Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s13: 13. Chōlas
Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s13
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13. Chōlas
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While, after the overthrow of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas in 973, the Western Chālukyas and the Kalachuryas in succession dominated the north-west of the Mysore country for 210 years to 1183,—after the overthrow of the Gangas by 1004,¹ the Chōlas dominated the south and east of the country for 112 years to 1116. The Chōlas² were one of the oldest royal lines known in the south of India, being mentioned in the edicts of Aśōka in the third century B.C. They were Tamil, and their original capital was at Oreiyūr (now known as Warriore), near Trichinopoly. But the later capital, which is the one principally identified with them, was Tanjore.
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¹ The exact date of the event is not known, but the earliest mention I have met with of the conquest of Gangavāḍi is in the 19th year of Rājarāja (Mb 123).
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² The name as written in Tamil is Śōḻa or Śōḻa; in Kannaḍa it is Chōḻa; and in Telugu appears as Chōḍa (for the Eastern Chālukya kings).
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Of their early history little or nothing has been recovered, but a few details for the first and second centuries appear in a recent publication.¹ It is not till the tenth century that anything definite is known about them, and even then their practice of dating inscriptions only in the regnal year of the king afforded no basis for framing the chronology of the line; while the names adopted by many of the kings were themselves misleading, being mere royal titles. The first actual date which gave a clue was in a Ganga inscription of 950 in Mysore (Md 41). This contained the statement that the Ganga king Būtuga, who was aiding the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Kannara or Krishna III in his war against the Chōlas, slew the Chōla king Rājāditya at Takkolam (near Arkonam), thus bringing the war to a close. Chōla inscriptions dated in the Śaka era were also found in other parts of Mysore, and eventually in the Madras country too. A chronology of the Chōlas from the tenth century, when they first came into prominence, has thus been constructed, the calculations being made by Dr. Kielhorn (see *EI.* viii. App. ii. 21), and it would seem that contact with the Gangas and other powers to the north first led them to adopt the Śaka era in dating their inscriptions.² After the twelfth century the Chōlas ceased to be formidable.
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¹ See note 2, p. 19 above.
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² Unlike those of other royal lines, the Chōla inscriptions, instead of being on separate slabs of stone set up at the site of a grant, are mostly inscribed on the basement and outer walls of temples, in long single lines that go right round the building. The earlier ones in Mysore are generally in Kannaḍa, but the majority are in Tamil, and there are even some in the Tamil language but in Kannaḍa characters.
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The following is a table of the Chōla kings thus deduced. They had the titles Parakēsarivarmma and Rājakēsarivarmma alternately, beginning with the first:—
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TABLE
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The first event which brought the Chōlas into contact with Mysore was in 921. At that time they had uprooted the Bāṇas, and the Chōla king Parāntaka conferred the Bāṇa sovereignty on the Ganga prince Prithivīpati, giving him the name Hastimalla (SII. ii. 387). The next event was the death of the Chōla king Rājāditya in 949 by the hand of the Ganga king Būtuga. This, according to Md 41, may have been effected by an act of treachery, but the large Leyden plates give a different version (ASI. iv. 207). The occasion was war between the Chōlas and the Rāshṭrakūṭas, in which Krishna or Kannara III, the Rāshṭrakūṭa king, was aided by Būtuga, who was his brother-in-law. The scene of the tragedy was at Takkolam (near Arkonam), and it brought the war to an abrupt termination. Krishna-Rāja, thus victorious, assumes in Tamil inscriptions the title *Kachchiyun-Tanjaiyun-koṇḍa* (capturer of Kāñchī and Tanjore), and seems to have established his power for a time over the Chōla territories. He also rewarded Būtuga by giving him the Banavase Twelve-Thousand province, the north-west of Mysore, which, added to the provinces north of it that formed the dowry of his bride, carried the Ganga territories once more far up towards the Krishna river.
