When I was working in Geojit Comtrade as a research Analyst , it is my responsibility to publish the spices report. Writing content on every day basis might dry out any researcher. On such occasion I even tried to know the ancient history of spices. Slowly and gradually, ancient port of Muziris captured my imagination. That is how, I ended up in writing my first English novel Spice trader of Muziris.
Initially the theme was to write a new narrative about “Silapradhikaram” written by Elango adikal. But rather than the story of Silparadhikaram the word Elango adikal captivated me. I really don’t know why I was so fascinated with the word Elango adikal. Slowly and gradually a character emerged with the name of Elango, who is the son of a famous spice trader with the name Kovalen .
As per Kerala history the period between 300 AD to 700 AD is considered as dark ages.. The Chera King Perum irumporai ruled around 300 AD and thereafter no indication about the Chera kings who ruled Kerala. The second Chera dynasty started with Kulasekhara Varman started in the 9th century shows significantly different name patterns of the Chera king compared with the first Chera Kings dynasty.
I wanted to speculate about the history of Kerala in the dark ages without any claim on history. I know that , I am speculating with the information that is available in bits and pieces. Indirectly “ Spice trader of Muziris” speculates the history of Kerala during these dark ages. The invasion of Kalabras , the people who believed in tirthankaras might have happened during this time. Later with the help of Pallavas dynasty, Cheras kings regained their lost land. The emergence of Pallavas is again a shrouded mystery, from available sources it is believed that Brahmins and Nagas are the founders of Pallava dynasty. The Pallava Dynasty strongly supported the growth of Alvars, who were 12 Tamil poet saints devoted to lord Vishnu. I personally believe that dominance of brahmins and the name change of Chera kings are all related. It is understood that in the second Chera dynasty, the Chera kings ruled as Perumals, that means follower of Vishnu. The first Chera king of second dynasty is one of the twelve Vaishnavite Alvar.