Short essay on the Pallavas dynasty

The end of the third century AD marks the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the south. The Sangam dynasties disappeared and the Andhra- Satavahana empire went out of existence. The erstwhile Chola region was divided between the Pallavas to the north of the Kaveri River and Pandyas to the south.

However, from the beginning of the fourth century AD to the middle of the sixth century AD the history of the Tamil region remained obscure. A proper documented history again starts from the middle of the sixth century AD with the establishment of Pallava power.

There are many views regarding the origin of the Pallavas. Many have treated the name Pallava as a variant of Pahlava who were of Scythian origin. Many others have sought to connect them with Jaffana, identified with the island of Manipallavam mentioned in the Manimekalai. Pallava is a Sanskrit word meaning tender shoots and leaves of a plant.

And the official history of the Pallavas, as recorded in a relatively late Sanskrit inscription from Amaravati, traces the line to an eponymous ancestor Pallava, child of a union between the apsaras Madani and the brahmana warrior Ashvathaman, fifth in descent from sage Bharadvaja, the son of Brahma. It is an impossible task to get behind so many layers of legend and discover the true origin of the Pallavas.

All their early charters are in Prakrit, and obviously they were not Tamil in origin, though were ready enough to adopt local traditions to make they more acceptable to the people that came under their sway. There is much in favour of the thesis that the Pallavas came to prominence in the service of the Satavahanas in the south-eastern divisions of their empire, and attained independence when the latter’s power declined. This view gains credence from the earliest Pallava inscription in Prakrit, recently discovered in the Palnad taluk of the Guntur district, which clearly mentions Simhavarman of the Pallava dynasty.

Pallava history opens with three copper plate grants in Prakrit from the time of Shivaskandavarman, who ruled probably about the beginning of the fourth century AD He was perhaps the son of Simhavarman. His dominions extended from the Krishna to the south Pennar and up to the Bellary district.

He belonged to the Bharadvaja gotra, performed a number of Brahmanical sacrifices and bore the title Dhamma- maharajadhiraja. His successor was his son, Buddhavarman, who in turn was succeeded by Buddhyankura born to his queen Charudevi. After him there is a period of darkness broken by the appearance of Vishnugopa of Kanchi, who was one of the twelve kings of dakshinapatha defeated by Samudragupta.

The next stage in the history of the Pallavas is marked by a dozen copper-plate charters in Sanskrit. We get many names of Pallava kings during the period AD 350-575. At the same time we get information about the Kalabhras.

The Velvikudi grant says that after that village, which had been granted as brahmadeya by Mudukudumi ‘of many sacrifices’ and was enjoyed by the donees for a long time, it was abrogated by a ‘kali king named Kalabhran who took possession of the extensive earth after displacing numberless great kings’. Buddha-datta says that his Vinayavinichchaya was begun and finished when

Achchutavikkanta of the Kalabbhakula was ruling the earth. A late literary tradition in Tamilnuvalar- charitai knows of a king by name Achchuta who kept the three Tamil kings Chera, Chola and Pandya in conflnment for some time. Possibly there were other rulers besides Achchuta who were, like him, enemies of the Tamil powers and votaries of Buddhism.

The Kalabhra rule was marked by the capture of political power in the Tamil country and was possibly aided by an invasion from outside. It is perhaps not without significance that the revival of Pallava and Pandya political power is followed almost immediately by a strong religious reaction against Buddhism and Jainism led by the celebrated Nayanars (Shaivas) and Alvars (Vaishnavas). All indications point to Simhavishnu as the first monarch to strike a blow against the Kalbhra usurpation.

Simhavishnu (AD 575-600) was master of the entire region between the Krishna and the Kaveri. He was a devotee of Vishnu and bore the title Avanisimha (lion of the earth). According to a literary tradition, great poet Bharavi visited his court. The portrait of Simhavishnu is found sculptured in the Adivarah temple of Mamallapuram.

Simhavishnu was succeeded by his son Mahendravarman I (AD 600-30) a versatile genius. He was not only a soldier and a statesman, but also a religious reformer, an architect, a poet and a musician. He was fond of many titles among which occur Vichitra-chitta, Mattavilasa, Gunabhara, Shatrumalla, Lalitankura, Avanibhajana and Sankirnajati. Mahendravarman I fought with Pulakeshin II at a place called Pullalur near Kanchi.

