30 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIV. 



was a prince of great renown and martial spirit. One poet 

 calls him " Nedun Seralatan of the ever-victorious banner, 

 king of the Kudavars another refers to him as " he who 

 exercised sovereign power over the earth, even from Kumari 

 (Cape Comorin) to the Himalayas in the north." f He 

 married Sonai,J or Natsonai, daughter of Karikala, and it is 

 said that on one occasion she saved him from being drowned 

 in the sea. § 



The fact of his being the son-in-law of the great Chola did 

 not prevent Seralatan from engaging in battle with Karikala, 

 and, after his death, with his son and successor. The battle 



* Paranar in the Padittuppattu. 



f Chilappatikaram, Valtukatai : note the unusual use of " orumoli " in 

 this chapter. Ordinarily it means " one word," but here it is used to 

 signify " exercise of sovereign power," i.e., his one word prevailing over 

 the region. Winslow, in his valuable Dictionary, does not give this 

 meaning. 



+ In the interesting chapter Indra Vilaveduttakatai in Chilappatikaram. 

 which contains a short account of Karikala's capital and his doings, it is 

 mentioned that he went to North India for purposes of conquest, and when 

 there the King of Vajra Nadu (Vajra country) presented him with a 

 canopy of pearls, which was afterwards one of the wonders of Kaverippum- 

 pattinam, the then capital of the Cholas. The commentator says that 

 the river Son a watered this country. This is the river now known as Son. 

 Soane, or Sone. According to Hunter ("Imperial Gazetteer of India") it 

 is said " to be derived from the Sanskrit Sojia, crimson, a great river of 

 Central India, and (excluding the Jumna) the chief tributary of the 

 Ganges on its right bank. It rises in 22° 41' N. latitude and 82° 7' E. 



longitude, flows in a generally northern direction in 24° 5' N. latitude 



and 81° 6' B. longitude it is diverted to the east, and holds that direction 

 in a tolerably straight course until it ultimately falls into the Ganges 



about ten miles above Dinapur after a total length of about 465 



miles." 



It surely is not unlikely that, when his daughter was born, Karikala 

 gave her the name of this river in compliment to the king of Vajra, it 

 being not unusual for Hindu females to bear the names of well-known 

 rivers. I may here mention that Karikala's capital, Kaverippum-pattinam. 

 was partially destroyed by the sea during the reign of his successor or his 

 successor, but before the death of Senkuttuvan (see, amongst others, Mani- 

 mekhalai, 25th Katai). Cf. also pp. 192 and 193, vol. XIII., Journal, 

 R. A. S., Ceylon. 



§ Vanjinamalai, Chilappatikaram. 



