99-493: The maddalam or madhalam ( Malayalam : മദ്ദളം) is a drum made out of the wood of the jackfruit tree. It has two sides for playing, made out of leather , and has different kind of sounds on each side. The maddalam is a heavy instrument which is hung around the waist of the person playing, and the player stands all the while to perform. The maddalam is a vital instrument in traditional Kerala percussion ensembles like Panchavadyam , Keli and Kathakali orchestra. Except for
198-517: A Bhashya (language) where "Dravida and Sanskrit should combine together like ruby and coral, without the least trace of any discord". The scripts of Kolezhuthu and Malayanma were also used to write Middle Malayalam . In addition to Vatteluthu and Grantha script , those were used to write Old Malayalam . The literary works written in Middle Malayalam were heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit , while comparing them with
297-516: A 7th century poem written by the Tamil poet Sambandar the people of Kerala are referred to as malaiyāḷar (mountain people). The word Malayalam is also said to originate from the words mala , meaning ' mountain ', and alam , meaning ' region ' or '-ship' (as in "township"); Malayalam thus translates directly as 'the mountain region'. The term Malabar was used as an alternative term for Malayalam in foreign trade circles to denote
396-469: A canonical word order of SOV (subject–object–verb), as do other Dravidian languages . A rare OSV word order occurs in interrogative clauses when the interrogative word is the subject. Both adjectives and possessive adjectives precede the nouns they modify. Malayalam has 6 or 7 grammatical cases . Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood and aspect, but not for person, gender nor number except in archaic or poetic language. The modern Malayalam grammar
495-647: A decade of lyrics; but of these two have not till now been discovered. Kannanar also lauds the Chera for conquering enemies from Kumari to the Himalayas (and carving the Chera bow emblem on the Himalayas). Nedum Cheral Athan, famous for his hospitality, gifted Kannanar with a part of Umbar Kattu. The greatest of his enemies were the Kadambus (possibly Kadambas ) whom he defeated in battles. Nedum Cheral Athan
594-697: A distinct language due to geographical separation of Kerala from the Tamil country and the influence of Sanskrit and Prakrit from the Nambudiri Brahmins of the Malabar Coast . The Old Malayalam language was employed in several official records and transactions (at the level of the Chera Perumal kings, as well as the upper-caste ( Nambudiri ) village temples). Most of the inscriptions in Old Malayalam were found from
693-501: A distinct literary language from the western coastal dialect of Middle Tamil and the linguistic separation completed sometime between the 9th and 13th centuries. The renowned poets of Classical Tamil such as Paranar (1st century CE), Ilango Adigal (2nd–3rd century CE), and Kulasekhara Alvar (9th century CE) were Keralites . The Sangam works can be considered as the ancient predecessor of Malayalam. Some scholars however believe that both Tamil and Malayalam developed during
792-637: A literary language. The Malayalam script began to diverge from the Vatteluttu and the Western Grantha scripts in the 8th and 9th centuries of Common Era . By the end of the 13th century, a written form of the language emerged which was unique from the Vatteluttu script that was used to write Tamil on the eastern coast. Old Malayalam ( Paḻaya Malayāḷam ), an inscriptional language found in Kerala from circa 9th to circa 13th century CE,
891-472: A little later. The reverse side of both coins are blank. The impure silver coins bearing Brahmi legends "Kollippurai", "Kollipporai", "Kol-Irumporai" and "Sa Irumporai" were also discovered from Karur . The portrait coins are generally considered as imitation of Roman coins. All legends, assumed to be the names of the Chera rulers, were in Tamil-Brahmi characters on the obverse. Reverse often contained
990-592: A lot of its words from various foreign languages: mainly from the Semitic languages including Arabic , and the European languages including Dutch and Portuguese , due to the long heritage of Indian Ocean trade and the Portuguese-Dutch colonization of the Malabar Coast . Variations in intonation patterns, vocabulary, and distribution of grammatical and phonological elements are observable along
1089-546: A number of punch marked coins discovered from Amaravati riverbed. The square coins of copper and its alloys or silver have also been discovered. Most of these early square coins show a bow and arrow, the traditional emblem of the Cheras on the obverse, with or without any legend. Silver-punch marked coins, an imitation of the Maurya coins, and with a Chera bow on the reverse, have been reported. Hundreds of copper coins, attributed to
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#17327980527251188-504: A person wearing a Roman-type bristled-crown helmet was also discovered from Amaravati riverbed in Karur. Reverse side of the coin depicts a bow and arrow, the traditional symbol of the Chera family. A large body of Tamil works collectively known as the Sangam (Academy) texts ( c. 2nd century BCE - 3rd century CE) describes a number of Chera, Pandya and Chola rulers. Among them,
