Korran - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Korran, also known as Korra and Pittan Korran (full name) (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...

:கொற்றன்/ கொற்ற) (circa 10

Year 10 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, throughout Roman Empire, it was known as the year of the consulship of Dolabella and Silanus...

BCE-90

Year 90 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Nerva...

CE) was an ancient Tamil

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

chief 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...

, Jaffna kingdom

Jaffna Kingdom

The Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India...

, Tamilakkam, who ruled the world famous ancient international port town Kudiramalai on the western Gulf of Mannar

Gulf of Mannar

The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. It lies between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka. A chain of low islands and reefs known as Adam's Bridge, also called Ramsethu, which includes Mannar Island, separates the...

coast of the Vanni

Vanni

Vanni may refer to:* Vanni , an area of northern Sri Lanka* Vanni Electoral District, an electoral district of Sri Lanka* Vanni Wang, international fashion designer China, USA...

Malabar country between the 1st century BCE- late 1st century CE. He was a commander in chief of 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...

under the King Makkotai. An avid horseman

Horseman

Horseman may refer to:* Horse rider; see Equestrianism* Wrangler , in the United States* Stockman , who works with horses rather than with cattle or sheep* Horseman, a 2003 Croatian film...

and great patron of poetry, Korran ruled from and adminstered the hilly terrained locality surrounding the ancient Tamil capital of Kudiramalai - the "Horse Mountain/Hill". He earned the epithet கட்டுமான் கொற்றன் (Kattuman Korran) meaning "Horseman Korran" due to his love of horse riding. His father was Pittan, another famous Chera chief. His full name was sometimes credited as Pittan-Korran, following Tamil naming conventions detailed in the Tolkappiyam
Tolkappiyam
The Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...

.

Rule, national and international trade

In the Sangam period, Tamil kings and chiefs were known to have brought horses in water craft to the Malabar state of North Eastern Ceylon. During Korran's rule, Kudiramalai

Kudiramalai

, a subsidiary port 20km south of the famous Tamil emporium Mantai

Mannar

Mannar may refer to:* Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Alappuzha district, Kerala, India* Mannar, Kaduthuruthy,a town in Kottayam district, Kerala, India* Mannar, Sri Lanka, a town in northern Sri Lanka* Mannar District, a district in Sri Lanka...

became known to the ancient Greeks as Hippuros, (literal translation of Kudiramalai in Greek - Horse Mount/Hill), a famous port of the island itself. Both ports find mention in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea of Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

. Korran ruled Kudiramalai alongside two other chieftains, Elini and Kumanan of the first-second century CE. The historian Pliny

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

states that in the reign of the Emperor Claudius

Claudius

Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...

in 47 CE:

"Annius Plocamus, a freedman, having farmed the customs of the Red Sea, was, while sailing along the coast of Arabia over fifteen days, driven by contrary winds into Hippuros, a port of Taprobane, where he was entertained with kindly hospitality by the king. In six months' time he acquired a thorough knowledge of the Tamil language."

The Jaffna king later sent a Tamil embassy of four of his own envoys to Rome, including the ambassador-in-chief Rasaiah. To the Romans, the Kudiramalai envoys related particulars about their kingdom's inhabitants, including their common life expectancy of 100 years, their government, a council of thirty persons, free civil liberties and laws pertaining to abuse of sovereign power, their trade with the Seres (Chinese), their festivals surrounding "the chase", and their delights in the elephant and the tiger. The ambassadors felt their kingdom to be richer than Rome's, although in their eyes Rome put its wealth to much better use.

Inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi, or Damili is an early phonetic script used to write Tamil characters. It is a variant of many Brahmi scripts used throughout South Asia, namely Ashokan Brahmi, Southern Brahmi, Bhattiprolu script and the Sri Lankan based Sinhala-Brahmi. It is known from surviving inscribed cave beds,...

script from the late 1st century CE bearing his name (Korra-Puman - Korra The Chieftain) were excavated on an amphora fragment at the international Roman trading port of Berenice Troglodytica in present day Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

.

Korran oversaw the trade of Jaffna Tamils

Sri Lanka Tamils (native)

Sri Lankan Tamil people , or Ceylon Tamils also known as Eelam Tamils in Tamil, are a section of Tamil people native to the South Asia island state of Sri Lanka. According to anthropological evidences and archaeological evidences, Sri Lankan Tamils have a very long history in Sri Lankan history and...

with the early Pandyans

Early Pandyan Kingdom

The Early Pandyas of the Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country, the other two being the Cholas and the Cheras. As with many other kingdoms around this period , most of the information about the Early Pandyas come to us mainly through literary sources and...

, 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...

, Kalingas, the Nakas, the Cheras, Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, Phoenicians, the Seres

Seres

Seres was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the inhabitants of eastern Central Asia. It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....

and Egyptians

Egyptians

Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

at Kudiramalai and across the Jaffna Vanni country.

Similarly, copper kohl sticks from ancient Egypt and coins from Rome, Madurai

Madurai

Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...

and Karur have been found in ruins at Ucchapannai, Kandarodai-Kadiramalai in North Jaffna.

Background

Korran's rule is described at length in the Purananuru
Purananuru
Purananuru is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 200 BCE – 100 CE. Purananuru is part of the Ettuthokai anthology which is the oldest available collection of poems of Sangam literature in Tamil....

and he is eulogised in several poems of Sangam literature

Sangam literature

Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...

. Korran was a brilliant bowman

Archery

Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

, typical of the inhabitants of the Chera kingdom whose royal emblem was the bow. Korran brought horses to the battlefield for the first time. His contemporaries, 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,...

of Tagadur

Dharmapuri

Dharmapuri is a town and the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located 65 km north of Salem. Dharmapuri is a part of the Kongu Nadu an ancient division of Tamilakam. It is one of the ancient towns of Tamil Nadu and a rapid developing...

and Pajayan Maran of Madurai

Madurai

belonged to the same Tamil horseman tribe and were Velir aristocrats. Korran likely belonged to the Malayaman

Malayaman

The Malayamān family dynasty of the Velir royal house were chiefs who ruled Nadu Naadu of Tamilakkam during the Sangam period and worked closely with the early Cholas of the Chola Dynasty and the Chera Dynasty. Chiefs of this dynasty readily took the title Chēdirāyan, and delighted in their rule...

family dynasty of the Velir royal house, whose royal emblem was the horse. Neduman Anci's son Elini and another Chief Kumanan also ruled Kudiramalai. Korran and his father Pittan are mentioned as part of a genealogy of Chera kings in the Pugalur inscriptions

Pugalur

Pugalur is the area covering lands both in Nanjai and Punjai.Nanjai refers to the land with plenty of water usually with water bodies like river,canal,pond etc...

of Karur district

Karur District

Karur District is located center along the Kaveri & Amaravati rivers in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The main town in Karur District is the city of Karur, which is also the district headquarter. It had a population of 935,686 as of 2001. It is 33.27% urbanized as per Census 2001...

in the 2nd century CE, the ancient capital of the Chera dynasty.

By the medieval period, the ancient capital of the northern Tamil country moved from Kudiramalai to Nallur

Nallur (Jaffna)

Nallur , , is a small holy town within the present day city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is located 3 km away from the colour and bustle of Jaffna Town. Originally known by its Royal term "Singai Nagar", Nallur formerly functioned as the capital of the ancient Jaffna kingdom for many years during...

. Nearby Puttalam

Puttalam

Puttalam is the capital city of the Puttalam District in North Western Province, Sri Lanka.-History:The history of this dry zone dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam...

would serve as the medieval Jaffna kingdom

Jaffna Kingdom

's second capital during the pearling season, and increased fishery activity was noted along the banks between Kudiramalai and Mannar

Mannar

Rule, national and international trade

Background

See also