Names of some Pandya princes, who must have lived in the first half of the tenth century but have not left any records have now come to light. Manabharana, Vikramapandya and Sundarapandya are the princes whose existence is testified to by the Ambasamudram inscription of Virapandya. It is quite likely, as has been pointed out elsewhere, that these princes and Virapandya were referred to as kulavardhanar in the Larger Sinnamanur plates, though their relationship to Rajasimha remains vague.

Maran Adittan alias Solantaka Pallavaraiyan of Poliyur, one of the generals of Virapandya, seems to have taken part in his campaign against the Cholas (No. 79). He assumed the title evidently after Virapandya who is called Solan-ralaikonda in his inscriptions. Another officer of this king had the title Solantaka-Brahmarayar. Certain measures and gardens were also named after this title (see No. 79, line 5 ; No. 84, line 2). Tennavan Tamilavel, an officer of this king, is eulogized for his scholarship in Sanskrit and Tamil in a fragmentary inscription in Tamil verse (No. 87). He is described as a minister well-versed in the Vedas, Vedangas, the different works in Sanskrit, Law, Purana, muttamil (the three branches of Tamil learning, viz., iyal or literature, isai or music and nataka) and Patanjalam (i.e., the original work of Patanjali). Kachchi, i.e., Kanchi is mentioned in connection with his ancestral home.

That the Mahamatins were active in the region as far south as Aruppukottai during the rule of Virapandya is testified to by an inscription from Pallimadam (No. 88). It may be remembered that they are also mentioned in the Muvarkoyil record of Bhuti Vikramakesari and that one of their teachers was a native of Madurai.

Attention may be drawn to a specimen form of a document recording the sale of land during the period of the early Pandya rulers (No. 91) and to an order of a sabha in a form unusual for the period (No. 78).

The Pandya country was conquered ad annexed to the Chola empire by Rajaraja I and his son. During this period of Chola occupation, a member of the Chola family was deputed as viceroy of the erstwhile Pandya territory and the viceroys called themselves Chola-Pandyas and assumed after the fashion of the Pandya kings, though in a slightly changed form, the titles Jatavarman and Maravarman. Four such viceroys are represented by the records published in the second section of the work. They are Jatavarman Sundarachola-Pandya, Maravarman Vikramachola-Pandya, Jatavarman Chola-Pandya and Maravarman Parakramachola-Pandya. Besides, another prince Rajendra, a son of Virarjaendra, is stated to have received the title of Jatavarman Chola-Pandya, though none of his records is available. In spite of the presence of these Chola viceroys, the Pandyas do not seem to have disappeared altogether. The Chola king Rajadhiraja I (1018-1053 A.D.) claims to have conquered Virapandya and to have driven ‘to the ancient Mullaiyar, Sundarapandya of endless fame’. The appointment of Chola-Pandya viceroys seems to have continued up to the reign of Kulottunga I who ‘put the five Pandyas to flight, and limited the boundary of the Pandya country, and placed garrisons in the strategically important of the newly acquired territory.

Jatavarman Sundarachola-pandya, the first of the viceroys, was a son of Rajendra I as stated in the latter’s record from Mannarkoyil. This inscription records that Pinjanur, a village under vellan-vagani in Kurumadai-nadu in Mudigondasola-valanadu in Rajaraja-ppandinadu, was converted into a devandana of the temple of Rajendrasola-vinnagar built by Cheramanar Rajasingar, from the 15^th year of Sundara-chola-pandya, one of the sons of king Rajendrachola who conquered the Purva-desa, Gangai and Kadram, by an order of the king while he was staying in his palace at Kanchipuram. The inscription is dated in the 24^th year (1035 A.D.) of the reign of Rajendra I. Equating the 15^th year of Jatavarman Sundarachola-pandya mentioned in the record with the 24^th year of the Chola king’s reign, it has been surmised that the former's viceroyalty may be regarded as having commenced about 1020-21 A.D. The records of the viceroy range from the 3^rd (No. 131) to the 27th year of this rule. He may therefore he considered to have rules upto 1047-48 A.D., till sometime in the last year of the reign of his father. The Chola-pandya seems to have had one of his headquarters at Rajendrasolapuram (No. 145) while he is also known to have once camped near Madurai (No. 161). The former had a royal palace provided with a theatre for various entertainments of the royal party.

