The Colas c11.66

c11.66

Before giving an account of Kōccengaṇān who was doubtless among the latest, if not the last, of the Cōḷas mentioned in Śaṅgam literature, the minor celebrities of the Cōḷa line may be briefly noticed. It is certain that many of them were petty princelings, members of the ruling family rather than kings themselves. There are two princes of the name Iḷañjēṭcenni, distinguished by the epithets Neydalangānal and Śeruppāḻi-yeṟinda, both of them celebrated by Ūn-podipaśunguḍaiyār, a poet otherwise unknown. The first is said to have distinguished himself by the capture of Pāmuḷūr, a Cēra fortress;⁸³ how he earned the prefix to his name, Neydalangānal, is not known. Śeruppāḻi, overthrown by the second prince, is also only a name. The Cōḷa Muḍittalaik-kōpperunaṟkiḷḷi (the great good Kiḷḷi, the king with the crowned head) is remembered by a single poem of Muḍamōśiyār (Mōśi, the Lame), who lived in the part of Uṟaiyūr known as Ēṇiccēri. The poem⁸⁴ is a fine piece giving expression to the poet's grave concern for the safety of the Cōḷa who was riding an elephant, which, having suddenly turned mad, was carrying him past Karuvūr. The poet was then in the company of a Cēra prince, and explained to him what was happening before their eyes. The rushing elephant is picturesquely compared to a ship sailing on the high sea.