A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c14: Chapter IX. The Balance of Two Empires
A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c14
- Language
- English
Contents
- c14.s1 Chālukyas of Kalyāṇi — 8 parts
- c14.s2 Eastern Chālukyas — 29 parts
- c14.s3 Cholas — 17 parts
- c14.s4 Rāshtrakūṭas — 18 parts
Chapter IX. The Balance of Two Empires
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General outline—Vijayālaya, Chola Āditya I—battle of Śrī Purambiyam—overthrow of Pallava Aparājita—Parāntaka I and his conquests—Rāshtrakūta Krishna II—battle of Vallāla—Indra III, Govinda IV, Amoghavarsha III, and Krishna III—Invasion of Chola country—battle of Takkōlam—results—Vengi and Malwa—Khottiga, Karka II, rise of Chālukya Taila II—Chola affairs after Parāntaka I—Rājarāja I and his work—Taila II and Paramāras—Satyāśraya—Vengi affairs—Chālukya-Chola war—end of Rājarāja’s reign—Rājendra I—Vikramāditya V, Jayasimha II—his interest in Vengi affairs and wars with Rājendra—Chola expedition against Śrī Vijaya—end of Rājendra’s reign—Someśvara I—his policy in Vengi and wars with Cholas Rājadhirāja I, Rājendra II, and Virarājendra—end of Someśvara I—Someśvara II—ambitious policy of Vikramāditya VI as Yuvarāja—death of Virarājendra—Adhirājendra, revolution, accession of Kulottunga I, and of Vikramāditya—end of Chola power in Ceylon—revolt in Pandya and Kerala suppressed—embassy to China—Vengi—Vikramāditya suppresses the Hoysala revolt—and takes Vengi—estimate of Kulottunga I—Vikrama Chola—Someśvara III—Rājarāja II, Kulottunga II, Rājadhirāja II—civil war in Pandya country, and Chola and Sinhalese intercession—Kulottunga III—his Pāndya campaigns—rise of Hoysala Vishnuvardhana under Jagadekamalla II and Taila III—Kākatiyas—Kalacuri Bijjala—Someśvara IV—Yādavas and Hoysalas put an end to Chālukya power—wars of Kulottunga III in the Telugu country.
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Polity—monarchy—royal household—officials—administrative divisions—taxes—rural autonomy—justice—police—condition of the people.
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THE emergence of the Chola power from obscurity, its rise to an imperial position and its conflicts—first with the Rāshtrakūtas from beyond the Tungabhadra and later with their successors, the Chālukyas of Kalyāni—form the dominant features of the history of the next 350 years (850-1200). The whole country south of the Tungabhadra was united and held as one state for a period of two centuries and more. The power of the new empire was proclaimed to the eastern world by the celebrated expedition to the Ganges which Rājendra I undertook and by the overthrow after an unprecedented naval war of the maritime empire of Śrī Vijaya, as well as by the repeated ‘embassies’ to China. In their wars with their enemies across the Tungabhadra, the Cholas were generally aided by the Eastern Chālukyas, a dynasty which drew closer and closer to the Cholas by marriage alliances until at last, in 1070, one ruler occupied both the Chola and the Vengi thrones. The result of this union was an intensification of the hostility of the Western Chālukyas. Towards the close of the twelfth century, the two major powers had become thoroughly exhausted by their conflicts and were on their decline. Smaller powers standing in a subordinate relation to them were beginning to show new vigour and getting ready to take advantage of the weakening of their suzerains and proclaim their independence—the Pāndyas in the extreme south, the Hoysalas in Mysore, and the Yādavas and the Kākatīyas in the northern Deccan.
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The Cholas built up a remarkably efficient administrative system which combined vigorous central control with a very large measure of local autonomy. The great temples of Tanjore and Gangaikoṇḍaśōlapuram as also those of Dārāśuram and Tribhuvani, not to speak of numerous smaller temples elsewhere, attest to this day the grandeur and the excellence of Chola architecture and sculpture. Other fine arts like painting, music, and dancing were liberally patronized. Literature flourished much more than ever before.
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The capture of Tanjore by Vijayālaya, some time before 850, and his founding of a temple there to the goddess Nishumbhasūdinī (Durgā) were the first steps in the rise of the Chola power. He was perhaps a Pallava feudatory at the time, and he must have wrested Tanjore from the Muttarayar who had transferred their allegiance from the Pallava to the Pāndya. The success of Vijayālaya meant the weakening of Pāndya influence north of the Kaveri and the strengthening of the power of Nripatunga who by the victory of Ariśil had already retrieved the Pallava power from the disgrace it had suffered from Śrīmāra Śrīvallabha (see p. 154).
