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{{For|the film|Moovendhar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
[[File:South India in BC 300.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Areas of influence of Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas in 300 BC]]
[[File:Maurya Empire, c.250 BCE 2.png|thumb|300px|Three Crowned Kings ruled [[Tamilakam]] which comprised that part of India south of the [[Maurya Empire]] in c. 250 BCE.]]
{{TNhistory}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia|expanded=Middle kingdoms of India}}

The '''Three Crowned rulers''', or the '''Three Glorified by Heaven'''<ref name="A. Kiruṭṭin̲an̲ 2000 17">{{cite book|last=A. Kiruṭṭin̲an̲|title=Tamil culture: religion, culture, and literature|year=2000|publisher=Bharatiya Kala Prakashan|page=17}}</ref> or '''World of the Three''',<ref>{{cite book|last=Peter Schalk|first=A. Veluppillai|title=Buddhism among Tamils in pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam: Prologue. The pre-Pallava and the Pallava period|year=2002|publisher=Uppsala University Library}}</ref> primarily known as '''''Moovendhar''''', refers to the [[triumvirate]] of [[Chera dynasty|Chera]], [[Chola]] and [[Pandya]] who dominated the politics of the ancient Tamil country, [[Tamilakam]], from their three Nadu (countries) of [[Chola Nadu]], [[Pandya Nadu]] (present day [[Madurai]] and [[Tirunelveli]]) and [[Chera Nadu]] (present day [[Karur]] in [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Kerala]]) in southern India.<ref>{{cite book|first1=M.|last1=van Bakel |first2=Renée|last2=Hagesteijn |first3=Piet | last3=van de Velde |title=Pivot politics: changing cultural identities in early state formation processes|year=1994|publisher=Het Spinhuis}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2017}} They signalled a time of integration and political identity for the [[Tamil people]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|year=1997|publisher=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2017}} They would frequently wage war against one another under a period of instability<ref>{{cite book|last=Pollock|first=Sheldon|title=reconstructions from South Asia|year=2003|publisher=University of California Press|pages=298}}</ref> until the Imperial period of [[Rajaraja I]] who united [[Tamilakam]] under one leadership.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

== Origins ==
The etymology of the [[Tamil language|Tamil]] word for the three kings – Moovendhar (pronounced ''Mūvēntar'') – comes from {{lang-ta|மூ|translit=mū|lit=three}} and {{lang-ta|வேந்தர்|translit=vēntar|lit=king}},<ref>{{cite book|title=The journal of the Numismatic Society of India, Volume 47|year=1985|publisher=Numismatic Society of India|pages=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oktmAAAAMAAJ&q=venta+in+tamil}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=July 2017}} so strictly should be translated as 'Lord' (lesser-king) as opposed to 'King' which in Tamil is கோன் (''Kōn'').{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} They are mentioned by [[Megasthenes]] and the [[Edicts of Ashoka]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Chaurasia|first=Radhey Shyam|title=History of ancient India: earliest times to 1000 A.D.|year=2002|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist.|pages=246}}</ref> and first in [[Tolkappiyam]] among [[Tamil literature]] who was the first to call them '''Three Glorified by Heaven''' ({{indic|lang=ta|indic=வான்புகழ் மூவர்|trans=Vāṉpukaḻ Mūvar}}).<ref name="A. Kiruṭṭin̲an̲ 2000 17" /> [[Ptolemy]] and the [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] mention three kingdoms ruling [[Tamilakam]].{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

