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History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c14: Chapter IX. Successors of Pallavamalla

History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c14

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Chapter IX. Successors of Pallavamalla

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IT has already been pointed out that the newly discovered Inscription of Nandivarman at the Ādivarāha temple at Mahabalipuram dated in the sixty-fifth year probably represents the last year of Nandivarman Pallavamalla. If this is a genuine record the reign of this king must have come to a close about the year A.D. 775. For the succeeding period of a century and a quarter during which the Pallava power continued before the region comprised in their kingdom was annexed by the Chōḷas, we come across with the names of a number of kings who, to judge from their names, must have been members of the Pallava family. Of these it is a little difficult to separate the lineal descendants of Nandivarman Pallavamalla from the rest. We have for instance stone inscriptions or copper-plate records for Dantivarman, Nandivarman, Nripatungavarman, Kampavarman, Īśvaravarman, Narasimhavarman, Vayiramēgavarman and Chandrāditya, all of whom are ascribable to this period (circa A.D. 800-900). The task of distinguishing these kings and assigning them to particular periods on the evidence of inscriptions has been rendered not a little difficult by the use of certain prefixes and affixes to names which have bewildered some scholars and led them to postulate strange theories. The most important of these is what is known as the ‘Ganga-Pallava theory’ which was adopted by the official epigraphists¹ almost until recently. This may be illustrated by a specific example. The Pallava king Dantivarman who is known to have ruled for over fifty years and succeeded Nandivarman Pallavamalla figures in inscriptions as Dantivarma-Mahārāja, Dantivikramavarman, Dantipōttaraśar, Dantivarman of the Pallavatilakakula, and Ko-Vijaya-Dantivikramavarma. Similarly in the case of Nandivarman it is equally difficult as this name occurs in the inscriptions and copper-plate records in the following varieties:—Nandipōttaraśar, Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman, Nandivarman of the Bhāradvāja Gotra, the victorious Nandipōttarayar of Teḷḷāṟu and Danti-Nandivarman. The difficulty is also intensified as the inscriptions of these kings have been found not indistinctly separate localities but indiscriminately throughout the region of the Pallava kingdom. As none of these records is dated in the Śaka or any known era their date has to be determined independently by means of palæography and other details noted in inscriptions.

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, vol. iv, p. 182; *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, p. 344; *Ibid.*, p. 505. The untenability of this theory is discussed by the late T. A. Gopinatha Rao in the *Madras Christian College Magazine*, vol. xxiv, pp. 530-9 and by Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil in his *Pallavas*, pp. 47-58.

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*The Probable Order of Succession.*—It is well known that Toṇḍamaṇḍalam was conquered by Āditya before the twenty-first year of his reign. It is also clear that Parāntaka I ascended the Chōḷa throne in the year A.D. 907.¹ As the Brahmadēśam and Tirukaḷukkuṉṟam inscriptions are dated in the twenty-seventh year of Rājakēsarivarman, who is identical with Āditya I, it may be presumed that the first year of his reign was A.D. 880. One of his inscriptions in the North Arcot District in the twenty-first year of his reign which records a donation near Kāḷahasti shows that by A.D. 900 his empire had extended as far as Kāḷahasti thus covering the Pallava empire.² The reigns of Dantivarman, Nandivarman, Nripatungavarman, Aparājita, Kampavarman and the other miscellaneous kings of the Pallava family whose inscriptions have been discovered in these regions have to be assigned to the period between about A.D. 900 and the last quarter of the eighth century when Pallavamalla ceased to rule. Omitting the reigns of the miscellaneous rulers like Kampavarman, Vayiramēghavarman, Kaṭṭirai, etc., we find that the total reigns of the others so far known comprise a period of roughly 118 years.¹

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¹ Ins. 735 of 1905.

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² Ep. Rep., 1907, p. 11.

