Karikala Chola or
Karikala Chozhan was one of the great
TamilTamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
kings of
Early CholaThe Early Cholas of the pre and post Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Their early capitals were Urayur and Kaveripattinam...
during the Sangam period. He was the son of
IlamcetcenniIlamcetcenni was an early Tamil king of the Chola dynasty during the Sangam period.He was a great warrior and ruled the Chola kingdom with Puhar as the capital. He married a Velir Princess and the child born to the Royal couple was called Karikala Cholan. Cholas overpowered Cheras and Pandiyas...
and ruled around 270 BC.
He was also known by the
epithetAn epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
s
Karikala Peruvalathaan (கரிகால பெருவளத்தான்) and
Thirumavalavan (திருமாவளவன்).
Sources
The story of Karikala is mixed with legend and anecdotal information gleaned from
Sangam literatureSangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
. Karikala has left us no authentic records of his reign. The only sources available to us are the numerous mentions in Sangam poetry. The period covered by the extant literature of the Sangam is unfortunately not easy to determine with any measure of certainty.
PattinappaalaiPaṭṭiṉappālai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Pattinappaalai is part of the Pattupattu collection, which is the oldest available collection of long poems in Tamil literature....
,
PorunaraatruppadaiPorunaraatruppadai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Porunaraatruppadai contains 250 lines of poems in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet...
and a number of individual poems in
AkananuruAkananuru , a classical Tamil poetic work, is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. It contains 400 Akam poems dealing with matters of love and separation...
and
PurananuruPurananuru is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 200 BCE – 100 CE. Purananuru is part of the Ettuthokai anthology which is the oldest available collection of poems of Sangam literature in Tamil....
have been the main source for the information that is attributed to Karikala.
Early life
Karikala was the son of
IlamcetcenniIlamcetcenni was an early Tamil king of the Chola dynasty during the Sangam period.He was a great warrior and ruled the Chola kingdom with Puhar as the capital. He married a Velir Princess and the child born to the Royal couple was called Karikala Cholan. Cholas overpowered Cheras and Pandiyas...
‘…distinguished for the beauty of his numerous war chariots..’. The name Karikalan has been held to mean 'the man with the charred leg' and perpetuates the memory of a fire accident in the early years of his life. Some scholars also hold the view that the etymology is from Sanskrit' - 'kari + kalan, or "slayer of elephants". Porunar-aatrup-padai describes the back-formed origin legend of this incident as follows:
- The king of Urayur Ilancetcenni married a Velir
Velirs were a royal house of minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamilakkam in the early historic period of South India. Extolled in Sangam literature for their charity and truthfulness, they were the ancestors and head of the modern Tamil Vellalar caste...
princess from Azhundur and she became pregnant and gave birth to Karikala. Ilamcetcenni died soon after. Due to his young age, Karikala's right to the throne was overlooked and there was political turmoil in the country. Karikala was exiled. When normality returned, the Chola ministers sent a state elephant to look for the prince. The elephant found the prince hiding in Karuvur. His political opponents arrested and imprisoned him. The prison was set on fire that night. Karikala escaped the fire and, with the help of his uncle Irum-pitar-thalaiyan, defeated his enemies. Karikala’s leg was scorched in the fire and from thence Karikala became his name.
Pattinap-paalai, written in praise of Karikala also describes this incident, but without mention of the fable of the burnt limb:
- Like the Tiger cub with its sharp claws and its curved stripes growing (strong) within the cage, his strength came to maturity (like wood in grain) while he was in the bondage of his enemies. As the large trunked elephant pulls down the banks of the pit, and joins its mate, even so after deep and careful consideration, he drew his sword, effected his escape by overpowering the strong guard and attained his glorious heritage in due course.
Battle of Venni
According to Poruna-raatr-uppadai, Karikala Chola fought a great battle at Venni near
Thanjavur in which both Pandya and
CheraChera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
suffered crushing defeat. Although we know very little about the circumstances leading to this battle, there can be no doubt that it marked the turning point in Karikala’s career, for in this battle he broke the back of the powerful confederacy formed against him. Besides the two crowned kings of the Pandya and Chera countries, eleven minor chieftains took their side in the campaign and shared defeat at the hands of Karikala. The Chera king, who was wounded on his back in the battle, committed suicide by starvation.
