Vijayaraga


Vijayaraga was the Chera ruler of medieval Kerala from c. 883/84—c. 895 AD. The reign of Vijayaraga likely witnessed the expansion of Chera Perumal influence into the neighboring Ay and Mushika or Ezhimala countries.
Vijayaraga appears as the royal prince as early as the fifth regnal year of the Chera Perumal king Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara. Records indicate that he married the daughter of Kulasekhara. An inscription referring to this princess has been found in the southern Ay country. It is also possible that Vijayaraga was the nephew of Kulasekhara. Two of his daughters were married to the Chola king Parantaka I.
Vijayaraga was formerly identified with king Goda Ravi of the Chera Perumal dynasty.

Inscriptions

Vijayaraga is likely the same ruler described as the Kerala king 'Jayaraga' in the Mushika Vamsa Kavya, an 11th-century dynastic chronicle from the northern Ezhimala country. According to the kavya, Jayaraga married the daughter of Kunchi Varma, the Ezhimala ruler of that period. The text also states that Vijayaraga later led a military expedition to the Ezhimala country against his brother-in-law Ishana, with the forces reportedly meeting on the banks of the Parassini or Kottappuzha River. It was apparently Goda Varma "Keralaketu", the son of Jayaraga, who eventually re-established an uneasy peace between the two kingdoms, with Jayaraga receiving tribute.