[1][2] The language was employed in several administrative records and transactions (at the level of the medieval Chera kings as well as the upper-caste village temples).

[5][6] The start of the development of Old Malayalam from a dialect of contemporary [medieval] Tamil can be dated to c. 7th - 8th century CE.

[13] Some of the earliest extant Malayalam literary compositions appear after the early medieval period.

[9] Although Old Malayalam closely resembles contemporary [medieval] Tamil it also shows characteristic new features.

[16] Major differences between Old Malayalam (the Chera inscriptional language) and contemporary [medieval] inscriptional/literary Tamil of the eastern country are:[1] Some of the discovered inscriptions in Old Malayalam are listed below on the basis of their expected chronological order, also including their locations and key contents.