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155
No. 28]
TWO INSCRIPTIONS OF KAMPANA FROM MADAM
During the last quarter of the 12th century A. D. the Chōla country stood restored to its original greatness in the time of Kulottunga-Chōla III (A. D. 1178-1216), who proclaimed his conquests by assuming the titles' Conqueror of Madura, Ilam (Ceylon), Karuvur, Kongu alius Virasōla-maṇḍalam, Kañchi and Vañji. Such wide conquests indicate the enemies that the Chōla sovereign had to encounter in order to rebuild the empire which at this period was nearly coextensive with the present Tamil districts, including portions of the Cuddapah and Nellore Dis tricts of the Madras State. This vast territory, for purposes of administration, was divided into a number of chiefships, each owing allegiance to the central power. Towards the close of Kulöttunga-Chōla's reign, we find that his kingdom, especially the northern portion, was ruled pre-eminently through the following chiefs :
1 the Telugu Chōḍas of the Nellore District,
2 the Yadavas with their capital at Kalahasti in the Chittoor District,
3 the Sambuvarayas in the North Arcot District,
4 the Malaiyaman chiefs of Kiliyur in the region around Tirukkōyilur in the South Arcot District,
5 the Kadavas who were coming into power in portions of the North and South Arcot Districts,
6 the Banas who had settled on the banks of the southern Penṛar and carved out a new province called Vāṇagoppāḍi,
7 the Adigaimans of Tagaḍur, i.e., Dharmapuri in the Salem District, and
8 the Gangas of Kōlar in the Mysore State with their jurisdiction extending to the present North Arcot District.
To keep these disintegrating forces under control was a great task, but the chiefs, when opportunities offered themselves, seem to have consolidated their position, independent of the central power, by entering into pacts or alliances with one another. In the time of Kulottunga-Chōla himself we find several such pacts3 entered into by some of them. Since we are chiefly concerned with the Sambuvarayas, we shall see what part they played in strengthening their position in the country when events were slowly drifting towards the collapse of the central power culminating in the imprisonment of the Chōla monarch Rājarāja III (A. D. 1216-1243) by one of his own subordinates, the Kidava chief Köpperuñjingadēva 1.
The Sambuvaraya' chiefs whose records are found in portions of the Chingleput, North and South Arcot Districts are said to have belonged to the Sengēņis family which was also otherwise known as Sambhukula. The earliest member hails from Muññurruppalli in Oyma-nāḍu. These chiefs figure as vassals in Chōla records from the time of Vikrama-Chōla (A. D. 1118) onwards, while some later members, to judge from their surnames, such as Kulasekhara Sambuvaraya and Sundara-Pandya Sambuvaraya, should have changed their allegiance to the Pandyas, evidently due to political exigencies. Most of these chiefs have surnames like Nalayiravan,
1 No. 227 of 1917.
2 Pudukkottai Inscriptions, No. 164.
3 Nos. 516 of 1902, 107 and 115 of 1900; 223 of 1904: 483 of 1908; 435 of 1913; 254 of 1919; 56 of 1922; 73 of 1945-46.
⚫ The Sambuvarayas belong to the Vanniya sect which is found in portions of Tanjore and South Aront Districts. Some members of this sect at Conjeeveram even now have the title Vira Sambhu (Varunatarppanam by Munisami Nayakar, pp. 225 and 235).
Sengēni seems to be a village from the title Sengenimangala-mittan (who rescued Sengenimangalam) assumed by a Sambuvaraya chief (No. 189 of 1918).
A village called Sam bukulaperumal-agaram was evidently founded by a member of the Sambuvaraya family (S. I. I., Vol I, pp. 102 and 105). In Sanskrit the form Champa is found for Sambhu.
7 No. 422 of 1922.
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