The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c5.s1.16

c5.s1.16

Considerable light has been shed in particular on the history of the Pāṇḍyas of the First Empire of the seventh to the tenth centuries A.D. by several important documents brought to light since 1906. These are the dated stone inscriptions from Ānamalai and Aivarmalai; the Trichinopoly and Ambāsamudram inscriptions of Vara-guṇa; and the copper plate records known as the Śinna-manūr plates (two sets) and the Veḷvikkuḍi grant. The Madras Museum plates of Jaṭilavarman are now better understood than they were when they were published in 1893. All these records (except the Museum plates) are still new, and there is much room for difference as to their import at several points. Pāṇḍyan affairs often derive elucidation from the records of the contemporary Cholas and among these the Tiruvālaṅgāḍu plates and the Leiden grant of Rājēndra Chola deserve special mention. The Pallava grants are also occasionally very helpful.