veracity regarding wars (was Re: Tamil words in English)

[Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan]

In a message dated 98-02-18 22:37:09 EST, mahadevasiva at HOTMAIL.COM writes:

<< I find this downright laughable...has any civilization/culture
 talked/sung about about a war which they've lost? In India, we always
 talk about the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars because we came out on top,
 there is far less discussion of the 1962 Indo-China war where we came
 out second best...Likewise, in the Tamil texts we find mention of
 incidents (real/imagined) where the Tamils came out on top.. >>

People do concede an earlier defeat if they win at a later point in time. At
least in inscriptions. The Velvikkudi grant of the neTuJcaTaiyan2 does mention
the Pandya country being overrun and ruled by kalabhran. Ofcourse a Pandyan
king regains the kingdom. Strangely, Classical Tamil texts do talk about an
expedition of Mauryas into Tamilnadu which northern sources do not seem to
mention. Kharavela's inscription mentions a Tamil confederacy lasting for a
long time and finally being defeated by Kharavela. Tamil texts are silent
about Kharavela.

Regards

S. Palaniappan