Ilandiraiyan was a Tamil chieftain who ruled over Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...

 during the Sangam period. According to P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar

P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar

P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar was an Indian historian, linguist and educationist regarded as one of the greatest Dravidologists of the 20th century.- Academic career :...

, Ilandiraiyan belonged to the Pallava Dynasty and was a contemporary of the Early Chola king Karikala.

Life

According to P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Ilandiraiyan ascended the throne of Kanchi during the reign of the Chola king Karikal and was probably, a feudatory of the latter. Ilandiraiyan is believed to have been a weak, minor chieftain who had little power and waged no battles.

Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai

Uruttiragannanar who wrote the Paṭṭiṉappālai, gives a vivid description of Ilandiraiyan's kingdom and capital city of Kanchi in his poem Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai

Perumpanarruppatai

Perumpanarruppatai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Perumpanarruppatai contains 500 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet Kadiyalur...

. He advices "poets seeking rewards" to go to the court of Tondaiman Ilandiraiyan.

Poetical compositions

Ilandiraiyan, himself, is believed to have made some poetical compositions. Ode 185 of the Puṟanāṉūṟu

Purananuru

Purananuru is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 200 BCE – 100 CE. Purananuru is part of the Ettuthokai anthology which is the oldest available collection of poems of Sangam literature in Tamil....

is attributed to Tondaiman Ilandiraiyan.