Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.161

c7.161

His genealogy from the Tamil side ‡ is even less plausible. He chooses the name Māvaṇ-kiḷḷi for the Cōḷa king of the Maṇimēkalai, and sees in it a close resemblance in meaning to Mahimān. He allows that Māvaṇ-kiḷḷi's relation to Karikāla is nowhere explicitly stated in the Tamil classics, but affirms that "Tamil scholars are, however, unanimous in accepting the ancient tradition, in accordance with which Māvaṇ-kiḷḷi was the son of Karikāla." There is no such tradition of the relation between the two rulers and no unanimity of opinion among Tamil scholars on the subject.* Again: "Māvaṇ-kiḷḷi had two sons, Udaiyakumaraṇ and Toṇḍamāṇ Iḷandiraiyan." Udayakumara was indeed the son of the king, but that does not help the argument in any way; Iḷandiraiyan and his relation to the Cōḷas we have discussed before, and our author allows that "some doubt may be entertained about this." And there is yet another step in his argument. "There can be no doubt about Pili Vaḷai, the mother of Toṇḍaimāṇ being a Bāṇa princess. Her Bāṇa origin is proved by the name of her father Vaḷai-Vāṇan. The surname Vāṇan is identical with Bāṇaṇ. In Tamil 'v' and 'b' are interchangeable and the change does not affect the meaning. The word Vāṇarāyar is made use of frequently for Bāṇarāyar in later Tamil inscriptions. . . . It may be suggested that 'vaḷai' is a corrupt form of Bali, a name which occurs in Bāṇa genealogy. The Bāṇas ruled in Vaḍuga Vaḷi or Āndhrapatha, which seems to be identical with Pākarāṣṭra. It may be noted in this connection that Daśavarman one of the sons of Mahimāna Cōḷa (Māvaṇ-Kiḷḷi) is said to have conquered this region." All our knowledge of Vaḷai-Vāṇan is that, according to the *Maṇimēkalai*†, besides