Indian Antiquary Vol 43

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 17

JANUARY, 1914.)
THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
became Viceroy. The Saluvas, then, must have come to the Chola and Pandyan realms in the latter half of the 16th century, after the death of Lakkana, that is, during the reigns of Mallikarjuna and Virupaksha,-a conclusion which epigraphy unmistakably confirms.
The Saluva Governors of the South. The first of these southern Saluvas was the celebrated Gôpa Timma Nripati, or Sâļuva Tirumalaiya Déva Maha Raja, 66 as he was more commonly called. The period of his rule was, to judge from inscriptions, from 1453 to 1468, and during this period, he earned high renown as a generous donor of wealth, land and jewels to the Srirangam and Jambukesvaram temples. Tirumalaiya Dêva Mxhâ Raja seems to have been succeeded by Gôpatippa, alias Tripurântaka, who, not less generous than his predecessor, set up a golden flagstaff at Râmeivaram, in 1469 A. D. A third prominent chief of the South was Saluva Sangama Deva Maha Raja, whose two50 inscriptions at Ambil, belong to 1481-86, and therefore prove that he was a contemporary of Emperor Prauda Deva, during the last years of his rule. From this, it will be plain that, throughout the reigns of Mallikarjuna, Virupaksha and Prauda Dêva, the Sâļuvas were the masters of the major portion of the Empire. Connected with the royal family and entrusted with .viceregal powers in Mysore, in Arcot, and in the South, they proudly wielded the title of Maha Raja, and no doubt, by their immediate presence in their respective spheres, eclipsed the names of their suzerains. It is not improbable that, in their growing strength, they were not without enemies. The local chiefs and kings, in their real loyalty to the Emperor, or in their fondness for independence, must have naturally looked upon the proud but formidable Viceroys with jealousy, and not unoften, therefore, risen against them. In the mysterious and inexplicable circumstance of a Pândya, Bhuvanêkavira Samarakólahala, granting, according to a Conjeevaram57 inscription of 1469, two villages in the Pandyan kingdom to the Ekambaranátha temple in this, we perhaps see an example of such a local discontent and consequent disaffection, which had evidently a remarkable though temporary success. The identity of this Pândyan king is still a matter of uncertainty and controversy among epigraphists. It is not known whether he belonged to the Pandyan line which, as we shall see presently, ruled in the district of Tinnevelly from the middle of the 14th century, or he was simply a local chief of Madura, who was a feudatory of the empire. The anation will be discussed in detail in the next section ; but here it may be noted that ti. cising was perhaps due to the overbearing turbulence of the Sâļuvas. The triumph of the Pandyan, however, was evidently not long-lived. For it seems that, while the southern and middle parts of the empire were under the younger line of the Sâļuvas, the representative of the main and elder line, Narasimha or Narasingha as he was called in common parlance, had made
55 An inscription of his at Tiruvadi (Srimukha, 1453 A. D.) records the gift of an ornament to the shrine. (Ep. Rep. 1903): The Köyilolugu says that he contended with one Kampa Raja for the undisturbed possession of Trichinopoly. During this struggle all the people lived from 1458 to 1470 in the 100 pillared mantapa outside the town. In 1470 Tirumal Raja established himself. The Köyilolugu gives the details of his gifts to Srirangam temple. See 1888 edn. p. 68.
55 These are 593 and 594 of 1902. The Cholas at the same time seem to have been ruling at this time in Uraiyur. For, according to an inscription of Jambhukeavaram (30 of 1891) there was a king named Vala Kamaiya or Akkala Raja Mahamandaleshwara, also called Chola Narayana, in 1481 A. D. (Ep. Ind. III) He claims to be a descendant of the old Chola. Dr. Hultzach points out that insc. 56 of 1892 says that another "Lord of Uraiyur "Channaiya Baliya Deva, ruled there in 1530, and gave gifts to Ranganatha and Valli Nachiar at Uraiyur in 1530 A. D. And as this inscription refers to Krishna Deva Raya, Hultzsch says, “It thus appears that as late as the 15th and 16th century of our era, descendants of the Chola dynasty reigned at Uraiyara vassals of the kings of Vijayanagar" (Ep. Rep. 1892 Aug. p. 7).
57 Elliott figures a coin of this king. On the obverse is a kneeling figure of Garuda, and on the reverse the Tamil legends, Bhuvanékavira and Samarakólahala (Ep. Rep. May, 1890).