- Aditya Karikalan
Aditya Karikalan or Aditya II was a
Chola prince who lived in the tenth century inSouth India . He was the eldest son of Sundara Chola and the brother ofRajaraja Chola I .At a very young age he led the Chola armies against the
Pandyas and theRashtrakutas . He defeated the Pandya kingVeerapandyan at the battle of Chevur and made him flee to the hills surrounding the battlefield. It is also possible that Aditya Karikalan killedVira Pandya in thatbattle . Aditya II’s inscriptions use the epithet "Vira Pandyan Thalai Konda Adithha Karikalan" - "took the head of Vira Pandya".Aditya was the heir apparent to the Chola throne, and was mysteriously killed in 969 CE.
Uttama Chola , the son ofGandaraditya became the next Chola king. It has been speculated, based on circumstantial evidence, that Uttama Chola could have been a party in this conspiracy. [See Neelakanta Sanstri, K.A., "The Colas"]Fictional accounts
The cause of Aditya Karikalan's death has been the subject of many Tamil historical romances.
* According to
Balakumaran inUdaiyar , he was killed by the body guards ofVeerapandian .
*Kalki , inPonniyin Selvan does not give the exact details of the cause of death. He makes the incident pretty enigmatic and ensures nearly half a dozen people were present at the place of his death. The Pandya conspirators led by Ravidasan were also involved.Notes
References
* Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). "The CōĻas", University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984).
* Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). "A History of South India", OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002).
* South Indian Inscriptions - http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/
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