The Colas c20.18
The Cōḷas c20.18
- Language
- English
c20.18.1
We may now turn to the literary evidence on the subject of Kulōttunga's accession. On one matter the evidence of two works is in complete accord with that of the inscriptions. Both the *Vikramāṅkadēva Carita* and the *Vikramaśoḻan-ulā*²⁹ are explicit in stating that Vīrarājēndra was succeeded by another king before Kulōttunga came to the throne; the *ulā* by its very brief reference giving no particulars whatever of his reign, and the *Carita* by directly stating that he lost his life in a rebellion that occurred within a few days of his installation³⁰, imply that he had a very short reign; this king was no doubt Parakēsari Adhirājēndra of the inscriptions. And Kulōttuṅga himself recognised the legitimacy of Adhirājēndra's position when he styled himself Rājakēsari. In some of his records, however, is found a double *praśasti* which, by combining the two forms *vīramē tuṇai-yāgavum* and *pugaḷmādu viḷaṅga*, seems to set up a claim that Kulōttuṅga should be considered the direct successor of Vīrarājēndra.³¹ And the *Kaliṅgattupraraṇi* of Jayaṅgoṇḍār, makes it a point to ignore the reign of Adhirājēndra.³² This poem is often cited in support of the notions that at his birth Kulōttuṅga was adopted by Rājēndra Cōḷadēva I into the Cōḷa family and that he was brought up in his maternal grandfather's court.³³ But there is nothing in the actual words employed by the poet to suggest either a formal ceremony of adoption or to enable us to know where the prince spent his early years.
c20.18.2
In fact the date of this prince's birth must be placed at the end of Rājēndra I's reign, some time after A.D. 1040. By that time Rājādhirāja I had long been associated with his father as *yuvarāja*, and there were several brothers of his perhaps occupying responsible posts in the administration of the empire. There was no need for any adoption; and considering his marriage with Madhurāntaki, it is impossible to postulate it. In fact all that Jayaṅgoṇḍār says is that on the birth of the child, the queen of Gaṅgaikoṇḍaśōḷa raised him in her hands and expressed her admiration of the marks on his limbs by observing that he was fit to be a son of the solar line born for its protection; in the very next verse the poet takes good care to add that the kings of both the lunar and the solar dynasties, that is Rājarājanarēndra and Rājēndra Gaṅgaikoṇḍa, experienced joy on the occasion of the birth of the prince.³⁴ After a convential account of the early years of the prince, the poet states than Abhaya³⁵ (Vīrarājēndra) made him crown prince, and then proceeds to describe his *digvijaya* of which particulars are furnished only with reference to the northern direction. He is said to have made his mark in Vayirākaram and Śakkarakkōṭṭam. He was still in the north engaged in these campaigns when the Cōḷa king died in the south, and there ensued anarchy and confusion until Abhaya Kulōttuṅga returned and restored order. This account of Jayaṅgoṇḍār is remarkable in some ways.
c20.18.3
It studiously refrains from mentioning Adhirājēndra and asserts that Vīrarājēndra made Abhaya crown prince for the rule of the Earth, meaning no doubt, the Cōḷa kingdom; and it recounts details of campaigns in Wairagarh and Cakrakuṭa exactly like the early inscriptions of Kulōttunga to which attention has been drawn above. Though the poet aims, as Fleet has remarked, at treating Abhaya on the whole as a Cōḷa prince rather than as Cāḷukya, he has still not altogether suppressed the Cāḷukya connections, and in his account of the youthful achievements of Abhaya he follows the early records of the reign rather closely. Above all, his account leaves no room for doubt as to the whereabouts of Abhaya at the time when his chance arrived to seize the Cōḷa throne. It is also of some interest to note that in the account of Abhaya's *digvijaya*, and in the attempt made, in the inscriptions, to combine the *praśasti* of Vīrarājēndra with that of Kulōttunga, and thus cast a doubt on the legitimacy of Adhirājēndra's rule, the poem and the inscriptions are in perfect agreement.