The Colas c18.12

c18.12

In his sixth year,²⁷ A.D. 1018, Rājēndra seized the heirloom of the Kēraḷa monarch including the crown praised by many and rightfully worn by him, and the garland emitting red rays.²⁸ He also took the 'many ancient islands, whose old, great guard was the ocean which makes the conches resound.' In the next year, he captured the crown of pure gold worthy of Tiru (Lakṣmī) that had been deposited in Sāndimattīvu, in view of its strong fortress, by Paraśurāma who, roused in war, had uprooted the kings (of the world) twenty-one times.²⁹ Some light is thrown on these rather obscure transactions by the account of Rājēndra's southern campaign given by the Tiruvālangāḍu plates and by a single stone inscription of the tenth year³⁰ which gives an account of Rājēndra's policy in the Pāṇḍya country, not found in the other stone records of the reign. The Tiruvālangāḍu plates³¹ say: