Decline of Early Cheras
The fourth and fifth centuries witnessed the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire. Also in the post-Sangam, the Chera kingdom was invaded by a number of northern powers. A Kadamba record of the 5th century at the Edakkal cave in Wayanad bears testimony to the Kadamba presence in the deep south. Chera Kingdom seems to have affected by the Kalabhra upheaval in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. According to Buddhist works, Kalabhra ruler Achuta Vikkanta kept the Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers in his confinement and established control over large portion of southern India. The Kalabhras were defeated around the 6th century with the revival of Pallava and Pandya power.
The Chalukyas of Badami must have conducted temporary conquests of Malabar. An inscription of King Pulakesin I claims that he conquered the Chera ruler. A number of other inscriptions mentions their victories over the kings of Chera kingdom and Ezhil Malai rulers. King Pulakesin II (610–642) is also said to have conquered Chera, Pandya and Chola kingdoms. Soon the three rulers made an alliance and marched against the Chalukyas. But the Chalukyas defeated the confederation. King Vinayaditya also subjugated Chera king, and made him pay tribute to the Chalukyas. King Vikramaditya is also said to have defeated the Cheras.
King Simhavishnu and Mahendra Varman are first Pallava rulers to claim sovereignty over the Chera kingdom. Narasimha Varman and the Pandya ruler Sendan (654–670) also won victories over the Cheras. King Nandivarman II of the Pallavas allied with the Cheras in fight against the Pandyas under Varaguna I. Rashtrakutas also claim control over Cheras. King Dantidurga and Govinda III is said to have defeated the Cheras.
The Ay Kingdom, situated south of the Chera kingdom, functioned for long as an effective buffer state between a declining Chera kingdom and an emerging Pandya Kingdom. Later, the Pandyas conquered the Ays and a made it a tributary state. As late as 788 AD, the Pandyas under King Maranjadayan or Jatilavarman Parantaka invaded the Ay kingdom and took the port city of Vizhinjam. But, the Ays does not seem to have submitted the Pandyas and fought against them for almost a century.
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