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¹ Dantivarman . . . . . 51 years. Nandivarman (of Teḷḷaru) ... ... ... 23 ,, Nripatunga . . . . . 26 ,, Aparājita . . . . . 18 ,, Total ... 118 ,,

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If the conquest of the Toṇḍamaṇḍalam and the victory over Aparājita recorded in the Tiruvālaṅgāḍu plates,² may be assigned to the year A.D. 893, we may, by calculating backwards, assign the above-mentioned kings to the following periods which is in complete accordance with the evidence obtainable from contemporary Pallava inscriptions and copper-plates.³ The reigns of the Pallava kings named Vijaya Kampavarman, Narasimhavarman, etc., most probably overlapped those of the last two members above mentioned. The probabilities seem to be that towards the last quarter of the ninth century several members of the family began to rule their own small territories styling themselves kings, and these chiefs largely figure in the inscriptions that have come down to us along with the others.

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² S.I.I., vol. iii, p. 396, verse 49.

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³ Dantivarman . . . . . 775-826 Nandivarman III . . . . . 826-849 Nripatungavarman . . . . . 849-875 Aparājitavarman . . . . . 875-893

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Dantivarman (circa 775 to 826).—We have ascertained the exact period of his accession to the throne of Kāñchīpuram by calculating back from the conquest of Toṇḍamaṇḍalam by Āditya. We possess inscriptions for Dantivarman dated from the second year of his reign (No. 256 of 1922) to fifty-first year (No. 262 of 1904). His records have been found from Trichinopoly District in the south to Tiruchchānūr in the north. According to the Vēlūrpāḷayam plates (verse 16) issued during the reign of his son Nandivarman III he was descended from Nandivarman Pallavamalla through Rēvā the Rāshṭrakūṭa princess.⁴ Rēvā is here described as the chief queen who

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⁴ S.I.I., vol. ii, part 5, p. 501.

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| Dantivarman | ... | ... | ... | ... 51 years. |
| Nandivarman (of Teḷḷaru) | ... | ... | ... 23 | ,, |
| Nripatunga | ... | ... | ... 26 | ,, |
| Aparājita | ... | ... | ... 18 | ,, |
| | | | Total | ... 118 | ,, |

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‘ like the river Rēvā had her birth from a great king (from a high mountain).’¹ Dantivarman is stated to be ‘ a manifestation of the lotus-eyed Vishṇu himself, who was the delight of the earth whose object was the protection of the three worlds and in whom the group of pure qualities such as prowess, charity, and gratitude, attained eminence, as it were, after a long time enjoying the pleasures of each other’s company.’² From verse 18 we learn that Dantivarman married a Kadamba princess called Aggaḷanimmaṭi described as the daughter of a Kadamba king—the crest-jewel of the Kadamba family. The name of this Kadamba king is not known. About the year A.D. 804 Govinda III, the Rāshṭrakūṭa king, appears to have invaded Kāñchi. A Rāshṭrakūṭa grant, dated Thursday the fifth tithi of the dark fortnight of the month of Vaiśāka of the year Subhānu, Śaka 726, expired, corresponding to Thursday, 4th April, A.D. 804, claims that Govinda III had conquered Dantiga, the ruler of Kāñchi and levied tribute from him.³ The reasons prompting this Rāshṭrakūṭa attack on Kāñchi especially as Dantivarman the Pallava king was presumably a grandson of Dantidurga are not clear.

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¹ Ibid., p. 508, vv. 16, 17.

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² Ibid., p. 508, vv. 16, 17.

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³ Ind. Ant., vol. xi, p. 127.

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One of his Tamil inscriptions dated in the twelfth year of his reign has been discovered at the Pārthasārathi temple at Triplicane (Madras).⁴ This inscription consists of nineteen lines of Tamil prose and is on a stone close to the entrance of the garbhagṛiha of the temple. Dantivarman is here described as ‘ the ornament of the Pallava family ’ and as belonging to the Bhāradvāja Gotra. The object of the inscription is to record a gift of land. It is clear from this record that the Triplicane temple which is mentioned also in the hymns of the first Āḷvārs, continued to flourish during this period. Tirumangai Āḷvār, one of the Vaishṇava Āḷvārs, refers to this temple and the locality, and has recorded the important fact that a Pallava king constructed the temple.⁵

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⁴ Ep. Ind., vol. viii, p. 291.

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⁵ This Pallava king referred to by Tirumangai Āḷvār was presumably an earlier king of Kāñchi who preceded Dantivarman.

