page_title: History of Kerala
section_title: Classical period
hierarchical_section_title: History of Kerala / Classical period
caption_attribution_description: Muziris in the Tabula Peutingeriana (the temple of Augustus is also visible in muziris)
context_page_description: The term Kerala was first epigraphically recorded as Ketalaputo in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by emperor Ashoka of Magadha. It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the Cholas, Pandyas and Satyaputras. The Cheras transformed Kerala into an international trade centre by establishing trade relations across the Arabian Sea with all major Mediterranean and Red Sea ports as well those of the Far East. The early Cheras collapsed after repeated attacks from the neighboring Cholas and Rashtrakutas.
  During the early Middle Ages, Namboodiri Brahmin immigrants arrived in Kerala and shaped the society on the lines of the caste system. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara was born at Kalady in central Kerala. He travelled extensively across the Indian subcontinent founding institutions of the widely influential philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. The Cheras regained control over Kerala in the 9th century until the kingdom was dissolved in the 12th century, after which small autonomous chiefdoms, most notably Venadu, arose.
caption: Muziris in the Tabula Peutingeriana, an itinerarium showing the road network in the Roman Empire.
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