Kadal Pura - Sandilyan [Tamil EbookS]

Kadal Pura (Tamil: கடல் புறா, kaṭal puṟā, lit. Sea Pigeon) is a Tamil language historical novel written by Sandilyan. The story is based on the ancient Tamil Kingdom. It was named after the fictional ship built by the Chola Commander Illayapallavan (a) Karunaagara Pallavan, who later became King Thondaiman. The novel is about the Chola kingdom's invasion of Srivijaya (modern-day Malaysia and Singapore) and Kalinga (currently the state of Orissa). It's a work of fiction with a few historical characters thrown in anachronistically (example, Aguda was born in 1068, but appears in the novel as a 25-year-old).

Research about ship building technology in 1067 A.D were explained in this historical novel and war shipping techniques over that period. In “Kadal Pura”, you are going to know everything about Kulothungan… who destroyed the entire territory of Kalinga. If you know a little more about this novel, this is supposed to be a prequel to Kalingattuparani, a masterpiece of Tamizh Literature. The hero of “Kadal Pura” is “Karunaakara Pallavan” who is portrayed just as his name suggests in this novel. But if you read “Kalingathu Bharani”, where Karunaagara Pallavan destroys Kalinga under the orders of Kulothungan, he is portrayed as something just short of a merciless creature. At this point, the author of the novel “Kadal Pura” must be given due credit, just because of his treatment of the character. You can really enjoy the irony if you read them both.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadal_Pura