Though Kanchipuram was saved, the Northern provinces were lost. After his return to Badami, Pulkeshin II deputed his brother to the east to settle the newly conquered territory and that was the beginning of the line of Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi.

Mahendravarman was a follower of Jainism but converted to Shaivism under the influence of Tirunavakkarasu or Appar. Tradition says that the Pallava monarch demolished Jaina foundati Patalipurain (Cuddalore) and elsewhere, and their material in the construction of a Shlvat Gunadhara Ishvram at Tiruvadi in South district.

However, this seems unlikely in the of the fact that he was a tolerant monarc’ deprecated extreme and corrupt religious pra of the Kapalikas and Shakyabhikshus in his Mattavilasaprahasana. He studied music Rudracharya and composed exercises for practice of students on a variety of the vina’ as Parivadini, and had them engraved on r Kudumiyamalai (Pudukkottai).

With him begins in South India the practi scooping out of the live rock mandapas and ter of simple and impressive designs. In one of inscriptions he glorifies his capacity to raise sr without the use of bricks, timber, metal or labelled panel in the Varaha temple Mamallapuram bears sculptures depicting tw his queens. Rock temples are extant at vari places in Trichinopoly, Vallam, and Mahendravadi Dalavanur.

Mahendravarman I was succeeded Narasimhavarman I Mahamalla (AD 630-68) was the greatest of the Pallavas who raised power and prestige of the dynasty to an amai height. He not only repelled a Chalukya invasi by Pulakeshin II, whom he defeated thrice, but a invaded the Chalukya kingdom and captured’ capital Vatapi in AD 642.

Pulakeshin II lost life and hence Narasimhavarman assumed theti Vatapikonda after this war, Narasimhavarman’ said to have invaded Ceylon in order to help h’ friend Manavarman. This invasion created such profound impression on the popular mind that h’ victory was compared to that of Rama’s conque of Lanka.

He is also compared with the sag Agastya. Hiuan-tsang visited Kanchipuram, mo probably a little before the despatch of the expedition against Badami, and noted that Buddhism of the Sthavira school and Digamba Jainism flourished in the city besides Hinduism.

He noted that it was the birthplace of the celebrate Dharmapala, who became the abbot of the great vihara of Nalanda. Narasimhavarman was a great builder and doubtless did much to embellish the sea-port which came to be called Mamallapuram after him.

Narasimhavarman (AD 630-68) was succeeded by his son Mahendravarman II (AD 668- 70), who had a short reign of about two years. He died in a war with the Chalukyas. He was succeeded by his son Parameshvaravarman I (AD 670-95) who also had to fight the Chalukyas under Vikramaditya.

After many reverses he finally won a decisive victory over the Chalukyas and their ally, the Gangas. Parameshvaravarman is called Ugradanda and ‘destroyer of the city of Ranarasika’ in an inscription of his son. Ranarasika was a title of Vikramaditya I. Parameshvaravarman had many other titles like Atyantakama, Chitramaya, Gunabhajana, Shribhara, Ranajaya, Vidyavinita Pallava, and Lokaditya.

Parameshvaravarman was succeeded by his son Narasimhavarman II or Rajasimha (AD 695- 722). There was a lull in the conflict with the Chalukyas, and Rajasimha’s long reign was an era of peace and prosperity. He constructed the temple known as Rajasimheshvara, also called Kailashnatha, at the capital. This temple is known for its architectural quality and the excellence of sculpture.

Other temples built by Rajasimha were the Shore temple at Mamallapuram, the Airavateshvara at Kanchipuram and the Shiva temple at Panamalai, all embellished with excellent paintings. The great Sanskrit rhetorician Dandin spent many years in Rajasimha’s court. Maritime trade grew and embassies were sent to China in AD 720. The title of ‘the army which cherished virtue’ was conferred on the Pallava army.

Narasimhavarman II (Rajsimha) himself was honoured with the title ‘king of the kingdom of south India’. Rajasimha carried the love of ornate birudas far beyond any of his predecessors, and more than 250 of his titles are found on the way of Kailashnatha alone. The Velurpalaiyam plates state that Rajasimha re-established the ghatika (college) of the brahmanas.

