The Colas c24.3

c24.3

What was the relation of Rājarāja to Kulōttunga? Was he the son whom the Cōḷa monarch (Kulōttunga III) on his return from exile, presented to the Pāṇḍyan conqueror who sent for him in order to give him back his kingdom? This may have been so, but we lack definite evidence. Rājarāja's inscriptions call Kulōttunga III *periyadēvar* (the elder lord);² so do the inscriptions of Rājarāja's successor Rājēndra III.³ But this is not enough to sustain the inferences that Rājarāja was a son or nephew of Kulōttunga III or that Rājēndra was his brother.⁴ *Periyadēvar* does not seem to signify anything more specific than priority in succession; Rājēndra III describes Rājarāja III also by the same term.⁵ There seems to be no reason why we should not suppose that Rājarāja was the son of Kulōttunga, and Rājēndra of Rājarāja; but this cannot yet be proved.