A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c14.17

c14.17

Rājarāja began his conquests by attacking the confederation between the rulers of the Pāndya and Kerala kingdoms and of Ceylon. In two campaigns he destroyed the Pāṇḍyas and conquered the haughty Kerala kings by attacking Kāndalūr and Vilinam. In a third campaign, a naval expedition, he overran the northern part of Ceylon, forcing Mahinda V to take refuge in the hill country in the south-east of the island. Anurādhapura was destroyed, and Polonnaruva became the capital of a Chola province. Elsewhere Gangapādi, Nolambapādi, and Tadigaipādi, all parts of modern Mysore, were conquered and annexed, which intensified the conflict with the new power of the Chālukyas under Taila II. The first battle fought in 992 went against the Cholas. Rājarāja’s chief enemy, however, was Satyāśraya, the son and successor of Taila II. Before recounting their trial of strength we must now turn for a while to Chālukyan history.