Kulothunga Chola I
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 Chola Territories c. 1070 C.E. |
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| Reign | 1070 C.E. - 1120 C.E. |
| Title | Rajakesari |
| Capital | Gangaikonda Cholapuram |
| Queen | Madurantaki Thyagavalli Elisai Vallabhi Trilokya Mahadevi Kadavan Mahadevi Kampamadevi Adittan Adakuttiyar. |
| Children | Rajaraja Mummudi Chola Rajaraja Chodaganga Vikrama Chola four other sons Suttamalli Pillayar Amanangai Alvar |
| Predecessor | Athirajendra Chola |
| Successor | Vikrama Chola |
| Father | Rajaraja Narendra (Chalukya) |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | 1122 C.E. |
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Kulothunga Chola reigned from 1070 until 1120 C.E. over the vast Chola Empire.
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[edit] Kulothunga's early life
There is no truth in the assertion and interpretation with regards to Kulothunga's relation with the Chalukyans. The throne name "Rajakesarivarman" has to come to those who belong to Chola lineage only because this is the name of a virtuous ancient king in that line Who ruled during the treta age. The pallava practice of recruiting for the throne their legitimate scions officiating in other parts of the subcontinent and overseas was also followed by cholas. Also those days the crowned kings like Cholas held coronation ceremonies which was that day's equivalent of a swearing-in-ceremony in temple halls. It is not possible to believe that even here Cholas might have lied and escaped suspicion and rebellion especially when the illustrious pallavas were still very formidable. Thus it is definitely impossible to rule out war and regime change if such an absurd invented "relationship" had actually taken place. Besides all the Cholas like Rajamahendra, Rajadhiraja and Virarajendra had legitimate heirs to succeed. As is apparent through inscriptions of all Chola kings, especially those from Kulothunga I to the last King Rajendra III never used the title or epithet 'Chalukya' or 'Salukki' (Tamil for Chalukya) as their names. Rather all Chola kings used the title 'Chola or Cholan' with their names in their edicts and inscriptions. It is very clear that Kulothunga I was a dutiful king in the Chola wars and fought gallantly by the side of kings like Rajendra Chola, his successors, Rajadhiraja, Rajendra II and Virarajendra Chola. The Cholas successively had subjugated most of India and Asia. In accordance with the rules and policies followed they had rolled out regiments and navies right through the empire. The Vengi which was a small province was used by Cholas as a frontier in their wars against Deccan kingdoms. Kulothunga was a Chola prince who was serving as commander of forces in Vengi. He or the previous appointed Chola generals at Deccan did not have any kind of link with the Deccan enemies and the claims about the same is absolute absurdity.
[edit] Controversial accession
Virarajendra Chola died in 1070 C.E. and Athirajendra Chola became the Chola king. Soon after the coronation trouble erupted in the Chola kingdom.
[edit] Military campaigns
Kulothunga spent the first few years of his reign fighting the war and rebellion that had sprung up in the various parts of the empire. Apart from the residues of the rebellion that caused Athirajendra's death, there was trouble in Lanka where the southern provinces had declared independence.
Kulothunga also had to deal with the Chalukya Vikramaditya who never reconciled Kulothunga's accession to the Chola throne.
Kulothunga devoted the first few years of his reign to deal with these troubles and made preparations for war.
[edit] War with Vikramaditya VI
The first enemy to be dealt with was the Western Chalukya Vikramaditya VI, who now found that Kulothunga stood in the way of his ambitions to unite his kingdom with the Vengi kingdom. With Kulothunga's accession to the Chola throne, the two kingdoms had become more closely united than even before. Vikramaditya therefore led an expedition against Kulothunga in 1075 C.E.
The war began with Vikramaditya's incursion into the Chola territories and encountered the Chola army at Kolar. Vikramaditya was pursued by the Chola forces up to the banks of Tungabhadra and there was heavy fighting and Vikramaditya's armies were repulsed.
[edit] Ilam (Lankan) wars
While the wars with Vikramaditya were ongoing, Vijayabahu, the Sinhala leader proclaimed himself ruler of the entire island. In 1070 C.E. he attacked the Chola forces from his enclave in the Rohana district and defeated them. Vijayabahu then occupied the territories close to Anuradhapura. Kulothunga sent reinforcements and there was a bloody fighting near Anuradhapura and repulsed Vijayabahu.
The Tirukkalukunram and Tirunidur inscriptions of Kulothunga say that he dispatched many expeditions to Lanka. In one case some of the Lankan emissaries actually sent to help of Chola enemies in Deccan were intercepted, captured, insulted, disfigured and sent back dressed in women's clothes. This was in retaliation to the attacks of the Lankan king on a ship carrying Indian merchants and looting their property. The Lankans also looted the produce of the farmers from mainland Tamil Nadu further provoking the Chola monarch.
