Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.105

c7.105

To accept some of the traditions incorporated in the *Paḷamoḷi* while rejecting the rest is, it may be remarked in passing, not so illogical or unsound as it may appear. For one thing, in rejecting the story of the elephant raising Karikāla to the throne we are influenced by the facts (1) that the prince from Karūr is identified with Karikāla, not by the text of the *Palamoḻi* but its commentary; and (2) that the evidence of strictly contemporary writers is clear that Karikāla’s escape from prison and his accession were brought about by his own exertions, aided perhaps by his friends from outside. Here, on the other hand, we have a fact mentioned in the text (not the commentary) of the *Palamoḻi* viz., that Piḍarttalai aided Karikāla in winning the sceptre; and we also find that the identity of the king is indicated unmistakably by the mention of the accident from fire which occurred early in Karikāla’s life. And the new fact supplied by this verse fits in satisfactorily with the rest of the story as given by other, perhaps earlier, writers. Whether, as the annotator says, Piḍarttalai was the maternal uncle of Karikāla, and whether he was the same person as the poet Irumbiḍarttalaiyār of the *Puṟam*, are matters which cannot be settled now and do not have any direct bearing on the history of Karikāla. It should, however, be noticed that this verse from the *Palamoḻi* confirms the oldest explanation we get of the name Kari-kālaṇ, ‘the man with the charred leg,’ by making it the result of an accident from fire in his early life. But there is nothing to support the suggestion sometimes made that the prince met with this accident in his endeavour to get the kingdom.* Later explanations of the name Karikāla such as “Death to elephants,” and “Death to Kali” and the story of the mother making a charcoal mark on the soles of the prince to enable the elephant to lift him up easily are not entitled to any weight, at any rate, with reference to this early king Karikāla.