Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.183

c7.183

There is some temerity involved in expressing an individual judgment on the events of the reign of Karikāla in view of the inquiries published already by several scholars of eminence; the more so as the judgment has to be based on materials already for the most part well-known and used by the very scholars from whose conclusions it differs. But the issues involved are so fundamental to a rational understanding of the trend of South Indian history, that a fresh examination of them in a dispassionate and critical manner does not seem superfluous. I hope that all the help that has been derived from earlier writers in the consideration of the questions raised has been duly acknowledged; also that my discussion of these questions has not been unduly influenced by my view of the age to which the early Tamil literature of the Saṅgam belongs. I have sought to discuss the incidents of Karikāla’s life and reign solely on the evidence bearing on each of them, and with no preconceived notions as to the chronological place of Karikāla in the history of Southern India. And my conclusion is that Karikāla’s history is contained only in the contemporary poems of Nos. I & II among the groups in which I have arranged the chief sources for purposes of this