Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.120

c7.120

golden Meru and planted his tiger standard on the summit of that mountain which is spoken of in Indian legends as the centre of the earth." But in saying this and in implying that the *Kalingattuparani* (IX) is the first of the 'dreamy eulogies' of later poets, he has overlooked the direct statements in the *Silappadikāram* that Karikāla went to fight in the northern region as he had no foes left in the Tamil country, and that he engraved his tiger-mark on the slopes of the Himalayas. On the other hand, Mr. T. G. Aravamuthan * accepts the statements of the *Silappadikāram* as literally true, and makes them the basis of his learned essay on the age of the *Sangam*. His essay has one merit. It does not pass lightly, as other writers have done, over the difficulties involved in our accepting the story, but faces them squarely and attempts to solve most of them. It is not possible, nor is it necessary, for us to traverse the field covered by the essay.