The Cholas

Introduction
The southern part of the Indian peninsula situated south
of the Krishna river was inhabited by the Dravidians. This
region was home to three powerful kingdoms- The Cheras,
the Pandyas and the Cholas. The Cholas were the most
powerful kingdom.
The Chola Empire arose in the 9th century. They had a
powerful navy which enabled them to develop India’s sea
trade in the Indian Ocean.
By the end of the 9th century, they defeated the Pallavas of
Kanchi and weakened the Pandyans bringing the Tamil
country(Tondamandala) under their control.
 Inscriptions Of The Cholas
 Inscriptions are the main source of information for the history of the Cholas.

 The use of inscriptions for marking various achievements was started by Rajaraja I.

 They are in the form of copper-plate grants, stone inscriptions and inscriptions made
on walls and pillars.

 A typical Chola copperplate inscription consists of five copper plates string in a copper
ring, the ends of which area secured with a Chola seal bearing in relief, a seated tiger
facing the right, two fish to the right of this.
 Inscriptions of the Cholas
 Some of the Copper-plate grants are:

 Anbil and Karanadi

 Kanyakumari stone inscriptions

 Inscriptions of the Cholas
 Set of 31 Copper sheets

 The inscriptions are written in Sanskrit and Tamil.

 They provide information on the following:
 Village administration and land revenue
 Royal orders on resolutions of village assemblies, judgements delivered
against persons guilty of theft, murder and other crimes.
 Public registrations like record of sales, mortgages and other forms of
property rights in village lands
 Inscriptions of the Cholas
 Uttaramerur inscriptions:
 Around 25 inscriptions, spanning reigns of around four Pallava kings, have been found at
Uthiramerur, a town in Tamil Nadu, which was later captured by the Cholas.
 There are inscriptions from the period of Parantaka Chola I, Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra
Chola I, and Kulothunga Chola I , indicating various gifts to the temples.

 The Leyden grant of Parantaka Chola preserved in the Museum of Leyden in Holland and
the Parakesari Uttama Chola are among the most important copper plate inscriptions.
 The Brihadeshwara Temple
 Brihadishvara Temple (originally known as Peruvudaiyar
Kovil) locally known as Thanjai Periya Kovil, and also
called Rajarajeswaram, is a Hindu temple dedicated to
Shiva located in South bank of Cauvery river in
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.
 It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplary
example of a fully realized Tamil architecture.
 It is called as Dakshina Meru (Meru of south).Built by
Tamil king Raja Raja Chola I between 1003 and 1010
AD, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage
Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along
with the Chola dynasty era Gangaikonda Cholapuram
temple and Airavatesvara temple.
 The temple stands amidst fortfied walls that were
probably added in the 16th century. The vimanam is
216 ft(66m) high and is the tallest in the world.
 Rajaraja Chola I

 Rajaraja Chola-I, who was born as Arulmozhi Varman, is also known as Arunmozhi
Udayar and respectfully as Periya Udayar. Rajaraja Chola is credited for ending the
30 year period of the stalemate of the Chola dynasty. As an able king, Rajaraja
Chola ruled for the period of next 20 years, achieving so many victories that when
he died in 1014 AD, he was beyond dispute the lord paramount of Southern India.

 The territory of Rajaraja Chola- I included modern day’s Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,
Kerala, Sri Lanka and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
 Rajaraja Chola I
 In the first 8 years of his reign, Rajaraja Chola-I consolidated and
augmented his army. Since ages, the Pandyas, Cheras and Sinhala were
against the Cholas. The first attack was on Chera King Bhaskara Ravi
Varman Thiruvadi and in this campaign in Kerala, Rajaraja I destroyed a
fleet in the port of Kandalur. However, some history records say that the
port was under Pandyas. This conquest led him to assume the title
“Mummudi Chola” which meant the wearer of three crowns Chera, Chola
and Pandya

 In 991 AD, a king named Mahinda V of Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon)
mutinied against him and fled to take refuge in the Southern region of
the Island. Rajaraja I, who was waiting for such an opportunity to attack
Sri Lanka, raided the island in 993 AD. The army of Rajaraja I crossed the
ocean by ships, burnt Sri Lanka and destroyed Anuradhapura, the capital
of the Sinhala kings of Sri Lanka. Rajaraja could win half of the northern
island of Sri Lanka and his son Rajendra Chola-I won rest of the territories
in the island.
 Rajendra Chola

 Rajendra chola-I, often describe as Rajendra the great, was a Tamil ruler of the Chola
Empire in south India between 1014-1044 AD.
 Rajendra succeeded his father Rajaraja in 1014 AD.
 Rajendera's ambitious campaign against the srivijaya (the southern malay peninsula and
sumatra) is dated to c.1025 AD.
 The extensive Chola empire under Rajendra included most parts of present-days south
India, with the river Krishna as the northern limit, Sri Lanka and the Laccadives and the
Maldives
 He carried out a successful military expedition to the River Ganges through Orrisa and
Bengal brought Ganges water to his new capital down in the Kaveri Delta,
Gangaikondacholapuram.
 Rajendra Chola

