Kerala - History - Ninth Century

The ninth century raised the curtain of a new epoch in Kerala history. The ancient capital of Vanchi fell into the hands of the Pandyas. The vanquished rulers founded a new capital near the old harbour city of Muciri (Muziri), now known as Kodungalloor. The new capital was called Makotai or Mahodayapura and was built around the great Siva temple of Tiruvanchikulam. No trace of the palace at Makotai remains today. The author of the Kokasandesa found it in ruins even in the 16th century. He saw in the ruins yet another example of the fickle nature of the goddess of prosperity.

The revival of the Chera kingdom was actually a byproduct of the Aryan Brahmin settlements and assumption of the socio-political dominance they had established. The Perumal was the Lord of Mahodayapura and the overlord of Kerala (Keraladhinatha). But his sovereignty was constrained by the preexisting power of the Brahmin settlements and the hereditary chieftains. Each Nadu or District had its own hereditary or nominated governor. Thus the great feudatories were the hereditary governors of Kolathunad, Purakizhanad, Kurumpanad, Eranad, Valluvanad, Kizhamalanad, Vempalanad and Venad.The northernmost district of Kolathunad was almost independent and was brought under Chera sovereignty by force towards the end of the 9th century. Venad, the southernmost district, was carved out of the ancient territory of the Vels. A new harbour city, named Kollam, was established here in AD 825. In the course of time, it became the second capital of the Cheras of Makotai. Kollam gradually gained in trade and prosperity under the leadership of Mar Sapir Iso, the Syrian Christian merchant prince. The founding of Kollam city marked the beginning of an era, which came into use all over Kerala and parts of the Pandyan kingdom and even in Ceylon by astronomers and officials, who tagged it on to the Saptarishi era. The Kollam era came to be known as the Malayalam era.