Silappatikaram

Silappatikaram   is one of the five Great Epics according to later Tamil literary tradition, the others being Manimegalai, Civaka Cintamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi. The poet prince Ilango Adigal, popularly believed to have been a Jain monk, is credited with this work. He is reputed to be the brother of Senguttuvan from Chera dynasty. As a literary work, it is held in high regard by the Tamils. The nature of the book is narrative and has a moralistic undertone. It contains three chapters and a total of 5270 lines of poetry. The epic revolves around Kannagi, who having lost her husband to a miscarriage of justice at the court of the Pandya king, wreaks her revenge on his kingdom.

Silappatikaram has been dated to likely belong to the beginning of Common 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. Silappatikaram has many references to historical events and personalities, although it has not been accepted as a reliable source of history by many historians because of the inclusion of many exaggerated events and achievements to the ancient Tamil kings.

Regarded as one of the great achievements of Tamil genius, the Silappatikaram is a poetic rendition with details of Tamil culture; its varied religions; its town plans and city types; the mingling of Greek, Arab, and Tamil peoples; and the arts of dance and music. 

Historical and social setting
The story of Silappatikaram is set during the first few centuries of CE and narrates the events in the three Tamil kingdoms: Chera, Chola, and Pandya. It also mentions the Ilankai king Gajabahu and the Chera Senguttuvan. It confirms that the northern kingdoms of Chedi, Uttarakosala, and Vajra were known to the Tamil people of the time. The epic also vividly describes the Tamil society of the period, its cities, the people's religious and folk traditions and their gods.

At the end of the Sangam epoch (second – third centuries CE), the Tamil country was in political confusion. The older order of the three Tamil dynasties was replaced by the invasion of the Kalabhras. These new kings and others encouraged the religions of Buddhism and Jainism. Ilango Adigal, the author of Silappatikaram, probably lived in this period and was one of the vast number of Jain and Buddhist authors in Tamil poetry. These authors, perhaps influenced by their monastic faiths, wrote books based on moralistic values to illustrate the futility of secular pleasures. These poets freely borrowed from Sanskrit literature, which had numerous books of didactic nature, as well as narrative plays by Bhāsa and Kalidasa. These authors went beyond the nature of Sangam poems, which contain descriptions of human emotions and feelings in an abstract fashion, and employed fictional characters in a well conceived narrative incorporating personal and social ramifications. Tamil epics were thus invented by these poets.

The Author

The author of Silappatikaram was Ilango Adigal (lit. Prince- Ascetic). He is reputed to be the brother of Chera king Senguttuvan, although there is no evidence in the Sangam poetries that the famous king had a brother. There are also claims that Ilango Adigal was a contemporary of Sattanar, the author of Manimekalai.  The prologues of each of these books tell us that each were read out to the author of the other [Silappatikaram, pathigam 90]. From comparative studies between Silappatikaram and certain Sanskrit Buddhist and Jain works such as Nyayaprakasa, the date of Silappatikaramhas been determined to be around the fifth and the sixth centuries CE. 

The Epic

In the pathigam, the prologue to the book, Ilango Adigal gives the reader the gist of the book with the précis of the story. He also lays the objectives of the book:

 The truth in itself will punish even the king should he err 

 A women with high moral and intellect will be respected by all. 

 one has to pay for his acts)(past and present acts of one will certainly yield their results on him 

 

That virtue itself is the executioner of those who err in politics

That the great will ever praise a chaste woman of great virtue

That fate will inevitably follow and give the fruits of ones past actions

 Because the anklet was the basis for these truths 

Here do we create an epic song

Main charactersStory

Silappatikaram literally translated to the story of anklet that depicts the life of Kannagi, a chaste woman who lead a peaceful life with Kovalan in Puhar (Poompuhar), then the capital of Cholas. Her life later went astray by the association of Kovalan with an unchaste woman Madhavi. The duo started resurrecting their life in Madurai, the capital of Pandyas. Kovalan went on to sell the anklet of Kannagi to start a business, but was beheaded having been held guilty of stealing it from the queen. Kannagi went on to prove the innocence of her husband and was believed to have burnt the entire city of Madurai by her chastity. Apart from the story, it is a vast treasure of information of music and dance, both classical and folk. 

