The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c9.13

c9.13

The son of Arikēsari Parāṅkuśan was Kōccaḍayan also called Raṇadhīra. He must have succeeded his father at the end of the seventh century A.D. or early in the eighth. This king appears to have been a great warrior who often waged aggressive war against his neighbours. He is given the titles Vānavan, Śembiyan, Śoḷan which seem to imply some claim to supremacy over his Chera and the Chola contemporaries. He is also called Madurakaruṇāṭakan and Kongarkōmān and these titles do not seem to have been empty boasts but the index of substantial military achievements which appear to have had a wide range; for he is said to have attacked and subdued the Mahārathas in the great city of Mangalāpuram which seems to have been no other than the modern Mangalore.² It must, however, be noted that the results of this raid on the west coast do not appear to have been permanent as portions of the Kongu country are said to have been conquered afresh by his son. Another campaign which is definitely mentioned in the grant before the fight in Mangalāpuram was directed against the Āy king, who was evidently a mountain chief belonging to an ancient line of chiefs who held sway in the neighbourhood of the Western Ghats in the Tinnevelly District.¹ The encounter between the forces of this Āy king and those of Ranadhira took place in Marudūr which may be Tiruppudaimarudūr near Ambāsamudram and in this battle the Āy chief was worsted and apparently had to acknowledge the supremacy of the Pāndya sovereign.² It is rather strange that this warlike king is not even mentioned by name in the Tamil portion of the larger Śinnamanūr plates. In the smaller set of plates from the same village we have the victory of Marudūr mentioned, but the portion containing the name of the king has not been recovered.