The little farce entitled Matta-vilāsa derives a peculiar interest from the personality of its author. For Mahendravikrama-varman (or Mahendra-varman, as he is sometimes called for brevity's sake) was a king of the glorious Pallava dynasty, and one of the most brilliant of his great race.
The founders of the Pallava dynasty seem to have been adventurers of Northern origin, who settled in the Dekkan about the beginning of the Christian era. The dissolution of the Sātavāhana or Āndhra empire about the third century gave the family an opportunity to establish themselves as an independent little power, and they rapidly extended their dominions until they ranked among the greatest states of the South, rivalling the mighty neighbouring kingdoms of the Colas, the Ceras, and the Pāṇḍyas. Their chief capital was Kāñcī or Kāñcī-puram, the modern Conjevaram, in which the scene of the present play is laid. To art, literature, and science they extended a generous and cultured patronage, and many of the noblest monuments of architecture and sculpture in Southern India perpetuate the memory of their splendid era.