The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c17: Chapter XIII. Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya (1276); Māra-varman Vikrama Pāṇḍya (1283); Social Life at the End of the Thirteenth Century—Marco Polo

The Pāṇḍyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c17

Language: English

Chapter XIII. Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya (1276); Māra-varman Vikrama Pāṇḍya (1283); Social Life at the End of the Thirteenth Century—Marco Polo

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JAṬĀVARMAN SUNDARA PĀNDYA (1276); MĀRA-VARMAN VIKRAMA PĀNDYA (1283); SOCIAL LIFE AT THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY—MARCO POLO

Of the co-regents who came to power after Kulaśēkhara’s accession, Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāndya claims notice first. His rule began in A.D. 1276.¹ This king had apparently no distinguishing titles and the identification of his records is a matter of considerable difficulty. There is little to guide the student besides astronomical details given in the inscriptions and the latest regnal year so far traced by such indications is the seventeenth, which takes his rule up to A.D. 1292-1293 (No. 594 of 1907). He is the Sonder Bandi Davar of Marco Polo and the Sunder Pandi of Wassaf who was the Dewar ‘a few years since’ and whose death is mentioned by him as having occurred in 692 Hijra. His records are found in the Cuddapah and Salem districts, besides Tanjore, South Arcot and Chingleput. An inscription of his, recently discovered in the Tanjore district (No. 311 of 1927), refers to the foundation of a new Śaiva Maṭha by a Vidyāśiva Paṇḍita, which is no doubt connected with the revival of Śaiva activities in the thirteenth century by the Śaiva teachers (Santānaguravar) beginning with Meykaṇḍadēvar who popularized and spread the tenets of the Śaiva Siddhānta philosophy.¹

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¹ Mr L. D. Swamikkannu Pillai first postulated another Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāndya with accession in A.D. 1269-70 (*I.A.*, vol. xlii), Sewell decisively rejected the possibility (*I.A.*, vol. xliv) and Mr. Swamikkannu himself subsequently gave it up. See note under Jaṭāvarman Sundara II at p. 66 of the *List of Pudukottah Inscriptions and Ephemeris*, (vol. i, part ii, p. 101). For the accession date in A.D. 1276, see *E.I.*, vol. ix, pp. 228-9 and *E.I.*, vol. xi, pp. 136 and 259-61; also *E.I.*, vol. x, pp. 143-4.

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¹ *A.R.E.*, 1927, part ii, para 44.

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Māravarman Vikrama Pāṇḍya was another co-regent, who began to rule some time in A.D. 1283.² His records begin with a Sanskrit introduction *Samasta-bhuvanaika-vīra* and two Tamil introductions commencing *Tirumagaḷ Jayamagaḷ* and *Tirumalarmādu*. The Sanskrit introduction, which is found also in one of Jaṭāvarman Vīra Pāṇḍya's records, recounts practically all the titles and achievements of Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya and furnishes the model for the introductions adopted by some of the later Pāṇḍyas of the period of decline.³ And the Tamil introductions do not seem to add materially to our knowledge of the king. It seems therefore that Vikrama Pāṇḍya's Sanskrit introduction cannot be taken to refer to any fresh conquests on his part. Some inscriptions from Chidambaram are in the form of verses which seem to be in praise of this Vikrama Pāṇḍya and to record his achievements in particular. In one of them Which gives him the titles *Bhuvanēkavīra* and *Koṟkai-kāvala* he is said to have conquered Vēṇāḍu (Travancore) and is ironically commended for not having invaded the north, as there were two carps on Gaṇapati’s face and there was a woman (ruling with a man’s name), which is undoubtedly a reference to the Kākatīya queen Rudramma. He is also credited with having fought the Chola on the banks of the Veḷḷāṟu which is said to have become *Śevvāṟu* (red river) when the wrath of Bhuvanēkavīra Vikrama Pāndya was roused. Much of this seems to be mere poetry.¹

