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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[MAY, 1911.
egcaped a sea disaster. There are grounds to suppose that this prince was Toņdaimin Iļandiraiyan the ancestor of the Pallavas of Conjeereram. This account is interesting, as it shows the connection between the Cholas and the ancient Pallavas who had by this time advanced southwards and established a dominion near Conjee veram. Evident traces of the rule of the Killis in the Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts exist in such names as Kiļiñalar, Nalaikiļinallûr and Ril?ikadi, etc. The abbreviated form of Killi in the first two names supports the supposition that Kiļi is only A shortened form of Killi.
We cannot ignore the fact that the Pallavas had extended their sway into the Trichinopoly and Tanjore districts in ancient times. The inscription of the Pallava king Mahendravarman in the upper rock-cut cave at Trichinopoly, the ancient names of villages such as Simhavishņu-cbatar. vedimangalam! And Mahendramangalam 16 and the structural monument of the Pallavas discovered at Tiruppalgûr16 amply bear testimony to this fact. It is not, therefore, unreasonable to expect the mention of some of these l'allava sovereigis in Köyilolugu. Rajamahendra referred to in the book is perbapa identical with Mahendravarman. It is inexplicable why he is called a Chola, except by sapposing that the connection between the Cholas and the ancient Pallavas which we have already noticed in the legend about Toņdaiman Iļandiraiyap, led the author of Kôyilolugu to regard this king as a Chola. Among the Cholas described in Tamil literature, there is none bearing the name NandaChola. Nor does this name occur in the genealogy of the Cholas given in stone inscriptions and copper-plate grants of that branch of the revived Choļs kings who ruled from their capital at Tanjore. But in the Telugu districts of the Madras Presidency have been discoverad a number of inscriptions which belong to an earlier line of the same family who trace their descent from Karikala, Here, & sovereign called Nandivarman actually figures and he might be the person referred to in the Kôyilolugu.
A short note on the date of the three Álvars will not be out of place bere. Tirumangai's notice of the military achievements of Nandivarman Pallavamalla, in his hymn on Paramêsvaravinnagar is very well known. Rai Bahadar Venkayya has shown that this Vaisbộava saint was a contempo rary of the Pallava king Vayiramêgan whom be identifies with Dantivarman, the immediate successor of Nandivarman. The date thus arrived at for the saint is the last quarter of the 8th century A.D. Köyilolugu makes Madhurakavi and Nammalvar contemporaries of Tirumangai. Nammalvar appears to have been elder to Madhurakavi who is expressly stated to have set up an image of the former at Tiranagari. This statement is against what is said in the Guru parampardprabhava, where the relationship between Madharakavi and Namma var is stated to be that of preceptor and disciple. Madhurakavi Alvår's real name was Mirangari, which we find in the Vélvikudi copper-plate grant, and in a stone inscription in the Narasimha-peramal temple at Ânaimalai in the Madara district. In these, he is describəd as conversant with the sástras, as poet and as an eloquent speaker. He was a chief of Karavandapuram, bore the title Mûvendamangalapêraraiyan and was the crest-jewel of the Vaiydya family. He was the uttaramantrin of the Pandya king Marañjadaiyan alias Neduñjadaiyan. In the third year of this kiog the saint was living bat appears to have died sometime before A.D. 769-70, when the cave temple of Narasimha-perumal at Anaimalai was consecrated. It is thus evident that Madhura kavi lived prior to A.D. 769. If Tirumanga Alvar was a contemporary of Madhurakavi, as stated in the Kóyilolugu, it is just possible that he lived during the time of Nandivarman Pallavamalla whose last date is A.D. 765 and of his successor Vayiramêgan alias Dantivarman. Namma vâr's real name was Kärimaran and he was the adhikarin of the city of Kurugar alias Alvar-Tirunagari. The name suggests that he must have been the father of Madhurakavi, if the statement in the Köyilolugu, that the latter set up an image of
Kafijandr in the Tanjure district was known by this name in ancient times. 16 This village is in the Trichinopoly district. 10 This village is also in the Trichinopoly distriot.
