The Cholas-
It was one of the longest ruling dynasties of southern India and it was also one of the oldest dynasty and was mentioned in Mahabharata
The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri River
Their capital was Tanjore and also had influence over Sri Lanka and the Malay Peninsula
Vijayalaya-
He was founder of Chola dynasty
He captured Tanjore from Muttaraiyar
He was feudatory chief of Pandyas
Aditya I-
He created the independent kingdom of Cholas
He defeated the pallava king Aparajita and also defeated pandyas
He made Tanjore as his capital
Parantaka I-
He defeated the Pandyas and the ruler of Ceylon
Battle of Takkolam-
This battle took place between Prantaks I and RAshtrakutas and he was defeated by Rashtrakutas
The two famous Uttiramerur inscriptions that give a detailed account of the village administration under the Cholas belong to his reign
Rajaraja I-
He was one of the important rulers of Chola kingdom
His conquests-
He defeated-
Pandya ruler, Amarabhujanga
Chera ruler Bhaskararavivarman
Western Chalukyas of Kalyan
The Gangas of Kalinga
The eastern Chalukya of Vengi
Malabar coast and part of Ceylon(sri lanka)
His contribution-
Development of navy
Development of Local self government in Cholas administration
Expansion of Cholas Empire
Architecture-
He built Buddhist Chaitya and Vihara
He built Hindu temples like Rajkarayashwas temple of Siva at Tanjore
Rajendra I-
He was son of Rajaraja I and extended his policy of war and expansion
He defeated Keralas, Pandyas and Simhaldip and in north he had won victory over Orissa, West Bengal and Kaushat.
He established his authority over the islands of Andaman, Nicobar and Malaya
He constructed his new capital GangikjondaCholapuram
He also constructed many temples
Decline-
The rise of feudatories and weak successors of chola kingdom led to decline of Cholas
Chola Administration-
Central administration-
The king was supreme leader or head of the administration and was assisted by the council of ministers
The position of king was hereditary
They undertook royal tours to increase the efficiency of the administration
Provincial administration-
Chola kingdom was divided into six provinces called Mandalam
Mandalam was further divided into kottam, or valanadu (headed by peryianattar)
Each kottam again was subdivided into numbers of districts called Nadus(headed by nattar)
Kurrams and Tar-Kurram- these were groups of villages under Nadu
Village was lowest unit in the administration
Assemblies-
All powers of administration was vested in a general assembly of the union elected by the people
City assemblies-
Nagarhars- These were assemblies in cities
Village Assemblies-
Ur-
It consisted of representative from all castes of villages excluding the untouchables
It carried out all functions and duties connected to the villages
Brahmadeya-
The members of the assemblies in Brahmadeyas were Brahmans
Function : to make provision for the public education
Mahasabha-
These assemblies were associated with functions like, making arrangement of teaching in monasteries, collection of revenue etc.
For Mahasabha each village was divided into 30 wards and each ward nominate the few people
It enjoyed wide rights and powers
Army-
Chola had consisted of large group of soldiers and war elephants
They also had very good navy which helped them to have control over Ceylon,nicobar etc.
Veiaikkaras : Personal bodyguard of king
Kaikkolaperumpadai : Name given to royal troops
Revenue system-
Primary source of income for state was land revenue
Usually, 1/ 6 of the gross product was collected as the land tax
The other sources of income for the state were taxes on trade
Puravuvarithinaikkalam : name of land revenue department
Society-
There was caste system prevalent during cholas period but people lived peacefully
Valangai and Idangai – Two major division of caste
Practice of sati was there and position of women was not satisfactory
Art and Architecture-
Chola kings were great builders
They build many structures like tank,ponds dams etc.
Most significant among these were temples
The Cholas built their temples in the style of the Pallava dynasty
Initial temples were made up of bricks and timbers
But in later period we can see the extensive use of stones
Sanctum of the Chola temples are both circular and square in size
Dome shaped sikhara and kalasa were also there on the top of Gopurams.
The first Chola ruler Vijayalaya Chola built temple at Narttamalai. This is a stone temple.
Sundaresvara temple-
It is located at Tirukkattalai in Thiruchchirappali District
This temple was built by temple was built by Aditya I
It was made up of stone
The Korangantha temple
It is located at
Srinivasanallur in Thirruchchirapalli District
It is a square vimana with a mandapa in front
Brihadisvara or Rajarajasvara temple-
It was built by Rajaraja I and considered as most eminent structure of cholas dynasty
It is dedicated to Lord Shiva
This is the largest and tallest temple in Tamil nadu
It is crowned by a single block of granite
It has a very high vimana
The entire temple is covered with beautiful sculptures and decorative mouldings
Other temples-
Gangaikonda Cholapuram by Rajendra I
Airavateswara Temple at Darasuram near Thanjavur built during the reign of Rajaraja Chola II
The Kampaharesvara Temple at Tribhuvanam near Kumbakonam built by Kulothunga Chola III
Sculpture
The cholas built some of the remarkable sculptures
These sculptures had some religious influence and depicted some of the Hindu Gods llike Shiva,Parvati,Vishnu etc.
The most famous of all the bronze icons is that of Nataraja
It represents the dance of Shiva and Cosmic creation and destruction by Shiva
Paintings-
There was also development of paintings during the time of Chola
Fresco paintings can be seen in Brihadisvara Temple
Theme of these painting were related to spirituality