time, their territories were divided into a number of petty vassal principalities, chief among them Cannanore and Laccadives, Cotiote and Wynad, Cartinad (Badagara), Irvenaad, and Randaterra. The so-called "Five Friendly Northern Rulers" (Nilesvaram, Kumbla, Vitalh, Bangor, and Chowtwara) were contiguous to Kolattnad, north of the Kavvayi river. They engaged in frequent rivalry with their powerful neighbors in the south, the Zamorins of Calicut—a permanent feature of Kerala history. Cherusseri Namboothiri (c. 1375-1475 AD), the author of Krishna Gatha, a landmark in the development of Malayalam literature, lived in the court of Udayavarman Kolattiri, one of the kings of the Kolathiri Dynasty. History Background The origin of the Ezhimala rulers, the Mushaka Kingdom, and Kolathunad is unclear in terms of conventional history. Christian missionary Samuel Mateer opined: "There seems reason to believe that the whole of the kings of Malabar also, notwithstanding the pretensions set up for them of late by their dependents, belong to the same great body, and are homogeneous with the mass of the people called Nairs, So Namboodiris were reluctant to give Kshtriyahood to all the Nair lords, In 1617 A.D Kolathiri Rāja, Udayavarman, wished to further promote himself to Soma Kshatriya by performing Hiranya-garbhā, which the Nambũdiris refused. Consequently, Udayavarman brought 237 Brahmin families (Sāgara Dwijas) from Gokarnam and settled them in five Desams. (Cheruthāzham, Kunniriyam, Arathil, Kulappuram and Vararuchimangalam of Perinchelloor Grāmam). The latter adopted Nambũdiri customs and performed Hiranya-garbhā and conferred Kshatriyahood on the former. Ezhimala rulers The ancient port of Naura, which is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a port somewhere north of Muziris is identified with Kannur. Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) states that the port of Tyndis was located at the northwestern border of Keprobotos (Chera dynasty). The North Malabar region, which lies north of the port at Tyndis, was ruled by the kingdom of Ezhimala during Sangam period. According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a region known as Limyrike began at Naura and Tyndis. However the Ptolemy mentions only Tyndis as the Limyrikes starting point. The region probably ended at Kanyakumari; it thus roughly corresponds to the present-day Malabar Coast. The value of Rome's annual trade with the region was estimated at around 50,000,000 sesterces. Pliny the Elder mentioned that Limyrike was prone by pirates. The Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that the Limyrike was a source of peppers.Das, Santosh Kumar (2006). The Economic History