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PALLAVAR OR TIRAYAR.
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the Pallavas, and whether references are made to them therein.
In Sangam literature the rulers of Kāñchi are Palla yra spoken of as Tirayan and Tondaiman.' They Sangam are further said to have come from the sea. Mention is made in Ahanānūru that the Tirayar were Lords of Vēngadam. According to Nachchinārkkiniyar, these Tirayar were connected further with the Nāga princes. Again, in the age of Senguttuvan, the ruler of Kāñchi was the brother of a king who ruled at Kāvirippoompattinam. But he is not known as Tirayan. These would show that Kāñchi was ruled from time to time by kings belonging to the various races. Some called themselves "Tirayar', others perhaps were mere fiefs of the Chola kings. Kāñchi, being near the border of the Tamil land, must have been the bone of contention between kings who belonged to different races. Vishnu Göpa, therefore, who was ruling at Kāñchi at the time of Samudragupta's invasion, not being a Chola fief, must, therefore, be a Tirayan.
One important information is furnished by The Tirayar Dubreuil in his Antiquities of Pallavas. Accord- Palla vas. ing to him the Pallaya rulers of Kāñchi had, as emblem on their coins, a ship with two masts. This explains their connection with the sea. The same author says that they were connected with the Nāga princes and there is every reason to believe that they came from the sea. Cannot therefore the Tirayar be identified with the Pallavas ?
were the
