The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.163.2

v3.c29.163.2

Rājēndra had under his rule all the northern territory of the Cholas, extending from the coast between Nellore and Kānchī across to the Hoysala frontier, and was the most important feudatory in the kingdom during the first twenty-five years of his brother’s reign. He appears to have become hostile some time about 1242 or 1243, perhaps on account of Rājarāja’s subserviency to the Hoysala, who dominated from his central position in Kannanūr both the Pāṇḍya and the Chola kingdoms. As a matter of fact, the Chola power was little more than a feudatory of Sōmēsvara. Rājēndra therefore rose as a rival claimant and had to fight against Sōmēsvara rather than the nominal ruler, his brother. Both sides claim the victory. They seem however to have ultimately come to an understanding as Rājēndra is said to have let his brother rule for yet another three years, and at last killed him. With the accession of Rājēndra to power there was a change in the political relations between the Chola and the Hoysala, and the accession of another Pāṇḍya to the throne in the person of Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya I in 1251 brought the Pāṇḍyas into hostility to Sōmēsvara. How actually this change of relation came about is not recorded, but soon after his accession the Pāṇḍya set out on a campaign which lasted for more than ten years and carried the war successfully through the Chola country as far north as Nellore.