Nalankilli was probably the son of the great Karikala Chola and the Chola king of Sangam era. The only sources of evidence about Nalankilli is the mentions in Sangam poetry. He was a brave warrior and was an able ruler unlike his brother of rival family branch Nedunkilli whom about we discussed in our previous article. They both ruled different lands in Chola empire. There was an enmity between the two brothers. The capital of Nalankilli was Kaveripattanam (modern Poompuhar city) and the capital of Nedunkilli was Uraiyur.
The information about Nalankilli is known only along with his rival brother and their civil war. Nedunkilli was a coward and ruthless ruler unlike his younger brother Nalankilli. Nedunkilli has a fear of wars but he used to provocate Nalankilli all the time. Once Nalankilli lost his cool and decided to teach his elder brother a lesson. He declared war against his brother. On his hearing this Nedunkilli panicked and he nearly got a heart attack. He went inside his fort of Avur fort and locked the fort from inside so that he won't face his brother in a war. Literally he was hiding with fear in fort. Nalankilli who was brave and rightful was waiting along with his army outside the fort.
Days passed, people inside the fort began to suffer. All goods and food supplies for them were exhausted. They managed for some time but a point have reached where situation became unbearable. Hunger began to gnaw at them. Babies had no milk, for their were starving. But Nedunkilli did nothing. He was neither prepared to fight nor willing to surrender. A great poet named Kovur Kilar, felt sorry for the people inside the fort and requested Nedunkilli to put an end to this episode. There were no sources of information to know what happened after that. There were legends that Nalankilli who was a rightful king understood the pain of the people inside the fort and withdrew the attack on Nedunkilli for the sake of the people. Such a good king he was.
Battle of Kariyaru :
Manimekalai, mentioned a war at a place called Kariyaru which was referred as battle of Kariyaru. In this battle, Nalankilli was attacked by allied powerful forces of Pandyan and Chera empires. With his outstanding war tactics, he managed to defeat both the mighty dynasties. This was a example of greatness of Nalankilli. It is also said that his elder brother Nedunkilli was also killed in this battle by Nalankilli as he was provocating Nalankilli for a longer time.
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