Srimara Srivallabha

Srimara Srivallabha (r. c. 815–c. 862 ADSastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar''. Madras, Oxford University Press. 165.)(Tamil:சீமாறன் சீவல்லபன்) was a Pandya king of early medieval south India.Noburu Karashima (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 88-89.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar''. Madras, Oxford University Press. 151-52.

Srimara was famously known as the Parachakra Kolahala ("the Confounder of the Circle of his Enemies").Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar''. Madras, Oxford University Press. 154-55. The Larger Sinnamanur Plates are the major source of information about this Pandya king.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1929) ''The Pandyan Kingdom.'' London, Luzac and Company. 68-69. The Pallava version of the events related to this period can be found in the Bahur Plates of Nripatunga.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1929) ''The Pandyan Kingdom.''London, Luzac and Company. 74–76.

Life and career

Srimara was born to Pandya king Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (Varaguna I). According to Dalavayapuram copper plates of Parantaka Viranarayana Pandya, Srimara Srivallabha married Akkalanimmati, the daughter of king Srikantha Chola of Pottapi Chola family.

The Larger Sinnamanur Plates (Sanskrit portion) tells that Srimara defeated the "Mayapandya", the Kerala ( Chera), the king of Simhala, the Pallava and the Vallabha. The Tamil portion claims victories at Kunnur and Vizhinjam as well as in Sri Lanka. It also describes his repulsion of an alliance of the Gangas, the Pallavas, the Cholas and others at Kudamukku (Kumbakonam).

Invasion of Sri Lanka

The Pandya victories in Lanka are corroborated by the ''Mahavamsa''.

The evidence of the Mahavamsa confirms in some measure the statement in the Pandya grant regarding the conquest of Ceylon. According to that chronicle there was a Pandya invasion of Ceylon during the reign of the Singhalese king Sena I. The Pandyan victory in the battle fought at Mahatalita was complete and the army of king Pandu spread destruction all over the land. The Singhalese king fled from his capital and took refuge in the Malaya country Prince Mahinda, the ' sub-king ' committed suicide and was followed by others in this act and prince Kassapa, after an exhibition of personal valour, also fled The Pandya forces took possession of the capital, carried away a large amount of booty ' and made Lanka of none value whatsoever ' and eventually the Pandya king entered into a treaty with the fugitive king of Ceylon restoring the country to him.

Srimara invaded Sri Lanka during the reign of king Sena I of Anuradhapura
, ravaged northern countries and sacked the city of Anuradhapura. The king fled from his capital and took refuge in the Malaya country. Sena was eventually forced to make terms with the Pandyas (and the Tamil forces were withdrawn from Sri Lanka).

Struggle with the Pallavas

Srimara was defeated at Tellaru (Wandiwash/ Vanthavachi, North Arcot) by an alliance led by Pallava ruler Nandivarman III. The Pallava allies were the Gangas, the Cholas and the Rashtrakutas.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar''. Madras, Oxford University Press. 152-53. The Pandyas retreated southwards into their home country (and the Pallava army even advanced as far the Vaigai). However, Srimara was able to defeat the Pallava alliance in a battle near Kumabakonam (the Kudamaukku, c. 859 AD).

Srimara was then defeated by the Pallava king Nripatunga in the battle of Arichil.

Rise of the Cholas

Chola Vijayalaya captured the city of Tanjore some time before 850 AD. The fight with the Muttarayars of Tanjore, probably owing allegiance to the Pandyas at this time, meant weakening of the Pandya influence to the north of Kaveri River.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar''. Madras, Oxford University Press. 167. This also strengthened the Pallava position in the region.

Late setbacks

While the Pandya was concentrating his attention in the north against the Pallavas, the Sri Lankan king Sena II (successor of Sena I) attacked the city of Madurai. According to the Lankan sources, the invading king had allied himself with a rebel Pandya prince.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1929) ''The Pandyan Kingdom.''London, Luzac and Company. 69-71. Army commanders of Sena II installed prince Varaguna II on the Pandya throne. Srimara Srivallabha The king of the Pandyas fled from the field of battle on the back of an elephant, and gave up his life in the wrong place.

According to the Pandyan side of the evidence makes the ruling king Srimara Srivallabha successful in repelling a Maya Pandya and thus keeping his throne to himself at the end of the struggle.

The Lankan sources and Pandyan sources vary each other. According to the K. A Nilakanta Sastry Pandyan sources are reliable. He mentions in his book named 'Pandyan Kingdom' that
"The Pandyan side of the evidence makes the ruling king successful in repelling a Maya Pandya and thus keeping his throne to himself at the end of the struggle , the Ceylon account makes out a disaster of the first magnitude to the Pandyan kingdom from the story of the counter-invasion undertaken by Sena partly in support of the Pandya prince There is no possibility of reconciling these accounts , one of them must be rejected as untrustworthy Now, on the face of it, it seems impossible to suppose that such a serious disaster befell the Pandya power in the reign of Srimara and that the Sinnamanur plates suppressed the truth or deliberately gave a false account of the reign. On the other hand, the Mahavamsa is a highly embellished and poetic account of the history of Ceylon. And one cannot help feeling that in this chapter of the Mahavamsa some transactions belonging to a later age (twelfth century A D.) have been repeated perhaps to take off the edge from the story of the conquest of Ceylon by the Pandya king, narrated a little earlier. When we come to the Pandyan civil wars of the twelfth century in which Ceylonese kings often interfered, we shall see that the Mahavamsa persistently colours the account favourably to the Ceylonese kings and commanders Our conclusion, therefore, is that Srimara did carry out a successful raid against Ceylon and that he repulsed the attempt at retaliation.

Notes

References

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Pandyan dynasty
Pandyan kings
9th-century Indian monarchs