The Colas c16.s2.78

c16.s2.78

59. Some statements in Chapter VIII of *PK*, on the chronology and the course of the Cōḷa conquest, are seen to need considerable modification. To one point; in particular attention may be drawn here. Vīra Pāṇḍya 'who took the head of the Cōḷa' bore that title for thirteen years. (*PK*. p. 102). This clearly means that Vīra Pāṇḍya did not lose his life at the hands of Āditya and his confederates. For if we accept, for the sake of argument, the latest date suggested for the accession of Āditya II, A.D. 965, Vīra Pāṇḍya must have lost his life in A.D. 966, because Āditya's records of the second year mention the event. Thirteen years earlier than this date takes us to A.D. 953 or 954, a date which seems to be too soon after the Rāṣṭrakūta invasion for a contest between the Cōḻas and the Pāṇḍyas in the South—a contest which gave Vīra Pāṇḍya the occasion to ‘take the head of the Cōḻa.’ If Pārthivēndravarman and Āditya were identical, then this contest would be pushed back to 944-5, an impossible date.