PONNIYIN SELVAN (Tamil: பொன்னியின் செல்வன், "The Son of Ponni") is a famous 2400 page 20th-century Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in 5 volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman (later crowned as Rajaraja Chola - one of the Greatest Kings in Tamil history who ruled in the 10th - 11th century AD).

Ponniyin Selvan is widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written in Tamil .It deals with the fortunes of the Chola empire during the 10th century. It was serialised in the Tamil periodical Kalki. The serialisation went on for three and a half years and every week its publication was awaited with great interest.

This novel was first published, as chapters in the Tamil weekly Kalki for about 3.5 years during the 1950's. Considering the huge popularity of the book and the author this novel was Nationalized by the Government of Tamilnadu and is available as an open source for anyone to publish.

Historical background :
Ponniyin Selvan is a historic fiction, which has mostly real historical characters and more of real historical incidents.

The oldest evidence that is available on the Chola dynasty is about the famous Chola king Karikal Peruvalathan and then many other famous kings after him such as Killivalavan , Nedunkilli , Perunkilli , etc. After this the trail runs cold and resurfaces as Vijayalaya Chola once again established the Chola dynasty after defeating the Pandiyas and the Pallavas.

Vijayalaya Chola (848-871 CE) was the founder of the Medieval Chola dynasty. He conquered the country from a vassal chief of the Pallavas, and established Pazhayaaru as the capital of the dynasty which was later shifted to Thanjavur during the rule of Sundara Chola. His son and successor Aditya I conquered the Pallavas and the Kongu country. Later, under the leadership of his son Parantaka I (c 907-955 CE), the Cholas acquired a dominion which foreshadowed the greater empire of Rajaraja and Kulothunga Chola I. Parantaka I won victories over the Banas, the Gangas, the Pandya and the King of Ceylon.

This fact and the extent of his conquest are known from his inscriptions. Towards the end of his reign, or before his death, the Rashtrakutas under Krishna III invaded the Tamil Country, killed the Chola prince Rajaditya at Takkolam (near Arakkonam) in c. 948 CE , and seized Tondainadu which they ruled for about a quarter of a century, confining the sway of the Cholas to their ancestral dominion comprising the modern day Tanjavur and Thiruchirapalli districts.

Continued in Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponniyin_Selvan