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But the tide turned in the time of Rājarāja. The Chōlas had by that time carried their arms up to Kalinga on the east coast, and made Vengi, the Eastern Chālukya territory, an appanage of the Chōla empire, Rājarāja’s daughter being married to the Eastern Chālukya king Vimalāditya. The wave of conquest was then directed to the west, against the Western Chālukyas, in the course of which the Ganga territory in Mysore was invaded. We accordingly find Rājarāja established near Hoskōte in 997 (Ht 111). But by 1004 his son Rājēndra-Chōla, who was in command of the Chōla army, succeeded in capturing Talakāḍ, the Ganga capital, and brought the Ganga power to an end. The conquest of the south and east of Mysore, in an arc extending from Arkalgūḍ in the west, through Seringapatam, north by Nelamangala to Niḍugal, was speedily effected, and Rājēndra-Chōla gained the title Gaṅgaikoṇḍa-Chōla. The Changāḷvas, whose kingdom was in the Hunsūr tāluq and Coorg, were at the same time brought under Chōla subjection, and the Chōla general Pañchava-mahārāya, who had overcome the Changāḷvas in the battle of Panasoge, was rewarded by Rājarāja with the Arkalgūḍ and Yēlusāvira country, together with the title Kṣhattriya-śikhāmaṇi Koṅgāḷva. In the extreme north-east, connected with Niḍugal, was Heñjeṛu (now Hēmāvati, on the northern border of Sīra tāluq), a subordinate Chōla kingdom. These were the outposts of the new conquest.
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There is little doubt that the Chōlas contemplated the entire subjugation of Mysore. But in this they were foiled to the westward by the Hoysalas, who were now rising to power. Thus, Rājarāja’s general Apramēya is said, in 1006, to have encountered Poysala’s minister Nāgaṇṇa (TN 44), and to have won a battle over other Hoysala leaders at Kalavūr (Kaleyūr near Mālingi, opposite to Taḷakāḍ, on the other side of the river). Then, Pañchava-mahārāya, another of Rājarāja’s leaders, who had distinguished himself in the battle of Panasoge (Cg 46), and been invested with the title of Koṅgāḷva, conducted victorious expeditions along the west coast (Sr 140). But in Mysore the Koṅgāḷvas were opposed by the Hoysala king Nṛipa-Kāma in 1022 and 1026 (Mj 43, Ag 46), and made no way in extending the Chōla conquests in this country.
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The territory actually acquired by the Chōlas in Mysore was parcelled into provinces, which, according to their usual policy, were named after Chōla kings. The south of Gaṅgavāḍi, or that part of Mysore District, thus received the name Muḍikoṇḍachōla-maṇḍala; the north of Bangalore District was the Vikramachōla-maṇḍala; Kolār District was the Nikarilichōla-maṇḍala. The sub-divisions of these large provinces were termed valanāḍ. Thus, the southern portion of the first above named was the Gaṅgaikoṇḍachōla-valanāḍ, while that of the third was the Jayaṅgoṇḍachōla-valanāḍ. Towns were treated in the same way, so that Taḷakāḍ became Rājarājapura;
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Manalūr (Malūrpaṭṇa, near Channapaṭṇa) became Nikarili-chōlapura; Kuningil (Kunigal) became Rājēndrachōlapura. But Kolār retained its original name of Kuvalāla.
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The conquests of Rājarāja’s reign, as detailed in various inscriptions, are thus described in Cp 128, of his 23rd year. He destroyed the ships at the Kāndalūr Śālai (on the west coast), and with his victorious army conquered Vengai-nāḍ (the Eastern Chālukya territory on the east coast, between the Krishnā and Gōdāvari rivers), Gangapāḍi (the Ganga territory in the south and east of Mysore), Nuḷambapāḍi (the Noḷamba Pallava territory in the north of Mysore), Taḍigaivali (the west of Bangalore District), Kūḍa-malaināḍ (the Coorg hill country), Kollam (Quilon), Kaḷingam (the Kaḷinga Ganga territory on the east coast, up to Orissa), Īlā-maṇḍalam (Ceylon), the Iraṭṭapāḍi Seven-and-a-half Lakh country (the Raṭṭa or Rāshṭrakūṭa territory in the Dekhan), twelve thousand ancient islands of the sea (perhaps the Laccadives and Maldives), and deprived the Śēliyar (or Pāṇḍyas) of their glory at the very time when it was at the highest. In Mysore both he and his son specially patronised the temple of Piḍāriyār in Kolār, now known as the Kolāramma, and repeatedly endowed it, while Rājēndra-Chōla had the brick parts rebuilt in stone (Kl 109).
