The Colas c34.18

c34.18

The date of Kamban has been much disputed, but there seems to be now little room left to doubt that he was a junior contemporary of Oṭṭakkūttan and of Śēkkiḻār or followed close upon them. The palaeography of the inscriptions of Ṣaḍaiyan mentioned above, and Kamban's description of the Cōḷa country as belonging to *Tyāgamāvinōdan*, a title which recalls the surname of Kulōttunga III,²⁷ are fairly conclusive on the point. The distinct echoes of the *Śīvaka-Śindāmaṇi* in Kamban's great work constitute, in the light of the date assigned to the former poem, another circumstance confirming the date thus suggested for Kamban.