Soon after the installation of Rajadhiraja II, a fierce succession dispute in the Pandya country led to the intervention of the Chola and the Sinhalese rulers on opposite sides which brought misery to both.

Out of the ashes of this civil war arose the Pandya power which in its renewed strength soon swallowed both the Chola and Sinhalese kingdoms.

According to the Pallavarayanpettai inscription, towards the end of Rajaraja II's reign, the chief Kulatullan Tirucirrambalamudaiyan Perumannambi alias Pallavaraiyar brought to the king's notice that there were no sons of eligible age to ascend the throne.

Accordingly, having enquired around about the other princes, he chose and brought Ediriliperumal the son of Neriyudaiperumal and the grandson of Vikrama Chola from the palace at Gangaikondacholapuram.

The Sinhala king instructed his general to continue to war until Kulasekara is defeated and the Pandaya throne was bestowed upon a son of Parakrama Pandya.

On hearing this the Chola general induced Srivallabha, a rival of Parakramabahu to the Sinhala throne to undertake an invasion of the Lanka island.

This manipulation of the king's authority undermined the central administration to effectively exercise its control over the local government areas of the country.

The first was to weaken the prestige of the king's government by increasingly restricting the sphere of its influence and thereby to loosen its hold the rest of the administration.

Secondly they began to form alliances and compacts with each other to convert the official positions they held within the Chola nobility into a hereditary right.