The Velir were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakam in the early historic period of South India. They were vassals and rivals of the Ventars (Chera, Chola and Pandya kings). They had close relations with them through marriages and coronation rights.
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History
According to the Tholkappiyam, the earliest work of Tamil literature, the Velirs came from the city of Dwarka under the leadership of sage Agastya and belonged to the Yadu clan.
Potsherds with early Tamil writing from the 2nd century BCE found in excavations in Poonagari, Jaffna bear several inscriptions, including the clan name "vela", a name related to "velir" from the ancient Tamilakam.
Velir chiefs
Athiyamān Nedumān Añci and his son Ezhini, were Adigaman chieftains, based in Tagadur. They were contemporaries of Auvaiyar. The Sangam poem "Thagadur yathirai", now lost, was written about his battle with the Chera king. Another Velir was Irunkōvēl who ruled from Koval (modern day Tirukovilur) on the banks of the Pennai, (the present Ponnaiyar River) which presently discharges into the sea at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. It is likely that the course of the river has changed to the south over many centuries. Other Velir chiefs of repute include Alumbil Vel, Alandur Vel and Nangur Vel.
The most famous Velir dynasty was the Athiyamān dynasty, and this dynasty's powerful and most famous king was Athiyamān Nedumān Añci. His son Elini ruled Kudiramalai of the ancient Jaffna kingdom and Vanni, a co-ruling contemporary of the famous king Korran. These kings belonged to a prolific Tamil horseman tribe. The ancient Tamil Naka Oviyar tribe of the Velir house, whose nation stretched to the Tamil emporiums of Mantai and Kudiramalai, included the king Nalliyakkotan who ruled this region and is paid tribute to in the Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai.
Each of the Velir dynasties ruled from their own capitals and utilized the seaport of Arikamedu.