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Many of these conquests were really effected by Rājarāja’s son Rājēndra-Chōla, who was in command of his father’s army. But the conquests made by Rājēndra-Chōla and the trophies acquired by him in his own reign are thus described (among other records) in Nj 134 of 1021, his 9th year. They were—Yedatore-nāḍ (the north of Mysore District); Vanavāsi (Banavāsi, on the north-west frontier of the Mysore country); Kolḷipāke (a celebrated Saiva place, not identified); Manne (in Nelamangala tāluq, the Ganga royal residence); the crown of the king of Īlā (Ceylon), and the more beautiful crown of its queen; also the crown of Sundara and the necklace of Indra which the king of the South (Pāṇḍya) had given up to the kings of Īlā; the whole of Īlā-maṇḍala (Ceylon); the famous crown and the ruby necklace which were heirlooms worn by the Chēralas or Kēralas (kings of Malabār); many ancient islands; the superb crown of pure gold which Paraśurāma, when he uprooted the race of kings twenty-one times, had deposited in the inaccessible Chandimat island. He moreover defeated Jayasinga (the Western Chālukya king), who turned his back at Muśangi or Muyangi and fled. To these achievements are added in Kl 44 of ? 1023, his 12th year,—the Iraṭṭapāḍi Seven-and-a-half Lakh country (the Raṭṭa territory in the Dekhan); great mountains filled with the nine treasures; Śakkaragoṭṭam (Chakrakoṭṭa in Central India); Maduramaṇḍala (the Pāṇḍya territory of Madura); Nāmanaigakkonai, Panjappalli, and other places whose names are gone. But the information is supplied in Cp 82 of 1034, his 23rd year, or Nl 7 of 1038, his 27th. The above list of conquests is there extended as follows. He took Maśuni-dēśam; defeated Indiraviratan of the Lunar race in a great battle at Ādinagaravai, capturing his relations and family treasures; Oṭṭa-vishaiyam (Orissa); Kōsalai-nāḍ (in the Central Provinces); Taṇḍabutti (Daṇḍabhukti), after destroying Danmapāla (its king Dharmapāla) in a fierce battle; Dakkana-Lāḍam (southern Lāṭa), after a vigorous attack on Iraṇaśūram; Vangāla-dēśam (Bengal) from which Gōvindaśandan (Gōvindachandra), dismounting from his horse, fled; terrified Mayipāla of Sangottal in battle, capturing his elephants, women and treasures; and took Uttira-Lāḍam (northern Lāṭa), and even Gangai (the Ganges). He also sent many ships over the billowy ocean and captured Śangirāma-Viśaiyōttungapanman (Changirāma-Vijayōttungavarmma), the king of Kiḍāram (near Prome in Burma), seizing his fine elephants and the jewelled archway of his fort and palace gates; gained Śrivijaiyam, Pannai, Malaiyūr, Māyi-ruḍingam, Ilangaśōbam, Mā-Pappālam (in the Andaman islands), Mevilipangam, Valarppandār, Kulaittakolam, Mādamalingam, Ilāmuri-dēśam, Mā-Nakkavāram (the Nicobar islands), and Kiḍāram (in Burma). A good many of these names of persons and places are not identified, but the enumeration suffices to show the wide range of Rājēndra-Chōla's victorious expeditions. His son boasts (Nl 25) that his father had conquered from Gangai (the Ganga territory ¹) in the north to Ilangai (Ceylon) in the south, and from Mahōdai (Cochin) in the west to Kaḍāram (Burma) in the east. Few of the parts, however, thus attacked were retained. The invasions were evidently mere raids on a large scale, whose object was booty, especially crowns, crown jewels, and jewelled trophies of all kinds.
