#6B8E23
Gangā-Kula, the Lineage of Sekkiḻār
Dr.R.Nagaswamy
01-Mar-2007
Tamil country shaken
An inscription, dated around 1250 CE, in the reign of Pallava chieftain, Kopperunciṅga, from Anur village, Mayuram taluk ,Tanjore district, Tamilnad, refers to a migration of agriculturists from Tamilnadu, to the Gangetic plains. The period in which they migrated, was a turning point in the history of Tamilnadu. The mighty Choḻa power has exhausted its strength and reached the lowest ebb at that point of time. The Choḻa Emperor Rājarāja Choḻa III, was defeated and imprisoned. The Pāṅḍyas of Madurai in the south had weakened the Choḻa power. The Hoysalas of the Karnataka (Mysore region) came down to assist the Choḻa and established their secondary capital near Thiruccirapalli. The Pallava chieftain mentioned at the beginning fought with all these powers Pānḍya, Choḻas, and Hoysalas and captured the Choḻa, threw him into prison, and levied tributes from the Pāṅḍya. All these were happening in the Choḻa country in and around Tanjore and Thiruchy region. The country witnessed un-precedented disturbance, with the a result the security enjoyed by the people from almost 600 to 1250 was gone. The land holders and tillers abandoned their holdings and their services and migrated to other places, as for as Gangetic region in Bengal. It is this event that is mentioned in the inscription.
The inscription narrates at the beginning, the conquest of the Pallava chieftain, who it says captured as prisoner Hoysala generals, levied tribute from the Pāṇḍya and inspected the Choḻa country, reached the southern bank of the river Kāveri, and moving towards the east on its bank, visited and worshipped many sacred temples, granted villages and lands as devatāna, tax free lands for the temples, reached the region Jayankonda-choḻa-vaḷanāḍu (Mayuram region) and visited the Brahmin settlements and regulated the territorial revenue administration.
Kopperunnciṅga found several lands lying waste without cultivation. There upon he exempted the territory from paying tax, listened to the peoples’ sufferings, and taking pity on them, magnanimously ordered that all those who deserted will get back their villages, lands, services and house sites, and saw all the people who deserted and migrated as far as Ganga country, returned to their villages, regainied their lands and properties and lived with out fear and any suffering (129 of SII XII - ARE 229 of 1925).
Refuge in Ganga country
This extraordinary information shows that people of the Choḻa country were in contact with the Gangetic region and migrated to that region and found solace there in times of difficulties. The Gangetic region reached from the eastern coast of Choḻa country was the southern Lāṭa and Gauḍa country. This is seen from the expedition of Rājendra Choḻa I, in the 11th cent., when he mentions the Gangā region, as the Dakshina lāta and Vangāla-desa. The people under the Choḻas were more familiar with Ganga Country which comprised of the Dakshiṇa-lāṭa and Bengal region.
I have shown elsewhere, that as early as 600 CE, Vedic Brāhmaṇas known for their upright conduct, settled in Choḻa country from Bengal region. It has also been shown, that many Śaiva āchāryas from Bengal region coming to the Choḻa country who served as Rājagurus of the Imperial Choḻa monarchs.
It will be shown that in addition to Brāhmaṇas, people of the warrior class, and agriculturist, also came from this Gangetic region to Tamil Choḻa land and settled there.
Northern Chiefs honoured in Tamilnad
There was a tradition of conferring titles on valorous men after their original homes. Thus we have titles such as Magadarājan (an original immigrant from Magadha country) Chedirāyan, Nishadharājan, Kāliṅga rājan, Ayodhi-rājan, Vaisāli Peraraiyan etc. All these chieftains lived in Tamilnad from 600 (or even earlier) to 14th cent. During this time a powerful Tamil chieftains named Gāṅgeyas were well known as Gaṇgas lived here who obviously hailed originally from Gaṅgā region. They became independent rulers from about 400 CE, in the west coast regions and were known as Western Gaṅgas. They played a crucial role not only in the political field but also in all fields including art and architecture.
Agriculturalists from Gangetic plains
There had been a great migration of agriculturists as well from Gangetic region to Tamilnad. These men also called themselves Gaṅgā-kulod-bhavas, or Gāṅgeyas. Called Veḷḷāḷas, these cultivators, spread first to Kanchipuram and later to east and west coasts where they improved agricultural economy. Their experience in cultivating paddy, sugarcane, plantain etc, in alluvial belt of Bengal, helped them to improve cultivation in Tamilnad. A powerful and numerically great section of these cultivators now called Gauvuṇḍars claim that they originally hailed from Gaṅgetic regions.
