The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c15.11

c15.11

¹ Reason has been shown before for not accepting the theory of five rulers reigning contemporaneously from generation to generation. Mr. L. D. Swamikkannu Pillai himself seems to have abandoned the theory on further consideration, as his discussion of Pāndya chronology (mediæval) in part ii of vol. i of his *Indian Ephemeris* proceeds on other lines. The new arrangement he adopts is to bring together all the Jatāvarmans and make them constitute one line of rulers and likewise make another, a second line, out of all the Māravarmans—a course which is not supported by any reasons stated. And even so, overlapping of reigns has not been avoided. Of this very important and vexed question, I am, after a close study of the numerous records, unable to see any solution other than the one followed in the text, that is, generally to follow Kielhorn's lead and select the more important and better represented kings for being treated as in the main line of succession and to make the less known rulers subordinate in position. This is the best that can be done till some discovery enables us to settle the genealogy of the rulers of this period. The absence of published texts of most of the records relating to this period imposes a serious handicap on any one who attempts its study.