UPSC History South India from 700 CE to 1200 CE NCERT Extracts - The Chola Empire

• The founder of the Chola empire was Vijayalaya, who was at first a feudatory of the Pallavas. He captured Tanjore in 850.

Age of Rajaraja and Rajendra - I

• The greatest Chola rulers were Rajaraja (985-1014) and his son Rajendra I (1014-1044).
• Rajaraja destroyed the Chera navy at Trivandrum, and attacked Quilon.
• He also invaded Sri Lanka and annexed its northern part to his empire.
• The Coromandal coast and Malabar were the centres for India's trade with the countries of South-East Asia. One of his naval exploits was the conquest of the Maldive Islands.
• In the north, Rajaraja annexed the north-western parts of the Ganga region in north-west Kamataka, and overran Vengi.
• Rajendra-I carried forward the annexationist policy of Rajaraja by completely overrunning the Pandya and Chera countries and including them in his empire.
• The conquest of Sri Lanka was also completed. Sri Lanka was not able to free herself from the Chola control for another 50 years.
• Rajaraja and Rajendra I marked their victories by erecting a number of Shiva and Vishnu temples at various places.
• The most famous of these was the Rajarajeshwara temple at Tanjore which was completed in 1010.
• The Chola rulers adopted the practice of having long inscriptions written on the walls of these temples, giving a historical narrative of their victories. That is why we know a great deal more about the Cholas than their predecessors.
• One of the most remarkable exploits in the reign of Rajendra I was the march across Kalinga to Bengal in which the Chola armies crossed the Ganga, and defeated two local kings.
• To commemorate his occasion, Rajendra I assumed the title of Gangaikondachola (or "the Chola conqueror of Ganga').
• He built the new capital near the mouth of the Kaveri and called it Gangaikondacholapuram (or 'the city of the Chola conqueror of the Ganga').
• An even more remarkable exploit in the time of Rajendra I was the naval expedition against the revived Sri Vijaya empire.
• The Sri Vijaya empire, which had been revived m the 10 century, extended over the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java and the neighbouring islands and controlled the overseas trade route of China-
• The rulers of the Sailendra dynasty were Buddhists and had cordial relations with the Cholas. The sailendra ruler had built a Buddhist monastery at Nagapatam.
• The chola navy was the strongest in the area of some time and the Bay of Bengal was converted into a ‘Chola lake’.
• The chola rulers also sent a number of embassies to China.
• A Chola embassy of 70 merchants reached china in 1077 and, according to a Chinese account received “81,800 strings of copper cash”.
• The Cholas and the later Chalukyas clashed for the overlordship of vengi (Rayalseema), the tungabhandra doab and the Ganga country in north-west Karnataka.
• They destroyed Anuradhapur, the ancient capital of the rules of Sri Lanka and treated their king and queen harshly. These are blots in the history of the Chola empire.
• One of the remarkable features of the Chola administration was their encouragement to local self-government in the village all over their empire.

Chola Government

• The king was the most important person in the chola administration. All authority rested in his hands, but he had a council of ministers to advise him.
• The venetian traveller, Marco polo, who visited Kerala in the thirteenth century, says that all the soldiers in the body- guard burnt themselves in the funeral pyre of the monarch.
• When he died- a statement which may will be an exaggeration.
• The Cholas also had a strong navy, which dominated the Malabar and Coromandal coas and for some time, the entire Bay of Bengal.

