The Pallava dynasty ruled from 275 to 897 in southern India, including a significant portion of the Deccan and Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana Empire, whom they had formerly served as feudatories.The journal of the Numismatic Society of India, Volume 51, p.109Alī Jāvīd and Tabassum Javeed. (2008). World heritage monuments and related edifices in India, p.107
The Pallavas became a major southern Indian power during the reign of Mahendravarman I (600–630) and Narasimhavarman I (630–668), and for about six centuries dominated the southern Telugu region and the northern parts of the Tamil region, until the end of the 9th century. Throughout their rule, they remained in constant conflict with both the Chalukyas of Vatapi to the north, and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas to their south. The Pallavas were finally defeated by the Chola ruler Aditya I in the 9th century.
The Pallavas are most noted for their patronage of Vaishnava Hindu temple architecture, the finest example being the Shore Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mamallapuram. Kanchipuram served as the capital of the Pallava kingdom. The dynasty left behind magnificent sculptures and temples, and are recognized to have established the foundations of medieval southern Indian architecture, which some scholars believe the ancient Hindu treatise Manasara inspired. They developed the Pallava script, from which TamilUniversity of Madras Tamil Lexicon, page 148: " [ n . < ¹ +. 1. The letter , as being regarded as neither a vowel nor a consonant; . () 2. Consonants; "] and Grantha scripts ultimately took form. This script eventually gave rise to several other Southeast Asian scripts such Khmer. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited Kanchipuram during Pallava rule and extolled their benign rule.
Etymology The word Pallava means a creeper or branch in Sanskrit. Pallava also means arrow or spruce in Tamil.
Origins
The origins of the Pallavas have been debated by scholars. The available historical materials include three copper-plate grants of Sivaskandavarman in the first quarter of the 4th century, all issued from Kanchipuram but found in various parts of Andhra Pradesh, and another inscription of Simhavarman I half century earlier in the Palnadu (Pallava Nadu) area of the western Guntur.: "This view, which till recently was no more than an intelligent guess, seems to gain support from a Prakrit Brahmi inscription recently discovered in the Palnad taluk of the Guntur district. In spite of its mutilated condition, it clearly mentions Sihavamma Simhavarman I of the Palava dynasty and Bharadaya gotta... This is the earliest Pallava inscription so far known.": "The Manchikallu Prakrt inscription mentions a Simhavamma or Simhavarman of the Pallava family and the Bharadvaja gotra and registers gifts made by him after performing Santi and Svastyayana for his victory and increase of strength." All the early documents are in Prakrit, and scholars find similarities in palaeography and language with the Satavahanas and the Mauryas. Their early coins are said to be similar to those of Satavahanas. Two main theories regarding the origins of the Pallavas have emerged based on available historical data. The first theory suggests that the Pallavas were initially subordinate to the Satavahanas, a ruling dynasty in the Andhradesa region (north of the Penna River in modern-day Andhra Pradesh: "The Andhradesa of our period was limited in the north by Kalinga and in the east by the sea; in the south it did not extend far beyond the northern part of the Nellore district (the Pallava Karmarashtra), in the west it extended far into the interior."). According to this theory, the Pallavas later expanded their influence southward, eventually establishing their power in Kanchi (modern-day Kanchipuram). The second theory proposes that the Pallavas originated in Kanchi itself, where they initially rose to prominence. From there, they expanded their dominion northward, reaching as far as the Krishna River. Another theory posits that the Pallavas were descendants of Chola prince Ilandiraiyan and had their roots in Tondaimandalam, the region around Kanchi. These theories provide different perspectives on the Pallavas' early history and territorial expansion, but the exact origins of the Pallava dynasty continue to be a subject of debate among historians.
The proponents of the Andhra origin theory include S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar and K. A. Nilakanta Sastri. They believe that Pallavas were originally feudatories of the Satavahanas in the south-eastern part of their empire who became independent when the Satavahana power declined.: "There is much in favour of the thesis that the Pallavas rose into prominence in the service of the Satavahanas in the south-eastern division of their empire, and attained independence when that power declined." They are seen to be "strangers to the Tamil country", unrelated to the ancient lines of Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas. Since Simhavarman's grant bears no regal titles, they believe that he might have been a subsidiary to the Andhra Ikshvakus who were in power in Andhradesa at that time. In the following half-century, the Pallavas became independent and expanded up to Kanchi.: "S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar regards the Pallavas as the feudatories of the Satavahanas—officers and governors of the south-eastern part of their empire, equates the term Pallava with the terms Tondaiyar and Tondaman (people and rulers of Tonda-mandalam), and says that, after the fall of the Satavahana Empire, those feudatories 'founded the new dynasty of the Pallavas, as distinct from the older chieftains, the Tondamans of the region.'"
