The Colas c23.18

c23.18

The latest regnal year traced in the inscriptions of Rājādhirāja II is sixteen,³⁶ so that his reign extended up to a.d. 1179 or 1182 according as we adopt a.d. 1163 or 1166 for the commencement of his reign. The inscriptions of Kulōttunga show that his rule commenced between 6 and 8 July, a.d. 1178.³⁷ It is thus clear that Kulōttunga III had come to be recognised as the next sovereign before the death of Rājādhirāja. It has been shown above that Kulōttunga could not have been one of the tender children of Rājarāja³⁸ for whose protection the Pallavarāyar took effective steps at the time of Rājarāja’s death. If the assumption is correct that Kulōttunga is identical with Kumāra Kulōttunga mentioned in the inscriptions of Rājādhirāja II,³⁹ then it would seem that he was not of the direct line of the Imperial Cōḷas any more than his predecessor. The *Kulōttuṅgan-kōvai*⁴⁰ gives the pedigree of Kumāra Kulōttunga thus: