The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c11.2.1

c11.2.1

THE history of the Pāndyan kingdom in the period between the restoration after the Kalabhra occupation and the fall of Madura before Parāntaka early in the tenth century, as made out by us so far, cannot by any means be regarded as either final or complete. Only the barest outlines of the story have been traced. Many points have had to be left unsettled; others have been noted as points for future study in the light of further evidence that may become available. We have also had to pass by a large number of stone inscriptions dated in the regnal years of Māran Sadayan and Sadayan Māran which undoubtedly belong to this period, but cannot with certainty be assigned to particular rulers. If we know so little about the main line of the Pāndyas, our knowledge about their subordinates and feudatories is even more limited. Passing references have been made already to the local chieftains known as Vēls, of whom the chiefs of the family of Ay seem to have enjoyed a long spell of power and influence in the mountainous country between the Tinnevelly district and Travancore. The Adigans of the Kongu country also felt the strength of the Pāndyan kings and were forced for a time to acknowledge their supremacy. Somewhat more prominent than these chieftains seem to have been the Muttarayar¹ who have left behind several epigraphical records which have only been partially studied till now.