The Colas c21.49

c21.49

The later invasion which took place about a.d. 1110 is described in some detail in the inscriptions of Kulōttunga and at greater length in the *Kaliṅgattu-pparaṇi*. According to the inscriptions,¹⁰⁰ the Cōḷa army crossed the Vēṅgī territory, destroyed the elephant corps that was sent by the enemy to oppose its march, spread fire across the enemy country of Kalingam, killed in the fight many powerful leaders of the Kalinga army whose heads rolled on the battle-field, pecked by kites, and in the end subdued the Seven Kalingas. The account in the *Kalingattup-parani* may be summarised as follows.¹⁰¹ When the emperor sat in darbar in his palace at Kāñcī, the *tiru-mandira-ōlai* announced to his master the arrival of subject kings who had brought the annual tribute, and were waiting outside. The vassals were then permitted to enter and exhibit their presents. At the end, the emperor enquired if there were any who had defaulted, and was informed that the king of North Kalinga had done so twice. The emperor forthwith issued the command that an expedition should be sent against Kalinga to storm the hillforts of Kalinga and bring its ruler as a prisoner of war. The valiant Pallava chieftain, Karuṇākara Toṇḍaimān, lord of Vaṇḍai, offered to carry out the emperor’s orders and was accepted. The expeditionary force led by Karuṇākara soon started from Kāñcī. It crossed the Pālār and the Ponmukhari rivers and reached the Peṇṇār; among the other streams crossed by it before reaching Kalingam were the Maṇṇāṟu, the Kṛṣṇā, the Gōdāvari, the Pampā and the Gōtami. The Cōḷa army began to spread destruction as it entered Kalinga, and the suffering inhabitants fled to their king and reported to him what they had seen and suffered. Anantavarman, who had known no defeat before, made light of the whole business, as it was only Kulōttunga’s army, not the emperor himself, that was advancing; one of his ministers, Engarāya, remonstrated with him and spoke of the great achievements that already stood to the credit of the Cōḷa army. Nothing daunted, Anantavarman prepared for the fight. The battle that ensued ended in a complete victory for the Cōḷa forces and Anantavarman sought his safety in flight. After a futile search for him, the victorious Cōḷa army returned home with vast booty.