Structure of Silappatikaram

Silappatikaram contains three chapters:

• Puharkkandam ( Puhar chapter), which deals with the events in the Chola city of Puhar, where Kannagi and Kovalan start their married life and Kovalan leaves his wife for the courtesan Madavi. This contains 10 cantos or divisions.
• Maduraikkandam (  Madurai chapter), is situated in Madurai in the Pandya kingdom where Kovalan loses his life, incorrectly blamed for the theft of the queen's anklet. This contains 13 cantos.
• Vanchikkandam (  Vanchi chapter), is situated in the Chera country where Kannagi ascends to the heavens. This contains 7 cantos, and each of them is made of several sub-divisions called kaathais (narrative sections of the chapters).

Literary value

The Silappatikaram, apart from being the first known epic poem in Tamil, is also important for its literary innovations. It introduces the intermingling of poetry with prose, a form not seen in previous Tamil works. It features an unusual praise of the Sun, the Moon, the river Kaveri and the city of Poompuhar at its beginning, the contemporary tradition being to praise a deity. It is also considered to be a predecessor of the Nigandu lexicographic tradition. It has 30 referred as monologues sung by any character in the story or by an outsider as his own monologue often quoting the dialogues he has known or witnessed.  It has 25 cantos composed in akaval meter, used in most poems in Sangam literature. The alternative for this meter is called aicirucappu (verse of teachers) associted with verse composed in learned circles . Akaval is a derived form of verb akavu indicating to call or beckon. Silappatikaram is also credited to bring folk songs to literary genre, a proof of the claim that folk songs institutionalised literary culture with the best maintained cultures root back to folk origin. 

Publishing in modern times
Criticism and Comparison

U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1942 CE) resurrected the first three epics from appalling neglect and wanton destruction of centuries.  He reprinted these literature present in the palm leaf form to paper books. Ramaswami Mudaliar, a Tamil scholar first gave him the palm leaves of Civaka Cintamani to study.  Being the first time, Swaminatha Iyer had to face lot of difficulties in terms of interpreting, finding the missing leaves, textual errors and unfamiliar terms.  He set for tiring journeys to remote villages in search of the missing manuscripts. After years of toil, he published Civaka Cintamani in book form in 1887 CE followed by Silapadikaram in 1892 CE andManimekalai in 1898 CE.  Along with the text, he added lot of commentary and explanatory notes of terms, textual variations and approaches explaining the context. 

"After the last line of a poem, nothing follows except literary criticism" observes Ilangovadigal in Silappadikaram. The postscript invites readers to review the work. Like other epic works, it is criticised of having unfamiliar and a difficult poem to understand.  To some critics, Manimegalai is more interesting than Silappadikaram, but it terms of literary evaluation, it seems inferior. There are effusions in Silappadikaram in the form of a song or a dance, which does not go well with western audience as they are assessed to be inspired on the spur of the moment.  According to Calcutta review, the three epic works on a whole have no plot and no characterization to qualify for a epic genre. 

However, a possible cause for this reaction in the west might be due to the unfamiliar prominence of a female character in the epic, which is unknown in epic cycles of Greek and other European sources. In addition, the idea of chastity as exemplified in the epic is difficult to understand outside the context of Tamil and Indian cultural norms. Modern scholars have a more favourable view of the poem and consider it to be the foremost epic in Tamil literature as well as the first to envision a united Tamil conciousness through the depiction on the three major countries occupied by the Tamil people as one nation united in worship of the goddess of chastity (Kannagi).

Popular culture

There have been multiple movies based on the story of Silappathikaram and the most famous is the portrayal of Kannagi by actress Kannamba in the 1942 movie Kannagi. P.U.Chinnappa played the lead as Kovalan. The movie faithfully follows the story of Silappathikaram and was a hit when it was released. The movie Poompuhar, penned by M. Karunanidhi is also based on Silapathikaram.There are multiple dance dramas as well by some of the great exponents of Bharatanatyam in Tamil as most of the verses of Silappathikaram can be set to music.

