In an elaborate simile, Bard Nappacalaiyar deprecates himself in comparison with Kapilar who had "pre-empted poesy from all others, just as the Chera had pre-empted all other shipping on the Western Seas" (vanavan kutakatal polam taru navay ottiya avazhi pira kalam chelkalatu = just as, when the Chera has plied the western seas for the ships laden with gold, no other ship can follow).
After the discovery of Hippalus Wind (q.v.,) navigation along the West Coast of India was plagued by piracy under Nannan, the enfant terrible of Sangam history. The Chera King Kuttuvan suppressed the piracy and put an end to Nannan. Thereafter, trade with the west grew exponentially. The great hoards of Gold Roman Coins that followed was monopolized by the Chera.
Thus, there is some historiographical truth in the poetic figures and embellishments used by the Sangam Bards.
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