Maravarman Rajasimha III

Maravarman Rajasimha III was the last Pandyan king of the first Pandyan empire. He was the son and successor of Parantaka Viranarayana. He ruled the Pandyan kingdom from 900 to 920 AD.

He opposed the Chola king of Thanjavur at Kodumbalur and plundered the Chera capital at Vanchi in Kongu Nadu.

In 910 AD he suffered defeat at the hands of Parantaka I, the son of Aditya I Chola. Parantaka totally invaded the Pandyan kingdom and earned the title Maduraikonda (the one who captured Madurai). Rajasimha appealed to Kassapa V, the king of Ceylon for assistance. But even the combined forces of the Pandyas and the Sinhalese suffered could not keep the Cholas at bay and they suffered a huge defeat in Vellur near Madurai.

After the successive defeats, Rajasimha II fled to Ceylon but then unable to secure refuge, he went to Kerala, as he himself had descended in part from a Chera king where he spent the rest of his days keeping a low profile.