Kalabhras dynasty,Satavahana dynasty

The Kalabhras dynasty  ruled over the entire Ancient Tamil country between the 3rd and the 6th century in an era ofSouth Indian history called the Kalabhra interregnum. The Kalabhras, possibly Buddhists, displaced the kingdoms of the early Cholas, early Pandayas and Chera dynasties by a revolt. The Kalabhras put an end to the brahmanadeya rights granted to the brahmans in numerous villages across southern India.

Information about the origin and reign of the Kalabhras is scarce. They left neither artifacts nor monuments, and the only sources of information are scattered mentions in Buddhist and Jain literature. Finally, the Kalabhras were defeated by the join efforts of the Pallavas, Pandyas and Chalukyas Badami.

Identification

The identification of the Kalabhras is difficult. The chieftains of this tribe mentioned in Sangam literature are Tiraiyan of Pavattiri and Pulli of Vengadam or Tirupati. The Kalavar must have been dislodged from their habitat near Tirupati by political events of the third century, viz. the fall of the Satavahanas and the rise of Pallavas, resulting in political confusion in Tondaimandalam.  P.T Srinivasa Iyengar identifies them with the Tamil Kalappalar clan.

Evidence from Literature

The history of Cholas of Uraiyur (Tiruchirappalli) is exceedingly obscure from fourth to the ninth century, chiefly owing to the occupation of their country by the Kalabhras. Buddhadatta, the great writer in Pali, belonged to Uraiyur. He mentions his contemporary, King Achchutavikranta of the Kalabharakula, as ruling over the Chola country from Kaveripattinam. He was a Buddhist. Tamil literary tradition refers to an Achchuta who kept the Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers in captivity. On the basis of the contemporaneity of Buddhadatta with Buddhaghosha, Achchuta may be assigned to the fifth century. Thus, after the Sangam age, the Cholas were forced into obscurity by the Kalabhras, who disturbed the placid political conditions of the Tamil country. 

Reasons for the Unpopularity

Kalabhras, by invading the Tamil country, disturbed the prevailing order. The Velvikudi inscriptions of the third regnal year of Pandya rulerNedunjadaiyan (c.765 – c. 815) say that Pandya ruler Mudukudumi Peruvaludi gave the village of Velvikudi as brahmadeya (gift to a Brahmins). It was enjoyed for a long time. Then a Kali king named Kalabhran took possession of the extensive earth, driving away numberless great kings.

Patrons of Literature

The period of Kalabhras was marked by the ascendancy of Buddhism, and probably also of Jainism. It was characterized by considerable literary activity in Tamil. Most of the works grouped under the head, 'The Eighteen Minor works' might have been written during this period as also the Cilappadhikaram, Manimekalai and other works. Many of the authors were characterised as belonging to the `heretical' sects (meaning Buddhists and Jains). However, the great Tamil lexicographer Vaiyapuri Pillai had ascribed later dates to many of these works. This theory would undermine the link between the Kalabhras and the Eighteen Minor works. 

Religion

It is known that the Kalabhras as patronized Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. 

The late Kalabras appear to have been Shaivite and Vaishnavite. Scholar F.E. Hardy traced the palace ceremony to a Vishnu or Mayon temple to the rule of the Kalabras.  Scholar Alice Justina Thinakaran writes that perhaps they were Shaivite Hindu, Jain or Buddhist.

They are known for patronizing Skanda or Subramanya, the Hindu god. They imprinted his image on their 5th-century coins, especially from Kaveripumpapattinam rulers. 

King Achuta had worshiped Vaisnava Tirumal, and some scholars believe this means that the Kalabhras patronized Hinduism. 

Fall of Kalabhras

The rule of Kalabhras of South India was ended by the counter invasions of Pandyas, Chalukyas and Pallavas. There are other references to the Kalabhras in Pallava and Chalukya inscriptions. They were conquered by Pallava Simhavishnu and Pandya Kadungon.

The Sātavāhana Empire   or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indiandynasty based from Dharanikota and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar (Pune) and Prathisthan (Paithan) in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward. Although there is some controversy about when the dynasty came to an end, the most liberal estimates suggest that it lasted about 450 years, until around 220 CE. The Satavahanas are credited for establishing peace in the country, resisting the onslaught of foreigners after the decline of Mauryan Empire.

