Ponniyin Selvan (பொன்னியின் செல்வன், The Son of Ponni) is a 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 I), one of the kings of the Chola Dynasty during the 10th-11th century CE period. Ponniyin Selvan is a historical novel which centers on a number of real historical characters and incidents. The oldest evidence that is available on the Chola dynasty is about the Chola king Karikal Peruvalathan and then many other 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.
Ponniyin Selvan was the sobriquet given to Arulmozhi varman. Ponni was another name for the Kaveri and Arulmozhi was the darling of the Kaveri as in Ponniyin Selvan to all his people. The original title of Arulmozhivarman was Rajakesari Varman, Mummudi-Sola-Deva. He was the second son of the Parantaka Chola II alias Sundara Chola and Queen Vaanamaadevi. Raja Raja Cholan had an elder sister, Kundavai and an elder brother, Aditya Karikalan. He had a high regard for his sister, who spent her later life in Thanjavur with her younger brother, and named his first daughter after her.