________________
Chera' cannot
ta
tham Maura.
· THE RED CHERA. 133 different epithets in describing him but—that is the most astonishing thing--the description given by all the poets as regards the Kõsar and the ' Podiyil ’ is exactly similar.
Having established the contemporaneity of The Red Senguttuvan and the Mauryan invasion of be a contem
porary of the south, the next question is' who these Chandragupta Mauryas are. If Senguttuvan, ergo the Sangam - poets, flourished in the second century A.D., as has been conceived by some, what was the position of the Mauryas then? This period according to the best interpretation of North Indian history is the period of the rise of the Andhras and the Andhrabhrityas. It is innpossible, therefore, to conceive of a Mauryan invasion of the distant south at this time of Mauryan decay. Consequently, the 'Mauryas' under reference must be some other imperial race that undertook a great South Indian invasion later on in history. Before discussing who these were, let us dispose of one objection that might be brought forward. It may be pointed out that even supposing that the South Indian invasion took place during the time of Senguttuvan; the latter might yet be a contemporary of Chandragupta Maurya. To suppose so would be to upset the entire chronology of South India. The Sangam literature is full of references to the spread of Jainism and Buddhism during the Senguttuvan era. The consequential inference is that at that time Buddhism was rampant in South India and Ceylon. But
