Battle of Kandalur Salai

The battle of Kandalur salai (c. 988 AD[1]), also spelled Kanthaloor shala, was a naval engagement of the Cholas under Rajaraja I (985—1014 AD[2]) against the "salai" at Kandalur in south Kerala. The exact location of Kandalur—somewhere south Kerala—is a subject of scholarly debate.[1][2][3] The above (988 AD) event is sometimes assumed to be identical with the "conquest of Vizhinjam by a general of Rajaraja", before the burning of Lanka, given in the Tiruvalangadu Grant/Plates.[1]

Battle of Kandalur salai
Capture of Kandalur salai

Inscription of Chola emperor Rajaraja from Suchindram, Kanyakumari (15th regnal year)
Datec. 988 CE.[1]
Location
Kandalur, south Kerala.
Result Decisive Chola victory.
Belligerents
  • Members of Kandalur salai
  • Chera Perumals (?)
  • Pandyas (?)

The Brahmin warriors of the salai at Kandalur are sometimes compared to the arms-bearing military monks of medieval Europe.[4] The phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta" is again used as a title with distinction of three other Chola kings also (Rajendra, Rajadhiraja and Kulottunga).[4]

Kandalur Salai
Activec. 9th century – c. 12th century
Allegiance
  • Ays
  • Chera Perumals
TypeArms-bearing Brahmins (ghatika/salai)
RoleProtection
HeadquartersKandalur (south Kerala)

Assessment of the title

The so-called salais were considered prized possessions as they are claimed to have been sacked by many kings of south India.[1] The character of the salais were re-examined in the 1970 paper 'Kantalur Salai-New Light on Aryan Expansion in South India' by M. G. S. Narayanan.[5]

It is now clear that the salai (or ghatika or kalakam or kalam) was a peculiar institution... A multipurpose training centre for celibate arms-bearing Brahmins (Chathar/Chathirar) in material and spiritual fields (including military training to equip them to serve the chieftain or the king and vedic and sastraic studies)... The salai played a significant role in the expansion of Aryan religion and culture...

— M. G. S. Narayanan

Older assessments

Different views were expressed by early scholars regarding the character of "salai" (such as naval base - military training centre - cantonment - ammunition depot).[3]

  1. Dr. Hultzsch - (1) "build a jewell-like hall at Kandalur" or (2) "cut the vessel [kalam] in the hall at Kandalur" (3) "destroyed ships [kalam] at Kandalur [harbour]"[4]
  2. Gopinatha Rao - "destroyed/discontinued/transferred the Brahmin feeding [kalam] at Kandalur Feeding House or Hall [salai] "[4]
  3. Desikavinayakam Pillai - "regulation of the Brahmin feeding at Kandalur Feeding House [salai]"[4]
  4. K. A. N. Sastri - "destroyed ships at Kandalur [harbour]"[4]
  5. Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai - "discontinued/destroyed the feeding [kalam] of the armed Brahmins [Chathar] at Kandalur"..[4]

Location of Kandalur salai

The exact location of Kandalur is a subject of scholarly debate. It is possible the original Kandalur salai was located near the Ay headquarters Vizhinjam and the deity was later shifted to Trivandrum (after the Chola raids of the 10th-11th centuries).[1]

  • Original location:— a village around 20 km east of Vizhinjam with a Shiva temple called Kandalur Salai.[1]
  • Shifted location:— within the city of Trivandrum (Valiya Salai Temple)[1]

Raid by Rajaraja I (c. 988 AD)

As per historian K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, the capture was the first military achievement of king Rajaraja's reign. The success was summed up in the famous phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta", which precedes Rajaraja's name in several of his inscriptions from the 4th regnal year (988 AD) onwards.[1][6]

  • The Kandalur salai belonged to the Ay chief, a vassal of the Pandya king at Madurai, in the mid-860s (865 AD).[4]
  • It is possible that at the time of the raid, the salai may have been under control of the Chera Perumal king of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravii.[1] If that was the case, the campaign can be viewed as part of Rajaraja's early battles against the Cheras, Pandyas and the rulers of Sri Lanka.[2]
  • However, some historians argue that Kandalur salai, which only later Chola inscriptions (Velur and Tiruppangili inscriptions, 30th year of Rajadhiraja, 1048 AD) claim to have belonged to the Chera Perumals ("Cheralan Velaikkelu Kantalur Chalai"), may have been held by the Pandyas when it was attacked by Rajaraja I.[7][8]

A Chola inscription was unearthed from a village near Tiruvannamalai in November, 2009. As per historians the inscription supports the view that a naval engagement indeed took place at Kandalur in c. 988 AD.[9]

References to Kandalur salai

Corrections by M. G. S. Narayanan on K. A. Nilakanta Sastri are employed.

  • 865 AD — Huzur/Parthivapuram Plates of Ay chieftain Karunantatakkan Srivallabha (a vassal of the Pandya king Srimara Srivallabha).[1][4]
  • 988 AD — first Chola reference to the fall of Kandalur salai ("Kandalur salai kalamarutta").[1]
  • 1018-19 — Chola (Rajadhiraja and Rajendra) campaigns in Kerala.

"...confined the undaunted king of Venatu [back] to Che[ra]natu [from the Ay country].... and put on a fresh garland of Vanchi after capturing Kantalur Salai while the strong Villavan [the Chera king] hid himself in terror inside the jungle..."

  • 1048 – Velur and Tiruppangili inscriptions – Kandalur salai is mentioned as 'Cheralan Velaikkelu Kantalur Chalai'.[8]
  • Kalingattupparani (III-21) mentions Kulottunga Chola's victory of over the Bow Emblem and the Chola capture of Kantalur Salai.
  • c. 1102 - c.1118 AD – Jatavarman Parakrama Pandya mentions the capture of Kantalur Salai (for his Chola overlord Vikrama Chola).

References
  1. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 115 - 117.
  2. Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 122-24.
  3. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 135.
  4. Narayanan, M.G.S. 'KANDALUR SALAI–NEW LIGHT ON THE NATURE OF ARYAN EXPANSION IN SOUTH INDIA.' Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 32, 1970, pp. 125–136.
  5. Narayanan, M. G. S., 'Kantalur Salai-New Light on Aryan Expansion in South India,' Proceedings of Indian History Congress, 1970. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141058
  6. K. A. N. Sastri, History of South India. Oxford, 1955. p. 164-9.
  7. K. A. N. Sastri, History of South India. Oxford, 1955.
  8. Venkayya, V., South Indian Inscriptions, (Madras), Vol II, Intn, p. 2.
  9. "Friday Review Chennai / Heritage : Unearthed stone ends debate". The Hindu. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
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