Aditya II (942 CE – 971 CE), also known as Aditha Karikalan, was a Chola prince who lived in the 10th century in India. He was born in Tirukoilur and was the eldest son of Parantaka Chola II. 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 (alias Sundara) and queen Vanavan Mahadevi. He was the elder brother of Rajaraja Chola and Kundavai. He led the Chola expedition against the Pandyas and defeated the Pandya king Veerapandyan at the Battle of Chevur. He killed Veerapandiyan after chasing him on the banks of Vaigai river. 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, "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'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, 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, tells the story of the early days of Chola 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