Netunceliyan, was an early Pandya king. He is a character in Ilango Adigal's Cilappatikaram, one of the Five Great Epics in Tamil literature.
Netunceliyan appears in Cilappatikaram, one of the Five Great Epics in Tamil literature, which describes the trafic story of Kannagi and Kovalan. It is attributed to a Ilango Adigal, a Chera prince turned monk, and was probably composed between 2nd to 6th centuries CE.
The first part of CilappatikÃÂram describes the city of Puhar in the Chola Empire, where the pair of Kovalan and Kannagi reside. After Kovalan loses his wealth through his illicit relationship with the dancer Madhavi, he returns to Kannagi and the couple decide to move to Madurai in the Pandya Empire. The Pandyas are led by king Neduncheziyan and his wife Kopperundevi.
When Kovalan attempts to sell one of the two anklets of Kannagi to raise money, the royal goldsmith, who had earlier stolen an anklet belonging to the queen Kopperundevi, finds the that anklets are similar, and falsely accuses Kovalan of stealing the queenâÂÂs anklet. Enraged by the act, the king Neduncheziyan orders KovalanâÂÂs arrest and execution without a fair trial. After Kovalan is executed, Kannagi appears in the royal court, trying to prove her husbandâÂÂs innocence and demanding justice. She breaks open her remaining anklet to reveal that her anklet contained rubies whereas queen Kopperundevi's missing anklet contained pearls. When the king realised the truth and his mistake, he kills himself due to remorse.
According to Iravatham Mahadevan, the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions discovered at Mangulam, possibly mentions the Pandyan king Netunceliyan. He is titled as ÃÂriyappaá¹Âai-kaá¹Âanta Neá¹Âuñceḻiyaá¹ (Netunceliyan who defeated the Aryans), signifiying his defeat of the Aryans.