Venni was the watershed in the career of Karikala which established him firmly on his throne and secured for him some sort of hegemony among the three crowned monarchs. Venni which is also known as Vennipparandalai and now it is known as Kovilvenni. Kovilvenni is situated between Ammapettai(Tanjore) and Needamangalam.
Other wars and conquests
After the battle of Venni, Karikala had other opportunities to exercise his arms. He defeated the confederacy of nine minor chieftains in the battle of Vakaipparandalai. Paranar, a contemporary of Karikala, in his poem from Agananuru mentions this incident without giving any information on the cause of the conflict.
According to legends Karikalan was one of the few Tamil kings who won the whole Ceylon (Lanka). His kallanai was built after his conquer over Singalese kingdom. It was said that he did not want to use the Tamil workers to be used for moving hard stones from mountains to the river bed, instead he used the Singalese war prisoners to move the heavy stones to the river bed.
Pattinappaalai also describes the destruction caused by Karikala’s armies in the territories of his enemies and adds that as the result of these conflicts, the 'Northerners and Westerners were depressed… and his flushed look of anger caused the Pandya’s strength gave way…'
However, there is no evidence to show that Karikala’s conquests extended beyond the land of the Kaveri. the main war land in karikala cholan in in srilanka venni the last battle field and return back to sea to vakaipparadalai.
Northern conquests
Since ancient times Karikala became the subject of many myths which in modern times have often been accepted as serious history.
Cila-ppati-karamSilappatikaram Silappatikaram has been dated to likely belong to the beginning of Christian era, although the author might have built upon a pre-existing folklore to spin this tale. The story involves the three Tamil kingdoms of the ancient era, the Chola, the Pandya and the Chera...
(c. sixth century C.E.) which attributes northern campaigns and conquests to all the three monarchs of the Tamil country, gives a glorious account of the northern expeditions of Karikala, which took him as far north as the Himalayas and gained for him the alliance and subjugation of the kings of
VajraVajji or Vrijji was one of the principal Mahajanapadas of ancient India. Both the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text Bhagavati Sutra included Vajji in their lists of solasa Maha-Janapadas. The name of this Mahajanapada was derived from one of its ruling clans, the Vṛjis...
,
MagadhaMagadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
and
AvantiAvanti was an ancient Indian janapada , roughly corresponded to the present day Malwa region. According to the Buddhist text, the Anguttara Nikaya, Avanti was one of the solasa mahajanapadas of the 6th century BCE...
countries. There is no contemporary evidence either in Sangam literature or from the north Indian source for such an expedition.
Raising the banks of Kaveri
Later Chola kings referred to Karikala Chola as a great ancestor, and attributed him with the building of dikes along the banks of the Kaveri.
The raising of the banks of the river Kaveri by Karikala are also mentioned by the Melapadu plates of Punyakumara, a
TeluguThe Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
Choda king of the seventh or the eighth century C.E. This story mingles with another stream of legend centering around Trinetra Pallava, and culminates in the celebrated jingle of the late Telugu Choda inscriptions:
- karuna - saroruha vihita - vilochana – pallava – trilochana pramukha kilapritvisvara karita kaveri tira
This has been made the basis of conclusions of the highest importance to the chronology of Early South Indian history.
Grand Anicut
The
Grand AnicutThe Grand Anicut, also known as the Kallanai , is an ancient dam built on the Kaveri River in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India.It was built by the Chola king Karikalan around the 2nd Century AD and is considered one of the oldest water-diversion or water-regulator structures in the world,...
also known as the [ta:கல்லணை] Kallanai, was built by the Chola king and is considered one of the oldest water-diversion or water-regulator structures in the world, which is still in use.
The Kallanai is a massive dam of unhewn stone, 329 metres (1,080 ft) long and 20 metres (60 ft) wide, across the main stream of the Kaveri.
The purpose of the dam was to divert the waters of the Kaveri across the fertile Delta region for irrigation via canals. The dam is still in excellent repair, and supplied a model to later engineers, including the Sir
Arthur CottonGeneral Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI was a British general and irrigation engineer.Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout the British Empire in India, however, his dream was only partially realized, but he is still honored in parts of rural...
