Pallava dynasty

• 1. Origins And Theories

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  The word Pallava means a creeper or branch in Sanskrit. It also translates to arrow or spruce in Tamil. This linguistic ambiguity sits at the heart of a historical debate that has raged for over a century. Historians have proposed three distinct theories regarding where this dynasty first emerged and how it rose to power. One school of thought suggests the Pallavas were originally feudatories of the Satavahana Empire, serving as governors in the south-eastern division of their vast territory. When the Satavahanas declined, these subordinate rulers declared independence and expanded southward toward Kanchi, now known as Kanchipuram.

  Another theory posits that the Pallavas originated directly within Tondaimandalam, the region surrounding Kanchi itself. Proponents like R. Sathianathaier argue they were indigenous to the central Tamil plain rather than outsiders from the north. They point to local legends describing an ancestor descending from Ashwatthama, a legendary warrior of the Mahabharata, who united with a Naga princess. Ptolemy described the Aruvanadu region between the northern and southern Penna rivers as being ruled by King Basaronaga around 140 CE. If the Pallavas married into this Naga family, they would have acquired control of the area near Kanchi long before the common era.

  A third hypothesis links the name Pallava to the Sanskrit term Pahlava, referring to Parthians. This view finds partial support in sculptures depicting crowns shaped like an elephant's scalp, which resemble the crown of Demetrius I. Some historians also suggest the dynasty descended from Chola Prince Ilandiraiyan, whose story appears in Sangam literature. The Pathupattu epic describes him as the son of Chola king Killi and the Naga princess Pilivalai. When his ship was wrecked during a voyage, he washed ashore with a Tondai twig wrapped around his leg, earning him the title Tondaiman Ilam Tiraiyan.

• 2. Military Rivalries

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  The Pallavas remained in constant conflict with both the Chalukyas of Vatapi to the north and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas to their south for about six hundred years. They captured Kanchi from the Cholas around the reign of Kumaravishnu I, the fifth king of the line. The Velurpalaiyam Plates record this event, establishing Kanchi as the capital of the new dynasty. However, the Cholas drove the Pallavas away from Kanchi in the mid-4th century during the reign of Vishnugopa, the tenth king.

  Political convulsion engulfed the kingdom again when the Kalabhras invaded the Tamil country during the reign of Vishnugopavarman II, who ruled approximately between 500 and 525 CE. Towards the close of the 6th century, Simhavishnu struck a decisive blow against the Kalabhras. The Kasakudi plates describe him as the lion of the earth. The Pandyas followed suit, driving out other invaders. Thereafter, the Tamil country was divided between the Pallavas in the north with Kanchipuram as their capital, and the Pandyas in the south with Madurai as their capital.

  The Pallavas held on to Kanchi until the 9th century, until the reign of their last king, Vijaya-Nripatungavarman. They were finally defeated by the Chola ruler Aditya I in that same century. A contest for political supremacy also existed between the early Pallavas and the Kadambas. Numerous Kadamba inscriptions provide details of these hostilities. Mahendravarman I used the Biruda Shatrumalla, meaning a warrior who overthrows his enemies. His grandson Paramesvara I was called Ekamalla, or the sole wrestler.

• 3. Architectural Evolution

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  The earliest examples of Pallava constructions are rock-cut temples dating from 610 to 690. Structural stone temples appeared later, spanning the period between 690 and 900. Among the accomplishments of this architectural era are the rock-cut temples at Mamallapuram. These sites contain excavated pillared halls and monolithic shrines known as Rathas. Early temples were mostly dedicated to Shiva, though some honored Vishnu.

  Mahendravarman I wrote the play Mattavilasa Prahasana while simultaneously creating cave-temples in the Tamil region. The Telugu Birudas show his involvement with the Andhra region continued to be strong during this creative phase. The Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram stands as one of the oldest temples in the city. Narasimhavarman II built the Shore Temple, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mamallapuram. This structure represents the transition from rock-cut architecture to free-standing stone monuments.

  Other notable structures include the rock cut temple in Mahendravadi by Mahendravarman and the famous Tondeswaram temple of Tenavarai. The ancient Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee was also patronized and structurally developed by the Pallavas in the 7th century. A temple of Nalanda Gedige exists in Kandy, Sri Lanka, further demonstrating their reach. The dynasty left behind magnificent sculptures and temples that established the foundations of medieval southern Indian architecture.

