The successions of Chola kings from Vijayalaya to Sundara-Chola Parantaka II have so far presented no difficulty.  The statement of the Tiruvalangadu plates regarding the reigns of the princes Rajaditya alias Kodandarama and Arikulakesarin alias Arinjiga or Arindama, sons of Parantaka I, cannot be accepted literally.  The one died as Viceroy of Tondai-mandalam even before his father and the other during the reign of Gandaraditya.  Before, therefore, going on to the reign of Uttama-Chola, it is necessary to fix approximately at any rate the period of rule of Sundara-Chola who succeeded Gandaraditya under the surname Rajakesarivarman[8] and of his son Parakesari Aditya II Karikala.  Sundara-Chola’s latest year of reign as given in his inscriptions is the 5th[9].  But we have seen above that in the 9^th year of his reign a fierce battle was fought in Ceylon with the king of that island and that the Chola general Siriyavelan fell in it.  This shows that Sundara-Chola should have reigned at least for nine years or roughly ten years, though his dated inscriptions which are later than his 5^th year are not forthcoming.  When did Sundara-Chola succeed to the throne?

Parakesarivarman  Aditya II, surnamed Karikala and Rajaraja I surnamed Arunmolivarman were the two sons of Parantaka II, and Kundavai, his daughter.  The Leyden plates say that Aditya II as a boy played supportively in battle with Vira-Pandya and was his chosen successor to the Chola throne.  In inscriptions he is referred to as Parakesarivarman who took the head of Vira-Pandya.  It is also stated that he killed the Pandya king in battle and set up his lofty head as a pillar of victory[10].  He seems to have had a short reign only, as noted in the sequel, and nothing else worthy of note is recorded of him in inscriptions.

We have stated that Parakesarivarman Uttama-Chola Madhurantaka was the son of Gandaraditya and that after the death of his father, he had to wait to ascend the throne till his cousin brother Sundara-Chola and the latter’s son Aditya II Karikala had reigned and died.  It might have been so for the reason that he was an infant at the time of his father’s death, or that the troubled state of the country required a man of maturer years at the helm of affairs.  At any rate, his claim was set aside for the time being.  Contrary to the usual order, according to which he ought to have been a Rajakesarivarman, his predecessor Aditya II being Parakesarivarman, he too was called a Parakesarivarman, evidently because he was the son of a Rajakesarivarman and succeeded to the throne not by the right he possessed but at the request of his cousin’s son Rajaraja I who was the chosen successor.  For, according to the Tiruvalangadu plates, after the death of Aditya II Karikala, the people wanted Arunmolivarman his brother to be their king, but that noble prince refused to accept the offer saying that so long as his uncle Uttama-Chola was desirous of dominion, he would be satisfied with the heir-apparentship[11].

In the Mahalingasvamin temple at Tiruvidaimarudur, there is an inscription which couples the 13^th year of Uttama-Chola with Kaliyuga 4083 thus yielding 969 A.D. as the initial date of his reign.  Uttama-Chola seems to have reigned for at least 16 years, which is the date quoted in the Madras Museum plates of this king.

Rajaraja’s achievements are fully described in the introduction to Volume II by Mr. Venkayya.  His son was Rajendra Chola I, who was a greater monarch than his father and carried the Chola arms into regions never penetrated before.  During the lifetime of his father he seems to have been entrusted with the affairs of the country.  No inscriptions of Rajendra-Chola prior to his third regnal year are found.  Evidently, during these three years, he was ruling as co-regent with his father.  According to Professor Kielhorn the reign of Rajendra-Chola commenced between 27^th March and 7^th July 1012 A.D[12].

Between the third year and the twelfth he seems to have undertaken and carried out successfully a vast scheme of conquests in many directions.  In some at least of these, he merely acted as a deputy of his father.  When he ascended the throne he found the Chola power firmly established.  He had only to carry on to its legitimate conclusion the ambitious scheme of expansion started in the previous reign.  Before his father Rajaraja could embark on his career of conquests he had to enlist and train up an army, but Rajendra-Chola had inherited “the great warlike army” whose services are referred to in every inscription.  From some of his Tamil inscriptions it is learnt that this army of his was commanded by Solamuvendavelan and that Narakkan Raman the commander of Rajaraja’s forces and the superintendent of the building operations of the Brihadisvara temple at Tanjore continued to hold the same office till at least the 32^nd year of Rajendra-Chola[13].  His inscriptions up to the 5^th year mention the conquests of Idaiturai-nadu, Vanavasi, Kollippakkai, Mannaikkadakkam and Ceylon.  Idaiturainadu has been identified with Ededore “2,000” lying between the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra comprising a large part of the present raichur district.  Vanavasi is identical with Banavasi in the North Kanara district and Kollippakkai must have been included in the Western Chalukya kingdom somewhere in the Hyderabad State, for it was set on fire by Rajadhiraja I in the course of a war against Somesvara I and Vikramaditya VI, and is mentioned as Kollipake in an inscription of Jayasimha II[14].  The capture of Kollikppakkai must have been effected as a result of the war against the Western Chalukya Irivabedanga Satyasraya conducted under the direct leadership of Rajendra-Chola while Rajaraja was yet living.  A record of Uttattur states that in this war a certain Rajamalla Muttaraiyan who was placed in charge of the elephant troops was killed while piercing the elephant of Satyasraya under the orders of the king.  This must have happened on the occasion when, according to the Hottur inscription[15], “Nurmadi-Chola[16] Rajendra (i.e., Rajendra-Chola I) had collected a force numbering 900,000, had pillaged the whole country, had slaughtered the women, the children and the Brahmanas and taking the girls to wife, had destroyed their caste.”  The Hottur record is dated in A.D. 1007, but the Uttattur inscription belongs to the 3^rd year (A.D. 1013-14) of Rajendra-Chola I.  We cannot help remarking with regret on the striking infringment of the ancient moralities of war by this king, however great his military achievements were.  In place of Mannaikkadakam the Kanyakumari inscription states that Rajendra-Chola made Manyakheta the playground for his armies and accordingly it looks as if Mannaikkadakkam is identical with Manyakheta, as already suggested by me in Ep. Ind., Vol. XVII.  Mannaikonda-Chola seems to be one of the surnames assumed by the king in commemoration of his conquest of Manyakheta (also known as Mannaikadakkam or simply Mannai).  Under this name a pavilion was erected in the Siva temple at Tiruvorriyur[17].  In all probability Rajendra-Chola I had to quell some insurrections in these places.

During the reign of Rajraja I, the Chola authority was firmly established over the northern half of Ceylon and this is proved by the existence of his inscriptions there and by the grant of revenues of certain villages in Ceylon to the temple at Tanjore which was built by him.  Rajendra-Chola I claims in his inscriptions “to have seized the crown of the king of Ilam on the tempestuous ocean, the exceedingly fine crown of his queens, the beautiful crown and the pearl necklace of Indra which the king of the South, i.e., the Pandya had previously deposited with that king of Ilam and the whole of Ila-mandala on the transparent sea.”  That the Pandya king deposited his crown and apparel with the king of Ceylon is mentioned in the 53^rd chapter of the Mahavamasa and the Pandya inscriptions mention the necklace of Indra as an heirloom of Pandya kings.  According to the account given in the Mahavamsa, king Mahinda V, in the 36^th year of his reign, was captured together with his queen by the Chola army and sent as prisoner to the Chola king.  Among the booty was the crown that was preserved by inheritance, the priceless diamond bracelet that was a gift of the gods, the sword that could not be broken and the sacred fillet.  King Mahinda V died in the 48^th year of his accession in the Chola country after spending twelve years in captivity.  So, it becomes clear that Rajendra-Chola completed the conquest of Ceylon  which was begin in the reign of his father.  Thereafter for several years Ceylon formed a province of the Chola empire and was surnamed Mummadi-Solamandalam, after the well-known surname Mummadi-Chola of Rajaraja I.  According to the Mahavamsa these events took place in A.D. 1036, while the Tamil inscriptions show that they must have happened before 1017 A.D.  Professor Hultzsch has shown in his article entitled “Contributions to Singhalese chronology” that there is an error of some 23 years in the chronology of this part of the Mahavamsa.  Applying this correction, the two accounts which of course refer to the same events, can be made to synchronise.

Between the 5^th and the 6^th years of Rajendra-Chola’s reign, the province of Malabar was also added to his conquests.  The Tiruvalangadu plates state that Rajendra-Chola appointed his son Chola-Pandya as Viceroy of the Pandya country, as well as of the newly conquered Kerala dominions.  He seems to have adopted this step seeing that the Pandyas had ever been a source of trouble to the Cholas from the time of Parantaka I.  The Chola Pandya viceroy appointed by him has been identified with Jatavarman Sundara-Chola-Pandya whose Mannarkoyil inscription has shown that he was ruling contemporaneously with Rajendra-Chola I.  It may be noted that the appointment of members of the Chola family as viceroys of conquered territories started by this king was continued in the successive reigns[18].

