Rajadhiraja II ruled from 1163/66 to 1170/82. A very interesting inscription known as the Pallavarayanpettai inscription issued in the 8th year of this king details the circumstances under which he became crown prince.
This deals with one Pallavaraya evidenty the general who is to play an important role in restoring order to a war-torn Pandyan country. He was closely associated with the royal family. This epigraph says that Rajaraja II realising that he had no sons fit for succession chose a grandson of Vikrama Chola (by a daughter) as his successor.
It was Pallavaraya who brought this young man from his home to the palace for being anointed as crown prince. Rajadhirajadeva as this prince was known also bore the title F.dirili Perumal. The above inscription says that Pallavaraya took steps immediately after Rajaraja’s death for the protection of the king’s children who were aged one and two years and also took care of his harem and the treasury.
This suggests that the children and the royal ladies stood in some danger from which this Pallavaraya saved them by removing them to a place of safety. Why such a thing happened may be explained as follows. Rajaraja II when he chose Rajadhiraja II as his successor had perhaps no children and this saved the newly appointed crown prince from legitimate competition; but a few years before his death the king became father of two children who, if allowed to grow, might develop into potential political thorns on his side.
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Hence the crown prince surely would have wished to do away with them. It was this danger from which Pallavaraya saved them. The rest of the inscription deals with this chief’s role in the Chola victory over the Pandyan country and finally of his death on which the king gave tax-free lands to his widow and her relatives.
Rajadhiraja’s reign is important because an unprecedented situation of the Chola emperor having to intervene in a civil war in the Pandyan country arose. The situation was further complicated by the intercession of Ceylon.