The Colas c24.52

c24.52

Kāñcīpuram does not figure among the conquests of Rājēndra and it is worth while to notice briefly the fortunes of the city in this period. The latest Cōḷa records traceable here appear to be dated about A.D. 1245 in the twenty-ninth year of Rājarāja III, and not a single record of Rājēndra III is to be found in Kāñcīpuram. On the other hand we find an inscription of Kākātīya Gaṇapati dated Tuesday, June 8, A.D. 1249 recording a large grant by one of his ministers Sāmanta Bhōja. There is an inscription from Nandalūr which, in spite of many gaps, clearly shows that Tikka's son, Manmasiddhi, and Gaṇapati were friends. There is again a tradition that the great Telugu poet Tikkana secured the intercession of Gaṇapati in the affairs of the Telugu-Cōḍa kingdom on behalf of Manmasiddha when he was sought to be kept out of the succession. We have not as yet any decisive evidence of the date of Gaṇapati’s interference, if he actually did interfere in the manner just mentioned. We may also note that some years later, when Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya killed Gaṇḍagōpāla, i.e. Tikka, in battle and conquered the Telugu-Cōḍa kingdom, he became master of Kāñcīpuram and Nellore and put Gaṇapati to flight. We may therefore suppose that Kāñcīpuram had for some years become part of the Telugu-Cōḍa kingdom under Tikka, that he held it in nominal subjection to Rājarāja III in the beginning, and to Gaṇapati later on, until the city was captured by the Pāṇḍyan invader. The Cōḷas then did not long keep their hold on Kāñcī for which Kulōttunga III had fought successfully in the latter part of his reign. With the rise of Kōpperuñjinga into independence, the Cōḷa king must have found it difficult to maintain his power in Kāñcī and acquiesced in the virtual annexation of the city by his ally, the Telugu-Cōḍa ruler.