Between his 7^th and 9^th year Rajendra-Chola was engaged in subduing the seven and a half lakhs country of Irattapadi.  This was the country of the Western Chalukya kings ruled over at this time by Jayasimha II (A.D. 1018-1042).  In his own inscriptions, Jayasimha claims to have defeated the Cholas.  As both of them boast of having defeated each other, the fact ought to have been either that the success was on both sides alternately or that neither of the two obtained lasting advantage.  Along with the Keralas he is stated to have taken possession of the island of Sandimat.  What this island is, is not known.

The inscriptions of his twelfth year mention a number of places, which do not appear in the list of conquests mentioned in the records of his ninth year.  During these three years, he must have carried on an extensive campaign.  He is said to have taken Sakkarakottam, Maduramandalam, Namanaikkonam, Masunidesam and Panchappalli ; to have defeated a certain Indraratha of the lunar race at Adinagar and to have taken him and his family captive ; to have captured Odda-vishaya and Kosalai-nadu ; to have defeated Dharmapala and annexed Dandabutti ; to have subdued Ranasura of Takkana-Ladam ; to have overcome Govindachandra of Vangaladesa ; to have put to flight Mahipala and to have taken Uttara-Ladam and the Ganga.

Of the places mentioned here, it may be noted that Sakkarakottam has been identified by Rai Bahadur Hira Lal with Chakrakota, 8 miles distant from Rajapura in the Bastar State, which was under the rule of king Dharavarsha when Kulottunga I was the Chola sovereign. Dr. Hultzsch is of opinion that Maduramandalam is different from the Pandya country and that it must refer to the northern Mathura on the Yamuna river.[19]  Here it may be noted that one of the kings of Rajapura called himself Madhurantakadeva perhaps on account of his capture of Madhura.  It is not likely that he could have marched against Madhura of the south to earn this title.  Consequently, it is reasonable to suppose that Madhura or Maduramandalam was the name of a district not far from Chakrakota bordering on the Vengi country.  Namanaikkonam, Panchapalli and Masunidesam have not yet been identified.  Professor Kielhorn suggests that Indraratha of the lunar race captured by Rajendra-Chola at Adinagar may be identical with that Indraratha who is mentioned in the Udaipur inscription as an enemy of Bhojadeva of Dhara.  Odda-vishaya is the province of Orissa and Kosalai-nadu is southern Kosala.  Dandabutti and its ruler Dharmapala are not known from any other sources.  Mr. R. D. Banerji is of opinion that the Takkana-Ladam of the Tamil inscriptions is distinct both from Gujarat (Lata) and the territory of southern Berar (Virata), and that is should correspond to Dakshina-Radha a part of modern Bengal.[20] Uttara-Ladam must, accordingly, denote the northern part of it.  Mahipala whom the Chola king deprived of his elephants and women, is identified by Professor Kielhorn with the Pala king Mahipala I.

Most of the places mentioned here were conquered by Rajendra-Chola I in his campaign against the north for the purpose of bringing the sacred water of the Ganges, which earned for him the title Gangaikonda-Chola.  The object of Rajendra-Chola in undertaking this campaign is referred to in the Tiruvalangadu grant thus[21] : -

“This light of the solar race, laughing at Bhagiratha who had brought down the Ganges to the earth from heaven by the power of his austerities, wished to sanctify his own country with the water of the Ganges.  Accordingly, he ordered the commander of the army, who had powerful battalions under his control, who was the resort of heroism and the foremost of diplomats, to subdue the enemy kings occupying the countries on the banks of that river.”

