In the years immediately following the
Sangam age (from third to sixth century CE), the Tamil lands were ruled by a dynasty called
Kalabhras. Scholar and historian
M. Raghava Iyengar identifies the Kalabhras with the Kalappalar section of the Vellalar and equates king Achyuta Vikranta with Achyuta Kalappala the father of
Meykandar who hailed from the Kaarukaathar community.
Buddhadatta, the Pali writer who stayed in the
Chola kingdom and authored Buddhist manuals refers (in the
Nigamanagātha of
Vinayavinicchaya, verse 3179) to his patron Achyuta Vikranta who was then (fifth century CE) ruling the Chola kingdom as
Kalamba-kula nandane meaning
the favourite of the Kalamba family. In
Pali language as in
Tamil, the word Kalamba or Kalambam (in Tamil) means the
Kadamba tree, the sacred
totemic symbol that is associated with Tamil god
Murugan. According to tradition, the Karkathar migrated from the Gangetic plains and over time spread over the entire macro region of present-day
Tamil Nadu. According to
satakams, the
Pandya country was settled by these people after they had resided in the
Chola country. According to historian
Burton Stein, this theory is purely mythical. Historian Usha R. Vijailakshmi observes that Verse 34 of the fake
Karmandala Satakam written in the year 1936, connects the origin of the Gangas to the origin of the Karakatha Vellalas of southern
Karnataka, as follows: The names Bhupālar, Dhanapālar, and Gopālar According to anthropologist
Nicholas B. Dirks, the
Pudukottai region was sparsely populated until the early Chola period. But with the beginning of the
Chola era, there is strong evidence of increasing agrarian settlement, the growth of villages, institutions, the construction and expansion of temples. According to the Tekkattur manuscript, the Karkathar were initially divided into
Kanāttars and
Kōnāttars, each of which had many exogamous sub-divisions. Kōnādu or the land of the king (
Chola country) mostly consisted of the regions north of the river Vellar except for the western part of the state where it included certain regions south of the river as well. Kanādu, literally meaning the land of the forests was included in the
Pandya country. The manuscript goes on to describe the decline in the position of the Karkathar after the initial golden age due to the fighting between the two branches over various issues such as land, rights to the water of the river Vellar, temples etc. and the subsequent settlement and dominance of the Maravars in the region who were initially imported from
Ramnad by both branches. The copper plate inscriptions held by every Maravar community in the region indicates that the Kōnāttu vellalar were victorious in the end. ==As founders of Saivite Mutts==