Person · Pallava emperor

Narasimhavarman I

Also known as Narasiṃhavarman I, Mamalla, Māmalla, Mahamallan, Vatapikondan, Vātāpikoṇḍa, Narasimha Varman I

Date

630–668

Function

Authority & administration

Patron dynasty

Pallava

Confidence

Mixed / layered — Reign and Vatapi campaign are well attested; his share in the Mamallapuram monuments is disputed.

Worth knowing

His early wars with the Chalukyas are the subject of Kalki Krishnamurthy's Tamil novel Sivagamiyin Sabadham, and his later years of the same author's Parthiban Kanavu.

Connections (5)

• PatronageMahabalipuram

  Mamallapuram takes its name from Narasimhavarman's title Mamalla, 'great wrestler', and 7th-century inscriptions already call the town Mamallapuram. Most scholars attribute many of its monuments to him, building on his father's start; the Dharmaraja ratha carries an inscription mentioning him, and the five monolithic Pancha Rathas were left unfinished at his death in 668. R. Nagaswamy, on newer inscriptions, assigns all the monuments to Narasimhavarman II instead, so the attribution remains contested.

• CampaignBadami

  After Pulakeshin II's invasions had cost the Pallavas their northern provinces, Narasimhavarman defeated the Chalukyas in several battles, including one at Manimangalam near Kanchipuram, then marched on their capital Vatapi with his general Paranjothi. In 642 he took the city and killed Pulakeshin, assuming the Tamil title Vatapikondan. Pallava grants liken him to the sage Agastya, who destroyed a demon named Vatapi, and Paranjothi, said to have razed the city, is revered as the Nayanar saint Siruthondar.

• Traveller routeXuanzang

  In 640, during Narasimhavarman's reign and two years before the Pallava sack of Vatapi, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang reached Kanchipuram, the Pallava capital. He had come south from Andhra, where he stayed at Amaravati studying Abhidhamma texts among partly deserted monasteries, and he reported Kanchi as a strong centre of Buddhism. From Kanchi he went on through Nasik, Ajanta and Malwa and back to Nalanda, so Kanchi was where his journey turned back north.

• Historical linkAnuradhapura

  The Sinhalese prince Manavamma, son of Kassapa II, fled the succession wars of Anuradhapura to the Pallava court, served Narasimhavarman and fought for him against the Chalukyas at Vatapi; the Chulavamsa describes a close same-sex bond between the two. In return he was given Pallava armies to take the Anuradhapura throne. The first attempt failed, but he finally took the throne, ruling from 684 to 718 by one account and 691 to 726 by another. The Kasakudi plates claim a Pallava conquest of Sri Lanka, which remains unverified.

• Succession in timeMahendravarman I

  Narasimhavarman I succeeded his father Mahendravarman I in 630 and carried both of his father's main undertakings further. Mahendravarman had introduced rock-cut temples among the Pallavas and begun the work at Mamallapuram, which his son completed and which took his son's title as its name. Mahendravarman had saved Kanchipuram from Pulakeshin II but lost the northern provinces; Narasimhavarman reversed that defeat by taking the Chalukya capital Vatapi and killing Pulakeshin in 642.

Sources

Wikipedia, "Narasimhavarman I", "Pancha Rathas", "Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram" and "Manavanna of Anuradhapura". K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India (2008); C. Sivaramamurti, Mahabalipuram (ASI, 2004).

• Wikipedia — Narasimhavarman I
• Wikipedia — Pancha Rathas
• Wikipedia — Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram
• Wikipedia — Manavanna of Anuradhapura