The conquest of Northern India by the Cholas must have taken place in 1023 A.D. the above account shows that it was a general of the Chola king who conducted his campaign.  But it is somewhat difficult to believe how a single Chola army could overrun within one year such a vast tract of country.  It is also said that after vanquishing the kings of the Gangetic countries Rajendra-Chola’s general caused the water of the sacred river to be brought to the Chola capital on the heads of the conquered kings[22].   A stone record of the king found at Ennayiram in the South Arcot district contains interesting information regarding the conquest of the northern region by the king himself, of his stately return march with all the splendour of the conqueror, of his wedding the Ganga and hence assuming the title Gangaikonda-Chola and building a hall called after the title at Ennayiram and feeding a number of people in it.  The wording of the inscription seems to indicate that Rajendra-Chola I was himself engaged in the expedition against the kings of Northern India (Uttarapatha) and if may not be unreasonable to suppose that he did not entrust the management of it merely to his generals as the wording of the Tiruvalangadu plates at first sight would imply[23].  Though the date of the record is effaced, the conquests enumerated in it show that it cannot be earlier than A.D. 1023.  It interesting to note that charities which it registers for the maintenance of a hostel and a college for religious instruction of every description, were made to secure success to the arms of the king, showing clearly that the king was at the time engaged in the war.  It must have been during this northern invasion that Rajendra-Chola had the lords of the Kuluta and the Utkala countries slain by his generals as reported in the Kanyakumari inscription[24].  The encounter with the Kuluta king is also referred to in an inscription of the king found at Mahendragiri where he is said to haveset up a pillar of victory.  The Kanyakumar inscription adds Kalinga to the list of the king’s conquests.  After this invasion of northern India there seems to have been considerable communication between the kings of northern India and the Chola country.  During the reign of Rajadhiraja I, the son and successor of Rajendra-Chola I, the title “Protector of the people of Kannakuchchi” (Kanyakubja, i.e., Kanauj) was bestowed on one of the royal princes.  This shows that Kanauj had close relations with the Cholas.  In an inscription of Kulottunga I found at Gangaikondacholapuram, the usual introduction of the inscriptions of Gahadavala king Govindarachandra occurs after the name of the Chola king.  As the prasasti of the gahadavala king was put in after the name of Kulotunga I, it seems as if the Cholas had some sort of suzerainty over that northern power.

In commemoration of this memorable campaign in which the waters of the Ganga were carried on the heads of the subdued kings, the Chola king founded a new city, which he called Gangaikondacholapuram.  In this city, Rajendra-Chola built a great temple on the model of the Rajarajesvara temple at Tanjore, built by his father.  This city was the capital of Chola emperors for about 100 years.  Its original name seems to have been Mudikondacholapuram, after another surname of the king, and afterwards changed into that of Gangaikondacholapuram.  It had also the name Gangapuri.

Great as were the military achievements of Rajendra-Chola I in the mainland of India, he acquired even greater fame by his navel engagements, which took place on the other side of the Bay of Bengal, a feat not attempted by any sovereign of India till his time.  It is said that he dispatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea, captured Samgramavijajotungavarman, the king of Kadaram, along with his vehicles and accumulated treasure, took Sri-Vishaya, Pannai, Malaiyur, Mayirudingam, Ilangasokam, Mappappalam, Mevilimbangam, Valaippanduru, Takkolam, Madamalingam, Ilamuridesam, Nakkavaram and Kadram.  Samgramavijayottungavarman, the king against whom this war was waged with great advantage of the Cholas was probably a successor fo Maravijayaottungavarman of the Sailendravamsa, the lord of Sri-Vishaya, who while extending the kingdom of Kataha, is reported in the Leyden plates to have built a lofty and beautiful monastery at Nagapattanam and called it Chudamanivarma-vihara, after the name of his father Chudamanivarman.  Since it is stated in the plates that both Rajaraja I and Rajendra-Chola I patronized the vihara, it appears that Samgramavijayaottungavarman, proving refractory, Rajendra-Chola had to take the extreme step of conquering the whole of his kingdom – in which must have been included all the places mentioned above – and depriving him of his wealth.  It is also learnt that Rajendra-Chola (Shih-li-li-cha-yin-lo-lo-chu-lo) sent an embassy to China, though we do not know what his intentions were in that direction[25].

Among the places mentioned in the final campaign of the king, Sri-Vishaya or Sri-Vijaya has been taken to be the same as San-fo-tsai of the Chinese annals and identified by Mr. George Coedes with the residency of Palambang in Sumatra ; Nakkavaram and Pappalam stand respectively for the Nicobar islands and a port of that name in Burma ; Takkolam has been identified with Takopa on the western part of the Malay Peninsula and Kadaram is located in lower Burma.  Rest of the places are not known.

