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THE CHOLA EMPIRE
PART 1

CHOLA

CHOLAS

The Chola dynasty was one of the longest-ruling dynasties in history. The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri River, but they ruled a significantly larger area at the height of their power from the later half of the 9th century till the beginning of the 13th century.
The whole country south of the Tungabhadra was united and held as one state for a period of two centuries and more. Under Rajaraja Chola I and his successors Rajendra Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola, Virarajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola I the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-East Asia.

PHASES

The history of the Cholas falls into four periods: the Early Cholas of the Sangam literature.(3 rd CENTURY BC – 2 nd CENTURY AD)
The interregnum between the fall of the Sangam Cholas.(2 nd CENTURY – 8 th CENTURY)
The rise of the Imperial medieval Cholas under Vijayalaya ( 848 AD – 1070 AD).
The Later Chola dynasty of Kulothunga Chola I from the third quarter of the 11th century(1070 A

EARLY CHOLAS

- The earliest Chola kings for whom there is tangible evidence are mentioned in the Sangam literature. Scholars generally agree that this literature belongs to the second or first few centuries of the common era.
- There is not much information about the transition period of around three centuries from the end of the Sangam age (c. 300) to that in which the Pandyas and Pallavas dominated the Tamil country.
- An obscure dynasty, the Kalabhras invaded Tamil country, displaced the existing kingdoms and ruled during that time.

They were displaced by the Pallava dynasty and the Pandyan dynasty in the 6th century. Little is known of the fate of the Cholas during the succeeding three centuries until the accession of Vijayalaya in the second quarter of the 9th century.

IMPERIAL CHOLAS(848-1070 AD)

Around the 7th century, a Chola kingdom flourished in present-day Andhra Pradesh. • The founder of the Chola Empire was Vijayalaya, who was first feudatory of the Pallavas of Kanchi. He captured Tanjore in 850 A.D. and made its capital.
The Chola dynasty was at the peak of its influence and power during the medieval period. The second Chola King, Aditya I, caused the demise of the Pallava dynasty.

IMPERIAL CHOLAS

In 907, his son Parantaka I succeeded him. He conquered Madurai from the Pandya ruler Rajasimha II. He assumed the title of Maduraikonda (captor of Madurai). Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I were the greatest rulers of the Chola dynasty, extending it beyond the traditional limits of a Tamil kingdom.
At its peak, the Chola Empire stretched from the island of Sri Lanka in the south to the Godavari-Krishna river basin in the north, up to the Konkan coast in Bhatkal, the entire Malabar Coast in addition to Lakshadweep, Maldives, and vast areas of Chera country.
Rajaraja Chola I was a ruler with inexhaustible energy, and he applied himself to the task of governance with the same zeal that he had shown in waging wars. He integrated his empire into a tight administrative grid under royal control.

THE POWER

He also built the Brihadeeswarar Temple in 1010 CE.Rajendra Chola I conquered Odisha and his armies continued to march further north and defeated the forces of the Pala Dynasty of Bengal and reached the Ganges river in north India.
Rajendra Chola I built a new capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram to celebrate his victories in northern India.Rajendra Chola I successfully invaded the Srivijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia which led to the decline of the empire there.
He also completed the conquest of the island of Sri Lanka and took the Sinhala king Mahinda V as a prisoner.
Rajendra’s territories included the area falling on the GangesHooghly-Damodar basinas well as Sri Lanka and Maldives.The kingdoms along the east coast of India up to the river Ganges acknowledged Chola suzerainty.

FURTHER

The Western Chalukyas mounted several unsuccessful attempts to engage the Chola emperors in war.
Virarajendra Chola defeated Someshvara II of the Western Chalukya Empire and made an alliance with Prince Vikramaditya VI.
Cholas always successfully controlled the Chalukyas in the western Deccan by defeating them in war and levying tribute on them.
The Cholas under Kulothunga Chola III defeated the Western Chalukyas in a series of wars with Someshvara IV between 1185–1190. But the Cholas remained stable until 1215, were absorbed by the Pandyan empire and ceased to exist by 1279.

LATER CHOLA(1070-1279)

Marital and political alliances between the Eastern Chalukyasbegan during the reign of Rajaraja following his invasion of Vengi.
Eastern Chalukya prince Rajaraja Narendra. Virarajendra Chola’s son, Athirajendra Chola, was assassinated in a civil disturbance in 1070, and Kulothunga Chola I, the son of Ammanga Devi and Rajaraja Narendra, ascended the Chola throne.
The Later Chola dynasty was led by capable rulers such as Kulothunga Chola I, his son Vikrama Chola, other successors like Rajaraja Chola II, Rajadhiraja Chola II, and Kulothunga Chola III, who conquered Kalinga, Ilam, and Kataha.
The Cholas, under Rajaraja Chola III and later, his successor Rajendra Chola III, were quite weak and therefore, experienced continuous trouble.

THE CHOLA EMPIRE(ADMINISTRATION)
PART 2

ADMINISTRATION

In the age of the Cholas, the whole of South India was for the first time brought under a single government.The Cholas’ system of government was monarchical, as in the Sangam age.
Aside from the early capital at Thanjavur and the later on at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Kanchipuram and Madurai were considered to be regional capitals in which occasional courts were held.
The king was the supreme leader and a benevolent authoritarian. His administrative role consisted of issuing oral commands to responsible officers when representations were made to him.
Due to the lack of a legislature or a legislative system in the modern sense, the fairness of king’s orders dependent on his morality and belief in Dharma.

ADMINISTRATION

The Chola kings built temples and endowed them with great wealth. The temples acted not only as places of worship but also as centres of economic activity, benefiting the community as a whole.
The Chola Dynasty was divided into several provinces called Mandalams which were further divided into Valanadus and these Valanadus were sub-divided into units called Kottams or Kutrams.

ADMINISTRATION

During the reign of Rajaraja Chola I, the state initiated a massive project of land survey and assessment and there was a reorganisation of the empire into units known as valanadus.
Justice was mostly a local matter in the Chola Empire; minor disputes were settled at the village level. Punishment for minor crimes were in the form of fines or a direction for the offender to donate to some charitable endowment.

MILITARY

The Chola dynasty had a professional military, of which the king was the supreme commander. It had four elements, comprising the cavalry, the elephant corps, several divisions of infantry and a navy.
There were regiments of bowmen and swordsmen while the swordsmen were the most permanent and dependable troops. The elephants played a major role in the army and the dynasty had numerous war elephants.
The soldiers of the Chola dynasty used weapons such as swords, bows, javelins, spears and shields which were made up of steel. The Chola navy was the zenith of ancient India sea power.The navy grew both in size and status during the medieval Cholas reign.

ECONOMY

Land revenue and trade tax were the main source of income.The Chola rulers issued their coins in gold, silver and copper.
The Chola economy was based on three tiers—at the local level, agricultural settlements formed the foundation to commercial towns nagaram.
The Chola rulers actively encouraged the weaving industry and derived revenue from it.The most important weaving communities in early medieval times were the Saliyar and Kaikolar.
During the Chola period silk weaving attained a high degree and Kanchipuram became one of the main centres for silk.
Agriculture was the principal occupation for many people. Besides the landowners, there were others dependent on agriculture.

ECONOMY

- The prosperity of an agricultural country depends to a large extent on the facilities provided for irrigation. Apart from sinking wells and excavating tanks, the Chola rulers threw mighty stone dams across the Kaveri and other rivers, and cut out channels to distribute water over large tracts of land.Rajendra Chola I dug near his capital an artificial lake.

The metal industries and the jewellers art had reached a high degree of excellence. The manufacture of sea-salt was carried on under government supervision and control.

SOCIETY

Hospitals were maintained by the Chola kings, whose government gave lands for that purpose. The Tirumukkudal inscription shows that a hospital was named after Vira Chola.
The farmers occupied one of the highest positions in society. The Vellalar were also sent to northern Sri Lanka by the Chola rulers as settlers.
The quality of the inscriptions of the regime indicates a high level of literacy and education. The text in these inscriptions was written by court poets and engraved by talented artisans.
Tamil was the medium of education for the masses; Religious monasteries (matha or gatika) were centres of learning and received government support.

FOREIGN TRADE

The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity, extending their influence overseas to China and Southeast Asia. Towards the end of the 9th century, southern India had developed extensive maritime and commercial activity.
The south Indian guilds played a major role in interregional and overseas trade. The Tang dynasty of China, the Srivijaya empire under the Sailendras, and the Abbasid Kalifat at Baghdadwere the main trading partners.