Sātavāhanas started out as feudatories to the Mauryan dynasty, but declared independence with its decline. They are known for their patronage of Hinduism and Buddhism which resulted in Buddhist monuments from Ellora (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to Amaravati. The Sātavāhanas were one of the first Indian states to issue coins struck with their rulers embossed. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade as well as the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of India.

They had to compete with the Sungas and then the Kanvas of Magadha to establish their rule. Later, they played a crucial role to protect a huge part of India against foreign invaders like the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas. In particular their struggles with the Western Kshatrapaswent on for a long time. The great rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty Gautamiputra Satakarni and Sri Yajna Sātakarni were able to defeat the foreign invaders like the Western Kshatrapas and stop their expansion. In the 3rd century CE the empire was split into smaller states.

Origins

In the Pūrānas and on their coins the dynasty is variously referred to as the Sātavāhanas or Sālavāhaṇa, Sātakarnīs, Andhras and Andhrabhrityas.  A reference to the Sātavāhanas by the Greek traveler Megasthenes indicates that they possessed 100,000 infantry, 1,000 elephants, and had more than 30 well built fortified towns:

Next come the Andarae, a still more powerful race, which possesses numerous villages, and thirty towns defended by walls and towers, and which supplies its king with an army of 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 elephants.

—Plin. Hist. Nat. VI. 21. 8–23. 11., quoting Megasthenes 

The Sātavāhanas ruled a large and powerful empire that withstood the onslaughts from Central Asia. Aside from their military power, their commercialism and naval activity is evidenced by establishment of Indian colonies in Southeast Asia.

Here in the king's domain among the Yavanas (Greeks), the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma.

The Sātavāhanas began as feudatories to the Mauryan Empire. They seem to have been under the control of Emperor Ashoka, who claims they were in his domain, and that he introduced Buddhism among them:

—Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika)

The Satavahanas declared independence some time after the death of Ashoka (232 BCE), as the MauryaEmpire began to weaken.

It is believed that they were originally practicing Hindu religion (as per Sthala Purana of Amaravathi. Some rulers like Maharaja Satakarni are believed to have performed Vedic sacrifices as well. 

They were not only worshipers of Vishnu and Shiva but also respected Buddha, but also other incarnations of,Gauri, Indra, the sun and moon.  They were mostly Buddhistic Vaishnavites. Under their reign, Buddha had been worshiped as a form of Vishnu in Amaravati 

Etymology

Śātavāhana, Śālivāhana, Śātakarṇi seem to be Sanskritised versions of the aboriginal name Sātakaṇi and appears as Sālavāhaṇa in Prakritvernacular then. 

Early rulers

The Early Satavahanas ruled Andhra and present Telangana regions which was always their heartland. The Pūrānas list 30 Andhra rulers. Many are known from their coins and inscriptions as well.

Simuka (c.230–207 BCE)

After becoming independent around 230 BCE, Simuka, the founder of the dynasty, conquered Maharashtra, Malwa and part of Madhya Pradesh. He was succeeded by his brother Kanha (or Krishna) (r. 207–189 BCE), who further extended his state to the west and the south.

Satakarni (c.180–124 BCE)

Satakarni defeated the Sunga dynasty of North India by wresting Western Malwa from them, and performed several Vedic sacrifices at huge cost, including the horse sacrifice – Ashwamedha yajna. He also was in conflict with the Kalinga ruler Kharavela, who mentions him in the Hathigumpha inscription. According to theYuga Purana he conquered Kalinga following the death of Kharavela. He extended Satavahana rule overMadhya Pradesh and pushed back the Sakas from Pataliputra (he is thought to be the Yuga Purana's "Shata", an abbreviation of the full name “Shri Sata” that occurs on coins from Ujjain), where he subsequently ruled for 10 years.

His successor Sātakarnī I was the sixth ruler of the Satavahana. He is said to have ruled for 56 years.

By this time the dynasty was well established, with its capital at Pratishthānapura (Paithan) in Maharashtra, and its power spreading into all of South India.

