The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t3.78

v2.c15.s2.t3.78

*Ganapati and the Pāṇḍyas.* Gaṇapati’s alliance with the Telugu Chōḍa kings of Nellore involved him in a war with the Pāṇḍyas of Madura, who, under the able leadership of the famous Jaṭāvarman Sundara Pāṇḍya I, subjugated between A.D. 1251 and 1257 the whole of Southern India and established their hegemony over it. As the Telugu Chōḍa rulers of Nellore owed allegiance, even though only nominally, to the Chōḍa emperor, the Pāṇḍyas who had overthrown his authority considered that as his political successors they ought to bring the Telugu Chōḍa dominions also under their sway. Of the two Telugu Chōḍa chiefs who succeeded Tikka, his son, Manuma Siddhi II, known also as Vīra-Gaṇḍagōpāla, held the northern or Telugu districts, whilst Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla ruled over the southern or Tamil districts. The latter by reason of the proximity of his territory to the Pāṇḍyan kingdom, and also on account of his alliance with the redoubtable Kāḍava chief, Kōpperuñjiṅga, naturally became the object of their first attack. The steps taken by Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla to protect his dominion from the Pāṇḍyan invasion are not known. He ultimately had to submit to the superior military strength of the Pāṇḍyas and acknowledge their supremacy. An inscription at Kāñchī of Jaṭāvarman Vira Pāṇḍya, dated A.D. 1260, shows that the Pāṇḍyas had by that time overcome his opposition and entered his capital.¹ They next turned their attention to Nellore; but the conquest of that place was not so easily effected, since the attempt to reduce it involved them in a war with the northern powers, especially the Kākatīyas, with whom Vira-Gaṇḍagōpāla, otherwise known as Manuma Siddhi II, was in alliance. Apprehending the danger of an imminent Pāṇḍyan attack on his territories, he appealed to the Kākatīya, the Sēuṇa, and the Bāṇa rulers for help. To weaken the forces of the enemy by means of a diversion, the Pāṇḍyas sent an expedition, consisting mostly of feudatory forces, into the Kākatīya kingdom. The inscriptions of Rājēndra Chōḷa III, Kōpperuñjiṅga, and Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla, who had been reduced to vassalage by the Pāṇḍyas, found at Tripurāntakam, in the heart of the Kākatīya kingdom, clearly indicate that these chieftains took part in the expedition.² Kōpperuñjiṅga, who is believed to have led the advance guard of the Pāṇḍyan army, penetrated as far as Dākshārāmam in the East Gōdāvarī district, with the object probably of establishing contact with the king of Kaliṅga, the enemy of the Kākatīya monarch;³ but he suffered a defeat at the hands of Gaṇapati and was compelled to acknowledge his suzerainty.⁴ It was obviously after this defeat that Kōpperuñjiṅga, on the occasion of his paying homage to Gaṇapati, was honoured by him with the decoration of vira-pāda-mudra or the anklet of the heroes.⁵ Rājēndra Chōḷa III and Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla, who probably suffered a defeat in an encounter with the Kākatīya nobles headed by the Kāyastha chief Jannigadēva, retreated hastily towards their dominions. That was apparently the reason why Vikrama Pāṇḍya relinquished the idea of invading the Kākatīya kingdom, though he attributes it to his unwillingness to attack Gaṇapati who had two carps (the Pāṇḍyan emblems) on his face and a woman who was ruling over it with a man's name.⁶