The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c10.19

c10.19

said: ‘The army (of the Pallavas) which on a former occasion sustained defeat at the hands of the Pāndya, was, by the grace of this king (Nṛpatunga, i.e. by being led by him), able to burn down the hosts of the enemies together with the prosperity of their kingdoms on the bank of the river Aricit.’ From this reference it is not clear whether Nṛpatunga’s victory was won after he became ruler in his own right or earlier. Nor do we get any indication as to the interval between the defeat of the Pallava forces at the hands of the Pāndya and the retaliation under Nṛpatunga on the banks of the Aricit. The use of the phrase ‘on a former occasion’ with reference to the Pāndyan victory seems however to make it necessary to postulate some interval between the two engagements. We may conclude then, that if Nandi of Tellāru began his reign with a victory against Śrīmāra, he lived long enough to sustain a defeat in his turn at Kuḍamūkku in spite of the fact that on this occasion he seems to have been supported by several of his allies; the tide turned once more against the Pāndya on the accession of Nṛpatunga whose youthful success at the Aricit—the river Ariśil, a branch of the Kāvēri which enters the sea at Karaikkāl,¹ is recorded in the Bāhūr plates as we have seen.