Political History (6): The Pallavas

By 250 AD, Tondainadu became the hegemony of the Pallavas, one of the major ruling dynasties of ancient Tamil Nadu, and remained as the Pallava Country up to 900 A.D.

The Pallava rule has been divided into four phases: 1. The period of the Pallavas of Prakrit charters: 2.The period of Pallavas of Sanskrit charters; 3.Pallai as of Simha Vishnu line; and, 4. Pallavas of Nandivarma-II Pallavamalla line. Bappadeva who figures in the first Prakrit charters (Hirahadagalli Plates found in Hirahadagalli in Bellary district) of the Pallavas and who is considered as the first Pallava to rule from Kanchi, appears to have been the Governor of large tracts in the south under last Satavahana ruler Pulumayi-III.

Svaskandavarman succeeded Bappadeva to the Pallava throne. Svaskandavarman had the title of Dharmamaharaja in recognition of his extensive conquests. His sway extended as far as the south Pennar, while in the north his kingdom included the Telugu Districts. It is presumed that Vijayaskandavarman succeeded Sivaskandavarman by 280 A.D.^[1]. The kings who succeeded Vijayaskanda Varman were Buddhavarman and Budhyankuran The next member of the Pallava dynasty is Vishnugopa, well knows as the Pallava contemporary of Samudragupta, the Gupta Emperor who had invaded south India, came as far as Kancheepuram and conquered Vishnugopa.

The period between 340 A.D. to 550 A.D., is commonly spoken of as the age of the Pallava kings of the Sanskrit charters. The importance of the reign of Vishnugopa lies in the fact that it marked the period of transition from the rule of the Pallvas of Prakrit charters to that of the Pallavas of the Sanskrit charters.Numerous names of Pallava kings are known for this period. However, we could not understand their political exploits.^[2] K.A. Nilakanta Sastri is of the opinion that the history of the Pallavas from 350-500 AD is almost a blank.^[3]

An eventful epoch in the history of the Chengalpattu District is the emergence of a new line of the Pallavas under Simhavishnu, son of Simhavarman.The rulers followed by Simhavishnu made great contributions to the development of social and economic condition. In another aspect also, this period of Pallava history is a special importance in South Indian History. It was during this period that a beginning is made in the Tamil land to build temples and other monuments in stone instead of perishable material such as wood and brick. Music and dance was also developed during this period. Above all, there was a cultural, religious and literary development during this period, as Nayanmars, Atwars, and other litereteurs flourished during this period.^[4]

Simhavishnu, also known as the Lion of the Earth, is considered to be the virtual founder of the Pallavas.^[5] He suppressed the Kalabhras in the northern part of Tamil Nadu and also conquered the whole country up to the river Kaveri. Mahendravarman succeeded his father Simhavishnu to the Pallava throne. He was known by a number of surnames. When Mahendravarman came to power, the other equally formidable dynasties ruling in other parts of South India were the Pandyas and the Chalukyas. Though Mahendravarman was successful in keeping Tiruchirappalli, as the southern frontier of his empire, the northern frontier of the Pallava kingdom hitherto extended up to the river Krishna was pushed to the south of the river by the incursion of the Chalukyas, the greatest toes of the Pallavas.

The history of the rock cut architecture probably started with Mahendravarman in Tamil Country, who carved the first temple to “Brahma, lswara and Vishnu without the use of bricks, timber, metal and mortar” according to his inscription found in Mandagappattu. In other words, the monolithic rock-cut, temples of Mahendravarman in Vallam (Chengalpattu District) Mahendravadi (North Arcot District) Pallavaram (Chengalpattu District) etc., suggest that he may be called the Founder of the Hindu Architecture in South India.^[6] Mahendravarman was also a poet who had authored a Sanskrit drama, “Mattavilasa Prahasana”

Mahendravarman-I was succeeded by his son Narasimhavarman-I as the Pallava ruler. He is one of the celebrated kings of the dynasty. When Narasimhavarman-l became the king, he was looking for a chance to take revange upon the Chalukya King Pulakesin-II, who had invaded Pallava Country and penetrated as far as Pullalur during his father’s rule. The opportunity came when Pulakesin-II, who led his army once again to counter Narasimhavarman-I. But, this time victory smiled at Narasimhavarman who defeated Pulakesin-Il in several battles including the one at Manimangalam, which is situated at 32 km. east of Kancheepuram. But Narasimhavarman-I did not stop with this. Encouraged by his success at Manimangalam and other places, he led his huge army towards the capital of the Chalukyas, i.e. Badami (or Vatabi). In the ensuring fierce battle, Pulakesin-II might have fallen fighting and Narasimhavarman-I destroyed the capital and put into flames. He took the title ‘Vatapikondan’ (conqueror of Vatapi)^[7] Another important event that took place during the reign (about 642 A.D.) of Narasimha Varman-I, was the visit of Hieun-Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist scholar and pilgrim to the Pallava court. His travelogue is one of the vital foreign accounts to know the political, social and religious conditions of the then South India. He described the country, around Kancheepuram as ‘Dravida’.

