History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c7.s1.30

c7.s1.30

*Objections to the Theory.*—This theory which connects the Pallavas of Kāñchī with the Pahlavas of the west coast presents difficulties, some of which have already been pointed out before. In the first place it was seen that there is no evidence whatsoever of an eastward movement of the Pahlavas. There is moreover no evidence of a Pahlava prince marrying the daughter of a Nāga chief on which Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil relies for his theory of the attainment of political sovereignty by the Pahlavas. The Vēlurpāḷayam plates which mention a Nāga alliance¹ do not say that it was the first Pallava king who so attained power. In this record which belongs to the ninth century, he is called Virakūrcha and not Śivaskaṇḍa. Then again this record mentions many earlier kings such as Aśokavarman who ruled before the days of Virakūrcha a fact which militates strongly against the view of Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil. The theory does not explain why they came to be called Pallavas. It fails to take into consideration the existence of a people known as Toṇḍaiyar, synonymous with the Sanskrit Pallava. Moreover early Tamil literature does not support the view that the Pallavas originally emigrated from Surāṣṭra. Finally there is no mention in any of the numerous charters of the Pallava kings and other contemporary kings in South India of Suviśāka the supposed ancestor of the Pallava kings who lived in Rudradāman’s court. If he was really connected with the Pallava family of Kāñchī how is it that he does not figure even in one of the lists of their ancestors contained in the Pallava records? It is not again definitely known whether the authority of Śivaskaṇḍanāga extended as far south as Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam. No inscription or copper-plate of this chief or others have been found proving that his authority extended in this region. These considerations make us hesitate to accept the theory of Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil that the kings of Conjeeveram were descended from the Pahlavas of Rudradāman’s time, and that the first Pallava king obtained the throne of Kāñchī by a marriage alliance with the Nāgas.