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The study of Sanskrit sources of Kerala history leads us to the inevitable conclusion that however the old Indian literature may be said to the deficient in the scientifically written histories, it does not totally lack in historical information which can well be pieced together to give us a connected picture of the contemporary times. This information can be gathered not only such original and authentic sources as the inscription, coins or archaeological remains but also from the literature.

A noteworthy feature of almost every work that has survived is the legendary or mythical origin of dynasties. The authors of these historical Kavyas, claim, merit, not for historicity, but for poetry because to them, the historical narrative is only the occasion, the elaborate poetry woven round it is alone essential. Therefore, as observed earlier, these works cannot be considered as proper history. However, it is a fact that they contain valuable historical information. But in purport and treatment they differ altogether from genuine works of history. For, instead giving a systematic and matter of fact account of the life and times of their patrons, the authors of historical poems put in their works a good deal of literary fancies mingled with facts. Thus we can see that Kerala has its own historiographical tradition, preserved in the form of Historical Kavyas and inscriptions.

The court poets of Kerala composed fancifull legendary biographies of their patrons, carrying little for historical facts. This resulted in the virtual absences of authoritative historiography. Inorder to please their patrons every court poet traced the origin of each dynasty to devine deities. They being attracted by romantic hero worship took their heroes to the acme of glory and did not care to depict the life of the people. A close examination of these works again shows a clear distinction in dealing with historical facts. Yet as indicated above, in Sanskrit literature, we get some valuable historical works. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Itihasas, also contain some historical references. Though the Puranas are full of legendary tales, their value as source for early Indian history is not meagre.

We can distinguish from these works, that the vast number of texts of Sanskrit literary works that contribute to our knowledge of historiography -local chronicles and historical biographies. In the later class we get the more important historical Mahakavyas inwhich we get a number of such literature like Musakavamsa of Atula, Visakavijaya of Keralavarma Valiya Koyil Tampuran, Keralodaya of K.N. Ezhuthaccan, Ramavarmakavya of Paccu Mutatu, Ramavarma vijaya kavya of Kunnan Variyar etc. These works seeks to describe the life of the well known personalities of powerful dynasties. In these works we meet the life histories of famous princes like Srimulam Tirunal Maharaja, Visakham Tirunal Maharaja, Martandavarma, Ramavarma Pariksit Tampuran, Devanarayana, Ayilyam Tirunal Maharaja etc.... and also deal with the dynastic histories of Zamorin, Cochin and Tiruvitamkur.