Coimbatore is the third largest city of the state, one of the most industrialized cities in Tamil Nadu, known as the textile capital of South India or the Manchester of the South India, the city is situated on the banks of the river Noyyal, Coimbatore existed even prior to the 2nd or 3rd century AD by Karikalan, the first of the early Cholas. Among its other great rulers were Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara kings.