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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA earliest for Bhūti Vikramakēsari. Another epigraph, dated in the 3rd year of Parakēsarivarman identified with Parāntaka I and referring to Pūdi Āditta Piḍāri, the queen of Arikulakēsari and the daughter of Tennavan Iḷaṅgōvēḷār, seems to provide the latest reference to this chief. The range of the period covered by these inscriptions, which is less than fifty years, does not allow us to suggest the existence of different chiefs bearing the same title Tennavan Iḷaṅgōvēḷār. Moreover every member of this family adopted a different title in order to distinguish himself from the others[1] and Maravan Pūdi was the only chief with the title Tennavan Iḷaṅgōveḷār, In view of the identification of his Pallava overlord mentioned in the present record with Nandivarman III, Bhūti Vikramakēsari’s claim to have defeated a Pallava king’s army (cf. Pallavasya dhvajinyāḥ)[2] on the banks of the Kāvērī deserves to be studied in the context of Parāntaka’s claim to have conquered the Pallavas.[3] The association of Tirukkōvilūr, the findspot of the present record, with one of the forebears of the Vēḷirs of Koḍumbāḷūr is clearly referred to in some of the verses in the Saṅgam literatue.[4] Malaiyamān Tirumuḍikkāri, a chief of this region, was famous for his philanthrophy. Very interesting is the statement[5] that the three kings (i.e. the Chēra, Chōḷa and Pāṇḍya) vied with each other in enlisting the support of this chief. We have already seen how the Koḍumbāḷūr family was wooed and ultimately admitted into the circle (varga) of the Chōḷas. The common patronage bestowed upon Vikkiyaṇṇan, probably a Vēḷir chieftain, by both the Chēra Sthāṇu Ravi and the Chōḷa Āditya I furnishes a clear contemporary evidence[6] of thee unique position enjoyed by the Vēḷirs in the Tamil country.
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[1] QJMS, Vol. XLVIII, p. 94 and table.
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