The Colas c20.20

c20.20

Certain questions naturally arise from this account: who was responsible for the troubles that followed Vīrarājēndra's death and rendered it necessary for Vikramāditya to come over to Kañcī and Gaṅgākuṇḍa to secure the succession for his brother-in-law? Who were the wicked people of Kañcī and the hostile forces of Gaṅgākuṇḍa whom Vikramāditya had to suppress before Adhirājēndra could feel secure on the throne and Vikramāditya himself retire to the Tungabhadrā? And what was the nature of the rebellion in which Adhirājēndra lost his life within a few days after Vikramāditya's retirement? There is no direct statement in the *Vikramāṅkadēva Carita* of Kulōttuṅga's complicity in these conspiracies and rebellions; but the facts that they paved the way for Kulōttuṅga's accession to the Cōḷa throne, that Vikramāditya VI marched against him and made an attempt to oust him after he occupied it, and the silence of the *Kalingattupparaṇi* on Adhirājēndra's reign seem to furnish some ground for the inference that Kulōttuṅga's ambition and intrigue brought about these occurrences. But a strict regard to the actual statements of Bilhaṇa may not support any conclusion more precise than that of Fleet,³⁸ 'that Kulōttuṅga Cōḷadēva I was enabled to seize the Cōḷa crown through internal disturbances in the Cōḷa kingdom, which culminated in the death of the last Cōḷa king.'