Velirs - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

**வேளிர்**
Velir
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...
House	Velirs (Satyaputo) - Fraternity of Truth
Family Dynasties	Adigaman Adigaman Athiyamān were a famous royal Tamil dynasty of the Velir royal house. These king-chiefs ruled from their capital Tagadur from at least the 3rd century BCE. The Velir royal house was one of the four kingdoms of Tamilakkam, ruling parts of the Kongu country... /Satyaputo-Athiyaman Dynasty 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... Dynasty Vēl Pāri Vēl Pāri Vēl Pāri was the title of the line of Tamil Vēlir Kings who ruled Parambu nādu and surrounding regions in ancient Tamilakkam. The most famous among them lived towards the end of the Sangam era and was the patron and friend of poet Kapilar. He is extolled for his benevolence and for his patronage of... Dynasty Vel Āviyar Dynasty *Irunkōvēl Irunkōvēl Irunkōvēl also Irungkōvēl, Irukkuvēl, Ilangōvēlar was a title of the Irunkōvēl line of Tamil Velir kings. The Irunkovel line of kings ruled over Kō nādu identified with the Kodumbalur and surrounding areas in ancient Tamilakkam... Dynasty

Velirs were a royal house

Royal House

A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...

of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakkam in the early historic period of South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. Extolled in 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...

for their charity and truthfulness, they were the ancestors and head of the modern Tamil Vellalar

Vellalar

Vellalars were, originally, an elite caste of Tamil agricultural landlords in Tamil Nadu, Kerala states in India and in neighbouring Sri Lanka; they were the nobility, aristocracy of the ancient Tamil order and had close relations with the different royal dynasties...

caste. Vassals of the three main Tamil dynasties of Tamilakam (Damirica) — Chola

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...

, Chera

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...

and Pandya, the Velirs had close relations with them through marriages and coronation right. The velirs were crowned with the epithet Satyaputo (members of the fraternity of truth) for their virtues, and their lands were often hill/mountainous terrain.

There were twelve to thirteen Velir dynastic families of fame in the Sangam age. Seven kings from seven dynastic clans of the Velir royal house formed the Kadai Ezhu Vallal (The last of the 7 (lines) of Great Patrons), liberal patrons of arts and literature in ancient Tamilakam. The word Velir became a title inherited by Vellalar chiefs of the medieval period.

The Kongu Velir dynasty ruled Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu is a region comprising the western part of the Tamil Nadu India. The region is bounded on the west and north-west by the Karnataka state, on the west by the Kerala state, on the east by Tondai Nadu, on the south-east by Chola Nadu and on the south by Madurai regions of...

, while the Vēl Pāri

Vēl Pāri

Vēl Pāri was the title of the line of Tamil Vēlir Kings who ruled Parambu nādu and surrounding regions in ancient Tamilakkam. The most famous among them lived towards the end of the Sangam era and was the patron and friend of poet Kapilar. He is extolled for his benevolence and for his patronage of...

dynasty produced numerous kings ruling Parambu Nadu, the most popular of whom was a close friend of the poet Kapilar

Kapilar

Kapilar was a Sangam poet. He was a contemporary of Karikala Chola, Irunkōvēl and Vēl Pāri. He was the close friend and confidant of Vēl Pāri, one of the Vēlir kings.-Life:He was born into a Brahmin family in Tiruvadavur in the Pandyan Kingdom...

. The Irunkōvēl

Irunkōvēl

Irunkōvēl also Irungkōvēl, Irukkuvēl, Ilangōvēlar was a title of the Irunkōvēl line of Tamil Velir kings. The Irunkovel line of kings ruled over Kō nādu identified with the Kodumbalur and surrounding areas in ancient Tamilakkam...

line ruled over Ko Nadu and their most famous ruler, Pulikadimal, was a contemporary of Karikala Chola

Karikala Chola

Karikala Chola or Karikala Chozhan was one of the great Tamil kings of Early Chola during the Sangam period. He was the son of Ilamcetcenni and ruled around 270 BC....

and Kapilar. The most heralded of the Āviyar line was Vaiyāvik Kōpperum Pēkan

Vaiyāvik Kōpperum Pēkan

Vaiyāvik Kōpperum Pēkan was a Tamil Vēlir king and one the 7 great patrons of arts and literature during the Sangam era. He was the lord of the Āviyar clan of Vēls, a contemporary of poet Paranar, and was known for his lavish gifts and kindness...

, a contemporary of the poet Paranar, and renowned for his generosity. 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...

Velir dynasty ruled Nadu Naadu around 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....

, their royal emblem featured a horse and their most famous king was Malaiyamān Thirumudi Kāri. Both he and his son Thaervann Malaiyan assisted the early Cholas and Cheras. The most famous Velir dynasty was the Athiyamān dynasty, and this dynasty's powerful and most famous king was 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,...

. His son Elini ruled 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...

of the ancient 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...

and Vanni

Vanni (Sri Lanka)

The Vanni is the name given to the mainland area of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It covers the entirety of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya Districts, and most of Kilinochchi District. It has an area of approximately 7,650 km2...

, a co-ruling contemporary of the famous king 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...

. These kings belonged to a prolific Tamil horseman tribe. The ancient Tamil Naka Oviyar tribe of the Velir house, whose nation stretched to the Tamil emporiums of Mantai and Kudiramalai, had the famous king Nalliyakkotan who ruled this region and is paid tribute to in the Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Cirupanarruppatai
Cirupanarruppatai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Cirupanarruppatai contains 269 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter...

.

Each of the Velir dynasties ruled from their own capitals and utilized the seaport of 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...

