Athiyaman Neduman Anci was one of the velir kings of the Sangam period who ruled the Mazhanadu region. Belonging to the Athiyaman clan, he was the contemporary and the patron of poet Avvaiyar. He ruled over the area encompassing present day Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, and Salem with the capital at Tagadur. They were one of the kadai ezhu vallal (last seven great patrons) of the ancient Tamil country.
When poet Avvaiyar visited the court of AthiyamÃÂn NedumÃÂn Añci, he liked her so much that he deliberately delayed in giving her gifts to prolong her stay. The poet at first not realizing the game, got angry and condemned him and then later when she realized the true motive, became so fond him that she decided to stay and became his close friend. On another occasion, he gave her a rare gooseberry(nelli in Tamil) that was considered to improve one's life expectancy.
Avvaiyar described her patron as a hardened warrior, Purananuru, song 87:
In 118 CE, another king MalaiyamÃÂn Thirumudi KÃÂri of the Kadai ezhu vallal waged war on Thagadoor against AthiyamÃÂn NedumÃÂn Añci. It was an attempt fuelled by his longtime desire to become an emperor equivalent in power to the Cholas. After a fierce battle, KÃÂri lost Kovalur to AthiyamÃÂn and only regained it much later after Peruncheral Irumporai sacked Tagadur.
AthiyamÃÂn NedumÃÂn Añci lived in one of the most turbulent periods and was looking at an imminent invasion by the Cheras and the Cholas. He sent Avvaiyar as an envoy to the court of Ilantiraiyan of Kanchi who was a viceroy of the Chola sovereign and later allied himself with the latter to deter the Chera king. Avvaiyar was given a grand welcome by TondaimÃÂn who then went on to proudly show her his archery. Though impressed, Avvaiyar refused to give up her patron by subtly hinting that the king's weapons sparkled as they were probably never used whereas the arsenal of her patron were all worn out as they had seen numerous wars.
But this congregation of NedumÃÂn Añci with the Chola and Pandya did not deter the Chera emperor, PeruñcÃÂral Irumporai who finally arrived and sacked Tagadur. In spite of his small army, NedumÃÂn Añci, led from the front and valiantly went down fighting in the battle field. AricilKilÃÂr, the war bard of PeruñcÃÂral Irumporai, paid due homage to the opponent of his patron as he eulogised his king in Tagadur-YÃÂttarai.
Upon his death, a distressed Avvaiyar sang a number of elegies:
A good number of inscriptions in Jambai in Tirukkoyilur taluk have been discovered which help us identify the Satyaputras of the Ashoka's edicts:
These put to rest any speculation regarding the identity of Satyaputras as being non-Tamil and goes on to show the greatness of this line as they are mentioned on par with the other three Tamil kingdoms.