The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c8.454

c8.454

[When Rājarāja came to the throne the political condition of Southern India was favourable for his prospects. The Rāshṭrakūṭa domination of the country to his North-West and West had been crushed by the successes of the W. Chālukyas, and the hold of the latter on that territory was not yet secure. North of him the Eastern Chālukyas maintained their own, but were not threatening any invasion of Chōla lands. To his South and South-West the dominions of the Pāṇḍyas lay under his own rule, or were governed by local families of no great power. The power of the Gangas in Mysore and the neighbourhood had been largely diminished, as had that of the Noḷamba chiefs whose fortunes fell with those of their Rāshṭrakūṭa overlords. Early in his reign, as we know from the Tiruvālaṅgāḍu plates (see below s. v., A.D. 1017-18) the Pāṇḍya Amarabhujanga submitted to him; and so also did the Vaiḍumba chiefs who ruled over the country south of the Krishna river (below, s. v. A.D. 992-93). These last were threatened with danger from the W. Chālukyas and protected themselves by submitting to the Chōla king.]