Two Chera feudatories of the Chola emperor are mentioned in the records of the said viceroy. Rajasimha is referred to in a record from Mannarkoyil as having built the shrine of Rajendrasola-vinnagar Paramasvamigal (No. 144). The god was evidently named after the Chola suzerain. The record is dated in the 13^th year (1033-34 A.D.) of the viceroy. There is a reference to the bhandara (treasury) of Rajasimha in another inscription (No. 177) of the same viceroy, the date of which is, however, lost. An official of Cheralan-Madeviyar, the queen of the Chera king Rajasimha, is mentioned in an inscription (No. 150) from the same place dated in his 14^th year. No. 154, dated in the 16^th year (1036-37 A.D.) of the viceroy, records that the Chera king (Cheramanar) Rajarajadevar was present at the western gopura of the temple of Rajendrasola-vinnagar Paramasvamigl while issuing the order in connection with a transaction pertaining to some land belonging to the temple in the village of Manabharana-chaturvedimangalam. Mention is again made of the bhandaram of Cheramanar Rajarajadeva in another inscription (No. 193) from the same place, which belongs to Maravarman Vikramachola-pandya, the successor of Jatavarman Sundarachola-pandya. Thus it will be seen that the Chera kings Rajasimha and Rajarajadeva were the contemporaries of Rajendrachola and probably also of his successor Rajadhiraja who was associated with his father early in his reign. It is quite likely that the Chera kings were feudatories of the Chola monarchs.

Attention may be drawn to a feudatory belonging to the eastern Chalukya dynasty, who figures in an inscription of the said viceroy as a donor. He calls himself Sarvalokasraya Vishnuvardhana-maharaja alias Chalukya Vijayaditya Vikkiyanna. The record is dated in the 11^th regnal year (1031-32 A.D.) of the viceroy. The identity of the chief, however, remains obscure. In this connection, it may be pointed out that an inscription from Tiruvaiyaru refers to the gift of gold by a certain pillaiyar Sri-Vishnuvaradhanadevar in the 27^th year (1039 A.D.) of Rajendra I.

The next viceroy was Maravarman Vikramachola-pandya. His inscriptions range from the 20^th to the 25^th year of his reign. We have seen already that the latest date for Jatavarman Sundarachola-pandya, the predecessor of Maravarman Vikrama-chola-pandya, is the year 23 of his reign. The absence of any record of Vikrama-chola-pandya citing an earlier date than his 20^th regnal year is unaccountable. Whether he ruled independently or conjointly with Sundarachola-pandya is impossible to determine. But this much can be said that he was a junior contemporary of the latter and succeeded him. For, among the records of Jatavarman Sundarachola-pandya and Maravarman Vikramachola-pandya, from Attur in the Tiruchchendur Taluk, Tirunelveli District, while those of the former refer to Attur as a brahmadeya in Kudanadu, No. 186 of the latter mentions Attur as a part of Rajadhiraja-chaturvedimangalam evidently named after Rajadhiraja I, who was a co-regent with his father Rajendra I.

Jatavarman Sola-Pandyadeva, the third Chola viceroy in the Pandya country, was evidently the same as Gangaikonda-solan, the son of Virarajendra. The title of Chola-pandya was conferred on him by his father. The two records of this viceroy published here are both dated in the 3^rd year of his reign. Two later records of the same person dated respectively in the 24^th and the 25^th year of his rule come from Suchindram. In view of the fact that the latter record of the 25^th year refers to the subdivision of rajadhiraja-valanadu of Sola-mandalam, it may be assigned to this viceroy, though his exact reign period cannot be determined. A dance known as Rajendrachola and as another son of Virarajendra is also stated to have received the title Chola-pandya from his father.

