When the Pandya king Māravarman Kulaśēkhara was apparently killed some time before May, 1310, Ravivarman "declared" independence from the Pāndyas. It is assumed that he began to count his regnal years afresh from 29 December; thus the Tiruvati Inscription of the Kali year 4414 (29 December 1313) may be seen to co-incide with the fourth regnal year of Ravivarman. The succession struggle between princes Sundara and Vira Pandya, sons of Maravarman Kulasekhara, and the confusion created by the
Khaljī general
Malik Kāfūr’s south Indian expedition (1311) helped Ravivarman in his ambitions. The distracted political conditions in Pāndya kingdom gave him an admirable opportunity to plan raids to territories east of the
Western Ghats. Prior to his raids in 1312 AD, almost certainly, Ravivarman professed allegiance to Sundara Pandya. By November, 1310 Vira Pandya was in the ascendancy, after an overwhelming victory over his brother Sundara. Ravivarman started raiding the Pāndya kingdom in 1312 AD, deep in the Tamil homeland, and defeated the armies of prince Vira Pandya. His presence at Madurai prevented Vira Pandya's return thither. Soon the entire Pāndya regions, once ruled by Jatavarman Sundara Pandya, came under Ravivarman. He performed his coronation at the Pandya capital
Madurai (1312) and then continued his march northwards. His presence at Virattaneswaram Temple, Tiruvati, South Arcot is attested by an inscription dated to December, 1313. He performed another coronation at the Telugu-Choda capital
Kanchi, on the bank of River Vegavati, in 1312 - 13 after ejecting the weakened Chola monarch Manma Siddha III, Raya Gandagopala. At the time of the coronation at Kanchi, he was 46 years old, in accordance with inscription at Varadarajaswami Temple, Kanchi. He crowned himself as the Tribhuvana Chakravarti - the ruler of
Chera,
Chola, and
Pandya kingdoms - at Kanchi. A Kanchipuram Inscription - dated to 1315- 16 - says that Ravivarman again defeated Vira Pandya and drove him into "Konkana" and from there into the forests, and then [again] conquered the northern country. Ravivarman also defeated Sundara, as said in the Ponamallee Inscription, the brother of Vira Pandya. If we are to believe A. S. Menon, the military garrisons established in the region by Malik Kāfūr were expelled by him in the expedition. Vira Pandya may have joined hands with Ravivarman in the midst his effort. Ravivarman established supremacy over most of the region between Cape Comorin and
Madras, and as far north as
Nellore. The Narasimha shrine in the Varadarajaswami Temple accommodates four sub-shrines, one among them is dedicated to certain "Malayala Nachchiar". The devi is consecrated in a separate shrine. Some scholars assume that the devi was installed here as a gift of the Chera family, represented by Ravivarman, to the god Varadaraja. The reference to "Cherakulavalli Nachchiar" in an epigraph of this temple lends plausibility to this surmise. At Srirangam, king "Kulasekhara" is said to have given his daughter Cherakulavalli in marriage to god Ranganatha and done extensive constructional activities in the third
prakara. It is hence called as "Kulasekharan Tiruvidi". Ravivarman's position at
Kanchi, around 1,000 miles away from his capital
Kollam, was precarious and perilous. Yadava ruler of Devagiri Samkara was executed by Malik Kafur, the general of Delhi Sultan Alaud-din Khalji, in 1312 upon withholding the tribute promised. Kakatiya ruler of
Warangal Pratapa Rudra II appears in several records from Kurnool, Nellore, Cuddapah and Guntur districts as a powerful monarch. Hoysala Ballala III is recognised as reigning in most of the Mysore state from Dorasamudra. The Hoysala prince Vira Ballala was earlier carried captive by Malik Kafur to Sultanate capital Delhi. Prince Jatavarman Sundara Pandya is recorded as ruling in South Arcot in January, 1314. Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandya II is known to have controlled
Tanjore in December, 1315 and
Trichy in January, 1316. Manma Siddha III, Ranganatha Rajagopala, appears in an inscription from Nellore from March, 1316. Ravivarman's hold over Kanchi was only short-lived and his aggressive activities were arrested by the
Kakatiya ruler of
Warangal, Prataparudra II (1295 - 1326). A southern Hoysala march is also attributed as a reason for Ravivarman's sudden retreat. Sundara Pandya had appealed to the Kakatiya ruler for military aid. The Kakatiya army under the command of Muppidi Nayaka (Devari Nāyaka, governor of
Nellore) marched to Kanchi in early 1316, and captured the city in sometime between March and June, 1316. The army defeated Vira Pandya and Ravivarman Kulasekhara at Tiruvadikundram and established Sundara Pandya at Viradhavalam (Bir Dhul). The village Tiruvadikundram may be identified with Tiruvadikunram in the Ginjee taluk of the South Arcot district. Muppidi Nayaka's presence is also attested at Srirangam, further south in the Tamil land. Ravivarma ceded some of the conquered territory to the Warangal, and was compelled to withdraw to Venatu. Muppidi Nayaka installed as governor of Kanchi a certain "Mana Vira", whom Dr. Hultzsch believes to have been Manma Siddha Ganda Gopala of the Telugu Choda family. There is also assumption that Kanchi was captured from Ravivarman by the Pandyas themselves, before being defeated by the Kakatiyas. The mention in the Kakatiya inscription of defeating the "Five Pandyas" and the Venatu ruler Kulasekhara supports this argument. Following A. S. Menon, Ravivarman died at Quilon due to natural causes. He was followed by his nephew, Udaya Marttanda Varma (ruled 1312/13 – 1344), who ruled only in Travancore. He may have lost his life when defeated at Kanchi by Muppidi Nayaka, but there is no proof of this. An undated Srirangam Inscription, which names the father of Marttanda as Godesvara, confirms this "marumakkattaya" mode of succession. The inscription was commissioned by Marttanda's younger brother Champaka Kerala. The Pandya overlordship of over parts of Venatu continued even during early 14th century, as shown by the reference to a Vira Pandya in an epigraph by Vira Udaya Marttanda Varma. However, Marttanda Varma acted as an autonomous chief while making the grant. Hoysala Ballala continued rule from Dorasamudra, and Kakatiya Pratapa Rudra in southern Andhra. Sultan Alaud-din Khalji died in 1316, which was followed by the assassination of Malik Kafur. The Pandya king Maravarman Kulasekhara II ruled central
Tamil Nadu, including Tanjore, and Jatavarman Vira Pandya in southern Tamil Nadu. His authority over Tinnevelly is attested in October, 1317. The legacy of Ravivarman's raids to Madurai and Kanchi was the emergence of a new branch of the Venatu ruling family called "Desinganatu". According to E. K. Pillai and A. S. Menon, Ravivarman is the last Venatu ruler came to the throne according to the patrilineal system of royal succession [from father to son] for from the accession of the next ruler till the time of the last ruler of
Travancore the matrilineal law of inheritance decided royal succession. In this system of inheritance, the son of the late ruler's sisters would inherit the throne, in order of their age. This view of the sudden shift to the
marumakkattayam in the royal family is contested in some recent studies, most notably that by Vielle (2011). == Inscriptions ==