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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA of the period,[1] is very rare. And this word also makes the syntax of the single sentence, in which the record is drawn up, rather ambiguous. The name of Kaṇita Māṇikka Śeṭṭi immediately following the pronoun nān may be taken either as the name of the donor or as qualifying the vasati, thereby meaning Chandravasati constructed by Kaṇita Māṇikka Śeṭṭi. The inscription is dated Śaka 967, corresponding to 1045-46 A.D. and the fortieth year of the reign of king Vikramachōḷa who bore the epithet Kō-nāṭṭān. This would place his accession in Śaka 928 or 1006-07 A.D., which would correspond to the 22nd year in the reign of the Chōḷa emperor Rājarāja I of Tañjāvūr. The object of the record is to register the construction of a new mukhamaṇḍapa in Chandravasati which was evidently a Jaina temple. The importance of the inscription lies in the fact that this is the first record citing both the Śaka and regnal years of a ruler who belonged to the line of kings with the title of Chōḷa, ruling over Koṅgu in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries of the Christian era. Incidentally, it also throws light on the circumstances under which this dynasty came into existence. It is to be noted at the outset that, ever though Koṅgu was a part of the Chōḷa empire for well over two centuries, no inscriptions of the Imperial Chōḷas of Tañjāvūr, with the exception of a few of Kulōttuṅga III, are found there. But it is significant that the names of the royal officers figuring as signatories in the Koṅgu inscriptions are found to be on many occasions similar to those of the regular Chōḷa records. The Koṅgu kings also bore the titles Rājakēsari and Parakēsari alternately like the Chōḷa kings of the main line of Tañjāvūr. The Koṅgu chiefs were probably ruling the area independently following the same tradition and regulations as the main line of the Chōḷas, having full autonomy within their territory, but acknowledging the suzerainty of the Imperial Chōḷas.
Whatever might have been that circumstances which necessitated the creation of this kingship, one thing seems certain. The person selected by the Chōḷa ruler to occupy this important position must have been a member, if not of the same stock, at least of a family of high rank and status, enjoying the confidence of the emperor. Vikramachōḷa who appears to be the first member of this line of kings, though bearing the cognomen of Chōḷa, does not appear to have been a member of the Chōḷa family as evidenced by the epithet Kō-nāṭṭān (he of Kō-nāḍu) applied to him.[2] Kō-nāḍu was a small tract in the basin of the river (southern) Veḷḷāru with Koḍuṁbāḷur in the old Pudukkōṭṭai State (now merged with the Tirucirapalli District, Madras State) as its capital.[3] The Vēḷir family which ruled over this region played a prominent part in the history of that part of the country in the early days of Chōḷa rule. The Irukkuvēḷs, as they were known to history, had very close family ties with the Chōlas, and we find several members of the Vēḷir family serving as officers under the Chōḷas holding important positions both in the army and in the administration of the country, Some of the Koṅgu kings appear to have borne the surname Kalimūrkka and we have inscriptions of Kalimūrkka Vikramachōḷa[4] and Vīraśōla Kalimūrkkapperumāḷ.[5] The title has also been assumed by the Chēra king Tribhuvanachakravartin Ravi Kōdai[6] who was probably a subordinate ____________________________________________________________ [1] SII, Vol. V. Nos. 225, 226 ; also Inscriptions (Texts) of the Pudukkottai State, No. 26.
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