The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c18.2

c18.2

Two princes were co-regents of Māṛavarman Kulaśēkhara in the closing years of his long reign. Jaṭāvarman Vīra Pāndya attained the position earlier and the date of his accession was between A.D. December 1296 and June 1297.¹ About five or six years later began the rule of Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāndya.² These beyond doubt are the two sons of Kulaśēkhara mentioned by Wassaf. ‘This fortunate and happy sovereign (Kulaśēkhara) had two sons, the elder named Sundar Pandi, who was legitimate, his mother being joined to the Dewar by lawful marriage, and the younger named Tira Pandi was illegitimate, his mother being one of the mistresses who continually attended the king in his banquet of pleasure.’³ If we may believe Wassaf’s account, the jealousies and rivalries of these half-brothers embittered the last years of Kulaśēkhara, and finally led to his murder by Sundara Pāndya. This crime was followed by a fraternal war which threw the kingdom into confusion when the Khilji army under Malik Kafur advanced upon Madura. But the story is not easy to follow in its details. It is unfortunate that Wassaf’s account stands alone and is not corroborated by the other writers of the time, particularly because the inscriptions of Kulaśēkhara’s reign seem to contradict Wassaf’s chronology.