Differences developed between Nirupatunga and his half-brother Aparajita, the brothers trying to enlist support from different quarters. The Pandyas were supporting Nirupatunga while the Gangas and the Cholas helped Aparajita.
It was now that a new force in the shape of the reviving Cholas appeared in the context of the declining Pallavas. A Chola chieftain Vijayalaya by name and who was ruling in a humble way in Palaiyarai conquered
Tanjai from the Muttaraiyar and started wavering between loyalty to the Pandyas and subordination to the Pallavas. His son Aditya gave support to Aparajita while Varaguna II the Pandya and Prithvipati I the Ganga allied themselves with Nirupatunga. The two confederated forces met in battle at Uruppurambiyam near Kumbakonam.
In this battle the Ganga chief was killed, the Pandya was defeated and the ruling Pallava was no longer heard of. Aparajita secured the Pallava throne with the help of the Chola. But the Chola had other thoughts. He proceeded against his Pallava overlord, defeated him and himself reaped the benefits of Uruppurambiyam.
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Thus at a single stroke the Ganga was weakened, the Pandya was retreating and the Pallava had been exterminated. The scene of Tamil government and politics was left to the emerging Chola Aditya I.
The frustrated Varaguna II became almost a saint and had the illustrious Manickavachakar to keep him company. This did not mean the end of Pandya power, for Varaguna’s brother, Viranarayana recovered a good part of Pandyan territory and prestige.
The decline
Nirupatunga died in 899; and Aparajita soon followed suit. Kampavarman, the third son of Nandivarman III, is an obscure figure in Pallava history and epigraphic references to him are numerous without being helpful.
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We hear of a Nandikampesvara temple and of Nandikampachturvedimangalam. The theory that Kampavarman was a full fledged Pallava ruler and a contemporary of Parantaka I Chola is not acceptable.
The epigraphic reference has to be explained on the basis of the nature of the contemporary polity, which permitted the exercise of regal power by vanquished chiefs. The Pallavas, however, did not disappear entirely from south Indian history. They waited for a chance to overthrow the Cholas; then they were known as the Kadavas.
It is well-known how Kadava Kopperunjinga, two centuries later, got his chance when he defeated and imprisoned a Chola emperor but narrowly missed his opportunity on account of Pandya and Hoysala intervention. When Vijayanagar spread the tentacles of its imperial power into the Tamil country, the Pallavas along with the other native powers in the Coramandal ceased to function.