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¹ This might perhaps be taken to mean the Ganges, but Rājendra-Chōla is commonly described as the conqueror of Gangai and the East country, in which the former is unquestionably the Ganga territory, from the conquest of which he had the title Gangaikonda-Chōla.
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Rājādhirāja-Dēva had been associated with his father in the government for more than a quarter of a century, or (as Nl 25 and CB 21 say) had planted his own umbrella under the white umbrella of his father, and had shared in his career of conquest. He next succeeded to the throne, and the events of his reign are recounted in Dv 75. He bestowed crowns and the kingdoms subdued in the last two reigns on his uncles, brothers and sons. His treatment of captive kings was blood-thirsty and cruel, while he was as eager as his father to amass crowns and jewels. He beheaded the Pāṇḍya king Mānā-baranan on the field of battle, taking his golden crown set with large gems; had the Kērala king trampled to death by his elephant; sent Sundara-Pāṇḍiyan flying, and seized his state umbrella, his big fans made from the tail of the yāk, and his throne. He slew the king of Vēṇāḍ, destroyed the three kings of Irāmakum, and wrecked the ships of Villavan (the Chēra king) at Kāndalūr Śālai. He routed the army of Āhavamalla (the Western Chālukya king) and forced him to retreat, burnt Kollipākkai, and openly seized the jewelled crown of Vikramabāhu, the king of Ilangai (Lanka). When Vīra-Sālamēgan invaded the country from Īlam (Ceylon), he drove him off, took his sister and wife prisoners, and cut off the nose of his mother. And on his returning to revenge them, he slew him on the battlefield, and seized his golden crown set with large jewels. He also took the crown of Śrīvallavan Madana-rāja, a king of Īlam descended from Kannara (? Rāshṭrakūṭa king); and leading the army a second time to the north, chased away Gaṇḍan, Dinakara-Nāranan, Ganavati and Madiśūdanan, and burnt the palace of the Śalikkiyar (Chālukyas) at Kampili (on the Tungabhadrā, north of Bellary). Dv 76 adds a few more details. The tribute paid by the Villavar (Chēras), Mīnavar (Pāṇḍyas), Śalikkiyar (Chālukyas), Vallavar (Pallavas), Kōśalar, Vanganar, Konganar, Śintukar, Ayyanar, Śingalar (Singalese), Pangalar, and Āntarar (Āndhras), together with the revenue he obtained from one-sixth share of the produce of the land, he distributed among the Brāhmans, and performing the horse-sacrifice, seated himself on the throne with the name Jayangoṇḍa-Chōla. But he died in fighting against the Chālukya king Āhavamalla in the battle of Koppam (perhaps Kopana in the south-west of the Nizam's Dominions ¹) in 1052. An inscription at Annigere in Dharwar ² says that the wicked Chōla (Rājādhirāja), who had abandoned the religious observances of his family, penetrated into the Belvola country and burnt the Jain temples erected there by (the Ganga king) Ganga-Permāḍi, but that he eventually yielded his head to (the Chālukya king) Sōmēśvara (Āhavamalla) in battle and forfeited his life. On the other hand, a Chālukya inscription in Mysore (Sk 118) says the Chōlika (or Chōla king) valiantly died on the battlefield.³
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¹ See note, p. 16, Introd. to vol. ix.
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² KD. 441.
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³ āhavāṅanaḍoḷ Chōlikan ammi sattan.
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Rājēndra-Dēva, his younger brother, backed by the elder brother's army, had invaded the Iraṭṭapāḍi Seven-and-a-half Lakh country and erected a pillar of victory at Kollāpuram (Mb 107, Kl 107). It was in revenge for this that Āhavamalla attacked the Chōlas at Koppam. Rājēndra-Dēva was present at the battle, and when his brother died took command of the army and secured the throne. Notwithstanding that his brother the king had fallen, and that he himself was severely wounded and had lost many of his principal leaders, he contrived to slay the Chālukya king's younger brother Jayasinga, Pulakēśi, Daśavarmma, Nanni-Nulamba, and other princes without number, so that Āhavamalla fled in terror (Bn 108). Rājēndra followed the example of his brother in bestowing royal titles on his uncle, his brothers, his sons and grandsons (Bn 108).
