The Colas c23.86

c23.86

'born to rule the land of Kūḍal'—*Kūḍal-avani-yāḷappiranda*, Vīraśēkhara himself being the first to do so. Kūḍal or Kūḍalūr cannot be identified with certainty, though we learn from an inscription that it formed part of Perugaḷūr-nāḍu in Tirumunaippāḍi. At this point, we may note the existence of another *praśasti*,¹⁶² which bears no date and relates to the wars and conquests of a certain Toṇḍaimaṇḍalangoṇḍa Pallavāṇḍār *alias* Kāḍavarāyar, the son of Kūḍal-āḷappirandār *alias* Kāḍavarāyar. It appears quite likely that this is a *praśasti* of Aḷagiya Pallavan, the father of Kōpperuñjinga; the events mentioned in the *praśasti* admirably fill the gap in the story of the rise of the Kāḍavas between Vīraśēkhara and Kōpperuñjinga. And if our view of this *praśasti* is right, Aḷagiya Śīyan must have also had the name Pallavāṇḍār and must have carried forward the work of aggrandizement begun by Vīraśēkhara and thus paved the way for the greater achievements of his son on a wider stage. The *praśasti* of Pallavāṇḍār states that he gained success in a hard-fought battle at Sēvūr;¹⁶³ the enemy against whom he fought is not specified, but the result of the battle seems to have been his mastery over Toṇḍai-nāḍu. This is implied by the titles, 'ruler of the land of the Peṇṇār,' 'ruler of the northern Vēṅgaḍam hill (Tirupati),' 'the Pallava of Kāñcī,' applied to him later in the same *praśasti*.