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Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil argues,¹ from the fact that the inscription of Dantivarman ranging from the sixteenth year of his reign to the fifty-first year does not occur in any of the monuments found on the banks of the Kaveri while a dozen inscriptions of the Pāṇḍyan king Māran Śaḍaiyan are found in the same region, that Dantivarman temporarily lost a part of his dominions in the south owing to the incursions of the Pāṇḍyas. According to him Varaguṇa-Mahārāja led an invasion into the Pallava territory in the reign of Dantivarman. The Ambāsamudram inscription of the sixteenth year of this king is dated when this king was encamped in Araisūr on the banks of the Pennar. In the north, the Guḍimallam inscription shows that the Bāṇa king Vijayādityamāvalivāṇarāyar was a feudatory of Dantivarman. This record is dated in the forty-ninth year of Dantivarman.²

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¹ Pallavas, p. 77.

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² Ep. Ind., vol. xi, p. 224.

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Nandivarman III (circa A. D. 826 to 849).—Dantivarman was succeeded on his death by his son Nandivarman III known in his inscriptions as Teḷḷāṟerinda Nandivarman, i.e. Nandivarman who defeated his enemies at Teḷḷāṟu. According to the Vēlūrpāḷayam plates issued by this sovereign in his sixth year he is said to have, on the eve of his acquiring sovereignty killed his enemies on the field of battle.³ In the picturesque words of this record ‘Nandivarman puffed up with the prowess of his arms acquired the prosperity of Pallava kingdom not easy for others to obtain by killing his enemies on the battle-field which was laughing as it were with the pearls dropping from the frontal globes of elephants slain by his unsheathed sword.’ A contemporary Tamil work is Nandikkaḷambakam. A short account of this work appeared in the Indian Antiquary (vol. 37, pp. 170-173). The text of the poem which has long been out of print was published in

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³ > उत्खातखड्ग निहतद्विपकुम्भमुक्तमुक्ताफलप्रहसिते समरांगणे यः ।

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शत्रूनिहत्य समवापदनन्यलभ्यां राज्यश्रियं स्वभुजविक्रमदर्पशाली ॥
v. 20.

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1926 by Pandit V. Gopala Aiyar states that Nandivarman won a great victory against his enemies at the battle of Teḷḷāṟu. In the light of the information obtained from his other stone inscriptions it becomes clear that this must be the battle referred to in the Vēlūrpāḷayam plates quoted above. It has already been mentioned that towards the close of Danti-vārman’s reign the Pāṇḍyan forces under Varaguṇa made considerable inroads into the Pallava empire and had reached as far north¹ into Toṇḍamaṇḍalam as Araiśūr on the banks of the Pennar. By the time that Nandivarman III ascended the throne the forces of the opposing Pāṇḍyan king must have reached near Teḷḷāṟu not very distant from the Pallava capital when the forces of Nandivarman III inflicted a crushing defeat on them. Teḷḷāṟu the site of the battle may be correctly identified with the village of Teḷḷāṟu in the Wandiwash Taluk of North Arcot District.

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¹ Ep. Coll. No.105 of 1905.

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*Other Battles.*—This victory against the Pāṇḍyans gave him the title by which his inscriptions thereafter mention him, namely, Teḷḷāṟerinda Nandipōtarayar. The Tamil panegyric in addition to the battle of Teḷḷāṟu² also refers to the other victories of Nandivarman such as those of Paḷayāṟu,³ Veḷḷāṟu,⁴ Naḷḷāṟu,⁵ and Kurugōḍu.⁶ This series of further campaigns were evidently directed against the Pāṇḍyas themselves whom the Pallava king apparently pursued as they were retreating and inflicted defeats at Veḷḷāṟu, Paḷayāṟu, etc., One of the stanzas in the poem says that the Pallava army advanced as far as the banks of the Vaigai.⁷ If this is correct we may presume that Nandivarman III marched as far as the Pāṇḍyan capital and defeated the Pāṇḍyas thoroughly.

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² Verses 28, 33, 38, 49, 52, 53, 71, 75, 79, 80, 85, 86 and 96. The numbers refer to those of a MS. Edn., the work with the author.

