PREFACE.
IT doesn't require any very detailed statement of the reasons why a very correct knowledge and appreciation of the literature of a country are needed. For, the literature of a country is a mirror which reflects the civilization and institutions of a country very vividly in all its stages of development That a knowledge of the country's past and of the progress or transition is essential by way of stimulus to future progress, is conceded by all. The Tamil land owes a deep debt of gratitude to Mahamahopadhyayu V. Swaminatha Ayer, for l'eintroducing the great classical epics and pieces of heroic poetry, that possess in a pre-eminent degree the merits and excellences due to literary masterpieces. Of them Pathirruppattu wholly, and Silappathikaram partly, deal with the Chera dynasty of the immortal lines of Tamil Kings. The History of that dynasty is still shrouded in considerable obscurity. Any works that bear upon them, and any exposition of works that would serve to enlighten the public as regards their history and the achievements of their Kings in peace and war, and any narrative that would popularise the stories of those kings, would meet with à sure welcome from the eager Tamil reading public.
It gives me considerable pleasure to write a short prefatory note to the work of my friend who in undertaking to write in an easy elegant and classic prose, the life and times of such of the Chera Kings as can be gleaned from the said
