The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c13.47

c13.47

That this war did not end with the retreat of Laṅkāpura and the restoration of Kulaśēkhara by the Cholas becomes clear from the Chola records of the succeeding years,² specially those of Kulōttunga III, the successor of Rājādhirāja II. We do not know how long Kulaśēkhara lived after the restoration; it may have been at most for about a decade from the eighth year of Rājādhirāja to the second or third of Kulōttunga III—A.D. 1170-80 roughly. Thereupon he seems to have been succeeded by a Vikrama Pāndya¹ and on the accession of Vikrama Pāndya, Vīra Pāndya appears to have made another attempt, again with Ceylonese help, to dislodge the Kulaśēkhara line; once more the Cholas came to the aid of the latter and the war was renewed. An undated inscription, later than the fourth year of Kulōttunga (1 of 1899), i.e., A.D. 1182, records that ‘the son or sons of Vīra Pāndya were defeated by the Chola army. The Singhalese soldiers had their noses cut off and rushed into the sea to escape from the Chola troops. Vīra Pāndya himself was attacked by the Cholas and compelled to retreat. The town of Madura was captured and the Chola army took possession of the Pāndya throne and planted a pillar of victory (at Madura). The town of Madura, the Pāndya throne and the kingdom