An old hill lordship (Miladu or Malainadu, 'the hill country') seated at Tirukkoyilur on the south bank of the Pennar, where the road from the delta to the Baramahal and the plateau meets the river.
The chiefs take their rank from the Chola king's name (Rajendra Chola Chediraya, Kulottungasola Chediraya) and endow the great Vishnu and Shaiva temples facing each other across the river. In 1200 they are loyal in form and independent in practice.
Who he is
- Name
- not known for 1 January 1200
- Title
- Malaiyaman chief, 'lord of Miladu' (Milad-udaiyan), styled Chediraya (Sedirayan)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Chiefs known by name in Chola-period records: Kulottungasola Chediraya (under Kulottunga II), Rajendra Chola Chediraya, Vikramasola Chediraya and his son Vikramasola Kovalarayan (undated), Malaiyan Chediraya, Pillai Perumal Chediraya (a contemporary of the poet Kambar); none can be tied to January 1200.
- Confidence
- low
The English Wikipedia on the Malaiyaman cites inscriptions (ARE 124 of 1900, 388 of 1909) and gives no dates for them. The chiefs add the Chola king's name to the family title Chediraya; the Sangam chief Malaiyaman Thirumudi Kari of about the second century is a different, earlier man.
Overlord
Kulottunga III Chola
What it holds
- Tirukkoyilur and the Pennar crossing
- The hill country of Miladu toward Sankarapuram and Kallakurichi
- Endowments at the Tirukkoyilur temples (the Trivikrama Vishnu and the Shaiva shrine)
- Offices in the Chola service
How it was acquired
Hereditary lordship of a hill country older than the Cholas.
Allies and rivals
Allied to the Cholas by service and by marriage ties not documented here; neighbours of the Kadavas to the east.
How things stand that morning
Present, loyal, unnamed.
Wealth
Tolls at the Pennar ford, temple lands, hill produce.
Military
Feudal retinues; no number is known.
Threats
- Kadava rivalry
- Telugu Choda or Hoysala incursions from the north-west
Places of note
- Tirukkoyilur: Seat on the Pennar.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry tirukoilur says it was a seat of the Malaiyaman chiefs; agreed; the campaign board does not name a holder for 1200 and neither do I.
Evidence: Undated Chola-period inscriptions; no named holder 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: Boundaries with the Kadavas and Sambuvarayas are guesses.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.