerged Tamil lands were identified as 7
in number, each having 7 habitats within themselves. One among them was known
by the name of Palmyra!
This group having 7 habitats was known as “Kurum Panai Nadu”, meaning the land of a Palm variety
known as Kurum Panai. The Palm tree before it reaches the flowering stage is
known as Kurum panai. The name Kurum was perhaps drawn from the word “kurutthu”
meaning tender or young. In a surprising correlation, there is a place called
“Kurum panai” near Colachal on the west coast of Kanyakumari district.
The same name appearing in sunken lands shows that
this place could have been one of the 7 habitats of Kurum Panai Nadu. This
hypothesis cannot be easily overruled as the land was extended beyond the
current shore line in the past. The following picture shows the sunken regions
in the extended shoreline throughout the west coast.
The outer edge of a previously available landed area
is marked with stars in yellow.
The presence of this name, Kurumpanai of the early
Sangam age in a location close to the submerged coast reiterates that Sangam
age habitats were not myth but real. This region were under Cheran domination
for a long time.
Quite a few places in southern most part of Kanya
kumari have names with Panai (Palmyra) such as “Panai
viḷai” (Viḷai means grow – Overall meaning is ‘where palmyras grow’), “Vadali viḷai”
(meaning Kurum Panai – the Palmyra tree when it is young), “Panaccha moodu”, “Karukku
panai viḷai” etc justifying the presence of Palmyra trees in those
places at some time in the past.
Of these, one place is crucial for our analysis. The
place Vadali viḷai, meaning Kurum Panai, is
found near the famous place “Kottar” . A place
called “Kottaru” finds mention very often in Pandikkovai. Pandyan king Kon
Nedumaran defeated the Cheran king in Kottaru and took control of the same. Kottaru
was one among the 7 places of the Cheran king that were won by Kon Nedumaran in
different battles. The other 6 places were Sevur, Kadayal, Poolanthai,
Naraiyaru, Vizhinjam and Āṟṟukkudi.
The names of Palmyra (eg: Vadali viḷai) appearing in
the location close to Kottar makes us think that the Cherans, associated with
Palmyra have held control over these regions.
There is a hitch in accepting Kottar as Kottaru of
Pandikkovai as there exists a verse in Pandikkovai that says that Kon Nedumaran
destroyed the naval forces of the Cheran king at Kottaru (4) The verse says “Cheralar
tham koman kadal padai Kottaarru azhiya” (ruined the naval force of the Cherans
at Kottaru)
This implies that Kottaru was a coastal town and not an inland. Kottar that
we see in the above picture does not fit with the description of Pandikkovai!
By its name Kottaru, a river is indicated and it is
probable that Kottaru was established in an estuary of a river by that name. Kottaru
must have existed in one of the Kurum Panai Nadu (Palmyra habitats). When all
of them were lost to the seas, the survivors must have established places with
same names in the new locations. That is how the Palmyra lands and Kottar have
come up in today’s topography. In the absence of any memory of this shift, it
goes without saying that the submergence had happened in a very remote past –
at a time when Cheran was better
identified as Vānavan!
The association of Cherans with Kottaru once again
reiterates his connection with Palmyra lands in the past. It is possible to
assume that the importance attached to Palmyra as celestial tree lent the name
Vānavan to the Cherans in those days.
Udhiyan Cherans
Coming out from such remote past, we come across other
names of Cheran dynasty. They were Udhiyan and Irumpoṛai. Of them Udhiyan lineage seems to be olden
as the very first verse of Puṛanānūru on the Cheran king refers to a Udhiyan
king who supplied food to the armies of Pandavas and Kauravas during the Mahabharata
war!
It is difficult to deduce the etymology of Udhiyan
while Irumporai sounds easy to understand. Irumporai is a title for a
particular lineage of Cherans of the later period that lasted till the start of
the Common Era. Irumporai was perhaps the derivation from Irumbu + porai,
meaning “strong as iron”. But there is
no such derivation possible for Udhiyan in Tamil.
