The Colas c19.6

c19.6

That Rājādhirāja assumed the title Vijayarājēndra after his triumphant entry into Kalyāṇapura has already been mentioned. There are, however, two records of Parakēsarī Vijayarājēndra which at first sight seem to present a baffling problem.¹⁶ In one of them, a Kōlār record¹⁷ of the thirty-fifth year, we must necessarily assume that Parakēsari is a mistake for Rājakēsari; for the high regnal year and the identity of the short *praśasti* in this record with that of Rājādhirāja beginning *Vīrapāṇḍiyan talaiyum*, the last variety of the *praśastis* found in Rājādhirāja's records, leave no room for any alternative. The other record from Pedda-Tippasamudram¹⁸ falls into the reign of Rājēndra II, the younger brother and successor of Rājādhirāja, as it is dated in Śaka 981, or A.D. 1057-8, and as we have no clear proof of Rājādhirāja having reigned beyond his 36th year, which would be A.D. 1054-5. Rājēndra II was a Parakēsari, and though this record appears to be unique in giving him the Vijayarājēndra title, it may be his. It should, however, be noticed that a Rājādhirāja inscription, doubtfully dated in the 38th year, from Tiruvorṟiyūr,¹⁹ just renders it possible that this record is also his. The battle of Koppam, in which Rājādhirāja lost his life, took place according to Fleet 'shortly before the 20th January, A.D. 1060,' as a record dated in Śaka 981 (expired) mentions that Sōmēśvara had then returned from 'a conquest of the southern countries and of the Cōḷa.'²⁰ Therefore, the Pedda-Tippasamudram record of Śaka 981 may also be, after all, another instance of a Rājādhirāja record giving him the Parakēsari title by a mistake. In any case we have no reason to assume that there was an alteration in the official title of the king from Rājakēsari to Parakēsari,²¹ as there are many other records of the 35th and 36th years with the former title.