The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c15.10

c15.10

The next ruler in the main line was the celebrated Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāndya, under whom the Second Empire of the Pāndyas reached its widest extent and attained the height of its splendour. Practically the Whole of Southern India up to Nellore and Cuddapah was brought for a time under Pāndya supremacy and all the rival dynasties, old and new, were beaten in the field or laid under tribute. The Cholas were reduced to a very obscure state and the Hoysalas were punished for their past aggressiveness; the Kongu country passed under the Pāndyas, and the Hoysala power was confined to its original home in Mysore. Kānchīpura became a secondary capital of the Pāndya empire and in the south the island of Ceylon was firmly held by the Pāndyan rulers of this period, while the Kērala rulers were made tributaries of the empire. It would seem that in all these achievements Sundara Pāndya was ably assisted by princes who were more or less closely related to him and held subordinate positions in various parts of the empire. At least one of these is well-known from his records, a Jatāvarman Vīra Pāndya of whom something will be said at the beginning of the next chapter.¹