1287-685: A spirit of brotherhood. മനുഷ്യരെല്ലാവരും തുല്യാവകാശങ്ങളോടും അന്തസ്സോടും സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യത്തോടുംകൂടി ജനിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളവരാണ്. അന്യോന്യം ഭ്രാതൃഭാവത്തോടെ പെരുമാറുവാനാണ് മനുഷ്യന് വിവേകബുദ്ധിയും മനസാക്ഷിയും സിദ്ധമായിരിക്കുന്നത്. manuṣyarellāvaruṁ tulyāvakāśaṅṅaḷōṭuṁ antassōṭuṁ svātantryattōṭuṅkūṭi janicciṭṭuḷḷavarāṇŭ. anyōnyaṁ bhrātr̥bhāvattōṭe perumāṟuvānāṇŭ manuṣyanŭ vivēkabuddhiyuṁ manasākṣiyuṁ siddhamāyirikkunnatŭ. /manuʂjaɾellaːʋaɾum t̪uljaːʋakaːʃaŋŋaɭoːʈum an̪t̪assoːʈum sʋaːt̪an̪tɾjat̪t̪oːʈuŋkuːʈi d͡ʒanit͡ʃt͡ʃiʈʈuɭɭaʋaɾaːɳɨ̆ ǁ anjoːnjam bʱraːt̪rɨ̆bʱaːʋat̪t̪oːʈe peɾumaːruʋaːnaːɳɨ̆ manuʂjanɨ̆ ʋiʋeːkabud̪d̪ʱijum manasaːkʂijum sid̪d̪ʱamaːjiɾikkun̪ːat̪ɨ̆ ǁ/ Malayalam has
1386-617: A strong case of identification with the location. Roman coins have over a period of time been discovered in large numbers from central Kerala and the Coimbatore-Karur region (from locations such as Kottayam-Kannur, Valluvally, Iyyal, Vellalur and Kattankanni). A number of coins, assumed to be of the Cheras, mostly found in the Amaravati riverbed in Tamil Nadu, are a major source of early Chera historiography. This includes
1485-461: A temple ( virakkallu ) for the goddess Pattini (Kannaki) at Vanchi . A certain king called Gajabahu, often identified with Gajabahu , king of Sri Lanka (2nd century CE), was present at the Pattini festival at Vanchi. In this context, Chenguttuvan can be dated to either the first or last quarter of the 2nd century CE. as per akananuru Kaluvul was a velir chieftain of Kamur who fought against
1584-839: Is also a considerable Malayali population in the Persian Gulf regions, especially in Dubai , Kuwait and Doha . For the consonants and vowels, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol is given, followed by the Malayalam character and the ISO 15919 transliteration. The current Malayalam script bears high similarity with Tigalari script , which was used for writing the Tulu language , spoken in coastal Karnataka ( Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts) and
1683-542: Is also credited with developing the Malayalam script into the current form through the intermixing and modification of the erstwhile scripts of Vatteluttu , Kolezhuthu , and Grantha script , which were used to write the inscriptions and literary works of Old and Middle Malayalam. He further eliminated excess and unnecessary letters from the modified script. Hence, Ezhuthachan is also known as The Father of modern Malayalam . The development of modern Malayalam script
1782-412: Is based on the book Kerala Panineeyam written by A. R. Raja Raja Varma in late 19th century CE. The declensional paradigms for some common nouns and pronouns are given below. As Malayalam is an agglutinative language, it is difficult to delineate the cases strictly and determine how many there are, although seven or eight is the generally accepted number. Alveolar plosives and nasals (although
1881-512: Is influenced by Tamil. Labels such as "Nampoothiri Dialect", "Mappila Dialect", and "Nasrani Dialect" refer to overall patterns constituted by the sub-dialects spoken by the subcastes or sub-groups of each such caste. The most outstanding features of the major communal dialects of Malayalam are summarized below: Malayalam has incorporated many elements from other languages over the years, the most notable of these being Sanskrit and later, English. According to Sooranad Kunjan Pillai who compiled
1980-570: Is known about Cheras during this period. Cheras of Kongu country ( Karur ) initially appear as the rulers of western Tamil Nadu and central Kerala . There was a domination of present-day Kerala regions of the ancient Chera country by the Kongu Cheras/Keralas (probably via some form of viceregal rule). The family claimed that they were descended from the Cheras who flourished in pre- Pallava (early historic) south India. There are clear attestations of repeated Pandya conquests of
2079-660: Is phonemic and all of the vowels have minimal pairs for example kaṭṭi "thickness", kāṭṭi "showed", koṭṭi "tapped", kōṭṭi "twisted, stick, marble", er̠i "throw", ēr̠i "lots" Some speakers also have /æː/, /ɔː/, /ə/ from English loanwords e.g. /bæːŋgɨ̆/ "bank" but most speakers replace it with /aː/, /eː/ or /ja/; /oː/ or /aː/ and /e/ or /a/. The following text is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in
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#17327980527252178-628: Is said to have conquered an island, which had the kadambu tree as its guardian, by crossing the ocean. Poet Mamular also sings of his conquest of Mantai. He also punished and extracted ransom from the Yavanas. Chola Neytalankanal Ilam Set Chenni captured Pamalur, which belonged to the Chera Kudakko Nedum Cheral Athan. The Chera fought the Cholas at Por (and both combatants died in the battle) Kauthamanar Headquarters
2277-462: Is sometimes disputed by scholars. They regard the Chera Perumal inscriptional language as a diverging dialect or variety of contemporary Tamil . The oldest extant literary work in Malayalam distinct from the Tamil tradition is Ramacharitam (late 12th or early 13th century). The earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu script . The current Malayalam script is based on
2376-571: Is spoken by 35 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with a significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka , and Kanyakumari , Coimbatore and Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali Diaspora worldwide, especially in the Persian Gulf countries , due to