's 19th-century dam across the Kollidam, the major tributary of the Kaveri.
The area irrigated by the ancient irrigation network is about 1,000,000 acres (4,000 square kilometres).
Recently the Delta farmers of Tamil Nadu demanded the Tamil Nadu government honour the great Chola king
KarikalanKarikalan can refer to two names:*Karikala Chola, an ancient South Indian emperor*Karikalan , upcoming Tamil film...
, who built the Kallanai.
Personal life and death
இறந்தோன் அவனே!
பாடியவர்: கருங்குழல் ஆதனார்
பாடப்பட்டோன்: சோழன் கரிகாற் பெருவளத்தான்
திணை: பொதுவியல்
துறை: கையறுநிலை
அருப்பம் பேணாது அமர்கடந் ததூஉம்;
துணைபுணர் ஆயமொடு தசும்புடன் தொலைச்சி,
இரும்பாண் ஒக்கல் கடும்பு புரந்ததூஉம்;
அறம்அறக் கணட நெறிமாண் அவையத்து,
முறைநற்கு அறியுநர் முன்னுறப் புகழ்ந்த
பவியற் கொள்கைத் துகளறு மகளிரொடு,
பருதி உருவின் பல்படைப் புரிசை,
எருவை நுகர்ச்சி, யூப நெடுந்தூண்,
வேத வேள்வித் தொழில்முடித் ததூஉம்;
அறிந்தோன் மன்ற அறிவுடையாளன்;
இறந்தோன் தானே; அளித்துஇவ் வுலகம்
அருவி மாறி, அஞ்சுவரக் கருகிப்,
பெருவறம் கூர்ந்த வேனிற் காலைப்,
பசித்த ஆயத்துப் பயன்நிரை தருமார்,
பூவாட் கோவலர் பூவுடன் உதிரக்
கொய்துகட்டு அழித்த வேங்கையின்,
மெல்லியல் மகளிரும் இழைகளைந் தனரே. |
Pattinappaalai describes Karikala as an able and just king. It gives a vivid idea of the state of industry and commerce under Karikala who promoted agriculture and added to the prosperity of his country by reclamation and settlement of forest land. He also built the Grand Anaicut, one of the oldest dams in the world and also a number of irrigation canals and tanks.
We know next to nothing regarding Karikala’s personal life.
NaccinarkiniyarNaccinarkiniyar was a classical Tamil writer and commentator of the medieval period.-Biography:Naccinarkiniyar was a Saivite Brahmin who was popular for his commentary on the Tholkappiyam...
, the annotator of
TolkappiyamThe Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...
, states that Karikala married a Velir girl from Nangur. He most certainly had more than one queen. There is evidence in Purananuru for Karikala’s faith in Saivism in the Tamil country. Purananuru (poem 224) movingly expresses his faith and the grief caused by his passing away:
- He who stormed his enemies' forts undauntedly, who feasted his minstrels and their families and treated them to endless draughts of toddy, who in the assembly of 'Samayakuravas' noted for their knowledge of Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and purity of life, guided by priests learned in their duties and attended by his noble and virtuous queen, performed the vedic sacrifice in which the tall sacrificial post stood on a bird-like platform, within the sacrificial court surrounded by a high wall with round bastions, he, the great and wise king alas, is no more! Poor indeed is this world, which has lost him. Like the branches of the vengi tree, which stands bare, when their bright foliage has been stripped down by shepherds eager to feed their cattle in the fierce summer, are his fair queens, who have cast off their jewels.
See also
- Grand Anicut
The Grand Anicut, also known as the Kallanai , is an ancient dam built on the Kaveri River in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India.It was built by the Chola king Karikalan around the 2nd Century AD and is considered one of the oldest water-diversion or water-regulator structures in the world,...
- Sangam Literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
- Legendary early Chola kings
The lists of legendary early Chola kings are recorded in Tamil literature and in the inscriptions left by the later Chola kings.- Chola Empire :...
- Tamil history from Sangam literature
Sangam Literature is one of the main sources used for documenting the early history of the ancient Tamil country. The ancient Sangam poems mention numerous kings and princes, the existence of some of whom have been confirmed through archaeological evidence...