Nedunkilli
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Nedunkilli ( ta, நெடுங்கிள்ளி) was a
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
king of the
Early Cholas The Early Cholas were a Tamil kingdom of the pre and post Sangam period (600 BCE–300 CE). It was one of the three main kingdoms of South India. Their early capitals were Urayur or Tiruchirapalli and Kaveripattinam. Along with Pandyas and ...
mentioned in
Sangam Literature The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
. Nedunkilli is mentioned in context with a civil war between him and another Chola
Nalankilli Nalankilli was one of the Tamil kings of Early Cholas of the Chola Dynasty mentioned in Sangam Literature. He is the son of Karikala Chola. Nalankilli is mentioned in context with a civil war between him and another Chola king Nedunkilli. The on ...
. We have no definite details about this Chola or his reign. The only information we have is from the fragmentary poems of Sangam.


Sources

The only source available to us on Nedunkilli is the mentions in Sangam poetry. The period covered by the extant literature of the Sangam is unfortunately not easy to determine with any measure of certainty. Except the longer epics ''
Cilappatikaram ''Cilappatikāram'' ( ta, சிலப்பதிகாரம் ml, ചിലപ്പതികാരം,IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, ''lit.'' "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as ''Silappathikaram'' or ''Silappatikaram'', is the e ...
'' and ''
Manimekalai ''Maṇimēkalai'' ( ta, மணிமேகலை, ), also spelled ''Manimekhalai'' or ''Manimekalai'', is a Tamil-Buddhist epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar probably around the 6th century. It is an "anti-love story", a s ...
'', which by common consent belong to the age later than the Sangam age, the poems have reached us in the forms of systematic anthologies. Each individual poem has generally attached to it a colophon on the authorship and subject matter of the poem, the name of the king or chieftain to whom the poem relates and the occasion which called forth the eulogy are also found. It is from these colophons and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, that we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets and poetesses patronised by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in which the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another has not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced these colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents. Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology and data from these poems should be aware of the casual nature of these poems and the wide difference between the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian's attempts are arriving at a continuous history.


Relationship between Nalankilli and Nedunkilli

''Manimekalai'' embellishes the story of the mortal battle Nedunkilli fought with Nalankilli at Kariyaru. According to Manimekalai, the battle was fought by a junior Chola prince in the reign of Mavankilli, also called Nudumudikilli and
Killivalavan {{Chola history Killivalavan ( ta, கிள்ளிவளவன்) was a Tamil king of the Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam Literature, and of a period close to that of Nedunkilli and Nalankilli. We have no definite details about this Chola ...
. We can infer for this that Nalankilli was the junior prince and was the younger brother of Nedumudikilli. Some of the ''
Purananuru The ''Purananuru'' (, literally "four hundred oemsin the genre puram"), sometimes called ''Puram'' or ''Purappattu'', is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literatu ...
'' Poems (poem 27) call Nalankilli ‘Setcenni Nalankilli. This suggests the relationship (possibly grandfather-grandson) between
Ilamcetcenni Ilamchetchenni (''Iḷamcēṭceṉṉi''; ) was an early Tamil people, Tamil king of the Chola dynasty during the Sangam period. He was a great warrior and ruled the Chola kingdom with Uraiyur as the capital. He married a Velir princess from A ...
, the father of
Karikala Chola Karikala ( ta, கரிகால சோழன்) was a Tamils, Tamil Chola dynasty, Chola Emperor who ruled southern India. He is credited with the construction of the flood banks of the Kaveri, river Kaveri. He is recognised as the greates ...
, and Nalankilli. Nalankilli also had a younger brother Mavalattan (''Purananuru'' – 43). From the above K.A.N. Sastri deduces that Nalankilli, Nedunkilli and Mavalattan were the three sons of Karikala Chola. There is however nothing other than the name Kariyaru to connect the battle mentioned in Puranauru and Manimekalai. Manimekalai vividly describes this battle as a great event in Chola history rather than a petty quarrel between two brothers as seen from Purananuru. This is also no mention of the involvement of Chera and Pandya kings in the Purananuru poems.


