विस्तारः (द्रष्टुं नोद्यम्)
Full Article due to be published by C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar Institute in 2026.
Kadungon
defeats the Kalabhras.
avanI-chUDAmaNi-mAravarmA
(Likely referred to by periyALvAr.)
His successor was Jayantavarman. He’s called in Tamil as Sendan.
Arikesari Parankusa mAravarmA nAyanmAr
690 to 740 CE (Ravilochana)
Wrong - 650-700 CE (nAgasvAmI)
Jayantavarman’s son is a mAravarmA, considered a nAyanmAr. There is one stone inscription which talks about his 50th year of reign.
nammALHvAr
mAran/ parAnkusha/ nammALHvAr likely named after him by his father the courtier.
shaivification?
Periyapuranam says that Nedumaran was converted by jnAnasambandha. Sambandar talks about converting some Pandya. (Date reconciliation - TW)
Koon Pandian, Nelveli Vendra Nedunjadaiyan Nedumaran.
Nelveli
Nedumaran’s title even in the Tirumurai is “Nelveli Vendra Nindraseer Nedumaran” (நெல்வேலி வென்ற நின்றசீர் நெடுமாறன்).Periyapuranam it talks about some North Indian guy invading and all that nonsense. Let us leave it. But the point is he talks about Nelveli Vendra.
Nelveli was a very popular battle for him and he claims himself as a victor of Nelveli. Even his later inscriptions mention it. Not the original… I mean in his 20th year or 40th year, it doesn’t mention about Nelveli. It is only uh inscriptions of his descendants which talks about Nelveli as a separate battle. So it must have been fought towards the end of his career.
there was indeed a battle at Nelveli between Pallavas and Pandyas. Which is mentioned in the Pallava Udayachandra’s copper plates. Udayachandra claims that he fought a very tough battle at Nelveli. Pandyas are claiming victory. You have to consider it as the same battle.
And this battle was fought during the reign of Pallavamalla the… Pallavamalla the first (Nandivarman), the boy who came from Cambodia, Which happened after 731.
Chadaiyan Ranadhira
740 to 744 CE (Ravilochana)
some of these Pandya rulers, they claimed themselves as rulers of all the three nations, Chola, Chera, Pandya. Ranadhiran was the son of this Parankusa Maravarman.
pallavamalla time
Now Ranadhira claims to be ruler of choLa nADu, but the point, problem is these people are giving Ranadhira the time of Rajasimha Pallava. But Rajasimha was a very strong Pallava ruler. Chola Nadu was completely under his control. There is no evidence for Rajasimha having lost Chola Nadu ever.
Should be dated to the early years of Pallavamalla
Maravarman Rajasimha I
744 to 768 CE (Ravilochana)
730-768CE (nAgasvAmI TW)
praised as Pallavabhanjana in the Srivaramangalam Copper Plates
vara-guNa-pANDya, jaTila-parAntaka
768 to 811/15 CE (Ravilochana)
He calls himself parama-vaiShNava. His rule was from 768 till 815 or so. Earlier there used to be some confusion but the Dalavaipuram copper plates have made it very clear that Jatila Parantaka and Varaguna the first are one and the same. Contrafactually, there are those who consider Jatila Parantaka and Varaguna I to not be the same rulers but two different rulers with former’s reign being 768-790 CE and latter from 790-815CE.
Srimara Srivallabha, vara-guNa
811/15 to 862 CE (Ravilochana)
after him comes Srimara Srivallabha.
vara-guNa
His son, vara-guNa the second who ruled from 862. This Varaguna the second indeed calls himself a Shaiva. And he was the person who was brought up a lot by Manikkavasagar but then he lost the battle against the Cholas.
Initially, there seems to have been a peaceful relationship between Varaguna Pandyan and Nandivarma III of the Pallava dynasty as evidenced from the inscription in Lalgudi which is dated to the 5th regnal year of Varaguna’s reign (867CE).
shaivist invention (द्रष्टुं नोद्यम्)
shaivists want to make a difference between Jatila Parantaka and Varaguna the first. He keeps Jatila Parantaka till 790 or 800 and then brings Varaguna the first inside. He claims that the Varaguna who is mentioned by Manikkavasagar is the Varaguna the first who is who was a Shaiva who lived in 800.
They invent a Varaguna rather who lived before this Shaiva Varaguna who lived before this Srimara Srivallabha.
alUpa connection
The Pandyas are known to have conquered Mangalore in the 8th century. The Alupas from that period seem to have been descended from the Pandyas who were placed to govern that place. Their descendants even proclaimed their connection to Madurai in their inscriptions.
The Pandya-Alupa Dynasty also has an interesting connection with Ramanuja’s date.
mAnAbharaNa choLakulAntaka
It is known that there was a Manabharana who was elder brother of a Srivallabha (below). This Manabharana was son of a Sinhala princess Matti and he also married his uncle’s daughter, another Sinhala princess. Matti was sister of Vijayabahu who ruled during 1055-1110 CE. Matti’s son Manabharana married a daughter of Kulottunga I.
The Srirangam inscription of Vira Kavi Alupendra refers to his father in law Manabharana as Chozhakulantaka and Madhuradhisvara. This Manabharana cannot be son of Srivallabha. Rather he must be the elder brother of Srivallabha - who married Kulottunga’s daughter.
Jatavarma Srivallabha 12th ce
That there was a Jatavarma Srivallabha who ruled from Madurai in the 12th century and he had a son named Manabharana - is known from Rajasingamangalam inscription (South Indian inscriptions Vol 14 no.225). Some consider this Manabharana as the father in law of Kavi Alupendra. (This is wrong.)
It is also seen that the Jatavarman Srivallabha mentioned above reconfirmed a donation from 31st year of Kulottunga’s reign during his own 10th year of reign (SII Vol 14, no.226). +++(so, kulottunga must’ve been defeated earlier.)+++