Among the Cholas, Karikala (A.D. 190) stands out pre-eminent. He is described in a poem as the descendant of a king (not named) who compelled the wind to serve his purposes when he sailed his ships on the wide ocean-possibly a reference to the early maritime enterprise of the Cholas. Karikala’s father was Ilanjetceni ‘of many beautiful chariots’, a brave king and a hard ﬁghter. Karikala means ‘the man with the charred leg’, a reference to an accident by ﬁre, which befell the prince early in life. Other explanations for the name were invented in later times, however, and it has also been taken to be a compound word in Sanskrit meaning either ‘death to kali’ or ‘death to (enemy) elephant’. Early in life he was deposed and imprisoned.