Chera Dynasty in the context of Three Crowned Kings

Coimbatore district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialised districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educational, information technology, healthcare and manufacturing hub of Tamil Nadu. The region is bounded by Tiruppur district in the east, Nilgiris district in the north, Erode district in the northeast, Palakkad district, Idukki district and small parts of Thrissur district and Ernakulam district of neighbouring state of Kerala in the west and south respectively. As of 2011, Coimbatore district had a population of 3,458,045 with a sex ratio of 1,000 and literacy rate of 84%.

Coimbatore district was part of the historical Kongu Nadu and was ruled by the Cheras as it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the west coast and Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore was in the middle of the Roman trade route that extended from Muziris to Arikamedu in South India. The medieval Cholas conquered the Kongu Nadu in the 10th century CE. The region was ruled by Vijayanagara Empire in the 15th century followed by the Nayaks who introduced the Palayakkarar system under which Kongu Nadu region was divided into 24 Palayams. In the later part of the 18th century, the Coimbatore region came under the Kingdom of Mysore and following the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the British East India Company annexed Coimbatore to the Madras Presidency in 1799. The Coimbatore region played a prominent role in the Second Poligar War (1801) when it was the area of operations of Dheeran Chinnamalai. In 1804, Coimbatore was established as the capital of the newly formed Coimbatore district. The district experienced a textile boom in the early 19th century due to the decline of the cotton industry in Mumbai.

The Kuntala country is an ancient Indian political region which included the north-western parts of Mysore and the southern parts of the Bombay Presidency. Kuntala coins are available since estimated 600-450 BCE. Kuntala formed one of the divisions of Southern India as late as 10th-12th centuries A.D. (other regions were: Chola, Chera, Pandya Telangana and Andhra). Each developed its own culture and administration. The Talagunda inscriptions mention Balligavi and nearby regions as parts of Kuntala. Inscriptions in Kubaturu near Anavatti mention Kubaturu as the Kuntalanagara. Kuntala is revered as one of the three great countries of Chalukya period in inscriptions.

The Kalabhra dynasty (also called Kaḷabrar, Kaḷappirar, Kallupura or Kalvar) were rulers of all or parts of Tamil region sometime between the 3rd century and 6th century CE, after the ancient dynasties of the early Cholas, the early Pandyas and Chera. Information about the origin and reign of the Kalabhras is uncertain and scarce. It is believed that they were once the feudatories of the and the Pallavas. Prof. M. S. Ramaswami Aiyangar, in his 1922 book "Studies in South Indian Jainism" asserted that the Kalabhra period was 'The Augustan age of tamil litrature" He also noted that many Pallava and Pandya records describe how the Kalabhras defeated the Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras and established their rule. The Kalabhra era is sometimes referred to as the "dark period" of Tamil history, and information about it is generally inferred from any mentions in the literature and inscriptions that are dated many centuries after their era ended.

Historian Upinder Singh states that Shivaskandavarman rise in the 4th century, as evidenced by inscriptions, show Kalabhras were not in power at that time near rivers Penner and Vellar (close to Kaveri). The Kalabhras dynasty had ended for certain by the last quarter of 6th century when Pallava Simhavishnu consolidated his rule up to the Kaveri river, south of which the Pandyas led by Kadunkon consolidated their power. Cholas became subordinates of Pallavas and they were already ruling Telugu region of Rayalaseema.

Ilango Adigal (a title, literally "prince ascetic", fl. c. 4th-6th century CE) was a Jain monk, belonging to the Chera royal family, from the city of Vanci in southern India. He is traditionally credited as the author of the epic poem Cilappatikaram (the Song of the Anklet), one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature.

In the patikam (the prologue) to Cilappatikaram, Ilango Adigal identifies himself as the brother of the Chera king Cenguttuvan (c. late 2nd century CE). However, it is generally assumed that the Adigal was a member of the Chera family who lived much later than Cenguttuvan and composed the poem based on a reliable version of the historical tradition concerning Cenguttuvan and Kannagi, the central figure of the epic.