Kanva suzerainty (75–35 BCE)  

Many small rulers succeeded Satakarni, such as Lambodara, Apilaka, Meghasvati and Kuntala Satakarni, who are thought to have been under the suzerainty of the Kanva dynasty. The Puranas (the Matsya Purana, the Vayu Purana, the Brahmanda Purana, the Vishnu Purana) all state that the first of the Andhra rulers rose to power in the 1st century BCE, by slaying Susarman, the last ruler of the Kanvas.  This feat is usually thought to have been accomplished by Pulomavi (c. 30–6 BCE), who then ruled over Pataliputra.                                  VICTORY OVER THE SHAKAS,YAVANAS AND PAHLAVAS

The 1st century CE saw another incursion of the Sakas of Central Asia into India, where they formed the dynasty of the Western Kshatrapas. The four immediate successors of Hāla (r. 20–24 CE) had short reigns totalling about a dozen years. During the reign of the Western Satrap Nahapana, the Satavahanas lost a considerable territory to the satraps, including eastern Malwa, Southern Gujarat, and Northern Konkan, from Broach to Sopara and theNasik and Pune. 

Gautamiputra Satakarni (78–102 CE)

Eventually Gautamiputra (Sri Yagna) Sātakarni (also known as Shalivahan) (r. 78–102 CE) defeated the Western Satrap ruler Nahapana, restoring the prestige of his dynasty by reconquering a large part of the former dominions of the Sātavāhanas.

According to the Nasik inscription made by his mother Gautami Balasri, he is the one...

...who crushed down the pride and conceit of the Kshatriyas (the native Indian princes, the Rajputs of Rajputana, Gujarat and Central India); who destroyed the Shakas (Western Kshatrapas), Yavanas (Indo-Greeks) and Pahlavas (Indo-Parthians),... who rooted the Khakharata family (The Kshaharata family of Nahapana); who restored the glory of the Satavahana race. 

Gautamiputra Satakarni may also have defeated Sakas in 78 CE and started the calendar known as Shalivahana era or Shaka era, which is followed by the Gujarati, Marathi, Kannadiga andTelugu people and is the Indian national calendar. Earlier in 56 BCE, Vikramaditya king of Ujjain defeated Sakas and started Vikram Samvat era.

Gautamiputra Sātakarni's son, Vashishtiputra Pulumāyi (r. 102–130 CE), succeeded him. Gautamiputra was the first Sātavāhana ruler to issue the portrait-type coinage, in a style derived from the Western Satraps.^[13]

Successors

Gautamiputra's brother, Vashishtiputra Sātakarni, married the daughter of Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps dynasty. Around 150 CE, Rudradaman I, now his father-in-law, waged war against the Satavahanas, who were defeated twice in these conflicts. Vashishtiputra Satakarni was only spared his life because of his family links with Rudradaman: 

"Rudradaman (...) who obtained good report because he, in spite of having twice in fair fight completely defeated Satakarni, the lord of Dakshinapatha, on account of the nearness of their connection did not destroy him."

—Junagadh rock inscription 

As a result of his victories, Rudradaman regained all the former territories previously held by Nahapana, except for the extreme south territories of Pune and Nasik.  Satavahana dominions were limited to their original base in the Deccan and eastern central India around Amaravati. However, the last great king of this dynasty, Yajna Satakarni, defeated the Western Satraps and reconquered their southern regions in western and central India which led to the decline of the Western Satraps Dynasty.  During the reign of Sri Yajna Sātakarni (170–199 CE) the Sātavāhanas regained some prosperity, and some of his coins have been found in Saurashtra but around the middle of the 3rd century, the dynasty came to an end.

Decline of the Satavahanas
Several dynasties divided the lands of the kingdom among themselves. Among them were:

Four or five kings of Yajna Satakarni's line succeeded him, and continued to rule till about the mid 200s CE. However, the dynasty was soon extinguished following the rise of its feudatories, perhaps on account of a decline in central power. 

• Western Satraps in the northwestern part of the kingdom.
• Andhra Ikshvakus (or Srīparvatiyas) in the Krishna-Guntur region. (r. 220–320 CE).
• Abhiras in the western part of the kingdom. They were ultimately to succeed the Sātavāhanas in their capital Pratishthānapura.
• Chutus of Banavasi in North Karnataka.
• Kadambas of Banavasi in North Karnataka.
• Pallavas of Kanchipuram, of whom the first ruler was Simhavarman I (r. 275–300 CE).

