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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JULY, 1908.
Personal characteristics of the king.
That he was a dark man appears from the descriptions : 'kuru-md-mani vannan,' r. 141 (he who has the complexion of the large blue jewel), and .kar-rannan pol vannan,' o. 145 (he whose complexion was as that of the cloud-coloured Vishậu ). He was a great lover of the Tamil language, as he is called :- tindami! véndan, ov. 1, 26, 67, &c. (the king who belongs to a race having sweet Tamil as its language), and ant - Agattiyantdy = urai - taru tin = damil kétton, v. 89 ( he who learnt classic Tamil as spoken in the days of old by the sage Agastya.)20 In Verse 228, Nedamêran is described as having churned the ocean and obtaining nectar therefrom given it to the Déves. The same facts are mentioned in verses 284 and 304. Perhaps he was regarded by the poot as the incarnation of Vishạn.
Battles won by the king : -- (1) Sennilem, vv. 1, 17, 20, 58, 65, &c. (2) Páli, v. 3, 18, 51, 78, 88, &c. (3) Viliñam, vo. 4, 7, 10, 30, 59, &c. (4) Köttáru, t. 5, 36, 86, 149, 234, &c. (5) Arrukkadi, bu. 6, 11, 26, 29, 43, &c. (6) Palandai, v. 8, 12, 27, 31, 87, &c. (7) Sérür, dv. 9, 16, 44, 46, 52, &c. (8) Naraiyaru, v. 15, 18, 23, 57, 100, &c. (9) Kadaiyal, v. 19, 21, 24, 34, 39, &c. (10) Nelveli, ov. 22, 53, 106, 116, 145, &c. (11) Maņarti, ov. 38, 42, 175. (12) Vallam, vo. 40, 99, 108, 119, 181, &c. (13) Veşmâtta, vv. 45, 237. (14) Kaļattûr, ov. 120. (15) Nedungaļam, op. 164, 180, 186, 188, 197. (16) Sangamangai, v. 202, 286. (17) Iruñjirai, ov. 205, 269. (28) Mandai, vo. 255, 261. (19) Kulandai, op. 257, 293, and (20) Vâţâru, v. 305.
Of these battles, those occurring at Arrakkudi, 21 Palandai,a Sêvůr, 23 Kadaiyal, 24 Naraiyaru,25 Köttáru, 2 and Viļiñam, 27 were fought with the Cheras. At Kottara, Páli and Kadaiyal the king is said to have encountered a number of kings (vv. 398, 162 and 39). The battle of Naraiyaru was probably a naval one (vr. 57 and 292).
10 Agastya is said to be the author of Parajattiyum, the earliest grammar of the Tamil language, whioh is now only known by quotations. The author of the earliest extant grammar, Tolkappiyandr, is said to have been his isciple. The work under discussion describes the Pêr sagattiyam as being extant in the first and second Sangams. 2 v. 6. vv. 8, 94, 118, 110. 33 wu. 16, 41, 92, 155.
v. 24, 36 v. 57, 187, 292. 16 v. 149.
1 v. 288
