History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c5.17.3

c5.17.3

Later on the wars continued between the Pandyas and the Pallavas on the one side, and hostility gradually developed between the Pallavas and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas on the other. The Gangas in the middle now played the one part, now the other, till at last they were ultimately reduced to a position of subordination by the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. This certainly was one element of weakness in the Pallavas. The Pandyas in consequence were slowly gaining the upper hand, and tightened their hold on the Pallavas, so that the Pallava territory which had at one time been so very extensive, was gradually shrinking to one of comparatively narrow dimensions. The final victory achieved by Varaguna II at Śrīpurambyam near Kumbakonam gave a crushing blow, if not the death blow, to the Pallava power, in which one section of the Gangas, the Gangas who held authority in the Bāṇa country, assisted the Pallavas. But the Pallavas still continued in a comparatively precarious position.