The Colas c17.31

c17.31

In the closing years of his reign Rājarāja associated his son Rājēndra with himself in the official administration. This formal recognition of Rājēndra as heir apparent took place some time between 27 March and 7 July A.D. 1012.⁷⁴ Rājēndra must have been at least twenty-five years of age at the time as he is mentioned in Rājarāja's inscriptions of the fourth year as a young prince.⁷⁵ Considering the large number of Tanjore inscriptions which mark the twenty-ninth year of his father, we may conclude that this year A.D. 1014 marked the close of Rājarāja's illustrious reign.⁷⁶