Prehistorical Cholas
A number of mythical hero and demi-gods found their place in the ancestry claimed by the later Cholas in the long mythical genealogies incorporated into the copper-plate charters and stone inscription of the tenth and eleventh centuries. The earliest version of this is found in the Anbil Plates which gives fifteen names before Vijayalaya Chola including the genuinely historical ones of Karikala, Perunarkilli and Kocengannan. The Thiruvalangadu Plate swells this list to forty-four, and the Kanyakumari Plate runs up to fifty-two.
The Cholas were looked upon as descended from the sun. These myths speak of a Chola king, supposed contemporary of the sage Agastya, whose devotion brought the river Kavery into existence. There is also the story of the king Manu who sentenced his son to death for having accidentally killed a calf. King Shibi who rescued a dove from a hawk by giving his own flesh to the hungry hawk was also part of the early Chola legends. King Shibi was also called Sembiyan, a popular title assumed by a number of Chola kings.
Read more about this topic: Legendary Early Chola Kings