Aniruddha Brahmarayar was a minister in the court of the Chola king Sundara Chola. The "Anbil plates" of Sundara Chola are the only source of information about him.

Family and ancestry

Aniruddha was born in a Vaishnavite Brahmin

Iyengar

Iyengar or Ayyangar is a caste given to Hindu Brahmins of Tamil origin who follow the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Sri Ramanujacharya. They are found mostly in Tamil Nadu as they are generally native to the Tamil Nadu state of the Republic of India...

 family of the village of Anbil. He belonged to Avanika gotra. Aniruddha's father was a teacher of the Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

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Position

In the Anbil plates of Sundara Chola, Aniruddha is mentioned as manya sachiva. He was given the title Brahmarayar or Brahmadhiraja meaning "Brahmin king", usually reserved for high-ranking Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 bureacrats in the Chola Empire. Aniruddha's family was also given a grant of 10 velis of land by the king.

In popular culture

Aniruddha Brahmarayar is one of the central characters in Kalki Krishnamurthy

Kalki Krishnamurthy

Kalki was the pen name of R. Krishnamurthy , a noted Tamil writer, film & music critic, Indian independence activist and journalist from Tamil Nadu, India.- Biography:...

's semi-historical novel Ponniyin Selvan

Ponniyin Selvan

Ponniyin Selvan is a 2400 page 20th-century Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in 5 volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman , one of the kings of the Chola Dynasty during the 10th-11th century CE period.-Historical background:Ponniyin Selvan is a historical...

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