2475-549: Is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam , written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Robert Caldwell describes the extent of Malayalam in the 19th century as extending from the vicinity of Kumbla in the north where it supersedes with Tulu to Kanyakumari in the south, where it begins to be superseded by Tamil , beside the inhabited islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea . In
2574-438: Is the earliest attested form of Malayalam. The beginning of the development of Old Malayalam from a western coastal dialect of Middle Tamil can be dated to circa 8th century CE. It remained a west coast dialect until circa 9th century CE or a little later. The origin of Malayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE. It is generally agreed that the western coastal dialect of Tamil began to separate, diverge, and grow as
2673-456: Is used by some historians to date the events described in the early Tamil texts to c. 1st - 2nd century CE. Despite its dependency on numerous conjectures, the method is considered as the sheet anchor for the purpose of dating the events in the early Tamil texts. Ilango Adigal author of the legendary Tamil epic poem Chilapathikaram describes Chenguttuvan as his elder brother. He also mentions Chenguttuvan's decision to propitiate
2772-727: The saṁvr̥tōkāram , which is not officially a vowel, and not as actual vocalic consonants) have been classified as vowels: vocalic r ( ഋ , /rɨ̆/ , r̥), long vocalic r ( ൠ , /rɨː/ , r̥̄), vocalic l ( ഌ , /lɨ̆/ , l̥) and long vocalic l ( ൡ , /lɨː/ , l̥̄). Except for the first, the other three have been omitted from the current script used in Kerala as there are no words in current Malayalam that use them. Some authors say that Malayalam has no diphthongs and /ai̯, au̯/ are clusters of V+glide j/ʋ while others consider all V+glide clusters to be diphthongs /ai̯, aːi̯, au̯, ei̯, oi̯, i̯a/ as in kai, vāypa, auṣadhaṁ, cey, koy and kāryaṁ Vowel length
2871-430: The 16th century , when it was known as "Malayayma" or "Malayanma"; the words were also used to refer to the script and the region . According to Duarte Barbosa , a Portuguese visitor who visited Kerala in the early 16th century CE, the people in the southwestern Malabar coast of India from Kumbla in north to Kanyakumari in south had a unique language, which was called "Maliama" by them. Prior to this period ,
2970-515: The Chera Perumal kingdom and Kongu Chera kingdom (c. 9th–12th century CE). The exact nature of the relationships between the various branches of Chera rulers are unclear. After this, the present day parts of Kerala and Kongunadu became autonomous. Some of the major dynasties of medieval south India - Chalukya, Pallava, Pandya, Rashtrakuta, and Chola - seem to have conquered the Kongu Chera country. Kongu Cheras appear to have been absorbed into
3069-622: The Cholas and the Pandyas . The kingdom was attacked, and eventually forced into submission, by the Cholas in the early 11th century CE (in order to break the monopoly of trade with the Middle East). When the Perumal kingdom was eventually dissolved in the 12th century most of its autonomous chiefdoms became independent. The extent and nature of state formation of the Chera kingdoms, from
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3168-519: The Graeco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to the Cheras as Keprobotras . All these Graeco-Roman names are evidently corruptions of "Kedala Puto/Kerala Putra" probably received through relations with northern India . The term Chera , derived from Dravidian words Cheran (meaning island), is a Classical Tamil name of Sri Lanka that takes root from the term "Chera". Recent studies on ancient south Indian history suggest that
3267-998: The Middle East , the United States, and Europe. There were 179,860 speakers of Malayalam in the United States, according to the 2000 census, with the highest concentrations in Bergen County, New Jersey , and Rockland County, New York . There are 144,000 of Malayalam speakers in Malaysia . There were 11,687 Malayalam speakers in Australia in 2016. The 2001 Canadian census reported 7,070 people who listed Malayalam as their mother tongue, mainly in Toronto . The 2006 New Zealand census reported 2,139 speakers. 134 Malayalam speaking households were reported in 1956 in Fiji . There
3366-632: The Namboothiri and Nair dialects have a common nature, the Arabi Malayalam is among the most divergent of dialects, differing considerably from literary Malayalam. Jeseri is a dialect of Malayalam spoken mainly in the Union territory of Lakshadweep and Beary is spoken in Tulu Nadu which are nearer to Kerala. Of the total 33,066,392 Malayalam speakers in India in 2001, 33,015,420 spoke
3465-536: The Pathinettara Kavikal (Eighteen and a half poets) in the court of the Zamorin of Calicut , also belong to Middle Malayalam. The literary works of this period were heavily influenced by Manipravalam , which was a combination of contemporary Tamil and Sanskrit . The word Mani-Pravalam literally means Diamond-Coral or Ruby-Coral . The 14th-century Lilatilakam text states Manipravalam to be
3564-583: The Voiced retroflex approximant (/ɻ/) which is seen in both Tamil and the standard form of Malayalam, are not seen in the northern dialects of Malayalam, as in Kannada . For example, the words Vazhi (Path), Vili (Call), Vere (Another), and Vaa (Come/Mouth), become Bayi , Bili , Bere , and Baa in the northern dialects of Malayalam. Similarly the Malayalam spoken in the southern districts of Kerala, i.e., Thiruvananthapuram - Kollam - Pathanamthitta area
