Senguttuvan

Senguttuvan
House	Chera Dynasty
Religion	Hinduism

Part of a series on the
Chera dynasty
Kings
· Uthiyan Cheralathan  · Imayavaramban Nedun-Cheralatan  · Cheran Senguttuvan  · Tagadur Erinda Perumcheral  · Yanaikat-sey Mantaran Cheral  · Kulashekhara Alwar  · Rajashekhara Varman  · Rama Varma Kulashekhara
Capitals
Vanchi Muthur Karur · Muchirippattanam  Mahodayapuram · Kulasekharapuram
Others Kalabhra interregnum Sangam period Patiṟṟuppattu Ay kingdom Ezhimala Hill Keralavarma (Kulasekhara) Mukundamala Tyndis Jaffna Vellalar Cheraman Perumal Kandalur War Adi Shankara Medieval Chola Empire Kerala school Malayalam calendar Vazhapalli plates
After the Cheras
Kingdom of Calicut Venad Kolathunadu Kingdom of Cochin
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King Senguttuvan; also Chenguttawan, was the most famous and powerful Chera king who ruled in Ancient south India during the early centuries of the Common Era. He is famous for the legends surrounding Kannagi, the heroine of the legendary Tamil epic Silapathikaram. According to legends, Ilango Adigal, a Jain monk and the author of Silapathikaram was king Senguttuvan's younger brother, but renounced the throne to become saint. Senguttuvan was a Hindu, and holds an important position in the expansion and consolidation of the ancient Chera kingdom. Senguttuvan moved his capital from present day Karur to Thiruvanchikkulam on the Malabar coast. Pliny, the Roman historian, writes that his seaport, Muziris (Pattanam), ‘abounds in ships’. Senguttuvan ruled for 55 years dated to c. 110–165 CE (according to the Pathirruppaththu ) or c. 241–296 CE.

Senguttuvan, says the epic Silapathikaram, was born to King Nedun-cheralathan, who bears the title, Imaya Varamban ("He who has the Himalayas as his boundary") and Nalchonai- the daughter of a Chola king Manikilli; and as such, he is seen as representing a Tamil unity. Senguttuvan was a great warrior, he said to have defeated the Yavanas, or the foreigners, and sent an embassy to China and his army consisted a powerful navy.

Senguttuvan and his father were great conquerors; their territories extended northward until the mountains. The three parts of the epic Silappathikaram emphasize the glory of the three Sangam dynasties-the Cholas, the Pandyas and the Cheras. In the Silappatikaram, there is reference to a certain Kayavaku, the king of Ceylon. He is said to have attended the coronation of Senguttuvan and in opening of Kannagi's temple. The Silappathikaram says that Gajabahu of Lanka invoked the goddess Pattini at Senguttuvan’s capital to come to his country and give her blessings on the day Senguttuvan’s father Imaya Varamban’s birth was commemorated there.

Senguttuvan's interest must have been in promoting trade with China. The Chera kingdom was already having trade with Syria, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Ayyavole inscriptions bear this out, as does the famous Polonnaruva inscription of Sri Lanka in the time of Vijayabahu (ca. 1120) in which the Tamil Idangai Velaikkarar are referred to in association with the trade organization of the Valanjiyar.^[1]

References

1. ^ A Survey of Kerala History by A Sreedhara Menon