They were also called Vellālar, 'lords of the flood,' or 'Karalar,' ' lords of the clouds,' titles expressive of their skill in controlling floods, and in storing water for agricultural purposes. The Chera, Chola and Pandyan Kings, and most of the petty chiefs of Tamilakam, belonged to the tribe of Vellālas. The poor families of Vellālas who owned small estates were generally spoken of as the Veelkudi-UIuvar or 'the fallen Vellālas,' implying thereby that the rest of the Vellālas were wealthy land-holders. When Karikāl the Great defeated the Aruvalar, and annexed their territory to his kingdom, he distributed the conquered lands among Vellāla chiefs.*[1] The descendants of some of these chiefs are to this day in possession of their lands, which they hold as petty zamindars under the British Government, †[2] The Vellāla families who conquered Vadukam, or the modern Telugu country, were called Velamas, and the great zamindars there still belong to the Velama caste. In the Canarese country, the Vellālas founded the Belial dynasty, which ruled that country for several centuries. The Vellālas were also called the Gangakula or Gangavamsa, because they derived their descent from the great and powerful tribe named Gāngvida, which inhabited the valley of the Ganges, as mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy. A portion of Mysore which was peopled mostly by Vellālas was called Gangavādi in the tenth and eleventh centuries of the Christian era. Another dynasty of kings of this tribe, who ruled Orissa in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, was known as the Gangavamsa .... In the earliest Tamil grammar extant, which was composed by a Brāhman named Tholkāppiyan, in the first or second century B.C.,