3663-592: The Yerava dialect and 31,329 spoke non-standard regional variations like Eranadan . As per the 1991 census data, 28.85% of all Malayalam speakers in India spoke a second language and 19.64% of the total knew three or more languages. Just before independence, Malaya attracted many Malayalis. Large numbers of Malayalis have settled in Chennai , Bengaluru , Mangaluru , Hyderabad , Mumbai , Navi Mumbai , Pune , Mysuru and Delhi . Many Malayalis have also emigrated to
3762-459: The northern districts of Kerala , those lie adjacent to Tulu Nadu . Old Malayalam was mostly written in Vatteluttu script (with Pallava/Southern Grantha characters). Old Malayalam had several features distinct from the contemporary Tamil, which include the nasalisation of adjoining sounds, substitution of palatal sounds for dental sounds, contraction of vowels, and the rejection of gender verbs. Ramacharitam and Thirunizhalmala are
3861-747: The 13th and 14th centuries of the Common Era . The Sandesha Kavya s of 14th century CE written in Manipravalam language include Unnuneeli Sandesam . Kannassa Ramayanam and Kannassa Bharatham by Rama Panikkar of the Niranam poets who lived between 1350 and 1450, are representative of this language. Ulloor has opined that Rama Panikkar holds the same position in Malayalam literature that Edmund Spenser does in English literature . The Champu Kavyas written by Punam Nambudiri, one among
3960-481: The 16th century CE, Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan from the Kingdom of Tanur and Poonthanam Nambudiri from the Kingdom of Valluvanad , followed the new trend initiated by Cherussery in their poems. The Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu and Mahabharatham Kilippattu , written by Ezhuthachan, and Jnanappana , written by Poonthanam, are also included in the earliest form of Modern Malayalam. Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan
4059-538: The 1st century CE, in the Periplus of the 1st century CE, and by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. There are brief references in the present forms of the works by author and commentator Katyayana (c. 3rd - 4th century BCE), author and philosopher Patanjali (c. 5th century BCE) and Maurya statesman and philosopher Kautilya (Chanakya) ( c. 3rd - 4th century BCE ) [though Sanskrit grammarian Panini (c. 6th - 5th century BCE) does not mention either
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4158-461: The Cheras, have been discovered from Pattanam in central Kerala. Bronze dyes for minting punch marked coins were discovered from a riverbed in Karur. Other discoveries include a coin with a portrait and the Brahmi legend "Mak-kotai" above it and another one with a portrait and the legend " Kuttuvan Kotai " above it. Both impure silver coins are tentatively dated to c. 1st century CE or
4257-588: The Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages" , opined that literary Malayalam branched from Classical Tamil and over time gained a large amount of Sanskrit vocabulary and lost the personal terminations of verbs. As the language of scholarship and administration, Old-Tamil, which was written in Tamil-Brahmi and the Vatteluttu alphabet later, greatly influenced the early development of Malayalam as
4356-462: The Himalayas to sculpt the idol of goddess Pattini. Controlled the port of Naravu. He married the sister of the wife of Nedum Cheral Athan. Selva Kadumko defeated the combined armies of the Pandyas and the Cholas . Father of Perum Cheral Irumporai. Died at Chikkar Palli. Identified with Mantharan Poraiyan Kadumko. Pasum Put-Poraiyan and Perumput-Poraiyan. He is sometimes identified as
4455-551: The Indian Ocean coast ( Kerala ) and Kongunadu . They governed the area of Malabar Coast between Alappuzha in the south to Kasaragod in the north. The region around Coimbatore was ruled by the Cheras during the Sangam period between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap , the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and Tamil Nadu . However
4554-516: The Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district ) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a " Classical Language of India " in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala, Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé ), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep. Malayalam
4653-686: The Kadamba warriors took shelter was stormed. Later the Kadambas (helped by the Yavanas) attacked Kuttuvan by sea, but the Chera ruler destroyed their fleet. Kuttuvan is said to have defeated the Kongu people and a warrior called Mogur Mannan (one of the Chera's allies was Arugai, an enemy of the Mogurs). According to Chilapathikaram , Chenguttuvan led his army to north India to get the sacred stone from
4752-614: The Kerala or Chera country in the 7th and 8th centuries CE. While the Pallava and Pandya rulers in Tamil Nadu emerged into established kingship by c. 5th - 6th centuries CE, the formation of the monarchical polity in Kerala took place not before c. 9th century CE. The Chera Perumals are known to have ruled what is now Kerala between c. 9th and 12th century CE. Scholars tend to identify Alvar saint Kulasekhara and Nayanar saint Cherman Perumal (literally "the Chera king") with some of
4851-561: The Ko Athan Cheral Irumporai mentioned in the Aranattar-malai inscription of Pugalur ( c. 2nd century CE ). Described as the descendant of Nedum Cheral Athan . The following Cheras are knowns from Purananuru collection (some of the names are re-duplications) . After the 5th century CE, the Chera family's political prestige and influence declined considerably. Comparatively little