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³ Verse 31.

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⁴ Verse 23.

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⁵ Verse 61.

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⁶ Verses 2, 35 and 84.

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⁷ St. 4 and 81.

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*Light thrown by ‘Nandikkaḷambakam’.*—This work makes it clear beyond doubt, that Nandivarman was a member of the Pallava family as it calls him *Pallavarkōn* several times. The poem throws some light on the race of the Pallava family. Verse 39 refers to Nandivarman as ‘*Chandrakula-Prakāśan*’ thus indicating that the Pallava family claimed their descent from the lunar race, a fact which is not however mentioned in any of the inscriptions. It is also clear from this work that Kāñchīpuram, Mallai (Mahābalipuram) and Mayilai (Mylāpur) were the chief Pallava cities during this period. The sway over these places is associated with the name of Nandivarman III by such references as ‘*Mallai-Vēndan*’, ‘*Mayilai-Kāvalan*’. In this work his rule is also associated with the region of the Kavēri (*Kavirivalanāḍan*), the Kongu country, the Chēra land, the western regions as well as the northern. Inscriptions found in the northern regions of Pallava kingdom such as those of the Bāṇa king Vikramāditya clearly prove that his sway over the Bāṇas was not merely a poetic boast but real.¹ This king appears to have indulged his fancy in the assumption of a large number of surnames. This Tamil work enumerates the following surnames of this sovereign ‘*Avani-Nārāṇan*’, ‘*Viḍelviḍugu*’, ‘*Ugra-kōpan*’, ‘*Kuvalaya-Mārtāndan*’, ‘*Mānodaya*’, ‘*Varutungan*’, etc. Nandivarman III appears to have patronized the Tamil poets very largely as is evident from allusion to this in verses 104 and 107 of the work. The author of the *Bhārata-Veṇbā*, Perundevanar, is taken to have flourished during his reign. The invocatory verses attached to the *Udyōgaparva* of this work, which alone has come down to us, mentions the defeat inflicted by Nandivarman III on his enemies at Teḷḷāru.²

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¹ No. 229 of 1903 and *S.I.I.*, vol. viii, p. 93.

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² Note by Editor.

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Some interesting details may be gathered from the copper-plates of this period regarding the king and his rule. Verse 14 of the Bāhūr plates says that Nandivarman III had for his queen a Rāshṭrakūṭa princess called Śankā ‘who was kind to the people like a mother, was resplendent as Lakshmi incarnate.'

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Verse 21 of the Vēlūrpāḷayam plates says of his rule: 'Never shone so (thoroughly a garden with the advent of) spring, nor men of high birth with (good) qualities, nor women with morality, nor a millionaire with charity, nor humility with knowledge, nor a lotus tank with the sun, nor the expanse of the sky with the moon at the end of the rainy season, as the people of this earth shone with the king.'

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From the same record we learn that Nandivarman III was a devout worshipper of Śiva¹ and this is corroborated by verse 97 of Nandikkaḷambakam.

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¹ सुकृतमिदमजस्रम् रक्षतेति क्षितीशास्सकलन्नृपतिकेतुस्सयोमागा-मिनो वः । हरचरणसरोरुहत्तसचिह्नेन मूर्ध्ना मुकुलित करपक्षो वन्दते नन्दि-वर्मा ॥ S.I.I., vol. ii, part v, p. 509, ll. 64-5.

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Nripatungavarman (circa 849 to 875).—Nripatungavarman known also as Nripatungavikramavarman and Nripatungapōtarayar succeeded his father Nandivarman about A.D. 850. The resemblance of his name to the Rāshṭrakūṭa Amogavarsha Nripatunga as well as the fact that his mother, the queen of Nandivarman III, is stated to be a Rāshṭrakūṭa princess in the Bāhūr plates ² would indicate that this king was a grandson on the mother's side from Amogavarsha. Nripatunga appears to have continued the campaigns against the Pāṇḍyas who made inroads into the Pallava territory. The Bāhūr plates mention one of his victories on the banks of the Arichit (apparently a Sanskritized form of Ariśil) which has been identified with River Araśalār which flows near Kumbhakonam by the late Mr. T. A. Gopinatha Rao.¹ His adversary at this battle was probably Varaguṇa's son Śrī-Māra Parachakra-Kolāhala who according to the Tamil portion of the Śinnamanūr plates² is described as having repulsed the Gangas, the Chōḷas, the Kalingas, and the Māgadhas who attacked him at Kuḍamūkku, the name by which the modern town of Kumbhakonam was known in the period before the tenth century.³

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² Ibid., vol. v, p. 515.

