Recently I received an email from one of the readers of my blog asking me how the Ancient Kings of Tamil Nadu were mentioned in Epigraphs and Inscriptions.He wanted to know whether these Kings were mentioned as Dravidas or how they were referred to.

An interesting question. Though I had written articles based on Epigraphs of Tamil Kings, this thought never struck me. I replied to the reader that though the Purans, at some places refer to Kings of Tamils as Kings of Dravida desa, here Dravida denoting South. Bhagavada Purana describes First Human Being Manu as an Emperor of Dravida Desa.But in other places these texts and Ithihasas mention Dravida kings in some places and Chera, Chola ,Pandya; in other places Kings reigning Dravida desa; or they mention the Kings by their names.

In the case of Epigraphs and Inscriptions , method is followed by the Kings is to record their names and also identify their Dynasty by their Titles, like Parakesari,Valavan,Sembiyan… in the case of Cholas; மாறவர்மன்(Maravarman), சடய வர்மன்(Satayavarman) got Pandyas; வானவரம்பன்(Vaana varambhan) ,இமய வரம்பன்( Imayavaramban) in the case of Chera.

Many kings added their unique achievements as their Titles, like Ariyappadai kadantha neduncheralathan,Mudukudumi Palyaga saalai Peruvazhuthi,Yaanaimerth thunjiya Chozhan,Kadaaram Kondaan,Perunchotru udhiyan Neduncheralathan.

# Link provided in Tamil copperplate inscriptions in this article is good source for Tamil inscriptions. Please check out.

A record of the Chola king Madhurantakadeva alias Uttama Chola.

Records that the temple of Tirunallamudaiyar was built of stone by Madevadigalar alias Sembiyan Madeviyar queen of Gandaradittadeva and mother of the king^[18]

Yet another inscription of him from the Masilamanisvara temple in Tirumullaivayil,Dated in the reign of the Chola king Parakesarivarman alias Uttama Chola deva;

records in his fourteenth year, gift of land by Sembiyan Madeviyar, queen of Gandaraditta Perumal and daughter of Malavarayar. The lands were purchased from the villagers in Ambattur in Ambattur-nadu, a district of Pular kottam Uthama Chola inscription

The Sanskrit portion of the bigger &nnamanfir plates begins with a fragmentary verse 
in which the king (perhaps Pdndya) boasts of having subdued the ocean—an attribute which 
the mythical Pdndya kings generally assumed in consequence, perhaps, of their sea-bordering 
kingdom, their naval power, and their sea-borne trade, from the earliest historical times. 
Prom him were descended the kings known as Pdndyas (v. 2) ‘ who engraved their edicts on the 
Himalaya mountain ’ and whose family-priest wffs the sage Agastya (v. 3). One of the 
Phndya kings is said to have occupied the throne of Indra (v. 4) and another to have shared 
it with that god, and still another, to have caused the Ten-Headed (i.e., Havana of Lanka) 
to sue for peace (v. 5). One was a conqueror of the epic hero Arjuna (v. 7) 2 . VerseS 
refers to a king who cut off his own head in order to protect that of his master and also to a 
certain Sundara-P&ndya who had mastered all the sciences. Many kings of this family had 
performed Vedic sacrifices Rdjasuya and A&samddha, (v. 9). 3 

' Bp. Ind., Yol. YIII, p. 317 f. 

* See Jnd. Ant., Yol. XXII, p. 59 and foot-note 4. • 

l he Tamil portion gives many more of each attributes to the Psndya ancestors ; see below p. 443. Source.
Tamil copperplate inscriptions.