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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[SEPTEMBER, 1917
ally and the dupe of Bhavani Sarkara-for the latter had not ceded to him certain villages. he had promised for his assistance-by promising him to cede the village of Kilânilai and the important fortress of Tirumaiyam. The confederate army then came near Arantângi, and here for a second time the possession of the Râmnad crown was contested. The allies had the advantage of numbers and of strength, and Bhavani Sankara was defeated and had to flee for his life to the Tanjore court. Here he pleaded, with success, his cause before the Maratha, and gained his alliance by promising to surrender, as its price, the whole of the Râmnad kingdom to the north of the Pamban river. Three months after this treaty, a formidable Maratha army was at the foot of the fortifications of Râmnad. Tanda Têvan had taken due precautions. He had once again applied for and obtained the help of Madura and Pudukkottai. In the war which followed the valour and conduct of the Tanjore general, Ananda Rao Peishwa, obtained two signal victories. In the first he vanquished the Madura men and prevented their junction with their confederates; in the second, he vanquished the Tondaman and captured two of his sons. The latter thereupon concluded peace, and withdrew from the contest. The victorious general then laid siege to Ramnâd, and before long entered it. Bhavani Sajkara thus triumphed. The pride of conquest was, according to one version, not blended with the spirit of moderation, and Bhavani Sankara incurred the odium of posterity by putting his rival to death.
Bhava ni's success and misrule. So ended the long struggle of Bhavani Sarkara for the Marava crown. He had twice got it and lost it, but now, after the seizure and death of Tanda Têvan, his triumph was complete. For nine years he governed the kingdom in peace. but at the end of that period ill-luck and imprudence resulted not only in the loss of his crown, but the dismemberment of his kingdom. Bhavani's name was very unpopular among his vassals and Polygars. His cession of a large part of Râmnad to Tanjore caused discontent. The exercise of a little tact would have silenced opposition and overcome zealousy ; but Bhavâ ni was wanting in that indispensable virtue. The feudatories therefore rose against him. Their leader was one Saśivarṇa Periya Udaya Têvan, a Hercules in valour, who was the Polygar of Vellikõttai, one of the eight divisions of Vijaya Raghunatha. He was indeed connected by marriage with the Setupati, but the tie of blood had been irrevocably snapped by oppression on the one hand and hatred on the other. The rising however was premature: Saśivarna was defeated, deprived of his estate, and compelled to seek safety abroad. He went to the Court of Tanjore, and there made friends with Katta Têvan, the Polygar of Arantângi, and the uncle of the unfortunate Tanda Tévan who had, after the tragic death of nephew, sought his refuge in the Tanjore kingdony. The two chiefs then planned together for the overthrow of their common enemy. "Then first work was to induce, by extravagant promises, the Tanjore king to give them help. The story goes that the Tanjore king was unwilling to overthrow a man whose greatness had been his own work, but that he was compelled to do so by a word which he accidently uttered. Either the desire to get rid of his guest's pressure or the joviality of a drinking bout made him promise assistance to Saśivarna in case he entered the cage of a fierce tiger. To the Marava Hercules, however, the fight with a tiger was a pastime. Entering the cage, he fought with the tiger and killed it. Unable to withdraw from his word, the surprised king of Tanjore placed a large army at the disposal of Sasivarna and Kattaya. His ambition, however, ha 1 taken care to obtain from them the promise of the lands to the North of the Pamban in case of success.