== Pandyas ==
[[File:Kerala and Tamil Nadu - combined district map.svg|thumbnail|The seats of Muvendhas lie in the modern states of [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]]]]
The [[Pandyas]] were the earliest of the Muvendhar and were of high antiquity being mentioned by [[Kātyāyana]] and [[Valmiki]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Tripati|first=Rama Shankar|title=History of ancient India|year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=31}}</ref> However the establishment of a [[Pandya]] territory is not known until the sixth century under King [[Kadungon]] who liberated the Pandya country from the [[Kalabhras]]. [[Xuanzang]] reports that [[Jainism]] was flourishing while [[Buddhism]] was declining during this period.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} They were famous for being patrons of the [[Tamil Sangams]] which were held in their capital, [[Madurai]]. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] mentions the Pandya country and its capital. The large number of Roman coins from [[Emperor Augustus]] to [[Emperor Zeno]] found in [[Madurai]] shows that trade flourished among [[Rome]], [[Greece]] and [[Tamilakam]]. Two embassies sent from the [[Pandya dynasty]] to [[Emperor Augustus]] were recorded.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}} The Roman and Greek writers praise Korkai (now called Tuticorin or Thoothukudi) as the seaport of the Pandyas.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

== Literature ==

The ''[[Silappatikaram]]'' alludes to the [[solar dynasty|solar]] ancestry of the Cholas and the [[lunar dynasty|lunar]] ancestry of the Pandyas. It does not mention anything about the ancestry of the Cheras.{{sfn|Alf Hiltebeitel|2009|p=472}} The 15th-century Tamil ''[[Mahabharata]]'' of Villiputtur Alvar describes the Chera king as from the [[Agnivansha#Interpretations|fire dynasty]], retaining the solar and lunar origins for the Chola and the Pandya kings, respectively.{{sfn|Alf Hiltebeitel|2009|p=471}} The ''Tiruvilayatar Puranam'' (or ''[[Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam]]''), possibly from the 17th century, also states that when Brahma re-created the world after a [[pralaya|deluge]], he created the Chera, Chola and the Pandya kings as descendants of the fire, the sun and the moon, respectively.{{sfn|Alf Hiltebeitel|2009|p=472}}

''Chola Purva Patayam'' ("Ancient [[Chola empire|Chola]] Record"), a [[Tamil language]] manuscript of uncertain date, contains a legend about the divine origin of the three crowned kings. According to it, the [[Shramana]] king [[Shalivahana]] (also known as Bhoja in this story) defeated [[Vikramaditya]], and started persecuting the worshipers of [[Shiva]] and [[Vishnu]]. After failing to kill Shalivahana with a rain of fire, Shiva created three kings: Vira Cholan (Chola), Ula Cheran (Chera), and Vajranga Pandiyan (Pandya). The three kings came to bathe together at the [[triveni sangam]] (three-river confluence) in Thirumukkoodal, and formed an alliance against Shalivahana. Next, they went through a number of adventures at various places, including Kashi and [[Kanchipuram|Kanchi]]. With the blessings of [[Durga]], they found treasure and inscriptions of Hindu kings from the age of [[Shantanu]] to Vikramaditya. They then reached Cudatturiyur (possibly [[Uraiyur]]), where Vira Cholan wrote letters to all those who worshipped Shiva and Vishnu, seeking their help against Shalivahana. A number of people assembled at Cudatturiyur to support the three kings' campaign. When Shalivahana heard of this preparation, he marched towards the south and took possession of the strong citadel at [[Tiruchirappalli]]. The three kings sent their envoy to Shalivahana, asking him to surrender and renounce his faith. When he refused, they and their allies assembled an army at [[Thiruvanaikaval]]. From an inscription that they had earlier found at Kanchi, they realised that there was a subterranean entrance into the Tiruchirappalli fort. They sent a few soldiers who entered the fort and opened its ''Chintamani'' gate. Their forces then entered the fortress, and defeated Shalivahana. ''Chola Purva Patayam'' dates Shalivahana's defeat to the year 1443 of an uncertain calendar era (possibly from the beginning of [[Kali Yuga]]).<ref name="WCT">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X4MoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA49 |title=Examination and Analysis of the Mackenzie Manuscripts Deposited in the Madras College Library |author=William Cooke Taylor |author-link=William Cooke Taylor |publisher=Asiatic Society |year=1838 |pages=49–55 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2017}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |author=Alf Hiltebeitel |title=Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMFdosx0PokC&pg=PA472 |year=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-34055-5 }}

[[Category:Tamil history]]
[[Category:Tamilakam]]

Three Crowned Kings - Revision history

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