Nandivarman III succeeded his father Dantivarman. The Pandyan incursions into the Pallava territory became more serious and Nandivarman III was nearly confined to his capital. But at Tellaru he was able to inflict a crushing defeat on the Pandya and this earned for him the tittle ‘Tellaru Erinda Nandi’ and in this effort he was helped by the Gangas and the subordinates of Cholas.
But soon the Pandyas recovered sufficient ground to be able to defeat the Pallava near Kumbakonam. Nandivarman was not easily unnerved by this setback. He recovered in full the old position of Pallava supremacy. He had a powerful fleet which had contacts with overseas territories. A Tamil inscription at Takuapa in Siam mentions a Vishnu temple and a tank called Avaninaranam. Nandivarman III bore many titles of which Avaninaranan was one. He was a patron of literature.
The Nandikkalambakam written by an anonymous enemy of the Pallava king is believed to have brought about the king’s death. The Bharata Venba by Perundevanar (to be distinguished from the Perundevanar of Sangam times) was also written in his days and perhaps under his patronage.
Nandivarman III had three sons: (1) Nirupatunga, (2) Aparajita and (3) Kampavarman. The first of these was his son by a Rashtrakuta princess Sankha. Nirupatunga defeated the Pandyas in the battle of Arisil. Many details of this moarch’s reign are given in the Bahur plates, which record the gift of three villages of the Vedic college at Bahur.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Nirupatunga ruled over a kingdom–which extended from Nellur to Pudukkottai, and which may be considered to be the pallava kingdom at its largest and he was able to maintain it till the end.