History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c13.44

c13.44

When did this expedition on Kāñchi start? Though no definite answer is possible it is presumable that this took place in the earlier half of Nandivarman’s reign, in all probability between A.D. 733 to 746, when the Pallava king was preoccupied with wars against the southern powers.³ In any case the occupation of the city by the Chāḷukyan army does not appear to have lasted for any considerable period. Nandivarman II was not slow in summoning his forces, to drive out the foreign invader from Kāñchipuram. How this was brought about and when it was brought about are not clearly known. Whether the achievement was effected by the single-handed efforts of his own generals unaided by a coalition of other powers of the Tamil land, it is not also possible to say. It is however clear that Nandivarman Pallavamalla recaptured Kāñchi, and continued to carry on the administration undismayed by the Chāḷukya invasion that took place. It is a mistake to suppose that the Chāḷukyan invasions in the reign of Pallavamalla either exhausted the resources, or cut short his reign. On the other hand in spite of the rude shocks that the raids of Vikramāditya and Kirtivarman must have caused, Nandivarman II continued in power as ruler of Kāñchi for the unusually long period of sixty-five years as we may safely ascribe the inscription recently discovered at the Seven Pagodas¹ to him.