Nedunjeliyan of Talaiyalangam came to the throne as a youth and soon after his accession, he proved himself more than equal to a hostile combination of his two neighbouring monarchs and ﬁve minor chieftains. There exists a simple poem of great force and beauty in which the youthful monarch swears an oath of heroism and victory in the ensuing ﬁght. Despising his tender years and hoping for an easy victory and large boot, his enemies invaded the king- dom and penetrated to the heart of it, but, nothing daunted, Nedunjeliyan readily took the ﬁeld, pursued the invading forces across his frontier into the Chola country and inﬂicted a crushing defeat on them at Talaiya-langanam, about eight miles North- West of Tiruvalur in theTanjore district. It was in this battle that the Chera king ‘Sey of the elephant eye’ was taken captive and thrown into a Pandyan prison. By his victory Nedunjeliyan not only made himself secure on his ancestral throne, but also gained a primacy over the entire state system of the Tamil country. He also conquered the two divisions (Kurram) of Milalai and Mutturu from Evvi and a Velier chieftain and annexed them to his kingdom.