Indian Antiquary Vol 22

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 74

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MARCH, 1808.
Thirty-two thousand as contemporaries of the Western Chalukya kings Vikramaditya VI., Sômêsvara III. and Jagadėkamalla II. respectively. A Yadava inscription belonging to the time of Krishna (Saka 1175), refers to "the Pandyas who shone at Gutti." The Hoysala king Ballila II. " restored to the Pandya his forfeited kingdom when he humbled himself before him." The kingdom referred to consisted of Uchchangi, - part of the Konkana,and the districts of Banavasi and Pânungal.37
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So much of the Pandya history we learn from inscriptions, numismatics and contemporary authorities. We shall now see what Tamil literature has to say on this dynasty. The following are some of the Tamil works which may be expected to throw some light on Pandya history: Tiruvilaiyáḍalpuranam, Periyapuranam, Pattuppattu and Purappatlu. The boundaries of the Pandya kingdom are thus laid down in Tamil works:- the river Vellaru to the north; Kumari (Cape Comorin) to the south; the sea to the east; and 'the great highway' to the west. According to Dr. Caldwell, the river Vellâru is the one which rises in the Trichinopoly district, passes through the Pudukkottai state, and enters the sea at Point Calimere; and the same scholar has identified the great highway' with the Achchankôvil pass.38 This would include a part of the modern state of Travancore into the Pandya kingdom. The Pandya king is often called Korkaiyáli, 'the ruler of Korkai.' From this fact it may be concluded that Korkai was once the Pandya capital:39 In later times the seat of the government was certainly Kudal (i. e. Madura). The Tiruvilaiyáḍalpuráņam is an account of the divine sports of Siva, as represented by the god at Madura, and professes to give a history of that town and its kings from very early times. It also furnishes a list of Pandya kings, most of the names in which sound more like birudas than actual names. Whether the accounts given in this work are based on genuine tradition or not, it has not been possible to determine from a lack of ancient Paulya inscriptions. It is almost certain that there are some historical facts contained in it. But they are so much mixed up with myths and legends that it is at present hardly possible to distinguish historical facts from worthless matter. The sixth verse in the Sanskrit part of the subjoined inscription refers to victories gained by some of the ancient Pandya kings over Indra, Varana and Agni, and reports that the garland of Indra had been wrested from him by the Pandya kings, and that some of them survived the great Kalpa. Some of the chapters of the Tiruvilaiyáḍalpuráṇam describe the futile attempts made by Indra to destroy the Pandya capital, Madura. One of these consisted in inducing Varuna to flood the city and drown it under water. A great deluge is said to have occurred during the reign of the Pandya king Kirtivibhushana, after which 'Siva re-created Madura as it was before. It is this legend that is referred to in the present inscription by the words mahákalp-ápad-uttúrishu. Again, in the chapter headed Varagunanukku-chchivalókan-gaṭṭiya paḍalam ("the chapter which describes how Varaguna was shewn the world of Siva"), the then reigning king Varaguna-Pandya is said to have gained a victory over the Chola king. In the 18th verse of this chapter, the Chola king is described as Néri-pporuppan, and his army denoted by the expression Killi-senai. It is not impossible that it was the Chôla king Ko-Kkilli who is spoken of as having been defeated by Varaguna-Pandya. This Chôla king is mentioned in the large Leyden grant and the copper-plate inscription of the Bana king Hastimalla, as one of the ancestors of Vijayalaya. The Kalingattu-Parani also mentions him, though not by name.
38 ibid. p. 73. 37 ibid. p. 68. "History of Tinnevelly, p. 24 f. 39 See note 33, above. 40 Dr. Caldwell, in the Introduction (p. 139) to the second edition of his Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, says that this purina was very probably translated from Sanskrit at the request of Ativirarama-Pandya, the poet king of Madura, and that it dates from the 16th century. To this Pandya king is generally attributed the composition of the Tamil poem called Naidadam (Naishadha); see the remarks on pp. 144 f. of the Introduction to the Comparative Grammar as regards the other literary productions of this king.
41 In verse 18 of the chapter headed Iraia-parampariyam, he is described as follows: tani naḍand -Uragartangan-mani kondav-avan, 'he, who, walking alone, seized the jewel of the Uragas (Nagas).' In Pandit V. Samindaiyar's edition of the Pattuppattu, p. 111, the same king is called Nagapattinatta-Chcholan, and the tradition about the birth of an illegitimate son to him by the Naga princess is referred to. In other Tamil works the name KilliValavan oocurs; see ante, Vol. XIX. p. 839.