History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c14.63

c14.63

*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.