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Of the time of Rājamahēndra, probably his son, perhaps the one to whom he gave the title Uttama-Chōla, there is only one inscription (Ht 36), of his 2nd year. It contains no historical information, and the reign was a very short one.
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We then come to Vīrarājēndra, of whom a long account is given in Cp 85, of his 4th year. He was a younger brother of Rājēndra-Dēva. He routed the army which had been sent against him into Vengai-nāḍ (the Eastern Chālukya territory); beheaded the great chief Śāmundarājan and cut off the nose of the beautiful Nāgalai; when Vikkalan and Singalan (the Western Chālukyas Vikrama and Jayasimha) engaged him in battle at Kūḍal-Sangamam (the junction of the Tungabhadrā and Krishnā), hoping to wipe out the disgrace of their former defeat, he gained the victory. He overcame Śingan of Kōśalai, Kētaraiyan, Māraiyan, Iraśayan, and others; and when Maduvanan fled, along with the other chiefs who had dismounted from their elephants, Āhavamalla also fled, leaving his wives, treasure, elephants, and other valuable spoils to the victor. He beheaded on the battlefield the king of Pottappi, Vāran, Kēralan, and Jananāta's brother; had the king of the South (Pāṇḍya), Śrīpallava's son Siruvan, and Virakēsari trampled to death by elephants, seizing all their crowns and jewelled decorations; drove the family of the Śengiraiyas and Śeralas into the western ocean; subdued the Iraṭṭas and captured their elephants; in a fresh battle cut off the heads of the chiefs Val..., Vanjipayyan, Piramadēva, Baṇḍāra-Toraiyan, Śattiyaṇṇan, Pattiyaṇṇan, Vīmanayan, and Vangāran; also of the Ganga, Nulamba, Kāḍava, and Vaidumba kings; and returned to his great city Gangai (perhaps Gangaikonḍaśōlapuram), near the great river.
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The next inscriptions are those of Rājēndra-Chōla II, Eastern Chālukya king on his father's side, but through his mother a grandson of the Chōla king Rājēndra-Chōla, and by his wife a son-in-law of Rājēndra-Dēva, who was also his uncle. He is better known as Kulōttunga-Chōla, the title he afterwards assumed in his 7th year. He is the Rājiga-Chōla whose designs are said to have been frustrated by the Chālukya prince Vikramāditya and the Pāṇḍyas of Uchchangi. Kl 108 of his 2nd year, and Cp 77 of his 17th, say that when still Yuvarāja he wedded the goddess of Victory by his heroic deeds at Chakrakoṭṭa, where he took tribute from the king of Dhārā, and captured troops of elephants at Vayirāgaram. He also routed the army of the kings of Kuntala (the Western Chālukyas), and put on the garland of victory over the North, while he inherited at the same time the crown of the South and of the country adorned with the Ponni (or Kāvērī). His white umbrella shone like moonlight all over the earth, and his tiger banner fluttered on mount Mēru. Many rows of elephants stood before him, sent as tribute by kings of remote islands, while outside his splendid capital lay the head of the runaway Pāṇḍya king, pecked by kites. He inflicted a total defeat on Vikkalan (the Chālukya), forcing him to retire in disorder to the west, his retreat being marked by dying elephants all the way from Nangili (in the east of Mulbāgal tāluq) to Manalūr and the Tungabhadrā. By this victory the Chōla acquired the two countries Ganga-maṇḍalam and Śinganam, a statement which, together with the line of the Chālukya retreat, indicates that the Chōlas had temporarily lost the Ganga country. He then resolved to take the Pāṇḍi-maṇḍalam, and when his armies marched forth for this purpose, it was as if the northern ocean was about to overflow the southern ocean. The five Panjavas (Pāṇḍyas) fled in terror to the forests. These he destroyed, planted pillars of victory in all directions, took possession of the pearl fisheries, the Podiyil mountain, where the three forms of Tamil (prose, poetry, and the drama) flourished, the central Śayyam (the Sahya mountains) where elephants are captured, the (river) Kanni and Gangai. He established colonies in all parts of the conquered country as far as Kottāru. He then seated himself on the throne solely for the receipt of tribute. Later inscriptions, down to Kn 12 of his 49th year, say that he caused the wheel of his authority to roll over all regions, so that the Minavar (Pāṇḍyas) lost their position, the Villavar (Chēras) became disconcerted, and the other kings retreated in disguise.
