The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c9.6.2

c9.6.2

It must however be noted that there is one, and only one objection, that seems to suggest itself against the course I have adopted in the text and that is that we get two battles of Śankaramangai (grāma) by my arrangement, one in the reign of Arikēsari Parāṅkuśa and another in that of his grandson, Pallavabhañjana. But I may point out (a) that in the other arrangement Nelvēli repeats itself, so that this objection is common to both arrangements and (b) that this objection is no objection at all inasmuch as it is only to be expected that, in an age of constant warfare between two neighbouring powers, repeated skirmishes occur in the same places more than once. At any rate I feel no difficulty in distinguishing the battles of Nelvēli and Śankaramangai of the Sinnamanūr and Vēḷvikkuḍi plates in which the Pāṇdyan king claims victory from the successes won later in the same spots by Udayacandra on behalf of his master. There seems, however, to be no need for postulating two battles of Maṇṇaikkuḍi in the reign of Pallavabhañjana as the Udayēndiram plates do not seem to contradict the claim of the Vēḷvikkuḍi grant on this point. I may add that the considerations brought forward by Dr. Hultzsch (S.I.I., vol. ii, p. 364) for identifying Nelvēli with Tinnevelly do not seem to be conclusive impression of a great expansion of power brought about by this king. The Paravas were no doubt the people on the south-east coast of the Pāṇḍyan country who still continue to bear the same name.