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² There has been great difficulty regarding the date of this king's accession. At one time (*I.A.*, vol. xliv) Sewell and Swamikkannu Pillai were agreed about A.D. 1283. Subsequently (see *A.R.E.*, 1917, Appendix F) Mr. Swamikkannu Pillai gave up A.D. 1283 for A.D. 1269-70, for what appears to be an insufficient reason. His *Indian Ephemeris* (vol. i, part ii, pp. 92-3) unfortunately adds to the confusion by mixing up many things and stating different dates of accession at the beginning and at the end. It will be seen, however, that on the basis of any date there are difficulties in reconciling all the known facts. The accession date 1283 seems to be well established and need not be given up. See No. 82 of 1918 and *A.R.E.*, 1918, part ii, para 45. Again No. 43 of 1905 of the seventh year of the king from South Arcot states that the salt pans belonging to a temple remained unused since the time of the Pallava king Kōpperunjinga. If it is remembered that that chieftain ruled almost up to A.D. 1280, the inference is clear.

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³ See Nos. 122 of 1896 and 200 of 1895.

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¹ Nos. 123 of 1888; 329, 336 and 365 of 1913 and *A.R.E.*, 1914, part ii, para 20.

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It is quite possible that the coin bearing the legend *Bhuvanekavīran* described by Sir Walter Elliot² may belong to this Vikrama Pāndya, although, as has been pointed out before, the name was also borne by Māravarman Kulaśēkhara himself. Vikrama Pāndya had likewise the surname *Rājākkaḷ Nāyan* which occasionally takes the form *Rājākkaḷ Tambirān*.³ There are references in his records to a throne *Munaiyadaraiyan* at Madura and another called *Malaiyadaraiyan* in a palace at Rājēndram, east of Rāśingankuḷam.⁴ The reference to his elder brother (*aṇṇāḷvār*)⁵ Kulaśēkhara is very interesting as furnishing some confirmation of the statements of Wassaf and Marco Polo that the country was being ruled by a number of brothers. The latest regnal year mentioned in Vikrama Pāndya’s records seems to be 13 (No. 539 of 1916) and this means that his rule lasted up to at least A.D. 1295–1296.

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² *Coins of Southern India*, No. 138, p. 152d.

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³ Nos. 536 of 1920 and 86 of 1918; also *A.R.E.*, 1921, part ii, para 41.

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⁴ Nos. 312 and 317 of 1923 and *A.R.E.*, 1924, part ii, para 36.

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⁵ No. 462 of 1921.

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Before proceeding to consider the other co-regents of Kulaśēkhara and the politics of the closing years of his reign, an account must be given of the social and economic life of the Pāndya country as it struck a foreign observer like Marco Polo, whose statements are in several important respects borne out by the observations of the Muhammadan historian Wassaf to whom we owe much of our knowledge of the political condition of the Pāndyan kingdom at this time.¹

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¹ The account that follows is based on Yule and Cordier's *Marco Polo* and *Elliot and Dowson*, vol. iii.

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The name by which the country was known to foreigners was Ma'bar, a word which, in Arabic, signifies Passage or Ferry and was applied to the part of the Indian coast most frequented by travellers and merchants from Arabia and the Persian Gulf. 'Ma'bar extends in length from Kulam (Quilon) to Nilawar (Nellore). The curiosities of Chin and Machin and the beautiful products of Hind and Sind, laden on large ships (which they call junks), sailing like mountains with the wings of the winds on the surface of the water, are always arriving there. The wealth of the Isles of the Persian Gulf in particular, and in part the beauty and adornment of other countries, from Irak and Khurasan as far as Rum and Europe, are derived from Ma'bar, which is so situated as to be the key of Hind' (Wassaf). Writing of Kāyal (Cail), the chief emporium of the Pāndyan kingdom, Marco Polo says that the king to whom the city belongs 'administers his kingdom with great equity and extends great favour to merchants and foreigners, so that they are very glad to visit his city.' 'It is at this city that all the ships touch that come from the West, as from Hormos and from Kis and from Aden, and all Arabia, laden with horses and with other things for sale. And this brings a great concourse of people from the country round about, and so there is great business done in this city of Cail.'