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¹ v. 16. S.I.I., vol. ii, part 5, p. 515. The translation of the late T. A. Gopinatha Rao which Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil follows requires to be reconsidered in view of an altered reading of the verse given in Dr. Hultzsch's of verse 16 (p. 50, Pallavas) text (*Ep. Ind.*, vol. xviii, p. 10) in which the sixteenth verse reads as follows :— Yatprasādā(r)jjitāsēnā Pāṇḍyēna Samarē purā | Pārērichitsarājyaśrārdadāha ripusamhatim || We have here no reference to the defeat sustained (by the Pallavas) at the hands of the Pāṇḍyas referred to in Gopinatha Rao's translation. Dr. Hultzsch translates the verse thus :—Resembling fire, this king (Nripatunga) by whose favour the Pāṇḍya had obtained an army formerly burnt a confederation of enemies on the further bank of the Arichit river. The supply of an army by Nripatunga to the Pāṇḍyan king, if the reading is correct, will necessitate a revision of our present views of the relationship of the Pallavas and Pāṇḍyas during this period.

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² M.E.R., 1907, pp. 63 ff.

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³ Inscription No. 13 of 1908 dated in the reign of Māran-Śaḍaiyan calls the place Tirukuḍamūkku. The *Tevaram* hymners also call the town Tirukuḍamūkku.

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Extent of Empire.—The inscriptions of Nripatungavarman have been discovered all over the region from Pudukotta in the south to Guḍimallam in the north. From an inscription⁴ of the Bāṇa king at the latter place—Vidyādhara—we learn that Nripatunga's sway was acknowledged by this Bāṇa chief. The Narthāmalai inscription of the Muṭṭaraiyan chief Śattan-Paliyili in the south who was one of Nripatunga's vassals shows that the authority of this king extended to the region of Pudukotta.⁵ From the description contained in the Bāhūr plates that the glory of Nripatunga extended to other worlds as that of Rama, we may presume that here is an

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⁴ No. 228 of 1903.

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⁵ No. 365 of 1904.

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यत्प्रसादाज्जिता सेना पाण्ड्येन समरे पुरा ।
पारेरिचित्सराज्यश्रार्ददाह रिपुसंहतिम् ॥ v. 29.

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allusion perhaps to an unrecorded invasion of Ceylon during his reign.¹

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¹ *Ibid.*, verse 17, *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, p. 515.

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*Educational Facilities.*—A glimpse into the educational grants of the period is obtained from the Bāhūr plates² which were issued in the eighth year of this king. This record has for its object the registering of the gift of three villages—Chēṭṭupākkam, Iraipuraichēri and Viḷangāṭṭangaḍuvanūr to the Vedic college at the village of Bāhūr³ near Pondicheri in Aruvāṇāḍu. The grant was made by a member of the Pūsāli family and a descendant of the Kuru race (*verse 18*). This chief was the minister of Tungavarman, that is, Nripatunga who issued the necessary order for the grant of the villages (*verse 21*). The college at Bāhūr consisted of fourteen *gaṇas*, and was controlled by the learned men of the village, being organized and maintained by them. The fourteen *gaṇas*⁴ are presumably the fourteen divisions of learning and consisted of—the Vedas (4), the Angas (6), Mīmāmsa (1), Nyāya (1), Purāṇa (1) and the Dharma-Śāstra (1).

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² This record which is now preserved in the *Bibliothèque Nationale*, Paris, has been recently re-edited with English translation and notes by the late Dr. E. Hultzsch who also furnishes two diagrams indicating the position of the villages granted in the charter which are reproduced elsewhere in this work. A palm-leaf MS. of this copper-plate containing different readings is now with Dr. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xviii, p. 5.

