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Chola Dynasty
This is one of the most established dynasties in terms of reigning peninsular India. There are records that trace back to the existence of this dynasty in the 3rd century BC referenced by Asoka who was a prominent Maurya King. The Chola Dynasty was one of the three powerful dynasties and ruled various parts of Tamil Nadu and the peninsular India until the 13th century.
The mainstay of the dynasty was the high cultivation areas in and around the bed of the River Kaveri. During their peak period between 9th and 13th century, they did have under their rule a very large portion of the land. There is historical proof that the entire Southern region beneath the River Tungabhadra was just one single province ruled by the Cholas. The peak period came under the rules of Rajaraja Chola I and then those who followed him to the throne Rajendra Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola, Virarajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola I, where the Chola dynastic was a trend setter and the foremost contender in areas of military, finances and culture not only in India, but over the entire South and south eastern parts of Asia. These were proved by the mission to Ganges that Rajendra Chola 1 spearheaded, the conquering of the naval regions of Sri Vijaya in the south eastern part of Asia and the many trips to the country of China.
The entire region spanning the southern Maldives until the lands in present day Andhra Pradesh in the northern banks of the River Godavari was under the Chola rule from 1010 to 1200. Raja Raja Chola brought the entire Southern India into the fold of Chola dynasty and also went on to conquer some parts of Colombo which is today’s Sri Lanka and also the Maldives Islands. He established his name in the northern part of India when his army won over the Pataliputra state by defeating Mahipala. He spread his kingdom as far as Malaysia and Indonesia when he waged war and won over Sri Vijaya. Their good days started to wane in the start of 13th century when the Pandya rulers started to become more powerful and starting defeating them.
Though the Chola dynasty waned, their literature and temple building were preserved for posterity. Even today, these temples and the Tamil literatures talk volumes of the power of Chola Kings. They were great thinkers and though beyond temples as being places where people just offered their prayers and instead looked at these as possible economical centres. They framed rules and regulations for a central government across India. They spread their aesthetic and architectural skills to places as far as the countries of the south eastern parts of the Asian continent. There is strong proof that Sejarah Melayu, the kings of Malacca are indeed the progeny of the Chola dynasties.
Origins
This dynasty is too old to even trace back when they came into existence and therefore, there is limited proof in this area. Their origins, if the available inscriptions and Tamil works are to be believed, could have been dated to a very long time back. The later rulers from whose time there are records are supposed to have mentioned a long royal ancestry. Going by the words of Parimelazhagar, known for his annotations of the Tirukkural, which is the oldest known Tamil classic, the first of the Cholas could be traced back to 100 CE.
There is no difference of opinion in the fact that just like the Cheras and Pandyas, the Cholas was a dynasty to reckon with and had a royal ancestral line up. Parimelazhagar also mentions that even in their bad days, the generosity of the rulers of these dynasties never came down and they continued to give big. The Cholas are also referred to as Killi, Valavan or Sembiyan. Kiili could have had its origin from kil in tamil meaning to engage in the activity of digging, meaning somebody who used to work on the fields. The earlier Chola kings had the reference of Killi with examples being Nedunkilli and Nalankilli and this gradually made away later on. Valavan could have meant the king of a country that is rich and bearing. This could have originated with the Tamil word valam – meaning fertility. Sembiyan could have been used to indicate the lineage to the great king Sibhi – an earlier ruler who was quite famous for his charity when he cut away parts of his own thigh to save a dove from an eagle. This story is also seen in the Jataka tales where the references are made to King Sibhi. As per the Tamil language, Chola meant a dynasty that is new born. This same meaning is conveyed when used in Sanskrit as Chola or in Telugu as Choda.
In spite of the many sources available, there is almost ignorable information existing on their origin or first lineage of rulers. Over the last 150 years, the researchers have used the literatures, Hindu songs of worship, the temple writings and other sources to track the existence or the origin of Chola Dynasty. It was found that references to this dynasty were found most in the works of the poets of the Sangam time. There are references to the cities that formed part of the Chola dynasty and the sea ports where the trade was conducted. There have been some references by Periplus Maris Erythraei. 50 years later, there is an ace researcher Ptolemy whose writings have given us information on the Chola cities and sea ports. There are references to many battles that were fought between the Cholas and Ceylon during 1st century BCE in the book called Mahavamsa, an integral part of the Buddhists. The Chola kings are also mentioned in Asoka’s Pillars, somewhere between 273 and 232 BCE as kingdoms that were supportive of the mighty king Asoka though they were not under the direct control of Asoka.
Cultural Contributions
The Cholas transformed the aesthetic sense, spirituality as well as poetry of the ancient Tamils under their rule. Though the changes were initiated during the Pallava rule earlier, the actual renaissance happened when the Cholas ruled. There are exemplary temples and statues made of bronze and stone that are still talking of the greatness and the knowledge of the earlier Chola rulers.
Art
The Cholas put the finances they accrued in their many victories to improvise on the aesthetic tastes of the people and the artisans during (c. 850 CE - 1250 CE). They imbibed a lot of learnings from their worldwide wars and used the learnings by putting them to proper use in the construction of grand temples that even today stand to talk of the artistic sense of the Cholas.
Literature
The Cholas have made contributions to the Tamil literature from 9th till the 13th century CE. This was considered to be the golden period in the culture of Tamils for more than one reason - for the creative literary works that were rendered as well as for the support that the rulers extended to the poets and the other literary works. The minute the Chola dynasty started coming of power indicated a complete turnaround for Tamil’s literary calibre. The rule brought all the people under one rule and had good security measures for the people and encouraged them to follow cultures other than their own leading to harmonious co-existence. The people spoke Tamil as the local vernacular and the Tamil literatures in the genre of spiritual, everyday drama as well as politics.
Religion
The Chola rulers were followers of Hinduism and unlike the Pandya or the Pallava counterparts, the popularity of other religions like Buddhism or Jainism was never a distraction to them. They completely believed in Hinduism and were followers of Shaivism in particular. All over the Chola literature, we have seen more than enough proof of the faith that Karikara Chola had over Lord Siva. One of the Chola Kings Kocengannan is also considered to be a saint in the literatures as well as the Shaivite Hindu books.