Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/123

Rh min settlers, and such a large number of them were attracted to the spot that ancient Tamil poets spoke of the place as “the famous Mullûr crowded by Aryas.” Kapilar the Brahmin poet addressed Kári as follows praising his munificence to Brahmins and minstrels:

“The sea cannot over-run it. No enemy can assai1 it, Kári, who wearest the warrior’s anklet! thy land is the property of the Brahmins who preserve the sacred fires. The presents bestowed by neighbouring monarchs on thee, as the great vassaI of one of the three kings, thou givest away to the minstrels who sing the praises of thy clan. Nothing deemest thou as thy own save the person of thy spouse who is as chaste as the Northern Star, and yet art thou supremely happy.”

Another bard solicited his patronage in the following verse :—

“Thou descendant of that dauntless hero whd wrested the plates of gold which had adorned the foreheads of his enemies’ elephants, and out of those plates made lotus flowers and tied them to the heads of his minstrels: Warrior chief of the mountain Muillûr! on which the waterfalls descend with deafening sound through dense woods: that thou and thy warlike clan may prosper for ever, the learned Brahmin (Kapilar), than whom there is no wiser nian on earth, has sung so well and made thy name immortal, that nothing is left to other minstrels to praise: even as no other ship can sail across the Western Ocean over which travel those vessels which bring gold to the shores of the Vánavan (Chera) we attempt in vain to sing of thee (as Kapilar has done): thou lord of the valley of the Pennai who hast routed rival kings who came with elephants and with thundering drums to fight with thee! driven by want and drawn by thy fame, we seek thy charity.”

Kàri waged war with Ori, the chieftain of the Kolli hills, and having killed him in battle restored the Kolli hills to the rightful sovereign, the Chera. . Elated by success in his wars with neighbouring chiefs, Kári aspired to be an independent king and assumed the diadem. He was hence known as Tiru-mudik-kàri or “the crowned Kári.” Not long after this event, the Chola monarch who