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³ Vahūr and some of the village names mentioned in the detailed description of the boundaries in the grant survive to the present day.

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⁴ See *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, p. 514 footnote.

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*Aparājitavarman (circa A.D. 875 to 883).*—The order of succession after Nripatungavarman is not quite clear. According to the late Mr. Venkayya, Aparājita is the name of the son Nripatungavarman while T. A. Gopinatha Rao propounded the theory that the name Aparājita is merely another name for Nripatunga. In the inscriptions of this period we come across with several names such as Vijaya-Kampavarman, Vayiramēghavarman, Aparājitavarman and others. Of these we have inscriptions for Aparājitavarman ranging from the third to the eighteenth years of his reign in the region around Madras mostly from Tiruvoṛṛiyūr and Satyavēḍu. It is presumed that Kampavarman and Īśvaravarman as well as the other chiefs such as Vayiramēghan, whose inscriptions have been discovered at Kaveripākkam, Uttaramallūr, Olakkur and other parts of Chengleput District enjoyed the rule of a part of the Pallava dominions along with Vayiramēghavarman.

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Two important events are known regarding Aparājita. The first of these is the campaign against the Pāṇḍyas in which the Pallava king was allied with the Ganga king Prithivīpathi. According to the Udayēndiram plates¹ which enumerate the military exploits of the West Ganga Prithivīpathi I, he is described as ‘having defeated by force the Pāṇḍya lord Varaguṇa at the head of a great battle of Śrīpurambiya and having thus made his friend’s title Aparājita (the unconquered) significant, this hero entered heaven by sacrificing his own life.’ We may identify Varaguṇa with the Pāṇḍya king of that name, Varaguṇa II, for whom we have a date for accession to the throne, namely, A.D. 862-863. The place of the battle Śrīpurambiyam has been identified by Dr. Hultzsch² with Tirupurambiyam near Kumbhakonam. ‘How the Western Ganga king Prithivīpathi I whose dominions lay at least partly in the Mysore State and whose capital was Kolar, came to fight against the Pāṇḍya king Varaguṇa at Tirupurambiyam was hitherto inexplicable. From the two Ambur inscriptions³ of the Ganga-Pallava king Nripatungavikramavarman we know that Prithivīpathi was his feudatory. It may, therefore, be presumed that Aparājita for whom the Western Ganga king fought was a Ganga-Pallava. If this be true Aparājita was perhaps the successor and presumably his son.’⁴ The battle of Śrīpurambiyam may be dated with approximate accuracy about the year A.D. 880.

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¹ S.I.I., vol. ii, p. 384, verse 18.

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² Ibid., vol. ii, part 3, p. 381.

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³ Ep. Ind., vol. iv, p. 182.

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⁴ M.E.R. for 1906-7, p. 47.

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*The Chōḷa Conquest of Toṇḍamaṇḍalam.*—It has already been indicated that the Chōḷa king Āditya I who was making considerable inroads into the Pallava country brought about the defeat and ultimate conquest of the Toṇḍamaṇḍalam about the close of the ninth century. This corresponded to the period before twenty-first year of Āditya. The latest of the Tirukaḷukkuṉṟam inscriptions¹ is dated in the twenty-first year of Rājakēsarivarman. ‘Taking this provisionally as the last year of Āditya’s reign and deducting it from A.D. 907, the date of accession of his son Parāntaka I we get roughly to about A.D. 886 for the commencement of Āditya’s reign.’ It is presumable that the conquest of Toṇḍamaṇḍalam was effected considerably late in his reign and may be dated towards the end of the ninth century. The Tiruvālaṅgāḍu plates say of the Chōḷa king Āditya I, son of Vijayālaya,² that ‘having conquered in battle the Pallava with his brilliant army, though (he was) Aparājita (the unconquered) of his queen (viz.) and accomplished his object in this direction too.’ In other words, the Chōḷa king Āditya I defeated the Pallava king Aparājitavarman and added the Toṇḍamaṇḍalam to his dominions. Thus the kingdom of Pallavas passed into the hands of the Chōḷas with the death of Aparājita.

