Teena29I554 at 09:32, 16 July 2025

2025-07-16T09:32:42Z

New page

:''Kadunkon or Kadungon was also the name an earlier [[Pandyan Kingdom|Pandya]] king, mentioned in the [[Sangam literature]].''
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = Pandyadhiraja
| image =
| caption =
| succession = King of Pandyan Kingdom
| reign = c. 560–590 CE{{sfn|Noburu Karashima|2014|pp=370}}
| successor = [[Avani Sulamani|Maravarman Avanisulamani]]
| death_date = {{circa|590 CE}}
| spouse 1 =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| issue = [[Maravarman Avanisulamani]]
| dynasty = [[Pandyan dynasty|Pandya]]
}}
{{Pandyan}}
'''Kadunkon''' (Tamil: கடுங்கோன்) was a [[Pandyan Kingdom|Pandya]] king who revived the Pandya rule in [[South India]] in the 6th century CE. Along with the [[Pallava]] king [[Simhavishnu]], he is credited with ending the [[Kalabhra]] rule, marking the beginning of a new era in the [[Tamil language|Tamil]] speaking region.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Majumdar
| first = Ramesh Chandra
| author-link = R. C. Majumdar
| title = Ancient India
| publisher = [[Motilal Banarsidass]]
| orig-year = 1968
| year = 1987
| oclc = 3756513
| isbn = 978-81-208-0436-4
| pages = 395
}}</ref>

Kadunkon's title was "Pandyadhiraja",<ref>{{cite book|last=Sastri|first=K A Nilakanta|title=The Culture and History of the Tamils|publisher=K.L. Mukhopadhyay|year=1964|pages=20|oclc=17907908}}</ref> and his capital was [[Madurai]]. He was succeeded by his son [[Avani Sulamani|Maravarman Avanisulamani]].<ref name="PN_Chopra_South" />

== Dates ==
Most historians, including [[R. C. Majumdar]], state the period of Kadunkon rule as 590–620. <ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |page=45-46}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last = Majumdar
| first = Ramesh Chandra
| author-link = R. C. Majumdar
|author2=Achut Dattatraya Pusalker |author3=Asoke Kumar Majumdar
| title = The History and Culture of the Indian People
| publisher = [[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]]
| year = 1977
| oclc = 59089562
| pages = 267
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last = Perera
| first = L. H. Horace
|author2=M Ratnasabapathy
| title = Ceylon & Indian history from early times to 1505 A.D.
| publisher = W.M.A. Wahid
| location = Colombo
| year = 1954
| oclc = 12935788
| pages = 161
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last = Pollock
| first = Sheldon Ivan
| title = Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia
| url = https://archive.org/details/literarycultures00poll
| url-access = limited
| publisher = [[University of California Press]]
| year = 2003
| oclc = 46828947
| isbn = 978-0-520-22821-4
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/literarycultures00poll/page/n342 306]
}}</ref>
However, a multitude of evidence affirms that [[Simhavishnu]] – the [[Pallava dynasty|Pallava]] king and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandya]] [[Kadungon]] had united the Tamil regions, removed Kalabhras and others. Simhavishnu consolidated his kingdom from south of the [[Krishna River|Krishna]] river and up to the Kaveri river by c. 575 CE. To the south of Kaveri, the Pandyas came to power. Cholas became subordinates of Pallavas and they were already ruling Telugu region of [[Rayalaseema]]. The Kalabhra rule which had dominated the political scene of the Tamil country for few centuries was defeated and ended by the [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukyas]], [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]], and [[Pallava dynasty|Pallavas]].<ref name="Singh2008p485" /> This is attested by the numerous inscriptions dated from the 6th century and thereafter, as well as the [[Chinese language|Chinese]] language memoirs of the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] pilgrim [[Xuanzang]] who visited the Tamil region about 640 CE along with other parts of the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book|first=Kenneth|last=Pletcher|title=The History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsujRFvaHI8C&pg=PA97|year=2010|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-61530-122-5|page=97}}</ref> Xuanzang describes a peaceful cosmopolitan region where some 100 monasteries with 10,000 monks were studying [[Mahayana]] Buddhism, [[Kanchipuram]] was hosting learned debates with hundreds of heretic Deva (Hindu) temples but no Buddhist institutions. Xuangzang makes no mention of the Kalabhras.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Hermann|last1=Kulke|first2=Dietmar|last2=Rothermund|title=A History of India|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=V0GEtXp-GsUC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-15482-6|pages=114–115}}</ref><ref name="SchalkVeluppillai2002">{{cite book|first1=Peter|last1=Schalk|first2=A.|last2=Veluppillai|first3=Irāmaccantiran̲|last3=Nākacāmi|title=Buddhism among Tamils in pre-colonial Tamilakam and Īlam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2QEAAAAYAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell|isbn=978-91-554-5357-2|pages=287–290, 400–403}}</ref> Historian [[Noboru Karashima]] state that kadumkon contemporary to pallava simhavishu that drove out kalabhras in tamil region 575 CE. Dated kadumkon ruled 560 - 590 CE.[[Noboru Karashima]] — c. 560–590 CE{{sfn|Noburu Karashima|2014|pp=370}}

