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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA of the two kings under notice has come to denote a name rather than a title that it originally was, just as ‘ Rājādhirāja ’ a few years later. In the Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy for 1920, p. 109, it has been stated that Vīra-Chōḷa-Kalimūrkka was earlier in point of time than Parakēsarivarman Vīra-Chōḷa ‘ who ruled the two Koṅgus ’. It has also been suggested that Vīra-Chōḷa-Kalimūrkka might have been the son of Rājādhirāja Vīra-Chōḷa. But Parakēsarivarman Vīra-Chōḷa ‘ who ruled the two Koṅgus ’ was the successor of Rājakēsari Kulōttuṅga whose reign extended from 1149 to 1183 A.D. and the predecessor of Rājakēsari Vīrarājēndra whose accession took place in 1207. A.D. As such, he must have reigned in the period 1183-1207 A.D., and his inscriptions are all in Tamil of the twelfth century A.D. The records of Vīraśōla-Kalimūrkka-Perumāḷ are all in Vaṭṭṭeluttu characters of the 10th-11th centuries A.D. Neither could Vīraśōla-Kalimūrkka be made the son of Rājādhirāja Vīra-Chōḷa. His records and those of his father Abhimāna-Chōḷa Rājādhirāja are also definitely of the 12th century A.D. It may be noted that some of the records of Kalimūrkka-Vikrama-Chōḷa-Kōnāṭṭān found in places other than Piramiyam are in Tamil, and his reign marks the transition period from Vaṭṭeluttu to Tamil.
Two of the inscriptions edited hereunder (Nos. VI and VII) contain the historical introduction (meykkīrtti) of the Kōnāḍu chief Vikrama-Chōḷa. They present no differences in reading. They tell us that Vikrama-Chōḷa ‘ held his scepter righteously, fertilized the country, removed the sufferings of the distressed, received only a sixth share (of produce as tax), punished the wicked, guarded his subjects from external ills, and protected them as a mother would her babe ’. The description clearly points to the fact that the reign of Vikrama-Chōḷa was a peaceful one and that he was perfectly mindful of his duties as a just ruler. Inscriptions of Vikrama-Chōḷa Kōnāṭṭān are found at Aṇṇūr, Mūlanūr and Tiṅgaḷūr, besides Piramiyam. Of the four inscriptions found at Aṇṇūr, two are dated in the 2nd year[1], one in the 4th [2] and the other in the 27th year[3] of the king’s reign. The last one records the presentation of a metallic statue by a resident of Kavaiyanputtūr, i.e., Kōvilpāḷayam, of himself and his wife and registers also a gift of gold. The Mūlanūr epigraph[4] stops with the mention of the king’s name and date. It bears the 27th year. The Tiṅgaḷūr inscription,[5] besides furnishing a Śaka date with regnal year, refers to the construction of the mukha-maṇḍapa of the temple of Pārśvanātha Jina, called Chandravasati, at the place. Two others of the subjoined inscriptions (Nos. III and IV) reveal that the members of this branch of the Kōnāḍu chiefs, like those of the original line,[6] had matrimonial relationship with the royal house of the Chōḷas of the Vijayālaya line. No. III registers a gift by Nampirāṭṭiyār Vaḷavan-Mādēviyār (alias Iṭṭiy Muttār). She is very probably one of the queens of Vīraśōla-Kalimūrkka-Permāḷ, and Vaḷavan-Mādēviyār occurring in the descriptive part of her name shows that she was a princess of the Chōḷa family. No. IV, which registers a royal proclamation and gift made by Kōnāṭṭān-Vikrama-Chōḷa on the occasion of the death of his daughter, tells us that she was one of the queens of the Chōḷa king Vikrama-Chōḷa. These marriage alliances clearly indicate the high status of this branch of the Kōnāḍu family. Names such as Madhurāntaka-vaḷāgam in No. III, Vikramaśōla-Pallavaraiyan, Parakēsari-kāl, and Parakēsari-ulakku in Nos. II and V might reflect their having been so named after Parakēsari Uttama-Chōḷa and Parakēsari Vikrama-Chōḷa, i.e., Rājēndra-Chōḷa I, as the reigns of Vīraśōla-Kalimūrkka-Perumāḷ and Kalimūrkka-Vikrama-Chōḷa covered the latter half of the 10th and the first half of the 11th century A. D. as shown above. ________________________________________________________________ [1] ARSIE, 1922, Nos. 591 and 597.
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