But that name makes sense when related to Sanskrit
word “Udeechi” meaning ‘north’. North signifies
Devas which is what Vānavan also means!
If the Cherans had originated in the North, this
name fits with Udhiyan and related with Vānavan.
Their northern origin can be traced to the times of
a war between Vasishta and Viswamitra when Vasishta created Mleccha tribes to
fight with the army of Viswamitra. According to Mahabharata, Keralas were
formed at that time along with Yavanas, Kiratas, Pahallavas, Dravidas, Sakas,
Savaras, Paundras, Sinhalas, Khasas, Chivukas, Pulindas, Chinas, Hunas and
numerous other Mlecchas. (5)
Almost all of them were located in the Northwest part of the Indian sub
continent where Pakistan – Afghanistan are located now.
A cross reference to this location comes from
another chapter in Mahabharata wherein Karna tells about the behaviour of a
Mleccha group living in the region of the 5 rivers of Sindhu (Indus river). (6) Due to the curse of a
woman, this group started making the sister’s son as the heir and not their own
son. This trait was found in later kings who ruled Chrean lands and not in the olden
kings of the Sangam age. But this gives rise to an opinion that there existed a
former group of Keralas in the North West of Himalayas which migrated to Tamil
lands at different times.
Keralas in Vishnu Purana and Valmiki
Ramayana.
Vishnu Purana locates Keralas in the north of
Magadhas and near Malla rashtra where Mahavira and Gautam Buddha exited their
mortal coils. (7)
This is in present day Bihar. This region also qualifies as “North” for Tamil
lands. But Keralas were more ancient to
the times of these regions.
This can be stated on the basis of the mention of
all the three Tamil kingdoms in Ramayana of Valmiki!
In his description of the countries of the South,
Sugreeva tells Vanaras that they must search in the regions of Cholas, Pandyas
and keralas (चोलान् पाण्ड्यान् केरलान्) (8)
Soon after mentioning this Sugreeva asks the Vanaras to search “Pandyan’s
Kavatam” (कवाटम् पाण्ड्यानाम् ) (9)
This shows that Keralas lived
in the south during the 2nd Sangam Age when Kavatam was the capital
city of the Pandyans.
{Kera-Chera are interchangeable
and the word Chera refers to the name of a mountain by that name, as per Tamil
Thesaurus. Any mention of Keralas can be taken to refer to Cherans}.
In any of these references,
there is no way to know the exact lineage from the North that established
Cheran dynasty. However the names Vānavan and Udhiyan that look inter
changeable or closely related do point to a Northern origin.
Genetic source.
There is however a genetic study that puts the
Keralas unique among others in India, perhaps relating them to a location
beyond the Himalayas in Northern regions that was connected with Uttar Kuru.
Haplogroup U is an
mtDNA traced to a woman who lived 55,000 years ago. All human beings (men and
women) inherit mtDNA from their mother. It is found that 23% of the Indian
population and 11% of native Europeans have mtDNA U. U1 is the subclade of U
and is found in Europe in Georgia.
Further subclade of U1 is U1a. It is found
in Tuscany in Italy and only in Kerala in India. Earlier I had written several articles
on connection with Etruscans of pre-Greek society with Tirayan Pandyans. (10). The Etruscans lived
in the region that presently corresponds to Tuscany.
The presence of U1a in Kerala and Tuscany justify my
write ups on migration of people of Tamil origin (Kerala including in those
days) to Etruscan and founding the basis for pre-Greek culture. But this
happened in recent history, say in 1500 BCE when the Kavatam of Pandyans was
submerged.
Even before that submergence, Cherans and Pandyans have held sway
over the habitats in the Indian Ocean, particularly the extension of west coast
and the submerged parts of Western Ghats that extended up to Madagascar.
Cheras and Kon Nedumaran lived prior to that time.
So that brings our search to the parent Haplogroup U.
