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OCTOBER, 1895.)
EARLY SOVEREIGNS OF TRAVANCORE.
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seaport of Quilon, about 40 miles to the north of Trivandram. Whether the identification of Kolamba with Quilon in Travancore be correct or incorrect, it means in the couplet before us only the era, and not any particular place, unless, of course, a play upon the word is intended. I am inclined, therefore, to interpret god of Kolamba' to mean 'one who instituted or took part in the institution of the era of Kolamba,' or the Kollam year, in which case there would be also an obvious justification for the mention of this ancestor in particular, famous as he mast have been in those early days. The traditional account of the origin of the Kollam Era, as given in Mr. Shungoonny Menon's History, lends full support to this interpretation, which, in simple fairneas, I must say, struck me as the one most natural, altogether independently of that account. "In the Kali year 3926 (825 A. D.) when Udaiyamartåndavarman was residing in Kollam 2 (Quilon), he convened a council of all the learned men of Kerala with the object of introducing a new era, and after making some astronomical resenrches and calculating the solar movements throughout the twelve signs of the Zodiac and counting scientifically the number of days occupied in this revolution in every month, it was resolved to adopt the now era from the first of Chingam of that year, the 15th August 823, as Kollam year one, and to call it the solar year." Whatever might be thought of this explanation of the origin of the era. there can be no doubt that tradition reckons on Udaiyamirtândavarman having taken part in its institution. The change from Kôdai Mårtânla of the inscription to Udaiyamártánd of the tradition is easy and narural, the latter being a more frequent, as well as a more significant, adjunct of Mártánda, in the more favoured Sanskrit langnago, than tho Malayalam word 'Koda.
Iu justice to Mr. Shungoonny Menou, I must note also that I find in his pages & mention of Adityavarman as the sovereign of Travancore about the date of our record. " like manner," writes this author," the present Poonjat Rajah, who was a close relation of the Pandyan dynasty, emigrated to Travancore, and the hill territories of Poonjur were assigned as the residence of his family during the reign of king Aditya Varma of Travancore in 364 M. E. (1189 A. D.)."64 We bave only to expand Adityavarman into Aditya Ramavarman to make the name accord with our inscriptions. It would be extremely interesting indeed to prove, with the help of Mr. Shungoonny Menon's "records," and we but get hold of them, that Aditya Ramavaranan, just a year previous to the date of bis dedication of the drum to the temple of Gośâlâ at Trivandram, was in a position to assign to a fagitive foreign royal family a territory so far in the north as Poonjar. However that be, We have, I believe, sufficient evidence to maintain, in the meantime, that Aditya Ramavarman ruled over Vêņid in the Malabar month of Dhanus 365 M. E., and that his ancestor, Koda
Artandavarman, was the ruler of the same kingdom in the Kollam year one, i. e., about August 824.
VIII.
I will now discuss two small fragments, unworthy of attention, but for the important quarter from which they come. Next to Trivandram itself, the pla e now most closely associated with the ruling family is Årringal, about 22 miles to the north of Trivandram, and situated on the northern bank of the Vamanapuram river, about four miles from its mouth in the Anjengo backwaters. The female members of the royal house are now known as the Ranis of Arringal and the village and the country thereabouts are still regarded as their private property. Each Travancore sovereign has at the present day to visit the place soon after his coronation to complete the ceremonies in connection therewith, and he
69 According to this tradition then, the era has nothing to do with the foundation or re-foundation of the town of Quilon, as stated in the Travancore Government Almanac, page 162, Part III. Our inscriptions, however, allude to the 'apparence' of Kollam; which I take to mean the 'institution of the era, and not the foundation of any town. No town is known to have been founded in Malabar of such magnitude as to give rise to AD era. Shungoonny Menon's History of Travancore, page 88.
Tbid. page 92. - Poonjar, or Pagbara, is on the borders of the Madura district further to the north of Peermade. There is atery likelihood of the old chieftain of this place having had some relation or other with Madura. His family deity to this day is the goddess MtaAkahi of Madura,