According to historian N. Subramanian, the Tamil origin theory of the Pallavas is considered plausible based on literary and historical evidence. He states that a tribe called the Thirayar lived in the Vengadam region in northeastern Tamil Nadu and they are mentioned in Sangam literature such as Ahananuru. It is also believed that another group called the Thondaiyar from the Aruvanadu region may have been related to the Thirayars. It is suggested that there was migration and interaction between these groups, which may have been accelerated by Karikala Chola's invasions of Thondaimandala. As a result, settlements may have formed in the vicinity of Kanchi and later these groups may have merged. He believes that this hybridity may have led to the origin of the Pallavas. He also explains that words like "Ilanthiraiyar" found in Sangam literature may not be the names of individual people, but may be a generic name denoting a position or clan identity. Thus, it is believed that the Theriyas and their associated groups may have played an important role in the political system of the region, and that the Pallavas may have emerged from this type of local organization. The Culavamsa, the Sri Lankan chronicle, refers to the Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman I by the epithet “Kanduvethi” (or “Kaduvetti”). Some historians interpret this title as linguistically related to the term “Kadavan,” a designation later associated with the Kadava chiefs, and consider it indicative of an connection between early Pallavas with the Kadava lineage.
S. Krishnaswami Aiyengar also speculates that the Pallavas were natives of Tondaimandalam and the name Pallava is identical with the word Tondaiyar. Chola Prince Ilandiraiyan is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Pallava dynasty. Ilandiraiyan is referred to in the literature of the Sangam period such as the Pathupattu. In the Sangam epic Manimekalai, he is depicted as the son of Chola king Killi and the Naga princess Pilivalai, the daughter of king Valaivanan of Manipallavam.
Another theory is propounded by historians R. Sathianathaier and D. C. Sircar, with endorsements by Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund and Burton Stein.: "...the rather well argued and plausible stand that the Palavas were indigenous to the central Tamil plain, Tondaimandalam..." Sircar points out that the family legends of the Pallavas speak of an ancestor descending from Ashwatthama, the legendary warrior of Mahabharata, and his union with a Naga princess. According to Ptolemy, the Aruvanadu region between the northern and southern Penner rivers (Penna and Ponnaiyar: "There can hardly be any doubt that this Aruvanadu between the Northern and Southern Pennars is the Arouarnoi of Ptolemy's Geography. This Arouarnoi is practically the same as the Kanci-mandala, i.e. the district round Kanci.": "... River South Pennar where began the division known as Aruvānādu, which extended northwards along the coast almost as far as the Northern Pennar.") was ruled by a king Basaronaga around 140 CE. By marrying into this Naga family, the Pallavas would have acquired control of the region near Kanchi. While Sircar allows that Pallavas might have been provincial rulers under the later Satavahanas with a partial northern lineage, Sathianathaier sees them as natives of Tondaimandalam (the core region of Aruvanadu). He argues that they could well have adopted northern Indian practices under the Mauryan Asoka's rule. He relates the name "Pallava" to Pulindas, whose heritage is borne by names such as "Pulinadu" and "Puliyurkottam" in the region.
According to Sir H. A. Stuart the Pallavas were Kurumbas and Kurubas their modern representatives. This is supported by Marathi historian R. C. Dhere who stated that Pallavas were originally pastoralists that belonged to Kuruba lineages. The territory of Pallavas was bordered by the Coromandel Coast along present Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. Out of the coins found here, the class of gold and silver coins belonging to the 2nd-7th century CE period contain the Pallava emblem, the maned lion, together with Kannada or Sanskrit inscription which showed that the Pallavas used Kannada too in their administration along with Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil.
The Mahakuta Pillar inscription of Kirttivarman I claims that Dramila term to describe Pallavas. "Dramila" is a term, often used interchangeably with "Dravida," referring to the ancient Tamil kingdoms and their people) Kadavas were related to the Pallava dynasty and ruled from Kudalur near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Hiranyavarman, the father of Nandivarman II Pallavamalla is said to have belonged to the Kadavakula in epigraphs. The title Kadava is found among the several titles assumed by Mahendravarman I, Narasimhavarman I and Narasimhavarman II. It describe the Pallava kings used the Kadava title. The Kadava name with Kadavarayar is found in Tamil literature to refer to the Pallavas. The relationship of the Kadavas to the main Pallava dynasty is documented in an inscription in Kanchipuram. The kings of the collateral line of the Pallavas who were descended from Bhimavarman, the brother of Simhavishnu, are called the Kadavas. The Pallava king Nandivarman II (Pallavamalla) is praised as "one who was born to raise the prestige of the Kadava family."Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002).
Rivalries With Cholas