4950-633: The Malabar and Kerala parts became autonomous of Karur. The Perumal kingdom derived most of its wealth from maritime trade relations (the spice trade) with the Middle East. The port of Kollam , in the kingdom, was a major point in overseas India trade to the West and the East Asia. Political units known as "nadus", controlled by powerful hereditary chiefs or by households, occupied central importance in
5049-514: The Pandya political system by 10th/11th century CE. Even after the dissolution of the Perumal kingdom, royal inscriptions and temple grants, especially from outside Kerala proper, continued to refer the country and the people as the "Cheras or Keralas". The rulers of Venad (the Venad Cheras or the "Kulasekharas"), based out of the port of Kollam in south Kerala, claimed their ancestry from
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#17327980527255148-663: The Perumals. Cheranad was also the name of an erstwhile province in the kingdom of Zamorin of Calicut , which had included parts of present-day Tirurangadi and Tirur Taluks of Malappuram district in it. Later it became a Taluk of Malabar District , when Malabar came under the British Raj . The headquarters of Cheranad Taluk was the town of Tirurangadi . Later the Taluk was merged with Eranad Taluk. The term Chera — and its variant form "Keralaputas" — stands for
5247-448: The Sangam epic poem Cilappatikaram . After the end of the early historical period, around the 3rd-5th century CE, there seems to be a period where the Cheras' power declined considerably. Cheras of the Kongu country are known to have controlled eastern Kerala and only a few kilometres of current western Tamil Nadu in the early medieval period. Present-day central Kerala and Kongu Cheras detached around 8th–9th century CE to form
5346-438: The Sangam texts (and the possible hero of the lost first decade of Pathitrupattu ). Uthiyan Cheral was also known as "Vanavaramban" ( Purananuru ) . His headquarters were at Kuzhumur near Kuttanad ( Akananuru ). He is described as the Chera ruler who prepared food ("the Perum Chotru") for Pandavas and the Kauravas at the Kurukshetra War ( Purananuru and Akananuru ). He Married Nallini, daughter of Veliyan Venman, and
5445-468: The Vatteluttu script, which was extended with Grantha script letters to adopt Indo-Aryan loanwords. It bears high similarity with the Tigalari script , a historical script that was used to write the Tulu language in South Canara , and Sanskrit in the adjacent Malabar region . The modern Malayalam grammar is based on the book Kerala Panineeyam written by A. R. Raja Raja Varma in late 19th century CE. The first travelogue in any Indian language
5544-456: The authoritative Malayalam lexicon, the other principal languages whose vocabulary was incorporated over the ages were Arabic , Dutch , Hindustani , Pali , Persian , Portuguese , Prakrit , and Syriac . Malayalam is a language spoken by the native people of southwestern India and the islands of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea . According to the Indian census of 2011, there were 32,413,213 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala, making up 93.2% of
5643-417: The authorship of the medieval work Keralolpathi , which describes the Parashurama legend and the departure of the final Cheraman Perumal king to Mecca , to Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan. Kunchan Nambiar introduced a new literary form called Thullal , and Unnayi Variyar introduced reforms in Attakkatha literature . The printing, prose literature, and Malayalam journalism , developed after
5742-400: The bow and arrow symbol. An alliance between the Cholas is evident from a joint coin bearing the Chola tiger on the obverse and the Chera bow and arrow on the reverse. Lakshmi-type coins of possible Sri Lankan origin have also been discovered from Karur. The macro analysis of the Mak-kotai coin shows close similarities with the contemporary Roman silver coin. A silver coin with the portrait of
5841-413: The bow and arrow, Roman amphorae and Roman coins. An ancient route, from the harbours in Kerala (such as Muchiri or Thondi) through the Palghat Gap to Karur in interior Tamil Nadu can be traced with the help of archaeological evidence. Historians have yet to precisely locate Muziris, known in Tamil as "Muchiri", a base of the Chera rulers. Archaeological excavations at Pattanam (near Cochin ) suggest
5940-412: The central projection, the Maddalam resembles a Mridangam in shape. The name Madhalam is derived from the word Mardhalam which means 'one which receives pressure'. In Sanskrit the instrument is called as Mardhalam. In ancient times Madhalam was played by suspending it from the neck of the player and later in the 1920s Madhalam maestro Venkichan Swamy changed the style to the way it was suspended from
6039-405: The chera supremacy. Perum chera irumporai along with fourteen chieftains attacked kamur but perum chera irumporai was impressed with Kaluvuls resistance in battle field and let him rule kamur and accepted friendship from him. .Some of the velirs under Kaluvul joined the chera after the defeat. Uthiyan Cheral Athan is generally considered as the earliest known ruler of the Chera family from
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#17327980527256138-456: The conquest of the Maldive Islands, the Malabar Coast, and northern Sri Lanka, all of which were essential to the Chola control over trade with Southeast Asia and with Arabia and eastern Africa. These were the transit areas, ports of call for the Arab traders and ships to Southeast Asia and China, which were the source of the valuable spices sold at a high profit to Europe." The Chera Perumal kingdom had alternating friendly or hostile relations with