 Rajendra-I was the only the son of Rajaraja-I and queen vanavan Mahadevi alias
Tribhuvana Mahadevi (he must have at least three sisters, the younger kundavai,
the queen of Chalukya-Vimaladitya, a daughter called Mahadevi).
 Other major members of the royal household included queen mothers Dantisakti
Vitanki alias Lokamahadevi and Kundavai, the elder sister of Rajaraja.
 The nakshatra of Rajendra's birth was Tiruvatirai (Ardra).Rajendra chola-I died in
1044 CE.
 THE POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION OF
CHOLA DYNASTY
 Local Self – Government
 The Cholas were really good administrators. As they believed in local self Government , in
many villages the administration was carried out by themselves .
 The villages had three types of village assemblies – the ur , the sabha and the Nagaram
 The long inscriptions were found on the walls of temples , giving information about the ur
and the sabha

 The Ur – common type of assembly , where the land was held by all classes in the village ,
who were therefore the member of the local assembly
 The Sabha – Was an exclusively Brahmin assembly of the villages, where the lands belonged
to the Brahmins
 The Nagaram – Was an type of assembly of merchants and Belonged to localities where
traders and merchants were in a dominant position.
 Local-Self Government
 Villagers who owned land was chosen by vote to the council. This was a source of
popular strength because it united the people. All affairs concerning the village,
such as, collection of taxes, settlement of disputes and allocation of water we
looked after the committees
 The temple of Chola Kingdom was the center of social activity. It was not only a
place of worship but also a place where people gathered together.
 Some temples only use lands and participated in inland and overseas trade. The
lands donated to the temples were known as Devadaya and Devadana
 In some cases, instead of giving lands to temples, land – revenue in produce and in
gold to the temple treasury . The temples were also the biggest employers after the
state, producing work and means of livelihood to a large number of people
 The temples used to take care of the welfare of its workers by producing food
clothing and housing facilities and by arranging proper education and establishing
hospitals.
 The temple was also a center for education. The priests of the temple was the local
teachers as there were no separate schools. The schools were housed in the temple
courtyard . The students learnt their lessons in two languages Sanskrit and Tamil
 The Central Government

 The king was the most important person in the Chola adminstration as all authority was
vested in him.
 The entire Tanjore district, parts of Trichy, Pudukottai and South Arcot district formed the part
of the Chola administration.
 He has Council of Ministers to advise him.
 The officers were paid by giving them assignments in revenue-bearing lands.
 The king often went on tours in order to check on the administration.
 The princes were associated with the ruling sovereigns and actively employed in peace and
war
 The Central Government looked after external defence, internal peace and order promotion
of general prosperity and cultural progress of the empire.
 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

 The Chola Government was marked

for its uniqueness and innovativeness.
The Chola system of administration
was highly organised and efficient.
 The empire of the Chola rulers was
divided into provinces called
mandalams. The mandalam were
further divided into administrative
sub units called the valanduor nadu.
Princes from the family relations of
the Cholas were appointed as
provincial governors. This was done
with the explicit intention to negate
the possibility of rebellions.
 The Revenue
 The revenue system (zamindari system ) was introduced by lord Cornwallis in 1793 through
the parliament settlement act in the provisions of Bengal ,Bihar ,Orissa and Varanasi

 The main source of revenue of the Chola are land revenue and trade tax were the main
source of income
 The revenue of the Chola kingdom came from taxes on land and produced of the land and tax
on trade. Part of revenue was kept for the king the rest wad used by public workers such as
buildings of roads and tanks, salaries of officials on paying for the upkeep of the army ,and on
buildings of temples.
 The taxes on land were collected by officials from the village councils.
 The chola rulers issued there coins in gold,sliver and copper
 Under the chola dynasty there were around 400 different types of taxes vetting and Kalahari
was most common
 The Revenue
 Land revenue – the land revenue was the main source of
income of the Chola government. It is a tax or revenue
levied on Agriculture production on land it is either
Collected as the Percentage of the share of total crops or
as a monetary . Value is fixed on land to be paid by the
farmer
 There are 3 types of land revenue Zamindari, kyotwari
and mahatwari
 Agriculture was an important occupation and therefore
special attention to improving and maintaining the facility
of the irrigation
 The practice of the land survey on regular intervals
classified on quality after which the amount of revenue
was revised
 A proper land survey was made .The land were classified
in taxable and non taxable land
 The amount of land revenue Collected during chola
period was one sixth or one third according to the facility
of the land
 The Chola Art
The Chola dynasty is renowned
for its bronzes. The Cholas were
mostly devout Hindus and they
sculped and the cast exquisite
bronze figures to be placed in
Hindu temples. The masterpiece
of chola sculpture is the famous
Nataraja or the dancing Shiva
image at the great temple
Chidambaram. Numerous such
images were also moulded in
bronze.
 Decline of the Chola Empire
Rajendra Chola III was the last ruler of the
Chola dynasty. He ruled between the period
1246 to 1279 AD. Rajendra took effective
control of the dynasty and came to the
throne and defeated his brother, Rajaraja III.
His inscriptions described him as a brave
and cunning hero of the dynasty.
During the reign of Rajendra Chola III,
Pandyas destroyed the outer walls and
temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram.
According to some sources, Rajendra III was
killed in the Battle with Pandyas, however,
historians declined this theory and believed
he ruled up to 1280 after which there are
no inscriptions found of the Chola rulers.