What were the Features of Pandya Dynasty after the Death of Virapandya?

From Rajaraja I to Kulottunga I, i.e., for a period of a century and a half this was the political condition of the Pandyas. While Rajaraja I thoroughly conquered the Pandyan land imperial consolidation came only in the days of Rajendra I. This later King started the convention of appointing viceroys called Chola-Pandyas.

This arrangement continued satisfactorily till the days of Kulottunga I who permitted the scions of the Pandyan dynasty to function in a feudatory capacity in their own homeland. This arrangement was supplemented by the setting up of a number of military stations in different parts of the Pandyan country. These military kept the Pandyan chieftains in their place and imperial authority was was secured for the Cholas.

Administration

We shall now briefly refer to the administration and social life of the Pandyas of the first empire. Alongside the king and his activities we hear of a number of important officers of state who were famed for some achievement or other. Among such persons Marankari, Ma ran Eyinan, Sattan Ganapati, Enadi Sattan Sattan,

Dinadaran Murthy Eyinan and Sankaran Sridaran belonged to the reign of Parantaka Nedunchadayan and Etti Sattan to the reign of Parantaka Nedunchadayan and Etti Sattan to the reign of Srimara Srivallabha, and Parantaka Pulli Velan Nakkan Pullan belonged to that of Varaguna II. Marankari was

Kari son of Maran. He was the chief minister of Nedunchadayan. He built a temple for Vishnu in Anamalai in AD 770. He was nominated the executer of the Velvikkudi grant. Maran Eyinan was his younger brother. He was a general of Nedunchadayan’s army. He renovated the temple at Tiruppurambiyam.

Enadi Sattan Sattan also was a general of the army. Dinadaran Murthy Eyinan was the Executor of the Sivaramangalam grant. He too was a general of the Pandyan army. Etti Sattan was the great builder of a Siva Temple. Nakkan Pullan, also an army chief led the Pandyan army in the battle of Idavai.

We have only very few facts regarding the government and social life of the first Pandyan empire. We hear of ministers of the state called Uttaramantrins and Mahasamantas. We have some information about the militry organisation like leaders of the elephant corps and names of certain specialised regiments, like the Parantakavira. As usual there was no distinction between civil and military duties for the officers.

We hear of the system of hero stones being planted for the honour and worship of fallen heroes in battles. The Pandyan Meikkirttis are generally written in such elegant verse that it may be taken that a number of persons at court had high literary accomplishments. Some of the epigraphs of this king like the Velvikkudi grant and the Sinnamanur plates tell us about the social condition of the time.

There was a colony of brahmins who had immigrated from Magadha and for whom a separate college was set up. The Kingdom was divided into nadus of Kurrams which were known by the Sanskrit expression rashtra also.

Some statements governing land gifts suggest that village boundaries were fixed by following the beat of a female elephant that was let loose for the purpose. Ownership of land was in many tenures like kudivaram and melvaram then known as karamani and miyatchi. The judicial system gets but vague mention and can only be inferred.

The circumstances under which the Velvikkudi grant was made are indicative of a judicial procedure. The descendant of an original donee many generations before who had been relieved of his gifts by usurping rulers waited till the legitimate prince was restored to power. This was to be about four centuries later.

This passage of time and the adverse possession of the village by third parties did not bar by limitation the right to petition for restoration of forcibly seized property. The king merely wanted proof of original ownership. When the proof was produced the village was readily regranted.

The Manur inscription from the Tirunelveli district dated in the 35th year of Maran Sadayan is an extremely interesting document which gives details of village administration very much like the Uttaramerur inscription of Parantaka I. This shows that the rural administrative system pictured in the Uttaramerur inscription was neither the creation of Parantaka I nor confined to the Chola Kingdom. That this system was long standing and prevalent over the whole of the Tamil country is indicated by the Manur inscription.

It gives an account of the function of a typical village. Membership of the government assembly was determined by qualification of property and learning, though there is no evidence that any kind of election took place. The Buddha and Jaina centres of religion and scholarship were well endowed by the kings of the Pandyan country.

The Bhakti movement had no doubt its begining in the Tondaimandalam. But at least for Vaishnavism from the seventh to the tenth centuries the Pandyan country was no less important. Nammalvar, Madurakavi, Perialvar and his putative daughter Andal belonged to this area and this period.

The association of Manikkavachagar with Varaguna II and much earlier the conversion of Ninrasir Nedumaran by Sambandar and the visit of Sundarar to Madurai make the Pandyan land a region of intense Saivite activity also. The Tiruvilayadal puranam makes Madurai the centre where the Lord delighted His devotees with His sacred sports.