ARCHITECTURE

They built a number of Shiva temples along the banks of the river Kaveri. The Chola temple architecture has been appreciated for its magnificence as well as delicate workmanship.
The Chola school of art also spread to Southeast Asia and influenced the architecture and art of Southeast Asia.

ARCHITECTURE

Temple building received great impetus from the conquests and the genius of Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola I. The maturity and grandeur to which the Chola architecture had evolved found expression in the two temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram.
The Brihadisvara Temple, the temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram were declared as World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO and are referred to as the Great living Chola temples.

THE CHOLA EMPIRE(KINGS)
PART 3

VIJAYALAYA(848-870) AND ADITYA 1(891-907 AD)

Vijayalaya Chola was a king of South India Thanjavur, (r. 848 – 870 CE) and founded the imperial Chola Empire. He ruled over the region to the north of the river Kaveri.
Aditya I (c. 891 – c. 907 CE), the son of Vijayalaya, was the Chola king who extended the Chola dominions by the conquest of the Pallavas and occupied the Western Ganga Kingdom.

PARANTAKA 1(907-950)

Parantaka continuing the expansion started by his father, invaded the Pandya kingdom in 910. He captured the Pandyan capital Madurai and assumed the title Madurain-konda (Capturer of Madurai).
The Pandya king fled into exile in Sri Lanka and Parantaka completed his conquest of the entire Pandya country.
At the height of his successes, Parantaka I’s dominions comprised almost the whole of the Tamil country right up to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
It is clear from other chola grants that parantaka was a great militarist who had made extensive conquests.

PARANTAKA 1(907-950)

The internal administration of his country was a matter in which he took a keen interest. He laid out the rules for the conduct of the village assemblies in an inscription.
The village institutions of South India, of course, date from a much earlier period than that of Parantaka I, but he introduced many salutary reforms for the proper administration of local selfGovernment.

RAJARAJA 1(985-1014)

Rajaraja created a powerful standing army and a considerable navy. A number of regiments are mentioned in the Thanjavur inscriptions. These regiments were divided into elephant troops, cavalry and infantry.
The Pandyas, Cheras and the Sinhalas allied against the Cholas. In 994 AD, Rajaraja destroyed the fleet of the Chera king Bhaskara Ravi Varman Thiruvadi in the Kandalur War.
Rajaraja defeated the Pandya king Amarabhujanga and captured the port of Virinam. To commemorate these conquests, Rajaraja assumed the title Mummudi Chola.
Mahinda V was the king of Sinhalese. Rajaraja invaded Sri Lanka in 993 AD. Raja Raja captured only the northern part of Sri Lanka while the southern part remained independent.

RAJARAJA 1(985-1014)

One of the last conquests of Raja Raja was the naval conquest of the islands of Maldives. Raja Raja initiated a project of land survey and assessment in 1000 AD which led to the reorganization of the empire into units known as valanadus.
Rajaraja strengthened the local self-government and installed a system of audit and control by which the village assemblies and other public bodies were held to account while retaining their autonomy. To promote trade, he sent the first Chola mission to China.
In 1010 AD, Raja Raja built the Brihadeswara Temple in Thanjavur dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple and the capital acted as a center of both religious and economic activity. The temple turned 1000 years old in 2010. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “Great Living Chola Temples”, with the other two being the Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Airavatesvara temple.

RAJA RAJA 1(985-1014) RAJENDRA CHOLA 1(1014 – 1044)

Rajendra invaded Ceylon in 1017 CE and annexed the entire island. The Sinhala king Mahinda V was taken prisoner and transported to the Chola country.
In 1019 CE, Rajendra’s forces marched through Kalinga towards the river Ganga. The Chola army eventually reached the Pala kingdom of Bengal where they defeated Mahipala.
The Chola army went on to raid East Bengal and defeated Govindachandra of the Chandra dynasty and invaded Bastar region.
He constructed a new capital at Gangaikondacholapuram and took the title of Gangaikonda.

RAJENDRA CHOLA 1(1014 – 1044)

In 1025 CE, Rajendra led Chola forces across the Indian Ocean and invaded Srivijaya, attacking several places in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Chola forces captured the last ruler of the Sailendra Dynasty Sangrama Vijayatunggavarman.The Chola invasion was the end of Srivijaya.
For the next century, Tamil trading companies from southern India dominated Southeast Asia. Rajendra Chola built a vast artificial lake, sixteen miles long and three miles wide which was one of the largest man-made lakes in India