• The Chola empire was divided into mandalams or provinces and these, in turn, were divided into valanadu and nadu.
• Sometimes, princes of the royal family were appointed governors of provinces.
• Officials were generally paid by giving them assignments of revenue-bearing lands.
• The Chola rulers built a network of royal roads which were usefiil for trade as well as for the movement of the army.
• Trade and commerce flourished in the Chola empire, and there were some gigantic trade guilds which traded with Java and Sumatra. The Cholas also paid attention to irrigation
• Some of the Chola rulers carried out an elaborate survey of land in order to fix the government's share of the land revenue.
• In addition to land tax, the Chola rulers drew their income from tolls on trade, taxes on professions, and also from the plunder of the neighbouring territories.
• The Chola were wealthy and could afford to build a number of towns and magnificent monuments.
• We know more about village government in the Chola empire from a number of inscriptions. We hear of two assemblies, called the Ur and the sabha or mahasabha.
• The Ur was a general assembly of the village.
• However, we know more about the working of the mahasabha. This was a gathering of the adult men in the brahmana villages which were called Agraharas,
• These were villages settled by the brahmanas in which most of the land was rent-free. These villages enjoyed a laige measure of autonomy.
• The mahasabha could settle new lands and exercise ownership rights over them. It could also raise loans for the village and levy taxes.
• The self-government enjoyed by these Chola villages was a very fine system.

Types of land

Chola inscriptions mention several categories of land :

• Vellanvagai - Land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors
• Brahmadeya - Land gifted to Brahmanas
• Shalabhoga - Land for the maintenance of a school
• Devadana, Tirunamattukkani - Land gifted to temples
• Paliichchhandam - Land donated to Jama institutions

Cultural Life

• The extent and resources of the Chola empire enable the rulers to build great capitals.such as Tanjore, Gangaikondacholapuram, Kanchi, etc,
• Temple architecture in the south attained its climax under the Cholas.
• The style of architecture which came into vogue during (his period is called Dmvida,
• The number of storeys varied from five to seven and they had a typical style which came to be called the vimana.
• A pillared hall called mandap, with elaborately carved pillars and a flat roof, was generally placed in front of the sanctum.
• This entire structure was enclosed in a courtyard surrounded by high walls, which were pierced by lofty gates called
• The temples generally enjoyed revenue-free grants of lands of their expenses.
• They also received grants and rich donations from the wealthy merchants.
• Some of the temples became so rich that they entered business, lent money, and took part in business enterprises.
• An early example of the Dravida style of temple architecture is the eight century temple of Kailasanatha at Kanchipuram.
• One of the finest and most elaborate examples of the style is, however, provided by the Brihadiswara temple at Tanjore built by Rajaraja
• This is also called the Rajaraja temple because the Cholas were in the habit of installing images of kings and queens in the temples, in addition to the deity.
• After the fall of the Cholas, temple building activity continued under the Chalukyas of Kalyani and the Hoysalas.
• The district of Dharwar and the Hoysala capital, Halebid, had a large number of temples. The most magnificent of these is the Hoysalesvara temple. It is the best example of what is called the Chalukyan style.
• The art of sculpture attained a high standard in south India during this period. One example of this was the giant statue of Gomateswar at Sravana Belgola.
• Another aspect was image-making which reached its climax in the dancing figure of the Shiva called nataraja. The nataraja figures of this period, particularly those in bronze, are considered masterpieces.
• The rulers of the various dynasties also patronized arts and letters during this period, Sanskrit was regarded as the language of high culture.
• A number of popular saints called nayanars and alvars who were devotees of Shiva and Vishnu flourished in the Tamil area between the sixth and the ninth centuries.
• They composed their works in Tamil and other languages of the area.
• The writings of these saints, which were collected into eleven volume under the name Tirumurais in the eariy part of the twelfth century, are considered sacred and are looked upon as the fifth Veda.
• The age of Kamban who is placed in the second half of the eleventh and the early part of the twelfth century is regarded as a golden age in Tamil literature.
• Kamban’s Ramayana is considered a classic in Tamil literature.
• Kamban is believed to have lived at the court of Chola king.
• Though younger than Tamil, Kannada also became a literary language during this period, The Rashtrakuta, the Chalukya and the Hoysala rulers patronized Kannada as well as Telugu.
• The Rashtrakuta king, Amoghavarsha, wrote a book on poetics in Kannada.
• Many Jain scholars also contributed to the growth of Kannada,
• Pampa, Ponna and Ranna are regarded as the three gems of Kannada poetry.
• Although they were under the influence of Jainism, they also wrote on themes taken from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
• Nanniah, who lived at the court of a chalukyan king began the Telugu version of the Mahabharata.
• The work begun by Nanniah was completed in the thirteenth century by