Aditya II (942 CE – 971 CE), also known as Aditha Karikalan, was a

Chola The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

prince who lived in the 10th century in India. He was born in

Tirukoilur Tirukoilur also spelt as ''Tirukkoyilur'' or ''Tirukovilur'' is a city and the headquarters of Tirukoilur taluk in Kallakurichi District, Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located on the southern bank of Thenpennai River and famous for the Ula ...

and was the eldest son of

Parantaka Chola II Parantaka II (r. 958 – 973 CE) was a Chola emperor. He is also known as Sundara Chola as he was considered an epitome of male beauty.''Early Chola temples:Parantaka I to Rajaraja I, A.D. 907-985'Journal of Indian museums, Volumes 14-16, pa ...

. He was the elder brother of

Rajaraja Chola I Rajaraja I (Middle Tamil: ''Rājarāja Cōḻaṉ''; Classical Sanskrit: ''Rājarāja Śōḷa''; 3 November 947 – January/February 1014), also known as Rajaraja the Great, was a Chola Empire, Chola emperor who reigned from 985 to 1014. He ...

and Kundavai. He was called ''Virapandiyan Thalai Konda Koparakesari Varman Karikalan''.

Early life

Aditha Karikalan was the elder son of the Chola king

Parantaka II Parantaka II (r. 958 – 973 CE) was a Chola Empire, Chola emperor. He is also known as Sundara Chola as he was considered an epitome of male beauty.''Early Chola temples:Parantaka I to Rajaraja I, A.D. 907-985'Journal of Indian museums, Vol ...

(alias Sundara) and queen Vanavan Mahadevi. He was the elder brother of Rajaraja Chola and Kundavai. He led the Chola expedition against the

Pandyas The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

and defeated the Pandya king Veerapandyan at the Battle of Chevur. He killed Veerapandiyan after chasing him on the banks of

Vaigai river The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Madurai, Manamadurai, Paramakudi and Ramanathapuram. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, ...

. According to the Esalam bronze and copper plates discovered in Esalam village in Tamil Nadu, Aditha Karikalan conquered the Pandya ruler in battle and beheaded him. Aditha was made the co-regent and heir apparent to the Chola throne even though Uttama Chola, the son of Gandaradita Chola, had a stronger claim to the throne. Aditha Karikalan was assassinated and was succeeded by Uttama Chola. The Udaiyarkudi stone inscriptions in Anandheeswarar temple at present day Udaiyarkudi in Tamil Nadu names the killers - Soman Sambavan, Ravidasan alias Panchavan Brammadhirajan, Parameswaran alias Irumudichozha Brammadhirajan and Malaiyanooran. The inscription also mentions the decree of Raja Raja confiscating the lands of the murderers. As per epigraphs, the inquiry into the death was completed in the second year of

's reign and the lands of certain officials were confiscated for their complicity in the murder of "Karikala Chola who took the head of the Pandya".''Epigraphia Indica, Volume 21, page 167'' Historians are divided as to whether the inscription says that the confiscation was a direct royal order of Rajaraja or that the decree was giving permission for selling the land confiscated earlier from the killers. According to

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Kudavayil Balasubramanian Kudavayil Balasubramanian (born Kudavayil, Tiruvarur district) is an archaeologist from Tamil Nadu, India. He is former curator and publication manager at Saraswathi Mahal Library located at Thanjavur. He is credited with discovering more th ...

, "Dr K T Tirunavukkarasu in his collection of historical essays titled "Arunmozhi Aiyvu Thogudi", comprehensively ruled out Madurantaka Uttama's role in Aaditha Karikala's murder. In the said article, basing his view on a number of historical data points, Dr Tirunavukkarasu has gone on to explain that there was a delay in apprehending the perpetrators immediately thereafter and it was only during

Rajaraja I Rajaraja I ( Middle Tamil: ''Rājarāja Cōḻaṉ''; Classical Sanskrit: ''Rājarāja Śōḷa''; 3 November 947 – January/February 1014), also known as Rajaraja the Great, was a Chola emperor who reigned from 985 to 1014. He was known fo ...

's second regnal year that the culprits were brought to book . Suspicions were pointed to Uttama Chola, but confiscations of land belonging to culprits started before Raja Raja's period, suggesting that Uttama Chola did not spare the plotters. Among the punished were Ravidasan, Soman and Parameshwaran who were all government officials.

In popular culture

Ponniyin Selvan ''Ponniyin Selvan'' () is a Tamil language historical fiction novel by Indian author Kalki Krishnamurthy. It was first serialised in the weekly editions of ''Kalki'', a Tamil magazine, from 29 October 1950 to 16 May 1954 and later integrated ...

, a

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novel by Indian author

Kalki Krishnamurthy Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954), better known by his pen name Kalki, was an Indian writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist who wrote in Tamil. He chose the pen-name "Kalki", the future i ...

, tells the story of the early days of

prince Arulmozhi Varman and features Aditha Karikalan as an important character. * '' PS-1'' and '' PS-2'', movie adaptations by Indian director Mani Ratnam of the 1955 Ponniyin Selvan novel, feature Vikram as Aditha Karikalan.

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaditha Karikalan Chola dynasty 10th-century Indian monarchs 942 births 969 deaths Murdered Indian royalty Chola princes