Velir


The Velir were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakam in the early historic period of South India. They had close relations with Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers through ruling and coronation rights.

Origin

According to the Tholkappiyam, the earliest work of Tamil literature, eighteen clans of the Velirs came from the city of Tuvarapati under the leadership of the sage Agastya. The legend goes that all the gods and sages went to the Himalayas to attend the marriage of Siva with Parvati due to which the earth started tilting to one side. Agastya was then requested to proceed south to restore the balance. On his way south, Agastya married Lopamudra and is said to have brought with him sage Jamadagni's son Trnadhumagni or Tholkappiyar, the author of Tamil grammar, and eighteen members of the Vrishni family along with eighteen crore Velir and Aruvalar. It has been suggested by some like Thapar and Champakalakshmi, that the ancestors of the Velir may have been related to the Yadava of Dvaraka and the inhabitants of the post Harappan Chacolithic Black and Red ware sites. According to Thapar, the Yadava may have belonged to a non Indo-Aryan language group. They eventually reached Tamraparni, and as the Velir-Perumakan group, cultivated its ancient civilisation as a political, sociocultural and economic structure in South India and Sri Lanka.
Historians consider the Ay velirs are originally from the cowherd caste of Ayars and they gained preeminence at an early stage in Tamil history.

Velir chiefs

and his son Ezhini, were Athiyamān chieftains, based in Tagadur. They were contemporaries of Auvaiyar. The Sangam poem "Thagadur yathirai", now lost, was written about his battle with the Chera king. Another Velir was Irunkōvēl who ruled over Konaadu, the area in and around Pudukottai, with their capital in Kodumbalur. Nannan was another Velir chieftain who hailed from Tulu Nadu. Yet another Velir chief was Pekan of the Vel Avi family who ruled over Pothini, the modern Palani near Madurai. Other ancient Velir chiefs of repute include Alumbil Vel, Alandur Vel and Nangur Vel.