Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I

Accession

Sundara Pandyan I acceded to the Pandyan throne in the year 1251 CE. During the middle part of the 13th century, Pandya kingdom was ruled by many princes of the royal line. This practice of shared rule with one prince asserting primacy was common in the Pandyan Kingdom. The other princes of the Pandyan royal family with whom Sundara Pandyan I shared his rule were Maravarman Vikkiraman II and his brother Jatavarman Veera Pandyan I.

Historical background

By the middle of the 13th century, the Chola dynasty which had dominated Southern India over the past two centuries was declining. The last king of the Later Cholas, Rajendra Chola III reigned over a crumbling empire beset with rebellion and increasing external influence from Hoysalas and Kadavas. Previous rulers of the Pandyan kingdom like Maravarman Sundara Pandyan I had succeeded in overthrowing Chola hegemony. The Hoysala dominance over the Tamil Kingdoms had also waned by the time Sundara Pandyan I took the throne in 1251.

Conquests

Wars against Cheras and Cholas

Sundara Pandyan I launched his initial campaign against the Chera, then under the rule of Viraravi Udaya Marthandavarman. The Pandyan forces decisively defeated the Chera army, culminating in the death of the Chera monarch on the battlefield. Following this victory, Sundara Pandyan redirected his military focus towards the Cholas. In the ensuing conflict, Rajendra Chola III was vanquished and compelled to acknowledge Pandyan overlordship, marking a significant shift in the balance of power in Tamilagam.

Wars against Hoysalas

Sundara Pandyan extended his military campaign into the Hoysala dominions along the banks of the river Kaveri, where he successfully seized their southern capital, Kannanur Koppam near Srirangam. The incursion resulted in the death of several prominent Hoysala generals, including Singana, and yielded substantial spoils—horses, elephants, and a considerable cache of gold and treasure. The advance was eventually halted when King Someshwara retreated into his core territories. However, Someshwara's subsequent counteroffensive in 1262 aimed at reclaiming Pandyan lands, ended in failure and his own death, further consolidating Pandyan supremacy in the region. Jatavarman Veera Pandyan I became the governor of the captured territories. The region remained under Pandyan rule till Veera Ballala III recaptured the territory towards the end of the 13th century.

Wars against Kadavas

Sundara Pandyan besieged the city fortress of Sendamangalam and fought with the Kadava king Kopperunchinga II. However, he restored Kopperunchingan to his throne and gave him his country back. He also conquered Magadai and Kongu countries during his campaigns against the Kadavas and Hoysalas.

Invasion of Sri Lanka

Responding to an appeal for help from a minister in Sri Lanka, Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan intervened in 1258{{Cite book | author-link = Georges Coedès

Expedition to the North

After subduing the Kadava Kopperunchingan II, Sundara Pandyan led an expedition to the North. Pandyan forces killed the Telugu Choda ruler Vijaya Gandagopala of Nellore Chodas and captured Kanchipuram in 1258. This put them in conflict with the Kakatiyas under Ganapati II. Sundara Pandiyan I defeated a Telugu army at Mudugur in the current Nellore district and performed a virabisheka to commemorate the end of his campaign. However, Ganapathi II later defeated Kopperunchinga II who was by then a Pandyan ally and recaptured territories up to Kanchipuram. The Kadava Pallava Kopperinjungan II was followed by very weak successors and Sundara Pandyan annexed Kanchi, Nellore and Visayavadai (modern Vijayawada) regions to the Pandyan Kingdom.

Patronage of temples

Sundara Pandyan used the vast treasure he got out of his wars to beautify the Shiva temple in Chidambaram and the Vishnu temple in Srirangam. For gold plating the roofs of these two temples he was given the title of "pon veindha perumal"().He also gave many grants to temples in Trichy, Thanjavur and Kanchipuram. He built a temple at Aragalur (Magadai Mandalam) for the merit of Kulasekara around 1259. He acknowledged the contributors of other dynasties to Tamil Nadu by building a gate at the Sri Ranganathaswami Temple at Srirangam in which he engraved the names of all the four great empires of Tamil Nadu namely the Cholas, Pallavas, Pandyas and the Cheras. He also built the East tower of the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. He gold plated and placed the gold gilded Kalasam atop the gopurum of the Ananda Nilayam vimana of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. In 1263 CE, he renovated the gopuram of Koneswaram temple and his son Veera Pandyan implanted the Pandyan victory flag and insignia of a "Double Fish" emblem at Konamalai.

Titles

Having vanquished his neighbours Sundara Pandyan took the titles like "Emmandalamum Kondaruliya Pandiya", "Tribhuvana Chakravarthy", "Ponveintha Perumal", and "Hemachadana Raja".

His Meikeerthi praises him as "the conqueror of Kongu Nadu and Eelam; the conqueror of the Ganges and Kaveri; Vanquisher of Hoysala; Subjugator of Kadava Kopperunchingan I; The one who paid victory tribute and bravery tribute at Chidambaram; The ruler of three worlds".

({{langx|ta|

கொங்குஈழம் கொண்டு கொடுவடுகு கோடுஅழித்து கங்கை இருகரையும் காவிரியும் கைகொண்டு வல்லாளனை வென்று காடவனைத் திறைகொண்டு தில்லை மாநகரில் வீராபிஷேகமும் விஜயாபிஷேகமும் செய்தருளிய கோச்சடை பன்மரான திரிபுவன்ச் சக்கரவர்த்திகள் ஸ்ரீ வீரபாண்டிய தேவர்}}).

Death and succession

Sundara Pandyan I was succeeded by Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I in 1268 and died in 1271.

A PIL (public interest litigation) was filed by advocate and author B. Jagannath, asking the Central Government to establish a National Council for Development of Tamil language, similar to Urudu and Sindhi National Council in the name of Jatavarman Sundarapandyan I. the same is pending at the Madras High Court.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

References

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