 According to this legend, the region was created when Parasurama threw his axe into the sea  Although it is known that the present-day region of Kerala was once governed by the Chera dynasty, little information exists regarding its early ethnography.Brahmin presence in the Tamil country is attested from the Sangam period onward.Based on the fact that Nambudiris are Pūrvaśikhā Brahmins wearing the traditional hair tuft on the front, T.P Mahadevan proposes that they are the descendants of these Sangam age Brahmins who moved west into the region of Malabar during the Kalabhra interregnum.