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Now his successor, the Pāndya Varaguṇavarman II, invaded the Chola country to check the growing Pallava influence. This invasion began well enough, and Iḍavai, a village on the north bank of the Kaveri in the Chola country, was reached (c. 879). But Varaguṇavarman soon came up against a formidable combination. The forces that opposed him were led by Aparājita, the son of Nripatungavarman, who had become yuvarāja, the Chola Āditya I, who had succeeded Vijayālaya about 871, and the Ganga Prithvīpati I who responded to the call from the Pallava monarch. A decisive battle was fought at Śrī Purambiyam near Kumbakonam in 880, and the Pāndyan monarch suffered a crushing defeat, although Prithvīpati I lost his life in the battle. Āditya I was not only allowed to keep what his father had taken from the Muttarayar, but some new territory was added to it by his grateful Pallava overlord. Āditya I, however, did not rest content with a subordinate position. He planned and carried out the overthrow of the effete power of his suzerain. He invaded Tondaimandalam, and in a battle that ensued he pounced upon Aparājita when he was mounted on an elephant and slew him. That was the end of Pallava rule in Tondainād, and the whole of the Pallava kingdom now became Chola territory which henceforth bordered on that of the Rāshtrakūtas (897). The Ganga Prithvipati II, grandson of Prithvipati I, soon afterwards acknowledged the suzerainty of Āditya. Āditya next conquered the Kongu country also, perhaps from the Pāndya ruler Parāntaka Viranārāyana (880-900), the younger brother and successor of Varagunavarman. Āditya was on friendly terms with the contemporary Chera ruler Sthānuravi, whose daughter was married to his son Parāntaka. He is said to have built tall stone temples of Śiva on both banks of the Kaveri from the Sahyādri to the sea. He died at Tondaimānād near Kālahasti, and a temple was erected over his remains by his pious son Parāntaka, who succeeded him on the throne in 907 and ruled for forty-eight years. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success and prosperity, although it ended in disaster and gloom brought about by the hostility of the Rāshtrakūtas which began to pursue him almost from the beginning. Soon after his accession, as early as 910, he invaded the Pāndyan country and assumed the title Maduraikonda (‘Capturer of Madura’). The Pāndyan ruler at the time, Māravarman Rājasimha II (900-20), the son of Parāntaka Viranārāyana, appealed for help to Kassapa V, ruler of Ceylon, who sent an army to his aid. In due course, however, Parāntaka defeated the combined armies at the battle of Vellūr. Rājasimha had to flee to Ceylon and the Chola conquest of the Pāndya country was completed soon after. After staying in Ceylon for some years, Rājasimha left his crown and all his wealth behind, and betook himself to Kerala, the home of his mother. Some years later, in the reign of Udaya IV of Ceylon (940-53), Parāntaka made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the insignia of the Pāndyan king. His failure was remembered and made up for several years later by his powerful descendant Rājendra I.
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While the Pāndyan conquest was in progress, Parāntaka had to encounter an invasion from the Rāshtrakūta Krishna II who had succeeded Amoghavarsha in 880. With the aid of his Lāṭa feudatory and kinsman, Krishna II successfully resisted an invasion by the Gurjara ruler Bhoja I and soon after abolished the viceroyalty of Lāṭa, extending his own direct rule into that country. His attempt to subjugate the powerful Vengi ruler Guṇaga Vijayāditya III ended in disaster. He had to seek refuge in the court of his father-in-law, the Chedi king Kakkala, whither the Eastern Chālukya general Paṇḍaranga pursued him. The war ended when Krishna submitted to Vijayāditya, in return for which his capital and kingdom were restored to him. He renewed the conflict, however, after the death of Guṇaga Vijayāditya III, in 892, and invaded Vengi before the new ruler Chālukya Bhima I, a nephew of Vijayāditya, could celebrate his coronation. Chālukya Bhima was defeated and taken prisoner, but soon regained his freedom, cleared the country of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa forces and duly crowned himself king. Some years later Krishna made another unsuccessful attempt to reduce Vengi, but was beaten in two battles at Niravadyapura and Peruvangūru.
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One of Krishna’s daughters married the Chola monarch Āditya I and bore him a son called Kannaradeva. When Parāntaka became king, at the death of Āditya I, and prince Kannara was kept from the throne, Krishna espoused the cause of his grandson and invaded the Chola territory with the assistance of the Bāṇas and Vaidumbas. Parāntaka was assisted by the Ganga ruler Pṛthvīpati II, and a decisive battle was fought at Vallāla, modern Tiruvallam in the North Arcot district, which ended in disaster for Krishna and his allies. The Bāṇas lost their territory, which was handed over to Pṛthvīpati II, and the Vaidumbas also suffered for the support they had offered. The Rāṣṭrakūṭa war took place before 916.
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From about 940 Parāntaka began to experience increasing difficulty in defending his empire. His loyal feudatory, Pṛthvīpati II, was no more; and as Būtuga II, the ruling Ganga monarch, had married a Rāṣṭrakūṭa princess (the sister of Krishna III) the alliance between Gangas and Rāṣṭrakūṭas became closer. Those Bāṇas and Vaidumbas whom the Chola had uprooted were also by the side of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa ruler. To meet the expected trouble from the north-west frontier of his kingdom, Parāntaka stationed his eldest son Rājāditya there with a large army including an elephant corps and some cavalry, and sent another son, Arikulakesari, to assist him.
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We must now turn once more to Rāṣṭrakūṭa history. Krishna II was succeeded by his grandson Indra III about 915. Even as yuvarāja, Indra had checked an invasion from the North by the Paramāra ruler Upendra of Malwa. Upendra sought to take advantage of the preoccupation of Krishna II in the Chola war and invaded the Rāṣṭrakūṭa kingdom. Indra defeated him, and compelled him to acknowledge Rāṣṭrakūṭa suzerainty. After his accession, Indra waged successful war against the Pratihāra ruler, Mahipāla I of Kanauj (913-43). Mahipāla lost his kingdom for a while though he recovered it later, with the aid of the Chandela ruler, Harshadeva. Towards Vengi, Indra followed the usual policy of setting up opposition to the ruling king Amma I who, however, held his own and ruled the kingdom for seven years till 926. But his death was followed by a period of confused succession disputes which gave Indra III occasion to bring the bulk of the Vengi country under the occupation of his officers and nobles for a period of seven years. Indra was succeeded by his son Amoghavarsha II in 927. After a reign of only three years, he fell a victim to the foul play of his ambitious younger brother Govinda IV, a dissolute and incompetent ruler, who in his turn was removed from the throne by his feudatories who bestowed the kingdom on Baddega Amoghavarsha III, a half-brother of Indra III. Amoghavarsha III was a gentle and peaceful monarch, but not so his young and energetic son Krishna III, whom he made yuvarāja. By waging war against Rācamalla, Krishna enabled his brother-in-law, Būtuga II, to attain the Ganga throne. He became king at the death of his father in 939. Within a few years thereafter he naturally thought of paying off old scores against the Chola power and was urged to the task by the insistence of the Bāṇas and Vaidumbas and perhaps also of Būtuga II. With Būtuga he invaded the Chola kingdom and won a decisive victory (949) in a battle at Takkōlam, six miles to the south-east of Arkonam, in which Būtuga killed Rājāditya with a well-aimed arrow when he was on elephant-back. Even this decisive battle did not mean the collapse of all resistance to Krishna's advance, however, and he still had some years of hard fighting before he could establish himself in the South. Eventually he succeeded in occupying a large part of the northern half of the Chola empire and established his own men in the rule of that country. He assumed the title ‘Conqueror of Kacci (Kāñchī) and Tanjai (Tanjore)’, and thus caused the Chola empire a rude shock at the close of Parāntaka's reign. Indeed, it almost ceased to exist as its vassals in the south took advantage of its disasters in the north and proclaimed their independence.
