The Colas c16.s1.2

c16.s1.2

We may begin by setting forth in some detail the nature of the evidence at hand. Stone inscriptions constitute the chief source of our knowledge, and there are several among these that unmistakably belong to this period.¹ The inscriptions of Kannaradēva (Kṛṣṇa III) bearing regnal years higher than twenty-three, and found in the districts of North Arcot and Chingleput constitute the first group of these records; the latest year in them is twenty-eight, and this would take us to A.D. 965.² Of the remaining stone inscriptions of the period, several belong to Maduraikoṇḍa Rājakēsari and bear dates in regnal