We shall here notice a few facts concerning the relations of Rajendra-Chola I.  Kundavai, the eldest sister of his father married a chief named Vallavaraiyar Vandyadevar, who figures as a feudatory in some of the inscriptions of Rajendra-Chola I.  The king’s sister, the younger Kundavai, was married to the Eastern Chalukya Vimaladitya and this prince was in the Chola dominions for some time, though the object of his mission is not known.  Rajendra-Chola had several queens.  One of them was Panchavanmahadevi ; another was Danti-Pirattiyar[26] and a third Viramahadevi.  Of the last, an inscription of Rajadhiraja states that she entered the supreme feet of Brahma (i.e., died) in the very  year of demise of Rajendra-Chola I and was buried in the very tomb of that king[27]. This tomb in which the bodies of the two royal personages were deposited might possibly have been at Brahmadesam in the North Arcot district.  As the record is dated in the 26^th year of the reign of Rajadhiraja, it is inferred that, Rajendra-Chola died in that year, i.e., A.D. 1044 and that his queen Viramahadevi committed sati and was buried with him[28].  The Kanyakumari inscription settles the relationship of Rajendra-Chola I and his successors Rajadhiraja, Rajendradeva and Vira-Rajendra.  It states that like unto the three fires of a sacrifice there were born to Rajendra-Chola I three sons of whom the first was Rajadhiraja and that Rajendradeva and Vira-Rajaendra were his younger brothers[29].  Ammanga was the name of his daughter who married the Eastern Chalukya king Rajaraja I : their son was Kulottunga I.

King Rajendra-Chola I struck coins in his own name.  They are referred to in his inscriptions under the names Rajendrasolan-kasu and Madurantakadevan-Madai.  Besides these, Rajarajan-kasu issued in the time of Rajaraja I was also current in his time[30].

Of the literary activity displayed in the Chola country during the period of rajendra Chola’s rule, we know very little.  Saiva works of the type of Siddhantasaravali must have been largely written and patronized by the king who was himself a devout Saiva.  Jaina and Buddhist literature also had its share of royal patronage.  From the Upasakajanalankara of the Mahathera Ananda, a manuscript of which has been reviewed by Dr. Barnett in the Journal of the Royal Asiactic Society  for January 1901, pp. 87 to 90, it may be inferred that the king lent his patronage to Buddhist literature.  Dr. Barnett thought that the Chola-Ganga mentioned in the Upasakajanalankara was identical with Anantavarman Chodaganga.  This could not be, for, in the first place, the latter is not a Chola but an Eastern Ganga king who ruled at Kalinganagara which has been identified with Mukhalingam in the Parlakimedi estate, Ganjam district.  Pandubhumandala is stated to be the country where Chola-Ganga was ruling as a samanta (a subordinate ruler) perhaps as the viceroy of his father.  This fact makes the chances of his identity with Anantavarman Chodaganga very problematical.  Consequently, a different identification has to be sought for.  The king mentioned is in my opinion the famous Chola emperor Rajendra-Chola I who was also called Gangaikonda-Chola on account of his having subdued the country about Gangai, i.e., the Ganges.  His conquests, as we know, were many and spread practically over the whole of India and extended even to Ceylon.  The Tiruvalangadu grant clearly states that Rajendra-Chola I, also called Madhurantaka, took possession of the wealth of the Pandya king, placed there his own son Chola-Pandy for the protection of the Pandya country, and that he constructed in his capital the tank called Cholagangam evidently so named after one of his own titles.  This last fact decisively proves the identity of the king mentioned in the Upasakajanalankara with king Rajendra-Chola I.  The name Gunakara-Perumpalli which the king is stated to have given to one of the three viharas which he founded in Ceylon also clearly indicates that the builder was a Tamil king.

Rajendra-Chola I succeeded to the throne in A.D. 1012 and ruled till at least A.D. 1044.  His position as a samanta in the Pandya country must have been during the early years of his heir-apparently prior to A.D. 1012.  The identification of Cholaganga with Rajendra-Chola will thus alter the dates and the identification of the Mahathera Ananda, the author of Upasakajanalankara.

In addition to the surnames Gangaikonda-Chola, Mudigonda-Chola and Cholaganga, which have been noticed above, Rajendra-Chola also had the surnames Madurantaka, Nigarili-Chola and Pandita-Chola.  The last name shows that he must have been considered a scholar in Sanskrit.  It is also stated in the Siddhantasaravali of Trilochanasivacharya that Rajendra-Chola on the occasion of his visit to the Ganges saw there the best of the Saivas and brought them with him and settled them at Kanchi and other places in the Chola country.  Information about Rajadhiraja and his successors could be gathered from the elaborate introductions to their inscriptions given by Prof. Hultzsch in parts I. II and III.

Home Page