Karunakara Tondaiman

Karunakara Tondaiman was a general of Chola Emperor Kulottunga I.[1] He is renowned for leading the Chola invasion of Kalinga during the reign of Kulottunga I[2][3] and is the hero of Jayamkondar's poem Kalinkkattuparani[4][5] In the Parani poem he is referred to as the lord of Vandai.[6] while in the Draksharamam inscription of Kulottunga I, he is called as Vanduvaraja and Pallavaraja.[7] He also served as a minister under Kulothunga Chola's son and successor, Vikrama Chola.[8]

Karunakara Tondaiman
Sculpture of Karunakara Tondaiman at Draksharama.
Birth nameThiruvarangan
BornKumbakonam, Chola Empire
(modern day Tamil Nadu, India)
DiedGangaikonda Cholapuram, Chola Empire (modern day Jayankondam, Tamil Nadu, India)
Allegiance Chola Empire
Service/branch Chola army
RankSenathipathi
Commands heldChola Army in Sri Lanka and Kalinga
Battles/wars
Spouse(s)Alagiyamanavalini Mangai Ālvār

Personal life

According to the Draksharamam inscription, his personal name was Thiruvarangan and he was the son of Sirilango of Vandalanjeri in Tirunaraiyur-nadu near Kumbakonam. He is described as a sadu(good)-vaishnava and is said to have built a Vishnu temple made of black stone in Alavely.[9][10] Sir-ilan-kō is not a proper name but rather means the illustrious Yuvaraja(crown-prince) and is quite often used to refer to Lakshmana in Vaishnavite works.[11] A queen of his called Alagiyamanavalini Mangai Ālvār is known to us from an epigraph in the Varadarajaswami temple in Kanchi.[12]

Lankan War

The Sri Lankan vassal of the Chola kingdom during the reign of Kulottunga Chola I had betrayed the Chola sovereign and had pledged allegiance to the Sinhala king in order to become the sole ruler of the Chola province in Ceylon. When this was brought to the attention of Kulottunga Chola I, the furious king had termed the traitor, "Siva Drohi", figuratively meaning traitor of the (Shaivite) Cholas.[13] Karunakara Tondaiman took this opportunity to show his loyalty and went on to plunder Lanka. The Karunakara Pillaiyar temple in the Jaffna peninsula was built after him. The village, Thondaimanaru, in Ceylon was also named after him.[14][15]

Kalinga War

The Kalinga kingdom was then ruled by Eastern Ganga king Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva. When Kulottunga Chola held his court at Kanchi, it was brought to his attention that Anantavarman had failed to pay tribute on two occasions to the Chola sovereign. This was taken as a sign of slight for not recognising the Chola superiority and the King dispatched Karunakara Tondaiman to bring the Chalukya to his knees. Kulottunga Chola dispatched Karunakara Tondaiman to capture Anantavarman alive. Vikrama Chola, then a young prince then, was a part of the force under Karunakara Tondaiman.[16]

According to tradition and the Vaishnava point of view, the Lord on (Tirupati) had parted with his conch and the Sudarshana chakra to Karunākara Perumāl, the conqueror of Kalinga and the hero of Jayamkondar's Kalinkkattuparani.[17] Karunakara Tondaiman defeated the Kalinga armies of Anantavarman and planted a pillar of victory in Kalinga (modern day Odisha). Anantavarman fled, never to be found again.[18] From the Kalinkkattuparani,

Having thus laid waste the whole of the sea-coast kingdom of Kalinga, and planting there a pillar of victory,
Karunakara Tondaiman, the lord of Vandaiyar, returns and lies at the feet of his master all the spoils of war[19]

Nilakanta Sastri and M. Raghava Iyengar identify Vandainagar with Vanduvangarai near Kumbakonam while Dr. K.V Raman identifies it with Vandalur, an area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[20][21]

Notes
  1. Sakkottai Krishnaswami Aiyangar. Ancient India: Collected Essays on the Literary and Political History of Southern India. Asian Educational Services, 1911 - India - 451 pages. p. 333.
  2. C.Sivaratnam: The Tamils in early Ceylon, p. 116
  3. History of the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, 610-1210 A.D., p. 455.
  4. History of medieval Andhradesa, p. 25
  5. History of the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, 610-1210 A.D.
  6. University of Allahabad. Department of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore, University of Kerala, University of Kerala. Department of History. Journal of Indian History, Volume 4, Issue 3. p. 23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Chitra Madhavan. History And Culture Of Tamil Nadu: Vol. 1 (Upto C. Ad 1310). D. K. Print World (P) Limited, 2005 - History - 305 pages. p. 75.
  8. The Cholas: mathematics reconstructs the chronology, p. 171
  9. S. R. Balasubrahmanyam; B. Natarajan; Balasubrahmanyan Ramachandran. Later Chola Temples: Kulottunga I to Rajendra III (A.D. 1070-1280), Parts 1070-1280. Mudgala Trust, 1979 - Architecture - 470 pages. p. 154.
  10. Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri. The Cōḷas, Volume 2, Issue 2. University of Madras, 1937 - Chola (Indic people). p. 582.
  11. N. Ramesan. Copper Plate Inscriptions of the State Museum, Issue 29. Government of Andhra Pradesh - Deccan (India). p. 116.
  12. K.V. Raman. Sri Varadarajaswami Temple, Kanchi: A Study of Its History, Art and Architecture. Abhinav Publications, 2003 - 206 pages. p. 13.
  13. The Tyāgarāja cult in Tamilnāḍu: a study in conflict and accommodation, p. 322: The close link between Saivism and politics can be seen when the Ceylonese general is described as a Sivadrohin
  14. Tamil culture, Volume 4, p. 242.
  15. The Tamils in early Ceylon, p. 116.
  16. A comprehensive history of India, Volume 4, Part 1, By Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri, Indian History Congress.
  17. Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of Southern India, p. 215
  18. Sri Varadarajaswami Temple, Kanchi: A Study of Its History, Art and Architecture, p. 13.
  19. Studies in Tamil Literature and History, p. 258
  20. M. Gopalakrishnan. Tamil Nadu state: Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts (erstwhile Chengalpattu district),Gazetteers of India,Volume 1 of Tamil Nadu State: Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur Districts. Director of Stationery and Printing, 2000. p. 106.
  21. Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of Southern India, p. 146

References
  • The Imperial and Asiatic quarterly review and oriental and colonial record By Oriental Institute (Woking, England), East India Association (London, England)
  • History of the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, 610-1210 A.D., By Bhavaraju Venkatakrishna Rao, Bhāvarāju Vēṅkaṭakr̥ṣṇarāvu
  • The Tamils in early Ceylon, By C. Sivaratnam
  • History of medieval Andhradesa, By M. Krishna Kumari
  • The Cōḷas, By Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri
  • The Cholas: mathematics reconstructs the chronology, By N. Sethuraman
  • Sri Varadarajaswami Temple, Kanchi: A Study of Its History, Art and Architecture, By K.V. Raman
  • Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of Southern India, By Sakkottai Krishnaswami Aiyangar
  • Studies in Tamil Literature and History, By Ramachandra Dikshitar
  • Tamil culture, Volume 4, By Tamil Literature Society, Academy of Tamil Culture
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