Chenkuttuvan

Chenkuttuvan (c. 180 CE, literally 'the Righteous Kuttuvan'), title Kadal Pirakottiya, identified with Kadalottiya Vel Kezhu Kuttuvan, was the most celebrated Chera ruler of early historic South India. He is also mentioned in Chilappathikaram, the Tamil epic poem purportedly composed by the Chera prince Ilanko Adikal.

Chenkuttavan is eulogized by the poet Paranar in the fifth decade of the Pathitrupathu Collection, part of the Ettuthokai anthology of early Tamil literature. He was likely a member of the Muchiri-Karur branch (associated with present-day central Kerala) of the Chera dynasty. During his reign, the Chera territory encompassed the Malabar Coast (present-day Kerala) and the interior Kongu country (western Tamil Nadu). The influx of Yavana (Greco-Roman) gold into south India through the Indian Ocean spice trade during Chenkuttavan's reign is memorably described in ancient Tamil poems.

According to Fifth Decade, Pathitrupathu, Chenkuttavan achieved a major victory against a northern "Arya" king, occupied the forests of "Idumbil", and won another significant battle at a location called "Viyalur" (possibly against the powerful chieftain Nannan). He also destroyed Kodukur (likely located in the Kongu country), defeated a chieftain named Mannan of Mokur, and successfully intervened in a succession dispute in the Chola country, installing his chosen contender on the throne.

The martial achievements of Chenkuttavan are described — albeit in an exaggerated manner — in the medieval Tamil epic poem Chilappathikaram. A method known as the Gajabahu Synchronism/Triple Synchronism, based on Canto 30:160 of the text, is widely used by scholars to date Chenkuttuvan's reign to around the 2nd century CE.