History

According to Tamil tradition and some sources, the Velirs came to south from the city of Dwarka

Dwarka

Dwarka also spelled Dvarka, Dwaraka, and Dvaraka, is a city and a municipality of Jamnagar district in the Gujarat state in India. Dwarka , also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country...

in north India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

under the leadership of the Vedic

Vedic

Vedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...

sage Agastya

Agastya

Agastya was a Tamil/Vedic Siddhar or sage. Agastya and his clan are also generally credited with uncovering many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman...

just after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...

and belonged to the Yadava

Yadava

The Yadavas were an ancient Indian people who believed themselves to be descended from Yadu, a mythical king. The community was probably formed of four clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Satvatas, who all worshipped Lord Krishna. They are listed in ancient Indian literature as the...

Kshatriya

*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

clan. The Velirs of Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu

were called Kongu Velirs (கொங்கு வேளிர்) and they ruled the Kongu region. Numerous poems in the ancient Sangam literature

Sangam literature

extol these chieftains' charity and truthfulness. Among the most prominent were those known as the 'seven patrons' (kadaiyezhu vallal); Paari

Vēl Pāri

, Malayaman Kaari, Ori, Adigaman

Adigaman

Athiyamān were a famous royal Tamil dynasty of the Velir royal house. These king-chiefs ruled from their capital Tagadur from at least the 3rd century BCE. The Velir royal house was one of the four kingdoms of Tamilakkam, ruling parts of the Kongu country...

, Avi

Vaiyāvik Kōpperum Pēkan

, Nalli and Veliyan. Athiyamān Nedumān Añci

Athiyamān Nedumān Añci

and his son Ezhini, were Adigaman

Adigaman

chieftains, based in Tagadur. They were contemporaries of 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...

. The Sangam poem "Thagadur yathirai", now lost, was written about his battle with the Chera king. Another Velir was Irunkōvēl

Irunkōvēl

(Purananur-201 by Paranar) who ruled from Koval (modern day Tirukovilur) on the banks of Pennai, (the present 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....

) which presently discharges into the sea at Cuddalore, a town 20 miles south of Pondicherry (ancient Arikamedu

Arikamedu

).It is likely that the course of the river has changed to south over many centuries. Other Velir chiefs of repute include Alumbil Vel, Alandur Vel and Nangur Vel In Sangam literature the more prevalent word used is Vel, such as in the names Vel Avi and Vel Paari.

Asoka's edicts

Edicts of Ashoka

The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 269 BCE to 231 BCE. These inscriptions are dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day Bangladesh, India,...

mentioned a clan of rulers called Satyaputas along with three crowned Tamil kings Sathiyaputo as mentioned in the Asokan Girnar edict is the same as Sathiyaputo mentioned in the Jambai inscription. The Jambai inscription was issued by Adigaman Chieftain. The Sanskrit name means "members of the fraternity of truth". 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...

epigraph found recently at Jambai near Tirukkovilur in Tamil Nadu says satiyaputo atiyan netuman anci itta pali which translates to "Monastery given by Satyaputa Athiyan Nduman Anji"<9.^ Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003). Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D.. Harvard Oriental Series vol. 62. Cambridge, Mass: Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University. ISBN 978-0-674-01227-1. p. 399.>

Potsherds with early Tamil writing from the 2nd century BCE found in excavations in Poonagari, Jaffna

Jaffna

Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

bear several inscriptions, including a clan name—vela, a name related to velir from the ancient Tamil country

Ancient Tamil country

The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...

Inscriptions

Asoka mentions the Satyaputras in his inscriptions along with the Cholas, Pandyas and the Kerala putras. The Satyaputra-Athiyamān Velirs wielded sufficient power in the time of Asoka (3rd century BCE) almost on par with the Cheras

Chera dynasty

, Cholas

Chola Dynasty

and Pandyas, a power which continued for several centuries.
In several excavated 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,...

inscriptions found at Jambai

Jambai

Jambai is a panchayat town in Erode district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Jambai is also a village in Tirukkoyilur Taluk, Viluppuram District.-Demographics:...

, 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 Viluppuram district

Viluppuram District

Villupuram is one of the thirty districts which make up Tamil Nadu state situated on the southern tip of India. The district headquarters is located at Villupuram. Villupuram district came into existence on 30 September 1993 when it was created out of South Arcot district...

, South Arcot

South Arcot

South Arcot is a former district of India, located in the state of Tamil Nadu.South Arcot was the southern portion of the Mughal province of Arcot. Arcot came under the control of a local Nawab after Mughals lost control southern India in the 18th century...

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...

mention is made again of the dynasty:

The inscription, assignable to first century CE, mentions the Athiyā Chief Neduman Anci

Athiyamān Nedumān Añci

, a heroic historic king celebrated in volumes of the Sangam literature

Sangam literature

classics 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 Akananuru
Akananuru
Akananuru , a classical Tamil poetic work, is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. It contains 400 Akam poems dealing with matters of love and separation...

. This Athiymān king was most likely a descendent of the dynasty mentioned in Asoka's edicts. The inscription records the endowment of a cave-shelter by the chieftain Atiyan Netuman Anci who sports the title Satiyaputo. The inscription gives the name of his clan (Atiyan), of his father (Netuman) and of himself (Anci). This clear statement enables researchers with absolute certainty, to identify a chieftain mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature with a personage figuring in a Tamil-Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

inscription.

The Gummireddipura plates make mention of the Satyaputra-Velir Adigaman dynasty.

An inscription belonging to one of the kings of the Irunkōvēl line from the Adhipuriswara temple in Tiruvorriyur

Tiruvottiyur

Tiruvottiyur is located within the city premises of Chennai. It is located to the north of Chennai. Due to its proximity to Parrys and Chennai Central, it is fast becoming a sought after residential destination...

district mentions Velirs :

External links

T.P. Sankaran Kutty Nair. Agenda. Sanskrit in South India

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