Pallava Dynasty - Other Relationships

Other Relationships

Khmer folklore and inscriptions relate the Funan dynasty’s origins with that of the Pallavas. Around 180, the Kaundinya-Gunavarman line of the Khmer civilization was founded following the consummation of a relationship between Prince Kaundinya – a Brahman and worshipper of Ashwatthama - with Queen Somadevi of the Naga tribe. Kang Tai, a Chinese envoy of the third century reports that when Kaundinya arrived to Funan by ship, the local princess tried to capture it, but was forced to surrender, the two eventually marrying to end the war. The Cham king Prakasadharma (Vikrantavarman I) of 657 also relates his ancestry in an inscription to the episode of Kaundinya settling his spear in a certain place, taking Somadevi, daughter of the Nagas, as his wife and starting a family, beginning the first Funan dynasty. In Sri Lanka, during the reign of the The Five Dravidians of the early Pandyan kingdom, traditions mention how Queen Somadevi of Eelam was taken by a Tamil chief to Tamilakkam as his wife during war. She later gave birth to a future king, Chora-Naga.

Pallava royal lineages were established in the old kingdom of Kedah of the Malay Peninsula under Rudravarman I, Chenla under Bhavavarman I, Champa under Bhadravarman I and the Kaundinya-Gunavarman line of the Funan in Cambodia, eventually their rule growing to form the Khmer Empire. These dynasties' unique Dravidian architectural style was introduced to build Angor Wat while Tamil cultural norms spread across the continent, their surviving epigraphic inscriptions recording domestic societal life and their pivotal role in Asian trade routes.

Direct extensive contacts with these regions were maintained from the maritime commerce city Mamallapuram, where Mahendravarman I and his son "Mahamalla" Narasimhavarman I built the Shore Temple of the Seven Pagodas of Mahabalipuram.