NO. 61. 1908.] TAMIL VELALAS. 



15 



in order to save the life of a weak and helpless ascetic 

 who had appealed to him for protection that they were called 

 " Hoysala " and " Pulikadimal " — names implying, or ex- 

 plained, as it can be distinctly seen, by that story ? These 

 facts put together obviously constitute an irresistible array of 

 evidence that the Tamil Velir of two thousand years ago, and 

 the people called by the Canarese " Belalas " of nine hundred 

 years ago, were identical by race, rank, and name, and be- 

 longed to the Yadava race of ancient India. 



We shall now inquire into the history of the names " Vel " 

 and " Velala," by which the Yadavas of ancient Tamilakam, 

 and the Yadavas of Dwarasamudra, were respectively called. 

 Among the old dynasties which held sway over the countries 

 lying to the south of the Vindhyas there was one known as 

 " theChalukkyas," 1 whose primitive country was Gurjara and 

 the districts immediately to the south of it. At first they estab- 

 lished their sovereignty in the western portion of the Deccan. 

 But later, a branch of them took possession of the countries on 

 the eastern coast, and also ruled over some portions of the 

 south. In order to distinguish the one from the other, the 

 senior branch of the Chalukkyas was called " the Western 

 Chalukkyas," and the junior branch " the Eastern Chaluk- 

 kyas." Of these, the Chalukkyas who ruled over a portion 

 of the Tamil country would appear to have been known 

 to the old Tamil authors as " Velpula Arasar," i.e., the 

 kings of Velpulam, 2 or the Vel country. In the Tamil lexicon 

 " Divakaram," for instance, we find the following passage, 

 namely : 5< Velpula Arasar Chalukku Vendar," which means 

 " Velpula kings are identical with the Chalukku monarchs." 

 As " Divakaram" was compiled under the patronage of " Am- 

 barkilan Chendanar," whose praises are said, in the lexicon 

 itself, to have been sung by the poetess " Auvvaiyar " of the 



1 For a brief history of the Chalukkya dynasty please refer to" Gazet- 

 teer of Mysore," by Mr. Lewis Rice. 



2 From this it will be seen that the country of Maharashtra was 

 known to the ancient Tamils as " Velpulam." The tract about Bala- 

 bhipura (in Kathiawar) and northward is termed "Bhal," probably 

 from the tribe of "Balla." — Vide Tod's " Annals of Rajasthan," 

 vol. I., p. 219. If " Venadu," i. e., '< Vel Nadu" of old Tamil litera- 

 ture, was identical with the "Velpulam" or Vel country of the 



