The Colas c24.6

c24.6

The reign of Rājarāja was a period of continuous trouble. It coincides with an epoch of great changes in the political map of the South, and Rājarāja was obviously no great warrior or statesman. The Cōḷas were exposed to assaults from within and without. The Pāṇḍyas in the south and the Hoysalas in the west had by now risen to the rank of great powers led by rulers of exceptional merit, and the one chance of survival for the Cōḷas was the rivalry between these two new powers neither of which would let the ancient Cōḷa Kingdom fall a prey to the other. In the north-west the Cāḷukyas of Kalyāṇi had given way before the newly risen power of the Sēuṇas. In the north-east, the Telugu-Cōḍas of Nellore held an important place and their relations with the Hoysalas on the one side and the Kākatīyas on the other formed another remarkable chapter of the history of the time. Nearer home the Kāḍava chieftains of Kūḍalūr and Sēndamaṅgalam were not slow to take advantage of the growing weakness of their suzerain.