The Colas c18.6

c18.6

March and 3 December a.d. 1018,⁹ most probably in the early months of the seventh year of Rājēndra himself. For over twenty-five years from that date, father and son, Parakēsari and Rājāhkēsari ruled together and shared the burdens of empire. The inscriptions of Rājādhirāja, with the introduction beginning *tingalērtaru*, give an account of the part played by this prince in the campaigns of his father, and up to about the twenty-sixth year of Rājādhirāja's reign, his records must be understood to supplement those of Rājēndra by giving an alternative description of more or less the same transactions from the standpoint of Rājādhirāja's part in them.¹⁰ In an inscription of his twenty-sixth year from Tirumalavāḍi which adopts the shorter form of his introduction,¹¹ Rājādhirāja's umbrella of state is said to have functioned as if it were the shadow of the white umbrella of his father who conquered with his army the Ganges in the North, Ceylon in the South, Mahōdai in the West and Kaḍāram in the East. This clear statement that the son ruled in full regal state in the life-time of his father, and that for as many as twenty-six years, provides the key for the proper understanding of an important aspect of Cōḷa history. Adopted in the first instance, possibly, as a device to obviate disputed succession, the system of choosing a successor in the life-time of the ruling king and associating him, after a formal installation, in the discharge of important public duties pointed the way, under the stress of empire, to a more deliberate and extensive application of the principle to the administrative arrangements of the empire. The princes of the blood royal who had come of age were appointed to positions of authority in the different provinces of the empire, care being taken to give to each the position suited to his capacity and talent. The person chosen as heir apparent was distinguished from the rest by a formal installation, and by his higher status; in the case of Rājādhirāja, who was not the eldest son of Rājēndra and must have been chosen as *yuvarāja* for his outstanding ability, his status is clearly implied by his separate historical introductions and by his titles even during his father's life-time. The contemporary Cōḷa-Pāṇḍya viceroys, also Cōḷa princes, either use no historical introductions in their inscriptions, or when they do so, adopt that of the ruling sovereign, Rājēndra. In the early years of his reign Rājēndra seems to have been assisted only by one such subordinate ruler with jurisdiction over the Pāṇḍya and the Kēraḷa countries, besides the crown prince Rājādhirāja, though it is possible that in later years others were similarly recognized elsewhere. It is probable that when chosen for such employment, the princes underwent an investiture of some sort which, among other things, conferred on them the right to wear coronets of their own, suited to their relative positions in the state. Rājādhirāja and his successor are said, in their inscriptions, also to have continued these arrangements. This wise system initiated by Rājēndra I, by finding suitable occupation for the energies of restless princes of the royal family, doubtless allayed their discontent, diminished the chances of palace intrigues and revolutions, and at the same time brought new strength to the administration of an over-grown empire which was called upon to face many difficult problems, domestic and foreign.