The cultivator’s contact with the Gangetic plains was very strong. It is in this context that the migration of land holders and cultivators, from the Choḻa heart land to the Gangetic region during the mid 13th cent should be viewed when the country was in turmoil. The contribution of Gaṅgā-kulod-bhavas to the agricultural prosperity of Tamilnad extended beyond religion, literature, art and other fields.
Sekkilār, a Gaṅgeya
The greatest personality of mid 12th cent Tamilnad, was Sekkiḻār, a minister to the Choḻa Emperor - Kulottunga II - who was also known Anapāya Choḻa. Sekkilār, whose early name was Aruḷmoḻi-devan wrote the immortal kāvya Periya-puranam (the Great Purāṇa) in Tamil, dealing with the lives of the 63 Śaiva saints. There is a graphic description of his life and how he came to write this magnum opus is narrated in a 14th cent Tamil work Thiruttoṇḍar-purāṇa-varalāru. Sekkiḻār who belongs to an agriculturist family of Veḷḷaḷar, rose to be the Chief-minister to the Choḻa emperor Kulottuṅga II. The work ascribed to Umāpati Śivam of 14th cent gives two significant titles of Sekkiḻār. He is called "Gaṅgā-kula-tilaka" (verse -59) and "Bhāgīrati-kula-Tilaka". These two titles clearly show, that the original home of Sekkiḻār's family was the Gangetic region (the Eastern Gangetic region). Sekkiḻār's family migrated several centuries earlier but retained the title Gaṅgā-kula-tilaka. Sekkiḻār himself came from a village Kunṟattūr near Madras.
Once Sekkiḻār wrote his work – Periyapurāṇam- on the lives of the saints, there was a dramatic change in the religious ethos of the Tamils. All the Śiva temples instituted festivals for the Śaiva saints. the stories of the Śaiva saints came to be portrayed in sculptures and bronzes. This work was expounded in temples and even the kings came to listen to their expositions.
The text says, the family of Sekkiḻār was called 48,000 (Nāṟpatteṇṇāyiravar, probably after the number of original migrants), which had many branches with the titles – Kūḍal-kiḻān; Purisai-kiḻān; Veṇkulappāk- kiḻān; Varisai-kulattuḻān etc. Sekkiḻār was born in the family of Sek-kiḻān. Sekkiḻār who was called Aruḷmoḻi-devar had a brother Pālarā-vāyar. The branches mentioned here are villages near Kanchipuram, where these families settled originally and came to be called after these places in course of time.
Paddy seeds
Another verse says Śiva gave to his consort Umā the daughter of Himavān 12 measures of paddy seeds which the goddess gave to the leaders of cultivators. They undertook the profession of cultivation with the seeds given by the Goddess, increased agricultural production and were conferred the titles of kiḻān i.e. Chieftains of cultivators.
Cultivators worship Varuṇa and Balarāma
As a result of their exertion, the earth was brought under cultivation. The goddess saw that Varuna was properly propitiated, the white Rāma-(Balarāma- Veḷḷaiccāmi) the bearer of plough, was also propitiated and saw the paddy seeds were measured annually appropriately and as a mother fed living beings from all men including the celestials to that of a tiny ant.
There is another tradition in Tamilnad that it was the daughter of Himavān-goddess Umā, who gifted paddy seeds originally in the hands of cultivators directly. This is called the dharma and that the goddess is Aṟam-vaḷarta-nāyakī (Dharma-Samvardhinii), one who increases the dharma. It also seems that the science of cultivation developed around Kanchipuram initially and it came to be called Kacci-aram (Dharma of Kanchi). it is also a clear indication that improved cultivation of paddy came from the Bengal-Himalayan region to Kanchipuram.
Sekkilār, a remarkable Historian
Sekkiḻār was a remarkabele historian, besides being an outstanding poet. In his own work he says that, the list of Śaiva saints with their significant works were first composed into "Tiruttoṇḍar-tokai" by 'Saint Sundarar' (8th cent.) which was enlarged into Thiruttoṇḍar thiru-antāti by Nambi-āṇḍār-Nambi (late 10th cent.), which he enlarged into the Periya-purāṇam in Tamil poems. The poem on Sekkiḻār (Thiruttoṇḍar-purāṇa-varalāṟu) by Umāpati states that Sekkiḻār composed the poem by detailing the country of each saints, the villages where they resided, their family names, the service each rendered for Śaivam, their chronology, the attainment of Śīva-muktii, living saints who were jīvan – muktas, , those who obtained salvation by serving the Śaiva saints, those who opposed and finally received liberation, those who were yet to be born and so on.
It is impossible to study history of Tamilnad, or Śaiva religion, art and culture without studying Sekkiḻār. Though Sekkiḻār belonged to Tamilnad, where his family has been living for several centuries, the mention of his family lineage as Gangā-kula-tilaka and Bhāgīrati-kula-tilaka, deserves to be noted by the historians.