Chola dynasty

Also called: Imperial Cholas, Later Cholas, Chola empire · Topic: Southern Dynasties: Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"

Meaning

The Chola dynasty, also called the Imperial or Later Cholas, was an old Tamil ruling family. Vijayalaya revived it in the 9th century and made Tanjavur (Thanjavur) its capital. Under Rajaraja I and his son Rajendra I it became one of the largest empires in south Indian history, and it lasted until the 13th century [2].

It matters because the Cholas joined a rich farming base in the Kaveri delta with a strong navy, a detailed system of government and grand temple-building. Exams test their rulers in order, their campaigns in Sri Lanka, their village assemblies and the Brihadishvara temple.

Explanation

Background: an old family comes back

• The Cholas were an old Tamil ruling family. Their best-known early chief was Karikala (Karikalan), dated to the late 2nd century CE [3].
• After that the family faded for centuries. It returned in the 9th century under Vijayalaya.
• According to NCERT, Vijayalaya took the Kaveri delta from the Muttaraiyar (local chiefs) in the middle of the 9th century and built the town of Thanjavur.
• Britannica dates his reign to about 850–870 CE. He began taking over Pallava land [2].
• Why the delta mattered:
• The Kaveri delta is very fertile, and the dynasty grew out of this rich Kaveri river valley [2].
• Irrigation (bringing water to fields through channels) meant steady harvests, and steady harvests meant steady tax.

Rise to empire: the rulers in order

• Aditya I (c. 870–907 CE) defeated the Pallavas [2].
• After his reign, most of Tamil Nadu and parts of southern Andhra were under Chola control [2].

• In the 10th century the Cholas took what was left of Pallava territory [2].

• Parantaka I (907–c. 955 CE) is called the "destroyer of Madurai". Madurai was the capital of the Pandyas [2].

• He drove back Sinhalese (Sri Lankan) invaders [2].

• He joined Chola and Pandya lands between 926 and 942 [2].

• Rajaraja I (985–1014 CE) was a strong king and a good administrator [2].

• He protected Vengi (the Godavari districts).
• He took Gangavadi (in today's Karnataka), which ended the Western Gangas.
• He conquered the Chera country (Kerala) by 996 CE.
• He took northern Sri Lanka.
• He spent the wealth from these wars on the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur [2].

• According to NCERT, he also reorganised the administration of the empire.

• Rajendra I (Rajaraja's son) carried on his father's policies.

• He raided the Ganga valley, Sri Lanka and countries of Southeast Asia, and he built up a navy to do it (NCERT).
• He built a new capital, Gangaikondacholapuram, which means "the city of the Chola who conquered the Ganga".

How the empire was run

• Levels of government, from largest to smallest:
• mandalam (a province)
• valanadu (a group of nadus)
• nadu (a group of villages)

• ur (a village of ordinary farmers)

• Village assemblies ran local affairs:

• The ur was the assembly of a peasant village. Groups of villages formed a nadu, which handled justice and tax collection.
• The sabha was the assembly of a brahmadeya (land given to Brahmanas as a gift).

• The nagaram was a group of traders in a town.

• Uttaramerur inscriptions (NCERT): these describe how the sabha worked.

• The sabha had committees for irrigation, gardens, temples and so on.
• Members were chosen by drawing lots (picking names at random).
• A member had to own land, be between 35 and 70 years old and know the Vedas.

• Each member served for three years.

• Kinds of land named in Chola inscriptions (NCERT):

• vellanvagai: land of non-Brahmana peasant owners
• brahmadeya: land gifted to Brahmanas
• shalabhoga: land for the upkeep of a school
• devadana / tirunamattukkani: land gifted to temples

• pallichchhandam: land donated to Jaina institutions

• A working revenue system (rules for measuring land and collecting tax) paid for the army and the temples.

