A temple and ford town on the Pennai on the northern edge of the delta heartland.
It is the seat of the Malayamans (chiefs of Malaiyaman nadu) who serve the Chola kings; the Trivikrama temple (Ulagalanda Perumal) and the Veeratteswarar temple are here. It lies on the road from the delta to Tondaimandalam and is held by a trusted feudatory family; the campaign board lists it as a place of the Chola empire.
Who holds it
- Name
- The Malayaman chief, a Chola feudatory, with the temple managers (his name is not known for 1200)
- Title
- see the lord or tenant line below
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The Malayaman chief, a Chola feudatory, with the temple managers (his name is not known for 1200)
How things stand that morning
A Chola feudatory's seat on the road to the north; no sign of revolt. The Malayamans are not named for 1200.
Wealth
Pennai crossing, paddy, temple endowments.
Military
The chief's retinue; no figure.
Threats
- A rising of the Kadavas to the east (not shown)
Charter
No charter known
Council
The Malayaman chief and his household, the temple managers; none named for 1200
Communities
Brahmins, temple servants, farmers, a Jain and a Saiva past
Fairs and markets
Temple festivals
Militia
The chief's retinue; no figure
Walls and castle
Not described in the pages we read
Trade and crafts
Grain, cloth and the Pennai crossing; temple trade
Places of note
- Tiruvennainallur: Temple town on the Pennai; birthplace of Meykandar in the tradition.
- Tiruvakkarai: Chandramouliswarar temple town and fossil wood park.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry tirukoilur (11.966,79.204) agrees with the gazetteer's Tirukkoyilur. The Malayaman lord record (Malayamans of Tirukkoyilur) gives what is known of the family.
Evidence: Temples and the ford are known; the chief of 1200 is not named.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
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.