Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s2.t1.12

v2.c18.s2.t1.12

Mr. Srinivasa Aiyangar brings forward some other considerations in addition to those adduced by Dr. Oppert. Among the causes which, according to Mr. Aiyangar, gave rise to the Iḍaṅgai and Vaḷaṅgai sections, the following were prominent: the political dissension which led to the final overthrow of the powerful kingdoms of the Pallavas and the Pāṇḍyas;³ the aspirations of certain castes to rise higher in the social scale;⁴ and the communal feeling (existing between the Jainas and the Brahmans), and between the different sections of the people due to the difference in food, occupation and physical environment.⁵ Mr. Aiyangar finally comes to the conclusion that "the arrangement of the Dravidian castes into two grand divisions (the right and left hand) took place at Kanchipuram under the royal command of a Chōḷa king"¹ (in about A. D. 1010 in the times of Rājarāja Chōḷa).