Víra Pandyan was killed, whilst hunting, by a tiger: he left many sons by the women of his household, and one, the youngest, by his queen, whom the ministers placed under the tutelage of the Chola monarch, to secure him from the treachery of his elder brothers. When old enough he was conducted to Madura, and installed; upon which, his brothers fled to Chera; they do not seem to have given him any subsequent molestation. This prince was named Abhishéka Pandyan; he was succeeded by Vikrama, of whom no traditions are given; and he by Raja Sek’hara,[1] in the time of which latter, it is said, the Chola prince led an army of Samánals, or Buddhists, against Madura. He was defeated; but no consequences of his repulse are recorded. The next sovereign of Pandya-desa is named Kulottunga, in whose reign we have abundant legends illustrative of the might of Choka Nátha, but nothing that can be conjectured into history. He was succeeded by his son, Anantaguna, in whose reign the kingdom was again invaded by the Samanal; but, with the aid of Siva, the assailants were repulsed. On this, as on the former occasion, the heretical invaders are conducted by the Chola monarch, whose seat of empire is called Kánchí, or Conjeveram. That the territories of the Chola prince lay higher north than the modern Tanjore there is probable evidence in other manuscripts, as, also, that Conjeveram was included within his dominions. That it was the ancient capital of Chola is, however, quite irreconcilable with all the local accounts which have been procured of that empire, and the foundation of Kánchí itself appears from them to be an event of comparatively recent occurrence. The same accounts, however corroborated by the vestiges of Bauddha architecture, found still abundantly at Conjeveram, attest the prevalence of that faith there for some considerable period. This might have been the case at the time the legendary tales which profess to record the Pandya history were compiled; and hence, these supposed religious aggressions emanating from the Chola monarchs of Conjeveram. That frequent contests between the Chola and Pandya princes occurred in remote periods there is no reason to doubt; but it is not quite so certain that the particular occasions are specified with much accuracy, or that hostilities, embittered by religious differences, disturbed the tranquillity of the Dekhin some centuries before the Christian era.
′Anantaguna was succeeded by his son, Kula Bhúshana, in whose reign, it is said, in the Pandya Rajakal, that the Pandya kingdom
- ↑ All the lists agree in inserting Vikrama's name. The translation of the Tirusaleyádal omits him making Raja Sek’hara the son of Abhisheka.
