Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s5.t2: 4.4.2 Neṭuṅkiḷḷi
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s5.t2
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4.4.2 Neṭuṅkiḷḷi
c23.s5.t2.1
A potsherd found during recent excavations at Teriruveli (Mudukulathur Taluk, Ramanathapuram District) is incised in Tamil-Brāhmī with the name *neṭuṅkiḻ [*[ḷi*]* in characters of ca. 1st century A.D.⁶ The name is that of a Cōḻa prince, as *kiḷḷi* occurs only in Early Cōḻa names.
c23.s5.t2.2
⁶ Unpublished. I have seen the potsherd in the collections of TNSA at Chennai.
c23.s5.t2.3
Neṭuṅkiḷḷi was known mainly for his internecine fighting with another Cōḻa prince called Nalaṅkiḷḷi. Once Neṭuṅkiḷḷi withstood a prolonged siege of his fort at Āvūr by Nalaṅkiḷḷi, causing much distress to the people and livestock within the fort. The poet Kōvūr Kiḻār chastised Neṭuṅkiḷḷi for refusing to go out to fight or surrender the fort acknowledging defeat.⁷ On another occasion, Neṭuṅkiḷḷi was besieged at Uraiyur by Nalaṅkiḷḷi, when Kōvūr Kiḻār again intervened advising both the Cōḻa princes to desist from fighting among themselves ⁸ While at Uraiyur, Neṭuṅkiḷḷi mistook the poet Iḷantattaṉ to be a spy and ordered his execution, when Kōvūr Kiḻār interceded on behalf of the poet and saved his life.⁹ Neṭuṅkiḷḷi died at Kāriyāṟu.¹⁰ However, as the fragmentary pottery inscription has been found in the Pāṇṭiya country and consists only of a name, it cannot, with certainty, be attributed to the Cōḻa prince of the same name.
c23.s5.t2.4
⁷ *Puṟa*. 44.
c23.s5.t2.5
⁸ *Puṟa*. 45.
c23.s5.t2.6
⁹ *Puṟa*. 47.
c23.s5.t2.7
¹⁰ *Puṟa*. 47, colophon.
Linked texts (1)
- Puṟanāṉūṟu — Kapilar & Auvaiyār (Caṅkam), Tamil