The Colas c22.12

c22.12

Some idea of the king’s share in the control of the administration is gained from a study of his personal movements incidentally recorded in the inscriptions of the reign. That Gaṅgaikoṇḍa-cōḻapuram was the capital and therefore the normal place of royal residence is seen from an inscription which mentions a sēnāpati commanding at the outer gate (*puṟavāyil*) of the palace at Gaṅgaikoṇḍa-cōḻapuram.²³ In A.D. 1122 the king issues an order from Muḍikoṇḍa-cōḻapuram,²⁴ another name for Paḻaiyāṟu near Kumbakōṇam.²⁵ The year after, he spent some time in a maṇḍapa near a tank on the southern side of Vaṣāṟu alias Kunivalanallūr in the Kāliyūr Kōṭṭam, (Chingleput district).²⁶ In 1124 again, he was in the South Arcot district living in a palace at Vīranārāyaṇa-caturvēdimangalam, i.e., Kāṭṭumannārkōyil.²⁷ Lastly, in the twelfth year, A.D. 1130, Vikramacōḻa is found living in a palace in Cidambaram.²⁸ It is thus clear that the king was constantly touring his territories and that there were palaces in the more important cities. besides maṇḍapas and other structures all over the country, ready to be used as camping places by the sovereign in his tours. The importance of such royal progresses for ensuring efficient administration in an autocratic mediaeval state can hardly be overrated and in undertaking them, Vikramācōḻa was no doubt following the regular practice of the Cōḻa rulers of this period.