Thought I'd create a thread on this just because eskandar said he loved to talk about it to anyone who was interested (such as myself!) and in case anyone else is interested. Not really sure how to start this off (I was originally thinking I'd try comparing and contrasting Amar Chitra Katha's two very different accounts of how Chandragupta Maurya came to power but then realized one story is much longer and considerably more elaborate than the other ).
Maybe I'll start with a flippant summary of Kerala's history. It's been relatively uneventful compared to many other parts of India. There apparently haven't been all that many wars in Kerala, but there have been lots of family feuds. There have been no devastating invasions that are remotely comparable to what North India has seen, more like just Europeans all tripping over each other to get our spices before the British won and mostly left us alone.