Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/451

 THE END OF THE PALLAVAS 391 Gangas, in order to distinguish them from the family of the same name which ruled Kalinga, and held court at Kalinganagara, the modern Mukhalingam in the Ganjam District. Toward the close of the tenth century, Rajaraja the Great, the Chola king (985-1011 A. D.), succeeded in reducing to subjection all the kingdoms of the south, and in making himself lord paramount of Southern India. This able monarch annexed Vengi in 996 A. D., and in subsequent years brought under his sway both Kalinga and the territories of the Rashtrakutas, which had been recovered by Taila, the Chalukya king, in 973 A. D. The operations of Rajaraja put an end to the Pallava independent power, which had lasted for more than eight centuries. The later Pallava chiefs sank into the position of mere feudatory nobles and officials in the service of the territorial kingdoms, and it is on record that the Pallava raja took the first place among the feudatories of King Vikrama Chola early in the twelfth century. The rajas can be traced as in possession of limited local power down to the thirteenth century, and Pallava nobles are mentioned as late as the close of the seven- teenth century. The raja of the Pudukottai tributary state, who is the recognized head of the Kallar tribe, still styles him- self Raja Pallava, and claims descent from the ancient royal family. The Vellalas, who admittedly hold the first place among the Tamil-speaking agricultural classes, profess to be descended in the female line from