The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c10.17

c10.17

¹ I follow the text of Mr. Krishna Sastri as amended and translated by Gopinatha Rao; see Dubreuil, *The Pallavas*, pp. 47-50. But the verse is not easy and there is no means of controlling the readings. Dr. Hultzsch in his recent edition of the plates in the *E. I.*, vol. xviii, pp. 5 ff writes: 'Of him (Nṛpatunga) verse 16 tells us that he supplied a Pāndya king, whose proper name is not disclosed, with an army, and that he defeated some enemies, who are not specified either, on the further bank of the Aricit river. It may be concluded from verse 16 that Nṛpatunga allied himself with a Pāndya king and undertook an expedition into the domains of the Chola king'; and the text and translation as given by him support these statements. Looking at the verse from the Pāndyan side, it strikes me that Mr. Rao's translation supported by Mr. Sastri's text is the more probable; because (i) there seems to be little room for a Pāndya-Pallava alliance in this period, (ii) the Cholas actually figure as the allies of the Pallavas in the Sinnamanūr plates and (iii) it seems probable that in verse 16 (Bāhūr) Kuḍamūkku of the Sinnamanūr plates is referred to as having taken place before the accession of Nṛpatunga (*purā*) and mentioned as a sort of introduction to the reprisal that followed under Nṛpatunga on the banks of the Aricit. It may also be that Nṛpatunga fought as a prince before his accession.