History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c5.5.2

c5.5.2

The east coast region, however, beginning with the River Veḷḷār flowing across the state of Pudukottah now and emptying itself into the Bay of Bengal which marked the orthodox southern boundary of the Cholas, constituted the Cholamaṇḍalam which actually extended northwards therefrom to as far as the River South Pennar where began the division known as Aruvānāḍu, which extended northwards along the coast almost as far as the Northern Pennar. This last division fell into two parts, Aruvānāḍu or Aruvā South and Aruvā Vaḍatalai or Aruvā North. The region set over this in the interior including perhaps even a considerable part of what is marked off as Aruvānāḍu constituted the Toṇḍamaṇḍalam, a division occupied by the Toṇḍayar and belonging to them. It is this Toṇḍamaṇḍalam that was dominated by Kanchi and extended vaguely northwards as far as Tirupati, which seems to have marked off the northern boundary, which sometimes extended farther northwards quite up to the northern borders of the Pulicat Lake, the region round Kāḷahasti on one side of it at any rate, being borne in the old accounts even now as Toṇḍamān Magani. We have evidence of an old chieftain by name Tiraiyan ruling over the territory dominated by Veṅgaḍam or Tirupati whose capital was in a place called Pavattiri (Reddipalem in the Gudur Taluk of the Nellore District).