Nalankilli

As a patron and contributor to literature

Like many princes of his time, Nalankilli was not only a patron of literature but also a poet himself. Two of his compositions have survived, one of which is notable for its unique and eerie tone — an uncanny oath that reflects both his literary skill and the distinctive style of royal expression during the Sangam age.

As ruler

Nalankilli forms the subject of no fewer than fourteen poems in Purananuru. These poems suggest that Nalankilli continued to enjoy a vague hegemony among the other Tamil kings as did by Karikala Chola (Puranānūru – 31). The same poet Kovur Kilar, proving that he was not a sycophant, exhorts his patron to sue for peace instead of continuing the siege of Urayur against the rival Chola Nedunkilli.

Kaverippatinam was Nalankilli’s capital (Puranānūru – 30) and he enjoyed the benefits of its extensive trade. However the people were not in a contented state of mind due to the continuing civil strife. We perceive this from the melancholy tones of the poems by the poet Urayur Mudukannan Sattanar on Nalankilli (Puranānūru – 27, 28, 29).

Nalankilli like many other princes of his age, cultivated literature himself, and two of his poems survive. (Puranānūru – 72 and 73)

Civil war

Purananuru speaks of the war between two Cholas Nalankilli and Nedunkilli, which lasted until the death of Nedunkilli at the battlefields of Kariyaru. These two Cholas must have belonged to the rival branches of the Chola families, which ruled from Kaverippattinam and Urayur as their capitals.

Kovur Kilar's pleadings were of no avail and the civil war only ended with the death of Nedunkilli.

Nalankilli died at a place called Ilavandigaippalli (colophon of Puranānūru – 61).