Tag: Pandiya brothers

Stone inscription found near Madurai confirms co-rule by Pandiya brothers

A stone inscription discovered in a village on the Madurai — Virudhunagar border confirms the theory that the Pandiya dynasty was once ruled simultaneously by two brothers, Jatavarman Kulasekara Pandiya and Maravarman Sundarapandiya Santhalingam.  The Tamil script found on the stone says, "Sri Anna mennu nadai", similar to the verse found in a stone inscription at Ponamaravathi in Pudukottai district, dating to Maravarman Sundarapandiayan 1 (1216-1238). The inscription refers to Saka year 1139, which is equivalent to 1217 CE, and also mentions that it is the 28thyear of Jatavarman Kulasekara Pandiya's reign. Usually, the date of Kulasekara Pandiya's rule is confined to 1190 to 1216 CE, but this stone inscription extends his rule by one more year, 1217 CE. History also has it that his younger brother Maravarman Sundarapandiyan I was coronated in 1216 CE.