This apart the inscriptions like the Tiruvalangadu grant of Rajadhiraja II and Kulothunga III, who claimed to have occupied Madurai, Ilam, Karur and Kalinga (after which he built the famous Kampahareswara temple in commemoration), testify well to Chola involvement in Lanka.
The Polonnaruwa inscription of Vijayabahu is of much later date and does not first of all make any mention of any war or its out comes. Morever the inscription is possibly a forgery because of confusing way in which it gives information. The language used is tamil but the structure and grammar differ from that of the age. Ditto with letters. It does not mention the date of the grant or the name and affiliation of its executor. It simply says that Vijayabahu encountered "many enemies" before consecrating the temple of Buddha's tooth relic in Polannaruwa. It neither mentions the names of enemies . It is also true that some of the cholan regiments like velaikkaras of lanka feature in this grant as guards of temple, it could even be possible that vijayabahu may have temporarily been allied to cholas with whose regiments he sought protection of his buddhist relic. further more period of vijayabahu remains a suspect as the estimate was made by translators of mahawamsa who lived six centuries after cholas. However, this alone cannot be taken as an evidence for the Lankan ruler not having fought Cholas. But since we have the grants of Tiruvalangadu which appears not to have been a forgery, we may safely conclude that the chola involvement in the region continued till very late in their rule. In fact, the inscriptions of Kulothunga I till the end of his rule around 1124 still call him 'Madurantaka and Ilamkondaan' meaning lord of Madurai and Ilangai (Sri Lanka).The literature of kulothunga chola III around 1192.C.E, do praise him for conquest of "madurai and illam".
[edit] Pandyan conflicts
At the close of his wars with Vikramaditya VI, Kulothunga turned his attention to the south. The Pandya country never reconciled to the Chola overlordship and its rulers were a source of constant trouble for the Chola emperors. Pandya made use of the troubles in the Chola country during the controversial accession of Kulothunga and tried to reassert their independence.
Kulothunga could not take this situation lightly as the loss of the Pandya territories meant a serious threat to the existence of the Chola kingdom itself. As soon the Chalukyan war ended, Kulothunga turned all his energy to the suppression of the revolts in the Pandya and the Kerala territories.
The record at the innermost prakaram of ancient Chidambaram temple says that “King kulothungan vanquished the extremely dense army of Cheras and Pandyas and also burnt down the korkai (tirunelveli) fort, the same way as son of pandu(arjuna) burnt khandava forest . “ The inscription also informs us of the war in Karnataka and kulothunga’s subsequent placing of victory pillar in sahyadri hills.
Kulothunga’s inscription at the Sriranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam say that “King Neriyan (Kulothunga I, The title neriyan of cholas is a tamil name of king Manu who is founder of solar race of cholas), had been happy to appropriate from the vanquished pandyas, the magnificent pearl fisheries at Tiruananthapuram (Trivandrum) and also occupy militarily the Potiyil hills where the great seer Agastya was blessed with the knowledge of language of Tamil by lord Sivan.”. These records illustrate that during Kulothunga’s time the Cholas had crushed the rebellions of pandyans and were in complete control of south. The smaller leyden grant of Kulothunga as well as his suchidram (in kanyakumari dt.) temple inscription testify to this.
[edit] Kalinga Wars
The inscriptions Kulothunga contain descriptions of two Kalinga wars. From the brief nature of the description regarding the first war, we[who?] may conclude that this perhaps occurred during Kulothunga's youth. The second and later invasion happened after the fortieth regnal year of Kulothunga and was the subject of the celebrated Kalingathupparani by the poet Jayangondar.
The first Kalinga war seems to have been brought about by Kalinga aggression against Vengi. The war resulted in the annexation of the southern part of Kalinga to the Chola kingdom.
The real cause of the war is obscure. The reason cited by the literary work of Kalingathupparani, which in its current form is clearly a medieval extrapolation and revision and the one that contains many errors and omissions may only be taken as a highly insignificant reference.[citation needed] Thus we[who?] are left with very few and minuscule credible evidence and original documents about this glorious period of east.[citation needed]
[edit] Overseas contacts
Kulothunga sent an embassy to China in 1077 C.E. This 'embassy' was a trading venture and seems to have ended profitably for the Cholas. The Cholas returned with over 81,000 strings of copper cash and many more valuables.
There is also evidence to suggest that Kulothunga in his youth (1063 C.E.) was in Srivijaya restoring order and maintaining Chola influence in that area. While there is little evidence of the political power of the Cholas having extended to the Malay Archipelago, trade relations and cultural contacts established during the reigns of Rajaraja Chola and Rajendra Chola I seem to had been actively maintained by Kulothunga and his successors. It seemed that even during these times, the Cholas would successfully pursue diplomacy with the far-east by having trade relations and cultural contacts. But it appears that at least two Chola commanders had their battalions stationed at Srivijaya and Kamboja.
Kulothunga also maintained friendly relations with the Khmer kingdom of Kampuchea (Kambhoja). The Khmer king sent a peculiar stone to the emperor in c. 1114 C.E.