6237-411: The development of the two languages out of "Proto-Dravidian" or "Proto-Tamil-Malayalam" either in the prehistoric period or in the middle of the first millennium A.D. , although this is generally rejected by historical linguists. The Quilon Syrian copper plates of 849/850 CE are considered by some to be the oldest available inscription written in Old Malayalam . However, the existence of Old Malayalam
6336-482: The earliest Perumals. The exact nature of the relation between the Cheras of Kongu and the Chera Perumals remains obscure. The Later arrived Nambutiris from Northern land asked for a regent of the Chera king from Karur in Coimbatore and were granted lands from Tamil kings hailing from Pundurai . Hence the Tamil kings lost their power to Newly arrived Namboothris who created Zamorin and started to call themselves title 'Punthurakkon' (King from Punthura). After this,
6435-438: The early Middle Tamil period, thus making independent descent impossible. For example, Old Tamil lacks the first and second person plural pronouns with the ending kaḷ . It is in the Early Middle Tamil stage that kaḷ first appears: Indeed, most features of Malayalam morphology are derivable from a form of speech corresponding to early Middle Tamil. Robert Caldwell , in his 1856 book " A Comparative Grammar of
6534-513: The early 19th century CE. The earliest extant literary works in the regional language of present-day Kerala probably date back to as early as the 12th century . At that time, the language was differentiated by the name Kerala Bhasha . The earliest mention of Malayalam as a language is found outside of Kerala in the 15th century Telugu work Śrībhīmēśvarapurāṇamu by Śrīnātha. The distinctive "Malayalam" named identity of this language appears to have come into existence in Kerala only around
6633-423: The early years of his rule, the Kuttuvan successfully intervened in a succession dispute in the Chola territory and established his relative Nalam Killi on the Chola throne. The rivals of Killi were defeated in the battle of Nerivayil, Uraiyur. The Kadambas are described as the arch enemies of the Chera ruler. Kuttuvan was able to defeat them in the battle of Idumbil, Valayur (Viyalur). The "fort" of Kodukur in which
6732-423: The grandson of Ko Athan Cheral Irumporai. Arunattarmalai, Velayudhampalayam A short Brahmi inscription, containing the word Chera ("Kadummi Pudha Chera") was found at Edakkal in the Western Ghats. Recent archaeological discoveries increasingly confirm Karur as a political, economic and cultural centre of ancient south India. Excavations at Karur yielded huge quantities of copper coins with Chera symbols such as
6831-428: The grandson of Ko Athan Cheral of the Irumporai clan. Inscribed portrait coins with Brahmi legends give a number of Chera names, with the Chera symbols of the bow and the arrow depicted in the reverse. The anthologies of early Sangham texts are a major source of information about the early Cheras. Cenguttuvan , or the good Chera, is famous for the traditions surrounding Kannaki , the principal female character of
6930-451: The large populations of Malayali expatriates there. They are a significant population in each city in India including Mumbai , Bengaluru , Chennai , Delhi , Hyderabad etc. The origin of Malayalam remains a matter of dispute among scholars. The mainstream view holds that Malayalam descends from a western coastal dialect of early Middle Tamil and separated from it sometime between the 9th and 13th centuries. A second view argues for
7029-528: The latter-half of the 18th century CE. Modern literary movements in Malayalam literature began in the late 19th century with the rise of the famous Modern Triumvirate consisting of Kumaran Asan , Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer and Vallathol Narayana Menon . In the second half of the 20th century, Jnanpith winning poets and writers like G. Sankara Kurup , S. K. Pottekkatt , Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai , M. T. Vasudevan Nair , O. N. V. Kurup , and Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri , had made valuable contributions to
7128-468: The modern Malayalam literature . The Middle Malayalam was succeeded by Modern Malayalam ( Aadhunika Malayalam ) by 15th century CE. The poem Krishnagatha written by Cherusseri Namboothiri , who was the court poet of the king Udaya Varman Kolathiri (1446–1475) of Kolathunadu , is written in modern Malayalam. The language used in Krishnagatha is the modern spoken form of Malayalam. During
7227-636: The modern Malayalam script does not distinguish the latter from the dental nasal ) are underlined for clarity, following the convention of the National Library at Kolkata romanization . Vocative forms are given in parentheses after the nominative , as the only pronominal vocatives that are used are the third person ones, which only occur in compounds. വിഭക്തി സംബോധന പ്രതിഗ്രാഹിക സംബന്ധിക ഉദ്ദേശിക പ്രായോജിക ആധാരിക സംയോജിക Chera Kongu Cheras Chera Perumals The Chera dynasty ( or Cēra , IPA: [t͡ʃeːɾɐr] ),
7326-399: The modern Malayalam literature. The life and works of Edasseri Govindan Nair have assumed greater socio-literary significance after his death and Edasseri is now recognised as an important poet of Malayalam. Later, writers like O. V. Vijayan , Kamaladas , M. Mukundan , Arundhati Roy , and Vaikom Muhammed Basheer , have gained international recognition. Malayalam has also borrowed