The study of the genome of a boy buried in a place
called Malta neat Lake Baikal in Siberia some 24,000 years ago was found to
belong to Haplogroup U, the parent mtDNA of Haplogroup U1a found in Kerala. (11)
This location near Lake Baikal falls within the area
of Uttar Kuru that was frequented by Arjuna who
had his paternal connection with that place. The presence of U1a in Kerala with
a definitive presence of U Haplogroup in Baikal, justifies a clear northern origin
of the Vānavan – Udhiyan Cheran. A place called Indra loka was located there.
The name Indra was used in three ways in ancient texts, (1) as a divine and
therefore out-of human reach realm, (2) as a force in Nature namely thunder
bolt and the electricity created out of it and (3) as human beings like us who
had emotions and vulnerabilities like us but were clever in keeping themselves hidden
from others and unreachable for others.
I would be detailing them in the course of this
article though for the present let me say that the first one is reachable by
spiritual route, the second can be understood by logical & scientific
explanation and the third one was within reach of the people of the past who
even had contact, though secretly with them.
A group from that gene pool was also present in
India since 55,000 years ago and also in Baikal region. No one knows who came
from which region, but the name Vānavan does show that parent group emerged in
Baikal region that was regarded as Uttar Kuru in Mahabharata times and as Indra
Loka in times prior to that. The Haplogroup U underwent 2 mutations and the 2nd
one was settled as Vānavans of Chera dynasty.
The more recent connection of the Cherans with that location
in North can be seen in Silappadhikaram wherein it is mentioned that the Cheran
king Senguttuvan procured “Chadukka Bhootham” from Amaravathy (capital city of
Devas) and held Soma yaga. (12)
Similar kind of Chadukka Bhootham was given by Indra
to Muchukuntha in much earlier times which was established at Pumpukar. It
would be written in a separate article at an appropriate context.
Now coming to the issue of order of names in the list of 3 dynasties:
It is always auspicious to address to the North as
signifying Devas and that is how Tholkappiyam begins its first line. If a dynasty
is related to the region of North and even Deva land, tradition was to begin
the list with the name of that dynasty. That is how Cherans came to occupy
prime place in the order of the three dynasties. The middle one was reserved
for Cholas as they came from Sibi who occupied North, but south of Northern
Cheras. The Pandyas came last as they had their abode in South always.
The title Vānavan Maran stirring up so much thought
contains clue for another part of hidden history, this time of the South. The
famous Vaishnavite temple at Thirumalirum Cholai,
locally known as Azhagar Malai in Madurai, has had a previous existence in
sunken lands of Pandyans. Another facet of Vānavan Maran who defeated Vānavan
at Arrukkudi finds resonance in the verse of Periyazhwar. That would be
discussed next in this series.
(To be continued)
References:-
1. வானவன் போரெதிரிற்
போந்தையாம்
பூ
(புறப். பொது.
1)
2. Silappadhikaram, Chapter 17, Commentary to
“munneerinul....”
3. Thol kappiyam, Porul Adhikaram – 63.
4. Pandikkovai – verse 247.
வாமான் நெடுந்
தேர்
வய
மன்னர்
வாள்
முனை
ஆர்க்கும்
வண்டார்
தேமா நறும் கண்ணியாய் சென்று தோன்றும் கொல் சேரலர் தம்
கோமான் கடல் படை கோட்டாற்று அழியக் கணை உகைத்த
ஏ மாண் சிலையவன் கன்னி நல் நீர் கொண்ட ஈர் முகிலே.
தேமா நறும் கண்ணியாய் சென்று தோன்றும் கொல் சேரலர் தம்
கோமான் கடல் படை கோட்டாற்று அழியக் கணை உகைத்த
ஏ மாண் சிலையவன் கன்னி நல் நீர் கொண்ட ஈர் முகிலே.
5. Mahabharata 1-177.
6. Mahabharata 8-45
7. Vishnu Puarana 2-3
8. Valmiki Ramayana 4-41-12.
9. Valmiki Ramayana 4-41-19
12. Silappadhikaram Chapter 28 – lines 147 & 148.
