Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.90

c7.90

From the strictly contemporary statements on Karikāla in the sources grouped under I and II above, we learn that Karikāla was the son of Iḷanjētceṇṇi; that, as a young man, he fell into the hands of his enemies who kept him in confinement and that he gained his freedom by his own daring exertions; that he was great alike in war and peace, and in the patronage he gave to learning and poetry; that he performed Vedic sacrifices; that he fought at Veṇṇi where he wounded his Cēra contemporary in the back, and also defeated the Pāṇḍya king; that he renovated the inland city of Uraiyūr, and was master of the sea-port at the mouth of the Kāvēri and that his sway extended over the Oḷiyar, the Aruvāḷar, the Northerners and the Westerners and the Pāṇḍya, as well as the territory of the petty chiefs of the shepherd class and of the line of Iruṅgōvēḷ. Except for the indefinite statement about the Westerners and the Northerners which, on its face, is a mere embellishment and should not be pressed far, there is nothing in this account that is improbable and this picture of the reign may be accepted as true. The Oḷiyar, the Aruvāḷar, the shepherds and the line of Iruṅgōvēḷ, the Pāṇḍya and the Cēra are all well-known tribes and dynasties of the Tamil country, and it is quite possible that an ambitious Cōḷa monarch made the strength of his arm felt by them.