The Colas c18.49
The Cōḷas c18.49
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c18.49.1
In the *praśasti* of Rājēndra the name mentioned after Śrī Vijaya is Paṇṇai which has been identified with Pani or Panei on the east coast of Sumatra.¹¹² Ancient Malaiyūr was a principality 'at the southern end of the Malay peninsula, and precisely on the northern shore of the Old Singapore Strait where, besides the Malāyu river, time-worn traditions of a Malaya country and people confront the enquirer.'¹¹³ As for Māyiruḍingam which had the deep sea for its moat, this place is quite obviously the same as *Ji-lo-ting* mentioned by Chau Ju-kua among the dependencies of Śrī Vijaya. The same author also states that Ji-lo-ting and Kia-lo-hi 'are of the same kind' as Tan-ma-ling.¹¹⁴ Coedès has proved by decisive epigraphical evidence that Kia-lo-hi is the same place as Grahi at Jaiya and that consequently Ji-lo-ting (Yi-ru-ḍingam) which formed one of the northern dependencies of Śrī Vijaya must be sought somewhere in the region of Jaiya towards the centre of the Malay peninsula.¹¹⁵ Ilaṅgāśōkam has been very properly identified with Ling-ya-sseu-kia of Chau Ju-kua's list of dependencies, and its locality was to the south of the state of Kedah in the Malay peninsula.¹¹⁶ Māpappāḷam, as was shown by Venkayya, is mentioned in the *Mahāvaṁsa*¹¹⁷ under the name Papphāḷama,¹¹⁸ as the place where the Tamil general Ādicca landed when he was sent on an expedition against Rāmaññadēśa by Parākramabāhu I of Ceylon about a.d. 1165.
c18.49.2
From this Venkayya concluded that Māpappāḷam must be a place in the Talaing country of Lower Burma, and he has been followed by other writers who have proceeded to make other identifications on this basis.¹¹⁹ In fact it seems at first sight that this mention of Pappāḷam in an expedition against Rāmaññadēśa violently contradicts the assumption that all the places captured by Rājēndra were dependent on Palembang and within easy reach of it. Coedès however, draws attention to the fact that the long list of the grievances which Parākrambāhu had against the ruler of Rāmañña ends with his capture by force of a Sinhalese princess whom the ruler of Laṅkā had sent to the Kāmbhōja country;¹²⁰ and suggests that 'as it is infinitely probable that the messengers going from Ceylon to Kāmbhōja passed by the isthmus of Kra, it is in this region that the abduction (of the princess) must have been committed, and consequently, the authority of the king of Pagan might have extended so far.'¹²¹ In the beginning of the eleventh century, however, the suzerainty of Palembang extended up to the Bay of Bandon, and there is no difficulty therefore in assuming that Māpappāḷam was a locality in the region of the isthmus of Kra, though its exact identity cannot now be made out.
c18.49.3
In any event, the presence, among the conquests of Rājēndra Cōḷa I, of a locality which became part of Pegu in the 12th century, is not sufficient to invalidate the identification of these conquests with the vassal states of Palembang. Mēvilimbangam and Vaḷaippandūru¹²² do not lend themselves to any identification at present. Talaittakkōlam, most probably the same place as Takkōla of the *Milinda-Pañha* and Takkōla of Ptolemy, is localised by Gerini in the modern Takuapa district south of the isthmus of Kra and identified with its chief town, also called Takuapa.¹²³ Others are inclined to locate it somewhat higher up, in the isthmus itself; in any case, there is general agreement that it is a place on the West Coast of the Malay peninsula. Mā-Damālingam, firm in battle, can easily be recognised in the name Tan-maling which figures in Chau Ju-kua's list of the dependencies of San-fo-tsi. The same authority says:¹²⁴ Ling-ya-sseu-kia (Ilaṅgāśōkam) 'can be reached from Tan-ma-ling by sailing six days and nights;
c18.49.4
there is also an overland route (between the two countries).' Gerini identifies Tan-ma-ling with Temiling or Tembeling at the mouth of the Kwān-tan river in Pahang, on the East coast of the Malay peninsula;¹²⁵ on this identification the learned translators of Chau Ju-kua observe: 'As our author states that a land route existed between Tan-ma-ling and Ling-ya-ssi-kia, which we have good reason to believe was about Kedah on the West coast of the peninsula, it seems safe to conclude that Tan-ma-ling cannot have been very far from where Gerini has located it.' Blagden points out as against this view, that six days would be rather a short time for sailing between Kedah and Kwāntan considering the weak monsoon of the straits of Malacca; Coedès overcomes the difficulty by supposing that the country of Tāmraliṅga or Laṅkāśuka or perhaps both occupied the peninsula in all its width and faced the gulf of Siam as well as the Straits.¹²⁶ Ilāmuridēśam is quite obviously the country in the northern part of the island of Sumatra, known to Arab geographers under the name Lamuri, called Lambri by Marco Polo, and figuring as Lan-wou-li in Chau Ju-kua's enumeration of the subject states of San-fo-tsi. Mānakka-vāram, it is equally clear, applies to the Nicobars.
c18.49.5
This discussion of the place names mentioned in the campaign against the king of Kaḍāram distinctly points to the conclusion that the campaign of Rājēndra was directed against the Sumatran Empire of Śrī Vijaya and its dependencies in the Malay peninsula and Archipelago.