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Like most of his predecessors Krishna III fomented trouble in Vengi by setting up against Amma II, his elder half-brother, Dānārnava and two princes of a collateral branch, Bādapa and Tāla II. With many interruptions Amma continued to hold on to his kingdom until 970 when he was slain in a battle by Dānārnava.
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Towards the close of his reign, about 963, Krishna invaded Northern India and compelled the Paramāra ruler, Harsha Siyaka of Malwa, once more to acknowledge Rāshtrakūta suzerainty. In this expedition Krishna was ably assisted by the Ganga Mārasimha, son of Būtuga II. An able soldier and generous friend, Krishna would appear to have lacked statesmanship, for his policy stored up trouble for his successors. He unduly encouraged the Gangas and irritated the Paramāras without being able to subjugate them. He was reckless in awarding fiefs (*anuga jīvita*) to his lieutenants as when he gave the province of Tardavādi in the heart of the empire to Āhavamalla Tailaparasa of the Satyāśraya family, some time before 965.
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Krishna III was succeeded by his half-brother Khottiga early in 967. In his reign, the Paramāra Harsha Siyaka invaded the Rāshtrakūta kingdom after defeating its forces on the banks of the Narmada and sacked the capital Mānyakheta (Malkhed) in 972-3. Once more Mārasimha II assisted his overlord in regaining the capital after the Paramāra forces withdrew. Khottiga died soon after the Paramāra raid, and was followed by his nephew Karka II (973). He was dethroned within a few months by the Chālukya, Taila II, who had been biding his time ever since he got Tardavādi for his fief from Krishna III. Later tradition hailed Taila as an incarnation of the Lord Śrī Krishna who fought 108 battles against the race of Ratta demons and captured 88 fortresses from them. Taila's success was the beginning of the Chālukyan empire of Kalyāni. Mārasimha II made a futile attempt to revive Rāshtrakūta power by setting up Indra IV, the issue of a son of Krishna III by a sister of Mārasimha himself. Mārasimha killed himself by starvation (*sallekhana*) in 975. His feudatory Pāncāla-deva who claimed sovereignty over the whole country south of the Krishna river was also killed by Taila in battle. Indra IV also performed *sallekhana* in 982.
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In the Chola kingdom, the thirty years (955-85) that followed the close of Parāntaka's reign formed a period of weakness and confusion. His immediate successor was his son Gandarāditya, who with his queen Sembiyan-mahādevi claims a bigger place in the domain of religion than of politics. At his death in 957, the Chola kingdom had shrunk to the size of a small principality, and Krishna III still continued in occupation of Tondaimandalam. Gandarāditya's brother Arinjaya had a short reign (956-7) and was succeeded by his son Sundara Chola Parāntaka II (957-73). His young son Āditya II was made yuvarāja almost at the beginning of the reign. Sundara Chola turned his attention to the south, where Vira Pāndya claimed independence after defeating a Chola king, probably Gandarāditya. As usual, the Pāndya had Mahinda IV, ruler of Ceylon, as his ally. In the war that followed, Sundara Chola defeated Vira Pāndya in two battles; Āditya II killed Vira Pāndya on the second occasion. Sundara Chola's forces also invaded Ceylon (959). These wars in the south did not result in the re-establishment of the Chola power there, but better success seems to have attended Sundara's attempts in the north. He is said to have died in 973 in his golden palace at Kānchi while still engaged in directing campaigns in the north. His last years were clouded by a tragedy. Uttama Chola, son of Gandarāditya, conspired to murder the yuvarāja Āditya II (969), and then compelled the aggrieved father to recognize him as heir-apparent in preference to his own younger son Arumoli (afterwards Rājarāja I). Uttama Chola accordingly became king at Sundara's death (973). By then the bulk of Tondaimandalam had been recovered from the Rāshtrakūtas for the Chola empire. The Rāshtrakūtas had given place to Taila II Chālukya who claims a victory against Uttama Chola about 980.
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The real greatness of the Chola empire dates, however, from the accession of Arumolivarman, who crowned himself as Rājarāja in the middle of 985. The thirty years of his rule constitute the formative period of Chola imperialism. A relatively small state at his accession, hardly recovering from the effects of the Rāshtrakūta invasion, the Chola kingdom grew under him into an extensive and well-knit empire efficiently organized and administered, rich in resources, and possessed of a powerful standing army and navy, well tried and equal to the greatest enterprises.
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Rājarāja began his conquests by attacking the confederation between the rulers of the Pāndya and Kerala kingdoms and of Ceylon. In two campaigns he destroyed the Pāṇḍyas and conquered the haughty Kerala kings by attacking Kāndalūr and Vilinam. In a third campaign, a naval expedition, he overran the northern part of Ceylon, forcing Mahinda V to take refuge in the hill country in the south-east of the island. Anurādhapura was destroyed, and Polonnaruva became the capital of a Chola province. Elsewhere Gangapādi, Nolambapādi, and Tadigaipādi, all parts of modern Mysore, were conquered and annexed, which intensified the conflict with the new power of the Chālukyas under Taila II. The first battle fought in 992 went against the Cholas. Rājarāja’s chief enemy, however, was Satyāśraya, the son and successor of Taila II. Before recounting their trial of strength we must now turn for a while to Chālukyan history.
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After the overthrow of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa power, Taila II, who ruled from Mānyakheta, spent several years consolidating his sway in the western Deccan over the whole area between the Narmada and the Tungabhadra. When Paramāra Munja of Malwa invaded his kingdom from the north, he defeated him and put him to death after some years of confinement during which he developed a liaison with Mrinālavati, the sister of Taila II, and was subjected to many humiliations. In all his wars Taila was assisted by his elder son Satyāśraya who became king after his death in 997. Satyāśraya continued the aggressive policy of his father, his chief enemy being the rising Chola power under Rājarāja who was establishing a strong hold on the eastern Deccan by active intervention in the affairs of the Vengi kingdom.
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In Vengi, Dānārnava had a short and troubled rule for three years, at the end of which he was slain in battle (973) by the Telugu Choḍa chief, Jaṭā-Choḍa Bhīma, probably a grandson of Chālukya Bhīma II. Dānārnava’s sons sought refuge in exile while Jaṭā-Choḍa Bhīma ruled the Vengi kingdom for twenty-seven years (973-1000), the period described as an interregnum in later Eastern Chālukya inscriptions. Bhīma imposed his suzerainty on the Eastern Gangas of Kalinga and the Vaidumbas. He finally invaded Tondaimandalam and started a war against Rājarāja I because he had received Dānārnava’s exiled sons, given his daughter Kundavai in marriage to the younger, and promised to restore the elder (Śaktivarman I) to his ancestral throne. Jaṭā-Choḍa Bhīma was defeated and taken prisoner, so that the way became clear for Śaktivarman to start his rule in the Vengi kingdom, though only as a subordinate of the great Chola monarch who had helped him.
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Unable to brook this extension of Chola power into the eastern Deccan, Satyāśraya invaded Vengi in 1006, his general Bāyalanambi reducing the forts of Dhānyakataka (Dharanikota) and Yanamadala to ashes, and established himself in Chebrolu in the Guntur district. Acting on the principle that attack is the best form of defence, Rājarāja ordered his son Rājendra to invade Western Chālukya at the head of a strong army (1007). Rājendra marched up to Donūr in the Bijapur district and, in the words of a Chālukya inscription, ‘plundered the entire country, slaughtering women, children and brahmins’. He also captured Banavāsi and a good part of the Raichur doab, and sacked Mānyakheta. At the same time another section of the army operating from Vengi advanced on Kollipākkai (Kulpak), 45 miles north-west of Hyderabad, and captured its fortress. Satyāśraya was thus compelled to withdraw his forces from Vengi and only with difficulty succeeded in freeing his country of the Chola army, which retired behind the Tungabhadra with much booty.
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Towards the close of his reign Rājarāja conquered and annexed the Maldives. He formally installed Rājendra as yuvarāja in 1012. The magnificent Śiva temple Rājarājeśvara at Tanjore, completed in 1010, fittingly commemorates the glory of his reign which came to an end with his death in 1014. Rājarāja encouraged Śri Māra Vijayottungavarman, the Śailendra ruler of Śri Vijaya (Palembang) and Kaṭāha (Kedah) across the Bay, to build a Buddhist vihāra at Negapatam. The vihāra was called Cūdāmani vihāra after the father of the ruler of Śri Vijaya.
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Rājendra I was a worthy son of his father, and raised the Chola empire to the position of being the most extensive and most respected Hindu state of his time. Early in his reign (1018) he installed his son Rājādhirāja I as yuvarāja. He invaded Ceylon and completed the conquest of the island begun by his father. Mahinda V was taken prisoner and transported to the Chola country where he died twelve years later. Thereafter his son Kassapa became the centre of Sinhalese resistance against the Tamil power, and after a war of six months in which a great number of Tamils were killed by the Sinhalese forces, he made himself king of the southern half of the island, Rohana, and ruled as Vikrama-bāhu I for twelve years from 1029.
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Rājendra made a triumphal march at the head of his army through the Pāndya and Kerala countries, and appointed one of his sons as viceroy over both with the title Chola-Pāndya, Madura being the headquarters of the new viceroyalty. About 1020-1, Rājendra had to turn his attention once more towards the Western Chālukya.
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Satyāśraya was succeeded in 1008 by his nephew Vikramāditya V who after a short and uneventful reign was followed by his brother Jayasimha II in 1015. Jayasimha had to fight on many fronts. The Paramāra Bhoja of Malwa, wanting to avenge the fate of Munja, invaded the Chālukya kingdom from the north and for some years occupied Lāta and portions of Konkan. After hard fighting Jayasimha succeeded with the aid of his loyal feudatories in recovering the territory occupied by Bhoja. But it was the Chola Rājendra who was his most formidable enemy. Soon after his accession, Jayasimha tried to retrieve the losses sustained in the wars of Satyāśraya and for a time circumstances seemed to favour him, Rājendra being busy with the conquest of Ceylon and the settlement of Pāndya and Kerala. In Vengi, Vimalāditya, who had succeeded his brother Śaktivarman I in 1011, either retired from the throne or died in 1018. Jayasimha II supported the claims of Vijayāditya VII to succeed him against those of Rājarāja, another of Vimalāditya's sons by his Chola queen Kundavai. In the pursuit of this plan Jayasimha crossed the Tungabhadra and occupied Bellary and possibly even a part of Gangavādi. In Vengi, Vijayāditya captured Vijayavāda (Bezwada) and made it impossible for his rival Rājarāja to celebrate his coronation. But then Rājendra soon turned his attention actively against Jayasimha and put two forces simultaneously in the field, one marching into the Raichur doab and the other into Vengi for the relief of Rājarāja. In the west Jayasimha was defeated in a battle at Maski, but this led to no further aggression on the part of Rājendra, the Tungabhadra being recognized tacitly as the boundary between the two kingdoms. In Vengi the Chola forces defeated Vijayāditya in several battles, took possession of the country on behalf of Rājarāja and proceeded farther north into Kalinga, probably because the Eastern Ganga ruler of that country, Madhukāmārnava (1019-38), had sided with Jayasimha. After punishing him the army went still farther north for a grand military display in the form of an expedition to the valley of the Ganges. But with the departure of the Chola army to the north, trouble broke out in the rear and threatened its communications. To meet the situation Rājendra I marched towards the north and encamped on the banks of the Godāvari. He tried to secure the line of return for his army which had advanced to the Ganges, and celebrated the coronation of his nephew Rājarāja with due pomp on 16 August 1022. The victorious army from the north joined him soon after, and he returned to the new capital that was rising in the wilds of the Tiruchirāpalli district—Gangaikondaśōlapuram.