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The horse trade of Kāyal was of considerable political importance and a good part of the revenues of the kingdom was spent on the purchase of horses for the king and the army. There is a reference to horse-dealers from Travancore in an inscription of the time (No. 161 of 1907). Marco Polo says: 'Here are no horses bred; and thus a great part of the wealth of the country is wasted in purchasing horses; I will tell you how. You must know that the merchants of Kis and Hormes, Dofar and Soer and Aden collect great numbers of destriers and other horses and these they bring to the territories of this King and of his four brothers, who are Kings likewise as I told you. For a horse will fetch among them 500 saggi of gold, worth more than 100 marks of silver, and vast numbers are sold there every year.' Wassaf's statements about this trade are even more specific and furnish interesting details. 'It was a matter of agreement that Maliku-l Islām Jamāluddin and the merchants should embark every year from the island of Kais and land at Ma'bar 1,400 horses of his own breed, and of such generous origin that, in comparison with them the most celebrated horses of antiquity, such as the Rukhs of Rustam, etc., should be as worthless as the horse of the chess-board. It was also agreed that he should embark as many as he could procure from all the isles of Persia, such as Katif, Lahsa, Bahrein, Hurmuz and Kulhatu. The price of each horse was fixed from of old at 220 dinars of red gold (= 440 saggi of Polo) on this condition, that if any horses should sustain any injury during the voyage, or should happen to die, the value of them should be paid from the royal treasury.'¹

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¹ Wassaf also gives the total volume of the annual Indian import trade in horses as 10,000 animals worth 2,200,000 dinars and rather inconsistently adds that this amount 'was paid out of the overflowing revenues of the estates and endowments belonging to the Hindu temples, and from the tax upon courtesans attached to them, and no charge was incurred by the public treasury.'

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The waste of the country's wealth on horses that Marco Polo speaks of was due not so much to the generous terms of the contract under which horses were imported as to the unfavourable climate of South India in which these horses could not thrive and the ignorance of Indian horse-keepers. Wassaf remarks: 'It is a strange thing that when those horses arrive there, instead of giving them raw barley they give them roasted barley and grain dressed with butter, and boiled cow's milk to drink. . . . They bind them for forty days in a stable with ropes and pegs in order that they may get fat; and afterwards, without taking measures for training, and without stirrups and other appurtenances of riding, the Indian soldiers ride upon them like demons. . . . In a short time, the most strong, swift, fresh and active horses become weak, slow, useless, and stupid. In short, they all become wretched and good for nothing. . . . There is, therefore, a constant necessity of getting new horses annually.' Marco Polo confirms Wassaf and says, 'There is no possibility of breeding horses in this country, as hath often proved by trial' and the 'people do not know in the least how to treat a horse.' But he also adds this: 'The horse-merchants not only never bring any farriers with them, but also prevent any farrier from going thither, lest that should in any degree baulk the sale of horses, which brings them in every year such vast gains'.

