The battle of Kandalur salai, also spelled Kanthaloor shala, was a naval engagement of the Cholas under Rajaraja I against the "salai" at Kandalur in south Kerala. The exact location of Kandalur—somewhere south Kerala—is a subject of scholarly debate. The above event is sometimes assumed to be identical with the "conquest of Vizhinjam by a general of Rajaraja", before the burning of Lanka, given in the Tiruvalangadu Grant/Plates. The Brahmin warriors of the salai at Kandalur are sometimes compared to the arms-bearing military monks of medieval Europe. The phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta" is again used as a title with distinction of three other Chola kings also.
Assessment of the title
The so-called salais were considered prized possessions as they are claimed to have been sacked by many kings of south India. The character of the salais were re-examined in the 1970 paper 'Kantalur Salai-New Light on Aryan Expansion in South India' by M. G. S. Narayanan.
Older assessments
Different views were expressed by early scholars regarding the character of "salai".
Dr. Hultzsch - "build a jewell-like hall at Kandalur" or "cut the vessel in the hall at Kandalur" "destroyed ships at Kandalur "
Gopinatha Rao - "destroyed/discontinued/transferred the Brahmin feeding at Kandalur Feeding House or Hall "
Desikavinayakam Pillai - "regulation of the Brahmin feeding at Kandalur Feeding House "
K. A. N. Sastri - "destroyed ships at Kandalur "
Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai - "discontinued/destroyed the feeding of the armed Brahmins at Kandalur"..
Location of Kandalur salai
The exact location of Kandalur is a subject of scholarly debate. It is possible the original Kandalur salai was located near the Ay headquarters Vizhinjam and the deity was later shifted to Trivandrum.
Original location:— a village around 20 km east of Vizhinjam with a Shiva temple called Kandalur Salai.
As per historian K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, the capture was the first military achievement of king Rajaraja's reign. The success was summed up in the famous phrase "Kandalur salai kalamarutta", which precedes Rajaraja's name in several of his inscriptions from the 4th regnal year onwards.
The Kandalur salai belonged to the Ay chief, a vassal of the Pandya king at Madurai, in the mid-860s.
It is possible that at the time of the raid, the salai may have been under control of the Chera Perumalking of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravii. If that was the case, the campaign can be viewed as part of Rajaraja's early battles against the Cheras, Pandyas and the rulers of Sri Lanka.
However, some historians argue that Kandalur salai, which only later Chola inscriptions claim to have belonged to the Chera Perumals, may have been held by the Pandyas when it was attacked by Rajaraja I.
A Chola inscription was unearthed from a village near Tiruvannamalai in November, 2009. As per historians the inscription supports the view that a naval engagement indeed took place at Kandalur in c. 988 AD.
