The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c8.280

c8.280

[Vēmbil=Vēmbarrūr=Tiruviśalur near Kumbhakōṇam. Varaguṇa’s successes there and at Iḍavai in the neighbourhood took place when he was on the march northwards and before he reached Araiśūr. The history of what happened afterwards seems to be made clear by several records and by a passage in the Mahāvaṃśa (ch. li), which has already been quoted (above, s.v. A.D. 843). While Varaguṇa was absent at Araiśūr, king Sēna II of Ceylon sent over an army to the mainland with the object of deposing Varaguṇa and placing another on the throne of the Pāṇḍyas. About the same time, i.e., about A.D. 877-78, that was the last year of Sēna II, the Gaṅga king Prithivīpati I effected an alliance with the Pallava king Nṛipatunga, whose country was in danger from the Pāṇḍya’s advance, and together, the Gaṅga and Pallava forces—the latter led by the crown prince Aparājita—attacked Varaguṇa. A great battle was fought at Śrīpurambiyam or Tirupurambiyam, which ended in the defeat of the Pāṇḍya leader, but in the course of which Prithivīpati I lost his life. Varaguṇa perforce retired towards Madura; and, if we are to believe the Singhalese story, he died there of wounds received in battle. His successor Parāntaka-Vīranārāyaṇa, his own brother who had rebelled and had received the support of king Sēna, was then placed on the throne. (Cf. record at Ambūr, E. I. iv, 182.)]