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Very soon after, Rājendra sent a large naval expedition against the kingdom of Śrī Vijaya. Śrī Vijaya was the powerful maritime state which ruled the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra, Java and the neighbouring islands and controlled the sea routes from India to China. The relations between Śrī Vijaya and the Chola empire had been quite friendly in the time of Rājarāja and in the early years of Rājendra's reign. The Chola monarchs sent embassies, partly diplomatic and partly commercial, to China which reached that country in 1016, 1033, and 1077. Rājendra's war against Śrī Vijaya (1025) occurred between the dates of the first and second embassies to China. Whether it was rendered necessary by an attempt on Śrī Vijaya's part to obstruct the Chola intercourse with China or was simply the result of Rājendra's desire to win glory by extending his digvijaya to the countries across the sea, we cannot say. Whatever the reason, the expedition was a complete success. Kaḍāram (Kaṭāha) and the capital Śrī Vijaya itself were sacked and king Sangrāma Vijayottungavarman, Māra Vijayottungavarman's successor, was taken captive. The campaign apparently ended with the restoration of the kingdom to its ruler subject to his acknowledging Chola suzerainty. A fragmentary Tamil inscription from Sumatra bearing the date 1088 shows that active intercourse between the Chola kingdom and Śrī Vijaya was maintained continuously for several generations.
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Rebellions in the Pāndya and Kerala kingdoms called for strong action in the course of a fairly extensive campaign conducted by the yuvarāja Rājādhirāja, and several princes of the two rebel royal families were either put to death or forced to seek refuge in flight. There was trouble in Ceylon also, where Vikramabāhu kept up the war against the Tamils, and forced Rājādhirāja to lead an expedition against him in 1041. After Vikramabāhu's death, which occurred about that time, anarchy supervened outside the Chola province, and Sinhalese adventurers, dispossessed Indian princes from the Pāndyan country and a certain Jagatipāla from distant Kanauj asserted authority over portions of the island. They all had this in common however, that they led risings against the Chola power and suffered for it.
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In the closing years of Rājendra's reign war broke out once more with the Western Chālukyas and the affairs of Vengi were, as usual, involved in it. In the Chālukyan kingdom Jayasimha II was succeeded by his son, Someśvara I Āhavamalla (1042). He removed the capital from Mānyakheta to Kalyāni, adorning it with many new buildings and generally adding to the amenities of the new capital. He continued the war begun by his father against the Bhoja of Malwa, and received his submission after a raid on his capital Dhārā. He extended his power across Vidarbha and part of modern Madhya Pradesh, into Kosala and Kalinga, and imposed his sovereignty on the Nāgavamśi ruler Dhārāvarsha of Cakrakūta. It deserves to be noted that the Kākatīya chieftain Prola I and his son Beta assisted Someśvara in his wars, and received from him as fief the Anumakonda Vishaya. In another direction Someśvara attacked Vengi and thus challenged the Chola power. In Vengi Rājarāja had no peace after his coronation in 1022. His half-brother Vijayāditya renewed his struggle for the throne, perhaps with the aid of Chālukya Jayasimha II, drove Rājarāja out of Vengi, and made himself king (1031) with the title Vishnuvardhana Vijayāditya VII; but by 1035 Rājarāja had regained his kingdom. Vijayāditya sought refuge in the Western Chālukya court where he was received with open arms and entertained royally. Someśvara's invasion of Vengi was undertaken ostensibly in furtherance of the claims of Vijayāditya and news of it quickly reached Rājendra I. The king was too old to take the field himself, his son Rājādhirāja was engaged in the south, so a trusted Brahmin general, assisted by three able lieutenants, was ordered to go to Rājarāja's relief. The Chola army engaged the enemy in a sanguinary but indecisive battle at Kalidindi. Meanwhile Rājendra I died and was succeeded by Rājādhirāja I (1044). He was eager to restore Chola power in Vengi, and himself led an expedition into the Telugu country soon after he ascended the throne. He defeated the Western Chālukya forces in a battle at Dannada (Dhānyakataka) on the Krishna and compelled Vikramāditya, Someśvara's son, and Vijayāditya, Rājārāja's rival, to retreat in disorder. He then entered Western Chālukyan territory and set fire to the important fort of Kollipākkai (Kulpak). These successes enabled Rājārāja to breathe freely for a time. They were followed by campaigns on the western front where the Chola forces captured several generals and feudatories of the Chālukyas, demolished the Chālukya palace in the city of Kampili, and inflicted a defeat on the enemy in a pitched battle at Pūndūr on the banks of the Krishna. Crossing that river, the victorious camp of the Chola was fixed at Yetagiri (Yadgir), where a pillar of victory with the tiger emblem on it was planted. After more fighting, the Chālukya capital Kalyāni was itself sacked, and Rājādhirāja performed the *vīrābhisheka* (coronation of victor) in the enemy capital and assumed the title ‘Vijayarājendra’. A fine image of a *dvārapālaka* which used to be at the entrance to the Dārāśuram temple (Tanjore district) and has since been removed to the Tanjore Art Gallery, bears the Tamil inscription: ‘the *dvārapālaka* brought by Uḍaiyār Śrī Vijayarājendradeva after burning Kalyāṇapuram’.
