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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA fourteenth regnal year of Parakēsarivarman[1] and gave land as kāṇikkaḍamai five years later[2] to Araiyan Vīra-śōlan who in his turn gave it back to the ūrār of Andavanallūr after a period of six years[3] The date of this last transaction is the twentyfifth year of Parakēsarivarman’s reign, which is too high for any king bearing the said title and ruling in the period in question except Parāntaka I. It follows that Bhūti Vikramakēsari, the father of Bhūti Parāntaka, was a contemporary of Āditya I. It will thus be seen that Maravan Pūdi is the same as Bhūti Vikramakēsari who was the husband of Karraḷi and Varaguṇā and was a contemporary of both Nandivarman and Āditya I. The donor’s relationship with the Chōḷas may be examined here. His mother Anupamā was a Chōḷa princess according to the Mūvarkōyil inscription. One Pūdi Mādēvaḍigaḷ[4] is mentioned as the queen of Kannaradēva who may be identified with the homonymous son[5] of Āditya I, as she figures as the donatrix in an inscription[6] dated in the 6th year of Maduraikoṇḍa Parakēsarivarman, i.e. Parāntaka I. This Pūdi Mādēvaḍigaḷ was probably a sister of Maravan Pūdi.[7] A record[8] dated in the third year of the reign of Parāntaka I mentions Pūdi Āditta Piḍäri, the wife of Prince Arikulakēsari and the daughter of Tennavan Iḷaṅgōvēḷār. Thus Bhūti Vikramakēsari seems to be allied to the Chōḷa family through his female relatives, viz. his mother Anupamā, sister Pūdi Mādēvaḍigaḷ, and daughter Pūdi Āditta Piḍāri. It is interesting to note that within a few years from the date of the present record, the Chōḷa kings succeeded in weaning away the allegiance of the family ultimately from the Pallava side.
Maravan Pūdi alias Bhūti Vikramakēsari claims, in his Mūvarkōyil inscription, to have fought against Vīra-pāṇḍya who has been identified with Chōlan-talai-koṇḍa Vīra-pāṇḍya, the adversary of Sundara-chōla and Āditya II. It may be noted here that Vīra-pāṇḍya was a junior contemporary of Rājasiṁha, the opponent of Parāntaka I. In one of Rājasiṁha’s inscriptions,[9] a servant of Vīra-pāṇḍya is referred to and hence it may be presumed that Vīra-pāṇḍya continued the feud between the Chōḷas and the Pāṇḍyas after Rājasiṁha’s flight to Ceylon. Therefore it is possible to surmise that Bhūti Vikramakēsari encountered Vīra-paṇḍya during the reign of Parāntaka I. This may very well explain the vigour with which Āditya II fought and ultimately killed Vīra-pāṇḍya who was perhaps a continued source of trouble for the Chōḷas from the days of Parāntaka I. The Pallava king mentioned in the record under study may be identified with the last king of that name, viz. Nandivarman III. Of all the inscriptions referring to Maravan Pūdi, only the present record belongs to the reign of Nandivarman III and therefore its date may be taken as the ____________________________________________________
[1] SII, Vol. III, No. 139. Parakēsarivarman of this record is Parāntaka I and not Uttama-chōḷa as is shown
below.
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