7425-683: The most important sources for the Cheras are the Pathitrupattu , the Akananuru , and the Purananuru . The Pathitrupattu , the fourth book in the Ettuthokai anthology, mentions a number of rulers and heirs-apparent of the Chera family. Each ruler is praised in ten songs sung by a court poet. However, the book is not worked into connected history and settled chronology so far. A method known as Gajabahu-Chenguttuvan synchronism ,
7524-673: The northernmost Kasargod district of Kerala. Tigalari script was also used for writing Sanskrit in Malabar region . Malayalam has also borrowed the Sanskrit diphthongs of /ai̯/ (represented in Malayalam as ഐ , ai) and /au̯/ (represented in Malayalam as ഔ , au) although these mostly occur only in Sanskrit loanwords. Traditionally (as in Sanskrit), four vocalic consonants (usually pronounced in Malayalam as consonants followed by
7623-643: The parameters of region, religion, community, occupation, social stratum, style and register. According to the Dravidian Encyclopedia, the regional dialects of Malayalam can be divided into fifteen dialect areas. They are as follows: According to Ethnologue, the dialects are: Malabar, Nagari-Malayalam, North Kerala, Central Kerala, South Kerala, Kayavar, Namboodiri , Nair , Mappila , Beary , Jeseri , Yerava , Pulaya, Nasrani , and Kasargod . The community dialects are: Namboodiri , Nair , Arabi Malayalam , Pulaya, and Nasrani . Whereas both
7722-580: The people of Kerala usually referred to their language as "Tamil", and both terms overlapped into the colonial period . Due to the geographical isolation of the Malabar Coast from the rest of the Indian peninsula due to the presence of the Western Ghats mountain ranges which lie parallel to the coast, the dialect of Old Tamil spoken in Kerala was different from that spoken in Tamil Nadu . The mainstream view holds that Malayalam began to grow as
7821-554: The people or the land]. Archaeologists have found epigraphic and numismatic evidence of the Early Cheras. Two almost identical inscriptions discovered from Pugalur (near Karur ) dated to c. 1st - 2nd century CE, describe three generations of Chera rulers of the Irumporai lineage. They record the construction of a rock shelter for Jains on the occasion of the investiture of Ilam Kadungo, son of Perum Kadungo , and
7920-410: The possible literary works of Old Malayalam found so far. Old Malayalam gradually developed into Middle Malayalam ( Madhyakaala Malayalam ) by the 13th century CE. Malayalam literature also completely diverged from Tamil literature during this period. Works including Unniyachi Charitham , Unnichiruthevi Charitham , and Unniyadi Charitham , are written in Middle Malayalam , and date back to
8019-500: The prehistoric period from a common ancestor, "Proto-Tamil-Malayalam", and that the notion of Malayalam being a "daughter" of Tamil is misplaced. This is based on the fact that Malayalam and several Dravidian languages on the Western Coast have common archaic features which are not found even in the oldest historical forms of literary Tamil. Despite this, Malayalam shares many common innovations with Tamil that emerged during
8118-449: The present day northern-central Kerala and Kongu region western Tamil Nadu. The rest of Kerala was under Ay dynasty (southern tip of Kerala) and Mushika dynasty (northern tip of Kerala).The political structure of the chiefdom was based on communal holding of resources and kinship-based production. The authority was determined by "the range of redistributive social relationships sustained through predatory accumulation of resources". There
8217-544: The ruling lineage and the country associated with them. The etymology of "Chera" is still a matter of considerable speculation among historians. One approach proposes that the word is derived from Cheral , a corruption of Charal meaning "declivity of a mountain" in Tamil , suggesting a connection with the mountainous geography of Kerala . Another theory argues that the "Cheralam" is derived from "cher" (sand) and "alam" (region), literally meaning, "the slushy land". Apart from
8316-545: The single largest linguistic group accounting for 35.5% in the Virajpet Taluk. Around one-third of the Malayalis in Kodagu district speak the Yerava dialect according to the 2011 census, which is native to Kodagu and Wayanad . In all, Malayalis made up 3.22% of the total Indian population in 2011. Of the total 34,713,130 Malayalam speakers in India in 2011, 33,015,420 spoke the standard dialects, 19,643 spoke
8415-545: The southern region of the present-day Kerala state (The coastal belt between Thiruvananthapuram and southern Alappuzha ) was under Ay dynasty , who was more related to the Pandya dynasty of Madurai . The early historic pre-Pallava polities are often described as a "kinship-based redistributive economies" largely shaped by "pastoral-cum-agrarian subsistence" and "predatory politics". Old Tamil Brahmi cave label inscriptions, describe Ilam Kadungo, son of Perum Kadungo , and
8514-582: The southwestern coast of the Indian peninsula, which also means The land of hills . The term originally referred to the western hilly land of the Chera dynasty (later Zamorins and the Kingdom of Cochin ), Kingdom of Ezhimala (later Kolathunadu ), and Ay kingdom (later Travancore ), and only later became the name of its language. The language Malayalam was alternatively called Alealum , Malayalani , Malayali , Malabari , Malean , Maliyad , Mallealle , and Kerala Bhasha until
