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12. VAISHNAVISM
CHAPTER 19
KALABHRA INTER-REGNUM
REWRITING THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
KALABHRA INTER-REGNUM
Post-Sangkam Period - 300 A.D. to 600 A.D.
The people who controlled South India during this period is referred to as Kalabhas. But nothing of their origin, character, religion or social structure is known. One even wonders whether these were intentionally destroyed. Blotting out names and history was an age-old method practiced in ancient cultures. Historians affirm that this is exactly what happened in the case of South India as a whole until the fifth century. In Kerala this period extended until the eighth century.
Kalabhras were the South Indian dynasty who between the third and the 6th century C.E. ruled over entire Tamil country, displacing the ancient Chola, Pandya and Chera dynasties. Information about their origin and details about their reign is scarce. They did not leave any artifacts or monuments. The only source of information on them is the scattered mentions in Buddhist and Jain literature. They were displaced around the 7th century by the revival of Pallava and Pandya power..
Kalabhra Interregnum - With the ending of the progressive Sangam Age that was beamed with the literary advance in South Indian literature, the light faded and Kerala underwent a dark phase that lasted almost for four centuries. This epoch is known as 'Kalabhra Interregnum' and has been referred as the Dark Age in the history of Kerala. The Kalabhra Kings created mayhem and disrupted the social and political order of the South Indian Peninsula by overthrowing and deracinating the Adhirajas of Chera, Chola and Pandya dynasties which were a part of present day Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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