Ay dynasty

[3] The clan traditionally held sway over the port of Vizhinjam, the fertile region of Nanjinad, and southern parts of the spice-producing Western Ghat mountains.

[4][1] Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century CE) described the "Aioi" territory as extending from the Baris (Pamba) to Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari).

[11] According to P. Shungoonny Menon (1878), the Ay family were classified as Pure Kshatriyas (by the Nambudiri Brahmins) and were related to the Mushika dynasty of northern Kerala.

[1] Originally the whole region of Venad (Vel+natu = the country of the Vel people, related to the Ay family) was part of the larger Ay-Vel territory.

[14] In c. 765 CE, Pandya king Jatila Paranthaka/Nedum "Maran" Chadayan Varaguna I (r. 765–815 CE) sacked port Vizhinjam by defeating the Vel chieftain (the Vel Mannan, who might have been related to the Ay family) and took possession of the Ay-Vel country ("the fertile country along with its magnificent treasures") (Madras Museum Plates of Jatila Parantaka, 17th year).

[8][15] This event is also remembered in the Velvikkudi plates (3rd regnal year, Nedum Chadayan) as "the suppression of the rebellious Ay-Vel" (or at the battle of "nattukkurumbu").

[18] A record of the Kizhan Adikal Ravi Neeli, the wife of Chera Perumal Vijayaraga, can be found in Tirunandikkara, a Shiva temple located in the Ay country.

[18][19] In 898 CE, Vikramaditya Varaguna is seen making huge land gifts to the Srimulavasa Buddhist vihara in the Chera Perumal kingdom (the Paliyam copper plates).

[1][7] The entire region to the south of Trivandrum, including the port of Vizhinjam and Cape Comorin, came under the control of king Rajaraja in the early 11th century.

[1] The kings of Kollam (i. e., Venad), Kodungallur (the Chera Perumal), and Kolladesam (Mushika) were also defeated by the Cholas (Senur inscription, 1005 CE).

Sri Padmanabhaswamy was the tutelary deity of the medieval Ay family
Podiyil Hills (the Aykudi)
Siva as "Tripurantaka" in Vizhinjam Cave Temple.
Trivandrum Museum Stone Inscription of Maran Chadayan (latter half of the 8th century)
Parthivapuram Grant
Parthivapuram Grant
Tiruvidaikkodu inscription I
Tiruvidaikkodu inscription I
Thirunandikkarai Inscription
Thirunandikkarai Inscription
Paliyam Copper Plates
Paliyam Copper Plates
Thirupparappu Plates
Thirupparappu Plates