The Chola Dynasty is one of the finest and longest-ruled dynasties in India, it was the Tamil Kingdom and has a vast empire, it was first established in 300 BCE during the Sangam period but the real existence was known from Ashoka’s inscription on three great Tamil kingdoms in the southern part of India and it is one of the Three crowned kingdoms in south India along with the Pandyas and Cheras. The Chola dynasty was not during the earlier times i.e., during the Sangam period as the evidence was washed away due to natural calamities and but the known and the first king of Chola dynasty was Vijayalaya who was a feudatory to the Pallava Dynasty and took the opportunity to capture Thanjavur as there was tension prevailing between the Pandyas and Pallavas and Thanjavur was ruled Mutharaiyar a small community and established the Chola dynasty and in the present day of Thanjavur.
The above picture depicts the region occupied by Vijayalaya and after the demise of Vijayalaya his son Aditya I ascended the throne and brought the downfall of Pallavas and defeated the Pandyas in Madurai and annexed some parts of the Kannada territory and had ties with Western Ganga kingdoms. After him, his son Parantaka I defeated Rashtrakuta Dynasty in the battle of Vallava and he also annexed parts of Sri Lanka.
The two great rulers of the Chola kingdom under whom the Chola dynasty flourished in trade, governance, and power were the great Rajaraja Cholan and his son Rajendra Cholan I under whom the Chola dynasty attended the zenith of power.
Rajaraja Cholan
Rajaraja Cholan was born as Arulmoli Varman but changed has to Rajaraja Cholan after ascending the throne in 985 CE and ruled until he died in 1014 CE. He was a great king and an exceptional military solider who expand his kingdom to vast areas. When he ascended the throne the kingdom was relatively small in area and did not have the resources to build the kingdom and was recovering from the Rashtrakuta invasion and Rajaraja Chola was abled administrated and an efficient king who took the task of rebuilding the kingdom and succeeded in it. He restructured the Chola kingdom by taking land surveys and utilizing the resources to great extend and on the military side, he led and successfully captured and annexed various kingdom including Madurai and the Cheran region of parts of Kerala and led an invasion into Sri Lanka and successfully capturing parts of Sri Lanka and captured the kingdoms belonging to Rashtrakuta, Western Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Kalinga and various other kingdoms. He led the successful expedition into the Maldives and this act was deemed as the power of the Cholan Naval Fleet. He was an able administrator and build a powerful and well-structured society and was Succeeded by his abled and fearsome son Rajendra Chola.
Rajendra Cholan I
Under Rajendra Chola, the Chola kingdom was at the power of prosperity and became the most powerful kingdom in the southern region. He ascended the throne after the death of his father in 1014 CE. He led the conquest that his father left for him with the help of his abled and fearsome warrior son Rajadhiraja Chola who is known as Military king as he leads his army from the front and fights along with his soldiers and the other warrior is his commander-in-chief General Senapati Narakkan Sri Krishnan Raman both who was fierce in the battlefield and have helped his father to expand to other parts of Sri Lanka, Maldives, the South-Asia and other regions including Kalinga and some parts of Bengal. He was always supported by his fearsome son Rajadhiraja in every battle and the father-son due ruled the kingdom together, until his death in 1044 CE and was succeeded by his son Rajadhiraja I.
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