a brief commentary on the kaikkolarpadai :-
very very little has been said about the kaikkolarpadai(kaikkolarmarmy) by historians who mention it an an division in the chola army but dont go into to details .
WHO ARE KAIKKOLARS?
an uttama chola inscription from the 950's show that the kaikkolars were a martial jati back then clearly with the wordings porkoyilkaikkolaperumpadaikudi -i,e kaikkolars are a padai kudi , mrtial caste.[ ref:-SII vol 7 NO -112]
WHAT IS KAIKKOLAR PADAI ?
therinja kaikkolarpadai was a padai comprised of selected i.e recuirted after a selection process from the kaikkolar jathi.
the phrase therija is still used in kerala to mean an test or an election , indicative that kaikkolars who passed a certian test were recuirted into the terinja kaikkolar division of the chola army [.ref :- articles of epigraphist ramachandran]
FUNCTIONS OF KAIKKOLAR PADAI:-
the selected kaikkolars i.e terinja kaikkolars were many times recuirted into the various divions of the chola army such as the pazhuvetaraiyar, vellaikarapadai , mutha val petra kaikkolar pdai, kuthirai padai ,anukkapadai,[ref:- NO -172, 173,70,21 PR] kaikkolars also were genrals, head( padai nayagan) of various army divisions such as rajathirajaadiyar velaikara padai etc.[ref:-NO 60 P R ]
kikkolars were tropps close to the royal family , the palace paid anjali out of its own funds when a kaikkolar was killed in battle [ref:-NO-172,173PR)
kaikkolars along with the valangai yakondar padai were the only ones who had the authority to deal with the tax and loan defaults by smartha sabai brahmanas - who were the highest authority on the judicial affairs of the kingdom , this authority the kaikkolars had show the very high status. the kaikkolar padai were vested with the authority to deals with the tax ,loan defaults, improper conduct of temple rituals of brahmanas.[REF:- SII VOL 22 NO 27 , NO 20 PR ]
kaikkolars were many times were appointed as the meikaval padai , meikaval mudhali of temples and also did the meikaval of kings and cheiftians , when taking charge as meikaval kaikkolars swore allegance to the king that they would kill themselves the very next moment , in case they failed to protect the king. kaikkolars were given tax free land grants for their service of providing military protection to the temples , temples in chola times regulated trade networks , operated banks etc requiring armed protection from bandits and anarchits .
[REF:- NO 107 PR,https://nammatrichy.in/2019/07/09/four-tamil-inscriptions-found-at-pettaivaithalai-temple/, https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/namma-madurai-a-temple-in-ruins/article4973910.ece]
RELATION WIHT THE MUNDRU KAI MAHASENAI:-
mundru padai porkoyil kiakkolar seem to be related to the mundru kai mahasenai in some away , in one of the inscriptions of the mundru kai mahasenai , it says the senai defeated the vallan and the kalahasthi poets sang of the glory.even today kaikkolars has many songs abput how they defeated vallan , this establihes a claer connection with the mundru kai mahasenai who aslo provided military protection to temples which even kaikkolar padai did.[ref:- NO -148 PR, SII VOL 41]
VARNA OF KAIKKOLARS DURING EARLY MEDIVAL CHOLA ERA:-
kaikkolars seems to have belonged to the arasa vargam/ varna as their names are often suffixed with the titles arasu ,araiyan in the 10 th century inscriptions when such titles were rare and used miserly in contrast to their ubiqtious presence of such titles in the 13th century inscriptions worn by poeple of various strata as the chola authority weakened enabling use of royal titles liberally .[REF:- no 13,15,84,101,126,141 PR]
KAIKKOLAR CHEIFTIANS , MEGALANDLORDS:-
at last , kaikkolars were not just soldiers , but were cheiftians and megalandlords , kaikkolar mudhalis often owned several kudikadus (towns )[REF:- NO 151 PR] in their name, , some kaikkolars were nadalvars(cheiftian rulers ),jatavarman pandya times kalavai nadu alvar- kulasekharathevar[REF:- TIRUVANAMALAI INSCRIPTIONS CHAPTER ARUNACHALA GRACE OF DIVINVE BOOK PAG 209],early 1400.'s kuruchi nadu alvar -mudikonda chola thenkavira nadalvar ganapathy nambi[REF:-NO 165 PR] , madakula kel madurai- uyyavandan pandiyanana sundara pandiya narasingha theva maluva chakaravarthi who donated the taxes payed to him by his subjectes to the temple etc[REF:- NO 72 PR] are some of the kaikkolar cheiftians ,lords as seen from the inscriptions.
TILES AND SPECIAL TITLES (VIRUTHUGAL) OF KAIKKOLARS :-
some titles, viruthus(special title) held by kaikkolars from the inscriptions- pandiyatharaiyan[204], araiyan[13] ,arasu[141], thevan[180], chetty[152] , mudhali [185],kandharayan[151] , kedaratharaiyan[28], vera veera pallavarayan[185] , pallavarayan[118] , kadavarayan[60], senathipathi , samaiya senathipathi[28] , samantha senathipathi[44] ,patta manam kathan[203] , kalingarayan[203] , maluva chakaravarthi[72] , irungolan[54], vatharayan[114] , uyyavandhan pandiyan[72] ,brahmarayan[159],mudi konda cholan[165] ,kanagrayan[114], sidharayan[114], kacchirayan[114], vizhuthipanman[114],kandiyathevan[203], nattar[57] , nadalvar[165], perumal[29], cholagangan[42] , cholakonar[175],vijayarayan[177] - ALL REF[NO'S] here are PR.
SII- SOUTH INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS VOLUME.
PR- PULAVAR RASU'S BOOK SENGUNTHAR VARALARU AAVANANGAL.
