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''Ponniyin Selvan'' ((タミル語:பொன்னியின் செல்வன்), English: ''The Son of Ponni'') is a 2400-page 20th-century Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in five volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman (later crowned as Rajaraja Chola I), one of the kings of the Chola Dynasty during the 10th and 11th centuries. Kalki Krishnamurthy finished the novel after nearly a period of three years and six months of writing and he visited Sri Lanka three times to learn some information to write this novel. ==Historical background== ''Ponniyin Selvan'' is a historical novel that centers on a number of real historical characters and incidents. The oldest evidence that is available on the Chola dynasty is about the Chola king Karikal Peruvalathan and then many other kings after him such as Killivalavan, Nedunkilli, Perunkilli, etc. After this, the trail runs cold and resurfaces as Vijayalaya Cholan once again established the Chola dynasty after defeating the Pandiyas and the Pallavas. Vijayalaya Cholan (AD 848-871) was the founder of the Medieval Chola dynasty. He conquered the country from a vassal chief of the Pallavas, and established Pazhayarai as the capital of the dynasty which was later shifted to Thanjavur during the rule of Sundara Chola. His son and successor Aditya I conquered the Pallavas and the Kongu country. Later, under the leadership of his son Parantaka I (c AD 907-955), the Cholas acquired a dominion which foreshadowed the greater empire of Rajaraja and Kulothunga Chola I. Parantaka I won victories over the Banas, the Gangas, the Pandya and the King of Ceylon. This fact and the extent of his conquest are known from his inscriptions. Towards the end of his reign, or before his death, the Rashtrakutas under Krishna III invaded the Tamil Country, killed the Chola prince Rajaditya at Takkolam (near Arakkonam) in c. AD 948, and seized Tondainadu which they ruled for about a quarter of a century, confining the sway of the Cholas to their ancestral dominion comprising the modern day Tanjavur and Thiruchirapalli districts. The names of the next five kings after Rajaditya are known by various historical evidences. Gandaraditya a great Shaivite, whose son was to become the famous Madhurantaka. Gandaraditya was, however, not a great king and the enemies of the Chola kingdom began to rise again at the end of his reign. Moreover, both of his brothers Rajathitha and Arinjaya could not be crowned after him as the former was already dead and the latter was expecting his end any moment. So Arinjaya's son Sundara Chola or Paranthaka II as he was formerly known, became the king after Arinjaya Chola died at a young age at battle, he was the father of Paranthaka II who ascended the throne after Gandaraditya. Parantaka Chola II (son of Arinjaya, also known popularly as Sundara Chola as he was exotically handsome and ruled the kingdom particularly well), though later fell fatally ill as his legs were paralysed. He was the proud father of Rajaraja Cholan, Aditya karikala Cholan and Kundavai. Aditya II was the elder son of Parantaka II and was the heir apparent of the Chola dynasty after Paranthaka II. But before he could ascend the throne, he was taken by death due to the treachery. He is killed in kadambur Melakadambur sambuvarayar maaligai. Madurantaka, officially Uttama Chola, was the son of Gandaraditya and Sembian Mahadevi. Though he did not wish for the crown, it was thrust upon him by Rajaraja Cholan and his friend Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyathevan. He ruled for a period of about 12 years, after whose death Rajaraja Cholan ascended to the throne. Aditya Karikalan II re-conquered Tondainadu from the Rashtrakutas a few years later. He was a great warrior. He performed many heroic deeds in the battlefields of Sevur and beheaded the long-elusive Pandiya king -Veerapandiya. On Aditya's death, the succession was disputed as one community of the Chola empire. Most of the nobles and subjects preferred the popular prince Arulmozhivarman ascend the throne, but he himself was in favour of his uncle, Madurantaka Uththama Chola becoming the King. At last, Arulmozhivarman tricked Madhurantaka into accepting the crown. After him, Arulmozhivarman became the King in AD 985. His reign brought unparalleled glory and greatest fame and prosperity to the Imperial Chola empire. ''Ponniyin Selvan'' was the sobriquet given to Arulmozhi varman. Ponni was another name for the Kaveri and Arulmozhi was the darling of the Kaveri as in Ponniyin Selvan to all his people. The original title of Arulmozhithevan was ''Raja Raja Cholan''. He was the second son of the Parantaka Chola II alias Sundara Chola and Queen Vaanamaadevi. Raja Raja Cholan had an elder sister, Kundavai and an elder brother, Aditya Karikalan. He had a high regard for his sister, who spent her later life in Thanjavur with her younger brother, and named his first daughter after her. Who later, inspired by his sister, built the world-renowned Brihadeeswarar Temple known as ''Periya Kovil''. Kalki’s other sources were stone inscriptions, copper-plates and other books. There is a stone tablet in the great temple of Thanjavur which has the following inscription: “The revered elder sister of Raja Raja Chozhan, the consort of Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyathevan, Azwar Paranthakar Kundavaiyar”.〔 The book ''History of Later Cholas'' has a five-line reference to Vandiyathevan, a Bana prince, a real historical character, who is the hero of this novel. The names of the conspirators also came from a stone inscription. (HREF="http://www.kotoba.ne.jp/word/11/T. V. Sadasiva Pandarathar" TITLE="T. V. Sadasiva Pandarathar">Sadasiva_Pandarathar ). A lot of the information about the activities of various kings came from inscriptions like these as well as copper plates like the one found at Anbil. The Thiruvalangadu copper-plates state, "The Chola people were very keen that after Sundara Chola, Arulmozhivarman should ascend the throne and rule their country. But Arulmozhivarman respected the right of his Uncle Uttama Chola, the son of his grandfather’s older brother, Gandaraditya, to the throne and crowned him King". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ponniyin Selvan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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