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Before 1050, Someśvara succeeded in driving the Chola forces out of his territory. He also re-established his influence in Vengi and compelled Rājārāja to acknowledge his suzerainty in the place of that of the Cholas. Lastly, he sent a counter-expedition into Chola territory which returned after making a dash against Kāñchi. These successes were only spurs to further effort on the part of Rājādhirāja, although, for reasons not now clear, he did not make any attempt to recover Vengi or Kalinga where Someśvara had established himself. Rājādhirāja, assisted by his younger brother and *yuvarāja* Rājendra II, led another expedition against Someśvara (1053-4) and a battle was fought at Koppam (Kopbal), a place of great natural strength on the river Krishna. It was hotly contested and Rājādhirāja fell mortally wounded. Rājendra who had held himself in reserve then pressed forward and turned the defeat into victory. He put several Chālukyan generals to death and forced their army to retreat in disorder leaving many elephants, horses, camels, and much booty to fall into the hands of the Cholas along with several women, including some of the queens. Rājendra II crowned himself king on the battlefield and advanced to Kollāpura where he planted a pillar of victory (*jayastambha*) before he returned to his capital, Gangaikondaśōlapuram.
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Anxious to wipe out the disgrace of Koppam, Someśvara soon renewed the war. The death of Rājārāja in Vengi (1061) enabled him to put Śaktivarman II, the son of Vijayāditya VII, on the throne and send a strong force to his assistance under Chāmundarāja. He also sent his sons Vikramāditya and Jayasimha into Gangavādi to invade that part of the Chola territory. Rājendra II met the challenge on both fronts aided by his son Rājamahendra and his brother Virarājendra. In Vengi Chāmundarāja was defeated and killed, Śaktivarman II also meeting his end in the same engagement. The Chālukya invaders of Gangavādi were driven back in disorder and heavily defeated in a battle at Kūdal-Sangamam, that is, Kūdali at the junction of the Tunga and Bhadra in the Mysore country. Someśvara's attempt to reverse the verdict of Koppam thus ended in failure (1061-2). Soon after occurred the deaths of the Chola yuvarāja Rājamahendra and his father Rājendra II, and Virarājendra became king (1063).
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The death of Rājendra II necessarily meant a lull in Virarājendra's campaigns against the Chālukya. But Someśvara I knew that the attack would be renewed and prepared to meet it on both fronts. In the east he counted on help from his vassals, the Nāgavamśi ruler Dhārāvarsha and the Eastern Ganga Vajrahasta III. He also stationed in the neighbourhood of Bezwada a strong army under Jananātha of Dhārā, a Paramāra prince in his service. In the west, he sent Vijayāditya to carry the war into the enemy country. Virarājendra soon returned to the charge as expected. The Chālukya forces suffered small defeats in Vengi, but at first the Cholas did not have any decided success. In the west, Someśvara's forces were defeated with heavy loss on the banks of a river, perhaps Tungabhadra, in 1066. But he soon reorganized his forces and sent a message to Virarājendra challenging him to another contest, fixing Kūdal-Sangamam as its venue. The Chola monarch gladly accepted the challenge and took the field. But Someśvara did not turn up though his forces had assembled at the appointed spot. After awaiting Someśvara's appearance in vain for a month, Virarājendra attacked the Chālukya army, inflicted a crushing defeat on it, and set up a pillar of victory on the banks of the Tungabhadra. He then proceeded with his forces to Vengi whither Vijayāditya had also gone earlier to organize the defence on the opposite side. A great battle ensued near Bezwada which ended in defeat for the Chālukya. Virarājendra crossed the Krishna and marched into Kalinga, where much fighting followed, and in the neighbouring Nāgavamśi principality of Cakrakūta. There, besides Vijayāditya, and Rājarāja, the son of Vajrahasta III, Vikramāditya also took part on the Chālukyan side, and prince Rājendra, the future Kulottunga I, on that of the Cholas. Meanwhile, unable to endure the illness which had prevented his keeping his martial engagement with Virarājendra, Someśvara I met his end and performed *parama-yoga* by drowning himself in the Tungabhadra river at Kuruvatti on 29 March 1068. Thus departed one of the greatest rulers of the Chālukya line. He succeeded in keeping Vengi under his control practically throughout his reign and reducing to temporary subjection two major powers of Northern India, the Paramāras and Pratihāras. In spite of many reverses he maintained the wearisome struggle with the Cholas with undiminished vigour to the end of his life. He was greater as diplomat than as warrior, else he could not have succeeded in making his influence felt by so many states and for so long, and that with a military record none too bright. He had great faith in himself and succeeded in imparting it to his many able generals, including his famous son Vikramāditya. He was not unmindful of the arts of peace; the noble city of Kalyāni was his creation.
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Someśvara I was succeeded by his eldest son of the same name, but the ambition of his younger brother Vikramāditya began to assert itself almost from the beginning. Hardly had Someśvara II come to the throne than Virarājendra led a vigorous attack against him, laid siege to Gutti and attacked Kampili. Vikramāditya turned the troubles of his brother into his opportunity. He seduced his feudatories from loyalty to their lawful monarch, and with their aid entered into negotiations with Virarājendra. The result was a total revolution in the diplomatic relations among the states and a virtual partition of the Chālukyan kingdom. Vijayāditya made his submission to Virarājendra and consented to rule the Vengi kingdom as his feudatory. Two of Virarājendra's daughters were given in marriage, one to Vikramāditya himself and the other to the Kalinga Ganga prince Rājarāja; and within the Chālukyan kingdom Vikramāditya VI was installed as *yuvarāja* with almost independent rule over the southern half of the empire. Thus it looked as if the eternal feud between the Cholas and the Chālukyas had at last come to an end.
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But the death of Virarājendra early in 1070 altered the situation. But before explaining this we must mention some events of the reign of Virarājendra. Some time before 1067 he sent an expedition against Ceylon, where the Sinhalese king Vijayabāhu I was making a strong effort to put an end to the Chola power on the island. Vijayabāhu was defeated and his queen taken captive, he himself being forced to seek shelter at Vātagiri (Wakirigala in Kegalla district). We shall see that better success attended Vijayabāhu within the next few years. Virarājendra also sent another naval expedition for the conquest of Kaḍāram on behalf of a prince who had come in search of his aid and protection (1068).
