|
The Indian Analyst
|
|
South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA The Koṅgudēśarājākkaḷ[1] affirms that Āditya 1 after being crowned at Tañjāvūr-ppaṭṭaṇam came to Koṅgudēśa, conquered the country and governed it in addition to his own (i.e. the Chōḷa country). It is also stated therein that he took the town of Talaikkāḍu, implying that he gained a victory over the Western Gaṅgas and captured their capital. This is not improbable as we find the Noḷaṁba chief Mahēndra I in occupation of Dharampurī (ancient Tagaḍūr) in the Salem District in 898 A.D.[2] which was then probably included in Noḷaṁbavāḍi, and as we know that the Noḷambas had long ceased to be an independent power and become subordinate to the Western Gaṅgas who in turn were the subordinates of the Rāshṭrakūṭas. The Anbil plates[3] of Sundarachōḷa, great-grandson of Āditya, say that the latter built temples along the entire course of the river Kāvērī from the Sahyādri to the sea. This statement seems to lend support to what is found in the Koṅgudēśarājākkaḷ. Naṁdi Āṇḍār Naṁbi, the author of the Tiruttoṇḍar-tiruvantādi, in his verse[4] on Iḍaṅgali, a Vēḷir chief of Koḍuṁbāḷūr and one of the sixty-three Śaiva saints, incidentally refers to the chief as an ancestor of the family to which also belonged Āditya who covered the roof of the Chidambaram temple with gold [obtained] from Koṅgu. This statement is repeated by Sēkkilār in his Periyapurāṇam[5] and by Umāpati Śivāchārya in his Tiruttuṇḍar-purāṇa-sāram.[6] But the Tiruvālaṅgāḍu plates[7] and the Leyden grant[8] ascribe this pious deed to Parāntaka I. The Tiruviśaippā[9] of Gaṇḍarāditya on Kōyil also confirms the statement of the copper-plate records and says that the sabhā of Tillai was covered with gold by the Chōḷa king who conquered with the valour of his arm the Pāṇḍya country and Īlam. Perhaps both Āditya and his son Parāntaka were responsible for the pious deed or it might be that Āditya commenced the work which was finished by Parāntaka.[10] However, as the covering was stated to have been made with the gold obtained from Koṅgu, we may safely conclude that the conquest of Koṅgu was effected by Āditya I probably towards the end of his reign.
From that time onwards it appears that Koṅgu was under the rule of the Chōḷas. The expedition and conquest of Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam towards the end of Parāntaka’s reign by the Rāshṭrakūṭa king Kṛishṇa III does not seem to have affected the Chōḷa occupation of the Koṅgu country. So far no inscription of the Rāshṭrakūṭa ruler is known to have been found from that area. On the other hand, Chōḷa overlordship is acknowledged ih two of the records falling within this period and found in the region. A copper-plate grant from Tiruchcheṅgōḍu,[11] dated in the 5th year of the reign of the Chōḷa king Rājakēsarivarman, mentions the gift of lands to god Paramēśvra of the sacred Mūlasthāna at Tūśiyūr by the chief Kolli-Malavan Orriyūran Piridi-gaṇḍavarman. That this Rājakēsarivarman is to be identified with Sundarachōḷa Parāntaka II _____________________________________________________________ [1] Madras Govt. Oriental Series edition, p. 10.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
