Malayamān

The Malayamān were chieftains (Araiyars) who ruled Miladu Naadu (Tirukkoyilur) of Tamilakkam during the Sangam period and worked closely with the early Cholas of the Chola Dynasty and the Chera Dynasty. Chiefs of this dynasty readily took the title Chēdirāyan, and delighted in their rule of hill countries. This clan's most famous king was Malaiyamān Thirumudi Kāri. Their royal emblem featured a horse, depicted on their issued coins.

Many castes today claim descent from Malayaman. Dennis B. McGilvray believes that "Malayaman is just a section/title of the Udaiyar caste in South Arcot today"^[1] but Burton Stein also finds the title in a 13th-century inscription identifying Vanniar subcastes of South Arcot in the left-right caste classification typical of the Chola empire.^[2]

Copper-plate grant

Vanavan Mahadevi, a princess from the Malayaman clan, was the mother of the emperor Raja Raja Chola I. She committed sati at the king’s death and her image may have been installed at the Thanjavur temple by her daughter, Kundavai Pirāttiyār.

Malayaman coins

The Malayamans issued copper coins of quadrilateral shape which bore their royal emblem, a horse (sometimes facing left, and sometimes right). In some of the early coins, the legend "Malayaman" above the horse motif decorates the coin obverse. Most of their coins carried the symbolic map of their territory on the reverse: "A wide curved river with fishes flowing in it, and a hillock on side of the river". This depicted the territory over which they ruled. The Malayaman coins generally weighed from 2–4 g and were thin, unlike the contemporary Chera coins.

References

1. McGilvray, Dennis B. (2008). Crucible of conflict: Tamil and Muslim society on the east coast of Sri Lanka. Duke University Press.
2. Stein, Burton (1980). Peasant, state, and society in medieval South India. New Delhi : Oxford University Press.

Further reading

• "south_indian_inscriptions/volume_22". Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 2008-11-09.