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After the death of Virarājendra, Vikramāditya found his Chola alliance no longer an asset but a liability. He had to divide his attention between the pursuit of his differences with his brother at home and the protection and maintenance of his young brother-in-law Adhirājendra on the Chola throne against the designs of the Eastern Chālukya prince Rājendra (Kulottunga I). The intermarriages between the Eastern Chālukya and Chola families and the position of Rājendra Kulottunga in both may be seen from the following table:
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[Figure: Rājarāja I (Chola)
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Rājendra I Kundavai m. Vimalāditya m. Meḍava Mahādevi
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Rājendra II Ammangādevi m. Rājarāja Narendra
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Madhurāntaki—m.—Rājendra II (Chālukya) Vijayāditya VII (Kulottunga I)
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Śaktivarman II]
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The bestowal of the Vengi kingdom on Vijayāditya VII by Virarājendra had kept Rājendra (Kulottunga) out of the throne that was rightfully his, and that able prince naturally took advantage of the death of Virarājendra to press his claims both to Vengi and to the Chola throne. Vikramāditya proceeded to Kāñchi, nipped a rebellion in the bud, installed Adhirājendra formally on the throne at Gangaikondaśolapuram and returned after a month to the banks of the Tungabhadra. Soon after, he heard that the Chola king had lost his life in a popular rising and that Rājendra, the ruler of Vengi, had captured the vacant Chola throne. It is thus clear that Rājendra made excellent use of the short interval after the death of Virarājendra to expel Vijayāditya from Vengi and capture the Chola throne as well.
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Vikramāditya thus found himself placed between two enemies, his brother Someśvara at home and Kulottunga I in the Chola and Vengi countries. It was the task of Vikramāditya during the next six years to extricate himself from this dangerous situation. He continued to undermine the position of his brother Someśvara by inducing the feudatories of the empire to desert his cause. Among them were, besides his younger brother Jayasimha, and Vijayāditya, who were already on his side, the Kadamba ruler Jayakeśi of Konkan, Vinayāditya and his son Ereyanga of the Hoysala family just coming into prominence, the Pāndya ruler of Uccangi and even the distant Yādava ruler Seuna II of Devagiri. Someśvara had a difficult time, but he did his best with the support of a few loyal lieutenants to maintain himself at the head of the state and entered into an alliance with Kulottunga I. The preparations on both sides, military and diplomatic, were completed by about 1075 when the war began with a clash at Nangili in the Kolar district between the forces of Vikramāditya and Kulottunga. Vikramāditya was defeated and pursued by the Cholas up to the Tungabhadra with heavy fighting all the way. Kulottunga made himself the master of Gangavādi. But Someśvara who co-operated with Kulottunga by attacking Vikramāditya's rear was the worst sufferer. He fell into the hands of Vikramāditya who threw him into prison, proclaimed himself king (1076) and started a new era—the Chālukya-Vikrama era—to commemorate his accession.
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While Kulottunga was engaged in the war with Vikramāditya, the kingdom of Vengi was raided in 1072-3 by Yaśahkarnadeva, the Haihaya ruler of Tripuri. This, however, was an episode with no permanent results, military or political, although in another direction Kulottunga sustained a permanent loss of territory. In Ceylon Vijayabāhu resumed his efforts to rid the island of its Tamil rulers and succeeded. From the extreme south of the island he put three armies in the field all of which advanced simultaneously. Polonnaruva fell, and Anurādhapura surrendered in about 1070. Vijayabāhu's coronation as monarch of Lankā, which was delayed by a rebellion, took place in 1072-3. Kulottunga had to reconcile himself to the loss, and Vikramāditya hailed Vijayabāhu as his natural ally and sent him a friendly embassy with rich presents.
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Kulottunga could not afford to neglect the revolt of the Pāndya and Kerala countries on the mainland. He led a strong expedition to the south, and after some hard-fought battles at Śemponmāri, Kōttāru, Vilinam, and Śālai he subjected the whole country once more and compelled the numerous Pāndya and Kerala princes who had opposed him to acknowledge his supremacy. He established a number of military colonies along the important routes of communication in both countries, but the old administrative arrangements of Rājarāja I and Rājendra were not revived and the local rulers were left in charge of internal affairs. About 1084-5 Vijayabāhu of Ceylon declared war on the Cholas when he heard that the envoys he had sent to Vikramāditya VI had been mutilated. While he was preparing the expedition, the vēlaikkāra mercenaries, unwilling to fight their Tamil kinsmen, mutinied, and burnt the royal palace. The king fled to Wakirigala, but returning crushed the insurrection, the ringleaders being burnt at the funeral pyre of the royal generals whom they had murdered. The vēlaikkāra forces learnt the lesson, and at the end of the reign set up the fine Tamil stone inscription, still extant at Polonnaruva, in which is recorded their agreement to protect the Tooth Relic temple.¹ Kulottunga apparently made his peace with Vijayabāhu, for one of his daughters, Śuttamalli, married Virapperumāl, the Sinhalese prince.
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¹ Codrington, p. 57.
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A Chola embassy of seventy-two merchants reached China in 1077 and received 81,800 strings of copper cash, that is, about as many dollars in return for the articles of tribute comprising glassware, camphor, brocades, rhinoceros horns, ivory, incense, rose water, putchuck, asafoetida, borax, cloves, etc. There was active trade with Śri Vijaya during this period, so much so that in 1090 its king sent an embassy to Kulottunga I to consult about the regulation of the affairs of the two vihāras his ancestors had erected at Negapatam.