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, vol. iii, p. 379.

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² v. 49.

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The monuments belonging to this period are in the Aparājita style and, in the opinion of Jouveau-Dubreuil, very rare. The Vīraṭṭānēśvara temple at Tiruttaṇi, which contains inscriptions dated in the eighteenth year of Aparājitavarman is attributable to this king the Tamil verse³ which is inscribed in this temple being supposed to have been composed by the king.

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³ Ins. No. 433 of 1905.

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*Other Miscellaneous Kings.*—Some observations may be made on Kampavarman and Vayiramēghavarman before closing the survey. Over twenty inscriptions have been discovered dated in the regnal years ranging from the sixth to the twenty-fifth years⁴ of Kampavarman who according to Hultzsch

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⁴ His inscriptions have been found at the following :—

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| Sixth year | ... | ... | ... Uttaramallūr |
| Eighth year | ... | ... | ... do. |
| Tenth year | ... | ... | ... Ukkal. |
| Fifteenth year | ... | ... | ... Uttaramallūr |
| Seventeenth year | ... | ... | ... Kaveripākkam. |
| Twenty-third year | ... | ... | ... Uttaramallūr. |

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was a brother of Nripatungavarman. Whether this king succeeded Nandivarman III as king, or whether in the confusion that followed the death of Nripatunga he made himself an independent ruler in the North Arcot District and the region round about Kāñchi it is not clear from present evidence.

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The inscriptions of this king are for the most part donative and do not furnish any historical details other than one record¹ which refers to the destruction of Olakkur and the death of a hero. This record is on a slab set up near the village-munsiff’s śāvaḍi at Olakkur and is a Viragal of the period of Kampaperumāḷ who may be identified with Kampavarman. It records the death of a hero on the occasion of the destruction of the place in the later part of the ninth century.

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¹ No. 357 of 1909.

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Vayiramēghavarman.—Two stone records have been discovered at the Agastyēśvara temple at Poyyanūr in the Arkonam Taluk which mentions the name of a new king apparently belonging to the Pallava family dated in the second year. According to the late V. Venkayya, the name Vayiramēgha was a biruda assumed by Dantivarman, and is the same name occurring in th eexpressions Vayiramēgataṭāka, Vayiramēghavāykkāl, etc., mentioned in the inscriptions. It has to be presumed that the name is more like Pallava than other dynastic names.

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Chandrāditya (No. 284 of 1916).—This is a record written in the Pallava-Grantha on a pillar in the rock-cut temple at Mēlaichēri in the Gingee Taluk of the South Arcot District. It states that the Śiva temple called Śri-Śikhari-Pallavēśvaram was excavated by Chandrāditya at Simhapura (Śingavaram). Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil who discovered this inscription considers it probable that Chandrāditya was one of the names of Narasimhavarman I or Paramēśvaravarman I. This is, however, uncertain. There are in addition to these a few² inscriptions of this period belonging to Kāṭṭirai, Vijaya-Narasimhavarman and Vijaya-Īśvaravarman which need not be examined here as their position in the Pallava family is not clear.

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² Nos. 3 of 1899, 119 of 1897, also Ep. Ind., vol. vii, p. 24, and vol. iv, p. 177.

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With Nripatunga or Aparājita, the main line of the Pallava kings appears to have come to an end. But, however, a branch of them known as the Noḷambas claiming descent from Tṛnayana-Pallava continued to exercise sovereignty at Noḷambavāḍi-thirty-two thousand. This region comprised the modern Bellary District and portions of Mysore. Here, as the records show, the Noḷamba chiefs continued in power as late as the thirteenth century A.D. The Hēmāvati Pillar inscription, which gives a genealogy of the Noḷambas, mentions that they belonged to the Īśvaravamsa and enumerates the names of several kings of this line. These include Mangala, Simhapota, Charuponnēra, Nanniga, Anniga, and Dilipa. Brief accounts of these are given in L. Rice's Mysore and Coorg from Inscriptions.¹

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¹ L. Rice, *Mysore and Coorg from Inscriptions*, pp. 55-59.

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