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By 1116, near the close of his reign, Talakāḍ, the old Ganga capital, had been retaken¹ by the Hoysalas, and Chōla dominion in the Mysore country brought to an end. This important capture was effected by Ganga-Rāja, a general of the Hoysala king Vishnuvarddhana, and probably a descendant of the old Ganga Rājas, being (as SB 45 says) a hundred times more fortunate than that former Rāja of the Gangas (under whom Talakāḍ and the kingdom were lost). Farther point is given to the event by his original name Rājēndra-Chōla being used for the Chōla king in Bl 58. A spirited account is contained in SB 90 and Ml 31 of how Ganga-Rāja summoned the fort to surrender, and how the Chōla governor Adiyama returned a defiant answer, saying, Fight and take it (if you can). This Ganga-Rāja did, driving out the Chōla chiefs who were present, and followed up his success by bringing under one umbrella all the districts which had become Chōla nāḍs. Putting to flight the Tigulas (the Tamil people) of Gangavāḍi, he caused Vīra-Ganga (the Hoysala king) to stand erect (or assert his independence).
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¹ The date is determined by Yd 6, the first to give Vishnuvarddhana the title Talakāḍu-goṇḍa, dated Saka 1038 (expired), Durmukhi, and Ch 83, which describes him as in the same year ruling in Talakāḍu and Kōlāla over the whole of Gangavāḍi as far as Kongu. Moreover, a village which Ganga-Rāja received as a reward for his exploit he made over to a Jain priest in 1117 (Ml 31).
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Some relics of Chōla dominion lingered on in the north-east of the Kolar District, where we have inscriptions of Vikrama-Chōla down to his 12th year (Ct 70). They are chiefly in the Chintāmani and Śrīnivāspur tāluqs. In Ct 160 of his 5th year, he is credited with the destruction of Kalinga and the conquest of Kaḍalmalai.
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At a still later period Kōnērinmaikoṇḍān made some arrangements connected with the Marudūr (Maddūr) agrahāra, through his agent there (Md 3, 7). But the Chōla authority in Mysore had long ceased, and the tables were now turned, for the Hoysalas became protectors of the Chōlas. One of the titles of Nārasimha II, the Hoysala king who came to the throne in 1220, was *Chōla-rājya-pratishṭhāchārya* (setter up of the Chōla kingdom). This was justified by the aid given to the Chōla king Rājarāja III, who in 1232 had been taken captive by the Kāḍava (Pallava) king Perunjinga at Śendamangalam in South Arcot. Nārasimha, on hearing of it, sent an army and set him free (*EI*. vii. 160; Gb 45). The next Hoysala king, Sōmēśvara, had also by 1237 entered into the Chōla country, defeated Pāṇḍya, and restored Chōla to his hereditary kingdom (Md 122). According to Ak 123 this was a Rājendra-Chōla. But two years later he had himself taken possession of the Chōla country and was ruling from there (TN 103), his residence being at Kannanūr (Nj 36) or Vikramapura (to the north of Śrīrangam in Trichinopoly), which, it is said (Bn 6), he had created for his pleasure in the Chōla-maṇḍala conquered by the might of his own arm, and there, with an interval in 1252, he was till 1254. Kp 9 of 1257 describes him as the talisman (*rakshāmaṇi*) or protector of Chōla.