Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.146

c7.146

Pallava and Karikāla, must have flourished about the end of the fifth century A.D. The history of the Pallavas at this period is obscure, and it is not unlikely that Karikāla-Cōḷa was supreme at the time and held the Pallava dominions under his sway." One is amazed at the line of argumentation followed in the extracts given above; at the same time one is grateful for the care with which the facts have been summarised. We see that Trilōcana was the ‘mythical’ Pallava king of the Telugu country; he figures for the first time in Eastern Cāḷukya plates in the ‘mythical account’ given from the time of Vimalāditya (11th century) downwards; he is yet accepted as the foe of Vijayāditya, who is himself a ‘mythical’ king. Again, Trilōcana is of the Īśvara-vamśa, a family apparently different from that of the Pallavas of Kāñcī; yet he is accepted as the Pallava opponent of Karikāla. The history of the Pallavas in this period is ‘obscure’ yet it is ‘not unlikely’ that Karikāla Cōḷa held the Pallavas in subjection. Lastly, it is admitted that the historical value of the late E. Cāḷukya plates is not known; yet the apparent interval of five generations between the ‘mythical’ Vijayāditya and Kubja Viṣṇuvardhana is accepted as a solid fact, and a scheme of chronology built thereon and "we arrive at the conclusion" that Trilōcana, Karikāla and Vijayāditya "must have flourished at the end of the fifth century A.D." And to leave nothing unexplained, Mr. K. V. Subrahmania Aiyar undertakes to determine the political relation among the three contemporaries by suggesting* that "Trilōcana Pallava had to meet the combined forces of Karikāla and Vijayāditya, and that the two last were on some terms of alliance, which are not quite plain." He adds: "It is not unlikely that some of the northern powers joined one side or the other. In this connection it is worthy of note that Karikāla is represented in the Tamil work *Śilappadikāram* as an ally of Avanti, which is Ujjain in Malwa, and as the overlord of Vajra and Magadha. It looks as if Karikāla was instrumental in permanently settling the Western Cāḷukyas in Southern India."