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From the earliest times the Pāndya country has been famous for its pearls and ‘Marco’s account of the pearl fishery is still substantially correct.’ He says: ‘In his (Sonder Bandi Davar’s) kingdom they find very fine and great pearls; and I will tell you how they are got. . . . The pearl-fishers take their vessels, great and small, and proceed into this gulf (between the island of Seilan and the mainland), where they stop from the beginning of April till the middle of May. They go first to a place called Bettelar, and (then) go sixty miles into the gulf. Here they cast anchor and shift from their large vessels into small boats. You must know that the many merchants who go divide into various companies, and each of these must engage a number of men on wages, hiring them for April and half of May. Of all the produce they have first to pay the King, as his royalty, the tenth part. And they must also pay those men who charm the great fishes, to prevent them from injuring the divers whilst engaged in seeking pearls under water, one-twentieth part of all that they take. These fish-charmers are termed Abraiaman (Brahman); and their charm holds good for that day only, for at night they dissolve the charm so that the fishes can work mischief at their will. . . . When the men have got into the small boats they jump into the water and dive to the bottom which may be at a depth of from four to twelve fathoms, and there they remain as long as they are able. And there they find the shells that contain the pearls and these they put into a net bag tied round the waist, and mount up to the surface with them, and then dive anew. When they can’t hold their breath any longer they come up again, and after a little, down they go once more, and so they go on all day. . . . In this manner pearls are fished in great quantities, for thence in fact come the pearls which are spread all over the world. And I can tell you the King of that State hath a very great receipt and treasure from his dues upon those pearls.' 'Moreover nobody is permitted to take out of the kingdom a pearl weighing more than half a saggio unless he manages to do it secretly. This order has been given because the King desires to reserve all such to himself; and so in fact the quantity he has is something almost incredible. Moreover several times every year he sends his proclamation through the realm that if any one who possesses a pearl or stone of great value will bring it to him, he will pay for it twice as much as it cost. Everybody is glad to do this, and thus the King gets all into his own hands, giving every man his price.'

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The king possessed much other treasure of great value besides the best of the pearls that were found in his kingdom. 'Round his neck he has a necklace entirely of precious stones, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and the like in so much that this collar is of great value. He wears also hanging in front of his chest from the neck downwards, a fine silk thread strung with 104 (108?) large pearls and rubies of great price. The reason why he wears this cord with the 104 great pearls and rubies, is (according to what they tell) that every day, morning and evening, he has to say 104 prayers to his idols. Such is their religion and their custom. And thus did all the Kings, his ancestors before him, and they bequeathed the string of pearls to him that he should do the like.'

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'The King aforesaid also wears on his arms three golden bracelets thickly set with pearls of great value, and anklets also of like kind he wears on his legs, and rings on his toes likewise. So let me tell you what this King wears, between gold and gems and pearls, is worth more than a city's ransom. And it is no wonder; for he hath great store of such gear.'

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'When the King dies none of his children dares to touch his treasure. For they say, "As our father did gather together all this treasure, so we ought to accumulate as much in our turn". And in this way it comes to pass that there is an immensity of treasure accumulated in this kingdom.' That Marco was correctly informed as to the extent of the treasures accumulated by the Pāndya rulers is seen clearly from the statements of Wassaf on the matter. Of Kales Dewar (Kulaśēkhara) he says: 'His coffers were replete with wealth, inasmuch that in the treasury of the city of Mardi (Madura) there were 1,200 crores of gold (dinars) deposited. . . . Besides this there was an accumulation of precious stones, such as pearls, rubies, turquoises and emeralds—more than is in the power of language to express.'

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Marco Polo gives some more information of interest about the king and his court. 'This King hath some five hundred wives. . . . The King hath many children'. 'And there are about the King a number of Barons in attendance upon him. These ride with him, and keep always near him, and have great authority in the kingdom; they are called the King's Trusty Lieges. And you must know that when the King dies, and they put him on the fire to burn him, these Lieges cast themselves into the fire round about his body, and suffer themselves to be burnt along with him. For they say they have been his comrades in this world, and that they ought also to keep him company in the other world.' These statements of Marco about the King's Trusty Lieges may, at first sight, appear incredible; but they furnish an excellent commentary on the epigraphical references to *Tennavan Āpattudavigal* (தென்னவன் ஆபத்துதவிகள்) and an institution mentioned in the records of successive Pāndya rulers of this period¹ becomes intelligible only in the light of the evidence furnished by the Venetian traveller.

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¹ See A.R.E., 1918 part ii, para 43.

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Marco Polo has some things to say about the life of the common people of the country. Their manner of dress seems to have amazed him. ‘You must know that in all this province of Ma’bar there is never a tailor to cut a coat or stitch it, seeing that everybody goes naked! For decency only do they wear a scrap of cloth; and so it is with men and women, with rich and poor, aye, and with the King himself. . . . It is a fact that the King goes as bare as the rest.’ The last statement shows that surprise at the novelty of the foreigners' dress blunted the keenness of the traveller's observation. Marco Polo mentions the custom of *sati* as common at the time and refers also to the practice of allowing a condemned criminal who was sentenced to death to sacrifice himself to some God or other of his choice. Many people, according to him, worshipped the ox and ‘would not eat beef for anything in the world.’

