Sanskrit sources of Kerala history
by Suma Parappattoli | 2010 | 88,327 words
This study deals with the history of Kerala based on ancient Sanskrit sources, such as the Keralamahatmyam. The modern state known as Keralam or Kerala is situated on the Malabar Coast of India. The first chapter of this study discusses the historical details from the inscriptions. The second chapter deals with the historical points from the Mahatm...
This book contains Sanskrit text which you should never take for granted as transcription mistakes are always possible. Always confer with the final source and/or manuscript.
The Cidambaram inscription of Jatavarman Sundara Pandya
The Sanskrit verse inscription engraved on the south well of the second prakara of the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, speaks of the murder of the Kerala king by Jatavarma Sundara Pandya I:
hatvāceramapāsya hoyisalapatiṃ vidrāvya coleśvaram jitvā kāṭhakagaṇḍagopa gaṇapatyadī narātinapi
vīrasundarapāṇḍya devanṛpatiḥ kṛtvā tulārohaṇam cakre tāṇḍavinaśśaśāṅkakalikā cūḍasye haimīṃ sabhāmtulādhṛtaḥ sundarapāṇḍadevo vibhāti rānnakhamuktikānāṃ
laṅkāpurāt siṃhalabhūmibhartuḥ tvayā yaśaḥskanda ivopanītaḥ
The Sundara Pandya praised in this inscription has been identified with Jatavarman Sundara Pandya who started his reignin AD 1251. The expression—hatvā coram—occuring in the first verse, together with the mention of Kerala King among the destroyed enemies in the second has been taken to mean the Pandya invation of Kerala. Nilakanthe Sastri writes “Sundara Pandya proceeded against the Chera king with a very small force and destroyed him and his forces in a battle and ravaged the Malaimandala[1].
In the Sanskrit introduction to the Tamil inscription of Sundara Pandya begining with samastajagadādhāra somakula tilaka etc. he is given the honorific—keralavaṃśa-nirmūlana—meaning destroyer of the entire Kerala race. Sastri’s findings cited above are based upon these two mentions, as indicated by himself. The actual mentions and the surmises made on them do not perhaps agree with each other. It is a clear fact that during the reign of Jatavarman Sundara Pandya, Kerala was not a homogeneous political power under a central political authority. Therefore, the identification of the Cera in the usage hatvācoram is utterly impossible in the absense of other sources. Actually we do not have any other source meterials on the subject and the relation of Sundara Pandya with the Cera has to be decided on the basis of this solitary mention.
It is true that in another inscription[2] of the same king the usage dṛpyatkeralakarṇārendramagadhākṣmāpālacoleśvaraḥ occurs. This also suggests that Sundarapandya destroyed the Cera. But it is not possible for us to identify the Cera, said to have been killed by Sundara Pandya. It is untenable to hold that the whole of Malaimandalalam was ravaged by the Pandya, as the present epigraphical mention is too delicate a proof for it.
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
Administration reports No. 177 of 1892