Coinage
Satavahana coins give unique indications as to their chronology, language, and even facial features (curly hair, long ears and strong lips). They issued mainly lead and copper coins; their portrait-style silver coins were usually struck over coins of the Western Kshatrapa kings.

The Satavahanas are the first native Indian rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king Gautamiputra Satakarni, a practice derived from that of the Western Satraps he defeated, itself originating with the Indo-Greek kings to the northwest.

The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods, used a Prakrit dialect without exception. Some reverse coin legends are in Telugulanguage,  which seems to have been in use in their heartland abutting the Godavari, Kotilingala, Karimnagar, Krishna, Amaravati, Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. 

Their coins also display various traditional symbols, such as elephants, lions, horses and chaityas (stupas), as well as the "Ujjain symbol", a cross with four circles at the end. The legendary Ujjayini Emperor Vikramditiya on whose name the Vikram Samvat is initiated might be Satakarni II a Satavahana emperor as the Ujjayini symbol also appeared on the Satavahana coins.

Cultural achievements
The Satavahanas influenced South-East Asia to a great extent, spreading Hindu culture, language and religion into that part of the world. Their coins had images of ships.

Of the Sātavāhana kings, Hāla (r. 20–24 CE) is famous for compiling the collection of Maharashtri poems known as the Gaha Sattasai (Sanskrit: Gāthā Saptashatī), although from linguistic evidence it seems that the work now extant must have been re-edited in the succeeding century or two. The Lilavatidescribes his marriage with a Ceylonese Princess.

Art of Amaravati
Art of Sanchi

The Sātavāhana rulers are also remarkable for their contributions to Buddhist art and architecture. They built great stupas in the Krishna River Valley, including the stupa at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh. The stupas were decorated in marble slabs and sculpted with scenes from the life of the Buddha, portrayed in a characteristic slim and elegant style. The Satavahana empire colonized Southeast Asia and spread Indian culture to those parts. Mahayana Buddhism, which may have originated in Andhra (northwestern India being the alternative candidate), was carried to many parts of Asia by the rich maritime culture of the Satavahanas. The Amaravati style of sculpture spread to Southeast Asia at this time.

The Satavahanas contributed greatly to the embellishment of the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi. The gateways and the balustrade were built after 70 BCE, and appear to have been commissioned by them. An inscription records the gift of one of the top architraves of the Southern Gateway by the artisans of the Satavahana Emperor Satakarni:

Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of rajan Siri Satakarni 

Throughout, the Buddhist art of the Satavahanas remained aniconic, denying any human representation of the Buddha, even in highly descriptive scenes. This remained true until the end of the Satavahana rule, in the 2nd century CE.

Karikala Cholan or Karikala Chozhan  was one of the great Tamil kings of Early Chola during the Sangam period. He was the son of Ilamcetcenni and ruled around 180 AD.

He was also known by the epithets Karikala Peruvalathaan (கரிகால பெருவளத்தான்) and Tirmavalven

The story of Karikala is mixed with legend and anecdotal information gleaned from Sangam literature. No authentic records of Karikala's reign has been found so far. The only sources available 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.                                                                                                                          Sources

Pattinappaalai, Porunaraatruppadai and a number of individual poems in Akananuru and Purananuru have been the main source for the information that is attributed to Karikala.

Early life

Karikala was the son of Ilamcetcenni ‘…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"  Both kari and kalan are Tamil words meaning "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 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.

Military conquests                                                                                                                       Battle of Venni

According to Poruna-raatr-uppadai, Karikala Chola fought a great battle at Venni near Thanjavur in which both Pandya and Chera 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.

Legends

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-karam (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 Vajra,Magadha and Avanti 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:karuna - saroruha vihita - vilochana – pallava – trilochana pramukha kilapritvisvara karita kaveri tira

(He who caused the banks of the Kaveri to be constructed by all the subordinate kings led by the Pallava Trinetra whose third eye was blinded by his lotus foot.)

This has been made the basis of conclusions of the highest importance to the chronology of Early South Indian history.

Grand Anicut
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 Grand Anicut 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 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 Cotton'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 Karikalan, who built the Kallanai.

  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. Naccinarkiniyar, the annotator of Tolkappiyam, 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 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.