Narasimhavarman developed the port of Mahabalipuram on the east coast and named it Mamallapuram after one of his surnames, ‘Mahamalla’ (great pugilist). Indeed, Mahabalipuram was a flourishing port city then. It was also from this port, Narasimhavarman launched two invasion against Ceylon.^[8] He is equally well-known for his contribution to art and architecture since many monolithic of Mahabalipuram have been carved out during his tenure. In short, Narasimhavarman-I raised the Pallava power to a glory, unprecedented in the annals of the Pallavas.

Mahendravarman-II succeeded Narasimhavarman about whom much is not known. His reign was short and peaceful, and free from disturbances. Parameswaravarman-I who came to the throne in 669 ruled for 19 years, (i.e.) up to 690 A.D.^[9] During the early part of his reign, he had to wage wars against the Chalukyas, the Gangas in the north and the Pandyas in the south. The Pallava-Chalukya conflict resumed during his reign when his Chalukya contemporary, Vikramaditya-l turned to the task of avenging the fate of his father Pulakesin-II, at the hands of Narasimhavarman-I. An infuriated, Parameswaravarman sent counter-expedition into the Chalukya kingdom in order to divert the attention of the enemy. He then met the invading forces in a baffle at Peruvalanallur, north-west of Uraiyur and inflicted a decisive defeat on them. Parameswaravarman was a devout Saivite. Gnanasambandar, one of the Saivite Saints was believed to be his contemporary. His reign witnessed intense religious activities in the south and the Bhakthi Movement made remarkable progress.

About 690-691 A.D., Parameswaravarman-I was succeeded to the Pallava throne by Narasimhavarman-II surnamed Rajasimha. His long reign of 40 years was one of comparative peace and it witnessed remarkable achievements in the fields of temple building, religion and literature. Rajasimha’s inscriptions reveal that he revived and developed Ghatika at Kancheepuram. Rajasimha constructed a structural temple to Siva called the Kailasanatha temple. This temple called ‘Rajasimheswara’ named after the king’s own name, contains numerous smaller shrines constructed, including those by Rajasimha’s queen Rangapataka and his son Mahendravarman. The construction of shore temple at Mamallapuram is also attributed to him. He was tolerent towards other religious sects also. He is believed by certain scholars to have built the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram. The seated royal figure in the Adivaraha cave temple in Mamallapuram has been identified by some scholars with Rajasimha’s. Responding to the request of the Chinese emperor, Rajasimha built a Buddhist Vihar at Nagapatnam for the use of the Buddhists who visited the place for commercial purposes.^[10]

After Rajasimha, his son Parameswaravarman-ll became the ruler of Tondaimandalam. His rule was only for a very short span. He was killed in the battle at Vilande by the Ganga Ruler, Ereyappa. The Pallava Kingdom got into confusion and anarchy prevailed, following the death of Parameswaravarman-ll since he had no to succeed. The ministers, members of Ghatika and other offices installed Nandivarman-II, son of Hiranyavarman, aged 12 years on the throne. Nandivarman having consolidated his position, led an expedition against the Ganga Kingdom, defeated Sripurusha. The Pallava-Pandya conflict also revived later and a battle between Nandivarma Pallavamalla and Jatila Parantaka Nedumchadaiyan alias Varaguna Maharaja-I (765-815 AD) took place on the banks of Kaveri river by about 767A.D. Nandivarman Pallavamalla continued to rule till 795 A.D. He renovated old temples and built several new ones including the Vaikunda Perumal temple, at Kanchipuram.

Nandivarman was succeeded by his son, Dandivarman. During his time, the Pandyas pushed their northern frontier further north at the cost of the southern frontier of the Pallavas. Within a few years of his accession, about 804-805 he was defeated by Govinda-Ill, the Rashtrakuta King. Dandivarman improved the irrigation sources of the country by xcavating lakes and de-silting the existing ones.

Dandivarman was followed by his son Nandivarman-III, a much abler monarch than his father. He organised strong confederacy against his aggressive Pandya contemporary -Srimara Sri-Vallabha and his father-in-law Srikantha and inflicted a severe defeat on em at Tellaru (near Wandhavasi). Tellaru battle is one of the important rning points in the South Indian history. Another result of the battle was that the Pandyas were driven back up tothe River Vaigai. But later by 859 A.D., the Pandya Srimara Srivallabha invaded against the Pallava forces and defeated Nandivaraman and his confederates near Kumbakonam. He was succeeded by his son Nripatunga who became the Yuvaraja in 60 A.D. even during his father’s rule. He was take revenge upon the Pandyas who had efeated his father at Kumbakonam. The then Pandya ruler Varaguna-II accepted the zerainty of Nripatunga.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Gopalan, R., op.cit., p.39.

[2]:

S.I.I., Vol.XII, Introduction, p.1

[3]:

Nilakanta Sastri, K.A., A History of South India, op.cit., p.104

[4]:

Gopalan, R., op.cit., p.79.

[5]:

Nilakanta Sastri, K.A., A History of South India, op.cit., p.149.

[6]:

Raman, K.V., The Early History of the Madras Region, Madras, 1957, p.238.

[7]:

Gopalan, R., op.cit., p.97.

[8]:

Gopalakrishnan, M., op.cit., Vol.I, p.95.

[9]:

Minakashi, C., Administration and Social Life under the Pallavas, University of Madras, Madras, 1977, p.22.

[10]:

Ibid., p.24.