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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA contemporary rulers ? That Varaguṇa was a contemporary of Nṛipatuṅga is proved by the Tiruvadi inscription[1] dated in the 18th year of the reign of the Pallava king. The Bahur Plates[2] dated in the 8th year of Nṛipatuṅga refer to the aid rendered by the Pallava king to a Pāṇḍya. The passage yat-prasādāj=jitā sēnā Pāṇḍyēna samarē purā of the record suggests that the Pāṇḍya could have been no other than the one who figures in the Tiruvadi inscription, i.e. Varaguṇa II and that the Pallava by whose favour the other (i.e. Pāṇḍya) obtained an army formerly was his ally.[3] What could have been the occasion for the Pallava to have gone to the aid of the Pāṇḍya ? In all probability it was the occasion of the Ceylonese intrusion on behalf of the ‘ill-treated’ Pāṇḍu prince who sought their aid. Nakkam-Puḷḷan claims to have led a contingent of elephants to Śennilam to the succour of his liege Varaguṇa-mahārāja. The record is silent about the source of this reinforcement. Could it have been the favour of the Pallava ? Granting that the arguments advanced above are admissible, the event that appears to have culminated in Varaguṇa-mahārāja regaining his throne may be reconstructed thus : an unknown Pāṇḍya prince, obviously a pretender appealed to the Siṁhaḷa king Sēna II for help ; the Singhalese army, under its commander met the Pāṇḍya king Śrīmāra in battle, wounded him and having set up the Pāṇḍu prince on the throne, was marching back to its country. At this Juncture Varaguṇa-mahārāja, the legitimate heir, aided by Pallava Nṛipatuṅga with a contingent of elephants led by Nakkam-Puḷḷan, routed the pretender as well as the Singhalese[4] and regained the throne. It appears thus that this might be the event recorded in the Perumbuḷḷi epigraph and therefore the act of Nakkam-Puḷḷan towards the Siṁhaḷarāja in the context of the situation discussed could hardly have been friendly. Indeed it could not have been otherwise in view of the continued loyal relationship that existed between the members of this family and the Pāṇḍya kings for four generations.
Among the places mentioned in the records viz. Kulumbūr, Iḍavai, Viliñam, Tirukkuḍamūkku, Śāḷagrāmam, Śennilam, and Paḷḷi-nāḍu, the identity of Kulumbūr or Śennilam is still unknown. Śennilam is one of the places where the Pāṇḍyas are known to have fought with their foes on more than one occasion. Māravarman, the father of Kō-chChaḍaiyan Raṇadhīran fought here against an unnamed enemy.[5] Parāntakan Vīra Nārāyaṇan Śaḍaiyan the successor of Varaguṇa II is also known to have shown his prowess in archery in the battle-field of Śennilam.[6] As for Iḍavai two different identifications have been proposed so far. One of them identifies the place with Iḍava in Maṇṇi-nāḍu on the basis of an inscription of a later date which gives also the other name of the village as Śōlāntaka-chaturvēdimaṅgalam.[7] The other identifies it with Iḍaiyārrumaṅgalam in the Lalgudi Taluk, Tiruchirapalli District on the basis of nearly contemporary inscriptions copied from the region.[8] Both the identifications have got their own merits _____________________________________________
[1] S. I. I., Vol. XII, No. 71 ; A. R. Ep., 1922, p. 1071.
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