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After the death of Vijayāditya VII (1076) Kulottunga sent his sons to rule as viceroys in Vengi: Rājarāja Mummudi Chola (1076-8), Vira Choda (1078-84), Rājarāja Chodaganga (1084-9), Vira Choda again (1089-92), and lastly, Vikrama Chola (1092-1118). About 1097 the chieftain of Kolanu entered into a league with Anantavarman Choda Ganga of Kalinga and rebelled against the viceroy. Among those who assisted Vikrama Chola was Parāntaka Pāndya from the extreme south. Kolanu was sacked, and southern Kalinga invaded. The rebel chieftain made his submission, and Anantavarman himself had to follow suit. Some years later, about 1110, Anantavarman Choda Ganga withheld tribute and brought about a second Chola invasion of Kalinga. This was led by the famous general of Kulottunga, Karuṇākara Toṇḍaimān. The invading army spread destruction throughout Kalinga and defeated Anantavarman, who had to seek safety in flight. The victorious Chola army returned with vast booty but the campaign was devoid of any permanent results, though it formed the subject of a celebrated poem, *Kalingattupparaṇi* of Jayangoṇḍār.
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Up to 1115 the extent of the Chola empire remained undiminished under Kulottunga, except for the loss of Ceylon, and included the entire country south of the Krishna and Tungabhadra, extending at least up to the Godāvari on the east coast. The emperor maintained diplomatic relations with distant kingdoms like Kanauj in Northern India, Kambhoja (Cambodia) in Indo-China, and with Kyanzittha (1084-1112), the ruler of Pagan. But towards the end of his reign troubles arose in the Mysore and Vengi countries owing to the renewal of the hostility of Chālukya Vikramāditya to whom we must now turn our attention.
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After the accession of Vikramāditya, he as well as his great antagonist Kulottunga recognized their limitations, and suspended active hostilities against each other. Vikramāditya's reign was, in general, peaceful and his court was adorned by learned poets and authors like Bilhana and Vijñāneśvara. About 1083, however, his younger brother Jayasimha rebelled but was defeated in a hard-fought battle and taken prisoner. Jayasimha had appealed to Kulottunga for help but in vain.
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More serious danger threatened Vikramāditya from the Hoysalas. Hoysala Vinayāditya and his son Ereyanga, as we have seen, served Vikramāditya in the war against Kulottunga. After Vinayāditya, Ereyanga ruled for less than two years and was succeeded by Ballāla I (1100-10). These rulers professed allegiance to Chālukya rule but steadily built up their power and extended their territory. The results of this policy declared themselves in the reign of Ballāla's younger brother, Biṭṭiga, better known as Vishnuvardhana. He was a great soldier and an ambitious monarch. He attacked the Chola province of Gangavādi and after defeating Adigaimān, the Chola governor of Taḷakād, annexed the province (1116). He then turned against Vikramāditya himself and at first attained much success. He won over to his side the Pāṇḍya ruler of Uccangi and Kadamba Jayakeśi II of Goa and advanced to the Krishna in the north. But Vikramāditya dealt firmly with the situation with the assistance of loyal feudatories, particularly Sinda Ācugi II of Yelburga. Vishnuvardhana was expelled from the Chālukyan territory he had attempted to occupy, Goa was sacked and burnt, and the Pāṇḍya was pursued and pressed with great vigour. The Hoysala had to seek safety in the mountain fortresses of his home-country, and thither he was pursued in strength by the imperial forces. There were many battles and the campaign was a long one, but in the end (1122-3) Vishnuvardhana made his submission and returned to his allegiance.
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While still engaged in suppressing the Hoysalas, Vikramāditya renewed his designs against Kulottunga; possibly the success of the Hoysalas against that monarch in Gaṅgavāḍi encouraged him to do so. We cannot say whether he had anything to do with the revolt of the Koḷanu chieftain and the contumacy of Anantavarman Choḍa Gaṅga which led to two wars during the viceroyalty of Vikrama Chola. But he did interfere in Vengi from about 1115 and much more actively after 1118 when, at the instance of Kulottunga, Vikrama Chola left Vengi for the Chola country as yuvarāja. In 1118, Anantapāla, Vikramāditya’s famous general, is described as ruler of Vengi, other Chālukyan commanders are found established in other parts of the Telugu country, and the Chola power practically disappears for a number of years thereafter.
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Thus Kulottunga sustained another curtailment of his empire which by the end of his reign was practically confined to the Tamil country and a relatively small area of the adjoining Telugu districts. All the same Kulottunga must take rank among the great Chola monarchs. His long reign was, for the best part, characterized by unparalleled success and prosperity. He avoided unnecessary wars, and the permanent results of his policy appeared under his successors. Until the end of Kulottunga III’s reign (1216), for about a century, the empire, though not so extensive as in the eleventh century, held well together, and there was on the whole less of the chronic warfare of the period before the accession of Kulottunga I. The wisdom of Kulottunga’s statesmanship lay in adjusting his aims to his resources and in preferring the well-being of his subjects to the satisfaction of his personal vanity. Tradition and epigraphy alike give him the title ‘Śungam tavirtta’ (He who abolished the tolls), but there is no account of the nature and scope of this reform.
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Vikrama Chola dates his rule from 1118 though his father Kulottunga I continued to live four years longer. The seventeen years of his reign were on the whole a period of peace. He made extensive additions to the temple at Chidambaram to which the Chola monarchs were particularly attached—at least from the days of Parāntaka I—and to the shrine of Ranganātha at Śrīrangam. The death of Chālukya Vikramāditya VI (1126) and the accession of his son, the mild Someśvara III, enabled Vikrama Chola to re-establish Chola power in Vengi. It was a gradual process which began about 1127 and reached its completion in a battle on the banks of the Godāvari about 1133 at which Someśvara was present. Fighting on the Chola side, Velanānti Choda Gonka II routed the army of the Western Chālukyas and their Eastern Ganga ally Anantavarman Choda Ganga, taking captive some prominent generals and capturing much booty in gold, horses, and camels. In Gangavādi Vikrama Chola's attempt to restore Chola power was not so successful, though he did recover parts of the Kolar district.
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