The Colas c19.3

c19.3

The Kanyākumārī inscription¹ of Vīrarājēndra states expressly that Rājādhirāja was the eldest of the three sons of Rājēndra who succeeded him in order; this statement is confirmed by the inscriptions of the three reigns taken together; one record of the thirty-fifth year² of Rājādhirāja mentions the significant name *tambit-tuṇaiccōḷa-vaḷanāḍu*, which recalls distinctly the *praśasti* of Rājēndra II beginning *tirumagaḷ maruviya*. This *praśasti* gives a succinct account of how Rājēndra co-operated with his elder brother Rājādhirāja in the prolonged Cāḷukya war of the reign. Vīrarājēndra was doubtless identical with Vīra-Cōḷa,³ the younger brother of Rājēndradēva on whom he conferred the title Karikāla Cōḷa; in fact the W. Cāḷukya inscriptions call him generally Vīra. An inscription of Vīrarājēndra from the Ramnad district⁴ refers to his father (*ayyar*) who conquered Gangai, Pūrvadēśam and Kaḍāram. From a study of the dates of the inscriptions, it is seen that there is a large measure of overlapping among the reigns, a feature which should cause no surprise after the conjoint rule for over twenty-five years of Rājādhirāja with his father. The latest regnal year of Rājādhirāja mentioned in his records is the thirty-sixth,⁵ falling in A.D. 1053-4. The approximate date of the accession of Rājēndra II has been fixed from his inscriptions as May 28, A.D. 1052.⁶ Likewise, the highest regnal year of Rājēndra II is twelve, taking his rule up to A.D. 1064. Vīrarājēndra's accession, however, took place sometime in A.D. 1062-3⁷ which is counted in his records as his first year.⁸ Rājakēsari Rājamahēndradēva, whose inscriptions do not carry his reign beyond the third year, must be found a place before the accession of Vīrarājēndra-dēva. His brief *praśastis* tell us little beyond the fact that he upheld the code laid down by Manu for the administration of the land; but even this statement is not altogether valueless as it is closely corroborated by the *Kalingattupparaṇi*⁹ which says just the same thing even more forcibly, without mentioning any other fact, about a king whom it places between the sovereign who crowned himself on the field of Koppam (Rājēndra II) and the victor of Kūḍal-śangamam (Vīrarājēndra). Further confirmation of the position assigned to Rājamahēndra is found in a single inscription of his stating that the king 'by a war-elephant caused Āhavamalla to turn his back (on the bank of) the winding river.'¹⁰ It seems possible that Rājamahēndra was the son of Rājēndra II mentioned in an inscription of the ninth year of that king¹¹ under the name Rājēndra, and that when, soon after, he was chosen heir-apparent he assumed the title Rājamahēndra to distinguish himself from his father Rājēndra-dēva and his grandfather Rājēndra-Cōḷa-dēva. Here again, the succession of two Rājakēsarīs, Rājamahēndra and Vīrarājēndra, must be explained as due to one of them having died as heir-apparent without ever ruling in his own right, and that the other was chosen to fill his place.¹² This period is brought to a close by the short and troubled reign of Parakēsarī Adhirājēndra, one of whose records dated in his third year¹³ mentions the eighth year of Vīrarājēndra. The succession and chronology of the period may, therefore, be summed up as follows: