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MADRAS UNIVBBSITY SPECIAL LECTURES

ON
INDIAN HISTORY AND ARCHiBOLOGY
SECOND SERIES
THE BEGINNINGS OF SOUTH INDIAN HISTOEYj

PUBLISHED BY
THE MODERN PRINTING WORKS,
MOUNT ROAD, MADRAS.
:
I
THE
BEGINNINGS OF
SOUTH INDIAN HISTORY
S. KRISHNASWAMI AIYANGAR.
PBOPESSOR OF INDIAN HISTORY AND ARCHEOLOGY,
UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS
MADKAS
THE MODERN PKINTING WORKS,
MOUNT ROAD.
1918
Prick Rs. 3/12.] [5 ^ n^.^.
First Editi(yn: March 1918.
All Rights Beserved.

PREFACE.
The following pages contain the substance of the

oourse of Special Lectures delivered before the
University of Madras in January and February

of this year. I have also included in this course by
way of introduction two other lectures ; the first of
these was intended to be the inaugural lecture for
the University and the second delivered on a previous

occasion, both of them bearing directly on the subject
of this course. In one or two cases the lecture as
delivered was revised to give it the necessary expan-
sion to make it fuller. Otherwise the volume
contains no more than the special course of lectures.
The sources of matter for these lectures have

often been exploited by fits and starts, for various
purposes on occasions by different writers. No one,
however, made a constructive critical attempt to
make these yield the results they were capable of,
except the late Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai of the

Madras Postal Service. His work, giving as it does
obvious evidence of great learning and considerable
VI PREPAOB.
insight, still fell short in the essential particular that

each one of the sources tapped was not subjected to
a detailed criticism in respect of its historical worth.
Notwithstanding this defect it is monumental
work which deserves better of the Tamilian though
his conclusions may not all of them stand the test of
time and criticism, Since his time we have
advanced considerably, and most of the classics have
been edited critically by Pandits who deserve public
thanks for the labour and learning brought to bear
upon the work. Improvements are certainly possi-
ble and will surely come if some interest is evinced
in the results of that work. The names of Pandit
Mahamahopadhyaya Swaminatha Aiyar of Madras,
the late Pandit Binnattur Narayanaswami Aiyar of
Kumbhakonam and Pandit Kangaswami Aiyangar
of Vaniambadi deserve special mention in this
connection. It gives me the greatest pleasure to

acknowledge my obligation to their work. I should
not forget, however, another labourer of an elder

generation, the late Mr. C. W. Thamotharam Pillai
to whose loving labours we are indebted for a num-

ber of Tamil works which otherwise would have
been ordinarily inaccessible.
In regard to the late Mr. Kanakasabhai's work

a criticism was fashionable that his work was
* patriotic'. It was Johnson that said *
Patriotism is-
PRE PAGE. ^11
the last resort of the scoundrel.' This remark of

the great Doctor may have had its application in
his time and may not be altogether without it in
other times. The late Mr. Kanakasabhai might have

let his patriotism get the better of his judgment on
occasions. I have carefully tried to avoid laying
myself open to such a heavy charge. My trouble
has been the difficulty of making facts already known

agree with those we may arrive at. This is a test not
always applied in recent investigations and both the
statement of facts so-called, and the suppressing of
those that may be inconvenient, have in some cases
gone together. I have tried scrupulously to avoid
both, though both errors of omission and commis-

sion are possible. Too much has been attempt-
ed to be made of epigraphical evidence recently, and
the late Mr. Venkayya's name was quoted against
me in the connection. I had known the late Mr.
Venkayya for near a score of years before his
lamented death, and I may even say that I am

obliged to him for a part of tbe inspiration that
ultimately led me to this field of work. Mr.

Venkayya was in substantial agreement with me
in regard to the general position, but he had his
doubts as to the Silappadikaram and Mariimekhalai

being of the same age. I am almost certain that
had he lived dcw, he would have accepted, the con-
Ill PREFACE.
elusions I have arrived at. I leave the reader to

judge for himself in regard to these conclusions ; all
I wish to state here is that I have not allowed

* patriotism '
to take command of evidence.
In regard to the evidence of this body of material

a few words may usefully be said here. The whole
collection of literature that goes by the collective
name '
Sangam Works,' is of the nature of
anthologies with few exceptions. They were occa-
sional poems, the objects of which were generally
the celebration of the achievements of patrons.
Having regard to this character of theirs they are
sometimes very outspoken ; but generally they shew

a tendency to add another hue unto the rainbow.* It
*
is, however, easily possible to allow for the panegyrist

in the poet. These poems fall into two classes
according to the conventions of Tamil Rhetoric.

Those relating to the *
field of action '
are direct
and connect themselves with specific events and
incidents in the life of the patron. Those '
dealing
with emotion *
are less direct in regard to the
points of reference, but they have to celebrate
something connected with the achievements of the
actual patron addressed or that of his ancestors.
Judiciously used the latter provide material as

valuable as the former does. The only com-
parison possible in respect of these is the pre-
—
PRBPACB. lat
Homeric lays or the bardic tales of the days of

chivalry in Europe, or even India. There are
about twenty collections that will go into this
olass. Of these all but two of the more important

have been printed. The others remain yet to be
published.
In the use of this wealth of material, which
undoubtedly is of the nature of contemporary evid-
ence, what is required is such a general study as
'
would give an idea of the *
general lie of the land
before specific use of the material is attempted. Much
of the work that is generally done suffers from a
want of this preliminary equipment. In the
following pages I have had it before me all the
time to avoid this. How far I have achieved
success, it is not for me to say.
I take advantage of this preface to make clear

two points in the work which seem ambiguous. On
p. 48 Pinna Timma is referred to as the grandson
of Ramaraja. This latter is likely to be understood
as the Ramaraja wi:io fell at Talikota. The next
following sentences seem to confirm this impression.
Both Pinna Timma and Rama of Talikota were
alike grandsons of another Bama Raja, who served
with distinction under Narasa and his son Vira
Narasimha. Pinna Timma and his brother Vittala
were fisst cousins of Ramaraja, and conducted the
X PREFACE.
expedition to the South and organised the Madura

Province under Sadasiva and Kamaraja. The next
point calling for remark here is on p. 223 where the
first sentence, beginning on this page, refers to the
absence of mention of Fattini in the poem under

discussion. It is quite likely that this was due to
the fact that this poem was written before Sengufc-

tuvan's northern invasion and the building of the
temple of Pattini which came after the 50th year
of his reign, when the others of his achievements

discussed had become well known — (vide Silappadika-
ram canto XXVII. 11. 118-128 & 11. 165-175).

I have the greatest pleasure here in acknowledg-
ing my obligations to the Syndicate of the Madras
University for having sanctioned the expenses of
copying for my use the Ahananuru manuscript in
the Government Manuscripts Library ; to Eai Sahib
H. Krishna Sastrigal for his kindness in lending
me the impressions and the office transcripts of two

valuable Pandya grants: namely the Velvikkudi
grant, and the larger Sinnamanur Plates ; and to
Pandit Maha. Swaminaiha Aiyar for having been at
the trouble to copy and supply me with two of the
valuable poems in the collection from his excellently
collated text of the Ahananiiru. I am equally
obliged to Mr. M. K. Srinivasa Aiyangar, the Pro-
prietor of the Modern Printing Works, for having
PBBPAaB. Xty
cheerfully undertaken the publication of this work,

and for having done it so well, putting the work
through the Press in less than three weeks. One
of my research students, Mr, N. R. Sattanathan,
B. A. (Hons.) took the trouble of preparing the
index and the errata which it was found impossible
to avoid owing to the rapidity with which the work
went through the Press. I acknowledge with
pleasure my indebtedness to him for these good
offices.
1st Mlêhlhs. ]
^- Krishnaswami Aiyangar.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Bbsbarch in Indian History ... 1
The Value of Literature ... 33
South India a Distinct Entity ... 59
Mauryan Invasion of South India ... 81
The Dawn of the Christian Era ... 104
Chronology: Tamil Literature ... 161
The Age of Paranar ... 211
Talaiyalanganat-tup-Pandyan ... 240
Astronomical &c. Considerations ... 287
Appendix ... 331
Conclusion ... 349

INTRODUCTORY
I
RESEARCH IN INDIAN HISTORY
WHAT HISTORY IB
*
History is fable agreed upon *
was how
history was understood at one time when the
idea of history primarily as a piece of lite-
rature held sway. We have since gone a long

way from that position. Without attempting
to set forth what history is, a task which
baffled the genius of far greater men than
I am, I may make an extract from one of the
leading, thinkers of the day on matters ger-
mane thereto, to gain an idea of what is
actually understood by the term. Lord Mot-
ley has it in his Notes on Politics and History,
*
History, in the great conception of it, has
often been compared to a mountain chain
seen far off in a clear sky, where the peaks
seem linked towards one another towards
^ INTRODUCTORY
the higher crest of the group. An ingenious
and learned writer the other day amplified
this famous image, by speaking of a set of
volcanic islands heaving themselves out of

the sea, at such angles and distances that
only to the eye of a bird, and not to a sailor
<5ruising among them, would they appear as

the heights of one and the same submerged
range. The sailor is the politician. The
historian, without prejudice to monographic
-exploration in intervening valleys and ascend-
ing slopes, will covet the vision of the bird.'
SHORTCOMINGS OP HISTORICAL STUDY

Discussing the distinction between ancient
and modern history on this basis, Lord Mor-
ley passes on to some of the shortcomings of
historical study at the present time, and

makes the following observations comment-
ing on specialization: "We may find comfort
in the truth that though excess of spe-
cialization is bad, to make sciolism into a

system is worse. In reading history it is one
common fault to take too short measure of
the event, to mistake some early scene in

RBSEAEGH IN INDIAN HISTORY 3
the play as if it were the fifth act, and so

conceive^ the plot all amiss. The event is
only comprehended in its fullest dimensions,

and for that the historic recorder, like or
unlike the actor before him, needs insight

and iinagination.'" Further on, the same great
authority says :
*
All agree that we have no
business to seek more from the past than the
very past itself. Nobody disputes with Cicero
when he asks : *^Who does not know that it is
the first law of history not to dare a word that

is false ? Next, not to shrink from a word that
is true. No partiality, no gruê." Though
nobody disputes the obvious answers, have a
majority of historical practitioners complied ?'
HISTOEY OF HINDU INDIA

These extracts are quite enough to indicate
on the one hand what history is according to
the most enlightened modern opinion and on
the other, what difficulties coafront a labourer
—a journeyman labourer —in the vast fields
of that history in India as yet but little
explored. Even from the coveted height of

the eagle if one oasts his eyes upon the^
4 INTRODUCTORY
feist.ory of Hindu India one feels —one hardly
sees enough even of the volcanic islands, and
the few that he might be able to see, one feels
he sees but too dimly through the mist of age
and increasing distance. It is notorious that

India has but little history of her own.
WANT OF CHRONOLOGY
It was the illustrious historian of India,
Blpbinstone, that observed in 1839 that, in
regard to Indian History, 'no date of a public
event can be fired before the invasion of
Alexander; and no connected relation of the
national transaction can be attempted until
after the Muhammadan conquest.* Oowell
extended the application of this caution to
the whole of the Hindu Period, writing as he
did in 1868- During the next half century we
have advanced from this position a long way
indeed, and Vincent A. Smith's Earhj History
of India is the most substantial vindication of
the possibility of compiling a connected history
of Hindu India, but even so much advance
does not invalidate the first part of Elphin-
stone's dictum/
KESEAEGH IN INDIAN HISTOEY 5
AN OXFORD CHAIR FOR INDIAN HISTORY

ONLY BRITISH CONNEOTIGN
Ife is nearly half a century since, that the
first attempt was made at Oxford to institute
a chair or something near it, for the study of
Indian History ; but the work of this founda-
tion was, however, limited to the history of the
British connection with India. •
The inaugural
address delivered in January 1914 by the
present occupant of this position. Rev. William
Holden Hutton, b. d., contains the following
appeal anent this question : He (the Eeader)
is instructed by statute to lecture on **
The
Rise, Growth and Organization of the
British Power in India." This leads me to
say what I think very much needs saying to-

day. It is a grievous weakness in the Uni-
versity's provision for learning that there is
nothing done for the study of Indian History

in ancient and mediaeval times. I should like
to direct the attention of those who have the

control of the Chancellor's Fund to this
strange omission. A period of the world's
history of extraordinary interest and of really
enormous importance is entirely neglected in
S INTKODUCTORY
our provision lor learning, education and re-
search. It is true tliat we have distinguished
scholars who have, from time to time, dealt
with a part of this subject, such as Professor
Macdonnell and Mr. Vincent A. Smith ; but
the former has already a subject so wide
that only his knowledge and energy could
adequately deal with it, while the latter has^
I deeply regret to say, no official position in
our midst.
NO PROVISION FOR GENERAL INDIAN
STUDIES
Purely Indian History, with its literature
and philosophy, Indian Geography, historical
and descriptive, (except so far as I am told
to deal with it) a subject of extraordinary

fascination in itself, Indian archaeology, are
unprovided for in this University. In spite of
the generosity which created, and has, from
time to time, enriched the Indian Institute, it
still fails to play the important part it might

play, and was intended to play, in the educa-
tion at Oxford. What the Chancellor of the
University said in 1909 is, I am afraid, stilJ
true.
RESEAECH IN INDIAN HISTORY T
THE INDIAN INSTITUTE

'
The Institute has not in any appreciable
degree provided a meeting-ground for the East
and West, or a place of social intercourse
between English and Indian students. Its
Museum has failed *
to bring together a
typical collection of objects suited to educat-
ional purposes and sufficiently complete to
give a fair idea of the industrial occupations^
domestic and religious customs of the people
subject to our rule;' or *
to present a fair
epitome of India, eminently attractive not
only to indologists, but to ethnologists and
anthropologists of all nationalities.' The
scheme of constant lectures by distinguished
Anglo-Indian administrators and Orientalists
which started under happy auspices, has fallen
into desuetude. The Institute possesses no

permanent endowment, and is ill-provided in
respect of stafi and attendance^ besides being

quite unable to extend its sphere of influence.'
k
—
8 INTRODUCTORY
THE DEMAND OF THE GREATEST OF
OXFORD HISTORIANS (BISHOP STUBBS)
I believe that this is largely due to the fact
that we have still left unheeded the declaration
of the greatest of Oxford historians, made so
long ago as 1876, when Mr. Sidney Owen had
been teaching Indian History in Oxford for
eight years. *At the present moment we

want', then said the Begins Professor of
Modern History (after proclaiming another
need which is still, as I think most disastrously,
unsatisfied) :
" We want a permanent chair of Indian

History. The labours of our friend, the present
Indian Reader, have shown us how. thoroughly
that study, the importance of which can
scarcely be over-rated by Englishmen, falls in
with the current of our University work. I
say a permanent chair, because that is a
subject of permanent necessity, not a subject
like palaBOgraphy or numismatology, in which
the labours of one good professor may serve
for two or three generations, and the endow-
ment of the man is of equal importance with
the endowment of the chair or study."
KESEARCH IN INDIAN HISTOEY 9
That demand of Dr. Stubbs, made nearly

forty years ago, is not yet met. I appeal to
those whose interest in India is real,who
desire that her history should be fally known
aad rightly understood, who desire that she
should be recognised in her greatness' amoag
the nations, to Indian princes, and to
Europeans who have made fortunes in India,

to provide for the creation of a Professorship
of Indian History in the University which is
already so clearly linked, and could be linked

more closely, to the Indian Empire.
THE SAME NEED FOR INDIA

This was the demand made for Oxford forty
years ago, already provided with some kind
of equipment to meet this particular need.
Thanks to the Universities Act of 1904 and
the enlightened generosity of the Government
of India it has become possible for us now to
think of doing something to reclaim that part
of the history of our couotry of which the dist-
ant Oxford Professors of History shewed them-

selves so solicitous nearly half a century ago.
—
10 INTRODUCTORY
THE MATERIAL AVAILABLE FOR MEETING
THIS NEED
The difficulties that have to be overcome in
any work of research in this field are many
and require talents of the highest order over
a wide field of study. Broadly speaking the

sources of Indian History can be grouped into
three broad classes, namely :
J. Indian Literaktre {Traditionary and

Historical) ;
IL Foreign Literature, chiefly the works
of travellers^ (S;c,\
III. Archaeology, Monumental, Numi-

smatic and Epigraphic.
L INDIAN LITERATURE
The first of these classes falls naturally into
two groups, namely, (a) Ordinary literature,
embodying traditional history in regard to
striking incidents and personalities. These

find casual mention in works with no histori-
cal object of any kind and will be of invalu-
able service in the construction of history. The

chief difficulty that besets the subject here
is the absence of any chronological clue.

—
BESEAECH IN INMAN HISTOKY 11
which many of the classical works of Uterafeure

want generally, either in Sanskrit or in our
Dravidian Vernaculars. There are some works

which, either in the preface or in a colophon at
the end of the work, give invariably the name
and ancestors of the author, sometimes also
the name and ancestry similarly of the patron ;
and occasionally the date of composition or

completion of the work. Where this clue is
available the work is of some value to

the historian —not generally for history as
it is ordinarily understood, Political History
but as throwing some side-light upon a sociah
religious or other feature of general history.
Arrangement upon a Chronological

Scheme
The greater part of the literature of the
country has first of all to be carefully studied
critically and arranged on a well- planned
chronological scheme. This is true alike of

Sanskrit and Vernacular literature —the only
difference being that in regard to Sanskrit
some work has already been done, while in
regard to the Dravidian languages which are
of material importance to the history of this
12 INTRGDUCTOEY
part of the country, the work has hardly re-
ceived attention except in very rare instances.

To the aspiring historian of South India this
will prove the first preliminary spade work
essential to any undertaking. He has unfor-
tunately to deal with not any one language but
with three, four or five languages, according
to the period and the locality to which he
directs his ambition and his attention. It is
here co-operation and combination, in the

shape of a school of workers in history is
required, each one of whom limiting his

ambition to contributing to the main result
without special recognition or reward for each
brick he might have directly contributed to
make.
Professedly Historical Works
The next department of the literature . of
the country that has here to be taken into

consideration is the purely historical litera-
ture —a department in which, so far as the
available materials go —India is peculiarly
weak, so much so that we often hear it said
lihat the faculty for history is utterly absent
in India. Bearing in mind that history as we
RESEARCH IN INDIAN HISTORY 13
understand fcbe term now is practically the
work of nineteenth-century Europe, we can

still say with justice that Europe, is well
provided with historical literature for many

ages and many countries. So it is even with
China. In regard to India we can hardly
say the same, and when we limit our vision
to the south we can almost say there is none

such at all. The absence of professed his-
tories does not necessarily imply the absence

of historical material in literature. There is
much of that kind of ore tbat can be mined

in literature, but it requires the smelting fur-
nace of criticism, with plenty of oxydising

material in the shape of chronological data
from other sources, and slag of confirma-
tory evidence to separate the facts from the
figments of imagination in which these get
embedded. Much of this is true even of the
few professed histories that we possess. The

typical examples of such are Kalhana's Raja-
tarangini, Baaa's Harsha Charitam and
Bilhana's Vikramankadeva Charitam for Sans-
krit, the Kongudes'a Eajakkal in Tamil and

various other smaller historical pieces found
14 INTRODUCTORY
in the Mackenzie Manuscripts collection.
There is the Rajavalikathe in Kanarese, and

the various historical chronicles of Buddhist
history that we have for Ceylon.
Their Value as Historical Material

Various other smaller compositions might
be brought under this class, as they deal
often with topics contemporaneous with the
writers themselves. These, however, and
most other of the works already referred to
had not the writing of history as their object,
and would be more liable to the charge con-

tained in the quotation with which I started
that *
History is fable agreed upon.' On the
-whole these two connected sources do oifer
to the critical student valuable historical

material, neglect of which would make any
history of the country, of a higher conception
or lower, almost impossible.
The Work that Lies Ahead

Without entering into any detailed descrip-
tion of the various works of a historical cha-

racter, or attempting to appraise their relative
worth as contributing to history, I feel called
KESEAECH IN INDIAN HISTOKY 15
upon to point out that the work that lies ahead

here, almost immediately in front of us, is a
critical examination of these, and their pre-
sentation in the form of a connected descrip-
tion, so as ultimately to lead up to the writing
•of a hand-book of literature for each of the

literatures of these Dravidian languages on
the lines of similar works for European
languages we have in such number and variety.
When this is done it will be found that the
amplitude of the material available for history
is much more than we imagine at first-sight.
II. FOREIGN SOURCES OF INDIAN HISTORY

Greek
Passing on to the next division, *
Foreign
sources of Indian History '
we have here a
very large number of contributories in regular
succession beginning almost with the Father
of History, Herodotus. For Northern India
we have a number of Greek accounts of
varying degrees of value historically from the
age of Herodotus to the days of Asoka almost,
and when this begins to fail, Chinese sources
begin to appear, about fche beginning of the
16 INTBODUCTOBY
Christian era. Of the Greek sources I may
just mention besides Herodotus, Kteîas,
Megasthenes and Arrian, not to mention
Quinctus Curtius and Appollonious of Tyana.
Chinese
Of Chinese sources there is the Chinese
Father of History Ssu-ma-ch'ien in the first
century B. C. and from that time a large

number of travellers came almost up to the
Mubamraadan conquest. Of these we need
only mention the well-known ones, Fa-hien at
the beginning of the fifth century and Hiuen
Thsaug in the middle of the seventh. Ex-
cepting this last none of the foreign sources
cited above have anything but an occasional
reference to South India. There is besides
the recently discovered Tibetan sources which
have not yet been adequately worked up to
be of use to the student.
For South India
Under this head South India is not without
its own share of illumination from outside.
Megasthenes has a few references about the
south. There is the Geographer Pliny, then
I
RESEABCH IN INDIAN HISTORY 17
comes in chronological order the unknown

author of the Periplus o! the Erythraean Sea,
and then Ptolemy. Past this period we are
some valuable information from
able to derive
Hiuen Thsang. Last -of all there is Marco
Polo. For periods later than this we have
the Muhammadan travellers, some of them
are of very great value, such as Ibn Batutah
and Abdur Razak. There are besides a num-
ber of other European travellers that came to
some part of the southern coast or the interior^
Nicolo^dei-Conti who was a contemporary of
Deva Raya I, Varthema, the Portuguese
traders Nuniz and Paes, and others.
These Shed but Intermittent Light

With very few exceptions the light that
these throw upon the history of the country
is anything but continuous, and often the in-
formation that we gain of the best among
them can be regarded as of value only when
we have other sources of information to con-
trol them. All the same we owe it to them
that we have recovered a few bright chapters
of South Indian History, and we must acknow-
;
18 INTRODUCTORY
ledge our obligations to the disinterested
labour of European savants to whom entirely
is due the credit of having made these avail-
able to us.
MUHAMMADAN HISTORIANS
I have so far not made any mention of the
Muhammadan historians as a class : For the

later period of Hindu History of South India
these historians are of considerable importance
as outside sources, though hitherto they were
the only sources. I class them as outside
for none of them, of design, write the history
of any State of Hindu India. Such reference
as they make are only incidental and bring
them in in the course of the history of the
particular Muhammadan State or States whose
history they attempt to write. These again
have been made available for use by us by an
elder generation of European scholars, though
there is still room for good scholarly work
left upon these.
Aech^bological Sources
(I) MONUMENTAL
We come last of all to the sources, archaeo-

logical. These have been divided into (1)
monumental, (2) numismatic and (3) epi-
graphic.
These monuments in the shape of buildings,
temples and structures of various kinds throw
very considerable light upon the religion, art
and civilization in general of the particular
period to which they belong. They also let

418 in into the secrets of history in regard to
the various influences, foreign or local, that

may have had operation in the production
of these monuments. To be able to study
these monuments, these monuments must

exist. So work in this branch of archaeology,
as a necessary preliminary, takes the character

of an organisation for the preservation of those
monuments that are visible ; then it requires

an organisation to carry on work in search for
new monuments, and the exposition of those

that may be available for study.
20 INTRODUCTOBY
Private Effort Impossible in this Line
In a vast country like ours and having
regard to the character and condition of these
monuments as they are, this becomes particul-
arly a branch of study which does not lend
itself at all to private work in regard to its
first branch ; the second branch of it, research

work in monuments, may to some extent be
done by private workers but even in this
branch organised work is so necessary for

utility that it is only rich societies or Govern-
ments that can undertake the conservation
and research work satisfactorily, where the
latter involve as in the case of the Taxila
excavations, or excavations carried on at
present at Patalipura, a large outlay of expen-

diture. After a period of neglect, work upon
this branch was undertaken by General Cun-
ningham in the sixties of the last century as
Director-General ; but his work was confined

to Northern and Central India. A decade
later came on an expansion under Burgess
when the whole of India was included for work.
In either case these officers and their staff
confined themselves to research work alone

EESEAECH IN INDIAN HISTOKY 21
which ig embodied in the volumes of Archso-

logical Survey XXII by the first, and XXXIII
by the second. A first shy attempt was made
at conservation of existing monuments in
1881, and ultimately, thanks to the exertion
of various influences, a more comprehensive
scheme was put into force at the beginning of
the new century, and we are now on a further
step forward in the development of archaBolo-
gical work as the Government of India Re-
solution on the subject indicates.
J!?UMi8MATics : Largely Private Effort

so FAB
It is in the second branch of archôlogical
work that private effort is quite possible to a
very large extent, and a great deal of work
has already been done. There are very good
collections of coins, seals, &c., in the various
museums in India and elsewhere. They have
all been carefully studied and catalogued, in
addition to much private work that has already
been done. It is possible that this may turn
out to be a costly fad to an individual but
under proper direction it need not be quite
80 costly at all.
22 INTRODUCTOKY
Invaluable to the Cheonology of
Particulab Periods
Costly or otherwise it is a very useful fad and
many parts of Indian History have 'become
possible only by the study of coins, and several
others have received much needed chronologi-
cal assistance therefrom.
EPIGRAPHY
Lastly we come to epigraphy, which for the
part of the country with which we are directly
concerned, is the most important of these

sources, and which has reclaimed to us lost
history in regard to various periods, localities
and dynasties. For the period anterior to
A. D. 400 these records obtained so far, are not
very many for South India. The total for the
whole of India, both North and South, is about

1100 to 3200.
Becords Preponderate in Number in South

India for Periods After A.D. 400
For the period on this side of A.D. 400 the
number already brought to notice up to 1906,
when the late Professor Kielhorn compiled his
indexes to the inscriptions, is about 700 for
KESEAKCH IN INDIAN HISTOKY 23
Northern India and 1090 for the South. There

have since been added to these the-yearly,
collections of which it is only a comparatively
small number that has yet been placed before
the public in a shape to be dealt with in that
manner.
Large Numbers of these Eecords

Dr. Fleet, one of the greatest authorities
in Indian Epigraphy, has it, *
And, where-
as new records are every year being freely
obtained in Northern India it is known there
is in Southern India a wealth of material the
extent of which can hardly yet be gauged/

According to the same authority the collection
of transcripts made by Sir Walter Elliott was
695 from the Kanarese country, besides a
considerable number from the Telugu Districts.
These are placed in the libraries of the Royal
Asiatic Society, London, and the University of
Edinburgh. Dr. Hultzsch had collected and
edited about 300 inscriptions in the first two
volumes of South Indian inscriptions, and
about an equal number has been added since
to the same publication by the issue of one
24 INTRODUCTORY
more part of volume II and two of Vol. Ill,
by his successors, the late Mr. Venkayya

and Bai Sahib H. Krishna Sastri. Mr. Rice
brought out about 9000 inscriptions in the
Epigraphia Carnataka and his successor, Mr.
R, Narasimhachariar, has added a considerable
number to tdese, though he has not published
them in the same form as his predecessor had
done. Dr. Fleet has collected about 1000 and
placed them all in the Bombay Museum. He
further states that *
the southernmost parts of
Dharwar which abound with such materials,
and some parts of Belgaum and Bijapur Dis-
tricts, and the Nizam's Dominions still remain
to be explored. And a great mass of material

from the eastern parts of Southern India.'
Their Value
Apart from this copiousness these inscrip-
tions have a historical value which is all their
own. They vary in substance from the simple
record of the death of a rural hero who fell
fighting in a cattle raid or of his widow's

immolation on the pyre of her husband, to a
detailed account of a battle or a treaty. If it
liappens to be a donative offering to a temple

or a Brahman it not merely gives genealogical
details of the donor and donee, but very often
elaborate details of rural administration.
Sometimes we come upon records of how
justice was administered, in these very docu-
ments. In regard to the simpler details of
history these records describe them concisely
and accurately, and being not deliberately set
out as history are all the more reliable. A

great number of these records are precisely
dated in some one era or another, or in regnal
years of the sovereign for the time being. Thus
they give us an amount of information of such
a character that ordinary histories even of a
modern character will not usually give us ; so
that it is possible to construct from the ins-
criptions alone something more than mere
political history. Thanks to the exertions of
various scholars of the passing generation, we
have all the various Indian eras in use equa.ted
to the Christian era and tables constructed to
give equivalent dates.
26 INTRODUCTORY
Co-ordination of Work Desirable
These records, available to us in such large
numbers, have made it possible to compile a
political history of India from the first cen-
tury B.C. onwards with sufficient fullness up
to the fourth century A. D. and with greater
fullness afterwards. But make the
to best
use of these records and get them to yield
all the results they are capable of yielding
work in this line will have to go hand in hand
with work in other departments of research
'
in which hardly a beginning has been made,
beyond a preliminary treatment, in detached
writings, of details which will have to be
hereafter brought together and handled on
broader lines in connected and more easily
accessible works/
Fleet's Two Desiderata : (i) Research in
Monuments
Dr. Fleet calls for two lines of work of which
we have promise, one being taken up systema-
tically and in a more liberal spirit than
heretofore, in the Government of India
Eesolution on Archaeology, namely research
KESEAECH IN INDIAN HISTOKY 27
work in monuments by excavation. This is
very necessary to supplement the rather

meagre information available for periods-
anterior to A.D. 320.
(ii) Revised Corpus of Inscriptions

The next desideratum to which he calls
attention is the revision and republication of
the Epigrapbic material available in a single
corpus, Corpus Liscriptionem Indicarum of
which a beginning was made in the only
two volumes so far published, Vol. I, The
Inscriptions of Asoka by General Sir Alex-
ander Cunningham, and Volume III, The
Gupta Inscriptions, by Dr. Fleet himself.
The need certainlj' is very great.
Collation of other Materials

FOR History
Along with this work has to go on work
upon the collation of all historical material
available in literature, numismatics, art workSj

&c., and unless all of these are examined
carefully and the material that can be drawn
from them made available in a form accessi-
ble to students of history, no historical work
proper would be possible. This will involve^
'^ INTRODUCTORY
great labour in the literatures of four or live
languages, in thousands of inscriptions in all
these languages, besides the monuments,

•coins and works of art generally.
Sympathetic Study op Indian Art

It is a hopeful sign of the times that these
last are coming in for their share of attention
at the handssome individuals and Govern-
of
ments, and what is more they are coming to

be studied with more of that sympathy which
hitherto was notoriously wanting. In the
words of Justice Woodroffe :
*'
It has been the
fashion amongst European art- critics to decry
the merits of Brahmanical sculpture on the
-ground of the alleged monstrosities of the
Hindu pauranic conceptions, which, it has
been said, are incapable of artistic treatment.
The examples collected in this volume* will,

it is hoped, help to dispel such misconceptions
and to refute the unjust criticisms which they
have engendered, and will further a juster
appreciation of the fact that Indian Sculpture
is not a freak of Asiatic barbarism, but is a
• South Indian Bronaes by 0. 0. Qaneooly.
EESEARCH IN INDIAN HISTOBY 29
worthy representative of a school of aesthetic
performance as logical, articulate and highly

developed as those of any country in Europe,
ancient or modern."
Vinceiit A. Smith's " History Fine Art in

India and Ceylon/' Havell's "Ancient and
Medieval Architecture," Gopinatha Rao's
" Hindu Iconography," Gangooly'e " South
Indian Bronzes " and a more systematic work
upon a narrower field of work, only the Tamil
country, namely " South Indian Architecture
and Iconography " by Professor Jouveau-Du-
breuil of Pondicherry, all works of recent
years do but indicate the rising interest in
this line of work.
Universities Shew Interest

It is therefore none too soon that the
University of Madras, along with a few others
of her sister Universities, resolved to utilise
the liberal annual grant of the Government
of India for starting a school of Indian studies
by instituting Professorships and Readerships
in Indian History and Languages having
reference to South India chiefly. The success
^ INTKODUCTORY
or failure of this scheme depends upon the
interest it can evoke and the co-operation it
can enlist from among the alumni of the

University — past and present.
In calling for sympathetic interest and co-
operation particularly from the University
students here, I cannot do better than quote
from Professor Maitland the words in which
he once expressed the needs of historical
study, '
needs which are nowhere more explicit
and evident than in regard to India.'
More
*
co-operation, more organisation,
more and better criticism, more advise for
heginners, are needed. And the need, if not

met, will increase. History is lengthening
and widening, and deepening. It is lengthen-
ing at both ends, for while modern States in
many parts of the world are making history at
a bewilderingly rapid rate, what used to be

called ancient history is no longer, by any
means, the ancientest ; Egypt, Assyria, Baby-
lonia, and even primeval man, are upon our
hands. And history is widening. Could we
neglect India, China and Japan, there would
be still America, Australia, Africa, as well as
KESEAECH IN INDIAN HISTOEY 31
Europe, demanding that their stories should

be told, and finding men to tell them well
or to tell them badly. And history is
deepening. We could not, if we would, be

satisfied with the battles and the protocols,
the alliances and the intrigues. Literature
and art, religion and law, rents and prices,
creeds and superstitions have burst the
political barrier and are no longer to be
expelled. The study of interactions and
interdependences is but jusc beginning and no
one can foresee the end. There is much to he
done by schools of histonj : there will be more
to be done every year.'
Co-operation in this particular line is easier

for us as the languages that have to be
mastered are many and the knowledge that
would be really useful is a deep knowledge of
one or more of these. The other technical
details in the present state of work in the sub-
ject are admittedly easy of acquisition. Indian
talent comes in very handy in archaeological
work and ought to be offered largely and

accepted liberally. It is only then that the
school of Indian studies will become a realised
32 INTRODUCTORY
ambition. I leave it in the hands of the
younger members of this audience either to-
realise this ambition or face the alternative

of the eternal want of historic sense.
II
THE VALUE OF LITERATURE

IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INDIAN
HISTORY
It is a notorious fact that Indian literature

has few professed histories, and the infer-
ence seems warranted that the historical

faculty received no development in the country.
History, as we understand it, is entirely a
product of the nineteenth century even in
Europe. Works which constitute good materi-
al for history have been many, whatever their
shortcomings from the point of view of the
modern historian. It is in the sense of profes-
sed histories which may be subjected to criti-
cism and used as material, that histories are

wanting in India.
So the problem of constructing the history
of India as a whole, or of any part of it, is
subject to this additional defect. Defective

it may be and much more so than in European
33
—
34 INTRODUCTORY
countries. Still there is ample material yet
left, despite much vandalism which may yield
good results if exploited systematically. His-
torical material in India as elsewhere, may be
grouped into three classes :
(I) ArchcBological {including architecture).
(11) Epigraphical {including numismatics),

(III) Literature.
Of these the first goes back to the earliest

times reached in this country by historical
research. What can be gathered from this
source is, however, scanty though reaching
to the earliest antiquity. The second does not
go beyond the period of the Asoka Inscrip-
tions. For periods anterior to this, we are
thrown upon literature only, both Vedic and

Buddhistic. With respect to South India
also archiBological evidence may take us
farther back, but the epigraphical does not go
back beyond the beginning of the Christian
Era except for a few Asoka and Satavahana
records. Whether literature will take us
beyond this limit may well be regarded doubt-
ful, as we are at present, but careful research
in this direction may take us past this limit

THE VALUE OF LITEBATUBE 35
and may yield us results beyond our expecta-

tions. I have not set myself to inquire here
whether it is so, nor whether all literary
evidence has been brought to bear on historical

research. I shall only try to show that the
inquiry will not be in vain if it is made.
This inquiry necessarily leads us to the
question of languages. For any work of re-
search concerning India, Sanskrit is indis-
pensable. This is clear from what we know

of the pre-Buddhistic period of Indian history.
When we come to deal with South India,
Tamil becomes equally essential. Of the
other Dravidian languages, Telugu does not
take its available literature much anterior
to the ninth century A.D., and this litera-
ture seems to be modelled upon Sanskrit

entirely. Kanarese has certainly a more
ancient literature. A work of the ninth cen-
tury undoubtedly is the Kavirajamarga of
Nripatunga* If a work of poetics like this had
been written in the ninth century, we might
presume that there was an amount of anterior
literature to require this. Malayalam seem s

to have grown out of Tamil in the early ceiu
36 INTRODUCTORY
turies of the Christian Era. But Tamil which,
aoGordiog to .some, is the mother of these three,
goes back to a f^-r greater antiquity. It hjas a
wealth of literature for particular periods which

is worth study on scientific lines. This body
of literature, independent.. of Sanskrit and yet
80 closely interwoven with it, deserves well of
those who among the educated of
wish, to be
their country's sons. It may not be all who
can afford to study it, but those who can ought

not to neglect to do so. How is this vast
literature, both Sanskrit and Dravidian, to be
exploited to any purpose, and what is likely
to be the utility of such exploitation for
history?
I began with the statement that history

depends upon archaeology, epigraphy and litera-
ture for its materials. The work on the first
two has been considered to belong to the

province of Government, for it is beyond the
resources of private work, though private
agency may do much if facilities are provided.
Work upon the third is so far left entirely to
the patriotic lovers of literature. It is not
iiteratiire as literature that is my conoera

THE VAIiUB OF lilTBRATURE '37
here, but literature so far as it can be of use
for the making of history.
That literature can provide for history needs

no proof now. The study of the literature of
Pali, the veruacular of a part of Northern India
in the centuries before Christ, opened to us a
fresh vista into the domain of the history of aa-
cient India. Will the Dravidian languages

similarly open another vista ? It is this que^
tion I shall attempt' to answer here, confining
my observations to Tamil literature, the oldest
and the most voluminous of these southern
tongues, as they are at present. That a system-
atic study of this literature will yield resulta
of great value even where one least expects itr,
I can illustrate from the following incident in

the life of Kamanuja, the Vaishnava apostle.
Tradition states, and the Ghiruparamparais

(histories of apostolic succession) record, that
Kamanuja constructed the temple at the town

of Tirupati, and enshrined the image ol
'Govindaraja there. This image was believed
to have been the image of Govindaraja at
Chidambaram, pulled out of the tepaple and
cast into the sea by a certain Chola king, called
8B INTBODUCTORY
Krimikanta by the Vaishnavas, a persecuting
Ohola. So far as I kaow at present, there
seems to be no inscription bearing upon this
question, and the matter was believed to be
traditional and nothing more. It was asserted
in a court of law that the existence of the
Vishnu shrine atChidambaram was due to the
pious fraud of a Yaishnava Brahman, who
planted the image of Vishnu over night, and
duped the people, who woke up one morning
to find the image of Vishnu in the Saiva (Holy
of Holies). If the witness himself believed in
it., as in hoaesty we are bound to grant he did,
he must have been a credulous person indeed.

We are not concerned with his credulity or
otherwise, but we are with the credibility of

the tale. Stanza 86 i of the Tiruchchirram-
balakkovai of Manikkavasagar states in the
words of the devotee that Vishnu was lying
in the court yard of the temple at Chidam-
baram supplicating Siva, when, in response
1 LfffiBiSL-iB ^rreoriifL ^tTemuirair neSaSemQ LfdjBfSujfr

—
THE VALUE OF LITEKATURB 39
to Vishnu's prayer, afber fruitlessly penetrat-

ing the earth to discover the feet of 6iva,
he displayed one foot, that he might show

the other as well. This is a clever des-
cription of the relative positions and postures
of the two deities in the temple. Natesa is in
his self-forgetful dance with his right foot lifted
up. Govindaraja is in his bhogasayana (reclin-
ing posture).
Kulasekhara Alvar states regarding the
same Govindaraja that Vishnu was recumbent
on a throne,with the three thousand Brahmans
chanting his praise in the Chitrakuta of
Tillai city, surrounded by cool and shady gar-

dens, smiling with flowers and tender shoots.
Next comes what Tirumangai Alvar says
about the same :
The first extract ^ simply indicates that a
(StriB/SeoBnrss Qetrn^^tpsufr M9ffeu Qn^^
u6tai—.LD6ifr6orQtiT u&o&oqjit Qsit(û «a«^«^

40 INTRODUCTORY
Pallava king made some costly dedications to
the temple. The second * that Vishnu was in
a lying posture on his serpent couch. The
third 5 that the three thousand of Tillai wor-
shipped, according to orthodox rights, the God
of Gods.
Thus, then, in the days of the two Alvars

and Manikkavasagar, the Vishnu shrine occu-
pied the position that it does now. Let us
proceed then to a later period, the period of
the later Cholas- The Chola decline may be
dated as commencing with the death of Kulot-
tunga Chola I. He was succeeded by his
son Vikramachola ; and he by his son
Kulottunoa II, who was succeeded by Raja
Raja 11. The poet called Ottakkufctan, there
are reasons for believing, was a contemporary
4 ^0ix)fr <5z_ja/zJL Qiî^rr ^qjH^
5 ^tpeufT tSfffSrresr u>6a>puurTe(riT mniîji
npsaipuuiTeo Qj&stsasjseu euestniEssniu Q^n^^

THE VALUE OF LITEKATUKE 41
of all the three. Among the works ascribed

to him are three ulas, as they are called, pieces
of conventional, composition celebrating a
patroQ as he passes in triumph through the
streets of his capital, appealing to his vanity
by elaborate descriptions of the effects pro-
duced upon the lady folk of the city. I take
the following extracts from the Kulottunga-
cholaiiula ^ and Hdjarajanula ^ regarding the
Vishnu shrine at Chidambaram. These two
passages indicate iu no uncertain terms
that, in carrying out the renovation of the
temple, Kulottunga found the opportunity
to get rid of the *
old little gods ' which were
obnoxious to his piety. That the Vishnu shrine
was what was particularly offensive to this pious
^QJsS <9rJITSf-0^ LUfTITLJLl ^QJfS ^(e^muiB
Qu(T€arssi^p âSpjSu L^roLoi3p (^^Lcu2sifT^^

42 INTEODUCTOKY
devotee is clear from the expression QpoieSp
^LêQeo ^^(^Sî^^ which means *
submerging
in the sea, the former house '. This very idea
of the author and the same act of his zealous
patron j&nd expression in another work, the
TaJcJcayagapparani. s It is clear then that
Kulottunga II, the grandson of the first of
that name, perpetrated this act of pious

hostility to the Govindaraja shrine, which
led to the establishment by Ramanuja of the
shrine at Tirupati town.
Last of all is a Sanskrit extract which lets
us know how the Govindaraja temple came to

be again where it is at present. It is a quot-
ation from the Prapannamritram of a certain
Anantarya, a descendent Andhrapurna who

of
was a contemporary of Ramanuja. It is a life

of Ramanuja and his followers at the end of
which the author of the life gives his own

genealogy. In the course of this pedigree occurs
8 QpaarBp Ql—(b^ sq^sl—b^ QurriL (zpar^ssTdst—eo

THE VALUE OF LITERATURE 43
a passage,9 which, freely rendered^ means that

Ramaraya, who came after Krishnaraja^ once
went to Chandragiri taking with him his GVuru
Tatarya. Mahacharya (Doddayacharya, as
he is popularly called) of the Vadiilagotra

at the height of fame for learning, was then
in residence at Ghatikachalam (Sholingar).
He wished to restore the temple of Godnda-
raja at Chidambaram (Chitrakiita), which
had been uprooted by the Chola Krimikanta.
Overcoming in argument the invincible
j?tr^^rf%^2 ^r^nrr ^^^ ii

44 INTRODUCTORY
Saivas, this great one in learning restored
the Govindaraja temple at Ohitrakuta with
the assistance of liamaraya. This Govinda-
raja thus established by Mahaoharya is even
yet to be seen at Chidambaram.
These are isolated facts gathered from a

number of works, showing no obvious con-
nexion with each other. How are they to be
brought together and used to serve the
purposes of history ?
The first essential to history is chronology.

If the facts are not placed in the order in
which I have placed them, they will be
unintelligible ; and to place them in this
order more is required than mere individual

ingenuity. If the last fact of the above series
could only be placed before its predecessor,
the contention of the recent litigants would
find some' justification. Unfortunately, how-
ever, for them I am not marshalling here
facts in law for a judge and jury, but facts
of history for a critical student. The investi-
gation of the historian ought first of all to be

chronological.
THE VAI4UE OF LITEEATURE 45
The date of Manikkavasagar cannot yet be

rega,rded as a settled fact of history. Varying
dates are ascribed to him, as offcen- with as
without evideace. Some refer him to the fifth
century A.D. ; others to the ninth century;
others agaia to an antiquity not definitely
ascertainable. That Sundaramurtinayanar

does not iaclude him among the Tiruttondar
is one fact all are agreed upon ; and that he
wâs a contemporary of a Varagunapandyan is
also tradition accepted on all hands. The

epigraphifit would keep him to the Varaguna
of the eighth century after Christ. The
literary critic sees quotations and adaptation
from Manikkavasagar in the works of the
earlier adiyars of the Saiva hagiology. That
his works were well known in the thirteenth
century, and the work that readily challenged
comparison with those of Manikkavasagar was
the Tiruvoymoli of Nammalvar are in evidence
in the following linesio of the Satagoparandadi^
amoins Qu-ULjff^ QsvsrQup QoifTÊia&r esiSS&jeSCiQu —

46 INTRODUCTORY
ascribed to Kamban, who, there are good
reasons for believing, lived in the twelfth
cenfenry a.d.
In this, as is Kamban compares
evident,
the thousand of Nammalvar to a thousand
milch-cows, both to the renounced and to the
worldly ; and the Tiruvasagam to cows which
give no milk. We are not concerned with
the judgment here, but only with the fact of

the case, although it must be said in passing
that this prince of poets in Tamil is far from

being a fanatical sectarian ; for he says in
the Bamayana^^^ ^
it is impossible to attain
salvation for those who dispute in ignorance
that Hara is the greater or the world measuring
Hari.'
Regarding the two Alvars the dates are no

more fixed than for Manikkavasagar. They
are both of them anterior to the middle of the
eleventh century a.d., inscriptions of which
date refer to the works of these Alvars as
11 ^r€arâ,^&>s^j5ji osifluj^sem cissrei\€sins(^
Uffa^Qs€sr peeDLônfinj uif^Q^Quirio

THE VALUE OF LITERATUBE 47
having been held in high esteem. One ^^ of
the decades of Tirumangaialvar refers to the

occupation of Kanchi by a king called Vaira-
meghan in the following terms. The first
being, that is in Attahhuyagaram in Kanchi,

that was surrounded by the forces and fame of
Vairameghan of long garland and high crown,
entitled to the respectful submission of the
Pallava, the ruler of the Tondas (people of
Tondamandalam). It is often not noticed that
two distinct personages are under reference : the

ruler of Kanchi (Tondayarkon) — and another
entitled to his allegiance, called Vairameghan.
This last is in all likelihood the Kashtrakuta
king of the name, and not Dantivarman
Nandivarman Pallavamalla.
Pallava, the son of
The only date so far known for Vairaniegha
Dantidurga of the Rashtrakuta dynasty is
A. D. 754. The latter half of the eighth

century a. d. may, therefore, be taken as
the age of Tirumangaialvar.is The earlier
[(jpi^LDn^sv suaSaCoLDsek
13 Yide Obapter XIX of the author's Aaoient India,

4» INTEODUCTORY
quotations would thon refer us to the eighth
and ninth centuries A. D. at the latest for the
existence of the Govindaraja temple at Chi-
dambaram.
The next batch of references leads to the
inference that it was Kulobtunga 11, the son

of Vikramachola and the father of Rajaraja
II A.D. {circa) 1133 to 1150, who uprooted

the shrine in his pious work of renovation
of the great Saiva temple. This is clear from
the quotations themselves which are from

the works of a contemporary author.
Lastly, the Sanskrit quotation refers the

reconstruction to Doddayacharya through the
good offices of a Ramaraja who ruled after
Krishnaraya. It was in this connetion that
this teacher (acharya) came in contact

with Appaiya Dikshita, the great South Indian
scholar and philosopher. In his commentary
on Vedanta Desika's Yadavdbhyudayavi, this
scholar says that he took up the work of a
commentary on this kavya at the instance of
Pinna Timma, grandson of Ramaraja. The
Ramaraja referred to is clearly the one that fell
at Talikota. There is nothing very improbable

THE VALUE OF LITEBATUEE 49
in Appaiya Dikshita's having been contempo-

raneous with Doddayacharya or Eamaraja on
the one hand, and with Pinna Timmaraya on
the other. Besides the writer of the Frajpan-
namrtam itself was a disciple of Kumarata-
tarya, popularly Kotikanyakadanam Tatachar,
whose patron was Vankatapatiraya, who
ruled till a.d. 1614. It must therefore be some-
time before a.d. 1565 that the temple was
restored.
We are thus able to obtain an account of the

vicissitudes of this temple for about five
centuries at least. I have taken this as a

simple illustration of what historical infor-
mation can be gained even from apparently
unconnected literature. The facts here are all
the more reliable, even including the last, as

they are mere incidental references. It will now
appear that there can be no history without
chronology, and the attempts to fix the dates
of works and authors, which to many appear
absurd, is of the essence of historical research.
What is wanted, therefore, now for his-
torical research is a systematic and organized

study of literature, both vernacular aud Sans-
60 INTRODUCTOKY
krit, in a way that will facilitate work both
literary and historical. This work cannot be
done by one man all through for his own
requirements. He will require the collabora-
tion of a number of others. A student engaged
in historical research has to keep himself in
close touch with the archaso logical, epigra-
phical and literary work that may be going on,
and must be something of an archaBologist
and epigraphist himself ; but that any one
should be all the three by himself is beyond
human possibility in most cases. This is
very often recogaized, and 'the two branches

are held to be distinct. In point of litera-
ture also — I am concerned with literature
only as an auxiliary to history — the collection

of manuscripts and documents, and the bring-
ing out of good and critical editions of works
ought to be regarded as quite a distinct branch.
Most editions of the classics published in
India till quite recently, both in Sanskrit and

the vernaculars, were uncritical editions. It
is the Bombay Sanskrit Series, that set the
Our esteemed country-
fashion for Sanskrit.
man, Mahamahopadyaya Swaminatha Aiyar,
THE VALUE OF LITERATURE 5i
has given us a number of remarkably well-edited

texts of important Tamil works. The advan-
tages of this kind of editing are quite apparent.
The various readings are given for the reader
to choose from ; the variety of comments are
also noted. When this is well and accur-

ately done the text editor has rendered good
iservice to the historian. What then is the uti-
lity of such editions ? To give only an example
or two. Tne learned editor of the Silap-
jpadliikaraMy Pundit Swaminatha Aiyar, has
taken care to give in a footnote thirteen
lines at the beginning of the second canto,
found only in one manuscript among those
he consulted. He remarks in another place
that manuscripts found in the same quarter
have been the most reliable in many par-
ticulars. These thirteen lines refer to
Karikala as the ruler at the time, and state
that the Pattinappalai had been dedicated to
him by the author, thus confirming the
inferable contemporaneity of this ruler with
the author of the work. There are references
to the same incident in other works but far
later in point of time.
H INTRODUCTORY
Similarly in staaza fourteea of Kalidasa's
Meghaduta^ where there is the reference to
Dinnaga, it struck me that the infcerprefca-
tioa of the whole, as applied to Dianaga-

oharya, was forced ; for in the alternative
iaberpretation the commentator Mallinatha
has to omit a part of a compound word. The
pundits whom I consuhed consider that that
is no bar to the slesha (double entendre). I
understand now from a Bombay edition of the

text and commentary that Hemadri does not
countenance the interpretation. The result is
that the estimate of Kalidasa's age, based on

his contemporaneity with Dinnaga, falls to
the ground so far. Hemadri may be right or
Mallinatha ; but he who reads with a view

to building up a hypothesis in history ought
to have an opportunity of knowing both the
commentaries. Then he formulates his hypo-
thesis at his own risk.
Further down Mallinatha lays down that

the three slokas which he comments on are
interpolations. He does not choose to tell us
why he thinks so, though his reasons would
have been valuable. There is a great and
THE VALUE OP LITEEATUEE 5S
important amount of work to be done, in the

way of examining critically the texts with a
view to distinguish the genuine from the
spurious part of it.
It is alleged, often with truth, that the

historian reads his thoughts and feelings into
the writings of the past. This no doubt is a
defect that he has to guard himself against.
If the record of the past is placed in his hands
in an accurate form he ought to have no
excuse for making such mistakes. The defect
arises from an insufficiency of information
which would enable him to form a complete
idea of the men and of the period he is dealing
with. This is a point that the late Professor
Maitland seems to have laid great stress on in
the course of his lectures. It is in regard to
oaths and the influence that they exercised on

truthfulness of the witness that the Professor
took occasion to make the remark. This defec-
tive appreciation is considerably in evidence
among a class of scholars engaged in research

work. It is traceable to the importing of
our owH ideas and the circumstances ahoutf us

to periods of which we have either no, or have
H INTRODUCTORY
no means of having, full information. To
illustrate the position I go back to the Br-
hatkatha. The work was written in Paisachi
and appears to have been held in high esteem
by successive writers of note in Sanskrit liter-
ature, at least from the days of Dandi to the

age of the Kasmirian Somadeva. We have
four different versions of it as our only source
of knowledge of the work. The Kathasarith-

sagara of Somadeva, is professedly a transla-
tion; Brhatkathamanjari is a collection of
stories from the Brhatkatha ; a third version
or collection was obtained from Nepal ; and
lastly a Tamil translation of it, which is of an
antiquity which may be prior to that of the now
known Sangam works. Professor Speyer, a
Dutch scholar, who has made a critical study of
the Kathasarithsagara has, on the strength of
the supernatural powers ascribed to Nagarjuna
in the wôrk, referred the Brhatkatha to a
period between the third and the fifth century
A. D. This is because the Professor thinks that
people would hardly have believed in superna-
tuial power unless a considerable interval had
elapsed. The inference would certainly be
THE VALUE OF LITEKATUBE 55
warranted, if all people were rational and

sceptical to an equal degree at all periods
of history. All the world over, and in
regard to all religions, miracles play an

important part at a particular stage of
development ; and people are not wanting

in the enlightened twentieth century who
have full faith in occultism and spiritual-
ism. This it is that makes several Indian

works seem ridiculously absurd to European
scholars. If they could appreciate the in-
fluence a belief in transmigration exerts
upon the minds of simple people, and how
closely interwoven it is in all the varying
belief of the people in India, they would see
that what strikes them as absurd is quite
obviously believable even by contempora-
ries. That this has, as a matter of course,
been the case could be proved, if Tamil liter-
ature and literary tradition were called into

requisition.
There are several works in Tamil called ma-

hakavyas. The translation of the Brhatkatha,
a sirukappyam or a minor kavya called
Udayanan Jcadai or Perungadai or even simply
;
«6 INTRODUCTOKY
'kadai, is believed to be the work which gave
the authority for the use of the word kavya.
This work is ascribed to the period of the
middle Sangam, that is, anterior to the third
Sangam, the works of which we have in some
number. I have put forward my arguments
for referring the third Sangam to the earlier
centuries of the Christian era ; hence
this work ought; to be referable to a period
coeval with the beginning of the era of Christ.
If only this could be established beyond a
doubt, the history of Vikramaditya and Kan-
ishka, about which there is yet considerable
divergence of scholarly opinion, would become
settled to a degree not dreamt of by any yet
because, Somadeva, the translator of the
Brhatkatha, says in so many clear words that
he makes no change in the matter of the
original beyond the mere change of language

and the necessary abbreviation. It would be
hyper-criticism to dispute the assertion of the
author without establishing a clear motive as
an essential pre-requisite. This consideration
has not always been conceded to him.
There is work to be done, therefore, in the
THE VALUE OF LITEKATURE 57
co-ordination of the study of the two langu-

ages, Sanskrit and Tamil, in the interest of
both. In the absence of the original, if the
Sanskrit translation could be collated and
compared with the Tamil, the result would go
far towards solving one of the most important
problems of ancient Indian History ; namely,
the origin of the Samvat era which has had
to be accounted for in so many fanciful
ways by great scholars. There are references in

both the Kathasarithsagara and the Brhatka-
thamanjari to a Vikramaditya-Vishamasila,
who got rid of the Mlecha trouble, and came to
be regarded an incarnation of'the divine energy
of Vishnu or Siva, it does not matter which to
us. This question is too long for discussion
here.
My object is not. to settle disputed questions
or to formulate a new historical hypothesis.
Now that archaeological and epigraphical work

have made some advance, I appeal for a better,
more rational, and systematic study of the
literature of the country, with a view to
making them yield the results that they are
capable of. Inscriptions and archaeological
58 INTEODUCTORY
research can after all provide the dry bones
only. All else will have to be got from litera-
ture. Besides, there is a period to which ins-
criptions do not lead us. For such periods we
have to depend upon literary evidence alone^
if this is available, either from Sanskrit or the

vernaculars. It is a duty that every one owes
to, his country to do all in his power to advance
the study of this literature. In addition to
the discharging of a duty, this study of litera-
ture will be a source of pleasure even to busy
people. Here individual effort can take us
only a small way. But if tbese efforts were
made to flow into one channel, the volume
would be the greater and the work turned out
the larger.
CHAPTER I.
SOUTH INDIA A DISTINCT ENTITY IN

INDIAN HISTORY.
The term South India as a distinct expres-
sion referring to the southernmost portion
of our country, India, goes back to the
days of the Mahabharata in its present
form, for its authority. That distinction it
has maintained all through historical times

even down to the present. The whole
of India north of the Vindhya Mountains
roughly is what is now known as Hindustan,.
and was perhaps in olden times included in

the expression Uttarapatha. In days when
perhaps the geographical knowledge of India
south of the Vindhyas was somewhat
vague, the term Dakshinapatha seems to have
indicated all the country south of the Vindh-
yas. But by the time of the compilation of
the Mahabharata in its present form, Dakshina-
patha seems to be limited to what we now

unnderstand by the term Dekhan.
59
60 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
Sahadeva in his southern expedition before
the celebration of the Kajasuya (a sacrifice

celebrated in token of paramount power) by
his eldest brother, conquered the Pulindas,
marched southwards from them into the
Pandya country. After fighting a successful
battle against the Pandyas, he moved north-
wards towards the Dakshinapatha.^ The first
1 Mahabharaba Kambb. Ed,
3^.Rr^nîmH %i^^ ^ f^^r^ II ?<^ ii
^R^H^d ^mh ^m^^ #i^ IR^ d
(Mahabharata II. 32. Si. 16-23.) (See also SI. 70-76)

SOUTH INDIA A DISTINCT ENTITY 61
state that he went to oa this frontier was Kish-

kinda, (the modern Hampi). The next state
that he came to wâs Mahishmati (Mandhata
on the Narmada river).
Similarly in the Eamayana, ^ Sugriva
2 5ET?^ t%?:h ^^ ^[^ri^^cTiger^ I
^ =^ H^rviwt ^rff^f^RîT^ II ^ II
3T^^^[JT5Rff =^ ^l^^rgq^^rT II ? o II
Rishikaa in the texfc is an obvious error,,
for Rishfcikan.
* * ¥
^ ^^4 î%(lf Rfla'm'^^dJM: II ? ^ II
^^*^rK<^t<*i^mj|F^RHTR'T II ? ^ II
'62 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
directing his search party to the south, gave
them the following description of that region,
beginning from the centre, the river Saravati
in the Madyadesa which flows in a circle and
loses itself in the sand. He divides this region
obviously into three portions :
— the region
north of the Dandakaranya and in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the Vindhyas ; then
the region along the East Coast up to the river
Krishna; and then the region south of the
Krishna. In the second region on the south
of the Vindhyas figured Vidarbha, Kishtika,
îwq^r wwm ^1^^ mî\ II ? v9 II
^fp%^ 3^f%: ^PcT âg^^^m^ II ? <i II
3^ ^^13 qiD^r?rt ^rTF ^^q^r ^mv. w ? ^ ii
^J|^Hkd< cT5r ^RR T%%%f^: iRo ||
^^Ri^qiFr: ^R[?r^[|[ ^m^\ IR ? II
(Vaimiki Bamayana III. 41. SI. 8-21.)

and Mahishaka on the one side, Vanga,

Kalinga and Kausika on the other. Then he
puts in the Dandakaranyam in which is
included the river Godaveri. Then come in

the country of the Andhras, the Pundras, the
Cholas, the Pandyas, the Cheras. Then is
îven a description of the Kauvery passing on

to the hill Malaya, the residence of sage
Agastya. Then is described the Tarnravarni
river, which they are advised to cross. Then
is described the fafnous place Pandya Kavatam,
generally identified with Kavatapuram or
Kapatapuram in Tamil- Then is described
the hill Mahendra across the sea in an island.
The older Paranas such as the Matsya, ^
Vayu, ^ and even Markandeya are not perhaps

«o clear in respect of the distinction between
the two parts of the region south of the
Vindhyas, but they give the main divisions
practically along the same lines.
In respect of these works, however, it would

be impossible to make anything like a chrono-
^ Ch, 104 Ananda^rama Edn.

^ XLV si. 70 onwards to the end the same edition
-as the above.
logical inference, though ifc may now be taken a&
agreed thafe both the works, the Mahabharata
and the Ramayana may have to be referred
to the fifth century B. C. It still is a
matter of great doubt as to what exactly
is the age of any particular part of the work.
In this respect, the Ramayana, stands some-
what on a better footing than tbe Maha-
bharata, and a statement made in respect of
any book or chapter of these works can be

challenged in respect of any chronological
datum. Hence while the occurrence of the
names of the divisions stated above is a matter
of some importance, the references do not
enable us exactly to fix the period to which

the division would have reference. We may
state roughly, however, that these were probab-
ly divisions definitely formed and familiarly

recognised in the fourth century before Christ.
Another class of literary sources which can
be exploited for the purpose is the Buddhist
Jatakas and Buddhist literature generally.
The countries in India which figure among

them have reference to about sixteen king-
doms and a few tribal republics. Arranging
them on the map, the southernmost portion

reached is perhaps Paitan on the Godavery in
the western extremity, Asraaka^ being the only
southern kingdom referred to there at all. The
earliest available Buddhist literature therefore
does not take us very much beyond the
Vindhya mountains, and that seems reflected
in one beuedictory verse, which occurs at the
end of several of the dramas of Bhasa. The
verse merely refers to a wish ' mt^j our
Bajasimba bring the whole of the earth
from sea to sea, and from the Vindhyas to the
Himalayas under one umbrella, and rule it
with success.^
Passing on now to another class of Sanskrit
works which can be dated closer than these,
the researches of Sir R. G. Bhandarkar show
that to theGrammarian Panini the south was
a land unknown. The countries farthest to
the south mentioned by him are Kachcha,
3 The Mabahbarata in another place refers to A^maki
(I, 63. 12) a Yddhava princess married to Prachinvan
This would indicate the upper reaches of the Godaveri
as at least one A^makn.
66 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOEY
Avanti, Kosala, Karusa and Kalinga.^ None
oi these takes us south Vindhyas. Ail
of the
these are in fact states " on the back of the

Vindhyas," according to the Puranas. The
VartikaoQ Panini of Katyayana who, according
to Bhandarkar, followed Panini more than two
centuries after, shows considerable acquain-
tance with the south. Katyayaaa notes the
omission by Panini of the name Paidya and
explains it as " one sprung from an individual
of the tribe of the Pandus or the king of their
country should be called a Pandya." Another
of Panini's rules is extended by Katyayana to
apply to the Oholas and others. Coming
down to Patanjali, we find a very much more
intimate acquaintance in him of the geography
of the south. Of the southern places, he
mentions Mahishmati, Vidarbha, both of them
in the Dekhan and immediately south of the
Vindhyas, Kauchipuram and Kerala which

take us very near to the extreme south.
There is besides the general rule that he laid
down that a word like Sarasi is used to denote
large lakes in the south ; hence it is possible
7 Bombay Gaz. Vol. I, Parfe 2, p. 138—39.
SOUTH INDIA A DISTINCT ENTITY 6?
lor U8 to infer that in Patanjali's time about

150 B. C. the whole of South ladia was known
to the noroherners. In the time of Katya-
yana about. 350 B. C, South India wats
fairly well-known while in the days of
Panini, according to Sir R. G. Bbaiidarkar,

about the seventh century B. C. South India
was practically unknown.
Coming down to more definitely his-
torical works, the following extract from

Magasthenes shows at any rate that some
knowledge of the Pandya country had reach-
ed him. He says, from hearsay informa-
tion obviously, that Herakles beget a-
daughter in India whom he called Pandaia,
To her he assigned that portion of India which
lies to the southward and extends to the sea
while he distributed the people subject to her
rule in 365 villages, giving orders that one
village each day should bring to the treasury
the royal tribute, so that the queen might
always have assistance of those men whose
turn it was to pay the tribute, -in coercing those
who for the time being were defaulters in their

payment- He was further informed that this
68BEaiNNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
female sovereign had an army of 500 elephants^
4,000 cavalry and 130,000 infantry, and
possessed great treasure in the fishery for
pearls, which according to Arrian were greatly

sought by both the Grreeks and the Romans.
The Arthasastra of Chanakya, referable to
the same time as Magasthenes, has two refer-
ences known to me to the South. Speaking
of pearls and their quality, Chanakya refers to
Tamravarnika " that which is produced in the

Tamravarni " ; Pandya Kavataka 6, that which
is obtained in Pandya Kavata. (p. 86 of Mr.
Shama Sastry's Trans.)
Further in the same chapter, but speaking

"this time of cotton fabrics, the Arthasastra has
^ This Pandya Kavata, *
a door-way of the Pandyas/
is a fine commeDtary od theKavatam PaDdyanam of tho
BamayaDa. The commeDbator on the Arthasastra ex-
plains it as a mountain known as Malay akoti in tha^
Pandya country. It is rather of doubtful propriety thafc
a place where pearls are found should be referred to as a.
mountain. It seems much more likely that the expres-
sion Pandya Kavafca means, the door-way of entry into
the Pandya country from the sea and the Malayakoti of
the commentator therefore, would then be the promontory

where the Western Ghats dips into the sea.
reference to the fabrics of Madhura, which the

commentafcor explains rightly as southern
Madura, and it may be noted also that among
other places remarkable for cotton fabrics
figures Kalinga, the Tamil name for cloth
generally being Kalingam. (p. 94, Ibid).
Next in order of time, the edicts of Asoka do
specifically mention the southern kingdoms,
and place them as beyond the imperial pale of
the Mauryan Empire. Three of his rock
edicts mention these, and they are edicts II,
V, and XIIL
II. *
Everywhere in fehe empire of King Priyadar-
SîD, beloved of the gods, as well as among tboê natioz^s
and princes that are his neighbours, such as the Chodia$,

the Pamdiyas, the Satiyaputra, the Keralaputa', Tambapa-
mni, the Yana king, called Amtiyoka as well as among
those who are the vassal-kings of that Amtiyoka, every-
where king Priyadarsin, beloved of the gods, has founded

two (2) kinds of hospitals, both hospitals, for men and
hospitals for animals. Everywhere where herbs whole-
some for men and wholesome for animals are not
found, they have been imported and sown by the king's
order. And wells have been dug by his order for the
enjoyment of men and beasts.'
V. *
Now a long period has passed, and the o£3cial8
called the Overseers of the Sacred Law have formerly
not exififcef?. Now, when I had been anointecl thirteen-
y«arB, I appointed Overseers oi the Sacred Law. They

are busy among all seofcs with watching over the sacred
Uw, with the growth ot the law, and with the welfare
and happiness of my loyal subjeots, as also among

the Yonas, Kamboyas, Gamdharas, litshtikas, Pitinikas
and all other nations which are my neighbours,'
XIII. *
But this conquest the beloved of the gods holds
the chiefest, viz., the conquest through the Sacred Law.
And that} conquest had boan made by the Beloved of the

gods both hers in his empire, and over all his neighbours,
ewen as far as six hundred yojanas, where the kiug of the
7ona», called Amtiyoka dwells, and beyond this Amti*

yoka, where the four (4) Kings dwell, viz,, he called
Turamaya, be called Amttkini% he called Maka, and ho
called Aiikasudara* ; turther in the south, where tho
Chodas and Pamdas dwell as far as Tambapamni ; like-
wise where the king dwells, among the Viâs, Vajris, the
Amdhras, and Pnlidas everywhere they follow the
teaching of the Beloved of the gods with respect to the
Sacred Law. Even those to whom the messengers of

the Beloved of the gods do not go, follow the Sacred
Law, as soon as they have heard of the orders of the'
*(l) Antiochus, Theoe, of Asia, 261—246 B.C.

(2) 285—247 B.C.
Ptoleny II Philadelphia,
(3) Aotigonus Gonatas, 278—239 B.O.
(4) Magas of Gyrene, d. 258 B.C.
(5) Alexander of Bpirua, 272—? 258 B.C.
Beloved of the gods, issued in accordaDce with bheSaored

Law, and his teaching of fche Sacred Law, and they will
follow it in future.* (Buhler in Epigraphia Indioa II).
These edicts, it will be seen, refer to a

number of rulers and by implication to the
regions over which they ruled. They seem
also to be classified into two groups : those
that are his neighbours and perhaps in a posi-
tion of subordination to him, and those with
whom his relations were on terms of indepen-
dence and equality. Among the former have

to be included the Yonas, Kambojas, the
Gandharas, them along the north-western
all of
frontier. The Yonas, must have been the

Greek state of Bactria and the subordinate
chieftaincies thrown out from there perhaps
in the Kabul Valley and elsewhere, where they
might have spread out. The Kambhojas are
usually located in the north-western corner of
Kashmir extending downwards. The Gandha-
ras were the people in the region westward of
the Punjab, including the two capitals Taxila
and Pushkalavati, that is the region between
Kabul and India along the Kaibar way. The
other two regions mentioned are the Rashtikas
and Pitenikas. The Rishtikas perhaps were

a vast group of people among whom Mahrattas
were the principal group, there being other
Rashtikas or Rishtikas besides. There is
nothing to connect them with the Arattas,

but the Saurashtras or the name Surashtra
for the country may be originally traceable
to them. It is a little more doubtful if the
same could be said of Gurjarashtra (Gujarat)
and Pitenikas,^ the country round about
Paitan on the Godaveri.
We are justified by edict II quoted above,
in distinguishing the empire of King Pryadar-
sin and his neighbours the independent
monarchs, such as the Chola, the Pandya, the
Satiyaputra and Keralaputra in the south, and
Amtiyoka (Amtiyoks) and his vassal-kings in
the west. In regard to these southern mon-

archs the Cholas, the Pandyas, and the Kerala
are plain enough to us. They are respectively
the coast country on the east extending per-
9 The form Paitan from Prabhiahtaaa is considered

unsound philologicaliy. Sans. Pritbishtana, beoom-
ing Pabittaua thro : Payittana mbo Pittaria seems possi-
ble as a folk etymology or apabhramâ philology even.
haps from the Pulikat to the Vellar in the

Padukotta State with its capital at TJraiyur.
*
The Pandya country next following extending
from coast to coast along a line drawn from
perhaps the point Kalimere to Kottayam, with
its capital at Madura, and the Kerala country
along the western coast}, extending northwards
of this, and including in it the northern half
of Travancore, the State of Cochin and con-
siderable portions of Malabar. The Satiya-
putra seems obviously to refer to the region
immediately north of this and the name Satiya-
putra seems normally to indicate the prevalence
of the Matriarchate or Aliyasantanam Law.
These are put on a level with the Greek
King Antiochus. Theos (God), grandson of
Seleucus Nicator (Victorious) the rival and
friend of Chandragupta. This edict makes
the position clear so far that these states were
beyond the boundaries of the empire of Asoka.
Coming down to edict V, which relates to
the appointment of Overseers of the Sacred
Law, Asoka distinguishes between "My loyal
subjects and those among the Yonas and other
people, and then all other nations his neigh-
:
74 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOKY

bours," which seems to indicate that the Yonaa^
and the other people were in some sense sub-^
ordinate to him perhaps tributary states under

him. The Edict XIII on the contrary makes
the division between his empire and all his
neighbours, and again puts Aihtiyoka and his
four neighbours on a footing similar to the
Cholas and their neighbours the Pandyas.
He makes the further distinction of those to
whom the " Messengers of the Beloved of the
Gods'* are sent, and those to whom t'ley do not
go. The best commentary upoa cbis arrange-
ment of his is in the Mahavamsa of Ceylon

whera we find the following
"When the Thera Moggaliputta, the illu-
minator of the religion of the Conqueror, had

brought the (third) council to an end and
when, looking into the future, he had be-
held the founding of the religion ia adjacent
countries, (then) in the month Kattika he sent
forth theras, one here and one there. The
thera Majjhantika he sent to Kashmira and
Gandbara, the thera Mahadeva he sent ta
Mahishamandala. To Vanavasa he sent the
thera named Eakkhita, and to Aparantaka
the Yona named Dhammarakkhita to Maha- ;
rattha (he sent) the thera named Mahadham-

marakk hita, but the thera Maharakkhita he
sent into the country of the Yoaa. He sent
the thera Majjhima to the Himalaya country,
and to Suvannabhiimi he sent the two theras
Sona and Ufctara. The great fehera Mahinda,
the theras Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambaia and

Bbaddasala his disciples, these five theras
he sent forth with the charge :
*
Ye shall
found in the lovely island of Lanka the lovely

religion of the Conqueror."' (Geiger's Maha-
vamsa p. 82).
The passage refers to the missions for the pro-
pogation of the faith sent under the command

of Asoka to various localities for the purpose
of carryiug the teachings of the *
Enlightened
One *
to those regions. Among the territories
mentioned here are Kashmir, and Gandhara in
neighbourhood. Then the next mission was
that sent to Mahishamandala, which in this
case may have to be identified with Mahish-

mati, though the name Mahishamandala is of
equal application to the territory whi(5h is
now Mysore, as wîll be shown later. The next

region is Vanavasa, which is the Banavasi,
12,000 district in the southern Mahratta
country and Mysore. Then comes the region
of the northern Konkan coast and that is
Aparanta. Then comes Maharashtra then ;
comes the country of the Yona, which probab-

ly was the region somewhere in the immedi-
ate neighbourhood of India, Afghanistaa or
Beluchistan. Then comes the country called
Suvarnabhumi, which is usually identified
with the gold-producing province of the
Malaya Peninsula and Tennassarim (the
Chryse of the classical writers) ; last and most
important of all Ceylon, because it is the
history of Buddhism in Ceylon that is the
subject of the treatise. This enumeration of
countries seems to go so far only to confirm
our classifications of the territories referred to
in the Asoka edicts as(l)those of his empire pro-
per, (2) of the dependencies of the empire and
(3) of states in independent diplomatic rela-
tions. If the Mahishamandala referred to here
stands for the country of the Mahishakas round
Mandhata, on the Narbada, for which there is
very good reason, then Banavasi is the

—
southerniDOst limit, and we find India

south of the fourteenth degree of latitude out
of the pale of imperial rule.
This is confirmed in another way though

somewhat less directly from the Mahavamsa
itself. Duttagamani Abhaya on the occasion
of laying the foundation-stone of the great
Stiipa (Thupa) had called for an assembly of
most of the leading Buddhists from the various

Buddhist centres. In response to this invita-
tion there assembled
:
Bhikhus from
1 Indagutta with 80,000 „ Bajagaha (Bajagraha capifear
of Maghada).
2 Dhammasana „ 12,000 „ laipataoa (the Dear-Park in
Beoares.
3 Fiyadassi „ 60.000 ,, Jatarama-vihara(Viharaoufc»

side of SraTasti in Nepal
Tharai.)
4 Urubuddharakkhite „ 80.000 Mahavana (in Vaiâli.)
5 Urudhammarakkhita,, 30.000 Ghositarama (In Koâmbi)
6 Urusamgharakkhita „ 40.000 Dakkhinagira-vihara in
Ujjeni (Ujjain in Malva.)
7 Mittinna 160,000 „ Aôkarama in Pupphapura

(Pataliputra or Patna.)
8 XJtti^ria 280.000 „ Kashmir.

9 Mahadeva 460.000 Pallavabbogga(tbe Eief o! the

Pallavas probably in
Gujarat, also regions of
tbe Indus).
10 yonamahadbammarak-
kbita ,. 30,000 Alasanda, the city of the
Yonas, Alexandria of the
Yonas which may be one
of the many Alexandrias,
Alexandria near Kabnl,
Alexandria near the junc-
tion of tbe Jhelum and
tbe Indus or Karachi^
which was itself one of
tbe Alexandrias.
11 Ubtara ., 60.000 Eoad of the Y i n d b y a n

forests.
12 Gbittagupfca 30.000 Bodhimanda-vibara ( i n

Bodhgaya).
13 Cbandagupfca „ 80.000 Vacavasa country (Banavasi

in the Dharwar dist.)
14 Suriyagufcba 96.000 Great Kelaaa-vibara probab-

ly Kailasa-vibara which
may be from tbe region of
Ellora in the present
Nizam's dominions, or
Amaravati, Guntur.
(Opusciti pp. 193, 194.)

1
Here again it will be noticed that the famous

Buddhififc centres do not come beyond Vana-
vasa, and this has reference to the period A.B.
382 to 406, or 101 to 77 B.C. on the basis of
B.C. 483 for Buddha Nirvana.
This position is confirmed by what we can
derive from early Tamil literature but before
passing on to that, we may say a word about
this Ceylon chronicle. This is a chronicle of
the history of Buddhism maintained in one of

the many monasteries of the Buddhists, and
was put together in its present form in the
sixth century A. D. by the Sthavira
, monk,
Mahanaman, Tnat was done obviously in
commentary upon the earlier, but somewhat
less classical Dipavamsa which was composed
in the fourth century A. D. as it stops short
in its account with the reign of Mahasena,
who came to the throne sometime about A. D.
306. Even this Dipavamsa is believed to
have derived its material from various Attaka-
thas (Sans. Arthakatha, stories in exposition
of the meanmg of various portions of the
Buddhist gospel). Thus while it is possible
that the reference has contemporaneous autho-
rity, we could have little doubt that it belongs
at any rate to the fourth century A. D., if not
earlier. This fourth century authority goes
only to confirm what is indicated in the edicts
and what perhaps is unconsciously expounded
in early Tamil literature. We shall pass on
to this last now.
i
(^.HAPTER II.
MAUKYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA.
Till recently it was held doubtful that the

references to the Choi a, Pandya and Kerala
in Asoka's edicts, had anything more in them
than a mere boast on the part of the Buddhist
Emperor. The discovery of his edicts at
Siddhapura, Brahmagiri and Jatinga Rames-
vara hill in Mysore in 1892 did put the edicts
upon a somewhat better footing in respect of
their veracity. The discovery two years ago

of a copy of Asoka's edicts in Maski, in the
Nizam's dominions, gave new and powerful
support to the contention of those that
maintained that Asoka's territory actually
extended to the frontiers of Mysore. This
last discovery is of the highest historical
value, as the edicts are almost a replica of
those at Sahasram and therefore of a time

somewhere about his thirteenth year. ^ The
Mysore edicts seem later. If then, as the
1 Hyderabad Arcbselogical Series : No. 1. p. 3.
81
6
Maski edicts shew, there was a southern
province of Asoka, and if the Suvarnnagiri, the
capital of the Aryaputta and the Mahamatras,
has to be looked for round Maski itself or in
the territory of- the Ancient Kuntala, 2 when

was South India conquered and how far did
the conquest go actually ? Light is shed upon

this darkness from an unexpected source, and
that is, classical Tamil Literature.
Before proceeding to let this light in, it is
necessary to know what exactly is the present

position of historians in regard to this matter.
Mr. Viucent A, Smith in his Early History of
India (Third Edition), which is later than
his monograph on Asoka, has on page 163
''
The Tamil States extending'to the extremity
of the Peninsula, and known as the Chola and
Pahdya kingdoms, certainly were independent
as were the Kerlaputra and Satiyaputra states

on the south-western, or Malabar Coast. The
southern frontier of the empire may be des-
cribed approximately as a line drawn from the
mouth of the Pennar River, near Nellore on
2 Para. 1. Ibid.
MAUEYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA 83
the Basbern coast through Guddappah and to

the south of Cbitaldroog (North, lat. 14 13*,
F. Long. 76 24) to the river Kalyanapuri on

the west coast (about N. Lat. 14), which forms
the northern boundary of the Tuluva country,
probably representing the old kingdom of
Satiyaputra.'' In regard to this southern
boundary the limits marked out in the extract
are substantially correct on the information
furnished by epigraphy. This correctness is
confirmed by what we are able to glean from

Tamil literary sources except in regard to the
eastern limit of this line. The Tamils mark-

ed out the limit of Tamil land at Pulikat,
which is the Anglo-Indian corruption
of Palaverkkadu (old forest of Vel. trees). 3
This is referred to in Ancient Tamil litera-
ture as Verkkadu, withouG the adjective

for *old '
standing before the name. This
eueoGeu^ afTiliêwcSr îl.(Su)uiT
Mamular in Kurcmtokai 11,

is usually described as Vadukarmunai, the
*end of the Northerners *
territory. When
this limit is passed the language also changes
(Molipeyartem,^ the country where the spoken
language changes to another). The limit on
the other side is given as the Tulu land or
Konkanam ^, the territory o£ the chief Nannan
in the first century of the Christian era, which
Mamulanar in Aham. 210/11,
Mamalanar in Ibid 31.
5 Aham 16. & Narri9ai 391.
ufTs&inn ea>SLj uea>p<s sLLiêSji

Q/Sireas StneSitjg^^ ihntljLêarear.
Aham. 15. Mamulanar

QufTGfTuQ GairsKircSiircsr jBGarcar emeariQ/Z.
ojwQfffT i3d^Qp ueuCoff.
Naryiriai 391. Palaipadiya Perungadungo,

MAUBYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA 85
was broken into by a new people Koâr, as a

result of a war in which Nannan obviously
suffered defeac^ and lost his state elephant.*^
Thus then, Tamil literature ascribable to

about the first century of the Christian era
supports the statement that this line consti-
tuted the southern boundary of the Mauryafi

except for a difference of half a degree in the
eastern end.
The Dekhan, or Peninsular India, down to
approximately the latitude of Nellore, must
therefore apparently have been subjugated by
either Chandragupta or Bindusara, because it
was inherited from the latter by Asoka, whose

only recorded war was the conquest of Kalinga;
and it is more probable that the conquest of
the south was the work of Bindusara than ifc
was effected by his busy father.' Mr. Vincent

A. Smith also notes that the Tibetan historian
Taranatha (Scheifner p. 89) attributes to
Bindusara and Chanakya the conquest of the
country between the eastern and western seas,
6 potest
Qeurrear^ Qwrrtâ G<g5T*ii" Quireo.
Paraoar in Kuruntogai 73.

86 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HIBTORY
The fact of the conquest of the south ha&

Femained so far an inference and no more. In
regard to the question which of the first three
Mauryas did actually make the conquest there
is no further direct information than the
inference we make from the known
are left lio
extent of Asoka*s Empire and the statement

of Taranatha regarding Bindusara's conquest,
unless the last two lines quoted by Dr. Fleet
from the Mahavamsa he held to imply Asoka's
conquest '^
of the south.
Among the poets who constituted, according

to tradition, the famous third Academy at
Madura we find the name Mamulanar, a
Brahman scholar whose name, as an author, is
held in very high esteem in the Tamil world
^ 9c^ =^fe ^^%ft ^9R^ J?1T2?# I
(J. B. A. S. 1909 p. 29).

'
'
Having attained the BoIe sovereignty in four years
of the first line need not have exclusive reference to the
efanghter of his brothers if such could be held to be a
hiatorioal fact. As a matter of fact it is very doubtful if
the massacre of the brothers is at all a fact as rook

edict V (Vincent A. Smito*s Asoka, p. 162, note 4)
refers to hie brothers and sisters.
MAURYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA 87
even now. His works were of the character

of fugitive poems which are found scattered in
various collections, all of them generally re-
garded as having had the '

San gam (Academy)
imprimatur. Without basing his antiquity
upon the fact, that his works are found in-
cluded in these collections, there is enough
internal evidence to show that he was an elder
contemporary perhaps of Paranar, and an exact
contemporary of the Ghola ruler Karikala and
of Nannan, the *
Woman killer '. He is re-
garded as a separate person from the Tirumular

of the 'Saiva School.' This author has a
number of references to the invasion of the
south by the Mauryas, who, according to him,
must have advanced, at least as far south as
Madura and Podiyil Hill. This author, accord-
ing to Nachchinarkkiniyar, the commentator,
was a Brahman belonging to the family of the
Sage Agastya, and belonged to the part

of the country hallowed by his presence,
that is the country round the Podiyil
Hill in the Western Ghats in the South-West
of Madura and the neighbouring parts of the
Tinnevelly District of the Madras Presidency.
The first reference ia this author to call
ôr notice is in Aham 15® where the author

refers to the entry of a warlike tribe called
Kosar into the Tulu Nadu of Nannan-

Aham 251 of the same author refers again
to these Kosar and states that these people
admihistered a crushing defeat upon their
enemies near Podiyil HUl.^ On this occa-
sion, says the poet, Mohur not having sub-

mitted, the newly-installed *
Mauryas came
up at the head of a great army,' the rolling
^ Vide note 3.
eSeareffffaaS' Qpaîasuû i3t^^^nsk}&^

Gîl^êsr S^GTi^^^ |5T^€V)n) GlDT Ak.il U
uesSiuneoLLoSp ueaia^'êoeutsfi
waQs(Lp^n'2QST etiUiU GuDdfPiuir
Gêoiii^ Q^&refrQêS luesitQeatTiLiihun
Aham 261. Mamijlanar.

(Mahamahopadbyaya Pandit Swaminatha Iyer's
text obligingly copied by him.)
oars of which had to come up cutting their

way along hill slopes. The same poem has a
refereace to the enormous wealth of the
Nandas, to which again there is another refe-
rence in poem 265 ^^ of the same collection.

In this passage is given the additional
information, which is reminiscent of the revo-
lution in Patalipura, that *
the wealth of the
Nandas, which having accumulated first in
Patali, hid itself in the floods of the Ganges-*
Hence the expression Vamba Moriyar the * '
Maurya novae hominae is justified in respect

of this author, and his contemporaries. Poem
10 LfeaaaSp Qua/siS eSiueoeSîhLjîB^
i^ga<Jiiu^ ^stDLOnj,? Q-9^Qj€U(SB)n innîEiQsrT&oQedn
Mamalanar Abara 264

(Madras Govt;. Msa. Library Copy.)
Compare wifcb fehia, fche same author's Aham. 126/127.
Qutreir Q^60uit6id&) euuSa QiDifL^rrihu
Q&JtTGsr^ Qjfr6\)iS(sapiud(^<RDQj ^(juafr/DQi

281^^ of our author, in the same work, contains
another reference to the same incidents with
one or two additional details. These last are
(1) that the Mauryas came south pushing the
Vadukar in front. (Northerners literally, but
in later times the Telugu and Kanarese peo-
ples) ; (2) that they cut their way across a
high hill which barred their way. The ex-
pression used actually in regard to the latter
detail even suggests a tunnel being cut
through.
Leaving aside the texts for the present the
points calling for consideration in these
references of Mamulanar to the Mauryas are
(1) The fact of the invasion of the South by
the Mauryas, the southernmost point reached
being Podiyil Hill in the S.W. corner of
11 s'2eifT(^ff eS£ios=S(^tr eSoDirQsêop «®c7«2fewr
Vide laafc two lines of note 9.
Abam, 281.
(Maham : Swaminathaiyar'g text.)

—
Madura. (2) The advance party of the inva-
sion was composed of a warlike people called

Kosar in one case and Vadukar in another. (3)
The point of time to which these invasions

are referrable.
In regard to point 1, the texts of this author
are quite clear and unmistakeable. He is
supported in regard to this statement by two

others. One of them is called Paranar accord-
ing to one manuscript, but the mauuscript in
the Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts
Library of Aham 69 ^^ shews the author's
name as Param Korranar. The language of the
reference is equally clear, and quite similar in
regard to the cutting of the way through a
hill for the car to pass. Poem 17'5^^ of Puram
su(SS)iruSp(h ^siarpsortrfTttit^ Qustecu J7a.
Aham 69. Paramkorranar*.

13 eS6aarQuiT0 Qis(Bfh(^<5SiU.aSujQp QniriBajw*-
Puram 175. Kallil A^-tirayanar

* Another reading : Gutt^ ujir.
by Kallil Attiraiyanar, celebrating the patrdn
Adan Ungan has an equally clear reference

to the army of the Maury as cutting their way
"through rock to let the road go through the
middle of the world. The commentator obvi-
ously was not able to understand the refer-
ence, and adopted in consequence a reading

Oriyar for Moriyar, making the passage seem
legendary. The far-fetched character of his
<3omment is unmistakeable evidence of mis-
reading. The manner of reference in all pass-
ages under consideration, makes it clear that

this *
cutting' (whether a tunnel or no) was
at a great distance from the Tamil country.
The reference in the majority of the passages
is to a lover who had gone away from his
sweetheart, and this cutting is brought in
much in the manner of Shakespeare's *
her
husband is to Aleppo gone.' All the references
are in the past tense and give evidence of
the event having been of recent historical
occurrence.
In respect of the Kosar and the Vadukar

we have other confirmatory evidence. One
MAUBYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA 9S
passage ^^ in Paranar, a contemporary poet

with Mamulanar, states that this warlike
tribe entered Nannan's territory after a battle
in which Nannan lost his state elephant.
This Nannan's territory is, according to
certain poems, the Tulu-country {Vide Aham

15) and according to others (Narriuai 391),
Konkaaam (Tamil for Konkanam, or Anglo-
Indian, Konkan). That this territory actually
took in parts of Konkan and Canara or

Tulu is borne out by the fact that one
of his famous hills Elilmalai^^ exists to-day as
Saptasaila or Elilmalai about 16 miles north of

Cannanore. The Kosar then entered Nannan's
territory through Konkan, and had a south-
east trend in their movement through Kongu,
(Aham 195 and Siliappadhikaram, Kongilan-
gosar) till they reached the Podiyii Hill much
farther south. These Tamil works refer to
these Kosar in association with the Mauryas,
almost as constituting the advanced guard of
1* Kurumbogai 73. See nofce 4.
15 Narrinai 391. See Note 3. Mont D'Ely of fche

medieval writers. Yule's Marco. PoIo» Bk. III. Cb. 24.
note 1.
—
94 BEOINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
their army of invasion. The Ramayana con-

tains a reference to a people, called Kosakara^
the equivalent of the Tamil Kosar, in the
following passage :
(IV. 40. 121 &o. Kumbakonam Edn.)
The city of the Kosakara finds mention

among the states towards the east to which
Sugriva directed one section of his great search
party. The commentary explains the centre
of reference to have been the 'Saravati/ a
river in Rajaputana which flows in a circle
and loses itself in the sands. If it is
permissible to locate this on the basis of the

data available to us in this, the habitat of
the Kosakara will correspond to Assam.
The term Kosakara is explained by the com-
mentary called Tilaka, as a people engaged in
the work of rearing silk- worms and manufac-
turing silk. If this interpretation is correct,
then there must have been in Bast Bengal a
warlike people whose usual peaceful avocation
was silk manufacture and who might have
formed part of theMauryan army. It seems
to be these people who had laid hold of the
hill fort Pali of Nannam from which these
were dislodged by the Ohola king, Neydalam-
kanal Ilaajetchenni, identical in all probabi-
lity with the father of Karikala, the great
Chola. In this connection these people are
referred Vada Vadakar (the Northern
to as
Northerners) in Puram 378,^^ and Vamba
Vadukar (the new Northerners) in Aham
375. ^^ It is again the same general move-
ment of the northerners that is reflected
16 0^sBrLJ/r;»a>/f iSi—eo s=tTiu
earppp a&raB^ Qs^fTLfisar QsnuSei,
Puram 378. Uupodi Payungudayar in honour of
IlaDJo&obenni destroyer of Pî or S^ruppali,
17 QjFiripiT QuîoaasT
QfmLfpip Ljffl<oB><S=U UFTlf S^fS
Aham 375/7i by Idayan Saadao Korranar.

in Narrinai 170, ^^ where the Malayaman

chief of Mullur is said to have sallied
'
out and defeated single-handed the *
Aryas
that had .laid seige to the fort. We have
already referred to Pulikat as the limit of
Aryan land in Kuruntogai 11,^^ and to the-
change of language when one passed either

this or the hill Venkata (Tirupati).20 These
taken together seem to warrant the inference
that there was a series of Aryan invasions
under the Mauryas and their successors the
Andhras, as distinct from Aryan settlements
previous to these, and that the Tamil kinga
and chiefs stemmed the tide of invasion suc-
cessfully so far as to rank among the allies of
the great Mauryan Emperor Asoka on terms
of equality, as in fact they are referred to have
been in the Asoka edicts. In this connection
it deserves to be noted that the same poet
18 ernpLSJQ&yrnpi^QesîEj QarrQpfBpatTss
ueO0Lêar Aifi^^ QeijirarQirrar Lofeoujear
Narririai 170, author Dot known..

19 See note (1)
20 Aham 16 & Narrinai 391. See note 3.

—
MAUEYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA
•
97
Mamulanar refers, in Aham 115, î to a chief-

tain Erumai of Kudanadu (parts of Mysore
and Coorg). The chief's name seems to have
stuck on to the country so far as to make it
referrable in Tamil literature as the territory
of Erumaiyuran. Hence Asoka's Mahisha-

mandala which is a good translation of Eru-
mainadu might still refer to this frontier
state, notwithstanding Dr. Fleet's satis-
factory indentification Mahishmati with

of
Mandhata on the Narmada. Mahishmati

was a city — the city of Kartavirya-Arjuna
but there is good authority for equating

the name with that of the people Mahisha-
kas and giving it the meaning that is usually
given. The connection with modern Mysore
town or state, is not quite proved though it
is possible to understand that the whole

country 'or any part thereof might have been
known Mahishamandala. This is only by the
way now.
What is relevant to the question is that
the references to the Vadukar and Aryar in
Aham 15/14 Mamulanar.

7
this latter batch are to either contemporaneous
or to almost contemporaneous events. The
defeat of the Aryar by the Malay aman on the
one side, and the destruction of Pali and the
crushing of the Vamba Vadukar (newly estab-
lished norDherners) there by Ilanjetchenni
cannot refer to the same early period as the
Maurya invasions of Mamalar. These have an

organic connection with the defeat of the Aryas
by Imayavaramban Perumseral Adan,^^ Pand-
yan Aryappadai Kadanda Nedum Seliyan ^^
22 îftojir âtmfSuj QuiBeiD^ oSloluld
Padirruppattu I (i) 23—25 & II. ^^^^
Ljsa/D^H' spL9p QpeSfiosr^L-

earasrSiLi^ eSpî^'ûu uTa^L^tu
CcariB^CffifujsSr
Silappadikaram XXIII. 11. 14-15.

and Karikala^* who all lay claim to

victory over the Aryas, and to having
erected their respective emblems the bow, the
fish and the tiger 'on the face of the Hima-
layas. '^^^
All these seem to refer to action taken
by the Tamils in concert, when the Central
power in the North began to weaken, to beat
back the Northerners from the South, there

being perhaps in it also the Hindu
Southern
hostility to the Northern Buddhism. Taken to-
gether the references seem to warrant the infe-
rences (1) chat the Mauryas carried their
invasions to the farthest south of India ; (2) that

they were in uostile occupation of forts in the
northern borders of the Tamil land extending
24 (§^65)ifiiiJ ajjemfDii-l^ <#^LDiuu iS'uif^^gsoa

G«^(BGijlPGujiijn5(S QsfT&freiDsuSp (c)uujiTQ&]tTjb(^
QaneuBesip QsnQ^^s Qsfrjhpu ui^(7^LD

lds^ [BeisT^LL(bi QjiT&rQjrruj Qojik^m
Ibid. V. L. 98 & Commentiary thereon.

35 siuQ<sO(LgSiu eBuiiu ^lEjbâS
Opue. cifc. XVII. 11. 1 & 2.
I
from Pulikat in the east to almost Goa in the
west ; and (3) that these Aryans were beaten
back when the Mauryas and their successors
at headquarters become too feeble or too much
occupied to be able to retain their hold on the
distant south.
Coming down to point 3 regarding the time
of these invasions our sources do not give us
any direct lead. The references to the Maurya^
invasions are all of them in the past and do
not warrant inferences of contemporaneity,,

though the character of these references is
unmistakeably historical. We are almost able

to see the line of advance through Tulu
into Kongu, Therefrom there is a double
line, one south-eastwards through Tirukkovi-
lur, to the Chola country perhaps as a further
objective, though we have no evidence of its
having gone so far ; and the other through the

famous historical route through the Palnis
(Tarn Podini) into the Pandya country up to
the Podiyil Hill. These invasions must have
taken place in the heyday of the Mauryan
power after Chandragupta had entered into
the definitive treaty with Seleucus I of Asia
MAUEYAN INVASION OF SOUTH INDIA 101
(Nicator). It may be that he himself eft'ected

the conquest, or his son^^ as his father's viceroy,
at The invasion must have come
Vidisa.
through the later BurhanpurEoad, the ancient

Dakshinapatha, leading from Avanti through
Vidarbha into the Dekhan, and must have gone
along the Western Ghats into the Tamil
country avoiding Dandaranyam as the Tamils
called it (Sans. Dandakaranyam .) The infer-
ence is supported by (1) the Tamils regarding
the country north of Pulikat-as having been
foreign in language, (2) their regarding the
locality as a border land in which cattle forays
could be committed with impunity, (3) their
regarding Dandaranyam as having been includ-
26 The surname Amifcrachafees (Gr. for Amitraghata)
for Bindusara indicafces fchafe he was a greafc conqueror,

as the Greeks knew him by this surname rather than by
his name. The point of Dr. Fleet's objection in regard to
the word Amitraghata not being a name is not clear. It
could not have been a name. In the Ramayaria Kum-

bhakarna is described as Amitraghatin (VI. 60. 97
Kumbh. Edition.) We have no precedents for Gangai-
konda, Akalavarsha, Ahavamalla &c.,nor for Ajataisatrn.
(J.R.A.S. 1909 p. 34 & p. 42f.)

ed in the Aryan land as in the Padirruppattu^'^
and in the Periplus of the Erythrân Sea^^.
The Maiirya invasion and the afctempt at

occupafcioa of the Tamil country should be
referred to the period intervening the treaty
between Saleucus and Ohaadragupba, and the
thirteenth year of Asoka. Their dislodgnrienb
from the south must be referred to the period
27 R:&srpLC)S<ssr
psmL^naofîu^^m QaiTLl.uLLL^Qi06S)u.6a)uu/i
Q^rroaofuîLiLiLî^ QaiT.<Siui3^û u(TiTLJuiT(Td(^.
Commentary.
Padirrupattu. VI. u^sth,
28 Bayoad Barygaza the adjoining coaBfc extends in

a straight line from north to south ; and so this region
is called Dachinabades, for dachanos in the language of
the natives means " south ". The inland country back
from the coawt toward the east comprises many desert
regions and great mountains ; and all kinds of wild
beasts — leopards, elephants, enormous serpents, hyenas,
and baboons of many sorts and many populous nations,

;
as far as the Ganges.
W. Schoff's Edn. p. 43.

of internal weakness and foreign invasions

between the fall of the Sungas and the rise of
the Andhrabhrtyas of the Puranas which period
various lines of evidence indicate as being
capable of inclusion in the period of Mamulanar
and others of the third Tamil Academy of
Madura.
I
:
CHAPTER III.
THE DAWN OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA

J. South Indian Commerce
India the wonderland of the east, as it is
even now called, was made known to the west,
as it never was before, when the world con-

queror, Alexander the Great, forced open her
gates on the norfch-west. Our knowledge of
India at all of a definite character may be

said to extend no farther than this period, as,
according to the most recent authority, his
connection with India was not much more
than a great raid. It is matter of common
knowledge that he had to give up his idea of
carrying his conquests right up to the eastern
limits of the land, (according to his own notion
of the configuration of the earth), owing to a
mutiny among his soldiers headed by his
cavalry commander Koinos. Before leaving
India, however, he divided his conquests on
this side of the Indian Caucasus into three
viceroyaUies as follows
101
THE DAWN OF THE CHEISTIAN EKA 105
I. Paropanisadae, the country west of the

Indus, with Oxyartes, the father of Eoxana,
for its viceroy.
II. The Punjab including in it the kingdom

of Taxila, and that of Porus ; that of the
Sophytes together with the territories of the
Oxydrachoi and the Malloi, under the Viceroy

Philip, son of Machetas ; leaving the civil
administration in the hands of the natfVe
princes.
III. Sindh including the kingdom of Mou-
sikanos, Oxykanos, Sambus and Maeris of
Patalene under Peithon, the son of Agenor,

for its viceroy.
Philip was murdered in a mutiny, before the

death of Alexander, and his place was taken
by Eudamos who remained in India till called
away in 317 B.C. to help Eumenes against
Antigonus of Asia, the most powerful among
the Diadochi. When the Macedonian Empire
was partitioned a second time in 321 B-C.
(consequent on the death of Perdiccas, the

regent of the first partition,) the Indian
province, east of the Indus, was left out of
account, as Peithon had to withdraw to the
western bauk of the great river. About 305
B. C. Seleucus Nikator made an attempt to
revive the empire of Alexander in this region,
but had to relinquish his hold-upon the whole
of Afghanistan, and enter into a humiliating
treaty with Cbandragupta, the Maurya emperor
of India. This personage is believed to have
been in the camp of Alexander in the Punjab^
arid, thrown upon his own resources as the
great Macedonian turned away from the banks
of the Eavi, he took advantage of the confusion
resulting from the departure of Alexander to
overthrow the Greek provinces in India, and
the ruling Nanda in Magadha, before he set
himself up as the first Emperor of India, hither-

to known to history. In the course of fifteen
years he was able to make himself so strong
as to fight Seleucus, not only on equal terms

but also to extort from him such a valuable
cession of territory as Afghanistan up to the
Hindu-Kush. For three generations this
dynasty held its power undiminished.
His grandson Asoka, the great Buddhist
Emperor of India, was able to hold his
own with the successors of Seleucus, and
THE DAWN OF THE CHKISTIAN ERA 107
maintained with them the diplomatic relations

thus begun by his grandfather. It seems to
be well attested that both Seleucus Nikator
and Ptolemy Philadelphus had sent ambassa-
dors to the courts of Chandragupta and Bindu-
sara, although scholars are not wanting yet
who consider the particular edict of Asoka a
mere boast. With the death of Asoka about
230 B. G. the Mauryan empire loses its hold
upon the more powerful and distant of its
vassals, and the days of the dynasty are

numbered.
From this event to the year A.D. 319 the

date of the rise to power of the Imperial
Guptas, the history of India is yet quite
uncertain, although we are able to gain a few
glimpses as to the general features of the
history of that period. The Asiatic empire
of the Seleucidae was attacked simultaneously
by the Eomans and the Gauls from the west
and north-west, and the Parthians from the
east. About the beginning of the second
century B. C, Parthia made good her
independence under Arsakes Mithridates I,.
i
and Baktria under Eukratides.^ This was but
the reflex action of the movements of the
nomad tribes in the far-off plains of Mongolia.
The great tribe of the Hiung-nu fell with all
the hostility of immediate neighbours upon the
Yueh-chi, and dislodged them from their then
habitat in the plains of Zungaria. These
in their turn fell upon the Wu-sung, killed the
Wu-sung chieftain in battle, and marched

further upon the region then in the occupation
of the Se, Sok or Sakas. These last had to make

room for.them along the right bank of the Oxus
and occupy the country protected by the Indian
Caucasus. The Yueh-chi were themselves
defeated by the son of the late Wu-sung
chieftain. When his father fell in battle
he found a secure asylum with the Hiung-

nu, who now helped him to regain his lost
patrimony. It was in the course of these

movements that the Sakas and possibly
some of the Hiung-nu moved down the
Kabul valley into India, and occupied the
country on the right bank of the Indus, another
1 V. A. Smith, Early History of India, p. 210 ff.

—
THE DAWN OF THE CHEISTIAN EEA 109
body probably from fehe region of Seistan

occupying right down even to Gujarat. It is
one of their out-settlements on the Jumna that

the coins and other antiquities of Muttra
would seem to warrant.
While all this Was taking place across the
borders of India, in India itself there was going
forward a revolution of no less consequence.
The Mauryan empire was overthrown by
Pushyamitra Sunga, the Maurya general, in
spite of the loyalist minister, a brother-in-law
of Yegnasena Satakarni of the Dekhan. The
usurper's strength was tried by a triple war :
(1) against Menander, ruler of Kabul ; (2) against

Kharavela, the Kalinga ruler of Orissa; (3)
against the loyalist Yegnasena and in behalf

of a counter-claimant to the throne of the
kingdom of Vidharba. Though for the time
successful against all these, the empire had
suffered vital injuries. The Dekhan kingdom
or viceroyalty becomes so powerful that the
Andhras establish an imperial position them-
selves, and render their quota of service by
holding out against the Saka invaders from
the north-west and west. It must have been
no BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOKY
in the course of these wars that the occasion
should have arisen for the founding of the era
which now goes by the name of Vikramaditya
and that under the name of Saka. As to both
these eras and the circumstances of their origin,
there is very considerable diflEerence of opinion
among scholars. In the course of the political
shiftings described above, a clan of the Yueh-
chi, by name Kushana, was able to push its
way into India, and establish a kingdom

in the Punjab including Kashmir. The
greatest ruler among them, whose empire
came into touch with the Chinese Empire on
the one side and the Parthian on the other, is
Kanishka, the Constantine of the Buddhism

of the greater vehicle (Mahayana Buddhism).
Learned scholars associate him with both the
eras above referred to, while there are yet
others, who would dissociate him from either
and refer him to a period later than both.
None of them, however, take him beyond the
period I have marked at the beginning. At
the very beginning of the Christian era then
the Punjab and the frontier province, including
Kashmir, were under the Eushanas or their
THE D^VWN OF THE CHKISTIAN EEA 1}1
immediate predecessors or their successors.

Gujarat and Malva> including northern Kon-
kan, were under the Sakas.
During the period marked out above, we

have been passing from the supremacy of
Buddhism (if such an expression can be re-
garded as appropriate at all), through areasser-

tion of the Brahman ascendancy, on to a final
compromise, ending on the one side in Maha-

yanist Buddhism, and on the other, in the
Hinduism of the Gita. For as Professor Kern
maintains, on the authority of the Tibetan
historian Taranatha and the Baddharma-pun-
darika, the founder of the Madhyamika school
of Buddhism, Nagarjuna, was a disciple of the
Brahman Rahulabhadra who was much indebt-
ed to Sage Krishna. Paraphrased, this means
no less than that these teachers drew a part
of their inspiration from the Gita.^ This is
borne out by the importance that attaches to

Bhakti (devotion) in Mahayanist Buddhism
and later Hinduism.
During all this period of active mutations
^ Manual of ladian Baddbismi p. 122.

1J2 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOEY
both in religion and politics, South India would

appear to have been out of this great vortex.
This is a delusion due more to lack of infor-

mation than to a lack of history. The edicts of
Asoka, as was stated already, mention the Cholav
Pandya, Kerala, Satiyaputra and Ceylon
among those with whom he entered into
diplomatic relations. He thought it worth
his while to send his son and daughter ta
Ceylon as missionaries. These facts put it
beyond a doubt that there was some communi-

cation between Magadha and Ceylon, generally
by way of the sea. It is now clear from
Chapter II that -the neighbouring coast was>
also brought into touch with the north, by
way of The Ceylonese tradition, as
land.
embodied in the Mahavamsa, is quite
in support of this conclusion. Between the
Maharashtra and Malva there was a great
trunk road notwithstanding the great forest
region between them. This road it is that
has given us the name Dekhan (Dakshina-
patha). Most likely this road wound its way
over the hills by way of Burhanpur into
western Malva, The^middle region was the
forest, which it continued to be even up to the

days of Harsha.
During this period, and for a long time after,
Hindustan (the country, north of the Viudhyas)

kept touch with the outer world by way of
land mainly ; the south kept itself in contact

with the rest of the world chiefly by way of
the sea. That the Hindus did not always

wait for others to come to them for goods is in
evidence in a variety of ways. There is iirst
the statement of Cornelius Nepos, who says

that Q.Metellus Celer received from the king of
the Suevi some Indians, who had been driven
by storm into Germany in the course of a
voyage of commerce. ^ This is quite a precise
fact, and is borne out by a number of tales of
voyages with the horrors attending navigation
depicted in the liveliest colours in certain
classes of writings both in Sanskrit and Tamil.
Among the places mentioned in the latter
classes of sources are those in the East Indian
Sambhava
Archipelago, suchas Java(Savham),
(Karpurasambhavam), Kataha (Sumatra), and
3 1 Maori ndle, AncieDt India, p. 110.

8
—
Kalahm (Burma) not to mention China.
It may now be taken for certain that in the
sixth and fifth centuries B.C. there was consi-

derable intercourse with '
Babylonia ^ and
through her with Assyria and the further West.
The Baveru Jataka is certain proof of this
intercourse by way of the sea. It would thus
appear that there was some very consider-
able activity in maritime commerce. They
used to have lighthouses to warn ships
and one such is described at the great port at
the mouth of the Kavery, a brick tower or a
big palmyra trunk carrying on the top of it a
huge oil lamp.
The classical geographers, the author of
the Periplus and Ptolemy the geographer,

that date respectively about A. D. 80 and
A.D. 150, exhibit knowledge of a division
of the country almost the same as the three
divisions indicated in chapter I. The author
of The Periplus ^ begins his account of the
The Early Oommerce of Babylon wifeh India 700

4 :
300 B.C. by J. Kennedy J.R.A.S. 1B98. pp. 241—288.

5 The Periplus of the Erythraean Saa translated and
edited by W. H. Schoff. Sees. 42 to 66.
THE DAWN OP THE CHRISTIAN ERA 115
west of India with the Indus (Sinthus). He

says that the river had seven mouths, shallow
and marshy, and therefore not navigable. On
the shore of the ceatral channel was the seaport
Barbaricum with a capital in the interior of
the Scythians called Minnagara. (The city of
the Min, Scythians) ; the port Barbaricum

has not generally been identified. It seems to
be the Sanskrit Barbaraka (belonging to the
country of the Barbara, and therefore the port
of the people, Barbara, perhaps the same as the
Gk. barbarian). Passing down from there, the
Periplus comes down the Surashstra coast
(Syrashtrene) and the Rann of Couch (Eirinon)
sailing across what is the Gulf of Kambay, he
takes us to Barygaza (Sans. Barukacha, Mod.
Broach), With this is supposed to begin Ariaca
'^
which is the beginning of the kingdom of
Nambanus and 0/ aZZ India.'' This division
of that part of the country into Ariaca is also
made by Ptolemy, and in the ports given along
this portion of Ariaca both Ptolemy and the
Periplus agree except for t-he omission of some
in the latter. The southern limit of this coast
is Tindis according to both. The corresponding
portion of the country inland is described in

the Periplus as Abhira, the coast portion being
Surashtra, as was already stated. This part of
the country is described as a fertile country
producing wheat, rice, sesame oil and clarified
butter ; cotton and coarser sorts of cloth made

therefrom ;
pasturing of cattle seems an import-
ant occupation and the people are described as
of great stature and dark in colour. The chief
point to note here in connection with this
statement of the Periplus is that the coast

under reference is described as the beginning
of the kingdom of Nambanus and of all India.
The latter expression indicates clearly that
whoever Nambanus was, he was at the time

that the Periplus was written known to the
outside world as the king of India. In other-
words, it seems to have been the days of the
Andhra empire of Magadha. The name Nam-
banus itself is a correction of the text which
has Mambarus, and Mambarus might well be
the Lambodara of the pauranic list of the
Satavahanas or the Andhras of the Dekhan.
The chronology of the early rulers of these
-Satavahanas cannot yet be regarded as being
definitely settled and at any rate the expression

in the text seems of very doubtful application
to identify Nambanus with Nahapana, the
Kshaharatta ruler. After describing the diffi-
culties of navigating up to the port of Broach

and the arrangement made by the ruler for
piloting the vessels safely into the port, the

Periplus proceeds to give the countries inland
set over against that coast between Barbari-
cum at the mouth of the Indus obviously and
Broach. He gives among them Arattas of
the Punjab, the Arachosii of Southern Afghan-

istan, the Gandaraei (Sanskrit, Gandhara)
and the people of Poclais (Sans. Push-
kalavati) both in the region between the
Kabul and the Indus in Northern Afghanis-
tan including also the Northern portions of
the Punjab, where was also • the city of
Alexandria. Bucephalus located very near the

Jhelum. Beyond these he says were the war-
like Bactrians. He gives an interesting fact
that in his day coins bearing Greek inscrip-

tions or Greek legends were prevalent in the
country round Broach, and they contained,
according to the Periplus, the devices of the
Greek Bulers succeeding Alexander, among

them Apollodotus and Menander. Coming
further East from these countries he speaks
of Ozene (Ujjain), and refers to it as the for-
mer royal capital. Passing over all that he
says about the trade of Broach which is not to
our present purpose, we come in Sec. 50 to
another statement which is of interest to us
He says " beyond Barigasa the adjoining coast

extends in a straight line from north to south
and so this region is called Dachinabades, for
Dachan in the language of the natives means
*' south." The inland country back from the
coast towards the east comprises many desert
regions and great mountains ; and all kinds
of wild beasts, leopards, tigers, elephants,,
enormous serpents, hyenas, and baboons of
many sorts, and many populous nations as far
as the Ganges." This clearly indicates that

he describes the whole of the region known a&
the Dakshinapatha or the Deccan, and the
Dandakaranyam of the Sanskrit writers ; the-
central region of India corresponding to our

modern division of the Dekhan. He thert
describes the interior marts of Paitan and

;
THE DAWN OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA 119
Tagara, and of the sea-ports along the

coast till he reached Naura and Tindis,
the first marts of Damirica as he calls
them (Sanskrit Dramidaca^ the correct equi-

valent of the Greek). Damirica, some-
times written by error Lymirica, is the Sans-
krit Dramidaca which the author must have
heard in contradistinction to Ariaca. It is
perhaps a little far-fetched to see in it Tami-

lakam. With Tindis began according to both
Ptolemy and the Periplus, the kingdom of
Cherabothra (Cheraputra or Keralaputra). The
next port of importance we come to, is 50
miles from Tindis again at the mouth of a river
the port called Muziris (Muyiri or Musiri of
the Tamils, the modern Cranganore). Fifty
miles further south was the sea-port of
Nelcynda which the late Mr. Kanakasabhai

Pillai correctly identified with Nirkunram in
the country of the Pandyas. This place was
situated about ten or twelve miles in the inte-
rior with an out-port at the mouth of the river,
the village Bacara-Vaikkarai, as we know it
now. The kings of both these market towns,

the Periplus says " live in the interior.** The
—
*'
imports into Muziris are given as a great
quantity of coin ; topaz, thin clothing, not
much ; figured linens, antimony, coral, crude

glass, copper, tin, lead ; wine not much but as
much as at Barigaza ; realgar and orpiment ;
and wheat only for the sailors, for this is not

dealt in by the merchants there." The
exports from this place are the " pepper coming
from *
Kottanora (Kuttu Nadu in the interior)
" great quantities of fine pearls" ivory, silk
cloth, spikenard from the Ganges, Mala-

bathrum from the interior, transparent stones
of all kinds, diamonds and saphires and

tortoise-shell. " That from the Chryse island
(golden) and that taken from among the is-
lands along the coast of Damirica." One may
so far compare this statement with the follow-
ing two extracts from Tamil Literature :
sifi^Q/SfTessfûjiTiTS setoff Qfnsîk^
LîSBreoikisefteiB^ Quir&d!Bfiniis(^LL®Qjsar
uaeami, Puram 343.

THE DAWN OF THE CHBISTIAN ERA 121
Beyond Vaikkarai, the Periplus refers to
the dark-red mountains and of the district
(stretching along the coast towards the south

^Taralia" generally taken as equivalent to
Pural, coast) ; the first port in this coast
region is what he calls Balita, identified with
Varkkali or Janardhanam, which in those
days had a fine harbour and a village by the
sea-shore. Then comes Kumari with a cape
and a harbour. It is also referred to as a
holy bathing place, and the coast region is
then described as extending eastwards till it
reaches Korkai " where the pearl fisheries are,"

and the Periplus offers the interesting piece
of information, " that they are worked by con-
demned criminals." Then follows another
coast region with a region inland called accord-
ing to the Periplus Argaru, taken to be the
equivalent of Uraiyur. These two regions of
the coast country are somewhat differently
named in Ptolemy. He called the region
uueueisriT ;SiB êStesarLDrreaaiear s&>ld
&i&r(ki(olsQ£Qp <9rffiiijffiTLjQuear^
6snLLîT^;lfrijjfEiS6sar6safsa7 . Ah am 148.
122 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HI8T0KY
between Nirkunrum and Camorin as in the
country of Aioi. (Tamil Aay). Then follows
the region which he calls Kareoi (Tamil
Karai or Karaiyar, a class of fisherfolk) ;
and the coast country extending from

Korkai upwards is spoken of by Ptolemy
in two divisions. The country of the
Batoi (Tamil Vettuvar) and Poralia in the
country of the Toringoi (error for Soringoi,
Cholas). The exports from this region according
to the Periplus are : the pearls '^
gathered from
part of what is brought at any time from
7 Pliny says : (Chap. IX 54—58.)

**
Our ladies glory in having pearls suspended from
their fingers, or two or three of them dangling from their
ears, delighted even wif.h the rattling of the pearls as
they knock against each other; and now, at the present
day, the poorer classes are even affecting them, as people-
are in the habit of saying, that '
a pearl worn by a
woman in public is as good as a lictor walking before
ber.' Nay, even more than this, they put them on their
feet, and that, not only on the laces of their sandals but
all over the shoes ; it is not enough to wear pearls, but
they must tread upon them, and walk with them under
foot as well,
*'
once saw Lollia Paulina, the wife of the Emperor
I
Caius —
it was not at any public festival, or any solemQ<
oeremonial, bub only at an ordinary betrothal entertain-

there and a kind of fine muslin called Argaratic.

The most important ports mentioned in this
region by the Periplus are three : Caniara

(identified with Kaveripatnam), Poduca (may
be a Puduvai) and it is doubtful whether it
stands for Pondicherry or a place in the

vicinity. Then Sopatma (Tamil Sopattanam
or fortified port). There come ships from
what he calls Damirica and from the
north for the exchange of commodities. Here
the Periplus has an important statement to
meDb — covered with emeralds and pearls, which shone
in alfcernafce layers upon her head, in her hair, in
her wreaths, in her ears, upon her neck, in her
hracelets, and on her fingers, and the value of which
amounted in all to 40,000(000 sesterces ; indeed she was
prepared at once to prove showing the
the fact, by
receipts and acquittances. Nor were
any presentsthese
made hy a prodigal potentate, hut treasures which bad
descended to her from ,her grandfather, and obtained by
the spoliation of the provinces. Such are the fruits of
plunder and extortion ! It was for this reason that
M. Lollius was held so infamous all over the East for
the presents which he extorted from the kings the ;
result ofwhich was, that he was denied the friendship

of Caius Caesar, and took poison and all this was done,
;
I say, that his granddaughter might be seen, by the

glare of lamps, covered all over with jewels to the amount
"
of forty millions of sesterces !
make in respect of the capacity for navigation

of the Tamils. In these ports that he men-
tions, he says were ships of two kinds, those
intended for coasting voyages as far as Dami-
rica, as he calls it; these were small and
large and are called by him Sangara- Those
intended however, for the voyages to Chryse
and to the Ganges were called, according to
him, Colandia, and are described as very large.
The term Chryse which in Greek is the equiva-
lent of gold, seems to refer to Suvarnnabhiimi
in Sanskrits and has been identified with the
Malaya Peninsula, spoken of by the Periplus
in another place as an island. That it indi-
cates the region about the Malaya Peninsula
is clear from what he says in regard to the
direction of the land ; "just opposite this river
(Ganges) there is an island in the ocean the
last port of the inhabited world to the east
under the rising sun itself ; it is called
Chryse and it has the best tortoise-shell
of all the places on the Erythraean Sea.
There are said to be imported into these
ports everything that is made in Damirica
" the greatest part of what is got from
:
THE DAWN OF THE CHRISTIAN EEA 125
Egypt.'' Then he proceeds to mention

Palaesimundu, "called by the ancients Tapro-
bane." Further north from this, according to
him, was the region Masalia and further north
of this Dosarene (Sans. Dasarna). Ptolemy
however interpolates between the Chola coast
and Maisalia (Masalia of the Periplus) the
country of the Arouvarnoi or Arvarnoi (the
Aruvalar of the Tamils) whose country was
known to the Tamils in two divisions Aru-
vanadu and Aruva Vada Talai (northern
Aruva) which would take us more or less
close to the mouth of the Krishna river, the

Maisalos of Ptolemy,
Of the trade of this coast, the most import-
ant ports are the three referred to already,
and the imports of trade are set down
"Everything made in Damirica and the great-
est part of what is brought at any time from
Egypt comes here together with most kinds
of all the things that are brought from Dami-
rica and of those that are. carried through
Paralia."
We have similar reference to the imports
at Kaveripatam in the Tamil work Pattinap-
*'
'pali horses were brought from distant lands
beyond the seas, pepper was brought in ships,
gold and precious stones came from, the
northern mountains, sandal and akhir came
from the mountains towards the west, pearls
from the southern seas and coral from the
eastern seas. The produce of the regions
watered by the Ganges ; all that is grown on
the banks of the Kavery ; articles of food from
llam or Ceylon and the manufactures of Kala-
kam in Burma."^ This looks like a re-state-
ment in a somewhat expanded form of what is
found briefly stated in the Periplus. Such was

the condition of industry and commerce of this
land as far as it is possible for us to picture
this condition from the evidence available to

us.
II. Internal condition : political, industrial dc.
To take up the political geography of south

India as a whole then, the country south of
the Krishna was divided among '
the three
crowned kings '
and seven chieftains, with an
eighth coming somewhat later. There were
8 Pattinappalai II. 127 ff. and Mr. Kanakasabhai's

^Tamils 1,800 years ago, p. 27.
THE DAWN OF THE CHEISTIAN EKA 127
a host of minor chieftains of lesser repute.

It is the coast region aad the more open
country that belonged to the kings, while the
middle regions of hills and forests belonged to
the chieftains, and perhaps even a few tribes
(Nagas and others). The east coast from
near the mouth of the Krishna to the south
of Tondi in Kamnad, be-
the Zamindari of
longed to the Chola, although midway between
the kingdom proper and its northern viceroy-
alty of Kanchi lay the hill-country round
Tirukoilur, in the possession of a class of
chieftains named Malayaman, very often loyal
supporters of their suzerain, occasionally
truculent and rebellious. Chola South of the
kingdom lay that of the Pandya, which ex-

tended from coast to coast, and embraced
within its borders modern districts
the of
Madura and Tinnevelli, and the State of
Travancore, taking in also a part of Coim-
batore and Cochin. This incllided in it the
chieftaincies of Aay (the Aioi of Ptolemy)
round the Podyil hill in the western ghats,
and of Evvi round about the port of Korkai

in Tinnevelli, There were besides the do-
mains of Pehan round fche Palnis which,
comes under their sphere of influence as
well. North of this and along the western

ghats on the sea-side lay the territory of the
Chera a : territory stretching right across the
Palghat gap through Salem and Coimbatore.
South Mysore was parcelled out among a
number of chieftains corresponding to the
modern Palayagars, whose allegiance was at
the disposal of either, but the more powerful, of

their neighbour kings. Such were the Irunga
of Arayam, Pari of Parambunad, Adiyaman
of Tagadur (Dharmapuri) and Ori of the Kolli-
malais. The first of these was within the

Mysore territory proper, and to the east of
his domain lay the Gangas, and Kongu to the

south. The northern frontier of the Tamil
land was held by Nannan of the Tulu country
in the West, and Pulli of Vengadam (Tirupati)
in the east, the further north having been
the land of the Aryas (Vadukar) and Danda-
ranyam (Sans. Dandakaranyam).
These chieftaincies were the bone of conten-
tion between the Cholas and the Cheras.
When the period under treatment begins, the
Cholas are supreme under Karikala, who

ascended fche throne, probably affcer defeating
the Chera and Pandya in a battle at Vennil
(Koilvenni as it is now called) in the Tanjore
district. He was a remarkable sovereign who,
in many ways, contributed to the permanent
welfare of his subjects, and has consequently
been handed down to posterity as a beneficent
and wise monarch. He constructed the

embankments for the Kavery, and his chief
port Puhar was the great emporium of the east
coast. His reign was long and, taken along

with those of his two predecessors and the
successor next following him, constitutes the
period of the fiirst Choi a ascendancy in the
south. In the reign of his successor a great
catastrophe befell Puhar, and the city and
port were both destroyed. This was a hard
blow to the ascendancy of the Cholas. But
Karikala had, after defeating his contemporary
Chera, given one of his daughters in marriage
to the son of his vanquished rival. This
alliance stood the Cholas in good stead-
Karikala's successor began his reign with a

victory, which his heir-apparent won for him,
against the Chera and Pandya combined, at
Kariyar, probably in the Salem district. When

Puhar was destroyed there was a civil war,
owing perhaps to liUe uatimely death of the
young Ghola prince ; and the Chera ruler for
the time being, advanced through the central

region. He intervened in favour of his cou-
sins with effect, as against the rival claimants
of royal blood, and restored the Ghola dynasty
to some power ; but the ascendancy surely
enough passed from them to the Chera. The

Chera ascendancy under the Eed-Chera
(Senguttuvan) lasted only one generation ;
in the reign of his successor the Pandyas

rose to greater importance and the Chera
suffered defeat and imprisonment at his
hands. This Pandya ascendancy probably

lasted on somewhat longer till about the rise of
the Pallavas in Kanchi. This course of
the political centre of gravity in south-

ern India is borne out in very important
particulars by the Ceylon Chronicle, called the
Mahavamsa, According to this work, the
Choi as were naturally the greatest enemies of
the Singalese rulers. There were usurpers from

the Chola country in Ceylon in the first century

B.C.; and there were invasions and counter-
invasions as well. On one occasion the Chola
invaders carried away 12,000 inhabitants of
'
Ceylon and set them to work at '
the Kavery
as the Chronicle has it. ^ This looks very
much like an exploit of Karikala seeing that it
was he who built the city of Puhar. King

Gajabahu of Ceylon was present at the invita-
tion of the Eed-Chera, to witness the celebra-
tion of a sacrifice and the consecration of the
temple to the '
Chaste Lady '
(Pattini Devi) at
Vanji, on the west coast.

The ascendancy of the Chera, however,
passed away, as already mentioned, to the
Pandyas in the course of one single generation.
The Eed-Chera was succeeded by his son,
^ the Chera of the elephant look, '
who was
his father's viceroy at Tondi, and figured
prominently in the wars of his predecessor in
the middle region. He was defeated and taken
prisoner in a battle, which he had to fight
with the contemporary Pandyan, designated
the victor, at Talayalanganam. With this
9 Upham'8 Mahavamsa, Vol. i, p. 228.

mishap to the ruler the Chera ascendancy
passes away. The Pandyans of Madura bake
their turn now, aad coatiaued to hold the
position of hegemony up to the time that the
Pallavas rise into importauce. This, in brief
and iu very general terms, was the political
history of South India at the beginning
and during the early centuries of the Christian
Era.
Passing on from the political to th^ indus-

trial condition of India, we have already des-
cribed the principal sea-ports, both on the
western and eastern seaboard. If, as has been
pointed out, there were so many thriving ports

and, if foreign merchants sought these for
trade at considerable risk of pirates and, if
there was so much enterprise in sea-going
among the inhabitants of the country itself,
the conclusion is irresistible that the country

had a prosperous industry, and so, on exami-
nation, it appears certainly, to have been.
Apart from the complaints of Petronius that
fashionable Roman ladies exposed their
charms much too immodestly by clothing

themselves in the '
webs of woven wind', as he
THE DAWN OF THE CHKISTIAN EEA 133
called the muslins imported from India, Pliny-

says that India drained the Eoman empire
annually to the extent of 55,000,000 sesterces,
equal to ^486, 979^0 sending in return goods
which sold at a hundred times their value in
India.î He also remarks in another place,
^
this is the price we pay for our luxuries and
our women.'
That the industrial arts had received atten-

tion and cultivation in early times in India is
in evidence to the satisfaction of the most scep-

tical mind. The early Tamils divided arts into
six groups : ploughing (meaning thereby agri-
culture), handicrafts, painting, commerce and
trade, the learned arts, and lastly the fine arts.
Of these, agriculture and commerce were re-
garded as of the first importance. Flourishing

trade pre-supposes a volume of industry, the
principal of which was weaving then, as iti
also has been until recently. Cotton, silk and

wool seem to have been the materials that
10 Mommben gives tha fcofcal £ 11.000,000, £6,000.000

lor Arabia, £ 5,000,000 for India.
11 Malabar Manual. Vol. 1. pp. 150-1.

;

were wrought into cloths. Araong the woollens
we find mention of manufactures from the
wool of rats, which was regarded as parti-
cularly warm. There are thirty varieties
of silks mentioned, each with a distinctive
appellation of its own, as distinguished from
the imported silks of China which had a separ-
ate name. The character of the cotton stuffs
that were manufactured is indicated by the

comparisons instituted between them and,
*
sloughs of serpents' or *
vapour from milk'
and the general description of these as ' those
fine textures the thread of which could not be
followed even by the eye.'
The chief exports from the country, as the
author of the Periplus says, were these :
*
The
produce of the soil like pepper, great quantities
of the best pearl are likewise purchased

here, ivory, silk in the web, spikenard from
the Ganges, Malabathrum from the countries
further to the east, transparent stones of
all sorts, diamonds, rubies and tortoise-shell

from the golden Chersonese or from the
islands off the coast of Damirike. This is
all from the port of Muziris on the west coast.

He goes on to say :
*
There is a great resort
of shipping to this port for pepper and mala-

bathrum ; the merchants bring out a large
quantity of spice, and their other imports are
topazes, stibium, coral, flint, glass, brass, and
lead, a small quantity of wine as profitable as
at Barugaza, cinnabar, fine cloth, arsenic and
wheat, not for sale but for the use of the crew.
That Pliny's complaint about the drain was
neither imaginary nor hypersensitive is in
evidence in a passage descriptive of Muziris

in one of the ancient classics of Tamil litera-
ture.^2 ^Musiri to which come the well-rigged

ships of the Yavanas, bringing gold and
taking away spices in exchange/
Regarding the trade of the east coast, here

follows to imports into of Puhar :
'
Horses
were brought from distant lands beyond the
seas, pepper was brought in ships : gold and
precious stones came from the northern moun-
tains towards the west ;
pearl from the southern
seas and coral from the eastern seas. The
produce of the region watered by the Ganges ;
12 See note 6 p. 120 above.

;;

all that is grown on the banks of the Kavery
articles of food from Ilam (Ceylon) and the
manufactures of Kalaham (Burma), i^
êre
brought there for sale as was stated already.
The products of particular importance recei-
ved in the port of Tondi (East or Chola
Tondi in the Eamnad Dt.) are aghir (a kind
of black aromatic wood), fine silk, camphor,
silk stuff (from China), candy, sandal, scents
and these articles and salt were carried

into the interior by means of wagons drsiwn by
teams of oxen, slowly trudging along through
town and village, effecting exchanges with com-
modities for export. Tolls were paid on the
way, and the journey from the coast up the
plateau and back again occupied many months.
A brisk and thriving commerce with the cor-
responding volume of internal trade argues
peace, and the period to which the above
description will apply must have been a period
of general peace in the Peninsula. They did
not forget in those days to maintain a regular
customs establishment, the officials of which
13 PaUiaapalai, 127 ff, aad The Tamils 1800 years

«go p. 27.
THE DAWN OF THE CHEISTIAN EBA 137
piled up the grain and stored up the things

that could not immediately be measured and
appraised, leaving them in the dockyards care-
fully sealed with the tiger signet of the king.^^
The Tamils buih their own ships; and

in the other crahs of the skilled artisan they
seem to have attained some proficiency,

though they availed themselves of experts
from distant places. In the building of the
royal palace at Puhar, skilled artisans from
Magadha, mechanics from Maradam (Mah-
racta), smiths fiom Avanti (Malva), carpen-
ters f lom Yavana, worked ^^ together with the
artisans of the Tamil land. There is mention
of a temple of the most beautiful workmanship
in the same city, built by the Gurjjaras.^^ In
the building of forts and in the providing
of them with weapons and missiles, both for
offence and defence, the Tamils had attained
to something like perfection. Twenty-four
such weapons are mentioned among the de-
fences of Madura.
14 Pattioappalai, 134-6.
15 Manimokhalai, Canto xix, 11*107 and ff.
16 Ibid xviii. I, 145.

;

Passing from the industrial to the literary^
social and religious condition of the south,
which we have so far been considering, we
have again to do with the three kingdoms,
each with a capital city and a premier port.
The Cholas had their capital at Uraiyur, with
Puhar for an alternative capital and chief
port ; the Pandyas had their capital at
Madura, with the port and premier viceroyalty

at Korkai; the Cheras had their capital at
Vanji, with the principal port and viceroyalty
at Tondi. The Cholas had their premier
viceroy, who was generally the heir apparent,
or at least a prince of the blood, at Kanchi.
These towns and ports, therefore, bulk very
largely in the literature and literary traditions
of the period. The road from Kanchi to

Trichinopoly appears to have passed through
Tirukkoilur. From Trichinopoly (i.e. UraiyQr)
to Madura it lay along the more arid parts of
the Tanjore district to Kodumbai in the state
of Pudukotta, and thence to Nedumgulam

from which place the road broke into three,
and led up to Madura in three branches.
Prom this last town a road kept close to the
;
banks of the river Vaigai up to the Palnis

and from there it went up the hills and down
again along the banks of the Periyar to the
town of Vanji, situated near its mouth.
There were also other roads besides ; one at
least, from Vanji to the modern Karoor and
thence on to Tirukkoiliir.
These roads were not safe in all parts alike,
there being certain portions of them that
passed through desert regions, inhabited by
wild tribes, who were a cause of terror to the
wayfarers, particularly those who had some-
thing to lose, notwithstanding the fact that
robbery was punished with nothing short of
impalement. Journeys were none the less
frequent for purposes of pilgrimage, or in

search of patronage for learning, or for the
profits of commerce.
The rulers in those days held before them
high ideals of government. Their absolute
authority was limited by the *five great assem-
blies,' as they were called, of ministers, priests
generals, heralds, (spies), and ambassadors.
These may be the same as the Pancha-maha-
pradhanas of Sanskrit, and may be the same
as the Mahamatras associated with the prince-
ly viceroys of the Asoka Inscriptions. There
appear to have been a general perroit for a
learned Brahman to speak his mind in any
durbar ; and these Brahmans often gave out
their opinions most fearlessly. This privilege
was similarly accorded also to men of learning.
I give a few instances in illustration. A Brah-

man pilgrim from the Chola country happened
to be present at the Chera court, when the
Chera King gave orders to his ministers to set
his army in motion to avenge an insult that
some northern princes, he was told, had given
him. The minister's remonstrance and the
reluctance of the general were overruled. This
Brahman got up and pointed out, in a speech,
that he had warred for the fifty years of his
reign in order to safeguard his earthly interests
but had done very little to provide for himself
in the life to come. Of course the expedition
was countermanded, and the king began to
make provision for the future. A young Pandya
king of the next generation showed himself
too enthusiastic for war, and it fell to the lot
of one of the poets at court to wean him of
this war craze. In a poem of 850 lines he

conveyed the hint to the king. ^"^
If language
can be conceived as the art of concealing
thought, here is an instance par excellence.
The next instance takes us to the court of
Vaiyyavikkonperum-Pehan who neglected his

wife Kannaki. A number of poets of the first
rank interceded and restored him to her. The
next case that I will mention here is that of a
poet, who enjoyed the patronage of successive
Chola rulers. He found that aCt the end of
a civil war the victorious Chola was about to
put to death his vanquished cousin. The poet

pointed out that the victory tarnished the good
name of the Cholas, quite as much as the
defeat, and that he did not know whether to
rejoice for the victorious Chola or weep for the
vanquished one. The intercession was cei'-
tainly effective. These illustrations show in
addition the respect that learning commanded.

f I shall permit myself one more illustration to
show this respect. The warlike Pandya refer-
red to already, came to the throne young. He

17 This is the famous piece known as Maduraikkaoji,,
one of the Pattuppafetu collection.
had immediately to go to war against a combi-

nation of his two neighbours and his court was
naturally anxious as to the result. The young
prince in a poem, full of poetic grace assured
them that he would return victorious and
that if he should fail, the poets of his court
including Mangudi Marudan, might cease to

attend.
The ideal of justice set before them in those
days was something unattainable. They strove

their utmost to attain to the sublimity of their
ideal ; and a king was judged good or bad upon

the degree of success he achieved in this parti-
cular branch of his duties. '
Oh the king he is
to blame it the rains fail ; he is to blame if
woman go astray. What is there in a king's
estate, except perpetual anxiety, that

people should envy the position of a king
for!' Learning went in search of patronage.
There must have been a very considerable

output of literature. It was doubtless to check
the growth of the weed of learning that a body
of censors called the Sangam must have been
instituted. It is a number of works, which are
believed to have received the imprimatur of
this learned body, that has been the source of

all this information regarding this period.
This is not the place to enter into the question

of the origin of Tamil literature ; or of its
independence or otherwise ; or of its connexion
with the literature of Sanskrit. But I may

remark in passing that Tamil literature (as
distinct from language) cannot lay claim to
that independence that its votaries demand

for it with more zeal than argument. Learning
was somewhat widespread and much sought
after. Women had their share of learning, as
the number of women poets indicates. Nor

was this learning confined to the Brahman
although he was the sole custodian of the
^ northern lore.'
In matters religious there was a happy con-

fusion. Jains, Buddhists, Brahmans, Saivas,
Vaishnavas, and people of other persuasions
both major and minor, all lived together and at
peace with one another. *
There were splendid
temples in the city dedicated to the worship
of the celestial tree Kalpaka, (the wish giving
tree), the celestial elephant Airavata, Vajrayu-
da (the thunderbolt of Indra), Baladeva,
Surya, Chandra, Siva, Subramanya, Sata-
vahana, (Aiyanar in Tamil or Sasfca in Mai.
and Sans :) Jina or Nirgratha, Kama (god
of love), and Yama (God of death). There
were seven viharas reputed to have been
built by Indra, the king of the gods, in which
dwelt no less than 300 monks (Buddhistic).
The temple of Yama was outstide the walls of
the town, in the burial ground in the city of
Puhar, the capital of the Cholas. The three

rival systems of the Brahmans, and those of
the Jains and Buddhists flourished together

each with its own clientele unhampered by
the others in the prosecution of its own holy
rights. The Brahman was not regarded an
inconvenience, but the general feeling was that
he was indispensable to the prosperity of the
state. A devout Buddhist and an ascetic Jain

prince both speak of him with great respect.
He was the custodian of the hidden lore, {i^^Py
the Veda) he was the guard an of the sacred
fire, the source of material prosperity to the
state ; he was the person who perfor-
med the sacrifices according to the difficult
orthodox rites, and who brought timely rain..

These are the terms in which these heterodox

writers refer to him. He had a function in
society and he discharged it faithfully. The
whole attitude both of the orthodox and also
of the heterodox, in matters religious, was
the pity of the one for the ignorance of the
other ; but nothing more bitter, as Max Muller
has very well pointed out.
Animism seems to have played an import-
ant parti in the religious system of those days.
There was a temple consecrated to the '
Chaste
Lady ' (Pattini Devi), as she was called, who
died in consequence of the murder of her hus-
band. Her images are preserved in temples
up to the present times for, according to Dr.
A.K. Kumarasami,^^ some of the images depict-
ed in illustration of the ancient art of Ceylon
are of this deified women. Sati was in vogue,
but under well recognised limitations. This
was permitted only to woman, who had
neither natural guardians to fall back
upon, nor children to bring up. That it
was not uncommon for young women to
i8 J.E.A.S. 1909, 292.

p.
I 10
;

return to their parents widowed is vouched
for by a comparison that a poet institutes
between the approach of darkness and the
return of the widowed young woman, whose
husband had lately fallen war.
in Annual
festivals were celebrated with great eclat, and
one of the grandest was that to Indra cele-
brated at Puhar- I have gathered my facts

from a vast body of Tamil literature only
recently made available to the student. I now
proceed to consider the sources of the informa-
tion, which are the classical writers, Indian
literature, Tamil and Sanskrit, and the
Ceylonese chronicle. Of the first group, Strabo
wrote in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius ;
Pliny published his geography in A.D. 77

the Periplus of the Erythraeaean Sea was
written in the first century A-D. probably A.D.
60 but not later than A.D. 80 ; Ptolemy wrote
his geography about A.D. 150 ; the Peutin-
gerian Tables were composed in A.D. 222.
There were other writers who wrote later, but
we are not concerned with them directly. I
would draw attention to three points, taken
from the works of classical writers.
Pliny remarks :
'
At the present-day voyages
are made to India every year, and companies
of archers are carried on board, because the
Indian seas are infested by pirates'. Later on
he says :
*
It (Muziris) is not a desirable
place of call, pirates being in the neigh-
bourhood, who occupy a place called Nitrias ;
and besides it is not well supplied with wares

for traffic'. This was before A.D. 77. Ptolemy
regarded this port Muziris as an emporium,
and places the country of Aioi south of
Bakarai. Though Ptolemy does mark the
division of the Konkan coast extending north-
wards of Nitra (Nitrias of Pliny) and up to

the port of Mandagara, which is identified with
some place not yet definitely accepted in the
southern Mahratta country north of Goa, as
Ariake Andron Peiraton, meaning the Ariaka
of the pirates in his time, says no more
of pirates at all ; meaning there was no piracy,
&c. The Periplus on the contrary does make

mention of the piratic character of this coast
and gives a straightforward account of its
tbctive prevalence at the time in regard to the

ports in the neighbourhood. The bearing
— :
of this we shall see presently.^^ The Peutin-

gerian Tables state clearly that two Roman
1^ The following account; from Marco Polo of this coasfc
is worth DotiDg
"There go forth every year more than a hundred cor-

sair vessels cruise. on
These pirates take with them
their wives and children, and stay out the whole sum-
mer. Their method is to join in fleets of 20 or 30 of these
pirate vessels together, and then they form what they
call a sea cordon, that is, they drop off till there is an
interval of 5 or 6 miles between ship and ship, so that
fehey cover something like a hundred miles of sea, and
no merchant ship can escape them. For when any one
corsair sights a vessel a signal is made hy fire or smoke,
and then the whole of them make for this, and seize
the and plunder them. After they have
merchants
plundered them they let them go, saying, Go along *
with you and get more gain, and that mayhap will fall
to us also !' But now the merchants are aware of this,
and go so well manned and armed, and with such great
ships, that they don't fear the corsairs. Still mishaps
do befall them at times."
He also notes in respect of the kingdom of Ely the

following :
'*
If any ship enters their estuary and anchors there,
having been bound for some other port, they seize her
and plunder the cargo. For they say, You were hound *
for somewhere else, and 'tis God has sent you hither to-
us, so we have a right to all your goods,' And they

think it is no sin to act thus. And this naughty custom-
prevails all over the provinces of India, to wit, that if a;
THE DAWN OF THE CHKISTIAN EEA 149
cohorts were maintained in the same town

for the protection of Eoman commerce.
Mr. Sewell, who has made an elaborate
study of the Roman coins found in India,
considers that an examination of the coin-finds
lead to the following conclusions iô
1. There was hardly any commerce between

Rome and India during the Consulate.
With Augustus began an intercourse which,
enabling the Romans to obtain oriental luxu-
ship is driveo by stress of weather into soroe other port

than that to which it was bound, it was sura to bo
plundered. Bat if a ship came bound originally to the
place, they receive it with all honor and give it due
protection."
It would be interesting to note as Yule remarks that
itwas in this neighbourhood that Ibn Batuta fell into the
hands of pirates and was 'stripped to the very drawers.*
That region continued to be piratical up to the days of
Clive and Watson as we know. In the days of Sivaji it
continued to ba piratical also, as he is said to have
Teplied to an English embassy protesting against this
'* "
piracy it was againat
that the laws of Conchon
any ship or goods that were drivan ashore."
to restore
The central Asian ambassador Abd-er-Razzak has
something to say of pirates near the Calicut coast,
Marco. Polo : Yale and Cordier (3rd Bdn.) Ill Chap.
XXIV and XXV. pp. 385-392.
30 J.R.A.S., 1904, p. 591.
ries during the early days of the empire,
culminated about the time of Nero, who died
A.D. 68.
3. From this time forward the trade de-
clined till the date of Caracalla, A.D. 217.
4. Prom the date of Caracalla it almost
entirely ceased.
5. It revived again, though slightly, under
the Byzantine emperors.
He also infers that the trade under the
early emperors was in luxuries ; under the
later ones in industrial products, and under the
Byzantines the commerce was with the south-
west coast only, and not with the interior.
He differs from those who find an explana-
tion of this fluctuation in the political and
social condition of India itself, and the facili-
ties or their absence for navigating the seas ;
and considers that the cause is to be sought

for in the political and social condition of
Rome.
From an examination of the second class of
my sources of information alone, we find that
there was a period when South India was
under great rulers, who gave the country peace
and thus provided the indispensable security

for commerce. This period can be shown to
correspond to that of the Eoman empire from
Augustus to Garacalla. After this period, we
find the country in a condition of political
flux. So then we may still find one, at
least, of the most potent causes of this
commercial decline in the internal condition of
India itself. Pliny and Ptolemy do not men-

tion the Eoman cohorts at Muziris which the
Feiitingerian Tables do. The first exploit of
the Eed Chera's father is the destruction of
the Kadambuî tree on the sea coast. Another
compliment that the poets never miss an oppor-
tunity of bestowing upon this Eed-Chera him-
self is that the Chera fleet sailed on the waters
of that littoral with a sense of dominion and
security. The Kadambu mentioned above is
21 (1) ueOiT QLLfj&isQîTU) LSuu^ff&r L4,i&aL-ix)i5*sSr
SL^lLjetDL^ Qfi^gHuSluuQQjdj.
(JfiQp
II. 11. n. 12-13.
(2) sL-u>Lj Qp^puîh^ a(Si(^êar QoiisQfi.

II. 12 1. 3.
(3) S>^'^<S i^^0eiaLûj iDirssL^G^sQd
II. 17. U. 56.

explained as a tree of extraordinary power
which could not be cut down by ordinary man.
I rather think from the context that it has
reference to a piratical rendezvous of the tribe
of people who became known as the Kadambas
later. This view seems to be directly counten-
anced by the extract 3 on the last page which
says in efiect that he crossed the sea, destroyed
the Kadambu and brought his enemies to
subjection to him. ^^ If this view be correct,
the advent of the said Chera brought along
with it security. This would be in conformity
with Ptolemy's reference to Aay, who was one
of the seven chieftains known to literature as
^
the last seven patrons'. Prom the body of
works known to Tamil scholars as Sangam
works their contemporaneity could easily be
esfcablished. I have examined this question
elsewhere (in the Appendix on The Augustan
22 It would be nothing surprising if the Kadambu
tree, the country-date or some tree like had been the
it
tree-totem of this tribe. One tree in particular might

have been regarded aa peculiarly sacred by the tribe like
the famous Oak at Dodoaa of the ancient Greeks or the
slightly less famous 0<ik trunk of the Saxons of tihe days
of Charlfimagne.
Age of Tamil Literature), and fiud the name

Aay a distinctive name of two individuals,
and not quite of a family. The Aay must have
been the contemporary of, or a little older
than, Ptolemy, and the age of Ptolemy would
practically be the age of the Ked-Chera, and
the Chera ascendancy. This conclusion only
confirms what has been arrived at independ-
ently of this class of evidence. Gajabahu of
Ceylon, who visited the Ked-Ohera almost at

the end of his reign, ruled according to the
Ceylonese chronicle from A. D. 113 to 135.
Allowing for the difference between the
Ceylonese date of the Nirvana of the Buddha,
and that arrived at by modern scholars, as Dr.
Fleet, namely sixty years, that date for Gaja-
bahu would be A. D. 173 to 193. The Chera
ascendancy then would cover the latter two-
thirds of the second century A.D. Here has to
be brought in the Paisachi work Brihat Katha.
Among the temples mentioned as having been
found at Puhar was one dedicated to Satava-
hana. This personage was the ruler in whose
court flourished the minister Gunadya, who
was the author of this stupendous work
154 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOBY
which stands at the root of all romantic
literature in India, whether in Sanskrit or
any vernacular, and may be of the rest
of the world as well. It was a translation

of this work that set the fashion in Tamil
for the composition of the romantic epics..
The age of the original is still matter under

investigation. The latest authority on the
question is the Dutch scholar Speyer, who
would place it in the third century A. D. at the
earliest —a date clearly impossible according

to our line of inquiry. I shall not say more
about it here now but; only remark that one
of the works clearly based upon this, has to be
referred to a period anterior to the astronomer,.
Varahamihira A. D. 533. This work, MANI-
MEKHAL A. refers to the asterism under which
the Buddha was born as the fourteenth; which,,
according to the modern computation, follow-
ing Varahamihira, ought to be the seventeenth.
The Ceylon Chronicle also deserves to be
investigated more carefully. So far investiga-
tions from different points of view only appear
to confirm its chronology, except for the
possible correction made above.
The date of the death of Caracalla corres-

ponds closely to the disappearance of the Sata*
vahanas of the Dekhan. According to the latest

opinion the power of the Kushanas also
vanished about the same period. In South
India likewise the Pandya ascendancy passes
into darkness. The century following is one
of the dark spots in Indian History, until the
rise of the Guptas in the north of the
Chalukyas in the Dekhan, and of the Pallavas
in the south.
Before closing, I may refer to the conclu-

sions of a scholar, T. C. Evans, who has
studied the India of this period in a thesis,
Greek and Roman India, contributed to the
Anglo-American Magazine for 1901. He con-
cludes that " The Greek invader found there
an ancient and highly organised society difer-
ing little in its usages and modes of living
from those which exist at the present time ;.
and although there are no means of verifying
the conjecture, it is not unlikely that the popu-

lation of the peninsula was as great in that
period as in our own." Commenting on this,
my friend Mr. W.H. SchoSof the Philadelphia

Commercial Museum makes the following re-
marks "If this view

: is correct, India was the
most populous region of the world at the time
of the Periplus, as it was the most cultivated,
the most active, industrial and commercial,
the most highly organised socially, the most
toretched in the poverty of its teaming
millions and the least powerful politically.'*
He further follows that " the economic

status of the country made it impossible
that any one of these should possess poli-
tical force commensurate with its population,
resources and industries. It was made up of
village communities, and organised military

power only so far as they were compelled to
do so ; and they were relatively unconcerned
in the dynastic changes, except to note the
change in their oppressors." While there is
a great deal that is just in these remarks,

some of them fail to take note of the time,
and the circumstances, on which we are pas-
sing judgment from our twentiecn century
standard of political justice. The very extent
of the couQtry and the necessarily inferior
character of the communications would
make any other organisation than that of

the village communities inefficient in the
extreme. It is true perhaps that they had
not the military power necessary for all time ;
but such as it was it often proved at any rate

equal to the strain imposed upon it, often by
successfully defending the country against
foreigners. After all there is the possibility
of a difference of ideal in organisation. A
society essentially organised for peace and
its requirements is certainly defectively orga-
nised for purposes of war. If the Hindu
society at any time had been organised on
any basis, it certainly was on the basis of peace
and the happiness of the bulk of the
people. It is this ideal that has the merit
as well as the defect of Hindu organisations
throughout the history of India. It is not
difficult to understand by a comparison of
the organisation of the British Empire at
the present time which can be looked
upon as having been made on an economic
basis, with that of the German empire, which,
at any rate, recent history shows to have been
organised upon a basis for war. It ought
rather to be said to the credit of the early
Hindus that they regarded war so far an
abnormal state of affairs that they had to pro-
vide for it only in an exceptional sort of way,
and this is evident both in their organisation for
peace, and in that of war, as far as it is possible
for us to make out from the material available

to U3. About the very time of the Periplus,
the Tamilian rulers of the West coast were

quite able to hold their own as against the
Greeks on the sea, and, though finally van-
quished, it was the Punjab armies that made
a very good stand against Alexander. Chandra-
gupta could even lay claim to a victory against
the most redoubtable of Alexander's generals.
These instances ought to make us pause
before accepting sweeping statements either
as to military incapacity or to unfairly uneven
distribution of property in the organisation
of Indian society. I may quote here an
address that a poeu made to a king, a parti-
cularly warlike one, on the ideals that he
ought to set before him at a time when there
was perhaps some need for war. Here is a
.literal translation of the passage as far as a
;
beautiful Tamil poem could be rendered into

English prose. " Like the single eye that
adorns the Majestic crescent face of Siva,
who, with Mount Meru for his bow, the great
serpent for its string, destroyed the triple
fortifications of the Eakshasas to give victory
to the valiant host of the Devas, Mara, of
the flower garland ! Great among Kings; great
though your army may count, elephants of
high mettle, horses of exceediug fleetness,
high cars with tall flags and valiant soldiers
eager for war, remember the Majesty of a
monarch lies foremost in his walking the path

of rectitude. Therefore may you be blessed
with long life, without swerving ever so little
from the path of rectitude because the people
concerned are ours ; without in the least dis-

<}Ounting the good found in those not of us
may your valour shine with the brilliance of
the sun. May your power of protection show
in it all the beneficent coolness of the moon.
May your charity be as seasonal and impar-
tial as that of the rain With the three
itself.
great virtues just mentioned may your days

<50unt more than the sands of the sea washed
ashore by the winds, on the coast of Sendil
(Tiruchendur) where stands the great Kun:ja-

ra." It would only be fair to the ancients to
give them the ordinary credit of their having
honestly attempted to pursue the ideal they
set before themselves.
CHAPTEE IV.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE s'ANGAM WORKS,

SO CALLED, OF TAMIL LITERATURE
This subject has been, for very near a century,

regarded as of the utmost importance by those
engaged in research work as well as by those
engaged in the study of Tamil, the eldest
among the sisterhood of languages known

commonly as the Dravidian languages. In the
early years of the last century Bishop Cald-
well made what perhaps was then the most
successful attempt at fixing the age of this
body of literature and brought what he called

'
the Augustan Age of Tamil Literature' to
the 9th or lObh century of the Christian era-
Since then there have been a series of attempts
several of them merely re-stating Caldwell's
conclusions ; while various others were made to
controvert them and give a higher antiquity
to this Augustan Age. The recent editors of
161
11
162 BEGINNINaS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
CaldwelTs Comparative Grammar allow the
following statement to remain : — " The
Period of the predominance of Jainas (the
predominance in intellect and learning give
rarely a predominance in political power) was
the Augustan Age of Tamil literature, the
period when the Madura College, a literary
association, appears to have flourished and

when the Kural, Chintamani, and classical
vocabularies and grammars written.''^ This

period is ascribed to the 9bh or lObh century
A.D. and the editors are content to leave this
with a foot note :
" Modern researches point
to a much earlier date thaa that given here."
This Caldwellian tradition has been handed
on almost unbroken to the present time. We
find the statement repeated with hardly any
modification in Reinhold Host's article on
Tamil, in the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica and with some slight modification
;
1 What ever else may ba proved or no, this old classifi-
cation, by religion, of periods either of literature or art
mast be given up as it finds no support of any kind to

justify its being kept up.
CHRONOLOGY: TAMIL LITERATURE 16B
"
in Frazer's " A Literary History of India
and the new edition of the Imperial
Gazetteer Volume, II. This position did
not go unchallenged, however. It was
the late Mr. P. Snndaram Pillai of Trivan-
drum who took up the challenge first. ;In
one or two essays that he contributed on

this particular subject he did much destruc-
tive work, but did not essay in constructive
work, relating to this particular period,
though it must be said to his credit that
he succeeded in fixing, one or two mile-
stones in Tamil Literature. The greatest
constructive eSorb was made by another
lamented Tamil scholar, the late Mr. Kanaka-
sabhai Pillai,whose work, however, was marred
by a too ambitious attempt at working out
details before the main lines could hardly
be regarded as fixed. This defect notwith-
standing, his work brought together a great
deal of matter which had remained buried
in manuscripts inaccessible even to the learned,
and understood, if accessible, by but a few.
This work was done by him in the last
decade of the last century and in the
first two or three years of the present. It
was about the end of this scholar^s work
that a much respected European Scholar^
connected intimatelj^ with Madras, both as
occupying an honoured place upon tha
High Court bench, and holding the position of
the Vice-Chancellorship of our University,
took up the question and restated the case in
support of Caldwell's theory with much force,
considerable learning and great judgment. This
was the late Mr. L. C. Innes who discussed the
whole questioQ of the various periods of
Tamil literature in what was then the Imperial
and Asiatic Quarterly Keview, in an article
entitled the Age of Manikkavasagar. Ona

small identification in it in the fixing of this
Augustan Age drew my attention to this
particular investigation and I raised by na
means a respectful protest against it in a.
short article which I contributed to the Chris-

tian College Magazine. The letter that he wrote
in reply to this protest, of which I sent him

a printed copy, led me on, thanks to the
stimulus of that judicial minded good man to,
make an effort at fixing this Augustan Age

—
CHRONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATURE : 165
from my point of view. " The Augustan Age

of Tamil Literature " was written by me in
the first instance for the Madras Review and

published, again in a somewhat modified
iorm, in the Indian Antiquary as a general
introduction to a contemplated series of articles
on " Celebrities in Tamil Literature," poets
tind patrons alike. This was again publish-
ed, with permission, by the Tamilian Ar-
chaeological Society in the Tamil Antiquary.
The essay attempted to set forth the then
available evidence both literary and historical
leading to the following conclusions :
(1) " That there was an age of great literary
activity in Tamil to warrant the existence of

a body like the traditional Sangam'*.
(2) " That the period of the greatest Sangam

activity was the age when Senguttuvan Sera
was a prominent character in South Indian
politics".
(3) " That this age of Senguttuvan was the

second century of the Christian era."
(4)
*'
That these conclusions find support in
what is known of the later history of South
India.
im BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
Since this was published there have been ta

my knowledge two constructive efiorts of which
one is that contained in a life of Senguttu-
van in Tamil written by Pandit M. Eagava
Aiyangar of the Tamil Lexicon Office, read in
the first instance as an essay before the Tamil

Sangam at its meeting in Ramnad in May
1913. The other is a final statement, of
various efforts in detail in regard to this matter

by Mr. Subramaniya Iyer, Assistant Epigra-
phisfe Government of Madras, in the

to the
Christian College Magazine of the year 1914,
in an article entitled the Ancient History of
the Pandya Country. I propose attempting
to examine the position of these two scholars
and restate my case in the light of the criti-
cism thus made to see how far my position
has to be revised and to what extent it requires
to be altered.
Taking the latter first the point that calls

for atteatioQ is that he relies, for settling this
much disputed chronology, on a few copper

plate grants of the Pandya Kings, and one or
two stone inscriptions relating to them, and
hopes from these aids to settle the question
CHEONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATUEE : 167
fiDally. The followiDg long extracts from bis

paper would exhibit his position in respect of
the others who had carried on similar investi-
gations before him most fairly to himself.
As has been remarked already the dates

*
when these poems were composed are not given

anywhere. To settle this question with any
amount of probability, we are naturally forced
to look for information from external sources.
Even in this direction, there was not much
to help us till recently. The discovery of
the Sinnamanur plates and the information

supplied in the Velvikudi grant of the
Pandya kings have placed a lot of reliable
matter before the earnest student of ancient

history and a careful examination of their
contents is sure to enable him to arrive

at a satisfactory solution which has all along
been sought for in vain. The previous
scarcity of materials served only to mislead
inquirers 2.
'
For purposes of history we can freely adopt
the accounts given in Purananuru, Pattup-
2 A fuller Examination of these follows in Cb, vii.

pattu, Padirruppattu, etc. These poems have
been edited in an admirable way by Mahama-
hopadyaya V. Swaminathier who gives now
and then short notices of Aham which has
not yet appeared in print. Although Silap-
padikaram and Manimekhalai are classed
among the Sangam works, I entertain serious
doubts as to whether they speak of contem-
porary kings and events, and it may be said
that great caution is necessary before utilis-
ing wholesale the materials contained in
them. I know I am mortally wounding the
feelings of several savants of Tamil litera-
ture who would at once pour forth a volume

of abuse if I were considered a worthy rival
of theirs. Fortunately I am not such a one.
But all the same I wish to record here my
reasons for holding the position. The two
works in question contain a romantic account
of a certain Kannagi famed for chastity and
of Manimekhala the daughter of a hetaira of
Kannagi's husband Kovalan. Enraged at an
unreasonable murder of her husband, Kannagi
miraculously sets fire Madura,
to the city of
whereupon the Pandya king struck down by

OHKONOLOGY TAMIL LITEKATUKE
: 169
remorse for the unjust act hills liimself,^ A

heavenly palanquin is seen to descend to earth
to carry Kannagitothe abode of the gods. The
people who observed this, erect a shrine for her
worship and this is at once followed by the
initiation of the same worship in other coun-
tries both in and out of India. The romantic
nature of the story will not fail to strike
any one at the very outset. I for one would

not grant that it relates to contemporary
events. On the other hand it would be
natural to view the legend as a story spun
out by the poets, if not wholly from their
imagination, at least with liberal addition
to traditional beliefs extant at the time, of
events long past. Is it possible, I ask, that a

person, however virtuous he or she may be,
would be invested with divinity even at the
very moment of death ? In my opinion, which

I think will be shared by many, the story of the
person should have remained in the memory

oi the people for a long time before any halo of
3 The poet merely says he died upon the fchrone where

*he 'was seated at the time.
divinity could gather round it 4. It passes
one's comprehension to imagine that people
should have set about erecting a temple for a
heroine at or soon after the time of her death.
'I ask further how long it would have taken
for her fame not only to spread but to strike
such deep root in other countries as to cause
her image to be enshrined in costly temples- In
this connection I would request the reader to
bear in mind that she was neither a royal
personage nor a religious prophetess. In all
probability, if the story is due to a develop-

ment of events taken from life, it must have
been written long after Kannagi had been
deified. As such we cannot assume the con-
temporaneousness of the kings mentioned in
these works with the date of their composition^
^ History does record various insfeances of oaooniza-

tion of ordinary people in Europe while yet alive.
Augustus was deified during life and history knows that

there was a tenople to him in India on the West Coast
where Kannagi had her first shrine. Ptolemy II and
his sister-wife were given a similar apotheosis during lif&
by their loving, hut perhaps superdtitiouely credulous-

subjects.
CHRONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATUBE
: 171
My OWQ view is that the authors, not know-

ing the time when the kings mentioned by
them individually flourished, have treated
persons belonging to different ages as con-
temporaries and thus brought together a
Gajabahu, a Nedunjeliyan and a Karikala as
living at the same time. In my articles on
the date and times of the last two kings, I
have adduced reasons to prove that they must
have lived at least a century apart. And I
would further point out here that Mr. Kana-
kasabhai Pillai's identification of Nurran-
gannan mentioned in the Silappadikaram wifcb
Satakarni is entirely untenable, because there

is no warrant for the reading Satakarni of the
name Satakarni which we find in all inscrip-
tions and coins. Though attempts at trans-
lating proper names are not quite uncommon,
yet it would seem that in this case Nurran-
gamian is not a translation of Satakarni. If
the Tamil name wâs the result of perfect

translation, we should have expected NQrran-
gadan instead. No foreigner has ever dealt
with proper names in this fashion. We bave^
the mention of Indian kings and geographical
—
places by Greek and Koman writers and by the
Chinese pilgrims who visited India. I may note
that none of them has adopted the novel
method ^. And again it is a wonder that a
similar attempt at translation was not
made in the case of the other name Gaja-
bahu into Yanaikkai. ^ I would further state
that if you examine carefully the contents of
Manimekhalai, you find mentioned in this
work, assigned to the second century A. D.,
systems of belief and philosophy that could
not have struck root till the eighth and ninth
centuries.
^The Hon. Dewan Bahadur L. D. Swami-
kannu Pillai very kindly furnishes the follow-
ing note on the question of the date of

Silappadikaram and Chintamani :
*'As regards the date of composition of Silap-

padikaram I have found that the details given
by Adiyarkunallar in /5/r®«,rsB3r<s/r6»^ and the

prophecy about "îf^î^-sef/ ^rflQ^6rru^<s^^~
5 Is this true? What does Phrurioti stand for \n

Ptolemy's Geography of the Coromandel Coast ?
6 What about êSuj Qêarek (Oviasena) for Ohitra-
sena in this yety author ?
CHKONOLOGY TAMIL LITEBATUEE
: 17S
^t^&dCoîr (<^lLl^^ ^lLl^lB ît ear jh^Q su err (Sifi^ it ^^
^/' etc., are satisfied in only one year between-

A. D.l and A.D. 1300, i.e.. A.D. 756- Similarly
I have quite recently found that the details-
given in Jivakachintamani in Airn^Q^su^^^m^-

lu/rS&iihusui (text regarding the Muhurtam for
construction of «/r63r<5eSL-.«7(5 and commentary
by Naohchinarkiniyar on the 1st verse) are
correct for only one year, A.D. 813.
" In either case the actual composition of
the poems may have followed the respective-

dates by 60 to 80 years, the ordinary period
for which Panchangams are preserved '^.
My
view is that the poets could have obtained the
details only from a contemporary Panchanga,
if indeed they did not find the details in the
materials used by them for the poems. In the
case of Jivakachintamani there were materials
on hand.
" The interval between this composition of
êduu^sirirui and êu^s^hi^Tuisssfl was only about
60 or 70 years or at most about 150 years, not
700 years as supposed by Kanakasabhai Pillai
and others ".
"^
If a Pancbangam was used for the purpose.
*
We can safely accept Mr. Swamikannu
Pillai's date, A. D. 756, ^ for Silappadikaram-
Still, we cannot but maintain that the matter
contained in this and other works of a similar
nature is useless for purposes of history. If
we are asked to explain further why we adopt

the accounts furnished in Puranauuru and
Pattuppattu as come down to us from the
hand of Perundevanar, — an author who can-
not be said Do have lived earlier than the date
(A. D. 756) assigned to Silappadikaram — we
would say that Perundevanar stands in the
high position of an editor of some older and
trustworthy historical documents of great
merit, ^ while the authors of Silappadikaram
and other similar works appear before us as
mere story tellers and that their compositions
are full of improbabilities, impossibilities and

inconsistencies.' The italics are ours.
The first point in the extracts to call for a

word by way of remark is that the twin-epic,
8 This is not his date. His date is 60 or 70 years later,
according to him.
9 How are these historical? Were they written to
iiand down history ?
CHEONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATUEE : 175
îlappadhikaram and Manimekhalai, is not to

be used for purposes of history. He sets forth
the reasons very elaborately thus :
(1) He ascribes to the authors of the books

an ignorance of contemporary rulers, and sees
in the combination of a Gajabahu, a Nedum-
seliyan and a Karikala a confusion of chrono-
logy.
(2) He further refers to Mr. Kanakasabhai's

**
identification of Satakarni with Nurran-
gannan " as unwarranted.
(3) He next sets down that the work Mani-
mekhalai contains reference to systems of be-
lief and philosophy that could not have

struck root till the 8th and the 9Gh centuries.
(4) And lastly he quotes Mr. Swamikannu

Pillai, with approval, to point out that the
Silappadhikaram could have been composed
only in A. D. 756, slightly overstating his
authority.
In regard to the first point it may be stated

at once that there is no immutable
psychological law that prevents contemporaries
irom believing in the supernatural. In
discussing the mental attitude of people sepa-
rated many centuries from us it is a natural
error to import our ideas into their lives*
The first essential to a study of this kind is an

attitude of mind that can detach itself from
its present outlook and carry itself back to
another environment. we are inclined ta
If
regard the story of Kannaki as " improbable,

impossible and inconsistent" it does not neces-
sarily follow that our ancestors, perhaps 13 or
14 hundred years ago, on Mr. Subramaniya

Ayyar's own showing, had the same mental
outlook as we have. Even so we cannot say
of us to-day that there are not among us
people who will not believe stories similar to
those of the Silappadhikaram in contemporary

life, and it is hardly fair in any one to
ascribe to those with whom he does not
agree that they make use of the works under
consideration in the manner suggested by
this remark. Nor does it make it necessary
that the author should have lived centuries
after the occurrence to share this belief.
Granting for argument that he did not share
the belief himself, but took up a story that was
CHKONOLOGY TAMIL LITEEATUKE 177
current and dealt with it in the manner that

he has done, but laying the scene in the con-
temporary Tamil India of his time, the author
would still be within the bounds fixed by liter-
ary criticism to a poet. All that is claimed

for the two books is that the background of the
story is historical, and those that have used it so
have more to support them than their critics.
We shall consider the contemporaneity of the

rulers mentioned in the work later.
In regard to the next point it is not clear

where the expression Nurrangannan comes
from. Mr. Kanakasabhai has attempted to
identify the Satakarni of the Silappadhika-
ram with the expression Nurruvar Kannar
or merely Kannar, but of " Nurrangan-
nan" I am unable to see any reference

either in Mr. Kanakasabhai's book or in
the Silappadhikaram. It may be stated,
however, that Mr. Kanakasabhai's identifica^
tion is hardly tenable on altogether other
grounds. We do not agree with Mr. Subra-
maniya Ayyar that if one name happens to be
translated for some reason {e. g.y Oviasenan
[^sQiuQ&êaiesT'] for Chitrasena) though we may
12
not know it, it does not follow that others

should be.
In respect of the third point of his, one

would wish to know the grounds upon which
a general statement like that is put forward.
What are the systems in Manimekhalai that
could not have come in before the 8th or the 9th
century and why ? Where do these systems
go back for authority and in what form is it
that the systems are found exhibited in the

Manimekhalai? These points ought to be
cleared before a general statement like that
will be accepted.
In regard to the last point, the astronomi-

cal data that Mr. Swamikaunu Pillai relies on
are found in the work but imperfectly express-
ed. They are elaborated by the commentator
who lived many ceaturies later than the author.
It is more than doubtful if the author took up
a paiichangam to set down the date or to note

its details. It strikes me that he noted a
particularly inauspicious combination for a
day, such as the popular QîLemu,, (iptL&Du-,
Q3^susufnu^9ip€iDtiiy portending a coming storm
of a violently destructive character. There is
A
CHEONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATUBE 179
nothing to warrant that anything more was

meant in the astrological details than this.
Whether that is sufficient to override all other
considerations in ascribing particular dates to

works seems to me exceedingly doubtful.
Going to the more constructive part of Mr.
Subramaniya Ayyar's work we are face to face
with four inscriptions, namely.

(1) The Madras Museum plates of
Jatilavarman,
(2) The smaller Sinnamanur plates.
(3) The larger Sinnamanur plates.
(4) The Velvikudi grant.
His whole system depends upon a series of
identifications of the various persons referred

to in these four grants. We should invite
attention particularly to the identification of
No. 2 in the genealogical table constructed
from the larger Sinnamanur plates. This
person's name occurs merely as Jatila, the
equivalent of the Tamil Sadaiyan, with no
other detail to lead us to an identification.
Mr. Ayyar has identified him with a Jatila
whose name is found in the Anaimalai inscrip-
tions which are dated 770 A. D. This person
is again equated with the last name in the
Velvikudi grant which is itself undated, thus
giving to this last person, the donor of the
grant, the date A. D, 770. What is more, a
minister, by name Marankari, whose name
figures in the Anaimalai inscriptions, is
described, in the Sanscrit portion as mudura-

kavi, maduratara and sastravid, and as a native
of Karavandapuram. This minister Mr, Subra-
manijâ Ayyar takes to be definitely the Vish-
nava A.lvar,Madurakavi, neglecting the caution
with which the possibility of identification is
advanced by both the late Mr. Venkayyaô and

Mr. G. Venkoba Kao the publisher of the
Aoamalai inscriptions. On this identification
rests the whole chronology of Mr, Subramaniya

Ayyar's thesis. These identifications and the
various grants have reference only to the
Pandyas. The identification of Maran-kari
with Madurakavi seems almost impossible. If
the tradition regarding Madurakavi is accepted

for one thing, it ought to be accepted for other
things equally essential. Madurakavi is by-
common tradition a Brahman and a native of
10 See Epigraphist's Eeporfes for 1907 and 1908.

CHRONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATURE 181
Kolur, and is not handed down, in Vaishnava

tradition at any rate, as an official of the
importance that Maran-kari was. There is
nothing in the ten stanzas ascribed to Madura-

kavi to indicate that he was anything more
than a pious devotee. On such a basis
of identification and combination of the four
records Mr. Subramaniya Ayyar constructs a

genealogical table beginning with Palyaga-
salai Mudukudumi Peruvaludi ^^ and ending
with Rajasimha, taken to be a contemporary
of the Chola Parantaka I A. D. 907 to 956, on
the ground that the latber's inscriptions state
that he won a victory over a Pandya by name
Rajasimha, which name unfortunately occurs
twice in the larger Sinnamanur plates them-
selves, with three generations between them.
It will be clear from this how valueless would
be the inferences based upon these grants
which on Mr. Subramaniya Ayyar's own
showing were composed in the 8th, 9t:h and
10th centuries, in regard to matters relating
I ^^ Whose name, by fche way, is broughb infco this

grant; to justify fche name "Velvikkudi and establish a
prior gift of the village without any organic connectio-n.
For further details see Oh. vi-ii following.
to even two or three centuries earlier at the
very worst.
Immediately after the first name Palyaga-
salai Pandyan, the Velvikudi grant mentions
a Kalabhra Inter-regnum. This Kalabhra
Inter-regnum is taken to be an Inter-regnum
brought on by a Karnataka invasion, referred
to in connection with the story of Miirti-
n§.yanar in the Periyapuranam. Fixing up
then a Pandya succession he proceeds next to
enumerate 13 Pandya Kings whose names
occur in Tamil literature, and tries to identify
the later ten with those mentioned in the
grants, and ascribes to them dates ranging
from the commencement of the 6th century
A. D. to A. D. 650 which makes the
he
terminal date for Sliyam Sendan whom he
identifies with the Neduih Seliyan, the
victor of Talaiyalanganam. This makes the
whole course of identification simplicity itself.
But there is however one grave difficulty in ac-
cepting this arrangement. The whole body of
works called Sangam works which have to do

with these various Pandyas have not the
slightest reference to the Pallavas. Still 500
GHEONOLGGY TAMIL LITEEATURE 183
to 650j at any rate the latter half of it, was

the age of the great Pallavas and 650 would
take us perhaps to the middle period of one
of the greatest among the great Pallavas,
Narasimha L destroyer of Vatapi, the burning
of which is referred to in the Periyapuranam.
Sambandar refers to the Pallava general who

destroyed Vatapi. It is very strange that the
large body of poets that went about from court
to court singing the praises of patrons, and
received rewards from them have no reference
to make of the Pallavas although several towns
andforts and territories under Pallavarule come
in largely for reference. This objection seems
vital to this chronology arrangement, and
seems thoroughly to exemplify the defects
of specialistic research of which Mr. Stanley
A. Cook has the following remarks to make,
in his " Study of Religions."
''The man who is specialistic in a single
department may* be a bar to progress because
he is apt to overlook the importance of other
special studies. His own convictions are the
more intense when he associates them with
his trained knowledge, and although he may
realize that his owa energy has brought him
to this stage, and although he may recognize
in some special field the need for other men
of diverse types and tendencies, he may forget
that it takes all kinds of people to make a
world. The desire to promulgate and pro-
selytize is characteristic of all men with strong
convictions based on experience and know-
ledge, and they can be intolerant of others.
In research, social reform and religion, there
is a stage of development, horn of an intense
feeling of the completest equilibrium or
harmony in one's world of thought that can
manifest itself in impatience towards, or in a
provoking superiority over, those who differ.
Yet one must not deny to others that sense of

harmony that has been gained by one's own
efforts along one's own lines ; and since the
whole world of thought could be theoretically
divided into numerous departments, the ideal
in view is a harmonious adjustment of them
all.'
Passing on now to Pandit Ragava Ayyan-

gar's work, called Seran Senguttuvan, in
Tamil, we find him devote Chapter XIII of
—
CHRONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATURE 185
the book to the determination of the age in
which Senguttuvan and his contemporaries

flourished. Passing in rapid review the late
Mr. Kanakasabhai's conclusion in regard to the
matter, he lays down his main position some-
what as follows :
It is well known that among the poets that

constituted the Sangam, Kapilar, Paranar,
Nakkirar, Mamulanar and Sattanar took a
prominent place. Among these Mamulanar
appears, from certain poems included in the
Ahananuru, to have been contemporary with
Chola Karikala, Seraladau, Kalvar Koman
Pulli ; from this source also appears clearly that
he was one who had travelled much in the
various parts of the Tamil country and
in countries north of it. This poet is
taken to be contemporary with Senguttuvan

Sera, as he refers, in Aham 251, to a war
between the Mauryas and a chief of Mohur
which is taken to stand for the chief Palayan
Maran who is said elsewhere to have fought
against this Chera. Quoting from Aham 265, ^'^
186 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HI8T0EY
he refers Mamiilauar to a time subsequent to
the destruction of Patahpura to which he sees
a definite reference in the passage quoted. This
is the first and in fact the strongest argument
of his thesis for ascribing Senguttuvau to the
5th century A.D.; but he arrives at this result
by a series of arguments which seem to me to
find no justification in history. He interprets
the expressions in the passage quoted as refer-
ring to the destruction of Patahpura by the
Ganges; whereas in actual fact it could
mean no more than the disappearance of the
great wealth that the Nandas collected in
Patalipura, in the Ganges. This might
well have been brought about by the Nandas
themselves throwing it into the river,
rather than let it fall into the hands of
their enemies, in the revolution that sub-

verted their dynasty. Starting from his
peculiar interpretation of the passage he
postulates the destruction of Patalipura by
the flood of the Ganges and finds the period
of such destruction in the time intervening
the visits of the two Chinese travellers to
India, namely. Fa Hian in the beginning of
—
CHEONOLOGY TAMIL LITEBATURE 187
the 5th century and Hiuen Tsang in the

second quarter of the 7th century A- D. He
further equates the Mauryas who had invaded
the territory of Palayan Maran, perhaps in a
previous generation, with the army of the
Gupta King, Samudra Gupta-He finds sup-
port for this in the mention of the Mantaraja
who is taken to be '
a King of Kerala '
and
the same as Mandaram Serai. The rest of
his reasoning in the whole Chapter is of the
same character and of minor consequence.

Granting for the sake of argument that his
interpretation of the passage quoted above is
correct, it would be very difficult to justify
Samudra Gupta and his army being referred to

as Mauryas by a poet of the standing and re-
putation of Mamulanar. There is absolutely

nothing in the pillar inscription ^^ of Samudra
13 Kauâlaka-Mahendra-Maha kantaraka-Vyaghra-
raia-Kaurajaka--Mantaraja--Pfti8htapuraka-- Mahendra-
giri Kautturaka Svamidattia-AiraDC[apallaka--Dftmana-
Kancheyaka-Vi8hnugop-Avamukfcaka.
Nilaraja-Vaingeyaka — Hasfcivarmma — Palakkak
Ogra8ona--Daivara8btraka--Kubera--Kau8fcha1apuraka--
Dhananjayaprabhribi sarvva-dakehiriapatharaja-g^rahftna-
moksh-anugraba-janita-pratap-onmi^ra-mababhagyasya-
Gupta to warrant this inference. The text of

the inscription contains reference to a
Kauralaka Mantaraja. He is mentioned
along with Hastivarman of Vengi, Vishnu-
gopa of Kanchi, Ugrasena of Palaka etc.
There is absolutely nothing in the ins-

cription to lead us to believe that Sa-
mudragupta's army passed south of Kanchi.
That that Mantaraja should be taken to be
Mandaram Serai is identification of the most

unreasonable kind. The editor of the inscrip-
tion, Dr. Fleet, did not understand what the
term Kauralaka stood for, and merely put for-
ward a suggestion that it might be " Kairalaka"

the equivalant of "of Kerala". This suggestion
is in a foot note, but as to the point whether
the person referred to was a Kerala prince at
all he has offered no definite support. It has
since-been found that Kauralaka is very pro-
bably a mere mislection for Kaunalaka (of
Kunala) perhaps the region round Koller

lake.i* But whatever it is, it is now certain
that there is no reference whatsoever to Kerala
1^ Bpigraphia Indica Vol. VI, p. 3 note by the late
Prof. Kiebhorn.
CHRONOLOGY TAMIL LITEEATURE 189
in the inscription. As to the destruction of
Patalipura by ilood there is no authority for
the statement. The recent investigations on

the site seem more to indicate a certain
amount of destruction by fire very much more

than by water, and the passage relied on
cannot be held to support the interpretation
put upon it. After all if one of the poems of
Mamular makes reference in the past tense to

the destruction of Patali or to an invasion of
the south by the Mauryas and a war in conse-
quence between them and one of the Tamil
chiefs of Mohur (near Madura) this can only
mean that Mamiilanar knewof these occurren-
ces. The various passages of Mamiilanar,
most of which are unfortunately in the Aham,
will hardly serve to establish his contempora-
neity with all the incidents he might have
found occasion to mention. The identification
of Tadiyan with Tidiyan, and of Pidiyan with
Palayan borders on the ludicrous. There is a
further reference to the Jain work Digambara
Darsana, (ascribed to the 10th century,
and to a statement in it as to the establish-
ment of a Dravida Sangam in Madura by
Vajranandi in A. D. 470 (Samvat 526).
There is nothing to prove that this was

a Tamil Sangam for the fostering of Tamil
Literature. It may well be a Jain Sangam
which would, in the sense of being an assembly
of Dravida Jains or Tamil Jains, be a Dravida
Sangam and may have had for its object some
matter pertaining to the Jain religion. Thus
then the elaborate reasoning exhibited in
Chapter XIII of the work seems clearly to rest
upon a very uncertain and slender basis. It is
regrettable that a book which does exhibit

considerable labour and puts in an eminently
readable form matter buried in recondit works
should be marred by this kind of reasoning,
particularly in this Chapter and in Chapter
VIII 2 where he tries to establish that the
Vanji of the Cheras was the Karur in the
Trichinopoly District, where again we come
upon a number of distortions of texts and a
number of false identifications to establish his
thesis.
The proper procedure in a case like this is
to analyse the various works belonging to this

particular group, sort out the various kinds of
—
CHKONOLOGY TAMIL LITEKATUEE 191
historical evidence that we get, establish the

undoubted contemporaneity of poets and pat-
rons with a jealously critical eye, and look out
for historical connections that will establish
one or more synchronisms, and proceed on
that basis to establish others.
Adopting this procedure the Sangam works
so called fall naturally into two classes :
Those dealing, according to ihe Tamil gram-

marians, with (1) Ahapporul, and (2) Purap-
porul. The distinction between these two
hroadly is that the one refers to subjective
emotion which finds expression on various
occasions and under various circumstances,
and has reference principally to Erotics the ;
other refers to action and partakes more or less

of the character of exhibition of valour in
attack, defence and the various other aspects
of war-like life. Of these two classes the
latter is the more valuable for purposes of
history and chronology, as it makes direct
reference to various wars, battles, sieges etc.
;
and one very special feature of such work is
that poets composing in this strain always

address their patrons directly, thereby making
it unmistakable that what they have to state
in respect of a particular chieftain has refer-
ence to contemporary life. The other group,

however, does not stand on an altogether simi-
lar footing. Poems in this group do make
similar references though they are always
of an indirect character and do not give such
clear evidence of contemporaneity in respect
of their various statements. These works are
Purananuru, Ahanauru, Pattuppattu, Padir-
ruppatu, Aingurunuru, Narrinai, Kuruntokai,
etc. ^^- I keep out from this group advisedly
the two works Silappadhikaram and Manime-
khalai to which I shall return later to see how
far the almost contemptuous reference to them
of Mr. Subramaniya Ayyar finds jurisdiction.

Even so the number of poets and patrons thafe
figure in the works are far too many to be dealt

with in one thesis- I shall take occasion to
^^ Of these all bub the secoDd have been edited in an

excellent form, the largernumber by the veteran Pandit
Saminatha Jyer, but the last two are edited by two others
whose labours deserve as much credit as the other's.
Narrinai was published by the late Mr, Narainasami
Iyer of Kumbhakonam and Kuruntokai by Pandit
Eangasami Aiyangar of the Madrasa at Vaniambady.
€HKONOLOGY: TAMIL LITERATUEE 193
deal with these more elaborately, and on a

scale compatible with the degree of lucidity
that a lay understanding would demand of
necessity. I can do here nothing more than

to illustrate the work to be done by one or
two typical examples of a telling character.
In taking up a question like this a student of
research is pretty much in the position of a

judge and not of aa advocate. Feeling and
sentiment are out of the question and the
discovery of truth is the object in view. There
are here as in the case of a judge the two ques-
tions coming up for examination questions of
:
fact, and questions of law. One has to examine

facts before stating them as such ; one has to
examine the method that he adopts in the
choice of his facts as much as in their appli-
cation. Bearing this in mind we have first
of all to consider whether stone inscriptions

and copper plate grants are better authority
for events which could have taken place centu-
ries before the inditing of these documents or
literature that was composed ostensibly at the
time to which they relate. These Sangam
works enumerated above are, by common con-
is
sent, such works of contemporary value and
have therefore to be regarded as of better
authority. Mr. Subramania Ayyar takes
Perundevanar as of high standing and autho-
rity in respect of these works because he was a
cultivated scholar and responsible editor of
these, though coming centuries after their
composition- But he forgets this, at any rate
he seems to, in claiming a similar kind of
authority for the compilers of the inscriptions

which he seems unmistakably to set over against
this class of literatuie to the disadvantage of the
latter. Taking the poet Paranar to exemplify

this position and collecting together such facts
as we could derive from him of an undoubtedly

historical character, we can find the political
condition of the Tamil land and the position
of the Tamil chieftains in relation to one
another, in the poet's generation.
In stanza 4 of Purananuru, Paranar refers to
a Chola ruler Uruvapahrerilanjetchenni in the
following terms : they are of the radiant beauty
of the rising sun just emerging out of the
sea, in his golden car of the fullest effulgence.'
This king is known from other poems of the
CHEONOLOGY TAMIL LITEEATUBE
: 195
«ame class, but of other poets, to be the father

of Karikala. The terms in which Paranar chose
to describe hira in this poem raise the presump-

tion that he was the ruler, Tigalolinayirrel pari-
aeduihter Chola, the grandfather of Senguttu-
vanSera; but this is by the way. Poem 63
of the same collection relates that the chera
king, Kudakko Nedum Seraladan, and the

^hola king, Verpaharadakkai Peruvirarkkilli,
had fought against each other and fallen on
the field of battle. Another poet Kalattalaiyar
has also celebrated the same king, in the same
connectioQ. Poems 141 and 142 both refer to
Pehan's liberality which is referred to by the

somewhat later NallQr Nattan, the author of
Sirupanarruppadai. Poems 144 and 145 are
addressed to this chief when he had given up
his wife in favour of a sweetheart. Paranar,
Kapilar, Arisil Kilar and Perungunrur Kilar
interceded in behalf of the wife to good purpose.
Such a reference " as we get in these two
poems is an absolutely unmistakable evidence of
contemporaneity^^. Poem 343 refers to Muzires
"
16 Compare Aham 148 at " Kattur Tayangarinan.
(Musiri or Muyiri) and states, in regard to it,
that commodities brought oversea were brought

ashore by means of boats. The place was full
of goods brought overland and from across the
sea to be -distributed among those in need^
that might go there. Narrinai 6 of the same
author has a reference to Ori ^
of the good bow.'
In Aham 396, Sehguttuvan is celebrated,
while there are references in the poem to the
war around Nannan's Pali hill-fort and to
Mignili. There is further reference to the
story of xAdi Mandi and Attanatti, and possibly
to the defeat of Ori. The poem also appears to
be intended to celebrate the imprinting of the

bow emblem of the Cbera on the Himalayas.
Poem 62 of Aham, as also poem 208, refer to the
famous KoUippavai having been erected by the
gods. He later also refers to the war with
Mignili round Pali hill. It must be noted in
this connection that the tradition regarding
KoUippavai is found very clearly recorded in

the following poem of Ahananuru by another
authorknown as Kalladanar who refers in the
same poem to Pandyan Nedum Seliyan, victor
at Talaiyalanganam. There is similar refe-
CHKONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATUKB
; 197
rence to another chieffcain Pulli, (robber-chief-

tain, of the Tirupati hills. There is also a
statement that Kari, king of Mullar, killed

Ori and made over his territory round Kolli-
malais to the Chera King. Poem 270 of
Narrinai refers to the story that Nannan
captured the elephants of his enemy as well
as their women folk, binding the elephants

with ropes made out of the hair of the women,
cut ofi for the purpose. Poem 73 of Kurun-
dokai has a very interesting reference to a
class of warlike people called Kosar who entered
Nannan's territory after killing his state
elephant. This warlike tribe of people are

referred to in other poems of the same class,
and almost in the same terms. One of them
referring to tbeir being *men of united counseF
capable of hurling the irresistible " battering-
ram". These are, in other poems, associated
with Kongu, and are referred to as Kongu
Ilangosar in the Silappadhikaram. Kuruudokai
292 gives in detail the story that Nannan
killed a girl for having eaten a fruit that had
fallen from one of the trees in his garden into
a stream pf running water and was being
198 BEGINNINGS OF 8. INDIAN HISTOKY
carried dowa by it. He would not accept the

ransom offered of 9 times 9 elephants and
a golden statue of the girl of her own weight.
It must be said to the honour of the Tamils
that hisname was handed down to posterity
branded ^'as Nannan the woman- killer.*'
Aham 147 of the same author states that Aay
Eyinau, known as the commander-in-chief of
the Chera, fought with Mignili and fell in the
fight. Poem 152 has reference to Veliyan
Tittan and his port known as Perundurai, and
what looks a naval defeat of another chieftain
Pindan in this place. There are allusions to
Pali hill and Nalli. Aham 165 refers to the
Kosar ôf united counsel,' and seems to refer
to their location in Kongu. It also contains

the names Ann! and Mignili but the passage
is too corrupt to know the connection fully.
Aham 372 refers to the capture of Tirukkovi-
lur, the capital of Kari by Adiyaman of

Tagadur. That Paranar celebrated this inci-
dent is stated in plain terms by Avvaiyar, the

poetess, in poem 99 of Purananuru.
From these references collected in this
fashion we could form a more or less definite

CHKONOLOGY; TAMIL LITEEATURE 199
picture of the political divisions of the Tamil

land in the generation of Paranar. This
picture becomes very much more definite and
clear, if we could collate it vîth similar
imperfect pictures that we may form by a study
of other single authors such as Paranar himself.
We shall reserve that for a future occasion.
Now taking Paranar alone we find him cele-
brate the Chola who was father of Karikala

definitely as a contemporary, as also Seraman
Nedum Seraladan and the Chola Verpahara-
dakkai Peruvirarkkilli. This chola probably
was either the father of Karikala or his grand-
father. We find this Paranar celebrating

Seran Senguttuvan in the fifth section of the
Padirrupattu. We have alieady made reference
to this author's direct reference to Adiyaman,
Pehan, Nannan, Kari and others. These
must therefore have come all in one genera-
tion, that is, the generation extending from

the grand-father of Karikala to the Chera
Senguttuvan. The period of time ascribed to
any one of these chiefs must be a period that
would fit in with this political condition of
the Tamil land. It has already been pointed

out that this somewhat vague picture of the
political condition of the South is capable of
being completed by bringing into collation the
picture that can be made of it from other
authors whose works have come down to
us like those of Paranar. Without going
elaborately into that comparison I may at
once state that the Tamil land was divided
among the three kings : the Pandya with his
capital at Madura, the Chera with his capital

at Vanji on the west coast, and the Chola
with his capital at Uraiyur,^'^ at the commen-
cement of this generation. The intervening
region and the border land of the north where
a good deal of fight would have to be done was
divided among a number of chiefs who were
very often independent of the kings and some-
times acknowledged allegiance to one or other
of them. Of such we find mention in the
writings of Paranar himself. The information
that we obtain from him is confirmed and
supplemented by venerable poets among
^"^
Aham 31. Qeo<s^fSIQiutTQ —sSleoeo'^^êimû ih êo
Qêifit^ umui'^ uSpibQ^.

CHRONOLOGY: TAMIL LITERATURE 201
whom mention may be made of Mamulanar

from whom I have to draw for further infor-
mation later on. It is this latter that makes
mention of Palikat as the Vaduka frontier
(northern frontier)!^. The corresponding
frontier on the western side seems to ha-ve
extended to the north of the Tulu country
into which, as was noticed already a new
tribe with the name Kosar effected entry
in the days of Nannan^^. Immediately to the
east of them were the territories of the
two chiefs Vichchikkon and Irungovel of
Araiyam, just below this and along the hill
region bordering the western Ghats and the

Eastern where they meet the Western was
perhaps the chieftain Pari of Parambunadu.
To the east of it was the territory of Adiyaman
of Tagadur (Modern Dharmapuri), to the south
east of which was the territory of the chieftain

Ori with his territory round about the Kolli-
^^ Kur. 11 (^&)'2eods6tar0sisft Qi(dsfr(Tf)ôSTuu^.<Si}&dQQip
19 Aham 15 QldiLiloud&S Qucrjûa^LLQsnsîr.Q îtqd^ sneSp
Kur. 73. fBâfrearsor^pwrr — Qan&sr^ tSfTLlt^p GuiT-iQuj

QoiiTair^QunTi^Jd QsirsnQtjrreo
malais. Across into the South Arcot District^
particularly the hilly portions of the west, was
the territory of Kari with his capital Tiru-
kovilur. Behind them, almost in a sort of
second line, was the chieftain Pehan with his

territory round the Palnis ; Aay round the
Podiyil hill in the Madura and Tinnevelly dis-
tricts ; Evvi on the Coromandal coast with his
territory embracing a part of the Pudukkotta

state and the District of Kamnad. There is
another chief the Tondaiman Ilandirayan wha

was certainly the contemporary of Avvai and
Adiyaman Anji, though not directly mentioned
by Paranar. His Capital was at Kanchi and ha
ruled the territory round Kanchi under Chola
suzerainty. We have besides to locate, from the
works of , Paranar himself, the Kosar somewhere
in the Kongu country. This seems the political-
distribution of the territory belonging properly
to the Tamil land in the generation of Paranar
the poet. Any age therefore that could be
ascribed to the Sangam, in which Paranar did
play a prominent part, must exhibit more or
less this condition of political distribution of
territory in the Tamil country. Any age
CHRONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATURE
; 203
which, from what could be known of it, does

not visualise this political division has there-
lore necessarily to be rejected. The question
therefore now is whether the latter half
of the 6th and the first half of the 7th

century, fixed by Mr. Subramaniya Ayyar, or
the 5th century to which Mr. Eagava
Ayyangar assigns the Sangam, fit in with the
political circumstances thus shadowed forth
from the works of Paranar. The first alter-
native is very easily disposed of. The period

of a century from 560 to 650 was the period
when the great Pallavas were prominent
political factors in the south, and practically
the whole of the Tamil country was under
their influence in the northern half. The
southern enclave was equally indisputably in
the hands of the Pandyas among whom the
most prominent character was the famous
Kun Pandyan or Sundara Pandya or Ninrasir
Nedumaran. His contemporary of the north
was Narasimhavarman I, Pallavamalla. Both
of them had for their contemporaries alike the
Tevaram Hymners, Appar and Sambandar.
There is no reflection of this political condition
Id the literature under examination, nor is
there any prominent mention of the Pallavas at

all, in the region where they held, sway,
about which however, Paranar has a very large
number of references to make. While these
literary men take the greatest pains always to
distinguish one ruler from another of the same
dynasty by giving to each the distinguishing
epithet, it is not open to us to identify, with-
out sufficient lead from our sources, one ruler
with another without very substantial reasons.
The identification of Sendan Seliyau of the
copper plates with the Pandyan NedumSeliyan

of Talaiyalauganam fame is, to say the least,
not proven. In regard to the historical value

of the Silappadhikaram and Manimekhalai
about which a few words must be said here by
way of reply to Mr. Subramaniya Ayyar's
contemptuous reference^ which betokens an
amount of ignorance which would be inexcus-
able in one with any pretensions to scholarship.
Henguttuvan Sera figures prominently in both
the works. The author of the first is the younger
brother of Senguttuvan. The author of the
other is his friend and both of them worked at
CHKONOLOGY TAMIL LITEEATURE: 205^
a subject, legendary or other, that caught

their iraagination and dealt with it poetically,
laying the scene, however, in the contem-

porary Tamil India of their time. Now the
question is : Are we to accept the statement of
this prince-poet when he speaks of his paren-
tage or not, though he might choose to put it>
as a poet, in the mouth of one under a spell ?
Are we not to accept his statement in regard

to the achievements of his brother particularly
when they happen to be confirmed in every
detail by an independent poet Paranar who
celebrates him in one section of another work
Padirrupattu ? Those that have taken it upon
themselves to use these poems know their res-
ponsibility obviously, and use the material
presumably with critical care. It is just possible
that there are differences of opinion in respect of
a detail here or a detail there as being of a histo-
rical character or no. But a wholesale con-
demnation such as is found in the extract from
Mr. Subramaniya Ayyar quoted above, can
be but the offspring- of blank ignorance and
incapacity to appreciate other mental attitudes
and situations.
Passing oq now to the other period so far
ascribed, the Pandit is perhaps on a little more
safe ground, but the arguments with which
he finds it necessary to buttress this position
shows its weakness. I need only mention two
points here: (1) The erroneous and impossi-
ble identification of Mantaraja of Kurala with
Mandaramseral of Kerala which name, by the
way, does not find mention to my knowledge
in these works. (2) The equation of the
Vambamoriyar with the army of invasion under
Samudragupta. It has already been pointed
out that the interpretation of the quotation
regarding the Nandas is wrong altogether,
and that it is so is proved by a similar passage

in lines 4 and 5 of poem 251 of Aham^^ but ;
there are anumber of references which carry

the invasion of Mauryas up to Mohur of
Palayan Maran. In one of these passages at
any rate, the Pandit tries to establish the
contemporaneity of this invasion with the
Palayan Maran, which, from the text, is un-
tenable. The term MohQr is used in the
4i>pp€ULL.LjkiseorT QifTifi Q^rri^. Compare note 10, S. 89 anfee.

CHEONOLOGY TAMIL LITERATUKE: 207
passage to stand for the chieftain of Mohur

not necessarily Palayan Maran. That re-
ference and the various other references to the

Mauryas in Mamiilanar, as well as the reference
to their cutting their way through rock in

their march southwards, all of them do refer
possibly to a great southward invasion^! of the
Mauryas, a newly-esfcablished dynasty. We
know now beyond doubt, since the discovery
of the new edict of Asoka at Maski in the
Nizam's dominions, that Asoka's territory

•extended right down to the frontier of Mysore
within the boundaries of which other edicts
were discovered years ago. We know of no
wars excepting the famous Kalinga war that
Asoka carried on for purposes of conquest-
Chandragupta not having had the time to do
it, the further conquest of territories not
included within his Empire but included
within that of his grand-son, historians
ascribe to Chandragupta's son Bindusara,
the father of Asoka who himself held the
21 Aham 69 & 281. (î^rTifiiun seems the preferable

reading in Puram 175. The blundering of the commen-
tator is worth remarking.
viceroyalty of the southern frontiers with his
capital at Vidisa (Bilsa) The conquest
22.
of the south by the Mauryas must have

therefore been made either by Bindusara
the king, or, by the viceroy-prince, his son-
The term Vadukar used in this connection by
the Tamils is a general designation for all
northerners, and indicates, in the various

references before us, an onward move south-
wards of certain northern tribes of which we
get perhaps the final glimpse in the move-
ments of the Pallavas till they come intO'
occupation of Kanchi and the extension of

their power at least as far south as Trichinopoly
and Kumbhakonam. All the passages of

Mamulanar, referring to these incidents, refer
to them as past occurrences and not as con-
temporary events. This interpretation of the
passages relating to northerners agrees very
well with the claim of certain Tamil kings to
having won victories over the Aryan army,
which attribute is specifically given to the
22 V.A. Smith's Early History of India (3rd edition)

p. 149, Notice the footnote oontaioiDg the statement
of TaraDatha, the Tibetan historian*
CHRONOLOGY: TAMIL LITEEATUEE 209
Pandyan Nedum Seliyan whose name figures

in the Silappadhikaram. Such a general move-
ment against the north could on general

considerations be postulated only of the period
of confusion that followed the decline of
Maurya power in the north and the rise, to
the imperial position afterwards, of the

Andhras and the Andhrabhrityas in succes-
sion. The fifth century is hardly the century
in which we get anything like a glimpse
of such a great movement of people. With
this general position of affairs clearly before
us, the Gajabahu synchronism does not
appear in the least impossible ; but appears on
the contrary very highly probable. The infor-
mation that could be gathered from the Ceylon

Chronicle Mahavamsa compiled in its present
form in the 6th century, but from material put

together in epic form at the commencement
of the 4th century, from a written source
traceable to the first century B.C., is not as
unreliable as it is too readily taken to be. ]f
that Buddhist chronicle does not refer to
Pattinidevi in so many plain words we have.

no right to expect it; but that does not
14
invalidate the existence of a Gajabahu or of
his visit to the court of Senguttuvan Sera.^^
The synchronism thus established must, it
seems to me, stand ; no satisfactory reason

having been put forward so far to invalidate
it. The newer information only goes so far to
confirm it. The tradition of Pattini has taken
such a hold upon the people of Ceylon that it
is quite likely was introduced under the

it
favourable auspices inferable from the Silapp-

adhikaram, though naturally the Buddhist
chronicle of the Mahavihara omits mention
of it 24.
23 It muafc be noted, however, that other chronicles^

which may reach back to similar old sources, do mention
the incidenti specifically. (Vide Upham's — Eajaratnacari
& Eajavali)
24 Indian Antiquary. XLV pp. 72«78.
CHAPTEE V.
THE AGE OF PARANAE

It will be ^loticed from what has been said in
relation to the condition of Indian civilization
at the dawQ of the Era that the
Christian
information put together has been drawn from
various sources which have been merely
indicated in the course of the narration. It
would be worthwhile classifying and arrang-

ing these sources with a view to investigating
what exactly the relative value of each of
these sources would be in respect of the
particular period to which that general account
has reference. Some of these sources have
already been explained in sufi&cient fullness to
indicate their value such as the Dipavamsa
and the Mahavamsa, the chronicle accounts
of Buddhist Ceylon. ^ We have also indicated
in the course of the chapters II & III the
relative value of the classical writers; and
^ Vide chaps. 1 & 2 ante.
211
the Sanskrit writers who make any reference
to South India have been examined in some

detail in chapter I and their value estimated.
Coming down to inscriptions and epigraphi-

cal .matter generally, it may be said that the
material available for work for this period, is
30 little that we might assume that the

epigraphical material other than the legends
on coins is perhaps as good as absent, except
for the Asoka inscriptions and just a few others
in regard to this part of India. There is left
then the literary sources, of which both Tamil

and Sanskrit, and various Sanskritic languages
could be exploited usefully. But for this period
even Sanskrit and Sanskritic languages are of
comparatively minor importance to classical
Tamil literature, and that we shall take into
consideration just now.
In order the best to understand the value of
this'literature and appraise it at its real worth,
let us see a little more closely what exactly we

can find in relation to the particular authors
or particular generations of authors, and
having projected from such information as is
available, a picture from these sources alone,

THE AGE OF PAEANAE 213
we might then so far compare that with what

may be available, to check the accuracy of it,
from the other external sources to establish

the correctness of the picture already drawn of
South India at the beginning of the Christian
Era. To do this, we shall take a poet known

to readers of classical Tamil as Paranar.
Paranar was one of those traditional 49
literary men who constituted the third academy
of Madura. His name is of peculiar importance
in Tamil literature as it connects itself with the
names of certain well-known celebrities in that
literature, and in consequence we could gather

round his name certain well-known figures.
Moreover, he seems to have been a long lived
man and his generation takes in a pretty long
series of rulers and poets. By studying him
we can gain something like a full idea of what
the south India of his days was. Paranar is
regarded traditionally as a Brahman. His

writings occur in a large number of the Tamil
classics known collectively as Sangam litera-
ture. He is who sang of the Chera

a poet
Senguttuvan, whose name is connected at
once with the Sangam classics on the one side.
^14 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
and with the twin-epic Silappadikaram-Mani-
mekalai which, it has recently been contended
should be regarded as something quite apart
from the former, and separated from them by
a comparatively wide interval of time. It will
be clear even to the lay reader if Paranar

sang of Senguttuvan, as he does in the fifth
book of the Padirruppattu, and if Senguttuvan's

younger brother ,was the author of the Sila-
ppadikaram, and his friend, Sattan the author
of the Manimekalai, then the age of all of these
must be one and the same whatever that age

might be. Of Paranar*s works we have
twelve short pieces in the collection Narrinai,.
fifteen poems in the Kuruntogai, one ten of
the ten-tens (Padirruppattu) ; thirty-two
poems in the collection Ahananiiru and twelve
in the Purananiiru, with one in the collection
called Tiruvalluvamiilai. And such a number
would be considered voluminous work, and
have a comparatively wide range in respect
both of matter and manner. In Puram 4, ^ he
2 Qutreoi QîruSemû QuireSeif Q/strairfS
tu^SesT&Doj lutrseoriDfrQp. Paranar, Param 4.

THE AGE OF PAEANAK 215
celebrates a Chola Uruvapahrer Ilanjetchenni

whose somewhat queer name seems to be
derived from a comparison which this poet
has instituted to him in the poem, under
reference, where he is likened to the morning
sun who in radiant majesty rises out of the
sea in the glorious red of dawn. This Chola

we know from the poem Porunararruppadai
of Mudattamakkanniyar, ^ was the father of
the great Chola Karikala. He celebrates in

Puram 63 the Chera (Kudakko Nedumsera-
ladan *, and the Chola (Peruvirarkkilli) when
both had fought and fallen on the field of
battle- This same event is celebrated by
another poet who goes by the name Kalatta-
laiyar One of the so called last seven patrons
5.
by name Pehan whose territory was round the

Palnis was celebrated by this poet. One of
the references to him is in regard to his large
beneficence without expectation of a reward ^.
One supreme instance of such being his
* Nofce at foot of the poem.Paraflo. 62.
5 Puram. 141 & 142.

6 Param. 144 k 145.
providing a wild peacock with a cloak or mantle
as a protection against cold. The second
which is more to our point is his interces-
sion in behalf of Pehan's wife Kannaki
(not the heroine of the Silappadikaram)
whom he had abandoned in favour of a court-
esan. Paranar pursuaded him to walk in
the path of rectitude by returning to his
wife. On this same occasion in the same
sad connection three other poets intervened
in behalf of the abandoned wife. Their
names are : Kapilar, Arisil Kijar, and Perun-
gunrur Kilar, authors respectively of the
seventh, eighth, and nineth *
tens ' of the
*ten-tens' collection. In Puram 369 there
is reference according to the Colophon to the
Seraman Kadalottiya Vel Kelu Kuttuvan
(Kuttavan Chera, who drove his enemies with
his javelin on the sea) who must be regarded
as identical with Senguttuvan of the Sila-
ppadikaram, as Paranar refers to this latter in
almost identical terms in poem 46 of the

Padirruppattu '^.
In Narrinai six, he refers
QsrrQfBff&i QuoTQjiEJsedisisQQieSil.
THE AGE OF PAKANAR 217
to the chieftain Ori of the Kollimalais, and in

stanza 201 of the same work he has reference to
the famous statue of the goddess Kolli-
pavai. This poeb also describes in some detail
various transactions inconnection with the chief
Nannan of Konkan (Konkanam). Chief among
this was the war that the Chera undertook
against him. In the course of this war or in
another, the Chera general called Aay Eyinan,
the commander-in-chief of the Chera fell in
battle against Nannan's commander-in-chief
Gnimili ^. He also refers to the accumulation
of the vast wealth of Nannan in the citadal
Pali. One poem in Kuruntogai (292) gives in
detail the story of Nannan's putting to death
the girl that ate the fruit of Nannan's garden
carried down stream in a canal through the
11. lifcol3.
Qj&iaiGOLD QujuSesreir <£uîsji&a6sr (ZîraS^. ,

Aham 180*
Q/bQibQ/Sit (^L6)eSQujiT(S) Quir^^ssetru) uiLQu-ear.
Aham. 147.
garden 9. The savagery of this chieftain is
again brought under reference in Narrinai 270,
where he is described as having shorn his
enemies ' women folk of their hair to make
ropes of them for fastening captured elephants.
Reference has already been made to Paranar*&
stating that a tribe of people, the Kosar, enter-
ed Nannan*s territory after killing his state
elephant. There are a number of allusions to
several incidents in the life of Nannan.

Another reference that must be noted here,
as of some importance, is to the entry of the
Kosar into Kongu in Aham 195 ^^.
Eeturning now tothe fifth-ten of the Padirru-

pattu, where he celebrates Senguttuvan Chera,
we find Senguttuvan Chera described in the
Padikam (epilogue) as the son of Nedumsera-
ladan " King of the westerners by Manakkilli '*
i-f6ifrp(ûsf-iEisfTLu ^Gsrp^^puup
Qsrrearu^p 20>m-u^<s6fflp Qpi—^'ssS(3Sip
Qunar Qffdj uiT<sa>eu QstrûueijraQsiT&retnT'ar
Queaa Qsrr'^ LfiftiiîBeorear&fr QupeO,

Kuruntogai 292.
10 ârgv QiDfTifis Qstr^nsQsn&srSf QpneaaQuirQuu
THE AGE OF PAEANAB 219
a Chola Princess i^.

He is said first of all to-
have marched across forests up to the Ganges,

defeating his enemies on the way for the pur-
pose of a stone to make the statue of Pattini

(the deified heroine Kannaki). He is also
said to have returned from the expedition

bringing in a vast number of heads of cattle
belonging to his enemies. The next achieve-
ment of his is the utter defeat of his enemies-
at Viyalur and the destruction of the place-
Getting across to the other shore, he destroyed

the fortifications of Koduhur. He marched
further into the territory of Palayan and
having cut down his margosa tree (perhaps
another totem) captured a number of his
elephants and yoked them together by rope&

made of the hair of the women folk of the
enemies. His next exploit is the defeat and
destruction of a number of Chola princes,
collateral cousins of the reigning ruler, who
carried on constant war for the time being out-
side Vayil (Nerivayil of other works). And last
of all is the destruction of his enemies on the

sea, which was already referred to in
11 She is called Narchoâi in the Silappadikaram.
I
connection with Puram 369. Of the various

incidents found in this padikam (the epilogue
of the poem) some of them are described in
detail in the body of the poem itself. His

northern invasion is described in general terms
in lines 6 to 11 of poem 43 of the Padirrup-
pattu ^2. His invasion against the territory of
Palayan and his allies, and what he is said to

have done there in the course of this war are
described in some fullness of detail in lines 10
to 17 of poem 44 i^.
There is a reference to his
wearing *
the garland of seven crowns' in line
6 of poem 451^. In poem 46, lines 11 to 14,
there is a clear reference to his fight on the sea
and the destruction of the protection that the
sea offered to his enemies : obviously the pirates
QjL^^GDf Qajeo'^ uSldujldits^
Q/feareariEo îniflQajfTi—fr iileeii-.ajtff^
Qpa^&iit—u Qu0(e^ûi!B^ ea>ûuQjfriTLjQuL^s=
Qfirdoueo isitlLosh—^ Q^frdoaeS earL^^û

(ourrffQ^rr'BeaTLJ Quireois^triT (^LLQea
13 QmtTsîT wearearesr QpnsihQsnesa®
14 eTQpQ^L^ unTfftSliosr (Siibûu Q^neO.

THE AGE OF PAKANAK 221
who found their shelter in the sea ^^. In line 4

of stanza 48, he is described figuratively as a
veritable fisherman ^^, who constantly engaged
himself on the sea to get rid of his enemies
with a view to making the articles coming
over sea, available to those inside his own
territory. In poem 49 lines 7 to 10 and in
lines 16 to 17, there is a reference again to the
determined stand made by Palayan against this

Chera and his final destruction ^'^.
The last
of all in poem 50, line 7, there is an obvious

reference to the junction of the three rivers
Kauvery, Amravati, and Kudavanar ^s. This
Qssireo <s<^p{Sluun'ô«Ts
15 QsiT(£lfBff60 QueijOjiE] seomsQeueSUL
16 i§lT Ljd^S
17 Qeuio QuirnQojiB^Q^LC) QoietB^m QLoirm^ Quhtlîs^

Qu)muQj<s(r(i^ Q^^sQ Qlditîe^ Qj^QiDtT mjr
eueOLDu®(s^(ip iS'2e\)uj^ff uaeavuf.
18 sneSiBiuek rSiLiLjD(^(sSifl LjearQeOir^

.222 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOKY
last reference, I bring in here, as recently a
great deal had been made of it to show that
the capital of the Chera was Karoor on the
Amravati (An Porunai or Porundam.) As
against this there is in this very poem itself
a number of references to the perennial flow of
water in his Periyar, which in one place

at any rate is described as having its source
in his territory and emptying itself into the
sea in his own territory. (L. 13 to 18 of poem
48) 1^. Keference also might be made to line
15 of poem 43 ô.
The meaning of the reference
to the three streams is obvious if one remem-

bers that his uncle is said to have conquered
the country of Kongu in line 15 to 16 of poem
22 of this collection 21.
Of these achievements, the Silappadikaram

describes elaborately his northern invasion,
19 [Sasrui'?scu iSpiEjp Saffsiêo mesa®
20 ^êStDjbjD QuQ^supp srr'êoiLjir)
.ill unrQanpQstTiEja^ iBrrLsuu®^^

THE AGE OF PAKANAE 223
and makes clear reference to his having under-

taken it for the purpose of bringing the stone
and of the various details as to his victories
against the northern enemies ; but how far the
invasions were true is not exactly to our

purpose at present. It is, however, a pity
that there is not a reference to this pattini
in those words in the body of the work
apart from the epilogue. What is called a
padikam or payiram in Tamil, an epilogue and
a prologue respectively, is not to be added at
any time and by everybody that chooses. It is
generally of the nature of a preface, or a fore-

ward, or a recommendation made by one more
or less directly or intimately connected with
the author. The only remote man who can
do this is a commentator, but I believe not
generally one who is separated very remotely

from the author. In any case, the presump-
tion of the statement being untrue would be
unwarranted when we find all the other state-
ments made in this piece are confirmed by
reference to the body of the work. Even in
respect of this particular it cannot be said that

there is no reference as it is possible to read it
224 BEGINNINGS OF S.INDIAN HISTOKY
in lines 6 to 11 of poem 4322. The others of
them are repeated almost in the same words
in at least two places in the Silappadikaram
by the anthor, who is no other than the
younger brother of this Chera ruler himself-
There are however, in respect of these
achievements two matters which call for special
remark. His father claims victory over

Kadambu of the sea in lines 13 and 14, of
poem 11 23^ There is reference to the same inci-
dent in line 3 of poem 12 2*, in lines 4 & 5 of

poem 17 25^ and in lines 2 to 4 of poem 20 ^6.
QJL-.^(SS)<SP QujSo'ûSujUjlditss^
Q^rr6du6i>iBnLL<ss)L^ji Q^neos&)€arL^^^
QuiTn®/in'2einu Qun'&)!s^ffiTS(^LL®ai.
23 ueOiT QiMfrQikQ^fTLLiîu ^ffekLLrEisi—thiSl^
36 cTiEjQsir
oS^QpofTQ^ iT;ij[i0^fi iLjeaar
(Tfiffesifi(cLuiTiT^^'2ecs= QêBrgm
THE AGE OF PABANAK 225
The last of these refers distinctly to an island

of his enemies which may be of the nature of a
delta. He is also credited with having imprin-
ted his bow emblem on the Himalayas after

having subdued the Aryas of the north. But,
strangely enough he is also given credit in
the padikam at the end of the second-ten
of his having taken prisoners some Greeks
(Yavanas), bound their hands behind their back
as prisoners, and pouring ghee on their heads
and taking what seems to be meant
for heavy ranson for setting them free.
It is the first achievement of his, which in
another place the poet describes as giving him
the primacy among rulers between the Hima-
layas and Gape Comorin, that gave him the
name Imayavaramban Nedumseraladan,
'
' the
former word meaning he that had the Himala-
yas for his boundary. This expression, like a
few others of the kind unfortunately, has been
corrupted by the late Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai
into *
Imayavarman ' for which there is abso-
lutely no authority in the texts concerned.
These incidents of the father are of some
importance as the titles derived from these
15
are applied to the son. The third ten of
this work has reference to a younger
brother of Imayavaramban, and therefore
the uncle of Senguttuvan. He is given credit
for having overthrown the fort of Ayirai
(poem 21 line 29) ^7 ; he is given credit
for having brought the Kongu Nadu under

his control in lines 15-22 of poem. 23. Line
26 2^ of the same poem gives him credit for
having destroyed a hill fort somewhere. In lines

10 and 11 of poem 28 ^9 there is again a clear
reference to the Periyar being the river of these
Gheras. But of course the Periyar may be
referred to generally as the great river, but in
interpreting this, one ought not to forget the
statement that he it was that brought the
Kongu under his control and therefore the river
of the Chera should be interpreted as having
reference to a river in the Chera country proper
and not in a later acqui&ition. It is this con-
quest of the Chera that has given him credit

27 QiB0iuiT Qis®aiea>ffujiiSsoirLJ QuiT(T^m.
THE AGE OF PARANAR 227
for having bathed in both the seas in one and

the same day^^, which is only perhaps a some-
what exaggerated way of stating that in his
time his territory touched both the eastern
and western seas. So then we see that Sengut-
tuvan who succeeded probably both his father
and uncle became the heir to territory right
across the whole of south India from the west
coast in Cochin to somewhere across to the
east coast through Kongu. Whatever the
justification or otherwise, both the father
Nedumseral and the son Senguttuvan lay claim
to ^
the garland of seven crowns ', which could
mean no more than what the Mummudi
of the later times did mean, the three crowns
and the seven crowns respectively, signifying
the rulership of the three kingdoms and per-
haps the seven kingdoms. This seven is not
a mystic number. There seem to have been
seven principal chieftains among whom the
territory in south India was divided at the time,
as we shall notice in another connection.
Padigam. to third ten of the Ten. Tens.

In this particular conuectioa the historical

character of these poems, cannot be called into
question even by those who had the greatest
objections to find historical matter in the

twin-epic Silappadikaram - Manimekalai.
But as against them this must be said
that the authors of the twin-epic were one of
them a brother, and the other a friend
of Senguttuvan and what either of them

has to say in the historical passages of
the poem, which are easily distinguishable

from the rest, find confirmation detail for
detail in these poems which are very much

more historical. All honest scepticisms there-
fore must accept as historical such personal

touches as one finds even in romances. The
real difficulty is the necessary critical
faculty to distinguish what is historical in
an unhistorical work. Senguttuvan Sera's

father and uncle, therefore, were historical
personages in whose reigns the western
sea littoral of India was infested by pirates^^,
31 This view of the term Kaditnba in the poems finds

sfcroog couficmabion in th^ Gioy of N*QQan having been
koowa 'Kaâmbia paruvayil' {vide Padigam in the fourbh-
THE AaE OF PAEANAE 229
and both the father and the son exerted

themselves untiringly to put an end to
this piracy on their coast. That they did it
with great success is in evidence in the

various Tamil poems which describe the
flourishing and very highly valuable trade of
the ports of the west coast. Such a state of
things both in regard to the piracy of the
coast, and to its absence at a particular period,
are in the clearest terms detailed in regard to

Koman trade in the work of the classical
geographers. It has already been pointed out
that Pliny complains of this piracy ;
perhaps
soon after Pliny got his information, the care^
ful author of the Periplus makes mention
of it, in the region opposite his Chersonesus.
ten poem. 40 II. 13 15.) — :

^ ; and the Kadanobar being
one among four Kudies (cultivafeors) in Puram. 335
11. 7 and 8. 2.
Kappiyarrukkappiyanar on Kalangaykkanui narmu-

diohcberal.
2 ^Lûiear urretzi&ir uetDpuum SLîhuQearasr
Mangudi Kilar,
2B0 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
He then proceeds to mention what he calls^
the White Island before coming down to Naura

and Tyndis, the first markets of Damirica.
The Chersonesus in the Periplus seems un-
doubtedly to refer to the tongue of land
which makes a small peninsula at the mouth of
the Kali Nadi as it is called in North Canara.

Opposite to this is the cluster of islands called
the '
Oyster Rocks '
perhaps the Caenitae of
the Periplus. White Island is the Lieuke of
the geographers and is the same as the verna-
cular Velliyan Kallu or Tuvakkîl, either of
which is an exact translation of Lieuke or
White Island. This is identified with
Pigeon Island in the new Imperial Gazetteer^^.
Then we come to the first ports of Damirica
(Tamil country) and they are given as Naura
and Tyndis corresponding to Nitras and Tyndis
of Ptolemy. Ptolemy describes Nitras as a
mart in the country, which he describes as
Ariaka Andron Peiraton, that is the Ariaka of
the pirates. It is of this Nitras that Pliny

remarks that " ships frequenting the great
emporium of Mouziris ran the risk of being.

32 Vol. 20 p. 136.
THE AGE OF PABANAE 231
attacked by pirates, who infested the neigh-

bourhood and possessed a place called Nitras.
Thus Nitras figures both as a mart and as an
island off the coast. This could only mean
that the island was on the line of entry to
the port of Nitras wherever that was. Nitras
or Naura of Pliny is identified by Mr. Schofi

with Cannanore which appears too far south.
Cannanore, as has been already pointed out,
is the Mont d'Ely of the mediaeval geogra-
phers. Yule's guess that Nitras refers to
Mangalore turns out correct. Mangalore is
situated at the head of a delta formed by two

rivers Netravati and Gurupa. It is the Nitravati
that has given thename Nitrias or Nitron or

perhaps even Naura to the city. That may
also have been the cause of the name of the
island Nitron set over against the port.
Tyndis is much farther south and has been

identified with Kadalundi, not far from where
Beypore is at present. Thus then we find the
pirate coast of the Periplus to have been
between Karwar point at the southern extre-
mity of North Canara and the port of
Mangalore. That answers exactly to the

232 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY,
description that we get in early Tamil litera-
ture of the Kadark-Kadambu (the Kadamba
pirates) having been found in the sea and
having to be constantly defeated by war across
the sea to their island-rendezvous by both the
Chera Senguttuvan and his father. ThsLt
would explain why Ptolemy has got absolutely
nothing more to say of these pirates than the
mere chracterization of the coast as the
pirate coast. The Kadambas must have
been a pirate race to begin with till they
were re-claimed to civilization somewhat later
perhaps. This conclusion is certainly in
keeping with the position of the savage Nan-
nan, the wooien-killer, whose capital is
described, as already remarked, as Kadambin

Peruvayil, that is the large and the wide gate
of the Kadamba country. He was after cons-
tant war put to death by another Chera

celebrity Kalangaykkanni Narmudi-ch-Cheral,
the hero of the fourth '
ten ' of the *
ten-tens.'
Thus then it is clear that these poems of
classical Tamil taken along with what is
available in the Classical geographers makes

it clear that the first Cheras known to history
—
THE AGE OF PAEANAR 233
distinguished themselves in the southern oppo-

sition set up to the Aryan incursions from the
north, and made conquests in south India
so as to extend their territory from coast to
coast across the peninsula. Their particular

service however to civilization consisted in
their suppression of this pest of piracy on the
west coast which both the first Chera known
to us and his son took so much pains to sup-
press, while other Cheras perhaps subordinate
chieftains did make substantial contribution
towards achieving this object. The period
when this littoral was free from pirates extend-
ed approximately from A.D. 80to A,D. 222,
the date of Peutingerian Tables.
A study of the poems of Paranar with such
of the available collateral material both liter-
ary and other leads to this knowledge which is
found confirmed by two collateral lines of

evidence extraneous to this literature : namely
the information available from the classical
geographers, and the results that could be
drawn from the various finds of Roman coins
along the coast of this part of the country and ;
these results might be set down as follows :

234 BEGINfTINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
Paranar has reference principally only to the
Chola kings and the Chera kings. He does not
appear to have celebrated the Pandya rulerss
very much. He has at any rate something to

say of various chieftains who figure incidentally
in his poems and the fact that recurs in respect
of three or four Chera rulers and chieftains that
they wore " the garland of the seven crowns '*
would refer to the seven chieftains known in

Tamil literature as the seven last patrons of lite-
rature. The Chola kings are in order Peruviral
Killi, his successorllanjet-Chenni, his successor

Carikala with an indirect reference to a number
of Killis (Cholas) who fought in fratricidal
war bringing on the active intervention of the
great Red Chera (Senguttuvan). In regard to

the Chera, he celebrates Imayavaramban
Nedum Serai and his son Senguttuvan Sera a
younger brother of the first and another chief-
tain Narmudi Cberal figuring as it were in
between the two. We have certainly to bring
in within the age of Paranar the chief Pehan,
otherwise called Vayavikkon-perum-Pehan.
The mention of the Chola and the Chera who
fought and fell on the field of battle brings him
THE AGE OF PAEANAE 235
into contemporaneity with another poet

Kalattalayar, who celebrated the same event.
This latter poet is also stated in another poem
by Kapilar to have destroyed the capital city
Araiyam of Irungo Vel by Kapilar whose elder
contemporary he must have been.
In this connection we may consider a few re-
ferences in Mamulanar, the other poet to whose
work we made reference already in a previous
chapter. One reference of importance is in
poem 55 Aham, which refers in specific terms to
the battle of Vennil where the Chola Karikala
defeated the contemporary Chera, who feeling
ashamed of a wound on the back is stated to

have committed suicide by starvation. This
very same incident is referred to by two other
poets Kalattalaiyar and Vennikkuyattiyar in
almost the same specific terms respectively in
Puram 65 and 66. While the first poet's
reference may be considered somewhat indirect,
that of the other two is quite direct and
specific and is almost addressed straight to
one of the combatants, the victor in this parti-
cular instance. This same poet Mamulanar
has in poem 126/27 of Aham a clear reference
to the Cheras' achievement against the pirates
and this may lead to the inference that the
poet was contemporary with him. He refers
to a Pandyan also but gives no specific

indication as to which of the Pandyans
it is. There is in the same work 232/33 a
reference to the Chera who fed the hosts in the
Bharata war. What is more particularly to
our point at present is the reference to a battle
where Evvi, a chieftain of the Pandyan
country, one among the seven patrons fell in
battle. There he mentions the name of Paranar

and brings him in connection with the fallen
chief as having praised his valour, and that
makes Evvi contemporary with Paranar.
Another chief that is brought into contem-
poraneity with Paranar is the Adigaman Anji
of Tagadur (Dharmapuri in the Salem District).
This chief is said in poem 114 of Mamular to
have been in hiding along with his relations
out of fear of a chief who seems to be Nannan,
if the reading of the text is correct. In poem
207, Paranar refers to the KoUimalais as be-
longing to Ori, but in the next following poem
however, another author by name Kalladan
THE AGE OF PAEAN AE 237
refers- to the death of this Ori. According to

this, Ori was put to death by Kiiri of Tirukkoilur
who made over Kolli to the Chera king. The
allusion here is to a war or rather a series of
wars perhaps of ambition. Anji of Tagadur

laid siege to Tirukkoilur of Kari having de-
featedhim in the field. Kari not being able
to make an effective stand against the enemy,
went for protection to the Chera who was
anxious to gret possession of the Kollimalais.
Kari volunteered service, went across at the
head of an army, defeated and killed Ori and
made over the territory round Kollimalais to
the Chera. In the same poem this Kalladan
refers to the battle Alanganam where the
" seven " were defeated by the Pandya. We
shall refer to this later. Without proceeding
further unnecessary length we might now
take it that Paranar was acquainted with
the chief Kari, Ori, and Evvi, among the
famous seven, not to speak of the minor ones.
We have already referred to his connection
with Nannan. Thus then we come to a
generation, Paranar's generation of poets and
patrons, that gives us a number of Cheras and
Cholas in succession, as also the majority of
the chiefs who go by the name the last *

seven
patrons in Tamil literature/ We shall
consider one or two other poets of the like

eminence with Paranar and then say whether
the postulating of a body called the third
academy of Madura is warranted by this body
of literature. By way of summary however,
we might put it here that the Chola Karikala,
his father and grand-father were contempora-
ries with the Chera Nedum Serai and his father,
perhaps also this Chera^s son Senguttuvan.

The chieftains are : Pehan, Ori, Kari, Adigan,
Evvi^ Nannan and Aay-Eyinan. All these
seem referable to the same age, that of the
generation covered by Paranar. The poets
that we have already come across are : Para-
nar himself, Mamulanar, Kapilar, Arisil Kilar,
Perungunrur kilar, Kalattalaiyar, Vennikku-
yattiyar and Kalladanar, and these give
promise of a complete academy itself. Though
Paranar does not in so many words specifical-
ly refer to any particular Pandiyan, there is
one reference which ought not to be passed

over and that is in Aham 115. There is a
THE AGE OF PAEANAB 239
tattle referred to here at Kudarp-Parandalai-

The first part Kudal would refer to Madura,
the second part might be simply interpreted
as a battle-field. In this battle the Pandya
beat off from the place the two other kings
who simultaneously attacked him and captured
their war drums. This sounds very much like
the war of the young Pandya king known in
literature as victor at Talaiyalanganam,
whosehistory we shall take up forconsideration.
:
CHAPTEE VI.
THE AGE OF THE TALAIYALANGANAT-
TUP-PANDYAN NEDUM'SELIYAN
I — Sangam Literature,
This personage is a great Pandyan, one of
the latest perhaps of the age we have taken
for consideration. This complex name is
composed of the general designation with a
few modifying adjuncts. Seliyan or Nedum-
seliyan may be considered his name. To
distinguish him from others of that name,
because this is a common enough name among
the Pandyas, the attribute is added of his
victory at Talaiyalanganam, identical probably
with a village not far from the Nidamangalam
Kailway station in the Tanjore district.
In that battle he is stated to have won

a victory against a combination of all the
kings and chieftains of the Tamil country.
The fact that he is given this distinct
epithet shows that, to the literary men of the

age, there was no other battle of that name
known, nor of a Pandyan who stood victorious.
210
TALAIYALANGANAT-TUP-PANDYAN 241
To us this character is of the highest import-
ance historically, because it seems to be he

that comes into connection with the Pandyas
of a later time specifically referable in inscrip-
tions. From the poems it is clear he came to

the throne of his fathers quite young. The
neighbouring powers taking advantage of the
new succession and of the youthfulness of the
successor, marched with their allies, the five
chieftains, and laid siege to Madura. It is
then that the youthful monarch is stated to
have made the poem 72 of Puram in which he

said " they look ludicrous indeed i who saying
that this ruler is young marched at the head
u®uessfluSirLL®ir) urrojuûuSessr^jSir
QemQiBeOiufrêsnijiB Q^^Lorrofih
&gjuQfirp Q^neoeSiu &eansjQs(ip Qeuis/feiDff
QL-(T0iEiasLJu Qi—er^ttSp QuiTQîkûj
Qanuîu QearujbSsDjDQujear'i aGxnGs^nuffuiSd
QoitrmiStu îpuiSîunk/f Qs&reS

16
»

of their vast armies to the siege of my capital
talking lightly of my prowess. If in this war I
do not defeat their armies and capture all their
war drums and themselves may
as prisoners,
my rule offer no protection to my subjects; may

my subjects weep for lack of it, and blame me
as an unworthy monarch; may the poets of my
court with Mangudi Marudan cease to cele-
brate me in poems of praise." The same senti-
ment and the mean advantage that the other
rulers took of his youth, and what they
thought his helpless condition, are portrayed
in the four next following poems by one poet
who goes by the name Idaik-Kunrur Kilar,
who says in the first that the seven rulers

marched upon the one king, Pandya. He
expresses surprise at the unusual sight of the
whole body of '

seven' attacking the single
ruler. In the following three poems he refers
to the youth of the Pandyan and of the attack
LjffuQufTir LârsGSBtsp^n
eSauQunnsSinn eSaêainiunglipQ^
The Pandyan of Talaiyalanganam Param 72,
being delivered upon his city wherefrom he

beat the enemies oE to their own territory and
destroyed them there. That he was attacked
outside his own city, is referred to in Aham 115
of Paranar.2 It was this battle that was cele-
brated elaborately both in the Madurai Kanchi

ofMaogudi Marudan> otherwise referred to as
Mangudi Kilar, and the poem Nedunal Vadai of
Narkirar perhaps refers to the same campaign.
The battle itself is very well described by this
latter poet directly in Aham 36.^ Of the poets
LapuQunii^ Q^Lfituear
2 &DLDiuetBLUfT'2e9r
QuntbtuneSiiêSp sku—pupis^'^
u^Lj2an' IB Q^(ipi^ eSI(T^Qu0(oaji3îT
Qnii(d LfpiEJseetBL^ (^nm&Dp.

Paranar in Aham. 110.
3 QsiTUJSrQlITU L^jeiSs QsfTl^/iCc^lT^
Q^LfliUfêOiEjsrr&fT/i^ âirp'2eoâjuu^
Qs=ff&)j QjFuoiSiijueifr, êariaQsop^îuear^

QuniJQjeSliurT'BesTLJ QuireOihL^QesinLêaff,
iBifnîBpeS QesT^nâain^g&sr^
.(j^QsrrQQi&Ra LuneSuuQprruQuftQîtGsr (Q^jreor.)

Qp(lpQjlT lEeVSUeOLCLJEJa QQjlf0USeO
QsrT€or^s&Tu> QQjLlu^(^rr€areap.
Narkkirar in Aham, 36.

thab celebrated this great Pandyan, Mangudi
Marudan was perhaps the oldest and the most
respected.Next follows the great poet and
grammarian Narkirar. Another one of equal
eminence was Madurai Marudan Ilanagan,

as he was called. Another important poet
was Kalladan, besides Kudapulaviyanar, lyiir
Mudavanar, Karikkannan of Kaveripatam and
Idaik-Kunrur Kilar.
This famous battle of history is described in
some detail by Narkirar who sets down, in

Aham 36 already referred to, the combatants
against him as §eral,Sembian (Chola), Titiyan,
Elini (son of the Adiyaman Anji of Tagadur),
Erumaiyuran, Irungo Venman, Terpporunan.
Aham 208 * of Kalladan refers to the battle
of Alanganam and speaks of the seven, refer-

ring in the same poem as an event of the past
the capture of the Kollimalais by Kari from
4 QuireareareasB Qib®ibQît^ Q^ssrGsrn Qsnuxrasr
Kalladan in Aham 208.

.
Ori, and its gift Chera by the former ^.

to the
Among these seven were the Chera and the
Chola who are taken to be respectively the
Chera Yanaik-kat-Chey Mantaram Serai
Irumporai and the Chola Rajasuyam Vitta
Perunarkkilli, who together are celebrated by a
poet by name Vadavannakkan Perumjattan
though the two are not connected by name in
the poem itself ^. This defect is remedied to a
great extent by the direct reference in Puram
17 of Kurungoliyur Kilar of the imprisonment
of Yanaik-kat-Chey by the superior force of
the Pandya, who is clearly this Pandyan of
Talaiyalanganam. ^ That this Chera chief is
sometimes referred to with the attribute
of the elephant-look is clearly explained in
5 Qp&T^fr LDiiresresr SL^Q(rij'isf.saniB
QeoniflsQsneksi (cfueOiTs^/SjS
QfGuajiTUJu ueoeSear ULUis/QsQ^Gsir&i&S
Ibid in Aham 208.
6 Param 125.
7 11. 20 and 21. read in connection with the com-

parison to elephant fallen into a pit. See also Commen*
tary on p. 23 Mab. Swaminathaier's edition.
Puram 22. ^ Another poet Porundil Ilangiran

celebrates this Chera of the elephant-look,
and makes a very interesting reference in the
course of the poem to a remark made by the
Chera in respect of the older poet Kapilar,
which gives us an idea of the age to which

we shall have to allot this group of poets and
patrons. The reference is it were '*
better that
there was now alive Kapilar of illustrious
name, whose skill in making poetry, and

whose information on matters of importance,
were unparalleled." The poet says that this
remark was made by the prince himself and
approves of it, following that if he were alive he
would certainly set forth the praise of the
Chera's country in suitable poetry .^ The group-
KurungoHyar Kilar in Param 22..
9 Q^&i^^ QsîLil^lL Q fibs' QfiBistreiSafr
€8fâfr^<sfriâSsarear^tD QesrearpiSair
@)'8 QsiTsirQiif^(SS)fd Qairuuu

utf^doiGfT i£)^^pueB}SQj<ss)na slûQu,
Porundil Ilangiran in Puram 63.

therefore is to be referred to a time after the
death of the poet Kapilar whom we hare

already referred to as a comparatively junior
contemporary of Paranar.
This same conclusion is forced upon us by

Narkirar, another contemporary poet who cele-
brated elaborately this same Pandyan. In

Aham 78, Narkirar refers to Pari of Parambu-
nadu, the life-long friend of the elder poet
Kapilar, who was at one time besieged by the

three kings and some chiefs, and who being
hard pressed for food in his citadel, employed
parrots to fly out of the fort and bring in ears
of corn for the use of the besieged on the
advice of Kapilar. This is the last siege of
Pari's fortress and we know from Kapilar's

history that Pari fell in this siege and
Kapilar went forward with the two daughters
of Pari thus orphaned to get them married
properly. This brings Narkirar into connection
with Kapilar, as a younger and not perhaps
very remote contemporary. In 253-52 there
is a reference to the Pandya having driven
away the Kongar, wherefrom is not exactly
stated. In the same poem this Narkirar refers
to the chief Erumai and his country. In
290-89 of the same poet there is a flattering
reference to a Chera and in 345 the Pandyan
is said to have defeated the Chola in Kudal
(Madura). The camp life Pandyan
of this
when he is out for war forms the theme

of his poem Nedunal
' Vadai, one of the
Patfcuppattu. We shall revert to this Narkirar
jMresently. But we may nobe in passing here,
Puram 57, where a poet by name Kari Kannan
of Kaveripattanam exhorts the Pandya to
desist under all circumstances, from cutting
down what are called Guard-trees (Kaval-
maram). What actually the poet says is, you '
may let your army plunder the standing

crops of the enemy you may
;
let them set fire
to their cities ;
you may kill enemy warriors,
but see that you permit the destruction of
Guard-trees under no circumstances ; the way
that even the first three alternatives are put
in, indicating they were measures to be adopt-
ed only under exceptional circumstances.
In this comparatively short investigation,
we have come upon the three contemporary
kings, the young Pandyan, victor at Talaiya-

:
langaaam; the Chera of the elephant-look,

and the Chola who celebrated Eajasiiya as
contemporary sovereigns. A number of chiefs
are brought in, but they are of a minor
character. The greater chiefs, who went by
the common designation, *
the seven last
patrons,' are referred to only as having lived

and gone, and the chiefs that figured in the
battle of Alanganam itself are chiefs of the
following generation, as mention of Elini,
son Adigaman unmistakeably shows. Bound
of
these rulers are gathered some of the poets of

the first rank, among them prominent men-
tion must be made of Mangudi Marudan,
Narkirar, Madurai Marudan Ilanagan, Kalla-
dan and a number of others. Of these, the latter
three, namely, Narkirar Ilanagan and Kalladan
come together in a particular connection.
Kalladan is believed to have written a com-
mentary on the Tolkappiyam. The other two,
Ilanagan and Narkirar are both of them said
to have commented on the work Iraiyanar
Ahaporul., the third section of classical
Tamil grammar. The story is briefly this
that in the days of the third Sangam, the

Pandya country was afflicted by a twelve-

years famine. The Pandyan finding it impos-
sible to maintain his court asked the men of
learning, who were dependent upon him, to
leave the country and go elsewhere, as his
resources were exhausted ; when the famine
ceased he got back together such of them as
were still available, but found on examination
that none of those that returned to his court
knew anything, or perhaps enough, of this sec-
tion of Tamil grammar. When he was much

exercised about this,God Siva himself took
pity upon his anxiety and made this section
of grammar, which is by far the biggest and

the most elaborate of the Tolkappiyam, in sixty
sutras, inscribed them on copper plates and
left them underneath the seat of the idol in the
temple of Madura. The priest who went to
clean the Sanctum in the morning found
the plates which on examination proved to
contain that particular section of grammar.
Such a vast subject being dealt in sixty sutras
made it extraordinarily brief, and could

hardly be understood without commentary.
So the Pandyan asked such of the Pandits aa
TALAIYALANGANAT-TUP.PANDYAN 251
were at court to take upon themselves to write
the commentary. Some of them did attempt

it, but the acceptance of that which was the
best was a matter of great difficulty and could
be done only by an expert chairman. They
could not find a suitable one and had therefore
to appeal again to god Siva himself, who
indicated the dumb son of a Brahman in
Madura. The little child was five years old,
born dumb, and was the son of Uppuri Kudi
Kilan. His name was Rudrasarman. Of the
commentaries presented to this dumb prodigy
there were a number ; as each one was read
he kept quiet ; when Marugan Ilanagan got
to read commentary the child wept at
his
certain places; when again Narkirar read his

comment the child was perpetually weeping
in token of complete approval. The story
when the extraneous embellishments are
removed amounts merely to this : that the
abbreviated grammar known as Iraiyanar
Ahapporul was commented upon by a number
of scholars. The most approved commentary
turned out to be that by Narkirar ; Ilanagan's
came next best, very much like Parimelala-
gar's commentary on the Kural, having been
accredited the best and being perhaps the only
commentary now available, excepting for the
statement contained in this story regarding the
others. We have no evidence of the existence
of Ilanagan's commentary on these sutras at
all.The whole question now is who is this Nar-
kirar and who was the Pandyan. A continuous
tradition connects this commentator Narkirar

with the famous Narkirar of the Sangam, who
in another story is said to have differed from
God Siva himself in respect of a particular de-
tail connected with this section of grammar.^^
The old story related above, queer as it may
seem at first-sight, still perhaps has a basis of
fact and brings Marudan Ilanagan, or Madurai
Marudan Ilanagan into contemporaneity with
Narkirar. It would be doing no violence to
history at all to take these two as referring to
the two poets whose name occurs so largely in
the Sangam works. The famous Pandyan in
1^. The poem in Kurumfcogai which was the cause of
this diiference is found both in the text of this classical
collection and also is qaoted in illustration of Sucra 2 of

the Iraiyanar Ahapporul (vide p. 39 of Mr. 0. W»
Thamodaram Pillai's Bdn.)
whose court they flourished must then be the

Paadyan victor at Talaiyalanganam. The
commeatary that has actually come down ta
us is the commentary of this Narkirar handed
down by word of mouth through ten genera-
tions of pupils till, at last, Nilakantan, the
teacher at Musiri, handed it on to others.
The opinion of Pandits now-a-days is that
probably a successor of this Nilakantan, the
great commentator known as Ilampuranar
put it in its present form. It may be Nila-
kantan himself that did this. The modern
commentary, such as it is, exhibits twa
layers, one which is old with most of the
illustrations in archaic Tamil from the classics,
with the second layer superimposed where the

illustrations to the extent of 315 stanzas of
poetry are made on purpose in a more modern
language to be ordinarily understood by the
pupils. That it is so is clearly in evidence
on pages 125 and 191 of the late Mr. 0. W.
Thamodaram Pillai's edition of the Irayanar
Ahapporul where the classical illustrations are
actually put into modern Tamil the poetic

sentiments being the same, every detaiL
The importance of these two commentaries

consists in this : that the modern stanzas all
ofthem celebrate the exploits of a particular

Pandyan, several of whose achievements get
to be mentioned in the course of these verses,
and a close study of all these seem to indicate
that they all went in praise of one and
the same man. The older commentary con-
tains illustrations, most of which seem to be
taken from the classics which go by the collec-
tive name Sangam works, and this commentary
criticises in certain parts the Tolkappiyam it-
self, so that in the age of Narkirar himself, the

Tolkappiyam got to be commented upon ; as in
fact Kalladanarîs said to have written a com-
mentary for which there is old authority.
Narkirar's attempt therefore was one of
abridgment to make the acquisition of this
vast section of Tamil grammar easy. Casting
aside the legendary part of the story, we are
in fairness bound work as
to accept the existing
the work of the poet Narkirar, handed down

through generations, perhaps in oral teaching,
and committed to writing in the present form
at least ten generations, may be a few genera-
tions more, after the time of Narkirar. For

these ten genorations, having regard to
the elaborate course of study for learning
such an abstruse and intricate subject, it
would be very modest to allow a period of 30

years each generation roughly. Then it would
mean that the second commentary or the
first edition of the commentary was made
some 300 years after the Narkirar wrote his

first comment. If then we could find out from
the 315 stanzas, which give a large number of

historical details, as to who the Pandyan is in
whose court, or under whose patronage, the
commentary was put in final form, we could
arrive at an approximate age. Without being
much we might say at once that
too elaborate
this was the Pandyan who won victories over
his neighbouring kings and is referred to as

Nedumaran, who was victor at Nelveli, He
is given other titles such as Varodaiyan,
Paramkusan etc. and is credited with a
number of victories over his neighbours.
Identification of this monarch is therefore of
the utmost importance to Tamil literary
history. There is the bare possibility that these

:

modern stanzas were composed in honour of
Narkirar's contemporary ; but important
considerations militate against such a view.
The stanza ^^ quoted hereunder gives clear
indication of the existence of the Sangam,
which a later Pandyan like the Kun Pandya
is given credit for in the Periyapuranam.
II —Epigraphy
Such an identification seems possible on the
facts available to us not only from these pieces
of poetry that we find in the course of this
grammatical work, but from other sources as

well, and this has been attempted before us by
the late Eai Bahadur V. Venkayya, Epigraph-
ist to the Government of India. In the course
of a study of four Pandya grants to which we
have already made reference, coupled with one
or two others Mr. Venkayya, made his own re-
construction of Pandya history, taking into
11 QeuiLfLD LfetDau^QL£>m(D(rêifi ^p^^&êsip
Qujuîs^0LLZsat Qfipp^ûuihn QLDfdQpaQf,

Iraiyanar ThapporulOom. 16T.
consideration the available information from

literature as well. It is on the basis of Mr.
Venkayya's (vork that others that follow him
base their own theories in respect of this mat-
ter. The grants are : the Velvikkudi grant of
Nedunjadaiyan, the Madras Museum plates of
the Pandya king Jatilavarman, son of Maravar-

man and the two Sinnamanur plates. The
details of these plates and the way that the
Epigraphist went to work at them are exhibit-
ed m his usual masterly fashion by the late
Mr. Venkayya in his two reports to the

Government for 1907 and 1908. It is hardly
necessary for our purpose here to go through

the whole of the arguments upon which the
various identifications are made; and the
considerations carefully offered for the identi-
fication and the difficulties in the way of their
acceptance could all be studied in the reports

referred to. The following genealogical table
of the succession of the Pandyas based on
these four and a few other dated inscriptions
since published is set down here for conveni-
ence of reference in the same manner that the
late Mr. Venkayya gave it.
17
Pandyadhiraja Paramevara Mudukudumi Palâlai-Peruvaludi.
Kalabbra iDterregnum.
1. Kadungon Pandyadhiraja.
2. Adhiraja Maravarman Avanisulamani*
3. Seliyan SeodaD.
4. Maravarman Arikodaiio Asamasaman, defeated the army

of Vilveli ab Nelvoli'.
I
6. Kochchadaiyan Eanadhira fought the battle of Marudur

;
defeated tbe Mabaratba ic the city of Mangalapuram,
6. Arik68ariu Parankuâ Maravarman Tor-Maran defeated the ;
Pallava at Kiilumbur conquered tbe Pallavas at Samkara-

;
mangai Rajaaimba (l) defeated Pallavamalla renewed

; ;
tbe wails of Kudal, Vanji and Koli.

I
7. Jatila Nedunjadaiyan Parantaka ;

defeated tbe Kadava at
Pennagadam ;
(donor of the Velvikudi grant), A.D. 769—70.
I
8. Rajasimba (II.)
9. Varaguna-Mabaraja; Jayantavarman (?)
J
10. Srimara, Srivallabba, Ekavira, Paracbakrakolahala ;
conquered Maya-Paadya, Kerala, Siinbala, Pallava

and Vallabba; Paliavabbanjana
I
I
11. Varagunavarman :
^ Parantaka, Viranarayana
12.
aficended tbe throne in A.D. Sadaiyan fought at Kharagiri
;
862-863. and destroyed Pennagadam,

married Vanavan ma.badevi,
Jatila Nedunjadiyaa (donor
of tbe Madras Museum and
smaller Sinnamanur plates ?)
13. Kajasimba (III) Manda-

ragurava Abhimanamtiru.
P. 66 Madras Epigraphisfc Report for 1908.
Our presenfc concern with this genealogical

table is the proposed identification of the
famous Pandyan celebrated in the 315
stanzas illustrating the Iraiyanar Abapoiul
with No. 6 on the table: called according
to these records Arikesarin, Parankusa
Maravarman, Ter-Maran; he is said to
have defeated the Pallava at Kulumbur, and
conquered the Pallavas at Sankaramangai he ;
is called Kajasimha I, who defeated Pallava-

malla; and who renewed the walls of Kiidal,
Vanji and Koli. That is the whole of the
reference found in the inscriptions and put in
abstract on the table itself. He was the
immediate predecessor of the donor of the
Velvikudi grant according to this, which the
epigraphist dates A. D. 769-770. The con-
siderations on which he makes the identifica-
tion are given by himself in the following

words :
— He takes the last four names in the
Tamil part, which differs considerably from
the Sanskrit portion, to be identical with the
last four in the Sanskrit portion. Having done
so, he states :
" This is only the initial diffi-
culty ; when we get to the Chronology, the

complication is much greater, because the
number of dated stone inscriptions attributable
to early Pandya kings is very small. Besides^
I am not quite sure how and where the names
furnished by the Velvikudi grant fit into the
tentative genealogy derived from the Sinna-
manur plates, which I gave in the last
Annual Report." He states in another place,
"it is unsafe to base any definite conclusions
solely on the Vatteluttu portion, because a

sufficiently large number of inscriptions in
that alphabet have not yet been published
with photo-lithographic plates for comparison.
Proceeding mainly on the Grantha portion,
and to a certain extent on the results derived
from a comparison of the few available
Vatteluttu inscriptions, we may not be far
wrong if we assign the larger Sinnamanur
plates approximately to the first quarter of the
tenth century A. D. *'
The last name there-
fore of the genealogical table thus gets referred
to the early part of the tenth century. This

fact must be borne in mind in regard to what
follows in relation to the discussion. It will
be noted on the table itself that five genera-

tions intervene between the number six,
Arikesari Parankusa of the table and Kajasimha

III. Here is the whole argument of Mr.
Veokayya, which it will be useful to set down
here for the purposes of discussion.
" The first point which I have taken into
consideration in revising the genealogy, is that
the larger Sinnamanur plates probably belong
to the time of Kajasimha-Pandya, who was de-
feated by the Chola king Parantaka I some-

time before A.D. 921-2. The second considera-
tion is that the Nedunjadaiyan of the Velvikudi
grant cannot be identical with his namesake of
the Madras Museum plates, but that the
former must be earlier than the latter. The
third point is that the Madras Museum plates
of Jatilavarman and the smaller Sinnamanur
plates are probably nearer in point of time to
the larger Sinnamanur plates than they are to
the Velvikudi grant. In other words the
interval of time between the Jatilavarman of
the first two plates and the Eajasimha III

must be smaller than that between the
Nedunjadaiyan of the Velvikudi grant and his
namesake of the Madras Museum plates- Again
the Nedunjadaiyan of the Velvikudi grant is
apparently identical with the Maranjadaiyan

of the Anaimalai cave inscriptions. This m
rendered likely by the fact of the kings in both
cases being called Parantaka. Besides, the ajna-
jpbi of the Velvikudi grant is, in all probability,
identical with the Marangari who excavated the

Anaimalai cave about the year A.D. 769-70. If
any of the foregoing facts and surmises are
overthrown by future researches, the whole
genealogy will have to be reconsidered in the
light of fresh facts that may be forthcoming.
From the foregoing it will appear that the
smaller Sinnamanur plates and the Madras
Museum plates of Jatilavarman cannot belong
to No. 7 Jatila as represented in the last report.
Otherwise he would be ideatical with the donor
of the Velvikudi grant, and paleographical
considerations militate very strongly against
such a supposition. Again, the numerals (up to
7), which are marked in the Velvikudi grant are
very old, while those of the Jatilavarman plates
bear a close resemblance to the corresponding
symbols used in the larger Sinnamanur plates.
As both the smaller Sinnamanur plates and
those of Jatilavarman together mention only

three generations it may even be questioned
if these three kings belonged to the main line
or not. But until we have definite evidence

to show that these three represent a distinct
family, I propose to treat them as belonging
to the main line, and to insert their names in
italics where they may at present be supposed
to come in. It is true we have absolutely no
evidence that No. 9 Varaguna- Maharaja bore
the surname Jayantavarman as represented on
the foregoing genealogical table. But his son
Srivallabha claims to have conquered the Pal-

lavas, while the Maravarman of the Madras
Museum plates bore the title of Pallavabhan-
jana- Again, No. 12 Parantaka Sadaiyan, son of
Srivallabha, may be identical with the Paran-
taka Nedunjadaiyan, the donor of the Madras
Museum plates, because the former boasts of
having carried on war in Kongu, while the
latter describes at length his campaign in
Kongu. Consequently it is not altogether
impossible that the three kings mentioned in
the Madras Museum plates did actually belong
to the main Pandya line, whose genealogy has
been made out from the larger Sinnamanur

plates.''
This long extract would show clearly the

doubts and difficulties that beset the epigraph-
ist in reconciling the various records of
Epigraphy on which he mainly bases his
particular investigations. But when next he

comes to combine these with the evidence
available in literature, it would be very reason-
able to suppose that the difficulties become
actually greater, and such identifications could
only be made with very considerable hesitation.
Even so it certainly would be more in keeping
with the scientific spirit, that such an

investigation would call for as a necessary
pre-requisite to such an enquiry, to reconcile
the various records of Epigraphy on the one
side and arrive at whab they have to say
definitely first ; then proceed on similar lines
for what may be made out from literature;
and then investigate the two separately to find
where they would best come into connection

with each other, if there is such connection at
all. For such there seems certain common
points. Mr. Venkayya has already pointed out
that the first personage in the genealogical

table is no other than the person known in
literature as Palyagasalai Mudukudumi Peru-
valudi of whom we have a few poems in the
Purananuru, but from the point of view of
epigraphy he is brought into no organic
connection with the rest of the dynasty as
indicated in the genealogical table of Mr.
Venkayya. His name is drawn in incidentally
to show that the village under grant was a

previous gift and was known by the name Vel-
vikudi because it was a gift, as a result of the
performance of a sacrifice (Yaga). That point
must be carefully noted in this connection.
The second is the Kalabhra Interregnum. And
then begins obviously the new dynasty begin-
ning with Kadungon. We shall revert to this
KaduDgon and his predecessors a little later.
But here we might pass on immediately to
number six with whom Mr. Venkayya shows
an inclination to identify the Pandya who is
celebrated in the modern poems of the
commentary to Iraiyanar Ahaporul, and let
us take note of the facts stated in a previous

paragraph as to his achievements and their
general significauce. He is given four alter-

native titles, all of which do occur among the
16 titles that can be made out of the part of
the commentary under discussion. They are
here set down for ready reference •
1. Arikesari.
2. Nedumaran and Vanavan Maran.
3. Piiliyan.
4. Uchitan.
5. Mummadil Vendan.
6. Visaridan.
7. Vijaya Charitan.
8. Parankusan.
9. Satrudurandharan.
10. Varodaiyan
11. Panchavan.
12. Kanantakan.
13. Ranodaiyan.
14. Mauadan.
15. Gangai Manalan.
16. Kali Madanan.
Coming down to the battles referred to
in the table, there are two such specifically

referred, and one perhaps in general
terms; and what is most remarkable in
respect of these is that they are all refer-
red as against the Pallavas, one of which.

TALAIYALANGANAT-TUP-PANDYAN ^67
referring to a defeat of Pallavamalla. Of these

battles, the name Kulumbur does not occur
and the other Sankaramangai of the genea-
logical table occurs in two or three places, not
as Sankaramangai but only as Sankamangai,
and at least in one place I fear the reading
"Sankaramangai will spoil the metre of the
poem but in none of the 14 battles which can
;
be made out from the commentary does the

name Pallava once occur either explicitly or
by obvious implication. The fourteen battles
referred to in the commentary are :
1. Pali or Thenpali against the Chola.

(Stanza 309).
2. Kulandai or Kalattur.
3. Naraiyur, against the Chera (Villa-
van, this is sometimes used to
designate Pallavas.)
4. Sankamangai (possibly Sankara-
mangai).
5. Vallam.
6. Arrukkudi of Vanavan.
7. Nelveli.
8. Kottaru, where a victory was won
and the Thennadu conquered a ;
naval victory against the Chera

(241).
9. Kadayal of Seralar (again naval).
10. beviir against the Chera.
11. Nedungulam.
12. Piilandai of Vanavar (Chera) defeat
of crowned kings and the destruc-
tion of Vanavan's (Chera's) glory,
13. Vilinam, naval battle.

14. Venmatti.
A scrutiny of this list would show that this

does not contain any of the names in the table
excepting the possibility of Sankaramangai. As
against this possibility it must be noted that in
all the 315 stanzas composed in celebration of
this particular Pandyau whoever he was, there
is not once any reference that would enable us
to bring in the Pallavas, with the barely
possible exception of 3 above. On the
contrary it will be noticed in the genealogical
table that number four, the grand father of
this number six, is given credit for a victory at
Nelveli against the army of Vilveli. There is
very good authority for interpreting this
Vilveli as a Pallava also. Tirumangai Alvar

in various places refers to the Pallava almost
TALAIYALANGANAT-TUP-PANDYAN 269-
in the same terms. In the second-ten of his
Periya Tirumoli, the ninth section is in cele-
bration of a Pallava and a Chola who made

donations to the temple of Paramesvara
Vinnagaram (Vulgo, Vaikunta Perumal Koil),
In the first stanza he refers to the designation
Villavan as synonymous with Pallavan.12 In
stanza 8 of the same section he refers to
a victory at Nenmeli, which perhaps has a
variant reading Nelveli, and the Pallava is
referred to in the term Villavan. Whether

this Nenmeli of Tirumangai Alvar could be
taken as the Nelveli is at the very best doubt-
ful, as the reading Nelveli may not quite suit

the verse. But from the other stanzas of the
same section, the enemy that the Pallava
fought against was the Pandya, Tennavan, as
he is referred to more than once. Thus then
the Yilveli defeated by Mara Yarman Arikesari
(No. 4 on the table) was probably a Pallava.
That is all the point that I wish to make out at
present and if this is accepted, we find that the
12 ue))60Qj^ eS&ieOQiQ<ssf<ssr^&)Q60 u&)fffrLuuu&o Qoiisîr
k
dynasty indicated in the larger Sinnamanur
plabes, and the others which go to support it
to a very great extent, to be a dynasty of the

Pandyas whose principal enemies were the
Pallavas of Kanchi. For this position of
South Indian politics and international rela-
tions there is not the slightest warrant in the

commentary. In all the 315 stanzas there is
not one reference to the Pallava, but there are

on the contrary specific references to the
Chera and the Chola. Four battles at least
were naval battles against the Cheras, the

country under contention was the Tennadu of
the Paudyas, that is the portion of the Pandya
country which at present constitutes the
southern half of the state of Travancore, which,
at aij earlier time, we already noticed, formed
part of the Pandya country. Of these four
battles, we have specific indications, but many
others, almost half a dozen more probably, will
have to be referred to that locality as a mere

geographical investigation would, in my
opinion, establish. The remaining three or
four battles, such as 'the one at Vallam, say

Pali or Ten Pali, Nedungulam, Kalattur and
TALAIYALANGANAT-TUF-PANDYAN 271
possibly Nelveli and Venmatti may be against

confederate enemies, who might have been
either the Chera and Chola in alliance or
these and other chiefs besides. And in such
a detailed statement of these, one would cer-
tainly expect to find reference to the Pallavas,
if they played any part in the wars found
described in the 315 stanzas. That omission
which may not lead to any particular inference
in the case of the inscriptions, which are merely
brief statements, would undoubtedly warrant
the conclusion that the Pandyan celebrity,
whoever he was, did not fight against the
Pallavas from the point of view of the commen-

tary under reference ; and as a further inference
therefrom that the Pallavas had not risen yet
to that position in which they had constantly
to fight against the Pandyas at a somewhat
later period.
The later famous Pallavas, whose accession

to power in this part of the country became a
prominent factor perhaps about the middle of
the sixth century, had first of all to maintain
their existence against their enemies in the
north and north-west, that is against the
Chalukyas, and the records both of the Palla-

vas and of the Chalukyas are full of references
to constant warfare and the occupation of
Kanchipuram itself several times by the

Chalukyas. The latest of which, according
to the epigraphical records, was one by Vikra-
maditya II of which there is a memorial left at
Kanchi in the shape of an inscription by that
ruler in the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchi-
puram during the period 733-4 to 746-7^^.
With this constant warfare on the nor-
thern frontier, it is easy to understand that
the Pallavas could not have had the time
to extend their power across the Chola country
to come into such active hostile contact
against the Pandyas. The latest time there-
fore to which we could possibly refer the
Pandyan of the modern commentary of the
Iraiyanar Ahapporul is to the time of these

great Pallavas. But even again supposing
Pandya might
that this well have ruled at a
time when the energies of the Pallavas were
occupied in the northern war, there is a
13 Fleet in the Bombay Gazetteer Volume I, Part 2
p. 327.
reference or two to Kongu without the slightest

reference to the Pallavas and that would make
this inference impossible. We are therefore
driven to look for this literary celebrity to a

period earlier than the age of the great
Pallavas of Kanchi beginning with Mahendra-

varman as the country of the Chola and the
Pandya and even the Kerala, occurs more or
less in a conventional form among the con-
quests of his father Simhavishnu, who may

have to be referred to the end of the sixth
century, at least to the later half of the sixth
century A.D. Among various battles that
Udayachandra, the general of the last great
Pallava Nandivarman fought, figure Sankara-
grama and Nelveli. Sankaragrama may well
be Sankaramangai, and even the Sankamangai

of the Tamil poem. But there is nothing to
connect Udayachandra with any Pandya as
his enemy. In regard to Nelveli, we have
some detail in the grant. Udayachandra is
supposed to have slain in this battle the

Sahara king, Udayana and seized his mirror-
banner with a peacock's tail, and he carried
on the war in the northern direction against a
18
Nishada chief and in favour of the eastern
Chalukya Vishnu.^^ It is clear therefore that
Udayachandra's battle of Nelveli could not be

the Nelveli of Arikesari Mara Varman, the
number four of the genealogical table. It
must much rather be that of his grandson
Arikesari Parankusa, otherwise known as
Bajasimha, who is said to have defeated a
Pal lava Maila among the great Pallavas.
Two rulers bore this title Pallavamalla speci-
ally. The one is Naudivarman, the last great
Pallava and the other is Narasimhavarman I,
in the first half of the seventh century.

The Pallavamalla, enemy of Rajasimha,
must have been Naudivarman under this
arrangement and it must be one of his
predecessors that was defeated at Nelveli
by his grandfather. Therefore then for any
reference to the battle of Nelveli such as we
have in the Commantery on the Irayanar
Ahapporul, we have to look for a time anterior
to that of number four on the genealogical
table, which would take us perhaps to the end
14 Ibid p. 326.
of the seventh century under Mr. Venkayya's

arrangement.
Hi. Later Literature.
Leaving epigraphy aside for a while, we
have some other Uterary aid to make an
elective search in respect of this battle of
Nelveli. There is one Pandyan known to
literature specifically, and whose date can with
some amount of certiainty be fixed, who was
victor at Nelveli. This is no other than the
Pandyan contemporary of Tirugnana Sam-
bandar, who, having been a Jain, was converted
to the faibh of Siva by Sambandar himself.
He is supposed to have won a victory at
Nelveli and that fact finds mention specifically
in Nambiyandar Nambi's Tirutbonda Tiruvan-
dadi (vide stanza 60). The same fact is
mentioned also by Sundara Murtii Nayauar,

who in stanza eight of the Tiruttonda Togai
refers to this personage as Ninrasir Neduma-
ran, victor at Nelveli. There again we fail to
have the clue as to who the enemies were
that this Pandya overthrew at Nelveli. If the
lenemies are specifically referred to as the Palla-
vas, we have to look for this Nedumaran among
27^ BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOEY
those, whose names occur in the genealogical

table. If the enemies are not the Pallavas^
there is a likelihood that this may be the
Pandya celebrity in the commentary on
Iraiyanar Ahapporul. Luckily for us there i&
some little of a detail given us in the Periya

Puranam, which elaborates the statement
contained in the two works from v/hich
references have already been given. Keferring

to this battle all that is stated there is that
the enemies from a distance were met success-
fully on the field of battle at Nelveli by
this Pandya in stanza 3 of this Nayanar's
Puranam. Bat in stanza 7, there is a little
more information vouchsafed to us and that

perhaps makes the position somewhat more
clear. There it is said that it is the first of
kings of the north whose army broke and

fled from the field of battle, and enabled
the king to wear the garland of victory along

with his family garland that of the Margossa
leaf. The northerners {(LpSssnuLîi^sui^ l/«o^^
QP^ssT LLesrssnrue^L^îfliu) in the one case and the

enemy from the distant country (Q3ûL\ei>^
Q^^suQirîrQi3€oQ&j(3Q) have to be interpretei

as perhaps the Pallavas and therefore this
Pandyan in all probability was a Nedumaran,

who was contemporary with Tirugnana
Sambandar on the one side, certainly may be
identical with the Pandyan, Maravarman,
Arikesari number 4 of the genealogical table.
If the period to which this ruler can be referred
on the basis of the epigraphical records should
turn out correct, the likelihood of this identi-
fication becomes very great. And on the
genealogical table we are left only one
Maravarman, and that is the grandfather of
number 4. Whether he is the Pandyan referred
to in the commentary is at the very best only
a guess in the absence of any clue from the
grants. All that the grant says about this
personage is that he was called Adhiraja
Maravarman Avanisulamani, who made the
earth his exclusive possession and wedded
the goddess of Prosperity. That contains
in it absolutely no clue to lead to this
identification, but there is the possibility
that this particular Maravarman, No. 2 in
Mr. Venkayya's table, might be the Mara-
varman of the commentator.
But before proceeding further on this line,
let us look about a little about the other
Pandyan Maravarman, the grandson of this
one whom we identify with the Pandyan
contemporary of Sambandar, and perhaps a
somewhat junior contemporary of the great
Pallava Narasimhavarman. We have some
facts regarding him from literature, which
may be of some little use in regard to this
particular question. He was a great Pandya,
a Jaina first who, through the influence of his
minister Kulachchirai and his queen Mangai-

yark-Karasi, became a convert to Saivism. The
service that these three rendered in this parti-
cular behalf had been regarded by posterity as
of such high value that the three have got to
be included among the 63 Saiva devotees.
Mangaiyark-Karasi was the daughter of a
Chola ruler of the time and she is referred to
as such by Sambandar himself. One re-
ference in particular by Sambandar to her is^
worthy of notice here, and that reference is on

page 501, stanza 9 of the Madras Dravidian
Book Depot Edition of the *
Tevaram of the
Three.' The Chola, her father is there
referred to as '
the crowned Chola who ruled
as king, well-known all over ^he world'. That

specific reference in those terms is an indica-
tion that the Cholas still retained some power,
and had not yet lost their prestige as independ-/
ent rulers as from what information is avail-
able to us we know that they had done in

the days of the great Pallavas. In another
place, the same author refers to a Pandyan in
terms which would warrant the inference that

he was probably one referred to in the com-
mentary on the Iraiyanar Ahapporul. In three
or four places he refers to this ruler as Tennan
or Puliyan, and at the same time describes
him as exercising authority superior to that
of the other rulers of the sister capitals. In
one place he refers to the Tennan, whose rule
extended over Koli and Vanji (stanza 4) ; in
another he refers to the Puliyan, who was

Tennavan and ruler of Koli (Uraiyur), whose
glory was equal to that of the northern king.
In another place, he is referred to as Tenna-
van, who was also bembiyan and Villavan.
AH these are probably references either to a
contemporary Pandyan or an earlier. Probab-
ly stanza six gives the clue that the temple

was built by a Nedyaa, who was also a
Sembiyaa, which probably meaas a Pandya,
who had authority over the Cbola, who is said
in the same verse to have built the temple,
probably meaning thereby that the temple
had come into existence sometimes previous
to Sambandar's time. If this interpretation is
correct, there perhaps was a Paadyan previous

to Sambandar's contemporary who could, with-
out violence be described as having exercised
authority over the Chera and the Chola, and
whose authority could be considered as equal to
that of the northerner, which in the langu-
age of Sambandar could only mean the great
Pallava Narasimhavarman, his contemporary-
Those are the terms that we actually fiad in
the general part of the verses in the comment-
ary to the Iraiyanar Ahapporul, and there is
probably the Pandya sovereign, the patron it
may be of the commentator of the Iraiyanar

Ahapporul. That takes us therefore to a time
just a little anterior, it may perhaps be a
generation, to Sambandar, say about the
commencement of the seventh century or a
little earlier, and from that time which is
perhaps the latest for this, we have to allow

ior some ten generations for Narkirar and
the Pandyau of Talaiyalanganam. We have
already pointed out that an estimate of about
three centuries will not be extravagant for
this, and that would take us on to somewhere
about A.D. 300, as the date of the Pandyan
of Talaiyanganam at the outside. That length
of time is not too much nor too extravagant
for a tradition reagarding the Sangam to
grow. For there are two references to the
Sangam at any rate of an unmistakeable
character in the work of Nambiyandar Nambi
already referred One is in stanza 49 where
to.
it is referred to with the names of Kapilar, Para-

nar and Narkirar, and then again in ..stanza 26
referring to Kulachchirai, he is spoken of as the
Adhikari of the Pandya who instituted a San-
gam. The Sangam referred to in the second
need not necessarily be the beginning and
the end of it and the names associated
with the Sangam in the first is unmistakeable
evidence of the reputation of the Sangam
having been correctly handed down to this
author. There are a number of references to
the Sangam in the works of Tirumangai Alvar^

who is anterior in point of time to Nambi-
yandar Nambi. The larger Sinnamanur
plates, one of the records we have so far been
considering somewhat elaborately, have some-
references to this institution in it. There is
one passage in the Tamil part of these plates,
which refer to three incidents of the utmost

importance to Tamil literature. The first is
the victory at Talaiyalanganam, the second is
the translation of the Mahabharata into Tamil,

and the third is the institution of the Sangam.
The epigraphists, including even the late-
Mr. Venkayya, were led into error in regard

to these three by taking this Tamil version cf
the Mahabharata to be the same as the-
Bharatavenba of Perundevanar, and equating

these two with another Perundevanar whose
name figures as the one who made the dedi-
catory verses to several of the collections of

the Sangam works. The Perundevanar of the
Bharatavenba has a clear reference in the work
itself to his Pallava contemporary, the Nandi*
varman victor at Tallaru. That would clearly
TALAIYALANGANAT-TUP-PANDYAN 28B
take him to sometime perhaps in the ninth

century A.D., while the reference to the Tamil
version of the Mahabharatain the Sinnamanur
plates occurs in the part of the grant which
refers to a dynasty of rulers '
who had ruled,
done these famous things and passed away,

and then begins the new dynasty proper for
which the genealogical table is possible. The

late Mr. Venkayya saw this difficulty, and
concluded, that " it must therefore be supposed
at least provisionally, that the Tamil transla-
tion ot the Mahabharata here referred to is
earlier than Perundevanar's version". No other

conclusion is possible and it must be said to
the credit of Pandit scholarship that the late
Mr. Pinnathur Narayanasami Aiyar, the
Editor of the Narrinai stated in clear terms
that these must be regarded as distinct from
the purely literary point of view. Perun-
devariiir seems to be rather a common
name, and there was one of that name in the
eleventh century, who wrote a commentary
on the grammar Virasoliyam. Therefore then
there were two Perundevanars, besides this
eleventh century one, one who wrote the
^4 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTOBY
Bharatavenba probably of the ninth century,

and one who made the Tamil version of the
Bharatam and also composed the verses in

invocation and a few poems, just one or two,
in the so-called Sangani collection.
The institution of the Sangam is referred to
along with this version of the Tamil Bharatam

^nd the battle at Talaiyalanganam. It is not
necessary that these three should have happen-

ed together in the same reign, but they were
events of history at the time the new dynasty
perhaps began, in the estimation of the person
who drafted the inscription. That would
certainly agree with the conclusions we have
arrived at from an examination of literature
only. Although from what is stated in the
Sinnamanur plates the inference is not obligat-
ory that these three should have taken place
simultaneously, it is clear from the whole of
our investigation that the Pandyan of Talaya-

langanam was a celebrity, who was associated
with the Sangam prominently. His chief
poet Narkirar was at one time perhaps a very
important member of that Academy.
TAL AIYAL ANG AN AT-TUP-PANDYAN 285
One Perundevanar, the author of the Bharata

version in Tamil is a scholar of reputation
according to this body of literature, who
made the collections, and composed the
invocatory verses for what goes by the collec-
tive name Sangam works. Therefore then
we find that the three incidents referred
to are more or less closely connected, and

are referrable practically to the same age,
the ultimate limit of which was perhaps the

age of the Talaiyalanganat-Tup-Pandyan.
Before closing this part of the argument, there
is one point further that requires to be noted
and that is this : The Ahanaauru collection
for which this Bharatampadiya Perundevanar
made an invocatory verse is believed to have
been collected together by a Madura Brahman
Kudrasarman, son of Uppuri Kilar, and the
collection was made for the Pandyan Ugraper-
uvaludi. All the others must have lived and
gone before this Brahman could make this
collection, and arrange it in the three well-
known divisions. We find the name of this
Eudrasarman, son of Uppuri Kudi Kilar, asso-
ciated with the commentary of Narkirar of the
Iraiyanar Ahaporul. He is described; there in

the same terms and with the same details, and
if the two are one, as in fact we have to take
them, to be, then these must have taken place
in the lifetime of this one man, which must
have followed close upon: that of Narkirar and
his contemporaries. Thus then all lines of in-
vestigation seem to lead us round and round

only to the same conclusion, and that is the
best period of Sangam activity for Tamil was

the second and third centuries A. D.
CHAPTEE VII.
ASTRONOMICAL & OTHER CONSIDERATIONfi.
We have hitherto desisted from any refer-
ence to the twin epic —Silappadikaram Mani-

mekalai except incidentally. The two were
works respectively of Ilango brother of the
Red-Chera, and Sattan his friend. On the
face of it therefore they must be contemporary
with the Red-Chera and so it is from all
the available internal evidence which is
marshalled in the "Augustan Age of Tamil

Literature." ^ We would mention here
one particular point to which attention has
not hitherto been directed, and that is the
occurrence of two passages from the Silappadi-
karam in what ought to be regarded Narkirar's
commentary on Iraiyanar Ahaporul. The first
reference is found on page 61 of Mr. Thamo-

daram Pillai's edition, where the stanza quoted
forms stanza 8 of Canto 7 of the Silappadika-
1 See my Ancient India Oh. XIV.

287
ram the other

; is on page 78 where the stanza
quoted without number is the stanza 31 of the
same canto of the Silappadikaram. Taken
along with various other quotations from
classical literature, of which I am able to
identify one from Mamiilanar (Page 130 of
Nar. 14), another from Kayamanar (Page 118)

these would indicate the class of writings from
which the original commentary takes its illus-
trative passages. There are besides a number

of references to Tolkappiam, and quotations
from the Kuf al ; as also direct references and
allusions to other older stories such as the story
of Pandyan Ma Kirti (on page 155 Ibid)-
These taken together give the impression of the
classical character of the older commentary

which would stamp it as the work of Narkirar
himself. He has other references, besides the
Tolkappiam togrammarians who held views
different from his own. If it is permissible
for us to assume, in the absence of the com-
mentary, that Kalladan^ wrote a comment-
2 Old verse quoted on p.4 of Swaminabbayar's Param
ASTEONOMICAIi &c. CONSIDERATIONS 289
ary for the Tolkapiam the reference may be

to this author, a contemporary grammarian
with Narkirar. I shall not press this point
further till my studies of Kalladam are
advanced enough for me to express an opinion

as to the genuieneness or otherwise of the
work. But enough has been said here to
indicate that the commentary on the Irai-
yanar Ahapporul is, in all probability,
a genuine commentary by Narkirar, the later

commentator's service being confined, more or
less, to throwing in the modern illustrative
passages, and perhaps no more, as is clear
from some of these illustrative passages being

modern renderings of passages from the classics
quoted by the older commentator^ .
It is thus clear, and absolutely beyond a

doubt, that the Silappadikaram was a work
anterior to this commentary by Narkirar, and
has had such a reputation then as to be quoted
in illustration of some of the Sutras, among
other passages. The evidence adduced so far
against such weighty and concurrent testi-
3 See pp. 125 & 191 of Iraiyanar Ahapporul. C.W. T's

edition.
19
mony is at least for one part epigraphical,
which we have already examined in some
fullness. There is one other which we shall
have to examine perhaps also with some care ;
that is, the so called astronomical and chrono-

gical evidence for which the details are found in
some of these works. Of this the Dewan Bahadur
L.D. Swamikannu Pillai, who has done the
most for this particular branch of work, may
be taken as representative. While appreciating
to the fullest extent the value of the chrono-
logical part of his work so far as they concern
epigraphical dates we regret we are not in a
position to approve of the method adopted
in respect of these literary dates. It is matter
for satisfaction however, that, to a great
extent, he keeps an open mind, and that,
in respect of the dates of the Alvars, he

has thought it fit to make a complete re-
cantation, as these astronomical details
occur amidst works whose character for vera-
city has been subjected to critical examina-

tion, and perhaps found wanting in regard to
their chronological data. In respect of his in-
vestigation, which relate to the other works oi

ASTEONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEKATIONS 291
literature, he remains yet unconvinced. It is
to be hoped that he will give full and unbi-

assed consideration to what has to be said in
thiig particular connection. The whole of his
astronomical investigations relating to this

particular part fall naturally into two divisions;
one the chronological basis of Indian astronomy
under which come in those various considera-
tions as to the character of Indian astronomy,
how far it has borrowed its material from other

sources, etc., and this is purely a question for
the Antiquarian to examine, and not one ex-

clusively for the astronomer ; and the other
has relation to the calculation from astronomi-
cal details, of dates etc.; in other words the
calendrical parts of his scheme. Wo wish to
say nothing more about this latter part
than to remark that in regard to the few
details found in the Silappadikaram and
Manimekhalai that could at all be called
calendrical in their character, they are made
use of in a way which is very unsatisfactory
from the point of view of any investi-
gation which pretends to be scientilBc. *
^ See my friend Mr. K. G. Sesha Aiyar's arfciclea in thd

The few details that the author mentions in
the texts are taken in combination with
perhaps the somewhat clumsy calendrical
efforts of the commentator, who at the lowest
estimatecame three centuries after the author,
and what is worst of all for the case, these
details from this combination are altered in
almost every essential particular to fit in with
the fixed date 756 A. D. ^. It is not necessary
to tire out the reader by giving these details
as the curious may find it worked out in
Mr. Swamikannu Pillai's papers on this parti-
cular subject. We shall content ourselves

with merely pointing to the grotesque conclu-
sions to which this kind of dating leads. He
has to ascribe the emigration of the Todas ta
the tenth century ; he is driven to regard
Christian College Magazine from Sep. 1917. pp. 6-10 of

the reprint in particular given in the appendix to this
chapter.
5 While admitting that there is a somewhat close
agreement, deliberately aimed at by the commentator,
between the commentary and the text in respect of
these details', we cannot help feeling that a set of detail
that requires so many modifications cannot be held ta
be evidence of the decisive character that it is claimed
to be in points of chronology.
ASTRONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEEATIONS 293
perhaps the Kanarese language as the elder

sister of Tamil, having had an anterior
development because a couple of Kanarese
sentences were found embodied in the Greek
farce in the Papyrus of Oxyrhynchus ^, of the
first century A. D., recently discovered. No

fitudent of comparative philology of these two
languages would subscribe to this contention
but let that pass. We object certainly to the
freedom taken in respect of the data of astro-
nomy found in literature for the purpose of
chronology. If that freedom should be allowed,

we think it is possible to find other dates
perhaps very much more suitable, (such as the
A. D, 201 and A. D. 202 of Mr. K. G. S.,) ^
than the date Mr. Swamikannu Pillai has

pitched upon, and the occurrence of quotations
from the Silappadikaram in Iraiyanar Ahaporul
is simply fatal to this contention of tbe Dewan
Bahadur.
As an illustration of his method, we shall
here take up for consideration the passage
containing astronomical details relating to the
e J. R. A. S. 1904 pp. 399—405.

7 Vide appendix to this chapter.
death of the Ohera of *the Elephant-look\
which occurs in Puram 229. We set down
below, for convenience, the part of the poem
containing the astronomical details.
un5](56cf\qLurr(i|>syâg|»
i3sSsisTQajifûirLJu<s sfrQs^îrLjQurriEjQ
A glance down to passage will show that it
is intended to convey the intimation that, on

a particular night, a meteor fell from the sky.
The poet proceeds to describe the disposition
of the stars and constellations as he saw them
spread out in the sky at the time of this
portent. The details given are, in literal
translation: the nakshatra (asterism) of the day

was (Krittika belonging to Adu (Aries), ^.g.>
the first quarter of it ; it was midnight which

ASTEONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEEATIONS 295
was dark the constellations

; visible were those
occupying the positions between the root of
Anuradha {qpi—uuSsbt) to the margin-star of
Punarvasu (^^DL-ii^srrifi) ; in the starry expanse
with rising Panguni (Uttara Phalguni) the

constellation of primacy (^^/^/rewrLSear) changed
its position (descended from the zenith) ; the
constellation of the day {i^î^reriil^) was just
rising over against it ; the old constellation

(Q^/rejrêjRffLSew) that which had done its course
was dipping into the sea ; in such a situation
a meteor fell, beaten into flame by the wind

and lighting up the sea-girt earth without
going east without striking north- (both
auspicious directions).
Mr. Swamikannu Pillai tries to eke very
much more out of the text astronomically

than seems to be warranted, but before we
proceed to show that we must refer to two
mistakes of the late Mr. Kanakasabai Pillai to
which attention is drawn. The first is the

assumption of the latter that the sun was in
Aries (Adu). The second is according to the
former, the confusion of the latter in supposing
the solar Panguni to be lunar Panguni
which Mr. Swamikannu Pillai states cate-
gorically "so know is never the
far as I
case" that Panguni means lunar Panguni.
Whether the Tamils knew the lunar
arrangement will appear later. Our con-
cern at present jis another criticism of the
Dewan Bahadur in which the author of the

poem and his commentator are both implicat-
ed, and they are both held responsible for what
probably neither had it in mind to do. This
my friend brings about by an interpretation
of the expression Panguni Uyar i Aluvam
{uiEi(^€aFI-\rSîufr+^(ip€ULD), His own interpreta-
tion of the expression made up of the last two
words of this is the '
Zenith Arc' He complains
that neither in the Sangam dictionary nor
elsewhere does he find any meaning which
would justify the commentator's interpretation
"the first fortnight of Panguni". One would
like to ask the Dewan Bahadur wherefrom he
got his meaning 'Zenith Arc' for the same
expression, and whether he does not actually
read his own chronological-astrology into the
expression. The equivalent Zenith Arc' has,
*
at any rate, too much of that look, though it

ASTKONOMICAL &c. CONSIDERATIONS 297
may not be a very bad modern derivative

significance of the expression. I set down here,^
for reference, the synonyms for *
Aluvan
as we find it ia the new Tamil lexicon
under compilation, through the courtesy of my
friend the Bev. J. S- Chandler. There are 12
such given, and not one of the twelve meanings
given for the word Aluvam in the lexicon is
anywhere near *
Zenith Arc'. The actual
primary meaning of the word seems to be
8 ^(tpsuihy aluvam, n, -^S^êo.
1 Depth ; 41,1^^. si-^weaBiL^QpQj^^ (ldTisou®, 528)-

2 Wide sea ; *êo. (».i)«7.)
3 Pit; îfi. îfiL^ff(Lp6U;i^ {u)'2eo u®. 368.)

4 ExbensioD, as of a forest, extended surface* extend-
ed level, plain ; unuLf,

QjSemsuêjQpQj^^ . {seS^ 121.)
5 Country, diatricfc ; tsrT(d. {^L.ir.)
6 Field of battle ? QuiriTSS&rut. (OJireinoffQpQi^êifasair

Qsirear («L./fa)L/. î/isiT. 51.)
7 Battle? ûitit^ oiireirQ^QiiB^nthQ (l/ Qqi. Q. 23).

^ Orowdedneaa, closeness l
Qts^dstc.
ffl9«Dz_. 19).
9 Abundance? copiousness ', î^^. uipuueai—uj

Q^QlUilT>B [gSUS (802)
10 Trenabling ; fs^saih. [jt/s rS,)
11 Fortress; îtssl^, {ôirr),
12 War drum ; (paî^. (««|f«. /^).

merely *
expanse *
and no more ; all other
meanings of the term are derivable from this.
I set down below for comparison the following
ten examples from classical literature which
alone are comparable with the quotation from
Purananuru ^. In none of these is there the
slightest suggestion of anything approaching
to ^Zenith Arc' It would be impossible there-
GhiDtamani Q319.
2 îT^^s sefriEjaesBiQi—iT aiTwuii^&ia^^.
Silap. V. 83.
3 Qojih^ inTiTLjuQsu(^<FLD^^ Qeusoin<oiith.
Pur. Vemba p. 116.
Ibid p. 70:
5 jti&inkiseo u}/7l^6u ^^/r/f.
Ibid p. 107.
Ibid p. 79.
ai-.&) iLGsaL—ipQi^^sf a>uj€Sinius(duu

£/)'fewu®. 11. 528.
Ibid 1. 368.
u^ffQj^ /7in6uJ QîT®s&}iEis6BiffiLii}). Q u(nîhuiT6aaf 35o.
Aham. 20.
ASTRONOMICAL &c. CONSIDERATIONS 299
fore to imagine that ' Zenith Arc ' is at all an

easy derivative from the etymological meaning
of the word ^ Aluvam.'
Let us then take the expression in its literal
meaning interpreting the first word as stand-

ing for the asterism Uttara Phalguni, the
second word equivalent -to rising, the third
word in its literal significance of a large
collection or expanse. The significance of the
expression then would be in the starry expanse
with the rising Uttara Phalguni. Without
importing unnecessary astronomical knowledge
into the question, the expression would mean
the star — bespangled sky at a period when the
Uttara Phalguni was a rising star. Mr. Swami-
kannu Pillai wishes to know where the com-
mentator got the first fifteen days of the month
of Panguni from. Speaking for the moment
from the high pedestal of our modern know-
ledge, month Panguni is the month
the
when the full moon is in conjunction with
Panguni or Uttara Phalguni, that is, on the
fullmoon day of that month whatever that be,
the full moon rises in the asterism- Uttara
Phalguni and keeps company with it to its
setting, that is, all the night. In the first
quadrant of its course till it reaches its zenith

both the Uttara Phalguni and the moon
would be described by a star-gazer (not
necessarily an astronomer or even astrologer)
as rising. During the fortnight following the
full-moon the Uttara Phalguni would be a
little above the horizon at sunset, and has a
course of rising, shorter or longer according
to the day, in its journey up to the zenith.
In the other fortnight of the month however,
the Uttara Phalguni will rise above the horizon
a little after sunset and will travel the whole
quadrant from the horizon to the zeoith from
the point of view purely of the acar-gazer.
Hence would be correct literally if the
it
author described Uttara Phalguni in the bright

fortnight as a rising star in the sense that this
asterism has a course of rising through the
whole of the quadrant from the horizon to
the zenith. The author obviously meant
this and the commentator is correct in his
interpretation though not accurate from the
point of view of mathematical astronomy.
This may imply that the month then began on
the day following the new moon and perhaps
ASTEONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEEATIONS 301
meant a complete lunation. The name Tingal

for the month in these classics (note passages
quoted by Mr. Swamikannu Pillai, gives

us a clear lead for this supposition, and
the first half of it, or what is called a
puksha, is what exactly the commentator
renders by the expression, the first fifteen
days of Panguni. It is thus clear that

if we went by the etymology of the words and
interpreted a peculiar expression in a way that
an ordinary scholar, without particular astro-
nomical predilections, would interpret it, the
meaning becomes not merely simple but quite
clear, and it is hardly necessary to hold any-
body responsible for not having done what he
never proposed to do, and calling him ta
account for what we ourselves choose to read
in his language. What is much more, to draw
far-reaching inferences from passages interpret-
ed our own way is, to say the last of it, abso-
lutely unwarranted. We shall now proceed
to a consideration of these inferences.
The more general part of his investigation

as to the very basis of his own theory, is that
of the late Dr. Fleet, and they rest upon more
or less false assumptions. The main point of
the poet in the poem just examined is, we, re-

peat, that on a particular day at mid-night, he
saw a meteor fall, and prayed, along with his
friends, that no harm might befall the king,
as this portended a calamity to the ruler, but

as the Fates would have it, the ruler died on
the seventh day. The poet simply takes it
upon himself to describe the disposition of the
stars in the sky at the time that this meteor

fell. Those details are taken and examined with
a view therefrom to find out what exactly the
a&stronomical system of the Tamils was. The
conclusion at which he arrives on this investi-
gation, after making the usual corrections, is
nothing particularly definite in respect of the

dating, as the poet has not given the week dmj^
and as he has not recorded the positions of
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, at the midnight
when the meteor fell. These very defects
might have shown Mr. Swamikannu Pillai that
the poet was certainly not an astronomer, not

even a Panchangin, whose function it would
be to do that. Nevertheless the modern in-
vestigator proceeds to put himself three
questioQS which he answers his own way.

The first of course is the omission to quote
the day of the month ; the second, the
omission to note a week day and the ; third,
the omission to note the position of the

other planets. We have already given the
explanation for these omissions, but Mr.
Swamikannu Pillai's answers difier very consi-
derably from ours. To find an answer he goes
back to the investigations of Dr. Fleet, and
finds the answer in the position assumed by
the latter that the week days were not known
in India before some time about A.D. 400 and
consequently the calendrical system dependent
thereon could not have come into vogue before
the 5th or 6th century at any rate. In find-
ing an answer to his three questions, he pro-
ceeds to make the following remark. The
modern astrologer in the same circumstances
would have endeavoured to discover whether
the remaining planets were likely to avert or
accentuate the disaster." Precisely. The
poet was not an astrologer, as many poets
are not and many other honest men at the
present time who know the details that the

poet knew, and know no further. The further

conclusions to which he proceeds are that
there was a long period of time, in India

apparently, when the movements of the sun
'
and the moon were regarded loithout any

suspicion of their " influence" as 'planets ; and
that the Hindus also appear to have been
singularly incurious for a long time as to the
motions of the planets other than the sun and
the moon — a circumstance which points more
clearly than anything else to the chronological
origin of Hindu astronomy and y also shows
that the practice of planetary astrology among
the Hindus is of comparatively recent date.
The italics are ours, and we shall examine
these two positions in some little detail.
We shall first of all examine the question

of the knowledge of —
the week day possessed
by the Hindus. In regard to this, the first

point to examine is, what exactly the nature
of the week —day is and whore we could expect
to find reference to it. Dr. Fleet's position is
" at some time not long before A. D. 400, the
Hindus received the Greek astronomy, includ-
ing the full list of the seven planets arranged

ASTRONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEEATIONS 305
in the following order according to their

distances from the earth which was regarded
as the centre of the universe ; the Moon,
Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and
Saturn. Above Saturn the Hindus place the
stars following the Greeks in this respect also,
but meaning in particular the nakshatras or

so-called lunar mansions and the signs of the
solar zodiacs." In demonstration of this, he

starts with the assumption that the Hindus
received from the western world not only astro-
nomy but also astrology, and that the former,
was borrowed chiefly for the purposes of the
latter. He fixed the time of borrowing a little
before A. B. 400 on the ground that the week

as such got fixed in the present day order in
the writings of Firmicus Maternus who wrote
between A. D. 334 and 350 and Paulus Alex-
andrinus who wrote in A. D. 378. He then
proceeds to explain how the lordship of the
day of the week got to be ascribed to the
various planets. The rule as found in Arya-
bhatta and in the classical astronomers is that
the planets are taken in the order of distance
from the Earth, which was regarded as the
20
centre ; and for this purpose the most distant
is put down the first. They got arranged in
this order
Saturn,
Jupiter,
Mars,
The Sun,
Venus
Mercury and
Moon.
Taking Saturn as the lord of the first hour
of the day and giving the lordships of the
following hours in succession to the others, he
would naturally be the lord of the 8th, 15th
and 22nd hours of it ; the lordship of the 25th
hour would naturally go to the Sun and so on
for the rest, so that we get the week beginning
with Saturday and ending the following
Friday. Then Dr. Fleet proceeds to state
that this Saturday got somehow equated — he

does not say how — with the Jewish Sabbath,
and when it was adopted by the Christians of
the west, the Sunday became the first
by an edict of the Christian emperor

Constantine in A, D. 321. He also notes that
in the days of Dio Cassius in or soon after

A.D. 230, the calendrical use of the planetary

names week days had become general in
of the
the Koman world. So the week began with

Sunday, *
the lord's day of the Christians and
ended with Saturday the Jewish Sabbath,
which however the Jews did not use. It is
thus clear according to him that the Hindus

took over, not the astrological week beginning
with Saturday, but the Christian week begin-
ning with Sunday.io He quotes the authority
of Varahamihira (died A.D. 587) who takes up
the week in this order. He proceeds to ex-
amine where it would be possible to find
authority for the use of the week day and does
not find any inscription before A.D. 484,
it in
where the day of the week Thursday is men-
tioned. He finds the next such instance in
A.D. 664 and just a few others between that
year and about A.D. 800, wherefrom it had got
to be generally used. On the basis of this Dr.
Fleet, and those that follow him, adopt as a
10 Why the Hindus regard the Sunday, as the first day

of the week is plainly enough due to the pre-eminence of
the sun, as the name Bfaattaraka Vara, he quotes from tha
Histopadtisa unmistakeabiy indicates.
general principle that if in any undated work^
the name of a week day did occur that
stamped the work as a work probably
published after A.D. 800 and possibly after
A-D. 400 at any rate. That is the position of
Dr. Fleet in regard to the week day. Let us
examine the question rather closely. Kali-
dasa makes a distinction between Nakshatra,
Tarii, and Graha ; by Nakshatra he means the
constellations beginning with Asvini ; and by
Tara he means stars other than the constella-
tions, and by Graha he is said to refer to the
five planets beginning with Bhauma (Mars),
both the Sun and the Moon being omitted on
the consideration that they are too plainly
visible and therefore constitute the first two
among the planets, the other five being planets
proper as the Muhurta Darpana explains^!.
The same kind of classification is followed in
the Puranas but the Puranas cannot be
quoted as against Dr. Fleet, who will not
hear of any such, as they cannot be
accurately dated. The tendency of western
11 Baghuvams'a VI. 22 & MalliDatha's Commentary
thereon.
ASTRONOMICAL &c. CONSIDERATIONS 30^
scholars now-a-days is to date Kalidasa

on a variety of considerations, perhaps
a little earlier than 400. Bub this is not
exactly our principal contention here. There
is a Tamil text which gives exactly the
arrangement implied in Kalidasa and expound-
ed in the Muhurta Darpana. The text occurs
in poem 14 of the second section of the
Padirruppattu. which celebrates the father of
Senguttuvan Sera and is ascribed to an
ancient poet KumattQr Kannan^^ and the
statement contained there is "you who resemble
in glory the conjoint lustre of the Moon,
the Sun, and the five planets beginning
with Mars which mark the days, {f^fren Qsureft,)
This I believe one ought to take as a reference

to the planets, and the planets of the week
without the slightest room for doubt, and
12 lEiT&rQsfn^JKiseaa (^truS^ s'2QrTijuLp
The Commenfcator explains fche passage thus : f^^
^ff6aa®LD [§<iQ (SearjD ejL^ûo SjouLjuudifS QojQff&pnemu

the old commentator ofiers the following
explanation of the passage. Attempting
to explain the term used here for planets,
he says that the term *'KOL '
is here used in
the passage for the five because the two non-
shining planets should be excluded, and the
two brilliant ones, the Sun and the Moon being
well-known are not usually included in
that term ; and therefore the term applies

only to the remaining five. Of course the
all satisfying answer of Dr. Fleet and those
that follow him would be that this poem
should have been composed after A,D. 400,
and therefore cannot be quoted in autho-
rity as against the general position assumed.
Quite so, if the general position assumed had
been proved ; but there is very much more in
the text than actually meets the eye. It will
be noticed that the text begins with the Moon,

next comes the Sun, and next follow the five
in the present week day order, that is not
beginning with the Sunday week. The mention
of the Moon first is not forced upon the poet
by the exigencies of metre. The line would
read quite correctly even with the Sun before.
ASTEONOMICAL &c. CONSTDEKATIONS 311
What is the inference therefrom ?. Dr. Fleet

takes it that although intercourse, between the
Greeks and the Hindus was perhaps pretty
continuous since the days of Alexander, they
somehow did not borrow astrological astronomy
from the Greeks till all of a sudden something
dawned upon them at the end of the fourth
century to borrow it from the Christian astro-
nomers of the Eoman Empire We would
draw attention here to the order in which
these week days do occur in a bilingual list
now in the British Museum, where the seven,

full planetary group is arranged as follows :
The Moon, Sin,

The Sun, Shamash,
Jupiter, Merodach,
Venus, Ishtar,
Saturn, Ninip (Nirig)
Mercury, Nebo,
Mars, Nergal.
The reason for this primacy of themoon is
due to an early notion of the Sumerians who
regarded the Moon as *
the measurer', and for
certain purposes as the parent of the Sun. Of
these, the five planets, and the Sun and the
Moon got to be connected with the chief gods
of the Hammurabi Pantheon very early, and
a study of the various attributes of these gods
associated with the days make them somewhat
different in character from what the Greeks
must have had in mind when they made the
equations to the gods of their Pantheon. To
take only one instance, take Mercury, Nebo
(Nebu) of the Babylonians. He was no doubt
the messenger and announcer of the gods as
the Greek Hermes. Professor Jastrow has it
of him " Like Ea, ^^ he is the embodiment and

source of wisdom. The art of writing —and
therefore of all literature is more particularly
associated with him. The common form of
his name designates him as the god of the
Stylus^^." This is a character for Jupiter, that
agrees far closer with that of the Hindus

than anything that the Greeks have to show.
Although in this bilingual record the planets
are not arranged in the order in which we have
13 It muafc ba nofced fchab E*. is the Babylonian god

that comes nearest in ooncep&ion to the Indian Vishnu
the deity presiding over Jupiter.
1^ Aspects of Beligious Beliefs and Practice ia
Babylonia and Assyria. Page 95.
ASTKONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEBATIONS 313
them at present, the heading of the list by the

moon is a matter of importance particularly
in respect of its Sumerian associations. Could
it not be that the Tamils got this peculiarity
from Babylonians direct, if they could not
have given that position to the Moon for
the same reason that the Sumerians did?

In this connection, the character given to
Mars may also be studied usefully. Mars is
described by professor Pinches as *Lord of the

great habitation*, which according to him
would be a parallel to that of his spouse, Bresh-
ki-gaU^. Of this kind of greatness for Mars,
there is nothing corresponding among the
Hindus, but when Nergal got to be associated
with Erech particularly, he symbolised the
destroying influence of the Sun and was ac-
companied by the demons of pestilence. "Mars
was a planet of evil, plague and death : its
animal was the wolf." The Indian

form
god associated with Mars is Yama or death,
the nearest approach to Babylonian Nergal.
Whereas in Greece, Mars was associated with
Ares, the War-God, who assumed his boar-
is The goddess of the nether world.

form and slew Adonis. The Indian, rather
the Aryo-Indian Association of Agni with Mars-
fibds support in Babylonian tradition. We
would invite attention to the following extract
in this connection :
*
The drift of Babylonian culture was not
only directed westward towards the coast of
Palestine, and from thence to Greece during
the Phoenician period, but also eastward

through Elam to the Iranian plateau and
India. Keference has already been made to
the resemblances between early Vedic and
Sumerian mythologies. When the " new
songs" of the Aryan invaders of India were
being composed, the sky and ocean god,
Aâruna, who resembles Ea-Oannes and Mitra-
who links with Shamash, were already declin-
ing in splendour. Other cultural influences
were at work. Certain of the Aryan tribes, for
instance, buried their dead in Varuna's " house
of clay", while a growing proportion cremated
their dead and worshipped Agni, the fire
god- At the close of the Vedic period there
were fresh invasions into middle India, and
the "late comers" introduced new beliefs,,
ASTKONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEEATIONS 315
including the doctrines of the Transmigration

of Souls and of the Ages of the Universe.
Goddesses also rose into prominence, and the
Vedic gods became minor deities, and subject
to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These "late
comers" had undoubtedly been influenced by
Babylonian ideas before they entered India.
In their Doctrine of the World's Ages or Yugas^
for instance, we are forcibly reminded of the
Euphratean ideas regarding space and time.

Mr. Kobert Brown, junr., who is an authority
in this connection, shows that the system by
which the "Day of Brahma" was calculated
in India resembles closely an astronomical
system which obtained in Babylonia, where
apparently the theory of cosmic periods had
origin.*
Donald A. Mackenzie Myths : of Babylonia

and Assyria p. 199.
One would imagine then that the possi-

bilities were that if the Indians borrowed
these,^^ the chances of their borrowing from
16 Reference may here be made to the article in the>
Bhandarkar Commensuration volume by Mr. B. Go

Tilak OD the Veda and the Babylonian Creation-Epic.
Babylonia were far greater than from the
Greeks, and that so late, as after Firmicus
Maturnus and Panlus Alexandrinus. In
support of this position, there are a few more
points which ought to be noted here.
In the arrangement of the houses of the

zodiac, it is now admitted that it was the
Babylonian scientist first of all who divided
the ecliptic into twelve well-known divisions,
of which there is a noticeable distinction in
respect of the tenth house as it is known to
the Greeks and the Hindus. The Babylonians
called it Tebet, which stood for Ea's ^goatfish.'
The Greek equivalent therefor is merely Capri-
cornus, which means the goat. The Hindu
equivalent Makara is much nearer the goat-
fish than the goat The name of the
itself.
planet Venus gives it among the Greeks the

character of the woman-Aphrodite, and Venus
was associated with Ishtar in Babylonia ; but ^
Venus is never associated with a female deity

among the Indians, except for the fact that
the Adhi Devata is supposed to be Sachi, the
wife of Indra. The planet itself is regarded as
associated with §ukra, a man-rishi or a god-
ASTKONOMICAL &c. CONSIDERATIONS 317
rishi. It is now accepted by the world of

scholars that the Yuga and the Kalpa calcula-
tions (the exeligmos of the Greeks,) which
begin to figure in the Brahmana period of
Indo-Aryan history show very close associa-
tions with the Saroi of the Babylonians, and
in the naming and arranging of the cosmic
periods, or ages of the universe, there is an
apparently remarkable difference between the
Greek and the Indian notions, which latter are
in closer agreement with that of the Irish^*^.
The Indian ages are in the Indian order
This passage from the Balacharifcam of Bhasa, a drama-

fcisb of high reputation anterior to Kaiidasa states that
in the Krbayuga Vishnu was Narayana of Couch-whita
colour. In the Tretayuga he was Vishnu, who measu-
red the Universe in three strides, of a golden colour.
In the Dvapara he was Bama, who killed Havana, of
the colour of Durva-grass (dark green). In Kali he
becomes Damodara of the enduring dark of collyrium
This is quite representative of the orthodox scholarly
view.
Silvern (White), Golden (Yellow), the Bronze

(Red, seems to be rather dark green than red)
and Iron or black, whereas the Greeks would
begin with the Golden and put Silvern second.
In regard to the zodiacal arrangement of

the Babylonians, Mr. Brown the author of the
Primitive Constellations quotes Diadorus,
who gave a resume of Babylonian astrono-
mical astrology in the following terms :
" The
five ^planets were called *
interpreters' ; and in
subjection to this were marshalled thirty stars

which were styled divinities of the council.
The chiefs of the divinities are twelve in
number, to each of whom they assign a month
and one of the twelve signs of the zodiac.''
This takes us to the question of the basis of
the astronomical system of the Hindus.

We have already pointed out that Mr. Swami-
kannu Pillai regards the basis as essentially
<}hronological ; whereas, the basis of the

Babylonian system is astrological and perhaps
even seasonal. That this is so is in evidence
-as "the three constellations associated with

âch month had each a symbolic significance :
they reflected the characters of their months^^.

This quotation is clear evidence that it was
seasonal as well as astrological. We have
early evidence of the seasonal character
of the arrangement of the divisions of the
year in the Tolkappiam itself, where in
Sutra 6, the six-fold division of the year is
clearly made on the basis of the 12 signs of

the zodiac, and beginning with the rainy
season. The commentator, who of course is
a later man explains it in the following terms :
'
The year begins with the zodiacal house Leo,
which is the house of the Sun, who marks
time. From that, the passage of the Sun to
the house of Cancer, which is the house of the
Moon, constitutes the whole The six year.
divisions of this year make each two months
a division, and are named respectively the ;
rainy season, August-September ; windy-

season, October-November the season ; of early
dew, December- January ; the season of later

dew, February-March ; the season of the
mild Sun, April-May ; and the season of warm
1^ Myfchs of Babylonia and Assyria By DA, Mac-
kenzie p. 309.
sun, June- July. So that there is one

division now which is altogether on the
basis of the seasons of the year, and
that it is the time-honoured division of
the Tamils is inferable from its constituting
the basis of Tamil division for all purposes of

grammar and poetics, whether they rest upon
the authority of the Tolkappiam or no. But
that this was not the sole basis could be proved
by the fact that as in the case of the Baby-
lonians, the basal idea of the Indian astrological
system is the recognition of the astral bodies

as the souls of the departed good, who from
their distant positions exercised an influence
over the world and mankind. That that was
a very popular idea even from the Vedic times
could be proved by the following. The Appa-
stamba Dharmasutra, ^^ which is an early Sutra
and without question earlier than A. D, 400r
has a statement, in the chapter dealing with
the spiritual advantages of having a son, that
those of " Good Works " in life shine like the
Great Bear (Saptarshimandala), high above all
19 II IX 24, 13. Tafera ye. punyakrtab, taaham

prakrt ayah para jvalaDtyah upalabbyante.
ASTBONOMICAL &c. CONSIDEEATIONS 321
else ; as authority for this is quoted the Tait-

The same idea occurs in the
tiriya Sarnhita.^^
Ramayana in a more general and popular

connection when Indrajit, son of Bavana, by
his extraordinary power of magic throws the
head of Rama before Sita in her garden her-
mitage. . She bemoans the loss of her husband.
She is made to state in this connection that
he had joined in heaven the company of his
father and there, having become a Nakshatra,
he is said to see '
the whole of the Ikshvaku
family of royal rishies> but, as she said,
he neglected to see her in that forelorn
condition down below.'^^ This is a clear
20 Sukrfeam va etani.
jydiimshi yannaksbatrarii.
Tai Sam V. iv. 9.
21 Pitra Daârabbena tvam svaûrena mamanagba.

sarvaiscba pitribbib sardbam nunam svarge sama-
galah
divi Daksbatrabbufcastvam mabatkarmakrtam priyam.

puriyam rajarsbi vamisam tvam atmanab sama-
veksbaae.
kim mamDa prekshase rajan &g,
VI. 32. 18 and 19.

31
indication of the general belief of men of
good deeds being traosformed into stars,
an idea quite similar to that which con-

stitutes one of the main items of Babylonian
astronomical belief, with of course characteris-
tic minor differences. The same authority
quoted already has it that " the basal idea in
Babylonian astrology appears to be the recogni-
tion of the astral bodies as spirits or fates, who
exercised an influence over the gods, the world,
and mankind. These were worshipped in
groups when they were yet nameless." It
must be noted here that these groups were

general groups of seven in Babylonia. That
this was so when the early Greeks came in
contact with it is in evidence in the following
quotation from Plutarch " respecting the

planets, which they call the birth-ruling
divinities, the Chaldeans lay down that two
(Venus and Jupiter) are propitious, and two

(Mars and Saturn) malign, and three (Sun,
Moon and Mercury) of a middle nature
Mr. Brown's commentary is " an astrologer
would say, these three are propitious with
the good, and may be malign with the
ASTKONOMICAL &c. OONSIDERATIONS 323
bad. 22 That this was the early notion of the

Greeks also is seen in a passage in the drama,
Pax of A^ristaphanes. In that comedy one
character Trygaeus is shown as having just
then made an expedition to heaven ; a slave
meets him and asks him is not the story true
then, " that we become stars when we die !
*
Certainly '
was the answer. And Trygaeus
is made to follow the answer by pointing to
the star into which Ion of Chios has just been
metamorphosed. Mr. Lang's commentary on
this is " Aristaphanes is making fun of some
popular Greek superstition.'* (Custom and
Myth pp. 133 Et. Seq.)
The counterpart of this notion but exhibited
in more serious form is the well-known story

of Dhruva, which occurs in all the Puranas,^^
22 Primitive oonatellationa Vo. I p. 343.
^^ >dMR^Rr ^n^ JT^TPpr ii
Vishnu Parana I. xii 89—91.

where the boy as the result of a severe penance

was found a place above all the stars and
constellations. The star Dhruva is according
to Hindu astronomical ideas the pole star,
which, as such, is above all the other stars and

constellations and the Great Bear (Saptar-
shayab). When this idea gotmixed up with the
seasonal year of the Tamils in very early
times, we get the state of things,, which
indicates a combination of ideas from two or
three different astronomical systems ; that is
where exactly we find ourselves in the Tamil

county.2* There is one school of opinion which
would ascribe all the scientific elements in
astronomy to the Greeks, and that is what
exactly is at the bottom of the notion that
practically everything in astronomy, the very
basal ideas of astronomy, in India was borrow-

ed from the Greeks. To this school belongs
only one Assyrialogist of great reputation and
that is Professor Jastrow ;
practically all the
rest of the Assyrialogists do not seem to sup-
port his view in respect of the indebtedness of
^^ See the coDcludiog lioes of the poem 229 of Puram
with which we began this inveetigatioD.
ASTRONOMICAL &c. CONSIDi^KATIONS 325
the world to the Greeks for scientific astro-
nomy, and niore recent research seems to

support the majority. Professor Goodspeed
says that during the Sumerian period " the
forms and relations of geometry were employed
for purposes of aiigury. The heavens were
mapped out, and the courses of the heavenly
bodies traced to determine the bearing of their
movements upon human destinies. "^5 What i's
worse for this claim in behalf of Greece

is the recent discovery of a document from the
archives of Nineveh, which gives unmistake-
able evidence of the existence of an observatory
with a body of official astronomers, whose
business it was to predict eclipses and issue
circulars for the various ceremonies and obser-
vances that have to be made on the occasion
oi these eclipses. Professor Harper's transla-
tion of one of these documents puts the case
very \êll and the following extracts are taken
from it with the comments of Mr. D. A.
Mackenzie. " As for the eclipse of the^Moon,
-about whicJh the king, My Lord, has written
to me, a watch was kept for it in the ditles of
25 A' history of the Babylonians & Assyrians p. 93.

Akkad, Borsippa and Nippur. We observe it
ourselves in the city of Akkad and
whereas the king, My Lord, ordered me to
observe also the eclipse of the Sun, I watched
to see whether it took place or not and what
passed before my eyes, I now report to the
king, My Lord. It was an eclipse of the
Moon that took place it was total, over
Syria and the shadow fell on the land of the
Amorites, the land of the Hittites and in part

on the land of the Chaldees." Professor Sayce
comments :
" We gather from this letter that
there were no less than three observatories in
northern Babylonia : one at Akkad, near
Sippara ; one at Nippur, now Niffer ; and one
at Borsippa, within the site of Babylon. As
Boisippa possessed a university, it was, natural
that one of the three observatories should be

established there. "^^ It is not necessary to
go very much farther in regard to these. We
may state, however, that according to the
calculations of Mr. Brown, the signs of the
zodiac were fixed in the year 2084 B. C.
(Primitive Constellations Vol. II pp. 147 et.
26 Myths of Babylonia and Assyria pp. 321 — 22.

seq.) ]f then the zodiacal houses were fixed so

early and if such a similarity could be noticed
between the systems of early astronomical
notions both of the Hindus of Northern India
and of the South on the one side, and the Baby-
lonians on the other, and if some of the minute
but characteristic differences noticed between
Greece and India be the facts that they are,
the inference seems irresistible that if there
had been borrowing by the Hindus the chances

are that the borrowing was from Babylonia
rather than from Greece, whatever might have
taken place in later times and in scientific
astronomy. Even in respect of this what we
find very difficult to understand is why an
astronomer of the reputation of Varahamihira,
who examiues all the systems of astronomy
then known to him dispassionately, and agrees
with some views of one school and other views
of another, should actually be charged with
having borrowed wholesale from the Greeks
without an acknowledgment in the face of the
fact that he often quotes with approval
Yavanacharya as against Satyacharya and
others, so far at any rate as astrology is
concerned. But that is not to our present

purpose. What we wish to point out is that
in the particular poem that Mr. Svvamikannu
Pillai has taken for investigating the system
«f astronomy that had vogue among the Tamife,
he remarks that the month Panguni referred
to is the solar Panguni and not the lunar.
We wish that he were on firmer ground in

making that statement. That the character
of Tamilian astronomy might be regarded as
solar finds support in another passage of the
same Tamil we quoted from before,

classic
namely, Padirruppattu. In poem 59 there

is reference to the month of Masi which is
described as a cold month. ^''^

It must however
also be noted here that the term for the month
used there is Tingal (moon) which suggests
a lunation being the basis of the month, so that
even so early the two systems seem to have
ueaf^^Srffth Ui-.(rû3 urrear lds^

The oommentary explains MSiSi, as the character of
Masi and fehe expression Ma-kiic which gives fche nam© fco
the poem maaas the doubling of the body owing to cold*
Cf. Sans: Makare Kumdalakrtih. (In the month, of
Makara people double up their bodies owing to the cold.)
been in use together. ^^ It has perhaps now

become clear that any general statement that
the week day was not known would be very
hazardous to make, and much less v/ould it
be true to apply that as a test of chronology

in respect of works of literature making refer-
ences to week days. It may also have become

clear by now that the basal notion of Hindu
astronomy was not exactly chronology although
chronology did become a vital part of it later.
The earlier notions certainly were based both

upon the seasons and upoa the astrological-
—animistic ideas of the stars in both these res-
pects, showing considerable similarity to the
early notions of the Babylonians and of the
Sumerians before them. We shall not enter
into the question of who the Sumerians were,
and whether they were at all connected with
the South Indian Tamils but we might state
;
in closing that there is very little doubt that
28 Attention may here be drawn to the passage o!

Megasthenes extracted: on p. 67 above stating that the
Paodya country was divided into 365 villages so that the
revenue of one may be brought in every day. This pre-

sumes a year of 365 days.
§30 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
there was communication by way of the sea.
between Babylonia and India at least in the

6th and 5th centuries B.C., and that communi-
cation would certainly bear the inference thai
some of these ideas also travelled therefrom^
although we are in no position to state defini-
tely that the borrowing wâs all on the Indian
side. The general assumptions having been
proved to be false, the whole system built there-
on, we fear, cannot stand.
We would point out in conclusion that the
week day as such has no astronomical signi-
ficance except that in the arrangement of the
week and in the notion of the presiding deity
of the day, astronomers do bring in the
principle of the relative distance of the planets-
into consideration. But this, it strikes us, is-
only an astronomical after-thought to explain

perhaps the phenomenon that had already
been somewhat in popular usage. All else
connected with the week and the week day is
of an astrological character associated with

augury and of the animistic notions under-
lying that. To say more than that, it seems
to us, would be saying too much.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VII.
We present our readers in the form of an>
appendix to this chapter two extracts from

Mr. E.G. Sesha Aiyar's article in the Christiaa
College Magazine, already referred to, by
permission of the author, relating to the astro-
nomical data of the Silappadikaram-Manime-
kalai. We have already given a short excur-
sus, in regard to poem 229 of Purara, of our
own in the body of the paper.
(1)
" The passages in Siiappadikaram that
are discussed by Mr- Swamikannu Piliai are
found in /5/r®«/r6jwrai/r6TO^, text and commentary,
and siUSstnir^'fr&oi^s. The opeaing lines of i^fr®
^tressrsir^m^. tell US when the departure of
Kovalan and Kannaki from Kaveripumpatti-
nam took place. These lines are as follows :
Adiyarkunallar's commentary on these lines

contains the following note : âtjih^'SF Q^^,<^siiT^
881
(Lfih ^ffSssariLjiEi ^^.tsjîu ^^suirir^^/D Qîns^Qiup;Sl^
Q<3=^!rLiieuT ffQpiliQupp ^^L-'^^(ffd f5irLL'35L—<sOiru^ eat®
^<oQ^ stR6u<srrQ ^ fû^Q^freku^/D Q<3='6ijsufnLJ'i Sip
Ss)i>6ijULLL^ jijih ,dB ff

^ ^Qêt^Q ei) QtijesrpeuTj}/.
The passage in sLLQeanr^TeiD^ which reads as

iollows :
relates to the destruction of Madura by fire as

the result of Kannaki's curse. Of these, the
two passages from the text, valuable as they
are, are not obviously by themselves capable of
yielding any definite result ; but not so, how-
ever, the commentator's note ; and if the
details mentioned in it be accurate, we ought
to be able to establish with almost absolute
APPENDIX. 333
certainty the date of Silappadikaram. Mr.

Swamikannu Pillai believes that the note by
the commentator is capable of giving us
a definite, unimpeachable date, and he
exultantly says that "between A.D., 1 and
A.D. 1900 there was only one year, one month
and one day, satisfying all the conditions, and
that was Monday, 17th May, A.D. 756/ Let
us see if this statement is correct.
The passage in question gives the following
details :
The month of Chitrai in that year

(i)
commenced on Sunday, Thrithiya, Swathi

nakshatra.
(ii) Twenty-eighth Chitrai, was Saturday,
Eall Moon, Chitra nakshatra. That day the
flag was hoisted for the festival of India.
(iii) After 28 days, the duration of the

festival, the flag was lowered.
(iv) On the 28th Vaikasi, Monday, the
thirteenth day of the bright lunar fortnight,
Anusham Star, the bath in the sea took place
and the lovers quarrelled-

(v) On the 29th Vaikasi, Tuesday. Kettai-
nakshatram, which was a destructive combi-
nation, the fourteenth day of waxing moon,
after the moon had set, when the sky was
dark Kovalan left with Kannaki.
It will be noted that these details are not
given in the text, which simply says, referring
to the day of Kovalan's flight with his wife,
that it was after the moon had set on the last
day of the bright half, aad before sunrise the

next morning, when the sky was dark. Sup-
posing for a moment the details given by
Adiyarkunallar are correct, whence did he get
them? The commentator lived probably in
the twelfth century ; and even if Mr. Swami-

kannu Pillai's conclusion be accepted nearly
four centuries had expired since the composition
of Sillappathikaram before this note was writ-
ten. Did Adiyarkunallar make his own calcula-
tion or did he repeat what he had heard ? Mr.
Swamikannu Pillai opines that there should
have been *
a continuous unbroken tradition
of annotation dating almost from the date of
the poem,' and the commentator in the
present instance had preserved what he had
obtained from earlier scholiasts. Even upon
that explanation, the commentator's note could
APPENDIX. 335
not be accepted as really of value, as after all
it might have been supplied by the ingenuity

of an earlier annotator, and as in the process
of repetition it might easily have under-gone
alterations in material particulars. However,
the astronomical information supplied in the
note seems to be thoroughly fanciful, as one
<3an see from Mr. Swamikannu Pillai's paper
itself. Besides, the reckoning of days in the
note seems to be puzzling. We are told that
the flag was hoisted on 28th Chitrai, Saturday
and as we are told that the 28th Vaikasi was
Monday, the month of Chifcrai in that year
must have had only thirty days. So the festival,
which was of twenty-eight days '
duration must
have closed on 25th Vaikasi, when the flag must
have been taken down, and one fails to see
how the bath that concludes the festival took
place as stated in the note, only on the 28th
Vaikasi. There is no doubt from the narration
of the story in the poem that Kovalan and
Kannaki left for Madura on the night of the
bath itself, before dawn of next morning, and
yet we read in the note that they left on the
night of Tuesday, the 29th Vaikasi. Obviously
the note as ifc sfcands, evea apart from its
astronomical learning, is incorrect or not easily

explicable. Is the astronomical information,
at any rate, free from error? Mabamahopadh-
yaya Pandit V. Swaminatha Aiyar, the revered
editor of Silappadikaram, says in a footnote
that the information contained in the note

appears to be incorrect, but Mr. Swamikannu
Pillai, while extolling the learned Pandit's
candour, rebukes the astrologer who enabled
that footnote to be written for ignorance of
astrological calculation. I nevertheless venture

to say that the conditions in this curious note
are impossible and that the learned Mahama-

hopadhyaya's footnote is justified.
To arrive at 756 A. D. Diwan Bahadur L.D.

Swamikannu Pillai has freely edited the
commentator's note. As regards the commen-
cement of Ghitrai in that year, he says that it
was a day of Swati in the sense that Swati

began on that day at 38 Ghatikar after sunrise^
He admits that ordinarily such a day would

be called a day of Chitra nakshatra; but in
explanation of the commentator's blunder, he
states that the commentator appears to have^
APPENDIX. 337
obtained his nakshatra by backward calculation

from **Jyeshta," the star under whose malig-
nant influence, Kovalan and Kannaki left for
Madura. This itself would be enough to con-

demn the note as untrustworthy. What is the
basis for holding that it was on a Tuesday which
co-existed with Jyeshta star, that the husband
and wife left their house in Kaveripattinam ?
Apparently the commentator's knowledge of
astrology was so poor that he could not think

of any other malignant combination except
the popular Tuesday with Kettai star, and
starting therefrom he worked the details back-
ward as best as he could. If the star on the
first day of Chitrai has according to Mr.
Swamikannu Pillai, been wrongly stated in the
note, so has also the Thithi ; for he tells us
that the third thithi is a mistake for the first
thithi. Thus this part of the note, in order to
make A. D. 756 acceptable, should be made

to read :
— The month of Chitrai in that year
began on Sunday, Prathama, Chitra nakshatra*
The second part of the note declares the 28th
Chitrai was Saturday, full moon Chitra nak-
shatra. Mr. Swamikannu Pillai points out that
22
in 756 A. D. in the month of Chitrai, the full
moon commenced at 41^ ghatikas after sunrise
the same day. Obviously, therefore, Saturday,
28Dh Chitrai did not combine with the full
moon at all. Indeed the thithi that was cur-

rent at sunrise on Saturday and properly
speaking the thithi of that day was Thrayo-
dasi, the thirteenth lunar day. However, Mr.
Swamikannu Pillai gets over the difficulty
created by the commentator's inconvenient
statement by invibing us to hold that by *'fuli
moon'* must have been meant, a day near full
moon! Why the commentator, who is at such

considerable pains to supply details that will
fill up lacunae in the astrological references in
the text, should be guilty of such loose writing
one cannot easily explain ; but the suggestion
is enough to stamp the statements in the note
with unreliability.
Eelating to Kovalan's departure with
Kannaki, the note says, it was on Tuesday,
29th Vaikasi, under the malignant influence
of Kettai (Jyeshta), after the moon of the
fourteenth thichi in the bright fortnight had
set, and before sunrise. The statement is
APPENDIX. 339
very specific ; and yet in order to apply it to
756 A.D., we should again hold that the

language is loose. Though the language
of the note would denote that Kovalan
and Kannaki left in the small hours of the
morning between Tuesday and Wednesday,

and that the moon of the fourteenth thithi
has just set, and that further Jyeshta co-
existed with Tuesday at the moment they
started. Mr. Swamikannu Pillai finds that
every one of these positions has to be given
up. According to him, the departure must
have taken place in the small hours of the
morning between Monday and Tuesday, that

is before the sun rose on Tuesday ; that there
was no combination of Jyeshta and Tuesday
when they started (as a matter of fact
;
Anusham lasted till 10 A. M. on Tuesday)

that there was no Chadurdasi at all on Tuesday,
which was on the contrary a full moon day.
We are told by Mr. Swamikannu Pillai that
there was an eclipse at this full moon ; and
we may be permitted to doubt whether, if
Mr. Swamikannu Pillai's date be correct, that
fact could under any circumstance have been

leffc out by the commentator who in the
passage under discussion is trying to account
for the subsequent disaster that befell Kovalan.
A day of eclipse is astrologically condemned
as highly disastrous for a journey ; and it is
strange that that pre-eminently bad omen is
mentioned at all, when, according to Mr.

Swamikannu Pillai, Adyarkunallar is so scru-
pulous as to mention the subsequent co-exist-
ense of Jyeshta star with Tuesday, the first
day of the journey ; though the subsequent

nasa yoga so created could not astrologically
affect the destinies of Kovalan and Kannaki.
It may also be noted here that on 28th
Vaikasi, Sukla Triyodasi and Anusham did
not co-exist, as stated by the commentator.
I have tried so far to show how in spite of
Mr, Swamikannu Pillai's statement that 756

A.D. satisfies all the conditions laid down in
the note, there is not even one condition that
without very material alteration could be
made to apply to that year. Mr. Swamikannu
Pillai has absôlutely brushed aside the
statements of the commentator as they are,
and has substituted data of his own that will
APPENDIX. 341
support his view- If instead of the eighth

century, he had decided upon any other century,
the same process of editing, the same process
of revising and correcting might still be adopt-
ed to arrive at that pre-determined conclusion.
(II) The other circumstance that renders it
impossible according to Mr. Swamikannu
Pillai to look for Silappadikaram, before the
eighth century is said to be supplied by Mani-
mekalai. The passages upon which the argu-
ment is built are these :
Mani xi. 40—46

f!FQj6sar^mp(D(inî^ OiTiLt-.Temnf-i)
QuJT/Oleu'rstr^ Q(7r^&irjÛi,
Mani xii. 77—8

Mani xv, 22—6.

The imporfcance of these passages, we are told,.
is that they tell us that the Buddha will be

reborn 1,616 years after, when the very time
units that concurred at his first appearance
were produced, and that the day on which
Manimekalai appeared before the pool of
Manipallavam was that very day and hour. I
am inclined to think that Mr. Swamikannu
Pillai has misunderstood the passages when he
takes them to mean that the day and hour
when Manimekalai visited the sacred pool
was the very day and hour of the expected
readvent of Buddha, exactly 1,616 years after
his first appearance. It is in the extract
from canto XI that the expression ^fits'r&-BiBtîr
erru Quir(ipûQuir(ip^ occurs. There is na

reference there to Buddha's reappearance in
the year 1616. If Divatilakai intended to tell
Manimekalai that that day Buddha was expect-

ed to reappear, she would have in unambigu-
ous terms proclaimed that great and all
important fact, and not contented herself with

APPENDIX. 343
mentioniDg merely the miraculous appear-

ance of the sacred bowl. There is no doubt
that she is referring to an annually recurring
miracle on Vaikasi Visaka, which in the very
nature of things would be a day of special
holiness and significance to the Tamil Bud-
dhists. In this connection reference may be
made to Manimekalai, canto XIV. 11.92-94
from which it is clear that when the bowl was
thrown into the tank, the bidding was that it
should appear on the surface once every year

till it should reach the hands of one virtuous
and holy enough to take possession The
of it.
great Tamil scholar, Mahamahopadhyaya

V. Swaminatha Aiyer interprets the context
as referring to an annual solemnity, and if I
may be permitted to say so in all humility, I
perfectly agree with that interpretation.
Besides, the notion of Buddha's reappearance in
1,616 years is supplied by the passage extracted
from canto XII of Manimekalai, which describ es
the heroine's visit to Aravana Adigal ; and he
conveys the glorious information to her that
when Buddha is born again in the year 1616,
a new era of universal peace and love and
good- will, which the seer graphically describes,
will be heralded. If as a matter of fact the
Buddha has already appeared again on the day
and at the moment when Manimekalai obtain-
ed the bowl, Aravana Adigal would have told
her that the new era had already dawned as
the new Buddha was already born; but he
does not say anything of the kind, but only
makes a predictioa. The language is pre-
eminently suggestive of an advent yet to
happen. '^ QujT/6l€Ufrefr^(o(n^drj)i,
It is L6jS/D-
Mr. Swamikannu Pillai seems to have put a

forced construction on the passages, and there-
upon built an argument. If my view supported
as it is by the view of the foremost Tamil
scholar of the day is correct, it is plain that the
passages in Manimekalai have no relevancy
whatever to the discussion of the problem we
have taken up for solution. Supposing, how-
ever, that Mr. Swamikannu Pillai's view of
the passages is correct, and their combined
effect is to make out that the day of Mani-
mekalai's visit to the pool was the day of
Buddha's expected reappearance, we have to

APPENDIX. 345
consider from what date 1,616 years are

to be counted, and to which of the three
events in Buddha's history, his birth, his
sambodhi or his nirvana, the combination

of time units refers. Mr. Swamikannu
Pillai thinks it has reference to Buddha's
nirvana, and from that 1,616 years should
be reckoned. He rightly holds that none of
the accepted dates for Buddha's nirvana would

suit, and therefore he assumes 846 B.C. for his
purposes, as that is near what is said to have

been the accepted date for the nirvana (B.C.
850) in China in the seventh century after
Christ ! 1,616 years after 846 B.C. would take
to 771 A.D. That being the day when Mani-
mekalai visited the divine pool and received
the divine begging bowl, the epic poem Mani-
mekalai must have been written not earlier
than the eighth century. To arrive at this
result Mr. Swamikannu Pillai arbitrarily
assumes 846 B.C- as the date of the nirvana
that the Southern Tamil Buddhists had in
mind, that 1,616 years should be reckoned
from the date of the nirvana, that the
expression *'
5^0 u^ôtQll^ Qlltq^^^jj^
Q^^piSesr'' refers to the date of the solar
month and that the thithi is not mentioned
in the passage, but it is full moon. It
is admitted that the expession ' the middle of
the nakshatras' denotes Visakha, which is the
14th in the list of 27 stars, counting from
Karthigai. Perhaps this very circumstance
should indicate that Manimekalai was com-
posed before the reckoning form Aswini had
been substituted. Let that, however, pass.
What is the warrant for holding that the
alleged Chinese date for the Nirvana had been
accepted by the Buddhists of South India?
The Tamil Buddhists of South India had no
doubt their own traditional dates based on the
accounts current in the Tamil country. Ac-
cording to such tradition (1) Buddha's birth
was in Kishabha Wednesday ,Visakhanak8hatra
full moon; and (3) His nirvana was in Rishaba
Tuesday, Vaisakha nakshatra, full moon.
The northern Buddhists, Weber tells us, had
fourteen different accounts of the life events
of Buddha ranging from 2422 B.C. to 546 B.C.
The southern Buddhists too had possibly a
fairly large number ranging over a similarly
APPENDIX. 347
long period. Accepting Mr, Swamikannu

Pillai's suggestion that a date antecedent to
800 BC. should be discovered for the purposes
of our present problem, we find that the
following dates will satisfy the conditions :
1. Birth: 1450 B.C. Bishabha 7th, Fri-
day, Visakha nakshatra 30 gh. 32 p, full moon.

59 gh. 18 p.
2. Sambodhi: 1415 B. C Eishabha lOfch,
Wednesday, Visakha 8-37, full moon 48-28-
3. Nirvana: 1371 B.C. Rishabha 2nd,

Tuesday, Visaka after 15 gh. 46. p. and full
moon after 15 gh. 52 p. These dates besides

satisfying the conditions regarding the month
week day, nakshatra and thithi, also accord
with the traditional notion that Buddha

attained sambodhi thirty-five years after his
birth, and nirvana in his eightieth year. These
dates are neither improbable nor fanciful
Kalhana in his Rajatharangini places
Kanishka 150 years after the nirvana of
Buddha, and says that Kanishka and his
brothers Hushka and Jushka —the Vasishka
and Huvishka of the historians — came immedi-
ately before Gonanda who according to him
began his reign in 1182 B. C. I am not
appealing to Kalhana's history, but I refer to
him only to show the currency of a tradition
about the date of Buddha's nirvana, upon

which obviously he based his account of
Kanishka's date. The date for the nirvana
that we might gather from Kalhana's state-
ments that have been noted above will be

1,182 plus 150 plus the period covered by the
reigns of Kanishka, Vasishka and Huvishka,
which Kalhana says covered one generation,
(say, forty years) but which according to
Dr. Luders is about sixty years. This will
give us 1372 or 1392 B.C. So if we accept

these dates the next question would be,
from which of these three dates should we

reckon 1,616 years to arrive at the rebirth
of Buddha. To me it is clear that the termi-
nus a quo is the date of the sambodhi, which

is the real appearance of the Buddha for all
Buddhists. Calculated from that date, the

date of Buddha's anticipated reappearance
would be 202 A. D., which will also be the
date of Manimekalai's acquisition of the

divine bowl."
CHAPTEE VIII.
CONCLUSION
As a result of this detailed investigation, it
would be of some advantage to gather together
in a concluding chapter the results we have sa

far arrived at in respect of South Indian
History. That history does not take us any-
thing like as far back as the history of the
Aryans in India. The earliest historical con-
nection is the semi-historical immigration of

an Indian colony into Ceylon under the lead
of Vijaya. It is this that begins the Buddhist
history of the island of Ceylon itself. All that
we can say about this is that, at the time
this history got to be written, tradition
connected Vijaya by marriage with the
Pandyas. That is the only matter of interest
to us. The story as it is found in the
chronicle might be taken to indicate that there
was a considerable intercourse between the
island and the Pandyan country, and that
what is said there about the whole-sale trans-
mission of women folk from the Pandya country

849
^60 BEGINNINGS OF S. INDIAN HISTORY
to provide wives for the bachelor immigrants
from India may have a substratum of fact.
Leaving this we come to the reference that is
made by Magasthenes to the female ruler of

this Pandya country, and its resources as indi-
cated by the army that this state usually main-

tained according to him. These two, though
they might have a historical basis, cannot yet
be regarded as of undoubted historical charac-
ter. But when next we pass on and come to
the references to this region in the edicts of
Asoka, we are certainly on surer ground.

The four states that constituted the Tamil
country had so far attained to a degree of
civilisation and a suflScient development

of their resources as to be able to with-
stand successfully one or more Maurya
invasions. We have pointed out in a previous
chapter from the evidence of the Tamil classics
that there were formidable Maurya invasions,
which went as far as the Tinnevelly District
itself, and left behind it, at least one, possibly
more sections of people finally settling in
South India. We also pointed out that it was

as a consequence of this attempt at conquer-
CONCLUSION 351
ing South India in all probability, that the
imperial votary for peace, Asoka, thought it
prudent to enter into terms of treaty with the

southern powers almost on the same footing as
the Greek treaty-powers of the west. With the
death of Asoka the imperial hold in the more
distant provinces becomes loose and the chances
of independence were far greater. But the
Tamil states took full advantage of this not
merely to make themselves independent, but
even perhaps to retaliate against the norther-
ners. We found on the facts available that this
retaliation perhaps came somewhat later, per-
haps after the commencement of the Christian
«ra. It is to this particular period that the
bulk of the material available to us from
literary sources have reference. From these
we are able to picture to ourselves the three
well-known states of the south, the Chola, tbe
Pandya and the Kerala.The space interven-

ing these was occupied by a number of chief-
taincies usually seven in number, sometimes

more, sometimes less.
Before taking up this period, however, we

have to note at least incidents which seem
to us quite historical in the history of Ceylon

which bring that island into touch with South
India generally and of the Chola country
in particular. On the basis of B. C. 483 for
the Buddhist Nirvana, there was a series of
Tamil invasious of the island in the course of
the second century B. C. These invaders are

always exhibited in the chronicles as actively
hostile to Buddhism. We have already noted
that the southern opposition to Mauryan
invasion had in it not merely the idea of
independence, but perhaps even that of religion
in its later phases, and this religious feeling
very probably took on the form of hostility ta

the active extension of Buddhism into the
country. In the light of this it is nothing
surprising that the Ceylonese complained
generally of the hostility of the Hindu inva-
ders of South India to their religion. It is in
the reign of the predecessor of Mahasena that

an unorthodox school of Buddhists in South
India are for the first time referred to and
this takes us on to very near A. D. 300.
ijfn the course of these invasions, one
ruler from the Chola country who is described
CONCLUSION 353
as a Tamil *
of a noble descent '
came into
Ceylon, over-powered the previous ruler and
set himself up, on the throne. He is called
Elara in the Ceylon Chronicle and is known
to popular Tamil tradition as Elela Singam.
He ruled from 144 B.C. to 101 B.C. accord-
ing to the Chronicle *'
with even justice toward
friend and foe, on occasions of dispute at law."
This ruler is sometimes described as from the

Karnata country, as for instance in Miss
Mitton's Euined Cities of Ceylon, on what
authority, I am not able to say. Keturning to
Eliira, the stories that the chronicles give of
the occasions in which this ruler exhibited his
extraordinarily high notions of justice are
stories which we find ascribed to an ancient
Chola by name Manu Chola, and one of them
has quite a family resemblance to the story
associated with the great early Chola Karikala.
He is said, on a particular occasion on the com-
plaint of an old woman, who suSered damage to
her grain by unseasonal rain, to have brought

it about that the rains fell only in due seasons
and not otherwise. This is a story quite
similar to that of one relating to an early

23
Pandyan, who similarly compelled the clouds
that ceased to raio to pour forth their abund-
ance. All this which is said in the chronicle
in spite of the fact that "he knew not the
peerless virtues of the most precious of the
three gems (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha)" is
a certain indication of a community of culture
between the island and the continent' It is
a victory over this enlightened usurper that

gave great credit, in the eye of the orthodox
Buddhists, to one of Ceylon's great patrons
of Buddhism Dutta Gamani Abhaya. His
successor got a number of great Viharas
constructed, and brought about an assembly, on
the occasion of the consecration of one of these,
of all the great Buddhists from the various
centres in India set forth in Chapter I.
The next occasion in which the history of
this island is brought into connection with

South India is in the period 44 to 29 B. C,
when five Tamils established themselves as
rulers in succession, and invasions of the
island from the Tamil country perhaps
became very frequent as the island itself was
torn by dissensions and civil wars fre-
CONCLUSION 355
quenbly. When we come to Gajabahu,

the Mahavamsa itself has not much to say
about his connection with India, but the
other chronicles of Ceylon do state that
he found it necessary to go to war, as on
a previous occasion the Tamils invaded the
island and carried away as many as twelve
thousand inhabitants of Ceylon to work " in
the city of the Kaveri." This story seems to
have relation to the building of the magnificent
city of Kaveripattanam or Puhar by the Chola
king Karikala. While there may be much that
is historical in this body of Ceylon tradition,
we cannot say we are on sure historical ground ;
but from Karikala backwards, we have the

names of some of the Chola rulers and refer-
ences to some of their wars in classical Tamil

literature itself. The first ruler that we have
to notice from this source is Peruvirark-
Killi, who fought against the Chera Kudakko
Nedum Serai, and both of them fell in battle.
The next rulers of these two dynasties were
Ilanjet-Chenni, the father of Karikala
and Imaiyavaramban Nedumseraladan, the
father of ênguttuvan. Then we get on to
Karikala in the Chola country, and somewhat
later than the date of Karikala's accession to
the throne or even perhaps after his death

Senguttuvan Sera was the ruler in the Chera
country of the west. Between this Chera and
his father, there was his uncle who might
not have ruled independently, but who did
conquer the Kongu country and brought it
under Chera rule. This rule was further

extended to embrace the Kollimalais when
the Malayaman chieftain of Tirukkovilur,,
Kari by name, who was a fugitive in the
Chera country as a result of a war against
another chief Adiyaman Anji of Tagadur
(Dharmapuri in Salem), volunteered to
conquer his enemy-neighbour, Ori of the

Kollimalais, and made over the conquered
territory to the friendly Chera who offered
him asylum ixi his difficulties. A successor or
subordinate of this Chera laid siege to Tagadiir
and destroyed its fortification killing the Anji
in battle. This give us three generations of
the Cholas, Peruvirark-Killi, his son probably,
Ilanjet-Chenni, his son certainly Karikala.
Karikala was succeeded actually by his son or
CONCLUSION 367
grandson known usually as Nedumudik Killi

identical with Perunark- Killi, who celebrated
the Bajasuyam, with whom this dynasty of
the Cholas seems to come to an end, at any

rate so far as we can see at present. During
the corresponding period, the Chera dominions
were ruled respectively by Kudakko Nedumse-
ral, then probably his son, Imayavaramban
Nedum Serai, followed by his son Senguttuvan
with a successor who might have been his son
or a cousin, the *
Ghera of the Elephant Look.'
With him the Chera territory suffers consider-
able damage at the hands of the young contem-
porary Pandyan though it recovered partly from
this diminution of prestige but with him ;
our knowledge of the history of the Cheras

ceases so far as the particular sources of
information under consideration go. Con-

temporaneous with this the Pandyan list
begins with Pandyan Nedum oeliyan,

the
victor over the Aryan forces, whom for certain
valid reasons I identified with Ugra Pandyan.
1 I fear this idenbificatioo may have to be given up ;
but the alternative eouree is not yet quite clear. I shall

await the results of further analysis of this evidence for
a definite conclusion.
His successor was Verri Vel Seliyan, who

was his father's Viceroy at Korkai. He
is succeeded by another Pandyan, the famous
Pandyan victor at Talaiyalanganam, though
we have no information to settle his relation-
ship with his predecessor. This last Pandyan
seems to be followed by another one, who goes'
by the name Ugra Pandya, but under whom'
some of the Sangam works, at any rate, got
to be collected in their present form. We have
already seen that in this age, the country
intervening the three kingdoms was divided
among a number of chieftains distributed
somewhat as follows :
—Nannan was in occu-
pation of the coast part probably of the

Kadamba country, that is a great portion of
South Canara and part of Malabar on the

West Coast. There was an elder Nanuan
known generally as the woman-killer', and
*
his son Nannan, *

the son of Nannan' as the
poets called him. Immediately to the east of
it, in what is now the territory of Mysore and
on this side of the Western Ghats, extended
the territories of Irungovil of Araiyam^
Vichchik-kon, and Pari of Parambu Nadu.
CONCLUSION 359
Proceeding further eastwards into the Salem

district, there was in the region of the Bara-
mahals, Adiyaman chief of Tagadur

the
(Dharmapuri), the Adiyaman Anji and his
son Elini or Pohuttelini. Further east-
wards from this and immediately adjoin-
ing his territory was Ori of the Kollimalais ;
next east to him in the South Arcot district

was the Malayaman Kari of Tirukkoilur and
his successor, who figures later, Tirukkannan,
who is called a Malayaman and general of
the Cholas (Soliyavenadi). Going westwards
across this, we come to the famous chieftain
of the Palni Hills, Pehan. South-west of this
across the Madura district was Aai of the
Podiyil Hills, the Aioi of Ptolemy. Across the
whole of Tinnevelly on the eastern coast was
the great Evvi chieftain of Mutturru Kurram
andMilalaik-Kurram, probably the pearl fishery
coast between Korkai and and southern Vellaru.
These are the chieftains of the older genera-
tion, but by the time we come to the

Pandyan of Talaiyalanganam, the disposi-
tion changes somewhat as we indicated, and
those that figured in the battles against him
360 BEGINNINGS OF S, INDIAN HISTORY
were slightly different names. That does
not mean that they came then into existence
it is only a question of the less important ones
becoming more important at the time, the
more important ones becoming extinct as in
the case of Ori and Pari, and some of the other
chiefs losing their importance. The five
chieftains that figured in the great battle of
Talaiyalanganam against the young Pandyan
were Tidiyan; Elini, the son of Anji of
Tagadur; Erumaiyuran, probably the succes-
sor of the chieftainwho went by the name
Erumai, as Mamulanar knew him ; Irungovel;
and Porunan. This need not exactly be con-
strued as an exhaustive list, as some of
the other chieftains of the time might
have remained neutral in respect of this parti-
cular battle. This gives us a clear distribu-

tion of the powers among the various political
parties in the age of the Sangam and in the
two or three generations of the great literary

celebrities, some of whom were considered in
detail in the previous chapters and others
will come in for consideration when occasion
offers.
CONCLUSION 361
We have already seen that this part of the

<}ouiitry made a combination to resist the
incursions ol the northerners. We have also
noted that they kept commuication with the
outside world, probably by way of the sea
and this communication takes us to times
long anterior to the Christian Era. At
the age that we have been considering they
had probably extensive trade reaching at
any rate as far as the Bast Indian Archipelago
on the one side, and perhaps Egypt? Arabia
and the Persian Gulf on the other- We have
already drawn attention to the great service
that was rendered to this over-sea commerce
by the destruction, early in this age, of the
pirates and their rendezvous close to the west
coast of this part of the country. We also sug-
gested that this hostility of the south against

the extension of the northern power had per-
haps in it something of a hostility to the reli-
gious propaganda of the Buddhist Emperor

Asoka. That is not to be taken as any
hostility to the peaceful following of Bud-
dhism, as we do find Buddhist authors,
and some even perhaps of Jain authors,
flourishing about the time and as there is
considerable evidence of a knowledge of these

systems in the south* We need not repeat
here what we have already said iu respect of
the general condition of the country, but we
may note that this age gives us, as far as we
know, the conditions most favourable, to the
institution of the famous Tamil Academy and
all the available evidence goes to support this
particular inference. There is a great deal of
work that may usefully be done upon this sub-
ject further. And now that the necessary

preliminary investigation has been carried to
the degree of fullness to carry conviction, more
work will be done to extract form the material
all that may usefully be taken for the building
up of the history of this part of the country

and of that comparatively remote period.
ERRATA.
Page. Line.
' '
27 9 For '
Inscripbionem read ' Inscripbionum
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30 13 advise ,,
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advice'
42 15 Prapannamrifcram „ 'Prapannamritam*
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95 4 Nannam ,,
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>-113 F.N. Maoridle ,,

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palai
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Momrasen
*
135 17 For *
bo '
read '
bhe '
and omit '
of
152 19 Onoib 'bhe Appendix on 'and read '
(in my
Anoient India : The Augusban Age of Tamil
Literabure.'
187 F.N. 13 „ *
Kanrajaka ,,
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Kauralaka
1. 2
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218 F.N. 9
1. 3
Page
INDEX.
The numbers in the index refer to the pages of the booh.
Imperial position explained,

109.
Aay (Aioi of Ptolemy,) 127,152,
Antigonus Gonatas, 70, 105.
153, 202, 122, 147.
Aparanta,74, 76.
Aay Eyinao, Chera C-in-Chief.
Appolodotus, 118.
198, 217, 238.
Abdur-Razak, 17, 149.
Appaiya Dikshita, the great 8-
Abhira. 116. Ind. Scholar and philosopher,
Adan Ungan, 92. commentary on Yadava-
Adigaman of Tagadur, 128, 198,
bhadayam, 48.
9, 201. 202, 236.
contemporary of Doddaya-
Adigan, 238. charya and Rama Raya,
Adi Mandi, story of, 196, 49.
Adiyarkkunallar. 172. Appar, 203.
commentary on S, 331 Appolonius of Tyana, 16
note to it, in consistent Arayam of Irungo Vel, 235.
and impossible details, Arattas, 117.
336. 6. Archaeology, conservation of
Adiyars, Saiva Saints, 45. monuments, preliminary to,
Agastya, Sage. 63, 87 105. 19.
Agenor, 105. help to history, little scope
Ahananuru, 185, 192, 196. for private work, 20.
Ahavamalla, 101. its gradual expansion in
Aingurunuru, 192. India, 20, 21.
Ajatasatru, 101.
reaching far back, 34.
Akalavarsha, 101.
dependence of history on, 36
Alexander of Epirus, 70
Alexander the Great, 104, 158. Archaeology and Epigraphy,
Alexandrinus, Paalus, 345. impossiblity of private work
Aliyasantanam Law, or Matriar- in, 36. only dry bones to his-
ohate, 73. tory, 58.
Amitragbata, 101. Argaritic. 123.
Antiochus, 70. Argaru (PeripluB),Urairyur, 121,
Anamalai InsoriptionSi 179,180, Ariaoa of Ptolemey, 115, 119.
262. pirate coast, 147, 230.
Ananta.arya, 43. Arikesarin Maravarman, 258.
Andbras, 63, 96, 103. 209. Aruvarnoi (Tamil Aruvalar).
Empire, 116. 12$.
364 INDEX.
Arriacie. 68. Barbarioum, 115.

Arisil Kilar, 195, 216, 238. perhaps the same Barbaraka-
Arthasastra, see Chanakya. Barygaza, 102, 118. 120.
Aryabhatta, 306. Barukachoha or Broach, 115.
Aryan Invasions, 96. Batoi (Tamil Vettuvar), 122.
Aryan land, 102. Batutah. Ibn, 17, 149.
Aryas, 97. Bhandarkar, Sir R. G.. 65—67.
defeat by Malayamao, 98. Bharatavenba of Perundevanar,
victory over, 99. 282 diff. from Bharatan of P.
Aryaputta, 82. Bhasa, dramatist, 65, 317.
Asmaka, 65. Bilhana, author of Vikramanka-
-Asoica, 102, 107. deva charitam, 13.
Buddhist Emperor, 106. Bindusara, 85, 86, 107, 207,
Rock Edicts of, 69, 74. 208,
Edicts at Sidadhapura, Amitraghata, 101.
Brahmagi Maski etc., 81. Bombay Sanskrit Series, model
96, 112, 207. of critical work in Sanskrit,
Rcf. to ihe B in, 350. 50.
Kalinga war, his territorial Brhatkatha, Paisachi work, 54,
extension, 207. 56, 153.
Attakathas, or Arthakathas, 79. Brhatkathamanjari, 54.
Attanacti, story of, 196. Brown, Mr. Robert, 315.
Attirayauar, Kallil, 91, 92. Author of Primitive Cons-
-Augustus, 146. 149. tellations, 322, 323, 318.
deified, 170. On the fixing of the zodiac
Avanti, 66. by the Babylonians, 326.
Avv-iiyar, poetess, 198. 327.
Ayirai fort, 226. Bucephalus, 117.
Buddha, date of, 342—348.
Buddhism, Mahayanist, im-
B portance of bhakti oh. III.
Madhyamika school, 111.
Babylonia interoourse with, 114. Gonstantine of the Maha-
communication with India, yana form, 110.
330. Its decay. 111.
Zodiacal arrangement, 318. South Indian hostility to,
System of astronomy as- 99.
trological aud seasonal, Buddhist Jatakas, 64—65.
318. Buddhist, Nirvana, 79.
Traditions, 312— 3*6 Burgess, 20.
System of astrology, basal Byzantine Emperors, 150.
idea, 322.
Bacara or Bakarai, or Vaik-
karai, 119, 147.
Bactria, 108.
Caenitae (Periplus), 230.
Baotrians, 117.
Caldwell, Bishop on the Augus-
Balitai.e. Janardhanam, 121.
tus age of Tamil Lit., 161—2.
Bana, author of Haraha ohaii*
His theory restated, 164.
tram, 13.
Banavasi or Vanavasa, 74. 76, Camara, identified with Kaveri
pattAnam, 123.
78.
INDEX. 365
Caracalla, 150, 161, 155. rum, one of Fleet's two desi-
GaBsiuB Dio. 306. derata, 27.
Caius, Emperor, 122. Cowell. on Indian Chronology.
Ceylon, semi-histl. immigration 4.
into, intercurse with the Cunningham, Gel. 20
Pandyan Country, 349. Sir Alexander, author of
Tamil invasions of, 352 Inscriptions of Asoka, 27.
354. Curtius, Quinctus, 16.
Asoka's diplomatic rela-
tions with, 112.
Chronicles of, 79, 80, 146.
Chanakya's Arthasastra, 68
9 ; 85.
Dakshinapath a (Dachi.
nabadesGk,)cha»ige of danota-
Chandler, Rev. J. 8.. 297. tion, 59, 60,101, 102,112, 118-
Chandra gwpta, 73. 85, 100,102, Damirica or Dramidaca, 119,
106, 107, 168, 207. 120, 123, 134.
Chalukyas, rise of, 155> Dandakaranya (Tamil Dan-
Charlemagne. 152. daranyam), 62, 63, 101, 118,
Chinese Empire, 110, 128.
Cherabothra, Keralaputra, 119, Dandi, 54.
128. Dantivarman Pallava, not
Cheras. 63. Vairameghau, 47.
Chera, achievements. 151. D'Ely Mont, 231.
Chera ascendancy, 130. Deva Raya I, 17.
the, of the elephant look, Dharmasutra Apastamba. 320.
lai, 245, 246. Dhruva, story. 333—4.
Chersouesus. golden, 134. Star, pole-star, 324.
Chintamani, 162. 172. Diodorus' resume of Baby-
Cholas, 63, 69, 115. lonian astrology, 318.
Their kingdom at the dawn Digambara Darsana, a Jain
of the Xian era, 127 et seq. work, 189.
their Ist supremacy. 129. Diadohi, 105.
Three generations of, 356. Dipavamsa, 79.
Chronology, 1st essential to Dinnaga, 52.
history. 44. Dosarene or Dasarna, 125.
Chryse country, 76, 124. island, Dravida Sangam, 189, 190.
120. Duttagamani Abhaya, great
Cicero, on the 1st law of history,
patron, 77,
3.
of Buddhism, 354.
Clive and Watson. 149.
Colandial name of the large
vessels of the Tamils, 124,
Constantine, Emperor, 306.
Elara or Eleia Singam his high
Cook, Mr. Stanley A. on the
notions of justice, 353.
defects of specialistic research.
183—4. Elilmalai,of Nannan.Saptasaila,
Cornelius Nepos, 113. Montd'ely of mediaeval
Oarpus InscriptioDum Indica writer*",) 93.
-366 IHDW.
Elliot Sir Walter, 23. Geiger's Mahavamsa, 75.
Elphinstone on Indian chrono- Gnimili, Nannan'a O.in. Chief,
logy, 4. 217.
Epigraphy 10, 19. Goodspeed Prof, author of a
its Hpecial imp. for 8. Isd history of the Babylonions
His, 22. and Assyrians : about the as-
its wide range, 23, 24. tronomical knowledge of the
its value, 24, 5. 34. Sumerians, 325.
Eras Indian, 25. Gopinatha Rao, author of Hin-
Eiriuon (Rann of Cutch), 115. du Iconography, 29
Erumaiyuran or Erumai, chief- Govinda Raja, image taken from
tain of Kudanadu, 97. Chidamoaram to Tirupati 37.
Eudamos Philip's Sucoesscr, the history of the temple
105. of, 37-44.
Eukratides. 108. Greek Sources, failure after the
Eumenes, 105- time of Asoke, 15.
Evans T G. on the eondition of Gunadya, 153.
8. India. 155. Guptas Imperial, their rise,
Bvvi Chieftain. 127, 203, 236. 107, 155.
238. Gurjjaras, 137.
Guruparamparais, 37.
H
Fa-Hien, Chinese traveller, 16
186. Hammurabi Pantheon, 312.
Fleet Dr. 86, 101, 153, 188. Harper Prof, 325.
the greatest authority on Harsha, 113.
Ind Epigraphy, 23, 4. Hastivarman of Vengi, 188.
his two desiderata for Ind Havell, author of Ancient. Med-
Historical Research, 26, ieval Architecture, 29.
2. Hemadri, 52.
his Gupta'Inscriptions, 27. Herodotus, Father of History
his identification of Mahis- 15.
ha Mandala, 97.' Hindu Astronomy Borrowed
his theory about the use of from the W. i. Dr. Fleet's
week-days in India, 303- view 305, 311
308. ii Jastrow's 324 absence of
;
Frazer, 163. evidence for this conten-

tion, 330.
its basis not chronological,
329 ; but astrological,
Gajabahu, King of Ceylon, 131, 320.
153, 171, 172, 175, 210. its similarity to Babylonian
his synchronism, 209. and Sumerian notions,
Gandharas, 70, 71. 327, 329.
Gangaikonda, 101. if borrowed, more probably
Gangas, 128 from Babylonia than
Gangooly, O.C., author of 8. from the christian astro-
ladian Bronzes, 28-29. nomers of the B. E. Re-
INDEX. 367
ferenoes to, in vedie Lite- Its study, needs for. Prof.

rature, and Ramayana. Maitland's view, short com-
Hinduism, re-assertion of, 110. ings of, 2, 3,
insight and imagination
Historical Research, Indian, Re-
quistes, organised study of
necessary, 3.
Sanskrit and the Dravidian the tendency to read
languages, and critioal edi- thoughts and feelings
into the past, an obstacle
tions of various works, 49,
to it.
53, 35, 6.
fixing of dates of works Hiuen Thsang, 16, 17. 187.
authors essential 49.
of
Hiung-uu, 108.
Go-operation indispensable Hultzech, Dr. 23.
but easy, 31. Hutton, Rev. Williams Holden,
touch with aroh£teoIogical on limiting the Oxford chair
for Indian History to the
epigraphioal and literary
work essential, 50. History of British connection
Collation of various kinds with India.
of Bouores necessary, 27.
Hyderabad Achaeological Series.
81.
Mistory of Hindu India, little
explored, 3.
I
application of Morley's con-
ception of history to the Ilampuranar, commentator 253.
3, 4. Ilanagan Marudan, 244, 251.
want of chronology, the cammentary on Iraiyanar
complaint of Elphin- Ahappnrnl.
stone and Cowell, 4. Ilandirayan, Tondaman, 202.
want of provision for the Ilangiran Porundil. celebrating
study of, in Oxford poin- the Chera of the elephant
ted out by Hutton, 56. look. 246.
demand of a permanent lango, author of Silappadika-
chair for, by Stubbs, 8. ram, 287.
and its non-fulfilment, 9. Uangosar Kongu, 197.
Indications of the interest Ilanjet Checni, Chola King
evoked by sympathetic 95. 98, 215, 234.
study of Indian Art. 28. Imayavaramban Perum Serai
munificence of public Adan, 98.
bodies, 29, 30. Indian Caucasus, 104.
Sources for, and their Indian Literature, paucity of
value, 10. 25, 34. professed histories, 33.
History, fable agreed upon, 1. rational and system : study
14. necessary to yield good
what it is, Morley's view, results, 5, 7, 8,
1, 2. Indrajit, son of Ravana, 321.
Cicero's dictum, 3. Innes Mr. L. C, on the age of
necessity for a permanent Manikkavasagar. 164,
chair of, 8. Ion of the Chios, 323.
its modern tendency leng- Iraiyinar Ahaporul, 3rd section
thening, widening and of Classical Tamil Grammar
deepening, 3031, 249—250.
368 INDEX.
Commentary on it of Nar- to his ref. Ori's death and

kirar and Ilanagan, 249, the battle of Alanganam,
251. 244.
IruDgo of Arayam, 128. 201. his commentary on Tol-
kappiyam, 249.
Kalvar Koman Pulli, 185.
Jataka, Bavern, 114. Kambar, prince of poets, 46.
Jatilavarman Pandya, son
Kambojas, 70, 71.
of
Maravarman, 257. Kanakasabai Pillai Mr, 119,
his piases, 179. 126, 163, 173, 185, 225.
Jastrow Prof., author of Reli- his identification of Nurran-
gious Beliefs etc. in Babylonia gannan, 171, 175, 177.
and Assyria, 312. his two mistakes, 295.
an Assyriologist, on che Kanarese, language, not the
basal ideas of Indian as- elder sister of Tamil, 293.
tronomy borrowed from its literature more ancient
Greece, 324. than Telugu lit, 35.
Jivaka Gbintamani, 173
Kanchi, occupation of, by the
Jouveau-Dubreuil Prof, author
Cbalukyas 272, by the
of South Indian Arohiteotuce
Pallavas, 208.
and Iconography', 29.
by Vairameghan, 47.
Kanchipuram, 66.
K Kanishka, the Constantine of
Kacboha, 65, Mahayana, Bud, 110. 56.
Kadambas, a pirate race, 232. Kannaki, the heroine of 8. 168.
their destruction, 224. 170.
Kadava defeat at Pennagadam, story of, 176.
258. ber curse. 332.
Kadurigon, 258. Kannaki, Pehan's wife, 216,
Kalabhra Interregnum, 182, Kaunan Kumattur, poet 30^
258. Kapilar, poet. 185, 195, 216, 235,
Kalahm (Burma), 114. 238, 246.
Kalangaykkanni, N a n n a n 's Kkreoi, (Tamil Karaiyar), a
enemy, 232. fisher folk, 122.
Kalafctalaiyar, 195, 215, 235, Kari, king of Mullur, 197, 199.
238. Kari of Tirukkoilur, 202, 237,
Kalbana his Bajatharangini,13. 238.
about Kanishka and his Karikala Gbola, 51, 95, 99, 129,
euccesBors, 347. 171. 175, 185. 195, 234, 238.
Kalidasa, his Meghaduta, 52. Karikkanan, 244,
his date according to W. Kariyar, Victory, l30.
Scholars, 309. Kartavirya, Arjuna, 97.
his distinction bet nak- Karusa, 66.
shatra, tara and graha, Kataba (Sumatra) 113.
308. Kathasaritsagara, of Somadera,.
Kalinga, 63, 66. 54, 57.
Asok>\'s conquest of, 85. Katyayana's Vartika, his ezpln.
Cotton fabrics of, 69. of Pandya, 66.
Kalladanar, 192, 366, 238. Kaveripatam, 125,
INDEX. 369
Kavirajamarga, a Kanacese Kulottunga Chola II, 40, 48.

work on poetics, 35. Kulottunga Cholanula, 41.
Kennedy J., 114. Kulumbur, Pallava defeat at,
Kerala, 112, 66. 73, 69. 258.
Kern, Prof, author of Manual Kumarasami, Dr. A.K., 145.
of Bm. 111. Kumaratatarya, 49.
Kharavela, Kalinga ruler, 109. Kumari, 121.
Kielhorn Prof. 22, 188. Kumbhakarna, the Amitragha*
Kilar, Idaikkunrur, 195. 244. tin of Bamayana, 101.
Kilar, Perungunrur, 195. Kun Pandya,
patron of the
Killi, Peruviral, 234. Sangam, according to Peria-
Kishkinda, mod. Hampe, 61. puranam, 256.
Koduhur fortification, 219. Kuntala, ancient, 82,
Koinos, Cavalry Commander, 104. Kural of Tiruvalluvar, 93.
Koli, renewal of the Walls of by Kurumtogai, 93, 96, 192, 197.
Bajasimbha, 258. Kushanas, 110.
KoUimaiais. Gcvpture of by Kari their fall, 155,
for Ori and the gift of it to the Kutta Nadu. 120.
Chera, 244-245.
Kollipavai, 217-196.
Kongu country, 128.
Kongudesa Rajakkal, 18. Lang Mr.' author of Custom and
Konkanam, Tululand, 84, 93. Myth, 323.
Korkoi, 121-127. Lollius, M., 123.
Korranar, Idayan Sendan, 96. Luders, Dr, 348.
Kosala, 66. Lymitioa, 119.
Kosar (Kongilangosar) a War-
like people, 85, 88. 91. 92. 93. M
94, 197, 198, 201.
entry into the Kongu coun- Macdonnell, Prof., 6.
try, 218. Macedonian Empire, 105,
Kovalan, 168. Machetas, 105.
Kovalan and Kannaki,departure Maokenzia, Donald A, author of
from Kaveripatnam, 331. Myths of Baby, and Assyr,
Krimikanta, a persecuting 315.
Chola, 38, 43. on the Baby, astro. Sys., 318.
Krishna Raya, 43. 48. 319.
Krishna, Sage, 111. comment of, 325. 6.
Krishna Sastry RaiSahib. H., Mackenzie, Mss, 14.
24. Maorindle, 113.
Ktesias, 16. Madhyadesa, 62.
Kudakko Nedum Seraladan, 195 Madras Museum plates of
Kudal renewal of the walls of, Jatilavarman, 179, 257.
by Rajasimha, 258. Madura Academy 3rd, 86, 103,
Kudarp Paraudalai, 239. 238.
Kulaoh Chirai, 278. Madura, destruction of, by fire,
Kulasekhara Alvar, 39, 333,
KulottUDga Chola I, his death Madura Kavi. the Vaishnava
the beginning of Chola Alvar, 180, 181.
decline, 40, Maeris of Patalene, 105,
24
m INDEX.
Magas of Gyrene, 70. Manimekhalai, 137, 154, 168,

Mababharaca, Dakshinapatha 172. 175,178, 192.
limited toDekhanin, 59. Manta Raja Kauralaka, 187,
Mahaoharya, Doddayacharya. 188.
43, U.
48, 49. Wrongly identified with
Mahamatras, 140. Mandaram Serai, 187—8,
Mahanaman.a Sthavira monk, 206.
79. Mantaram Serai, 245.
Maharatha, defeat at Mangala- Manu Ghola, 253.
puram, 258. Maradam, 137.
Mahasena, 79. Maran Kati, 181, 180,
Mahavamsa, 74, 80, 86, 112, identification with Madura*
130. 209, 210. kavi impossible.
Mahendravarman, 273. Marco Polo, 17, 93.
Mahishmati or Mandhata, 61, on the pirate coast, 148.-9.
63, 66, 74-76, 97.
Maravarman,Termaran, associa-
Maitland, Prof, on the need for ted in Literature with 16 titles
hiatl, Study, 30, 31, 53. and li battles with no, ref. to
Malabathrum, 120. 134. a Pallava, 266-7, 258.
Malayalam, Grown out of
Tamil, 33.
Marudan, Mangudi. poet of the
Pandyan Court, 142, 242, 243,
Malayaman Chief of Mullur, Marudur, battle of, 258,
96,98, 127. Masalia, 125.
Malliriatha, Commeutator, 52, Maternus Firmious, 305.
Malloi, 105. Mauryas. 90. 93, 96, 99.
Mambarus, perhaps Lambo- war with Palayan Maran,
dara of the Paranas, 116. 185, 7.
Mamulanar, 83, 84, 86, 90, their army, 92, 95.
93, 97, 98, 103, 185, 186. 187, their Empire overthrown
189, 201, 208. 238. by Pushyamitra, 109.
of the Agastya family, ref. their invasion of South
to the invasion of the India, 98. 102, 100, 189,
S. 87 Contemporary of
: 206, 208.
Karikala and Nannaa their decline, 209.
- 87. Megasthenes, 16.
elder contemporary of Para- on the Pandya country, 67,
nar,87. 68, 328, 350.
ref. to the Mauryas, 207. Menander, ruler of Kabul. 109,
ref. to the battle of Vennil 118.
about the Chera's aohiev- Metellus Oeler, 113.
mentag. the pirates. 235. Mignili, war with, 196, 198.
Manakkilli, Caola princess, 218, Miunagara, City of the Scy-
Mandagara port, 147. thians, 115.
Mangayark— Ka r a s i, Pandya Mithridates Atsakes I, 107.
queen, ref. to oy Sambandar, Mitton, Miss, authoress of the
278, 279. ruined cities of Ceylon 353.
Manikkavasagar, 38, 40. Mohur, Chief of, 185. 206.
his date not settled, 45, 46. Mommsen, 133,
age of, 164, Moriyar or Oriyar, 92.
INDEX. 371
Motley, Lord, on history, 1-2 ; Narkirar. 185, 247.

on the shortcomings of histl. his refs, to Pari and Eru-
study, 2-3. mai, 247, 248.
Mousikanos, 105. a member of the Sangam,
Mudattamakkanniyar. 215. 248.
Mudavanar, lyur, 244. his commentary on Irai-
Mudukudumi, Paodya Raja- yanar Ahapporul the
dhi Raja, 227,258, most approved, 289 and
MuhurcaDarpana, 308. 9. 251.
MuUer, Max, 145. Narrinai, 93,96,192, 196,197,
Murtinayanar, story of, 182. 283.
Muttra, antiquities of, 109.
Nattan,Nallur, 195.
Muziris, Muyiri (mod Cran-
ganore), 119,120,134,135, 147
Nedumaran, Pandyan, Victor,
at Nelveli, importance of his
195, 230.
identification to Tamil Liter-
ary History, 255.
Nedura Jadayan, Jatila, donor
N of the Madras Museum and
Sinnamanur plates, 258.
Nachohinarkkiniyar, 87, 173. Nedum Jadaivan, Pandyan, 98
Nagarjuna, 54, 111, 171, 175, 209.
Nagas, 134. Nedumjadayan, Jatila, Paran-
Nahapana, Kshaharata ruler, taka, donor of the Velvikudi
117. grant, 258.
Nalli, 198, Nedum Secaladan, (Chera King
Nambanus, kingdom of, 115, Senguttuv;an) 215, 218.
116, 117. Imayavaramban, 225, 234,
Nambiyandar Nambi, ref. of, 238.
to the Saugam, 281, 275. Nelveli, battle of, 255.
Namraalvar, 45, 46. Arikesari Varman's 273.
Nandas, 106, 181 their enor-
; Udayachandra's, 274.
mous wealth, 89. ref. to. in later literature,
Nandivarmau Pallavamalla, last Peiiapuranam, 273. 76.
great Pallava, 47. 273. Nero, 150.
Victor at Tallaru, 282. Netravati river, 231.
Nannan. the woman-killer, 84, Nioolo-dei-conti, 17.
85. 87, 88, 93, 128, 197, 198, Nilakanran of Muairi, 253.
199, 217, 232. 238 ; his City, Ninevah Archives, receut dis-
228, covery in, and the commentu
his fort, 196-
of Mackenzie D. A. and 8ayce
his vast wealth, 217.
325, 326.
his kingdom, Konkanam,
217.
Nirkuuram, mod. form o*
Naraaimhachar Mr. R. 24. Nelcyuda, 119, 122.

Narasimha Pallavamalla, 183,
Nishada Chief. 274.
203.
Nitrias (Naura), nest of pirateg,
Narayanaswami, Iyer Mr. 119, 147, 230.
Pinnathur, editor of (the Nripatunga. a Kanarese write?
Narriaai), 192, 283. on poetics, 35.
372 INDEX.
Numismatics, largely private Pandya Kavatam (K a v a t a-

work 80 far, 21. puram) 63.
invaluable for particular not a mountain but the
periods uf history. 22. Cape, 68.
Nuniz, 17. Pandyas, 63, 69, 112.
Nurraugannan, 171, 175, 177. their kingdom, extension
of, 127.
their county 73.
Ori of Kollimalais. 128, 201, twelve years famine in, 260.
reference to, 360.
217, 238.
bis defeat, 196. their ascendancy, 130, 131-2.
his death, 197 237. Panini, the grammarian, 65-7.
Oriental, Mss. Library, 91. Papyrus, a Gk. farce, 293.
Ottakkuttan, poet. 40. Param Korranar, 91.
Oviasenan, 172, 177. Paranar, Sangam poet 85. 91,
93. 185, 193, 195, 198, 199,
Owen, Mr. Sidney, Reader of
Ind. His in Oxford, 8. 202, 205, 238, age of, 211-239
Oxyartes, 105. Contemporary of Sari, ori,
Oxydrachoi, 105. Evvi and Adigaman 236.
refs. mostly to the Cholas
Oxykeuos, 105.
Ozene (Ujjain) 118. and Chetas 234.
his Voluminous works, 214.
political divisions of his age
199 political circumstances
203 ref to Tal. Pandyan
Paddirruppattu, 98, 102, 168, 239.
192, 199, 205. Parantaka I, Chola King. 181,
Paes, 17. 261.
Paisaohi, 54. Parimelalagar's, commentary
Paitan, 118. on Kural, 251. 2.
Palaesimuudu, 125. Pari of Parambnnad, 201.
Palayan Maran, 187, 206, 219. friend of Kapilar, 247.
Pali, Nannan's 95,
hill-fort, Paropanisadae, Ind viceroyal-
196, 196. 217. ty of Alex 105.
its destruction, 98. Parthians, 107.
Pali, Literature, its service to their indepce 107.
the history of Ancient India, their Empire, 110.
37. Pasungudayar, Unpodi, 95. .
Pallava Bhanjana^ 258, Pataiiputra, destruction of, 186

Pallavamalia, 274. 189.
defeat of, 258. excavations in, 23.
Pallavas, 203. Patanjali, 66, 7.
their rise 130, 155. Pattinappalai, dedicated to
the age of the 183. Karikaia, 51, 125. 126, 136-7.
their accession to power 271 Pattini devi, 131, 145. 209.210.
the great, of Kanchi, 273. Pattuppattu 167-8 167, 192.
not referred to by the Paulina Loliia wife of the
Sangam Works, 182. Emperor Caius 122, 3.
defeat 'at Kulumbur and Pax, a comedy of Ariataphanes,
Sankaramangai 2§8. 323.
INBEX. 373
Fehan chieftaiD 128. 199, 202, Poduoa, 123.

215. 234, 238. Porus, 105.
his liberality 195. Prapannamrtam 42.
Peithon, Viceroy 105. Priyadarsin see Ascka,
king,
Pinches, Prof about Mars 313. Ptolemy, astronomer and geo-
Pindan, 198. grapher 16,114, 115, 119, 121,
Pennagadam, d e fe a t a t and 122. 12 5, 146, 147, 151, 172.
destrsctioD of 258. 230,
Perdicoas, 105. his age synchronous with the
Periapuranam, 182, 183, 276 ; Chera ascendancy 159.
on the existence of the Saugam Ptolemy II Philadelphus 70.
256.
107, 110.
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,
17, 102, 115, 115, 116, 117, Padukkotta state. 73.
119. 121. 122, 123, 126, 146, Puhar, the emporium of the
156-8 on the piratical west
;
East, its destruction 129
coast 229, 146; on S. Ind. festivals at, 146.
exports, 134-5. Pulikat corruption of Palaverk-
Periyar, Chera river 222, 226. kadu, 83.
Perunjatian, 245. limit of Aryan land, 96.
Periindevanar, 174 194. Pulindas, 60,
rather a common name, Pulli ofVengadam 128.
283. chieftain of Tirupati, 197.
Bharatavenba 282. Pundras, 63,
Bharatampadiya, 285. Pural, Coasts, 121.
Parundurai port, 198 Purananuru, 167, 174, 152,
Perungunrur Kilar, 216, 238. 194. 198.
Peruvaludi,Palvagasali Pandya,
Puranas, 103.
181, 2,
oldest, 63.
Peruvirarkkilli 195, 199, 215,
245. Pushyamitra Sung*, 109.
Petronius, 132. his triple war, 109.
Peutingerian Tables, 146,
148, 151, 233
Philip, viceroy, murder of, 105.
Pidiyao, ridiculous idendifica-
tion with Palayan 189.
Pitenikas 70, 72.
Raghava Aiyangar, Pandit M.,
his life of Senguttuvan, 166,
Pliny, geographer, 16,146, 151.
on piracy 147, 229. 184—185.
on the drain from the on the Sangam period, 203.
Roman Empire into Rahulabhadra, 111.
India 133. Raja Raja II, 40, 48.
on the luxuries of Roman Raja Rajanula, 41.
ladies, 123-3. Rajasimha I, defeat of Pallava-
Plutarch 322. malla, renewal of the walls of
PodiyilHill, 90,' 93, 100. Kudal, Vanji and Koli, 258.
farthest limit of Mauryan Rajasimha II, 258.
invasions 87. Rajasimha III, 258, 261.
defeat at, by the Kosar 88. Rajavalikathe, 14.
374 INDEX.
Ramannja, the reconstruction of neoted with, 213.

the life of, on the posRibilitieR Narkirar, an eminent mem-
of historio research in Tamil ber of, and Tal. Pand.
Literature, 37. etseq. associated with, 284.
*
his life, contained in Pra- ref to in the larger Hinna-
.
pannamrtam, manur plates, 282.

Rama Raya, 43, 44. 4S. 49. distribution of political
Ramayaria (Kamban's), 46. power during, 355 to
Ramayana, (Vaimiki's;, 61, 63, 360.
94, 101. Sangam works, their contempo-
astrological belief in the, rary value, 191—4.
321, 322. absence of ref, to the Palla-
Ramayana and Mahabarata, vas in, 182.
ohronologi oal difficulties their chronology discussed,
connected with, 64. 161 to 210.
Ranadhira, 258. Bangara, Periplus' name for the
Rangaswami Aiyangar, 192. smaller vessels of the Tamils,
Rashtikas, 70—2. 124.
Rice, Mr., of the Epigraphia Sankaramangai, defeat of the
Carnataka, 24. Pallavas at, 258, 273.
Roman Commerce, 149 to 150. Sanskrit, indispensable for Ind.
decline of, owing to change Histl. Research, 35.
of political conditions, Saiagoparandadi, 45.
151. Satakarni. 185.
Romans, 107. Satakarui Yegnasena, 109.
Rost, Reinold, echoing the Gald- Satavahanas, their disappce,
wellian tradition, 162. 116, 155.
Roxane, wife of Alexander, their records, 34,
105. Satiyaputra, mentioned in
Rudrasarman, believed to have AsoVa edicts, 112
made the Ahauanuru collec- Sattan, author of Manimekha-
tion, 285. 214, 287.
lai,
s Satyacharya, 327.
Saddharma-pundarika, founder Savaham, 113.
Buddhism, 111. Bayce. Prof, on obserratotiei in
of a school of
Bibylonia. 326.
Bahadeva, march into the
Scbeifner, 85.
Pandya country, 60.
Sakas, 109. Schofi. WH., 102, 114.
the era called after them, on the condition of S. Ind.,
108, 110, 111. 156.
Sambandar, Tirugnana, 203, his identification, 231.
205. Seleucus Nicator, 73.
SamudraguptH, 206. his treaty with Chandrs-
Sangam Tamil, of Madura, pro- gupta 100, 103, 106, 107.
bable origin, 142. Seliyan Seudau, identification
the age of, the Augustan Age with Tal. Pand, not proven,
of Tamil Lit., 165. 204, 258.
the best period of activity Senguttuvan, the Red Chera,
2nd and 3rd cens, 286. 130, 126, 204, 210, 313, 214,
Paranar, a celebtifcy oon» 217, 218. 219.
INDEX. 375
beagutiuvaQ his life by Baghava the seven chieftaincies,

Aiyat)g»r, 166. bone of contention bet
his age, 165, 185. Cholaa and Cheras, 127-8,
Saraman Nedum Seraladan, 238.
169. principal ports and roads,
Sesha Aiyar, K. G., on the as- 138-9.
tronomical data of 8. & M., royal power. 139, to 142.
331 CO 348. religious toleration and hap-
Seweli, his conolusious about
py confusion, 143 to 146.
the fiud of Bomau ooina, 149 its ideal of justice, 142-3.
to 151. T. C. Evans and W. H.
Bhama Sastry, tcanalatoc of the SchofE on, 156—6.
Acchasastra, 63. its stand against the Gks,
Silappadikaram & M, their his- 158.
trl. value, 20i to 5 & 209 & 10. its peace ideals, 158 to 160.
ohronologioal data of 291.
Speyer, Prof. Dutch scholar, 54,
quotations from, in I.
154.
Ahapporul, 293.
Ssu-ma-ch'ien, Chinese Father
astronomioal data discussed,
of history, 16.
174 to 5 and 331 to 48.
Simba Vishnu, 273. Strabo, 146.
binnamanur plaues, 167, 179. Stubbs Bishop, Regius Prof, of
181, 257 and 282. Mod. His, Oxford, on the need
Sitaou Rama oaing turned into for a permanent chair of
a star, 321. India hisooiy, 8.
Smith, Vincent A, author of the Subramania Aiyer, K.V. extracts

Early History of India, and from, 167--174.
History of Fine Art in India his incapacity to appreciate
and Ceylon, 4 and 29. difierent mental attitu-
the former a vindication of des, 205.
the possibility of a Sugriva, description of the S. 61
connected His. of Ind., 4. to 63, 94.
on the S. frontier of Asoka'a Sumerians, their notions oon-
Empire, 82 3. cerning the moon, 311.
Somadeva, sarith Eashmerian, Sundaram Pillai, his milestones
his Kathasagara, 54-6 in Tamil Lit., 163.
South India, a distinct entity in Sundaramurti Nayanar, 45.

Indian History, Chap. I., Sundara (Kuu) Pandya, 203.
Mauryan invasion of, Chap. Sungas, their fall, 103.
II, fairlywell-known to theN, Suvarnabhumi, 75, 76.
by the cime of Patanjali, 67. Suvarnagiri. 82.
its commeroial condition, Swamikannu Pillai Dewan
113 to 126. Bahadur, on the date of B. and
its internal condition pol. M., 172 to 174.
and indl. 126 to 137. on their astronomioal data,
apparently out of the vortex 29C— 348. passim
of pol. and religious the unbroken tradition
changes taking place else- ofannotation connected
where, 112. with them, 335.
376 INDE^.
Swaminatha Aiyar, Mahamaho- Telugu Lit., modelled on SanSi,

padhyaya, his rem a r k a b 1 y 35.
well-edited Tamil works of Tevaram Hymners, 203.
Literature, 50 to 51. Thamodaram, Mr. C. W. Pillai,
editor of I. Ah*pporul, 253,
Tidayan, idenoification with, of
Tadayan, 189.
Tilak, B.G. on the Veda, etc. 315
Tagara, 119. Tilaka, a commentary, 94.
Takkayagapparani, 42. Timma Pinna, 48.
TalayalaDgaaam 282
battle, 182,
Tiruchchirrambalakkovai, 88.
desociptiou of by, Narkirar, Tirukkoilur, capital of Kari,
247. 198.
and Mangudi Marudan, 244 Tirumangai Alvar, his age, 47.
Pandyan Victor of, 131, ref. to Pallavas as Vilvelif
140 to 142, 196, 239 ;
268.
age of, Chap. YI, date of, ref. to the Sangam, 282.
281.
Tirupati temple, 37.
ideutificatioQ with Sendan
Tiruvoimoli, of Nammalvar, 45.
Seliyan, 204.
Todas, emigration, date of, 292.
Talikoia, battle of, 48.
Tolkappiam, classical Tamil
Tambapauui, ref. to ia the
grammar, 249, 250.
Asoka edicts, 69.
division of the year in, 319.
Tamils i. their Literature, no+.
;
Tulu Nadu, 93.
iadependeut of Saus., the entry into, bv Kosar, 88.
oldest and most Vol. 36, 37. Tyndia, 116, 119,' 230, 231.
essential for S. lud. His,, Trygaeus, a character of Arista-
c 135. 212. phanes, 323.
jhe seven patrons of, 238.
•fh
ligho thrown on the oouud-
ary of the Mauryan Em>
pire and the Mauryan
Invasion of South India, Udaya Chandra, Pallava gener-
82, 85. al, 273.
ii, their country,attempted Udayana, Sahara King, 273.
occupation of, 102. Upham, editor of the Maha-
divided among 3 kings, vamsa, 131.
200. Uruvapahrerilaujetchenni, ref.
their capacity for naviga- to, by Paranar, 194.

iii.
tion and ship-builditig, Uttarapatha, old expr. for
124, 137. modern Hindustan, 59.
Uttar Phalguni, 299, 300.
iv. their astrological system,
302, 303, 328.
Tamravarnika, Chanakya's, ref.
to, 68.
Taranatha, Tibetan historian, Vadukar, 90, 91, 92, 97.
85, 111, 208. munai, boundary of the
Tatarya, 43. Tamil country, 84.
Taxila, kingdom of, 105. frontier, 201.
excavations in, 20. Vada, 201.
INDEX. 377
Vamba, 95, 98. Viyalur. defeat at and destruc-

VambaMofiyar, (Maurya nouac tion or of, 219.
?iomin<E), expr.of Mamulanar,
89. w
wrong equation of, 206.
Vanga, 63. Week-Day, Fleet's contention
Vanji, Chera capital, 138. 139. about, 304 etseq ;
300. astrological character of and

its identification with Karut animtstio notions in, 330.
on uncertain and slender West Coast, piracy in, 228, 9,
basis, 190. 231, 147-9.
renewal of the walls of, 258. free from the pest, 232.
Varaguna Pandya, 45. the Red Chera's achieve-
Tarahamihira, astronomer, ment in this connection,
307. 327. 151, 236.
Varthema, 17. White Island. 230.
Vedanta Desika, author of Woodroffe, Justice, on Indian
Yadavabhyudayam, 48. sculpture, 26, 29.
Velvikudi grant, 180 to 182, 257.
Venkayya, Mr., 24.
his reconacruotion of Pan-
dya history, 256.
his masterly epjgraphioal
Yadavabhyudayam, 48.
reports, 257 Yavanaoharya, quoted by Vara-

extracts from, 261 to 264. hamihira.' 327.
Venkoba Rao. G., 180. Yonas, 70, 71,
Vennikkuyattiyar, 235, 238. Yueh-ohi, 108.
Vennil. battle of. 129. 235. Yule, editor of Marco Polo, 148
Vichchikkon, 201. —9.
Vikrama Chola, 40, 48.
Vikramaditya, 56, 272.
Virasoliyam. Commentary, 283.
Vishamasila, 57. Zenith Arc, contention about,
Vishnu, Eastern Chalukya, 274. 296 to 299.
Vishnugopa of Kanobi, 188. ângaria, plains of, 108.
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4^4 The beginnings of South
K7 Indian history
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v^

MADRAS UNIVBBSITY SPECIAL LECTURES

THE BEGINNINGS OF SOUTH INDIAN HISTOEYj

All Rights Beserved.

The following pages contain the substance of the

University of Madras in January and February

way of introduction two other lectures ; the first of

these was intended to be the inaugural lecture for

the University and the second delivered on a previous

The sources of matter for these lectures have

except the late Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai of the

insight, still fell short in the essential particular that

connection. It gives me the greatest pleasure to

not forget, however, another labourer of an elder

to whose loving labours we are indebted for a num-

In regard to the late Mr. Kanakasabhai's work

the last resort of the scoundrel.' This remark of

his time and may not be altogether without it in

other times. The late Mr. Kanakasabhai might have

has been the difficulty of making facts already known

both, though both errors of omission and commis-

Venkayya for near a score of years before his

lamented death, and I may even say that I am

ultimately led me to this field of work. Mr.

doubts as to the Silappadikaram and Mariimekhalai

elusions I have arrived at. I leave the reader to

I wish to state here is that I have not allowed

In regard to the evidence of this body of material

sometimes very outspoken ; but generally they shew

is, however, easily possible to allow for the panegyrist

according to the conventions of Tamil Rhetoric.

actual patron addressed or that of his ancestors.

Judiciously used the latter provide material as

Homeric lays or the bardic tales of the days of

about twenty collections that will go into this

olass. Of these all but two of the more important

I take advantage of this preface to make clear

expedition to the South and organised the Madura

absence of mention of Fattini in the poem under

the fact that this poem was written before Sengufc-

of his reign, when the others of his achievements

ram canto XXVII. 11. 118-128 & 11. 165-175).

me the impressions and the office transcripts of two

cheerfully undertaken the publication of this work,

Bbsbarch in Indian History ... 1

The Value of Literature ... 33

South India a Distinct Entity ... 59

Mauryan Invasion of South India ... 81

The Dawn of the Christian Era ... 104

Chronology: Tamil Literature ... 161

The Age of Paranar ... 211

Talaiyalanganat-tup-Pandyan ... 240

Astronomical &c. Considerations ... 287

Appendix ... 331

Conclusion ... 349

RESEARCH IN INDIAN HISTORY

rature held sway. We have since gone a long

volcanic islands heaving themselves out of

<5ruising among them, would they appear as