• 4. Script And Language

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  Under the Pallava dynasty, the Pallava script became a type of Brahmic script used to write texts. It gave rise ultimately to the Tamil script via Chozha-Pallava-script and Grantha script. Around the 6th century, it was exported eastwards and influenced the genesis of almost all Southeast Asian scripts. Pallava inscriptions have been found in Tamil, Prakrit, and Sanskrit. Tamil was the main language used by the Pallavas in their inscriptions, although a few records continued to be in Sanskrit.

  At the time of Paramesvaravarman I, the practice came into vogue of inscribing part of the record in Sanskrit and the rest in Tamil. Almost all copper plate records, including Kasakudi, Tandantottam, Pattattalmangalm, Udayendiram, and Velurpalaiyam, are composed both in Sanskrit and Tamil. Many royal inscriptions were in Sanskrit or Prakrit, considered the official languages. Inscriptions found in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka State are also in Sanskrit and Prakrit.

  Sanskrit was widely used by Simhavishnu and Narasimhavarman II in literature. The phenomenon of using Prakrit as an official language continued until the 6th century. It would have been in the interest of the ruling elite to protect their privileges by perpetuating their hegemony of Prakrit to exclude common people from sharing power. Coins belonging to the 2nd-7th century CE period contain the Pallava emblem, the maned lion, together with Kannada or Sanskrit inscription.

• 5. Societal Structure

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  The Pallava period beginning with Simhavishnu around 575 CE marked a transitional stage in southern Indian society. This era featured monument building, foundation of devotional sects known as Alvars and Nayanars, and the flowering of rural Brahmanical institutions of Sanskrit learning. It established the chakravartin model of kingship over a territory of diverse people. This system ended the pre-Pallavan era of territorially segmented people, each with their own culture under tribal chieftains.

  While a system of ranked relationship among groups existed in the classical period, the Pallava period extolled ranked relationships based on ritual purity as enjoined by the shastras. Burton distinguishes between the chakravin model and the kshatriya model. He likens kshatriyas to locally based warriors with ritual status sufficiently high enough to share with Brahmins. In south India, only the Pallava, Chola, and Vijayanagar lineages claimed chakravartin status.

  Pallavas were followers of Hinduism and made gifts of land to gods and Brahmins. Some rulers performed the ashvamedha and other Vedic sacrifices. They were tolerant of other faiths. The Chinese monk Xuanzang visited Kanchipuram during the reign of Narasimhavarman I. He reported that there were 100 Buddhist monasteries and 80 Hindu temples in the city. The semi-legendary founder of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma, is regarded in Indian tradition as the third son of a Pallava king.

• 6. Chronological Lineages

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  The earliest documentation on the Pallavas consists of three copper-plate grants known as Mayidavolu, Hirehadagali, and British Museum plates. These belong to Skandavarman I and are written in Prakrit. Skandavarman appears to have been the first great ruler of the early Pallavas, though references exist to predecessors like Bappa-deva. The Hirahadagali copper plate record in Bellary District is dated in the eighth year of Sivaskanda Varma to 283 CE. It confirms a gift made by his father described merely as Boppa or revered father.

  Historian Nilakanta Sastri composed a chronology from these charters in A History of South India. His list includes Simhavarman I ruling from 275 to 300, followed by Shivskandvarman with an unknown date range. Vishnugopa I ruled from 350 to 355, while Kumaravishnu I reigned from 350 to 370. Later kings include Skandavarman II (370, 385), Viravarman (385, 400), and Skandavarman III (400, 436). Simhavishnu ruled from 575 to 600, marking the start of the Later Pallavas.

  S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar proposed a different division into four separate families based on available inscriptions. He identified Early Pallavas starting with Bappadevan, a Chola prince who married a Naga of Mavilanga around 250 to 275. Middle Pallavas included Visnugopa (340, 355) and Kumaravisnu I (355, 370). The Later Pallavas began with Simhavishnu (537, 570) according to his timeline. This chronology differs significantly from Sastri's regarding dates for early rulers like Mahendravarman I.