The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t4.39

v2.c15.s2.t4.39

Vira Rājēndra Chōḷa who, as we have seen, was ruling at Nellore from Ś. 1185 to 1190 (A.D. 1263-8) was ousted from power by a certain Mahā-maṇḍalēśvara Nāgadēva Mahārāja, a vassal of Rudradēva Mahārāja, who is Rudramadēvī. Evidently Rudramadēvī had effected the conquest of Nellore and the surrounding territory, and had placed Nāgadēva Mahārāja in charge of its government. His rule lasted there for a period of five years from Ś. 1193 to 1197 (A.D. 1271-5),⁶ at the end of which time he was compelled to retire northwards into the southern marches of Kamma-nāḍu, where he continued as governor at Maṇikēśvaram and in its neighbourhood in the Ongole *tāluk* of the Guntur district until Ś. 1202 (A.D. 1280).¹ It would appear that he was displaced by Tribhuvanachakravarti Irumaḍi (Immaḍi) Tirukāḷattidēva, or Tirukāḷattidēva II, of whom a record dated in his second regnal year, corresponding to Ś. 1201 (A.D. 1279), was found at Maḍamanūr in the Gudur *tāluk* less than twenty miles to the south of Nellore.² He was the eldest son of Manuma Siddhi II,³ the Telugu Chōḷa king of Nellore who suffered death on the battlefield of Muttukūr during the Pāṇḍyan invasion in A.D. 1263. His antecedents are, however, completely unknown to us. How he managed to expel the Kākatīya governor from Nellore and to re-occupy his ancestral territory cannot be ascertained definitely in the present state of knowledge. Though his title Tribhuvanachakravarti is suggestive of independent status, he was probably no more than an instrument in the hands of some external power hostile to the Kākatīyas and cherishing designs on the Nellore country. An interesting fact which has so far escaped the attention of historians may well be noticed here. Irumaḍi Tirukāḷattidēva’s attack on Nellore synchronized with Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla’s invasion of the Kāyastha dominions, as is shown by an epigraph at Nandalūr dated in his 29th regnal year (A.D. 1278-9).⁴ We may remind ourselves at this point that the whole of the Gudur *tāluk* of the Nellore district and parts of the Chittoor district comprising Kāḷahasti and Tirupati were included in Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla’s possessions.⁵ It is not unlikely that Tirukāḷattidēva’s attack on Nellore was somehow connected with Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla’s invasion of the Kāyastha territory. How long after Ś. 1201 (A.D. 1279) Irumaḍi Tirukāḷattidēva continued to rule at Nellore is not known; his rule probably lasted until Ś. 1204, when he was succeeded by Manuma-Gaṇḍagōpāla, obviously another Telugu Chōḷa chief, whose relationship with Irumaḍi, however, cannot be determined owing to the lack of any evidence.