Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

A brief study on the Sons & Daughters of Rajaraja Chola - 1

The Emperor Rajaraja Chola - 1 (A.D.985-1014) had many Queens during the
period of his rule of the Chola Empire. An effort is being made to have
a very brief study on the Sons and Daughters of Rajaraja Chola - 1 by
these Queens, to add to our further study on the history of his royal
household.


The list below provides the Inscriptions which speak on the Sons and
Daughters ofthe Rajaraja Chola - 1 by his Queens as gleaned from his
ownand other Inscriptions, and are sequenced in the "order of the
year of his rule" for our study.

fourth year (of Rajaraja -1)


"…Udaiya Piraattiyaar Thambiranadigal Vaanavan Maadeviyaar alias
Thiribuvana Maadeviyaar, the mother of Sri Rajendra Chola Devar and the
Queen of Sri Rajarajadeva……"

Inscription No 117-A of 1896 SII - V No 982 from Thiruvenkaadu

No year (of Rajaraja - 1)

"…..Rajaraja'sQueen Vaanavan Maadeviyaar alias Thiribuvana
Maadeviyaar the mother of Rajendra Chola….."

Inscription No 448 of 1918 from Thiruvenkadu

No year (of Rajendra - 1)

"…..goldby Udaiya Piraattiyaar Thiribuvana Maadeviyaar the mother
of the king….."

Inscription No 460 of 1908 from Thiruvenkadu

eighth year (of Rajendra - 1)

"……Thiribhuvana Mahaadeviyaar Vanavan Madeviyaar "Queen"
(should appear as "mother") of Rajendra Choladevar….."

Inscription No 624 of 1920 from Udaiyargudi

Note:

I personally feel there is an error in thereading and that the
word "Queen" should have been as "mother",which has to
be verified with the original eye-copy of the inscription.

1 was the son of Rajaraja Chola - 1 by the Queen Vaanavan Maadeviyaar.
As none ofthese Inscriptions have mentioned any others also as her sons
or daughters, we can surmise that Rajendra Chola - 1 was the only
offspring of Vaanavan Maadeviyaar.

Twentysecond year

"…..thegold `eechchoppi' gifted to Oloka Maadevieswaram
Udaiyar by Arumoli Chanthiramalli alias `Gangamaadevi' daughter
of Udaiyar Sri Rajarajadevar…."

Inscription from Oloka Maadevieswaram at Thiruvaiyaaru – Extracted
from the Research Book titled Thiruvaiyaaru – by Dr S.Rajagopal
(Former Senior Epigraphist - Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department,
Chennai.

Arumoli Chanthramalli in all probability has to be the eldest among the
three daughters of Rajaraja. This could be further surmised by the fact
that normal "tendency or desire" among many fathers to associate
his name partly with that of their eldest daughter. The real name of
Rajaraja was Arumolithevan. Hence on this basis we could deduce that
Rajaraja named his eldest daughter with part of his name Arumoli
pre-fixed to the name of Chanthiramalli to end up as Arumoli
Chanthiramalli.

Dr S.Rajagopal in his reasearch study has pointed out that - like how
Kundavi married the Vengi king, Chanthiramalli married the Ganga king of
that period which is gleaned fromthe above inscription.

But there is no evidence to say as to which Queen of Rararaja she was
born to. Could"Arumoli Chanthiramalli" been the daughter of
Queen Panchavan Mahaadevi, being one among the three senior principal
queens ???. Only discovery of any possible new inscriptions could throw
light on same.

twentyfifth year

"……gifts of ornaments by Rajarajadeva's Queen
Dantisakthi-Vitanki alias Loka Mahaadevi, his daughter Kundavi the queen
of Vimaladityadeva, and his middle daughterMaadevadigal to the shrine
Kshetrapaladeva which has been built by the king…."

Inscription No 633 of 1902 from Thiruvalanjuli

time of gifting of (jewellery) ornaments by Dantisakthi-Vitanki at the
Kshetrapaladeva shrine. Hence it appears that Kundavi and Maadevadigal
would have been the daughters of Dantisakthi, which would have made them
to be present at the time of gifting of the ornaments by their mother to
the shrine. We are already aware Rajaraja Chola had three daughters. In
this inscription it has been clearly pointed out that Maadevadigal was
the `middle daughter' of Rajaraja, and possibly would have been
the eldest daughter of Dandi-sakthi.

still no clue as to whom the daughter Maadevadigal was married.

On we studying through the Meikeerthis of Rajathiraja Chola - 1 and
Rajendra - 2 we note the following references respectively:

"…..Siriya Thaathaiyaiyum, ThiruthThamaiyanaiyum………sudar mani
mahutam sootti padar puhal aangu avarkku avar naaduaruli……"

South Indian Inscriptions – Vol 3, Part - 1, No 28, page 53 of
Rajathiraja Chola - 1

"……Siriya Thaathai aahiya erivali GangaikondaCholanai pongikal
IrumudiCholan entrum….."

SouthIndian Inscriptions – Vol 3, Part - 1, No 29, page 58 of
Rajendra Chola - 2

Rajathiraja Chola - 1 and Rajendra Chola - 2 are both the sons of
Rajendra Chola - 1.

Hence both their Meikeerthi's referring seperately to their
"Sriya Thaathai" meaning Father's younger brother (Thaathai
= Father) clearly shows their father Rajendra Chola - 1 had a young
brother. In these references it is mentioned only as Thaathai and not as
Thaathaiyar in plural sense. Hence it indicates Rajendra Chola had only
one brother.

Thefather of Rajendra - 1 was Rajaraja - 1. Hence it is very clear that
Rajaraja Chola - 1 had one more son other than the Rajendra Chola - 1,
whose real name is not known to us from the inscriptions or otherwise as
yet. But we are aware of his two titles namely one as "Gangai konda
Cholan" given by Rajendra Chola - 1 on his successful expedition up
to the Ganges river during the period Rajendra Chola - 1, and as
"Irumudi Cholan" during the period of Rajendra Chola - 2. While
he being a son of Rajaraja Chola - 1 we are not aware to which of his
Queens he was born.

Now with the foregoing informations we can prepare a schedule
tentatively on the Rajaraja Chola's sons and daughters, until
further information surface from the unpublished Chola Inscriptions in
the future.

King Queen

Rajaraja Chola - 1 PanchavanMahadevi ???


(Arumolithevan) Daughter - Arumoli Chandramalli


married to king of Ganga Nadu

(Neetimarga Permanadi of Gangapaadi
??)
Vanavan Mahadevi
Son - Rajendra Chola - 1