Nandivarman III
Nandivarman III was an Indian monarch of the Nandivarman II line who ruled the Pallava kingdom from 846 to 869.[1] He was the son of Dantivarman and the grandson of Nandivarman II.[2] ReignNandivarman III was born to the Pallava king Dantivarman and a Kadamba princess named Aggalanimati.[3] His guru (teacher) was the well-known Digambara Jain monk Jinasena.[4] He tried to reverse the decline that began in the reign of his father Dantivarman. Nandivarman III made an alliance with the Rashtrakutas and the Gangas to form a confederacy against the Pandyas. He defeated the Pandyas at the Battle of Tellaru in 830.[5][6] He then pursued the retreating Pandyan army as far as the Vaigai river. The Pandyan king Srimara Srivallabha, however, recovered most of his territories and even defeated the Pallavas at Kumbakonam.[7][8][9] Nandivarman had a powerful navy and maintained trade contacts with Siam and Malaya. He possibly conquered territory in Southeast Asia as he constructed a Vishnu temple at Siam which was placed under the protection of the Manigramam merchant guild.[10][1] He was a great patron of arts and literature.[3] The Bharatam was translated into Tamil by Perundevanar under his patronage. The Nandikkalambakam was composed by a poet in praise of Nandivarman III.[11][12][6] His reign saw the construction of the Vishnu temple at Kiliyanur and the Shiva temple at Thirukattupalli. Nandivarman III married a Rashtrakuta princess named Shankha, who was likely the daughter of Amoghavarsha I, the Rashtrakuta emperor. He had a son named Nripatunga from Shankha, who succeeded him as king.[13][14] His second wife was a Paluvettaraiyar princess named Kandan Marampavaiyar, through which he had his second son named Kampavarman. Before his death, Nandivarman III divided his kingdom between his two sons- Nriputungavarman ruling in the south and Kampavarman ruling in the north.[4] References
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