Indian Antiquary Vol 07

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 32

22
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JANUARY, 1878..
barons, and Viśvanâtha surrounded by his chiefs recalls, not so remotely, king Arthur and his Round Table.
Of the many stories told of king Viśvanâtha we will take that regarding how he dealt with five rebellious chieftains; it will perhaps be better told in minstrel measure, into which the words of the old chronicle readily slip:"Five chieftains in the Southland had tribute used to bring,
As vassals liege and loyal, to the great Pandion king;
But now, together banding, to their sovereign lord said they,
in the chronicles of romance; and even down in the far South, amid nations of Dravidian descent, there are stories popularly current of champions and exploits which Don Quixote would have put on the same shelf with the deeds of Amadis and Palmerin. Some instances selected from the collection of Oriental Historical Manuscripts, edited by the Rev. W. Taylor, may not be uninteresting, or unbefitting the Indian Antiquary.
Told still under village trees and at festival gatherings is the story of king Viśvanâtha, who ruled over the broad regions of Pandiyaland from Ârkât down to Travankor. His birth was not, of course, like the births of common men. In medieval romance some faery lady or enchanted princess would have been his mother, but in the East the tale goes that his father, Nå gama, whom Don Quixote would have called the Knight of the Serpent, was a great warrior and leader of armies, and, after being long childless, vowed to go in pilgrim guise to Kâsî, and try whether penitence and devotion would win his patron saint or god to grant him a son. So there he went, and after forty days of abstinence and prayer by the sacred stream the god vouchsafed a sign of acceptance, for, whilst bathing, his foot struck against a stone that proved to be an emerald lingam, and in a dream it was conveyed to him that if he returned home he should have a child. So in due time a boy was born, whom he named Viśvanatha, as a gift from the god, and who, when he was sixteen, surpassed all his peers in beauty, accomplishments, and skill in all weapons. Afterwards, when he came to the throne, he made his capital city, Madura, a moated and walled town, building a mighty rampart round it with circular bastions at intervals, seventytwo in all. Each bastion, with its adjoining wall, he gave in charge to one of his chiefs to hold, defend, and keep in repair; and, on the further condition of their raising and keeping always ready a contingent of troops for his service in time of need, he gave withal extensive districts to the chiefs in fief-liege. This was the origin of the Pâligars, a class well known to us in our early wars. Many of the bastions and much of the wall remain still, or did till lately, and many of the representatives of the chiefs survive on the lands then granted to this day. Here was feudal tenure and service established as firmly as by William the Conqueror and his
Fetch the tribute if you want it, for we will no longer pay.'
'Is it so P' said Viśvanátha; 'be ye sure we'll
not be slack
To come with men enough withal to bring the tribute back."
So with an army forth he marched, and carried war
amain
O'er all those rebels' lands; but they the contest did sustain,
For stout and fierce they were; and men on both sides thickly fell,
Till in camp and all the country round did moan
and wailing swell;
And Viśvanatha heard it, and in his heart he thought
That for him and for his glory such misery was wrought.
Forthwith he wrote a letter and bade his herald go And to the rebel leader this royal message show: Bethink ye now: ye are but five, and I one man alone,
Yet for our sakes ariseth up such grievous wail and moan.
This may not be; now list to me: let either force draw back
And a stone pillar build between, restraining all
attack;
And let us write a solemn pledge, and lay it on
the stone,
That ye five chiefs shall thither come and fight with me alone,
And if I conquer, then all ye, with but the weeds ye wear,
Yielding to me your lands and wealth, away on foot shall fare;
But should ye overcome, then I to you will render all
My kingdom and my riches, and abide your hum
ble thrall.
Now let this vow be written, and on the pillar laid,