Varagunavarman II
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Varagunavarman II (
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
:), also known as Varaguna II, and Arimardhana, was a king of the
Pandya dynasty 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 ...
in south India whose reign lasted from c. 862 until c. 879 CE. Varaguna II was famously defeated by a contingent of troops led by
Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...
king
Aparajita Aparajita was an able Shilahara ruler of north Konkan branch from 975 CE – 1010 CE. Chhadvaideva was followed by his nephew Aparajita, the son of Vajjada. Aparajita was an ambitious king. He sought to extend his sphere of influence by ...
around 879 CE.


Background

Srimara Srivallabha (r. c. 815—862 AD), the predecessor of Varaguna II, was defeated by the
Rashtrakuta The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapu ...
king
Amoghavarsha Amoghavarsha I (also known as Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga I) (r. 814 – 878 CE) is considered by many historians to be the greatest emperor of the Rashtrakuta dynasty. His reign of 64 years is one of the longest precisely dated monarchical reign ...
(the battle of Arisil).Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar.'' Madras, Oxford University Press. 153-54. According to Mahavamsa
Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
was then sacked by the forces of the Lankan ruler Sena II and Maya Pandya.Noburu Karashima (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 88-89. Maya Pandya was installed on the Pandya throne by the Sri Lankan army commanders. But according to the Pandyan side of the evidence makes the ruling king Srimara Srivallabha successful in repelling a Maya Pandya and Ceylon forces 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. Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1929) The Pandyan Kingdom. London, Luzac and Company. 71.


Battle of Tiru Purambiyam

Varaguna tried to check the Pallava influence by marching north (and even crossing the
Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...
in the
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 ...
country by c. 879 AD).Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1958, second ed.) ''A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar.'' Madras, Oxford University Press. 167-68. The northern expedition may well have been directed against the rising power of the Cholas. A decisive battle was fought at Sri Purambiyam (Tiruppurambiyam near
Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...
) in c. 880 AD. An alliance led by the Pallava Aparajita, supported by Chola
Aditya I Aditya Chola I, the son of Vijayalaya Chola, was the Chola king who laid the foundation of the Chola Empire with the conquest of the Pallava Kingdom and the occupation of the Western Ganga Kingdom and Kongu Nadu. Aditya Chola I was succee ...
and
Ganga The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...
Prithvipati I, opposed and defeated the Pandya king (although Prithvipati I lost his life in the battle). The Pandya advance was rolled back.Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta. (1929) ''The Pandyan Kingdom.'' London, Luzac and Company. 78-79. The Chola king subsequently invaded the Pallava country and defeated Aparajita. Varaguna was succeeded by his younger brother Parantaka Viranarayana around 880 AD.


References

Pandyan kings 880 deaths Year of birth unknown 9th-century Indian monarchs {{India-royal-stub