A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c14.7

c14.7

Now his successor, the Pāndya Varaguṇavarman II, invaded the Chola country to check the growing Pallava influence. This invasion began well enough, and Iḍavai, a village on the north bank of the Kaveri in the Chola country, was reached (c. 879). But Varaguṇavarman soon came up against a formidable combination. The forces that opposed him were led by Aparājita, the son of Nripatungavarman, who had become yuvarāja, the Chola Āditya I, who had succeeded Vijayālaya about 871, and the Ganga Prithvīpati I who responded to the call from the Pallava monarch. A decisive battle was fought at Śrī Purambiyam near Kumbakonam in 880, and the Pāndyan monarch suffered a crushing defeat, although Prithvīpati I lost his life in the battle. Āditya I was not only allowed to keep what his father had taken from the Muttarayar, but some new territory was added to it by his grateful Pallava overlord. Āditya I, however, did not rest content with a subordinate position. He planned and carried out the overthrow of the effete power of his suzerain. He invaded Tondaimandalam, and in a battle that ensued he pounced upon Aparājita when he was mounted on an elephant and slew him. That was the end of Pallava rule in Tondainād, and the whole of the Pallava kingdom now became Chola territory which henceforth bordered on that of the Rāshtrakūtas (897). The Ganga Prithvipati II, grandson of Prithvipati I, soon afterwards acknowledged the suzerainty of Āditya. Āditya next conquered the Kongu country also, perhaps from the Pāndya ruler Parāntaka Viranārāyana (880-900), the younger brother and successor of Varagunavarman. Āditya was on friendly terms with the contemporary Chera ruler Sthānuravi, whose daughter was married to his son Parāntaka. He is said to have built tall stone temples of Śiva on both banks of the Kaveri from the Sahyādri to the sea. He died at Tondaimānād near Kālahasti, and a temple was erected over his remains by his pious son Parāntaka, who succeeded him on the throne in 907 and ruled for forty-eight years. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success and prosperity, although it ended in disaster and gloom brought about by the hostility of the Rāshtrakūtas which began to pursue him almost from the beginning. Soon after his accession, as early as 910, he invaded the Pāndyan country and assumed the title Maduraikonda (‘Capturer of Madura’). The Pāndyan ruler at the time, Māravarman Rājasimha II (900-20), the son of Parāntaka Viranārāyana, appealed for help to Kassapa V, ruler of Ceylon, who sent an army to his aid. In due course, however, Parāntaka defeated the combined armies at the battle of Vellūr. Rājasimha had to flee to Ceylon and the Chola conquest of the Pāndya country was completed soon after. After staying in Ceylon for some years, Rājasimha left his crown and all his wealth behind, and betook himself to Kerala, the home of his mother. Some years later, in the reign of Udaya IV of Ceylon (940-53), Parāntaka made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the insignia of the Pāndyan king. His failure was remembered and made up for several years later by his powerful descendant Rājendra I.