At the time of the Nativity, the south of India and the north of Sri Lanka were ruled by three Tamil kings, one for Kerala (southeast India), one for the Coromandel coast (eastern coastal part of south India), another for the Pandyan Kingdom which included the extreme south of India as well as the north of Ceylon (now the north of Sri Lanka). The writings of Nicholas of Damascus (1st century), adviser and friend of King Herod, describe the visit of Indian ambassadors from the Pandyan Kingdom sent in the 1st century B.C. to meet with Emperor Augustus of Rome. He states that each King commanded up to 600 kinglets. These great lords, Velirs, are part of a royal caste, all from aristocratic families and descendants of Tamil Kings. They constitute, since time immemorial, the Tamil nobility. The number of Velirs was so large that it is difficult to put a name on some statues.