Rajaraja Chola I

Also called: Rajaraja I · Topic: Southern Dynasties: Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"

Meaning

Rajaraja Chola I (also called Rajaraja I) was a Chola king who came to the throne in 985 CE and ruled for about three decades. Britannica dates his reign 985–1012 CE [4]. He took parts of present-day Karnataka and Andhra, northern Sri Lanka including Anuradhapura, and the "islands of the sea" (most historians say these were the Maldives). He also built the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur.

He matters because he turned the Cholas into an empire by land and by sea. He was the first Chola ruler to clearly use a navy to win new lands. His son Rajendra I built on this base.

Explanation

Background: how the empire was built

• Rajaraja came to the throne in 985 CE. He ruled for about 30 years (985–1012 CE according to Britannica) [4].
• Land conquests: he took parts of present-day Karnataka and Andhra.
• This pushed the Chola border deep into the Deccan.

• It also brought the Cholas face to face with the Western Chalukyas, who became long-term enemies.

• Sea conquests: his inscriptions record the conquest of the "islands of the sea".

• Most historians identify these with the Maldives. This is an identification, not a name written in the record.

• He also took northern Sri Lanka, including Anuradhapura, the old Sinhala capital.

• Why it matters: this is the first clear sign that the Cholas used the navy as a tool of empire, and not only to protect trade.

The Thanjavur temple: Brihadishvara (Rajarajeshvaram)

• Patron: Rajaraja I. The temple is also called Rajarajeshvaram, after him.
• Deity: Shiva. The Cholas were mostly Shaivite (worshippers of Shiva).
• Name in its inscriptions: Dakshina Meru, "the Meru of the south". Meru is the holy mountain of the gods [2].
• Building dates:
• Work began around his 19th regal year (1003–04 CE) [2]. A regal year is a year counted from the start of a king's reign.

• He consecrated it with his own hands in his 25th regal year (1009–10 CE) [2]. To consecrate a temple means to make it holy and open it for worship.

• Style and size:

• The vimana (the tall tower over the sanctum, the inner room that holds the god's image) rises 59.82 metres [2].
• It has 13 talas (storeys) [2].
• It is topped by an eight-sided (octagonal) shikhara (the crowning top of the tower) [2].

Religion and trade: the Nagapattinam vihara

• Rajaraja was a Shaivite king, but he helped a Buddhist vihara (monastery) come up at the port of Nagapattinam.
• The vihara was built by the ruler of the Srivijaya Empire, which lay in present-day Malaysia–Indonesia.
• The point:
• A Shaivite king let a foreign Buddhist king build on his coast.
• This shows that trade and good ties mattered more than religious differences.

Results: what he left behind

• For his son Rajendra I (r. 1014–1044 CE, according to Britannica) [4]:
• Rajendra inherited a strong empire and a working navy.

• He used them for the Ganga expedition (1023 CE) and the Srivijaya naval expedition (1025 CE) [4].

• In Sri Lanka: northern Sri Lanka stayed part of the Chola empire for about half a century. Vijayabahu I later drove the Cholas out.

• The hidden cost:
• His conquests opened wars on many fronts: the Western Chalukyas, the Pandyas and a rebellious Sri Lanka.
• These constant wars later drained the treasury.
• By the 13th century the shrunken empire was absorbed by the Pandyas.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: late 10th to early 11th century CE. He ruled from 985 CE for about three decades (985–1012 CE according to Britannica) [4].
• Dynasty: the Cholas, a Tamil dynasty of south India.
• Key places:
• Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu): his capital and the site of the Brihadishvara temple.
• Nagapattinam: the port where the Srivijaya king's Buddhist vihara was built.
• Anuradhapura: the old Sinhala capital in northern Sri Lanka.

• The Maldives, as most historians read the "islands of the sea".

• Key people: Rajaraja I, his son Rajendra I, the Srivijaya ruler, and Vijayabahu I of Sri Lanka.

• How we know:
• His own inscriptions, which record the conquest of the "islands of the sea".
• The temple inscriptions at Thanjavur, which call the temple Dakshina Meru and give its regal-year dates [2].

• Archaeological Survey of India records of the temple's measurements [2].

• Heritage status: the Thanjavur temple is part of the "Great Living Chola Temples", a UNESCO World Heritage property. "Living" means worship has never stopped there [3]. The other two temples in this group are at Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram [3].

Don't confuse with

• Rajaraja II: he built the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram, whose vimana is 24 m tall [3]. Rajaraja I built the Thanjavur temple, whose vimana is 59.82 m tall [2].
• Rajendra I: he was Rajaraja I's son. He led the Ganga expedition (1023 CE) and the Srivijaya expedition (1025 CE) [4], took the title "Gangaikondachola", and built Gangaikondacholapuram. Rajaraja conquered the Maldives and Sri Lanka. He did not attack Srivijaya.
• Gangaikondacholapuram temple: it was built by Rajendra I and completed in 1035 CE. Its vimana is 53 m, with recessed corners and a curving line [3]. The Thanjavur temple is taller (59.82 m), with a straight and severe tower [2].
• Nagapattinam vihara: it was built by the Srivijaya ruler, with Rajaraja's support. It was not built by Rajaraja himself, and it is a Buddhist building, not a Shaiva one.

Prelims Hooks

• Rajaraja I came to the throne in 985 CE. Britannica dates his reign 985–1012 CE [4].
• The "islands of the sea" in Rajaraja's inscriptions are identified by most historians with the Maldives.
• Brihadishvara (Rajarajeshvaram), Thanjavur: called Dakshina Meru in its inscriptions. Its vimana is 59.82 m, with 13 talas and an octagonal shikhara [2].
• The Thanjavur temple was begun c. 1003–04 CE and consecrated by Rajaraja himself in 1009–10 CE [2].
• Trap: the Great Living Chola Temples (UNESCO) are Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram. Darasuram was built by Rajaraja II, not Rajaraja I [3].
• Order of events: Rajaraja takes the throne (985) → Thanjavur temple consecrated (1009–10) → Ganga expedition (1023) → Srivijaya expedition (1025) → Gangaikondacholapuram temple completed (1035).

Mains Points

• The navy as a tool of state policy.
• Rajaraja's campaigns to the Maldives and northern Sri Lanka made the navy a tool of empire.
• This prepared the way for Rajendra's 1025 CE Srivijaya strike, which aimed to keep sea routes open [4].

• Useful for questions on India's early sea-going tradition.

• The temple as a political statement.

• By calling the Thanjavur temple Dakshina Meru [2], Rajaraja presented his kingdom as the centre of the sacred world.
• Because worship has never stopped there, UNESCO lists it as a "living" heritage site [3].

• Temples were also centres of the economy, linked to Chola village self-government.

• Faith did not block trade, but conquest had a cost.

• A Shaivite king helped a Buddhist vihara at Nagapattinam for the Srivijaya ruler. Trade and diplomacy mattered more than sect.
• But his wars on many fronts (Western Chalukyas, Pandyas, Sri Lanka) started a pattern of overstretch.
• This pattern drained the treasury, and in the 13th century the empire was absorbed by the Pandyas.

Related concepts

• Brihadishvara temple
• Larger Leiden plates
• Chudamani Vihara
• Rajendra Chola I
• Gangaikondacholapuram
• Shrivijaya
• Chola naval expedition to Shrivijaya
• Kulottunga I

Read more

• Rajaraja and Rajendra: empire and the navy