Editing Thiruvananthapuram (section)

===Ancient Period===
The [[Chera dynasty]] governed the area of [[Malabar Coast]] between [[Alappuzha]] in the south to [[Kasaragod]] in the north. This included [[Palakkad Gap]], [[Coimbatore]], [[Salem, Tamil Nadu|Salem]], and [[Kolli Hills]]. The region around [[Coimbatore]] was ruled by the Cheras during [[Sangam period]] between c. first and the fourth centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the [[Palakkad Gap]], the principal trade route between the [[Malabar Coast]] and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="Trade">{{cite news |last=Subramanian |first=T. S |title=Roman connection in Tamil Nadu |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.htm&date=2007/01/28/&prd=th |access-date=28 October 2011 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=28 January 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919235748/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.htm&date=2007%2F01%2F28%2F&prd=th |archive-date=19 September 2013}}</ref> However the southern region of present-day Kerala state (The coastal belt between Thiruvananthapuram and [[Alappuzha]]) was under [[Ay dynasty]], who was more related to the [[Pandya dynasty]] of [[Madurai]].<ref>KA Nilakanta Sastri</ref>

The early rulers of the city were the [[Ay kingdom|Ays]]. [[Vizhinjam]], which is now a region in the present-day Thiruvananthapuram, was the capital of the Ay dynasty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woodcock |first1=George |title=Kerala: a portrait of the Malabar coast |date=1967 |publisher=Faber & Faber |page=[https://archive.org/details/keralaportraitof0000wood/page/65 65] |url=https://archive.org/details/keralaportraitof0000wood |url-access=registration |access-date=24 June 2018}}</ref> Vizhinjam was an important port city from as early as the second century BC.<ref name="vizhis">{{cite book |last1=Mathew |first1=K S |title=Imperial Rome, Indian Ocean Regions and Muziris: New Perspectives on Maritime Trade |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1351997522 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8iUlDwAAQBAJ |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nayar |first1=K Balachandran |title=In Quest of Kerala: Geography, places of interest, political history, social history, literature |date=1974 |publisher=Accent Publications |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXIeAAAAMAAJ |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> During the Ay dynasty's rule, Thiruvananthapuram witnessed many battles in which the [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] and [[Pandyan dynasty|Pandyan]] dynasties attempted to capture the port town.<ref name="vizhis1">{{cite news |last1=Babu George |first1=Sarath |title=Vizhinjam in historical perspective |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/vizhinjam-in-historical-perspective/article7468781.ece |access-date=9 July 2018 |newspaper=The Hindu |date=27 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="vizhis2">{{cite news |last1=Mahadevan |first1=G |title=Shedding light on Vizhinjam's golden past |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/shedding-light-on-vizhinjams-golden-past/article5981994.ece |access-date=9 July 2018 |newspaper=The Hindu |date=6 May 2014}}</ref>