The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c7.18

c7.18

Nakkīrar (*Puram* 55-57) earned for himself the unenviable distinction of being pilloried in song by two poets (*Puram* 196, 198) for his illiberality and his name was Ilavandikaippaḷḷittunjiya Nanmāran. We do not know how the censure was provoked and how far it was justified. Famous as the contemporary of the author of the *Tirukkural*, Ugrapperuvaḷudi proved the strength of his arm by subduing the chieftain of Kanappēr (Kalaiyār-kōil) who had entrenched himself behind a strong fortress in the place.¹ He was a poet himself and is said in tradition to have caused the anthology of the *Ahanānūru* to be made. This king has been sometimes identified, not on quite convincing grounds, with the Neḍunjeḷiyan who expiated on his throne the murder of Kōvalan.² The last king we shall notice in this necessarily disconnected sketch will be Bhūtappāndiyan who took Ollaiyūr and whose queen is well known by her song on the occasion of her *sati*.³ We know little about this king except from his own compositions (*Puram* 71, 246, 247 and *Aham* 25) and these present him as a loving husband who was lucky in the company of his cultured wife and dreaded separation from her, and a prince who valued his friends more than is the rule with princes.