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The Early Cholas of the pre and post Sangam period (300 BCE – 200 CE) were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Their early capitals were Urayur and Kaveripattinam. Along with Pandyas and Cheras, Chola history goes back to the period where the history is covered with the mists of time. Although we hear the exploits of a number of Cholas of this period through Sangam literature and later folklore, it is hard to elucidate exact histories with any amount of certainty. ==Sources== Ancient Tamil Nadu contained three monarchical states, headed by kings called ''Vendhar'' and several tribal chieftaincies, headed by the chiefs called by the general denomination ''Vel'' or ''Velir''.〔K.A.N. Sashtri, A History of South India, pp 109–112〕 Still lower at the local level there were clan chiefs called ''kizhar'' or ''mannar''.〔'There were three levels of redistribution corresponding to the three categories of chieftains, namely: the Ventar, Velir and Kilar in descending order. Ventar were the chieftains of the three major lineages, viz Cera, Cola and Pandya. Velir were mostly hill chieftains, while Kilar were the headmen of settlements...' —〕 The Tamil area had an independent existence outside the control of these northern empires. The Tamil kings and chiefs were always in conflict with each other mostly over property. The royal courts were mostly places of social gathering rather than places of dispensation of authority; they were centres for distribution of resources.〔K.A.N. Sastri, ''A History of South India'', p 129〕 The names of the three dynasties, Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras, are mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka (inscribed 273–232 BCE) inscriptions, among the kingdoms, which though not subject to Ashoka, were on friendly terms with him.〔'Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Satyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as Tamraparni...' —(【引用サイトリンク】 url= http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html )〕〔K.A.N. Sastri, ''The CōĻas'', 1935 p 20〕 The king of Kalinga, Kharavela, who ruled around 150 BCE, mentioned in the famous Hathigumpha inscription of the confederacy of the Tamil kingdoms that had existed for over 100 years. Karikala Chola was the most famous early Chola. He is mentioned in a number of poems in the Tamil Sangam literature.〔''Pattinappaalai'', ''Porunaraatruppadai'' and a number of individual poems in ''Akananuru'' and ''Purananuru'' have been the main source for the information we attribute now to Karikala. See also K.A.N. Sastri, ''The Colas'', 1935〕 Another source for the available information of the early Cholas is the early Tamil literature of the Sangam Period. There are also brief notices on the Chola country and its towns, ports and commerce furnished by the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (''Periplus Maris Erythraei''). ''Periplus'' is a work by an anonymous Alexandrian merchant, written in the time of Domitian (81 – 96 CE) and contains precious little information of the Chola country. Writing half a century later, the geographer Ptolemy has more to tell us about the Chola country, its port and its inland cities. Mahavamsa, a Buddhist text, also recounts a number of conflicts between the inhabitants of Ceylon and the Tamil immigrants. Chronicles such as the ''Yalpana Vaipava Malai'' and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu recount that Kulakkottan, an early Chola king and descendant of Manu Needhi Cholan, was the restorer of the ruined Koneswaram temple and tank at Trincomalee in 438 CE, the Munneswaram temple of the west coast, and as the royal who settled ancient Vanniar in the east of the island Eelam. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Early Cholas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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