The Colas c10.6

c10.6

Other names in common use for the Cōḻas are *Kiḷḷi*, *Vaḷavan* and *Śembiyan*. *Kiḷḷi* perhaps comes from ‘kiḷ’, meaning ‘dig’ or ‘cleave’ and conveys the idea of a ‘digger’;⁹ this word often forms an integral part of early Cōḻa names like Neḍuṅgiḷḷi, Nalaṅgiḷḷi and so on, but almost drops out of use in later times. ‘*Vaḷavan*’ is most probably connected with ‘*vaḷam*’, ‘fertility’, and means owner or ruler of a fertile country, such as the land of the Kāvērī was. *Śembiyan* is generally taken to mean a descendant of Śibi,¹⁰ a legendary hero whose self-sacrifice in saving a dove from the pursuit of a falcon figures among the early Cōḷa legends and forms the subject-matter of the Śibijātaka among the Jātaka stories of Buddhism.¹¹