Jayantavarman (''r. c''. 654–670 CE), known in Tamil as Seliyan Sendan, was a Pandya ruler of early historic south India. He is best known for extending the Pandya rule to the Chera country (

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

). He was succeeded by his son Maravarman Arikesari Parankusan.

Names

Jayantavarman (of the Smaller Sinnamanur Plates) is described as Seliyan Sendan in the Velvikkudi Grant. Sendan is the Tamil form of the Sanskrit name "Jayantan". The Velvikkudi Grant uses the Chera title "Vanavan" for Sendan. This probably signifies his victory over a Chera king (or the extension of the Pandya rule to the Chera country).

Dates

K. A. Nilakanta Sastri Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (12 August 1892 – 15 June 1975) was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and ...

(the first assumption) — c. 645–670 CE *

(revised date) — c. 654–670 CE *

T. V. Sadasiva Pandarathar T. V. Sadasiva Pandarathar (15 July 1892 – 02 January 1960) was a Tamil historian from Tamil Nadu, India. Sadasiva Pandarathar was born in Thiruppurambiyam to Vaithiyalinga Pandarathar and Meenatchi Ammal. He finished his schooling in 1910 an ...

— c. 600–625 CE. * K. V. Raman — ascension year = 653 CE. *

Noboru Karashima was a Japanese historian, writer and Professor Emeritus in University of Tokyo, Japan. He also served as Professor Emeritus at the Taisho University, Japan. He was a prominent scholar of Asia in the studies of south Indian and South Asian histori ...

— c. 620–650 CE (or) c. 654–670 CE

Life and career

Jayantavarman was the son and successor of

Maravarman Avanisulamani Maravarman Avanisulamani ( IAST: Avaniśūlāmani; ''r. c.'' 620–645 CE) was a Pandya ruler of early historic south India. He was the son and successor of Kadungon, who revived the Pandya dynastic power after the Kalabhra interregnum. No ...

. T. V. S. Pandarathar identified him as the king who ruled in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, when the Chinese traveler

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

visited

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

. The rock-cut cave temple at Malaiyadikurichi in Tirunelveli district is ascribed to Jayantavarman's reign. This inscription is dated to the 17th regnal year of "Maran Sendan", and states that the cave was excavated by an officer under the royal order. It was discovered in 1959, and is written in mixed

Tamil Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi, also known as Tamizhi or Damili, was a variant of the Brahmi script in southern India. It was used to write inscriptions in the early form of Old Tamil.Richard Salomon (1998) ''Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscription ...

and

Vatteluttu ''Vatteluttu,'' popularly romanised as ''Vattezhuthu'' ( ta, வட்டெழுத்து, ' and ml, വട്ടെഴുത്ത്, ', ), was a syllabic alphabet of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka used for writing t ...

. Another inscription ascribed to Jayantavarman was discovered in

Vaigai The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Dindigul and Madurai. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the ...

riverbed at

by a washerman, who used it for washing clothes. K. V. Raman noticed it in 1961. This inscription is dated to the 50th regnal year of "Sendan". The Sanskrit portion of this script is written in

Grantha script The Grantha script ( ta, கிரந்த எழுத்து, Granta eḻuttu; ml, ഗ്രന്ഥലിപി, granthalipi) is a South Indian script, found particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Originating from the Pallava script, t ...

, while the Tamil portion is written in Vatteluttu script. According to this record, Sendan performed several charitable donations ('' maha-dana'') including ''

hiranyagarbha Hiraṇyagarbha (Sanskrit: हिरण्यगर्भः ; literally the 'golden womb', poetically translated as 'universal womb') is the source of the creation of universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy. It finds mention in on ...

'' and ''

tulabhara Tulabhara, also known as Tula-purusha ( IAST: Tulāpuruṣa) or Tula-dana, is an ancient Hindu practice in which a person is weighed against a commodity (such as gold, grain, fruits or other objects), and the equivalent weight of that commodity i ...

''. He commissioned a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

to the Vaigai river, and named it ''Arikesariyan'' (apparently after his heir-apparent Arikesari). He also founded the city of Mangalapura. The Velvikkudi Grant states that Ko Chadaiyan Ranadhira, a later Pandya king, attacked and defeated certain ''maharatha''s (warriors?) at the city of Mangalapura. Historians generally tend to identify Mangalapura with present-day

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

. K. V. Raman identifies Mangalapura with modern Mangalam, located on the northern bank of the

Kollidam River The Kollidam (referred to as Coleroon in Colonial English) is a river in southeastern India. The Kollidam is the northern distributary of the Kaveri River as it flows through the delta of Thanjavur. It splits from the main branch of the Kaver ...

Names

Dates

Life and career

References

Citations

Sources