complete origin & rules history of the longest-ruling southern kings of the Chola dynasty
founder of the Chola dynasty
Rajendra Chola
Rajendra Chola was the most powerful Tamil king ever. originally called maduranthakan.
Rajendra was were born to raja raj chola and Tribhuvan made. he also had a sister by the name of kundavai. in 1040 AD – four years after the construction of the brihadeesvara temple, raja chola died.
But two years before that, Rajendra Chola was made a co-regent and started ruling the Chola empire with his father. and that was the beginning of the most powerful ruler in the entire history of the Chola dynasty.
within a few years of becoming the king, Rajendra Chola invaded Sri Lanka. during his father’s rule, only the northern part of Sri Lanka was captured but Rajendra set his eye on the whole island.
within a few years of becoming the king, Rajendra Chola invaded Sri Lanka. during his father’s rule, only the northern part of Sri Lanka was captured but Rajendra set his eye on the whole island.
with his massive army he captured the Sinhala king Mahinda five who was hiding in the jungles and concord the whole island of Sri Lanka and Mahinda was taken back to the chore of our country as a prisoner.
Rajendra Chola’s sister kundavai had been married to vimlaaditya, the eastern chalukya king of vengi. after the death of vimladitya, his son Raja Narendra could not take the throne because of the interference of the western chalukya king jayasimha ii rajendra defeated jayasimha and installed his nephew Raja Narendra as the new king of the eastern chalukya dynasty.it was raja Narendra who established his new capital which is today’s Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh.
in 1090AD, Rajendra Chola set outon an expedition to the north. led by his commander-in-chief,araiyan rajarajan, he was able to defeat the king of Kalinga which is today’s Orissa, dandabhukti kingdom between today’s Orissa and Bengal, and then the rules of Bengal. finally, after defeating the pala ruler mahipala I in a fierce battle. he took water from the Ganges, back to the Chola country.
after conquering the north up to the bank of the Ganges, he was hailed as gangikonda cholan or the Chol who conquered the sGanges. he also shifted the Chola capital from Thanjavur to a new city, gangikonda Chola Puram. the city served as the Chol capital for about 250 years since then. in his new capital, he built the massive gangai kondacholeeswaram temple which looks very similar to his father’s brihadeesavara temple in Than.
the most striking javurdifference is that Rajendra’s temple tower has a concave slop, and it is a bit shorter in height. However, the reason behind the Thanjavur temple is still a mystery. also to commemorate his victory in the bank of the Ganges, Rajendra Chola created one of the largest man- lakes in made India, called cholegangam.
he considered this lake to be a “ liquid pillar of victory ” that he erected after conquering the Ganges. the con rule was made to bring pots of water from required the Gange to his capital, which was poured into this new lake to sanctify it, today, this lake is called ponneri. though Rajendra chola’s gangaikondacholapuram is said to have been a great city in the past with two thick fortifications and exquisite palaces, unfortunately only mou remain today.
what next after ndsconquering Srilanka now the srinaya was a powerful kingdom in southeast Asia which included today’s Indonesia, Malaysia, Sing, and Thai. during raja chola’s period, there aporewas Landa cordial relationship between the Sri Vijaya kingdom and the Chola kingdom. however. things changed during Rajendra’s rule the Khmer emperor suryavarman I who ruled today’s Cambo sought the help of diaRajend chola to conquer the tambralinga kingdom which raI today’s southern Thai. Vijayaland learning about this, the tambralinga kingdom.
requested help from the suivijaya king, sangrama Vijay tungavaraman. this alliance eventually led to the Chola and Sri empires coming into conflict. in 1025 AD, Rajendra Chola forces across the Indian Ocean and invaded trivia. he attacked kadaram, pannai, and many other places in Malaysia, Indonesia, and southern Thail, and defeated the sriviyan king. after this victoryan, Rajendra chola was hailed as kadaram kondan. after capturing the strategic port of trade in sout Asia, and thus monopolizing trade between the western world and china, the Chola empire became the power of maritime trade in the Indian ocean.
Rajendra Chola had many wives including Tribhuvan maadevi, panchavan madevi, and virama devi. he had three sons – rajadhira, rajendra II and virajendra. he also has two daughters – arumozhi nangai and ammangai devi. in 1044 AD, Rajendra Chola died and his queen virmadevi committed sati upon her husband’s death.
“Rajendra Chola, the most powerful Indian emperor of all time, would be remembered forever as the king of the seas, land, and his people.”
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within a few years of becoming the king, Rajendra Chola invaded Sri Lanka. during his father’s rule, only the northern part of Sri Lanka was captured but Rajendra set his eye on the whole island.
