Uthiyan Cheralathan (c. 130 CE, titles "Vanavarampan" or "Perum Chottu") is the earliest known Chera ruler of early historic south India (c. 1st - 4th century CE), as attested by extant Tamil literary sources (the Sangam Literature). He is widely regarded as the hero of the lost decad of the Pathitruppathu Collection (the First Decad) and the earliest recorded ruler of the western coast branch (Muchiri-Vanchi) of the Chera dynasty.
Life and career Uthiyan Cheralathan was known by the royal epithet "Vanavarampan", meaning either "One whose Kingdom is Bounded by the Sky" or "Beloved of the Gods". The latter title had previously been adopted by the Maurya emperor Ashoka.
According to early Tamil poems, Uthiyan Cheralathan supplied both rival armies in the epic battle of the Mahabharata with sacred rice (or, alternatively, offered sacrificial rice to his ancestors), earning him the title "Perum Chottu". Notably, the same honor is also claimed by the Pandyas and Cholas. A later Chera ruler, "Kottambalathu Thunchiya" Makkothai, locates Uthiyan Cheralathan's great kitchen (the attil) at a place called "Kuzhumur", possibly in present-day Kerala.
Scholars do not support the poetic claim that Uthiyan Cheralathan, who bore the famous title "Perum Chorru", fed the hundred Kaurava and Pandava princes during the Mahabharata war. They consider this interpretation unhistorical, anachronistic, and historically implausible, since the epic is traditionally placed earlier in northern India.
Several historical works portray Uthiyan Cheralathan as a warrior who engaged in conflict with a Satavahana ruler. In Ancient Indian History (1988), Madhavan Arjunan Pillai specifically identifies this ruler as Satakarni II, whom he defeated.
Pran Nath Chopra, T. K. Ravindran and N. Subrahmanian state that during the reign of Perum Sorru Uthiyan Cheral Adan, the Satavahana ruler Satakarni II invaded the northern marches of Tamilakam and was defeated and driven back by the Five Velirs.
Veliyan Venmal Nallini, daughter of Veliyan — likely a member of the Ay family — was the royal consort of Uthiyan Cheralathan. He was succeeded by his son Nedum Cheralathan.
Uthiyan Cheralathan is sometimes identified with "Cheraman Perum Cheralathan". Perum Cheralathan was the opponent of the Chola ruler Karikala in the battle of Venni. During the battle, he was wounded on the back while leading his warriors. Unable to bear the disgrace, he committed suicide by slow starvation ("Sitting by Facing the North"). It is said that some of his companions also took their own lives, unwilling to be separated from him. The Perum Cheralathan of the battle of Venni is also sometimes identified with "Adu Kottu Pattu" Cheralathan.
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