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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
known as Pūluva-nāḍu and places like Śēvūr in the Avināśi Taluk and Perumānallūr in the
Gopichettipalaiyam Taluk of the Coimbatore District are said to be in the Pūluva-nāḍu.[1] Similarly,
Poṅgal-nāḍu captured by Puṇīsa in the course of the campaign seems to be the Poṅgalūrkkānāḍu of the Koṅgu inscriptions. The village of Kīranūr in the Palani Taluk of the Madurai
District was included in those days in the Poṅgalūrkkā-ṇāḍu.[2] The Hoysala inscriptions of this
period mention Koṅgu, Chēram and Ānamale as forming the southern extremities of Vishṇuvardhana’s kingdom. Vishṇuvardhana claims to have squeezed Madurai in the palm of his hand[3]
and extended his victorious march even up to Rāmēśvaram.[4] One record stated that, ‘ on the
Pāṇḍya flourishing his sword’, Hoysalēśa ‘cut him down with his own sword, and left only half
a man to look on in the Tiguḷa army.’[5]
This does not appear to be a mere hyperbole, as we find an echo of Vishṇuvardhana’s invasion
in the inscriptions of the Tiruchirappalli District. A record[6] from Āḍuturai in the Perambalur
Taluk dated in the 4th year of the reign of Parākrama Pāṇḍya renews with the additional privilege
for some money collection, an old charter said to have been issued to certain Paḷḷi residents in
the 4th regnal year of Vikrama-chōḷadēva under peculiar circumstances. It is stated that ‘during
the war of Periya-vaḍugan, when the images of gods and Nāyanmārs were carried away to be
deposited at Dōrasamudra (Haḷēbīḍ in Mysore), [the Paḷḷis] rescued them, reconsecrated them
in the temple, and agreed to provide for the expense of maintaining the worship of these images,
making it a part of their communal obligation, in return for which act of service, the members
of the community were to enjoy ‘ the temple honours of silk parivaṭṭam and aruḷappāḍu ’. It is
also said that the above arrangement was approved and sanctioned by Perumāḷ Kulōttuṅga
Chōḷadēva,[7] thereby indicating that the rescue of the idols was effected immediately after they
were removed and within the life-time of Kulōttuṅga I. It is not clear from the inscription who
the Periya-vaḍugan waging war in the Tamil country was ; but the mention of Dōrasamudra
makes it evident that the Hoysalas were among the invaders. Another damaged inscription[8]
from Karūr, one of the capitals of the Koṅgu kingdom, dated in the 3rd year of the reign
of Vikrama-chōḷa, corresponding to 1120-21 A.D., states that the idol of Kūttanār (i.e. Naṭarāja)
in the temple of Tiruvānilai-Āḷuḍaiya Nāyanār at Karuvūr in Veṅgāla-nādu, a sub-division of
Vīraśōla-maṇḍalam which had been lost in the [days of the] revolt (kalahattil śēman=tappinamaiyil)
was brought back after a search and set up by the Śiva-Brāhmaṇas of the temple who also made
provision for worshipping the same. Evidently the country seems to have suffered very much
in the hands of the Hoysalas who were probably unscrupulous in striking terror in the hearts of
the people.[9]
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[1] Ibid., 1909, No. 184. See also Nos. 192, 211, 338 and 339 (pp. 185, 204, 308 and 309) of South Indian
Temple Inscriptions, Vol. I, published by the Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts Library. This region
is also referred to as Pūrva-nāḍu and possibly the Pūrva-rājar mentioned in the Velvikuḍi plates of the Pāṇḍya
king Neḍuñjaḍaiyan (above, Vol. XVII, pp. 291-308) are the rulers of the region.
[2] SII, Vol. V., Nos. 262 to 284.
[3] Ep. Carn., Vol. VI, Cm. 160.
[4] A. R. Ep., 1913, Part II, para. 47.
[5] Ep. Carn., Vol. V, Bl. 171. The mention of the Tiguḷa or Tamil army under the command of the Pāṇḍya
precludes the possibility of identifying him with an Uchchaṅgi chief.
[6] A. R. Ep., 1913, No. 35.
[7] Ibid., Part II, paragraphs 46-47.
[8]SII, Vol. IV, No. 387.
[9] There are inscriptions of the 47th and 49th years of the reign of Kulōttuṅga I (e.g. Nos. 620 and 647 of 1909
respectively at Tiruchchirai and Kōnērirājapuram in the Tanjavur District) stating that the lands of tenants
who had deserted the villages unable to pay the taxes for over two years were confiscated and sold to the temples,
and these are significant considering the time and the large number of such cases (see also Rangacharya, A
Topographical List of Inscriptions in the Madras Presidency, Tj. 74, 1219).
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