Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/429

 CHERA AND OTHER SOUTHWESTERN KINGDOMS 371 position is unknown, but should probably be identified with that portion of the Konkans or lowlands be- tween the Western Ghats and the sea where the Tulu language is spoken, and of which Mangalore is the centre. The name of Kerala is still well remembered, and there is no doubt that the kingdom so called was equiv- alent to the Southern Konkans, or Malabar coast. The ancient capital was Vanji, also named Karur, or Karu- vur, the Kdpovpa of Ptolemy, situated close to Cranga- nore. This represents Muziris, the port for the pepper trade, mentioned by Pliny and the author of the Peri- plus at the end of the first century A. D. The etymological identity of the names Kerala and Chera is affirmed by philologists of high authority, but whether this theory be correct or not, it is certain that in early times the Chera kingdom included that of Kerala. According to an unverified tradition, the latter separated in 389 A. D., after which date the Chera realm was restricted to Coimbatore and the southern parts of Mysore and Salem. The crest or cognizance of the Chera kings was a bow. Their coins are very rare, and only two types, characterized by the bow device, are known, which are found in Salem and Coimbatore. The existence of a native work, the Keralolpati, which professes to give the history of Kerala, raises hopes which are disap- pointed by perusal. The authentic list of the Rajas of Travancore begins in 1335 A. D., and that of the rajas of the neighbouring