The last and the least known viceroy of the Pandya territory was Parakrama-chola-pandya who styled himself Maravarman. The only two records of this viceroy cite respectively the 3^rd and the 4^th regnal years ; but his identity remains obscure. In the latter record, the natives of Kashmira-desa figure as donors.

Jatavarman Srivallabha, whose records alone are published in the third section, was probably one of the five Pandyas who raised their banner against Chola supremacy. Though the Chola emperor Kulottunga I claims to have put to flight the five Panyas and to have stationed his military forces at the key centers of the dominions, the Pandyas continued to rule over parts of their territory. Inscriptions of Jatavarman Srivallabha range from the 2^nd to the 26^th + 1^st year of his reign. The extent of the area covered by his inscriptions from Vijayanarayanam in the Nanguneri taluk of the Tirunelveli district in the South, Kuruvitturai in the Nilakkottai taluk of the Madurai district in the north and to the limits of the Tiruppattur and Tiruvadanai taluks of the Ramnad district indicate roughly the territory ruled by him. His records are characterized by the prasasli : Tirumadandaiyum Jayamadandaiyum, etc., which however does not yield any information of historical importance. His contemporaneity with Kulottunga I is indicated by an inscription (No. 226) from Vijayanarayanam. It is dated in the 10^th regnal year of Srivallabha and refers to transactions of the 31^st year of Kulottunga I since there is a reference in Srivallabha’s record, dated in his 4^th regnal year, to a certain Mummudisolan Virasekharan alias Adalaiyur-Nadalvan who is probably the same as Virasekharan figuring in a record of Kulottunga I dated in the 49^th year (1119 A. D.) of his reign. Thus it may be suggested that Jatavarman Srivallabha was one of the five Pandya opponents of Kulottunga I. It may be noted here that there are two inscriptions (Nos. 221 and 251) of Jatavarman Srivallabha, which give some details of date. No. 221 in which the prasasti is absent, is dated in his 9^th regnal year and the details of date are mesha I, paurnami, Tuesday and Uttiram. No. 251 begins with prasasti Tirumadandaiyum, etc., and is dated in the year opposite to the 20^th year. In lines, 42 – 45 of the text of that record the details of date are given as Makara 2, Friday and Uttirattadi, apparently of the year in which the record is dated. These details of date, however, do not yield equivalents which would fit in with a particular initial year. Leaving out of consideration the former inscription, the ascription of which to Jatavarman Srivallabha of the other record is not clear, the details of date in the later epigraph would yield, as probable equivalent. Friday, December 25, 1142 A.D., which was however, the first day of Makara according to the Indian Ephemeris. Thus the date of accession of this king may be supposed t have fallen sometime between 1120 and 1122 A.D.

Three other records (Nos. 225, 245 and 263) of this king may also be noticed here No. 225 appears to be dated in the tenth regnal year and states that the exemption of taxes on the lands granted should take effect from the Kumbha-Viyalam perhaps of the same year. The same expression is used in the case of another transaction recorded in No. 245 which is dated in the 20^th regnal year. No. 263 bears no date but begins with the expression Mina-Viyalam and thus indicates that it is later than No. 225 which cites Kumbha-Viyalam. The first two dates when worked out on the basis of the method indicated in the Indian Ephemeris, Vol. I, Part II, p. 380 do not yield the same results. The first supports the date arrived at above, but the second is earlier than Jupiter’s entry into Kumbha by more than one year. It is possible that in the second instance No. 245), the reference was to a future date. This mode of dating evidently suggests the influence of Kerala where inscriptions record dates by nothing Jupiter’s movements in the zodiac.

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