Inside Coimbatore

COIMBATORE...One theory for the city's name states that the name is a derivation of Koyanputhur (lit. new town of Koyan), chieftain Kovan or Koyan, who ruled region around the city. Kovanpudur or Koyanputhur evolved and became Koyambuthur or Koyamuthur; it was anglicised as Coimbatore. Another suggested etymology involves the Dravidian root āru 'river' (DED 4233).[13] Yet another theory states that the name could have been derived from Koniamman after the goddess whose temple is situated in the city.[citation needed] Henry Whitehead in his Village Gods of South India (1921) states that the goddess worshipped by Koyan came to be called as Koyanamma which evolved into Kovaiamma and later Koniamma.
The region around Coimbatore was ruled by Sangam Cheras and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the west coast and Tamil Nadu.[15] The Kossar tribe mentioned in the second century CE Tamil epic Silappathikaram and other poems in Sangam literature is associated with the Coimbatore region (Kongu Nadu).[16] Large numbers of Roman coins and other artifacts have been unearthed around Coimbatore, indicating the region's ties with Roman traders. The Coimbatore region is in the middle of the "Roman trail" that extended from Muziris to Arikamedu.[17][18] The medieval Cholas conquered the Kongu Nadu in the 10th century CE. A Chola highway called "Rajakesari Peruvazhi" ran through the region.[19][20] Much of Tamil Nadu came under the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire by the 15th century. The Vijayanagara reign brought new settlers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In the 1550s, the military governors (Madurai Nayaks) of the Vijaynagara Empire took control of the region. After the Vijayanagara Empire fell in the 17th century, the Madurai Nayaks established their state as an independent kingdom, with other Vijayanagar offshoots forming new kingdoms in Vellore, Tanjore, Gingee, Chandragiri and Mysore. The Nayaks introduced the Palayakkarar system under which Kongu nadu region was divided into 24 Palayams.[21]