8613-525: The speculations mentioned, a number of other theories do appear in historical studies. In ancient non-Tamil sources, the Cheras are referred to by various names. The Cheras are referred as Kedalaputo (Sanskrit: "Kerala Putra") in the Emperor Ashoka 's Pali edicts (3rd century BCE). While Pliny the Elder and Claudius Ptolemy refer to the Cheras as Kaelobotros and Kerobottros respectively,
8712-490: The standard dialects, 19,643 spoke the Yerava dialect and 31,329 spoke non-standard regional variations like Eranadan . The dialects of Malayalam spoken in the districts like Kasaragod , Kannur , Wayanad , Kozhikode , and Malappuram in the former Malabar District have few influences from Kannada . For example, the words those start with the sound "V" in Malayalam become "B" in these districts as in Kannada . Also
8811-469: The structuring of the Chera Perumal state. The rulers of the nadus usually acted with the help of a Tamil military retinue. The prominent nadus continued to exist even after the end of the Chera rule during the beginning of the 12th century. Nambudiri-Brahmin settlements of agriculturally rich areas (fertile wet land) were another major source of support to the kingdom. "A naval campaign led to
8910-591: The three major rulers – the Pandya , the Chera and the Chola – based originally in Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Vanchi , present day Karur , in Tamilnadu and Uraiyur ( Tiruchirappalli ) in Tamil Nadu, respectively. They had established outlets on the Indian Ocean namely Korkai , Muchiri (Muziris), and Kaveripattinam respectively. Territory of the Chera chiefdom of the early historical period (pre-Pallava ) consisted of
9009-590: The total number of Malayalam speakers in India, and 97.03% of the total population of the state. There were a further 701,673 (1.14% of the total number) in Karnataka , 957,705 (2.70%) in Tamil Nadu , and 406,358 (1.2%) in Maharashtra . The number of Malayalam speakers in Lakshadweep is 51,100, which is only 0.15% of the total number, but is as much as about 84% of the population of Lakshadweep. Malayalam
9108-405: The waist of the player. This article relating to membranophones is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to Kerala is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Malayalam Malayalam ( / ˌ m æ l ə ˈ j ɑː l ə m / ; മലയാളം , Malayāḷam , IPA: [mɐlɐjaːɭɐm] ) is a Dravidian language spoken in
9207-498: Was a Sangam age Tamil dynasty which unified various regions of the western coast and western ghats in southern India to form the early Chera empire. The dynasty, known as one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam alongside the Chola and Pandya , has been documented as early as the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE. Their governance extended over diverse territories until the 12th century CE. The Chera country
9306-494: Was also heavily influenced by the Tigalari script , which was used to write Sanskrit , due to the influence of Tuluva Brahmins in Kerala. The language used in the Arabi Malayalam works of the 16th–17th century CE is a mixture of Modern Malayalam and Arabic . They follow the syntax of modern Malayalam, though written in a modified form of Arabic script , which is known as Arabi Malayalam script . P. Shangunny Menon ascribes
9405-456: Was geographically well placed to profit from maritime trade via the extensive Indian Ocean networks . Exchange of spices, especially black pepper , with Middle Eastern and Graeco-Roman merchants are attested in several sources. The Cheras of the early historical period (c. second century BCE – c. third century CE ) are known to have had their original centre at Kuttanad in Kerala, and harbours at Muchiri (Muziris) and Thondi (Tyndis) on
9504-400: Was located on the mouth river Periyar. Vel Kezhu Kuttuvan is often identified with the legendary "Chenguttuvan Chera", the most illustrious ruler of the Early Cheras. Under his reign, the Chera territory extended from Kollimalai (near Karur Vanchi) in the east to Thondi and Mantai (Kerala) on the western coast. The wife of Chenguttuvan was Illango Venmal (the daughter of a Velir chief). In
9603-407: Was more than one branch of the Chera family ruling at the same time and contenting for leadership (one in central Kerala and the other one in western Tamil Nadu). The Cheras are referred to as Kedalaputo (Sanskrit: "Kerala Putra") in the Emperor Ashoka 's Pali edicts (3rd century BCE, Rock Edicts II and XII). The earliest Graeco-Roman accounts referring to the Cheras are by Pliny the Elder in
9702-641: Was the father of Imayavaramban Nedum Cheralathan ( Pathitrupattu (II) ). Uthiyan Cheral Athan is probably identical with the Perum Cheral Athan who fought against the Chola Karikala at the battle of Venni. In the battle of Venni, the Chera was wounded on the back by the Chola ruler Karikala . Unable to bear the disgrace, the Chera committed suicide by slow starvation. As the name Pathitrupattu indicates, they were ten texts, each consisting
9801-495: Was the most spoken language in erstwhile Gudalur taluk (now Gudalur and Panthalur taluks) of Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu which accounts for 48.8% population and it was the second most spoken language in Mangalore and Puttur taluks of South Canara accounting for 21.2% and 15.4% respectively according to 1951 census report. 25.57% of the total population in the Kodagu district of Karnataka are Malayalis , and they form
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