* [[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] (the first assumption) — c. 600–620 CE{{sfn|K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|1929|p=41}}
* [[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] (revised date) — c. 590–620 CE{{sfn|K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|1958|p=165}}
* [[Noboru Karashima]] — c. 560–590 CE{{sfn|Noburu Karashima|2014|pp=370}} (or) c. 590–620 CE{{sfn|Noburu Karashima|2014|pp=86}}

== Velvikudi Grant ==
The [[Sangam literature]] mentions the [[Early Pandyan Kingdom|early Pandya dynasty]], which is believed to have gone into obscurity during the [[Kalabhra interregnum]]. The last known king of this dynasty was [[Ugrapperuvaludi]].{{sfn|N. Subrahmanian|1994|p=115}}

Kadunkon is the next known Pandyan king.{{sfn|N. Subrahmanian|1994|p=115}} Not much information is available about him.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Tripathi
| first = Rama Shankar
| title = History of Ancient India
| publisher = Motilal Banarsidass
| orig-year = 1942
| year = 1999
| oclc = 43890119
| isbn = 978-81-208-0018-2
| pages = 483
}}</ref> Most of the knowledge about him comes from the [[Velvikudi inscription]] of the Pandya king Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (also Nedunjadaiyan or Nedunchezhiyan). According to this inscription, Kadunkon defeated several petty chieftains and destroyed "the bright cities of unbending foes".<ref name="PN_Chopra_South">{{cite book
| last = Chopra
| first = Pran Nath |author2=T.K. Ravindran |author3=N. Subrahmanian
| title = History of South India
| publisher = S. Chand & Company Ltd.
| orig-year = 1979
| year = 2003
| oclc = 6357526
| isbn = 81-219-0153-7
| pages = 79
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| editor = Rao Bahadur H. Krishna Sastri
| title = Epigraphia Indica Vol. XVII
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| orig-year = 1924
| year = 1983
| pages = 291–309
}}</ref> It describes him as the one who liberated the Pandya country from the Kalabhras and emerged as a "resplendent sun from the dark clouds of the Kalabhras".<ref name="T_Padmaja_Krishana">{{cite book|title=Temple of Krishna in South India: History, Art and Traditions in Tamilnadu|last=Padmaja|first=T.|publisher=Abhinav Publications|year=2002|isbn=978-81-7017-398-4|pages=44|oclc=52039112}}</ref> His defeat of Kalabhras (who were probably [[Jain]]s or [[Buddhist]]s) was hailed as the triumph of [[Shaivism]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Ramaswamy
| first = Vijaya
| title = Walking Naked: Women, Society, Spirituality in South India
| publisher = Indian Institute of Advanced Study
| year = 1997
| oclc = 37442864
| isbn = 978-81-85952-39-0
| pages = 69
}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===

* {{cite book |author=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|title=The Pandyan Kingdom|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.5955|year=1929 |publisher= Luzac and Company|location=London}}
* {{cite book |editor=Noburu Karashima|title= A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations|year=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New Delhi}}
* {{cite book|author=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|title=A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ|year=1958|location=Madras|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}
* {{cite book |author=N. Subrahmanian |title=History of Tamilnad (To A. D. 1336) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3BDAAAAYAAJ |year=1994 |orig-year=1962 |publisher=Koodal |location=Madurai |oclc=43502446 |access-date=13 August 2016}} [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.462306 Available online]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pandyan kings]]
[[Category:6th-century Indian monarchs]]

Kadunkon - Revision history

Teena29I554 at 09:32, 16 July 2025