War between Nedunkilli and Nalankilli

''Purananuru'' speaks of the war between two Cholas Nalankilli and Nedunkilli, which lasted until the death of Nedunkilli at the battlefields of Kariyaru. These two Cholas must have belonged to the rival branches of the Chola families, which ruled from
Poompuhar Puhar (also known as Poompuhar) is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri Poompattinam, which is described in Sangam literature like Silappa ...
and
Urayur Uraiyur (also spelt Woraiyur) is a posh locality in Tiruchirapalli city in Tamil Nadu, India. Uraiyur was the ancient name of Tiruchirappalli City. Now, it became the one of the busiest area in Trichy City. It was the capital of the early Chola ...
as their capitals. Nedunkilli was the opponent of Nalankilli and ruled from Urayur. The poet Kovur Kilar addresses Nedunkilli in two poems (''Purananuru'' – 44, 45) and gives some details regarding the civil conflict. According to these poems, Nedunkilli was once shut up at a fort in Avur and was besieged by Nalankilli. The poet graphically describes the strife the ordinary people went through because of the siege, and demands that Nedunkilli come out and fight like a man. :''The male elephants, not led out to bathe with the female herd in the large tanks (outside the fort), nor fed with balls of rice mixed with
ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from c ...
, chafe at the posts to which they are chained, heave long sighs, and with their trunks rolling on the ground, trumpet loudly like thunder. Children cry for want of milk, the women plait their hair without flowers, the mansions of the city resound with the cries of people wailing for want of water. It is not possible to hold out any more here, you master of fleet steeds! If you would be kind, open the gates (to the enemy) saying “This is yours”; if you would be heroic, open the gates and lead your soldiers out to victory; to be neither the one nor the other, to close the strong gates of the fort and to shut yourself up in a corner behind the high walls, this, when one thinks of it , is shameful indeed! (''Purananuru'' – 44)''. Nedunkilli had ambition without courage and brought much suffering on himself and his subjects by his cowardice. Like all cowards, he seems to have lived a life of constant dread of treachery and foul play. When Nalankilli besieged Urayur with Nedunkilli locked up inside the fort, a poet named Ilantattan went into the fort. Nedunkilli took him prisoner, suspecting his to be a spy and was about to have him killed. The poet Kovur Kilar, successfully pleaded for Ilantattan's life (''Purannuru'' – 47).


Battle of Kariyaru

''Manimekalai'' mentions of a great battle of Kariyaru in which the 'Chola junior prince' (''Ilangon'') defeated the Pandya and Chera kings. We can infer that the Chola prince ''Ilangon'' to be Nalankilli and that this was the battle in which Nedunkilli met his fate and the civil strife came to an end. Kovur Kilar again pleaded with both the Chola princes to give up their strife, as whoever wins, the loser will be a Chola (''Purananuru'' – 45). The plea apparently had no effect and Nedunkilli was killed in battle at Kariyaru.


See also

*
Sangam Literature The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
*
Early Cholas The Early Cholas were a Tamil kingdom of the pre and post Sangam period (600 BCE–300 CE). It was one of the three main kingdoms of South India. Their early capitals were Urayur or Tiruchirapalli and Kaveripattinam. Along with Pandyas and ...
*
Legendary early Chola kings The legendary early Chola kings are recorded history of early Chola rulers of Sangam period in Tamil literature and Sangam literature. The other source of early Chola history is found in the inscriptions left by later Chola kings. Source ...


References

{{Reflist * Mudaliar, A.S, Abithana Chintamani (1931), Reprinted 1984 Asian Educational Services, New Delhi. * Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). The CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984). * Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002). * Project Madurai – Purananuru eText - http://tamilnation.co/literature/ettuthokai/pm0057.pdf * Project Madurai – Manimekalai eText -http://tamilnation.co/literature/manimekalai/manime.pdf Chola kings Ancient Indian monarchs