According to Burmese accounts, Kyanzittha, the ruler of Pagan (Burma) met with the Chola royal family by sending an ambassador to the Chola emperor.
[edit] Vengi administration
[edit] Extent of the Empire
The Chola kingdom was at its greatest extent under Kulothunga in his forty-fifth regnal year. Except for the loose hold over Lanka, the rest of the empire remained intact. The boundary between the Cholas and the Western Chalukyas was as always the Tungabhadra river. The hold over Vengi was quite firm and Kalinga was under the Chola rule (for the conquest of which and the levying of tribute over Alipurdoar areas of Bengal, Kulothunga I claims in his inscriptions to have built two temples dedicated to Sun god, namely the Suryanaar Koils of Nagapattinam and Pudukkottai - the Cholas claimed in all their inscriptions to have descended from the Solar race i.e. from the Sun).
[edit] Reduction of the Empire
Even though the they faced many wars during Kulothunga's period, they seem not to have lost control. Many writers have put up a proposition that Cholas suffered reverses to a Canarese tribal dynasty called Hoysala. This appears to be at the end of rule by Kulothunga III whose period and the succeeding one saw a lot of turmoils. The commander Adigaiman whose treason is believed to be the reason for the loss in the battle in charge of the military battalion responsible for the areas between Salem (Pandikkodumudi) and Kuvalalam (present day Bangalore, Mysore and Kolar). He is known to have joined hands with Ramanuja who was certainly a contemporary of Kulothunga III and committed treachery against the king. A brief fragmented inscription at big temple in Thanjavur dated 1213.C.E, refers to a deed executed by three chieftains of king Kulothunga III, who promise not to deceive one another or the king. Such a document clearly hints to a very troubled period .
[edit] Family and personal life
Kulothunga married Madurantakai, the daughter of Rajendra Chola II long before he ascended the Chola throne. Madurantaki had seven sons, of which Vikrama Chola, the successor of Kulothunga was perhaps fourth. She seems to have died sometime before the thirtieth year of Kulothunga (1110 C.E.) Another queen Thyagavalli took the place of the chief queen. Kalingathupparani mentions her and Elisai Vallabhi (also known as Elulagudayal) . It also states that Thyagavalli enjoyed equal authority with the king. One of his queens was the daughter of the King of Ilangai namely Vikramabahu, whom he married with 1088 and with that arrangement Kulothunga I heralded peaceful relations between the Cholas and the Ilam country. This was a political move that also negated any influence the traditional allies of the Lankan kings, the Pandiyans would have tried to exert on Vikramabahu. Following this marriage Lanka was allowed to be ruled with more freedom than under previous Chola kings, thus giving it a semblance of independent existence.
Other queens mentioned in inscriptions are Trilokya Mahadevi, Kadavan Mahadevi, a pallava princess, Kampamadevi and Adittan Adakuttiyar. Besides his seven sons through Madurantaki, Kulothungan also had a daughter Suttamalli who married into the royal house of Lanka, and Pillayar Amanangai Alvar.
[edit] Administration
Kulothunga's long reign was for the best part characterised by unparalleled success. However his kingdom was confined to the Tamil country at the end of his reign, which was indeed a setback, but because of capable leaders following him right up to Kulothunga-III (1176-1218), the fortunes of the Chola imperial power revived in no time with Vikrama Chola regaining Vengi, eastern Gangavadi and Kalinga and thus restoring the size of the empire to almost what it was at the time of Raja Raja I's accession. In fact, after almost a hundred years after Kulothunga I, Kulothunga-III would record victories over Kalinga, crush the Chera kings and Pandiyans of Madurai and re-establish the Cholas as a force to reckon with even in times of dwindling fortunes. In comparison by 1180 AD their rivals the Western Chalukyas were to receive inept rulers after Vikramaditya VI with the result that they rapidly hurtled towards extinction between 1130-1170 AD and finally not remaining in existence by 1189 AD due to the rise of the Kakatiyas, Kalucharis, Kadambas and their one-time feudatories the Hoysalas.
[edit] Religious attitude
Kulothunga's relations with the northern kingdoms of Gahadaval resulted in his increased emphasis on Sun worship. Kulothunga built the Suryanar Koil - Temple of the sun near Pudukkottai. He also built several halls in temples for chanting services of ramayana and mahabharatha.
[edit] References
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). The CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984).
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002).
- South Indian Inscriptions - http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/
- http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_24/kulottunga_1.html
(*)www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions (**) Ancient India by K.A.Nilakanta Sastri.
(***) http://www.ourkarnataka.com/states/history/historyofkarnataka28.htm (quoted text: "But the Kalachuri usurpation and the ensuing Cholas gave him (Vishnuvardhana) another set back, and he lost control over certain northern regions." This text could also mean the re-conquest of Gangavadi by Kulothunga I's son and successor, Vikrama Chola.
