The Colas c23.17.3

c23.17.3

It is remarkable that the binding power of these compacts is often sought to be secured by the most fearful imprecations some of which are too shocking to be reproduced here. The earliest of these compacts are those found in the Ramnad district towards the close of the reign of Kulōttunga I and in the beginning of Vikramaśōḷa's reign. In the forty-second year of the reign of Kulōttunga I, as we learn from an inscription from Śivapuri (Ramnad Dt.),³³ Kaṇḍan-Mangalattēvan *alias* Tuvarāpati-vēḷān swore a vow of alliance and fealty to Sundarattōḷan Kaṇḍan *alias* Rājēndraśōḷa Tuvarāpati-vēḷān saying: 'I, Kaṇḍan Mangalattēvan *alias* Tuvarāpati-vēḷān do hereby swear that I shall remain true to (your) life, wealth and honour, and that, if I fail, I shall incur the sin of him who becomes the husband of his mother and of consuming liquor (*surā*) and beef (*gō-māmsam*).' About ten years later, in the same place is registered another compact³⁴ between Rājēndraśōḷan *alias* Niṣadarājan and Kaṇḍan Sundarattōḷan *alias* Tuvarāpati-vēḷān by which the former swore fealty to the latter in similar terms. Another instance comes from North Arcot and belongs to the reign of Rājādhirāja II; an inscription from Māḍam dated in the eleventh regnal year of the king³⁵ registers a similar compact among three chieftains of the Śengēṇi family.