The Colas c21.27

c21.27

These accounts of the conquest of the Pāṇḍyas and Cēras, the fights at Kōṭṭāṟu, Viḻiñam and Śālai are substantially true; the *Kulōttunga-śōḻan Piḷḷaittamiḻ* mentions also a battle of Śemponmāri (Ramnad Dt.).⁵⁸ The decimation of the ranks of *S̄āvērs*, veteran soldiers who had banished from their hearts all fear of death and who formed a considerable section of the forces of the Pāṇḍyas⁵⁹ and the Cēras, must have been the result of very hard fighting. The identity of the five Pāṇḍyas conquered by Kulōttunga remains obscure;⁶⁰ even Jaṭāvarman Śrīvallabha was not one of them, but seems to have begun his rule sometime after Kulōttunga's conquest and settlement of the southern country. Kulōttunga was evidently not in a position to restore the Cōḷa administrative arrangements introduced into the Pāṇḍya country by Rājarāja, I, and he hit upon the device of establishing military colonies (*nilaip-paḍai*) along the important routes of communication in the Pāṇḍya and Kēraḷa territory. Except for the presence of these military outposts, the symbols of Cōḷa overlordship, the attempt to change place-names to commemorate Cōḷa titles,⁶¹ and the collection of an annual tribute from the subordinate rulers of these districts, there was no attempt on the part of Kulōttunga to interfere with their internal administration. The numerous inscriptions of the Pāṇḍyan kings of this period betray few signs of their political subjection to the Cōḷas, and the inscriptions of Kulōttunga and his successors are not found in such numbers in this area as in the territories under their direct rule.⁶²