Narasimhavarman I I’s son and successor Parameshvaravarman II had to face a Chalukya invasion. Kanchipuram was conquered and the Pallava king had to buy peace at a heavy price. However, later he was killed in a war with the Ganga king at Vilande.

Parameshvaravarman II died without any heir to the throne. It was followed by a brief period of anarchy. Afterwards, the people choose from a collateral branch a young prince, Nandivarman II. These events are recorded in detail in the sculptures and labels on the walls of the temple erected by Nandivarman II (original name Parameshvara) and more briefly in the Kashakudi plates.

The young Nandivarman II enjoyed a long reign of sixty-five years. The earliest trouble that he encountered was the appearance of a pretender to the throne in the form of a Chitramaya who was supported by Chera King Villava, Pandya Maravarman and Shabara chief, Udayana. After initial reverses, he was able to kill his adversaries with the help of his general Udayachandra. The main battles are known as Mannai battle and Nenmeli battle. He seems to have performed ashvamedha sacrifice.

There was a renewal of conflict between the Pallavas and Chalukyas. Vikramaditya II invaded the Pallava kingdom, defeated Nandivarman and captured Kanchi. Later Kirttivarman II, as crown prince, led a successful raid into Kanchi again. Some time about AD 750, Dantidurga, the Rashtrakuta king, also invaded Kanchi; but this resulted in a matrimonial alliance in which Dantidurga gave his daughter Reva to Nandivarman in marriage.

She became the chief queen of the Pallava monarch and her son Dantivarman succeeded his father who ruled for 51 years. Nandivarman II led an expedition against the Ganga kingdom, defeated Shripurusha and forced him to surrender much of his wealth and restore the necklace, containing the gem ugrodaya, which was taken away from Parameshvaravarman. Nandivarman II’s attempts at checking the Pandya king Jatila Parantaka utterly failed despite forming a confederacy with the rulers of Kongu, Kerala and Adigaiinans of Tagadur.

Nandivarman II’s interests in Rashtrakuta royal court resulted in an attack by Dhruva, and forced his submission and extracted a tribute of war elephants. He continued to rule till about AD 795 but there is no information about the later part of his rule.

He was a Vaishnava and constructed the Vaikunthperumal temple, the Paramechchuravinnagaram of Tirumangai’s hymns, one of the perfectly integrated temples in the Pallava style. The celebrated Vaishnava saint Tirumangai Alvar was most probably his contemporary.

Nandivarman II was succeeded by Dantivarman (AD 795-846), his son, by the Rashtrakuta queen Reva. Pandyan aggression continued in his reign. He was also defeated by Govinda II Rashtrakuta. However, he continued to rule. He married a Kadamba princess by name Aggalanimati, from whom he had a son Nandivarman III. Nandivarman III ruled from AD 846 to 869. He organised a strong confederacy with the Gangas and Rashtrakutas and defeated the Pandyas at Tellaru.

Nandivarman III was a patron of arts and literature, and the Bharatam was translated into Tamil under his patronage by Perundevanar. A Tamil inscription at Takuapa in Siam, on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, mentions a tank called Avani-varanam and a Vishnu temple in its neighbourhood, both placed under the protection of the merchant guild known as Manigramam. Avani-varanam occurs as a title of Nandivarman III in the Nandikkalambakam.

Nandivarman’s queen was Rashtrakuta princess, Shankha by name, most likely the daughter of Amoghavarsha I Nripatunga, since her son was also called Nripatunga. Towards the end of Nandivarman’s rule, the Pandya Shri Mara again invaded Pallavas and defeated them. Nandivarman III died soon after.

Nripatunga, the successor of Nandivarman III ruled from AD 869-896. He renewed hostilities with the Pandyas to avenge his father’s defeat at Kumbakonam. In the battle on the banks of A he defeated Shri Mara, whose reign ended with combat. The reign of Nripatunga witnessed initial stages in the rise of the Cholas to power centuries of obscurity. However, in this per Cholas were either subordinate to the Pallavas, at best on friendly terms with them.

The chronology and order of succession a¹ Nripatunga are not clear. There are two oth Pallava princes whose relationship with eacho'” and with Nripatunga is not very clear. They Aparajita and Vijaya Kampavarman aparajita known as Rajamarttanda (Sun among kings) in Chola record it is possible that Nripatung Kampavarman and Aparajit shared power.