Malayaman

The Malayamān were chieftains (Velirs) 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.

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.

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.

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