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‘And let me tell you, the people of this country have a custom of rubbing their houses all over with cow-dung. Moreover all of them, great and small, King and Barons included, do sit upon the ground only, and the reason they give is that this is the most honourable way to sit, because we all spring from the Earth and to the Earth we must return; so no one can pay the Earth too much honour, and no one ought to despise it.’ People continue to sit on the ground even now, though, one supposes, not for the reason given by Marco.

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‘ The people of the country go to battle all naked, with only a lance and a shield; and they are most wretched soldiers. They will kill neither beast nor bird, nor anything that hath life; and for such animal food as they eat, they make the Saracens, or others who are not of their own religion, play the butcher.

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‘ It is their practice that every one, male and female, do wash the whole body twice every day; and those who do not wash are looked on much as we look on the Patarins. You must know that in eating they use the right hand only and would on no account touch their food with the left hand. . . . So also they drink only from drinking vessels, and every man hath his own; nor will any one drink from another’s vessel. And when they drink they do not put the vessel to the lips, but hold it aloft and let the drink spout into the mouth. No one would on any account touch the vessel with his mouth, nor give a stranger drink with it. But if the stranger have no vessel of his own they will pour the drink into his hands and he may thus drink from his hands as from a cup.

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‘ They are very strict in executing justice upon criminals, and as strict in abstaining from wine. Indeed they have made a rule that wine-drinkers and sea-faring men are never to be accepted as sureties. . . . They have the following rule about debts. If a debtor shall have been several times asked by his creditor for payment and shall have put him off from day to day with promises, then if the creditor can once meet the debtor and succeed in drawing a circle round him, the latter must not pass out of this circle until he shall have satisfied the claim, or given security for its discharge. If he in any other case presumes to pass the circle he is punished with death as a transgressor against right and justice.

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They have many experts in an art which they call Physiognomy, by which they discern a man's character and qualities at once. They also know the import of meeting with any particular bird or beast; for such omens are regarded by them more than by any people in the world. . . . As soon as a child is born they write down his nativity, that is to say the day and hour, the month, and the moon's age. This custom they observe because every single thing they do is done with reference to astrology, and by the advice of diviners skilled in Sorcery and Magic and Geomancy and such like diabolical arts; and some of them are also acquainted with Astrology.'

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Marco Polo says that all male children were dismissed from their homes when they attained thirteen and after that they had to get their living by trade. 'And these urchins are running about all day from pillar to post, buying and selling. . . . And every day they take their food to their mothers to be cooked and served, but do not eat a scrap at the expense of their fathers.' This could not have been universal; perhaps Marco found the system prevailing among some sections of the population. He refers to temples as 'certain abbeys in which are Gods and Goddesses to whom many young girls are consecrated'—a reference to *dēvadāsis*. The nature of the institution of the temple dancing-girls seems, however, to have been hardly understood by the traveller.

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'All the people of this city (Cail), as well as of the rest of India, have a custom of perpetually keeping in the mouth a certain leaf called *Tembul*, to gratify a certain habit and desire they have, continually chewing it and spitting out the saliva that it excites. The Lords and gentlefolks and the King have these leaves prepared With camphor and other aromatic spices and also mixt with quicklime. And this practice was said to be very good for the health.’

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‘The men of this country have their beds made of very light canework, so arranged that, when they have got in and are going to sleep, they are drawn up by cords nearly to the ceiling and fixed there for the night. This is done to get out of the way of tarantulas which give terrible bites, as well as of fleas and such vermin, and at the same time to get as much air as possible in the great heat which prevails in that region. Not that everybody does this, but only the nobles and great folks, for the others sleep on the streets.’