Kadava chiefs

Who he is

Name

not known for 1 January 1200; Kopperunchinga (the later king Kopperunjinga, titles Alagiyasiyan and Sakalabhuvanachakravartin) is named by the English Wikipedia as related to Kulottunga III by marriage and a Chola subordinate between 1191 and 1195

Title

Kadava chief (Kadavarayan), a lineage claiming Pallava descent, Chola feudatory

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

The Wikipedia article on the dynasty says chiefs with the Kadava title were Chola feudatories by the twelfth century (a Kadavarayan Alappirandan Elisaimohan under Kulottunga II) and gives no family tree.

Confidence

low

Kopperunchinga's rise to power belongs to the confusion after the Pandya invasion of about 1216: he strengthened Sendamangalam as a stronghold, and about 1231 he held Rajaraja III prisoner there. Before that he served in the Chola government until about 1213.

Overlord

Kulottunga III Chola

What it holds

• Sendamangalam and the Ulundurpet country (a stronghold garrisoned by Kopperunchinga later, not before about 1216)
• The Tirunavalur (Tiruvennainallur) country on the Pennar, with Tevaram shrines and endowed villages
• Offices in the Chola government held as inheritance (the English Wikipedia on Rajadhiraja II notes the trend)
• Cuddalore (Tirupadiripuliyur) as the last good landing before their country

How it was acquired

Inherited offices and lands over the twelfth century; Kopperunchinga's own marriage tie to Kulottunga III is stated without a source by the English Wikipedia.

Allies and rivals

Allied to the Chola by office and marriage; neighbours of the Malayamans of Tirukkoyilur to the west, the Sambuvarayas to the north and the delta Chola to the south.

How things stand that morning

On 1 January 1200 the Kadava house is a ring-chief of the Chola north, not a rebel. The name of its head is not known; Kopperunchinga is attested between 1191 and 1195 as a Chola subordinate related to the king by marriage (English Wikipedia); his rise is a later event, set out below.

Wealth

Tank and river paddy, Pennar crossings, tolls on the north-south road, temple patronage.

Military

The retinues of a feudal chief; the stronghold of Sendamangalam is a later work. No numbers.

Threats

• Hoysala or Telugu Choda pressure from the north
• Quarrels with the Malayamans and Sambuvarayas over office and land

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1213 to 1231 (outside 1200)Kopperunchinga strengthens Sendamangalam after the Pandya invasion of about 1216 and imprisons Rajaraja III there about 1231.Depends on: A collapse of Chola authority after the Pandya invasion; none of it has happened. Stopped by: A Chola recovery or a Hoysala intervention.

Places of note

• Tiruvennainallur (Tirunavalur): The Pennar shrine where the saint Sundarar was claimed; Kambar's patron Sadaiyappa Vallal is traditionally of this country.
• Cuddalore: The port at the Gadilam and Ponnaiyar mouths.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry tindivanam-oymanadu says Oymanadu (Tindivanam) is the home district of the Kadavarayas; the English Wikipedia on the Sambuvarayas says the early Sambuvaraya chiefs ruled Oyma Nadu in Tindivanam taluk with their capital at Padaveedu. We give Oymanadu to the Sambuvarayas and the Pennar-Vellar country to the Kadavas, and flag the campaign board.
• Wikipedia's Sendamangalam page is the Namakkal town; the Kadava Sendamangalam is another village in the Kallakurichi district (per Kopperunchinga I) and is not in the gazetteer, so the seat is given as Ulundurpet.
• The campaign board entry tiruvennainallur and tiruvakkarai place both in the Kadava country: kept.

Evidence: The English Wikipedia on the Kadavas names no chief before Kopperunchinga and gives no dates for 1200.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: The polygon covers the Tirunavalur, Ulundurpet, Vriddhachalam and Cuddalore country; the exact limit with the Malayaman country at Tirukkoyilur is a guess.

Primary sources for Chola empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Lesser Chronicle (the continuation of the Mahavamsa), Dhammakitti and later monks of the Mahavihara tradition (the first continuation about the 13th century (chapters 37 to 79), carried on in stages to the 18th century). The only narrative source for Lanka in 1200. Read online
• History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
• The Leiden grants of Rajaraja I and Kulottunga I concerning the Srivijaya vihara at Nagapattinam, The Chola chancery (Rajaraja I, Rajendra I, Kulottunga I) (the Larger plates about 1005 to 1014 (completed under Rajendra I); the Smaller plates 1090). Background documents for the relations between the Cholas and the Malay world. Read online
• Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telingana Districts, Various (Kakatiya chancery and temple scribes), edited by P. Sreenivasachar (inscriptions of the 10th to 15th centuries; edited 1940 to 1942). The Kakatiyas of Orugallu (Warangal) are known for 1200 almost entirely from inscriptions, and this Hyderabad Archaeological Series corpus is the main printed collection. Read online
• Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
• Epigraphia Zeylanica: lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon, Various (the Polonnaruwa kings' chanceries), edited by D. M. de Zilva Wickremasinghe, H. W. Codrington and S. Paranavitana (inscriptions of the 3rd century BC to the 18th century; the series ran from 1904). Prints with translation the stone records of the Polonnaruwa kings who held or lost the throne around 1200. Read online
• South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online
• Travancore Archaeological Series, Various (Kerala chiefs, temples and merchant guilds), edited by T. A. Gopinatha Rao, K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer and A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar (inscriptions of the 9th to 18th centuries; the series ran from 1910 to 1938). The main corpus for the Kerala coast. Read online

4 more in the sources library for Southern India and Sri Lanka.