What held it together, and what it left behind

• 1. Water. The Grand Anicut Canal carries Kaveri water to the land around Thanjavur [3]. The Cholas repaired and added to an old network of canals, lakes and tanks joined by channels.
• 2. Navy. Sea power took the Cholas to Sri Lanka and later to Southeast Asia. They used it for trade as well as raids.
• 3. Temples. Temples were places of worship, but they also held land, gave loans and were centres of crafts. The Great Living Chola Temples are a UNESCO World Heritage site [4].
• 4. Language and art. The Cholas supported both Tamil and Sanskrit. Their inscriptions (writing cut into stone or copper) use both languages. Chola bronzes were cast by the lost-wax technique (a wax model is covered in clay, the wax is melted out, and molten metal is poured into the empty mould).
• Result: the empire was one of the largest in south Indian history. It lasted till the 13th century.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: from the 9th century (Vijayalaya, c. 850–870 CE) to the 13th century [2].
• Core region: the Kaveri delta in Tamil Nadu. The capital was Thanjavur, and later Gangaikondacholapuram under Rajendra I.
• Lands they conquered: Pallava lands to the north; Madurai (Pandya); Vengi; Gangavadi (Karnataka); Kerala (Chera); northern Sri Lanka [2].
• Key people: Vijayalaya → Aditya I → Parantaka I → Rajaraja I → Rajendra I.
• How we know:
• Inscriptions on stone and on copper plates, in Tamil and Sanskrit.
• The Uttaramerur inscriptions, which describe how the sabha worked.
• The temples, especially the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur [2].

• Chola bronze images.

• Heritage status: the Great Living Chola Temples are a UNESCO World Heritage site. "Living" means worship still goes on in them [4]. The group is the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur, the temple at Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram, all in Tamil Nadu.

Don't confuse with

• Karikala Chola: a Sangam-age early Chola chief (late 2nd century CE) who built the Kallanai (Grand Anicut) [3]. He was not one of the Imperial Cholas, whose line began with Vijayalaya in the 9th century [2].
• Chalukyas: a Deccan dynasty (based at Badami, and later at Kalyani and Vengi), not a Tamil one. Vengi was Chalukya land that Rajaraja I protected [2]. It was not the Chola homeland.
• Pallavas: the Kanchipuram dynasty that came before the Cholas in the Tamil north. Aditya I defeated them, and the Cholas took the rest of their land in the 10th century [2].
• Brihadishvara temple, Thanjavur vs Gangaikondacholapuram temple: Thanjavur was built by Rajaraja I [2]. Gangaikondacholapuram was the capital of Rajendra I. Both belong to the same UNESCO group [4].

Prelims Hooks

• Vijayalaya revived Chola power in the 9th century, with Thanjavur as capital (c. 850–870 CE) [2].
• Correct order: Vijayalaya → Aditya I → Parantaka I → Rajaraja I → Rajendra I.
• Parantaka I = "destroyer of Madurai" (the Pandya capital); he united Chola and Pandya lands in 926–942 [2].
• Rajaraja I (985–1014 CE): took Kerala by 996, took northern Sri Lanka, ended the Western Gangas of Gangavadi, and built the Brihadishvara temple [2].
• Trap: the Kallanai was built by Karikala Chola (2nd century CE), not by Rajaraja I. PIB calls it India's oldest dam, working for nearly 2,000 years [3][5].
• The Uttaramerur inscriptions describe Chola sabha committees, whose members were chosen by drawing lots.

Mains Points

• Farming and engineering, not conquest alone, made the Cholas an empire.
• The Kaveri delta and the Kallanai's canal-and-tank network produced a steady grain surplus and steady revenue [3][5].

• War wealth, such as the gains from Rajaraja I's Kerala and Sri Lanka campaigns, went into temples. Those temples became centres of landholding and banking [2].

• A strong king alongside strong villages. The Cholas had a centralised royal core, with Rajaraja I reorganising the government. Below it, local bodies ran their own affairs: the ur, the sabha (seen in the Uttaramerur inscriptions) and the nagaram. This shows that early medieval Indian states were not simply rule from the top down.

• The Pallava-to-Chola shift was a handover, not a break, and the navy made the Cholas unusual.
• The Cholas took over the Pallavas' temple style, Sanskrit learning and bilingual Tamil–Sanskrit inscriptions [2].
• Their navy reached Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, which made them rare among Indian land empires.

Related concepts

• Vijayalaya

Read more

• Rise of the imperial Cholas