Back ground
As we all know that Civil War (Pandyan Civil War) occurred in the pandyan kingdom between 1169-1182.
It started during the reign of Parakrama Pandyan I(father of Vira Pandyan) involving
the Chola Emperor Rajadhiraja Chola II and Ceylonese king Parakramabahu I of
Polonnaruwa (Sri Lanka or Sinhala). After a series of battles Vira Pandyan was installed
on the Throne by Rajadhiraja Chola II.
In 1178 Kulothunga Chola III (1178 to 1218 CE) ascended the
throne of Chola empire, after succeeding Rajadhiraja Chola II. The civil war in
the Pandyan kingdom had not yet settled when he came to the throne, and the
Chola forces were still involved in active fighting in pandyan kingdom.
Parakramabahu lost many battles to Rajadhiraja Chola II, but restarted his
efforts against the Cholas and even convinced and made an agreement with Vira
Pandyan to help him against Cholas.
Vikrama Pandyan who is waiting for a chance to ascend the
Pandyan throne leaked about the plan of Parakramabahu to Kulothunga Chola III
and sought his help against Vira Pandya, which led to an invasion of the
Pandyan kingdom by Kulothunga Chola III. The battle resulted in the defeat of
the Pandyan and Sri Lankan forces, Vira Pandya was driven out of Pandyan kingdom,
and replaced him with Vikrama Pandya, a rival claimant on the throne of Madurai
in 1182. Sri Lankan(Sinhala) forces withdrew from Pandyan kingdom, retaining only
the area around Rameswaram.
Battle
From his exile, with the aid of his allies (Sinhala and
Venad kingdoms), Vira Pandyan preparing to made another effort to retrieve his
fortune. In 1188, the fugitive, Vira Pandyan invaded the Pandyan kingdom and
tried to reclaim his throne. But the attempt was stopped by Kulothunga Chola
III with his large army on the battlefield of Nettur. Vira Pandya tried hard to
defeat the cholan army in the battle, but due to the lack of support from his
allies and increased strength of Kulothunga Chola III’s army Vira Pandyan lost
the battle and forced to flee.
After the battle
With the defeat in the battle Vira Pandyan fled to Venad
kingdoms. But shortly afterwards, experiencing the extensive resources and
power of the Chola Empire and Venad king realised prolonged resistance to be
impractical and decided to make peace with the cholas. The both Vira pandyan
and Venad king submitted to Kulothunga Chola III. They offered their obeisance
to the open durbar (court) at Madurai. Vira Pandyan was given a vast land grant
in Madurai though his regal title.
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