THE CHOLAS

Other inscriptions assignable to Kulōttuṅga III
  A few inscriptions of Tribhuvanachakravartin Kōnērinmaikoṇḍān without giving the name of the king, may from internal evidence, be assigned to Other inscription assignable to Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa III. His royal secretary Mīnavan-Mūvēndavēḷān figures as signatory in two records from Tiruveḷḷarai (No. 194) and Tiruppaṅgili (No. 167), and the latter also mentions Śōlakōn and Vāṇādarāyar, two other officers of the king, who are again mentioned in No. 168 without the king’s name. No. 159, dated in the 36th year of Tribhuvana- chakravartin Kōnērinmaikoṇḍān is also to be attributed to Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa III from the mention of Śōlakōn and the royal secretary Neriyuḍaiyachchōla- and of his successor Rājarāja III. Another record of the reigns of this king (No. 192) signed by Vāṇādharāyan probably belongs to Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa III. for constructing the gōpura of seven storeys in the Nīlivanēśvara temple at Tiruppaṅgili. Though another village, viz., Ādanūr in Vaḷḷuvappāḍi-nāḍu had also been granted for the same purpose in the 31st year of the king (S. I. I., Vol. IV. No. 541) the gōpura remains unfinished even to this day.

Rajaraja III.
   24. There are about 20 inscriptions of Rājarāja III in the collection, ranging between the 4th (No. 256) and 32nd years (No. 210) of his reign. The Paṅgaḷanāḍu chiefs who were subordinates under Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa III figure in the reign of Rājarāja III also. Nilaiyiṭṭa-perumāḷ Araśagaḷnāyan alias KulōttuṅgaśōlaPṛīthvigaṅgan, chief of this nāḍu is mentioned in five inscriptions, dated in the 4th (Nos. 255, 256 and 275), 8th (No. 288) and 14th years (No. 279) of the king.

His relationship with the Pāṇḍya.
   No. 158 from Tiruppaṅgili commences with the historical introduction of the king Śīrmanni, etc. It is dated in his 11th year and records a sale of 60 vēli of land by 3 members of the sabhā of Toḍaiyūr, a brahmadēya of Mīpilāru in. Pāchchil-kūrram for 6,000 kāśu to Kālāḍi Śaṅkaran Alagan alias Malavarāyar of Malaimaṇḍalam, a maṇdala-mudali of Perumāḷ Sundara-Pāṇḍya of Pāṇḍi- maṇḍalam. This Pāṇḍya king may be identified with Māravarman Sundara- Pāṇḍya I who was a contemporary of Rājarāja III. The presence of the Pāṇḍya king in the Chōḷa country seems to indicate the friendship that should have existed between the two kings at this period.

And with the Hoysaḷa.
   It was stated in the Epigraphical Report for 1936-37 (paras. 33 and 48) that Sōmalādēvī was the queen of Rājarāja III. An inscription from Śrīraṅgam (No. 133), dated in the 28th +1st year of the king secured this year mentions as donor Sōmakkan, son of Māchchavai, an attendant (dādi) of this queen. The Chōḷa-Hoysaḷa friendship about this time is revealed in 3 inscriptions of the collection from Śrīraṅgam. No. 102, dated in the 31st year of Rājarāja records a gift of 1,200 varāha-gajjāṇam equivalent to 840,000 kāśu for worship and offerings during the śandi instituted in the name of his son Śiṅgaṇṇa-Da- ṇḍanāyaka in the Raṅganātha temple by Śaṅkadēvaṇṇaṅgaḷ, the Mahāpradhāni of the Hoysaḷa king Sōmēśvaradēva who bears all the usual Hoysaḷa titles, such as ‘Yādavakulāmbaradyumani’, ‘Malaparōḷugaṇḍa’ ‘Śanivārasiddhi’, Chōḷarājyapratishṭhāchārya’, ‘Niśśaṅka-pratāpa’, etc. This Śiṅgaṇṇa is again mentioned (as Śiṅga-Daṇḍēśa) in another record from the same place, dated in the 32nd year of Rājarāja (No. 134). An invasion of this Hoysaḷa general, evidently on behalf of the Chōḷa king is referred to in the 29+1st year of Rājarājadēva from Vēdāraṇyam (No. 501 of 1904). He figures also in a record of Rājarāja’s successor Rājēndra-Chōḷa III from Tiruvaṇṇāmalai recording a gift of land to the god Tiruvaṇṇāmalai-uḍaiya-Nāyanār for the welfare of his maternal uncle (ammān) Kampaya-Daṇḍanāyaka (S. I. I. Vo. VIII, No. 88). His presence in different places of the Chōḷa country such as Vēdāraṅyam, Śrīraṅgam and Tiruvaṇṇāmalai and also at Śembāṭṭūr (Pudukkottai Inscriptions No. 667) would probably indicate local troubles which necessitated his presence. In the Śembāṭṭūr record he is called Mahā-pradhāna Śiṅgaṇṇa-Daṇḍanāyaka, son of Śaṅkaradēva-Daṇḍanāyaka. In another inscription of Rājarāja from Śrīraṅgam, dated in the 32nd year (No. 147), a gift of 15 varāha-gajjāṇam of gold was made for the daily supply of a garland to god Raṅganātha for te welfare

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