Battle of Kandalur Salai

The battle of Kandalur salai (c. 988 CE), also spelled Kanthaloor salai, was a decisive military assault carried out the Cholas under Rajaraja I (985—1014 CE) against the "salai" at Kandalur in south Kerala. The exact location of Kandalur, somewhere south Kerala, is a subject of scholarly debate. The phrase "Kandalur salai kalamaruttaruli" is again used to refer to the same feat in the reigns of three later Chola rulers — Rajendra, Rajadhiraja and Kulottunga.

The battle is sometimes assumed to be identical with the "conquest of Vizhinjam by a general of Rajaraja [I]", which occurred prior to the "burning of Lanka", as described in the Tiruvalangadu Plates.

Assessment of the phrase

Different interpretations

Early scholars expressed differing views regarding the character of the Kandalur salai, variously identifying it as a Brahmin feeding house, a royal hall, or a naval base. Consequently, the meaning of the phrase "Kandalur salai kalamaruttaruli" was also interpreted in different ways.

1. E. Hultzsch
2. * "Destroyed ships [kalam] at Kandalur" or
3. * "Cut the vessel [kalam] in the hall at Kandalur" or
4. * "Built a jewell-like hall at Kandalur"
5. T. A. Gopinatha Rao -
6. * "Transferred the kalam [Brahmin feeding] at Kandalur Feeding House [salai]"
7. * "Discontinued the kalam [Brahmin feeding] at Kandalur Feeding House [salai]"
8. Desikavinayakam Pillai - "Regulated of the kalam [Brahmin feeding] at Kandalur Feeding House [salai]"
9. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri - "Destroyed ships [kalam] at Kandalur" (?)
10. Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai - "Discontinued/Destroyed the Brahmin feeding [kalam] at Kandalur"
11. M. G. S. Narayanan/Kesavan Veluthat - "Destroyed the Brahmin ghatika [=salai; military training centre] at Kandalur". Narayanan identified the Tamil term "kalam" with Sanskrit "ghatika" or "ghataka" (also kazhakam/kalam in Tamil or Malayalam). The salai, or the ghatika, was a distinctive medieval institution — a multipurpose training centre for celibate, arms-bearing Brahmins (called "Chathar" or "Chathirar"), providing instruction in both material and spiritual fields. This included military training to prepare them for service under a chieftain or king, as well as Vedic and sastraic studies. The "salais" were considered prized possessions, as they are said to have been sacked by many medieval rulers of southern India.
12. Chengam hero stone inscription - "Destroyed ships [kalam] at Kandalur"

Location of Kandalur Salai

The exact location of Kandalur remains a subject of scholarly debate. It is possible that the original Kandalur salai was situated near the Ay headquarters at Vizhinjam, and that the deity (the Kandalur Mahadeva) was later relocated to Trivandrum following the Chola raids of the tenth and eleventh centuries.

• Original (?) location:— A village approximately 20 km east of Vizhinjam, with a Shiva temple known as "Kandalur Salai".
• Shifted (?) location:— Within the city of Trivandrum (Valiya Salai or Valiassala Temple).

Raid by Rajaraja I (c. 988 CE)

The capture of the Kandalur salai on the Malabar Coast was the first military success of emperor Rajaraja's reign. This victory was commemorated in the well-known phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta", which precedes Rajaraja's name in several of his inscriptions from the 4th regnal year (988 CE) onwards.

• The Kandalur salai belonged to the Ay ruler, a vassal of the Pandya king at Madurai, in the mid-860s (865 CE). It is possible that, at the time of the Chola raid, the salai was under the control of the medieval Chera ruler of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravi. If so, the battle may be viewed as part of Rajaraja's early campaigns against the Cheras, the Pandyas, and the rulers of Sri Lanka.
• However, some historians argue that the Kandalur salai, which is claimed in later Chola inscriptions (c. 1048 CE) to have belonged to the Cheras of Kerala, may in fact have been held by the Pandyas when it was attacked by Rajaraja I.

Chengam hero stone inscription

A hero-stone inscription, dated to the fourteenth regnal year of Rajaraja I, was unearthed at Chengam in Tiruvannamalai in November 2009. It supports the view that a military engagement did indeed take place at Kandalur. The inscription contains a eulogy describing Rajaraja I as having "beheaded the Malai Alarkal of Kandalur Salai". According to the newspaper report, it also states that Rajaraja I built a mantapa platform there, split in two a naval vessel belonging to the Chera king, and destroyed a number of "boats".

References to Kandalur salai

A range of inscriptional and literary sources refer to the Kandalur salai. The earliest reference occurs in 865/66 CE in the Trivandrum Huzur Office or Parthivapuram Plates of the Ay ruler Karunanthadakkan Srivallabha, a vassal of the Pandya king Srimara Srivallabha. The first Chola reference to the fall of the Kandalur salai appears in 988 CE, in the phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta".

Inscriptional references to Chola campaigns in Kerala under Rajadhiraja or Rajendra, dated to around 1018–19 CE, state that the Cholas "confined the undaunted king of Venatu to Che[ra]natu … and put on a fresh garland of Vanchi after capturing Kantalur Salai, while the strong Villavan [the Chera king] hid himself in terror inside the jungle".' The Velur and Tiruppangili inscriptions of Rajadhiraja I Chola mention the Kandalur salai as "Cheralan Velaikkelu Kantalur Chalai" (30th regnal year; 1048 CE).' The Kalingattupparani (III.21) notably records Kulottunga Chola's victory over the Chera Bow Emblem and the Chola capture of Kandalur Salai, while the inscriptions of Jatavarman Parakrama Pandya refer to the capture of Kandalur Salai (c. 1102–c. 1118 CE) on behalf of his Chola overlord, Vikrama Chola.'