Kulothunga I

Kulothunga Chola (r. 1070 – 1122 CE) was one of the greatest kings of the Chola Empire who ruled in the late 11th century and early 12th century. He was one of the sovereigns who bore the title Kulottunga, literally meaning the exalter of his race. During his early reign he carried out a land survey and settlement as the basis of taxation. His records also testify to the highly organized system of fiscal and local administration. He had diplomatic relations with the north Indian city Kanauj as also with far off countries like Cambodia, Sri Vijaya and China. His court poet was Jayamkondar who wrote the poem Kalingattu parani to celebrate the military victories of Kulothunga Chola. He was a liberal ruler as several land grants were given to the members of the Shudra community who were generals and royal officials during his reign. He established Chola overlordship over the Sri Vijaya province Kedah in Malaysia.

Early life

Kulothunga Chola I was the grandson of Emperor Rajendra Chola I . As a Chola prince he conquered the Sri Vijaya province Kedah on behalf of his maternal uncle Emperor Virarajendra Chola in the 11th century. As a Chola Prince he also conquered Bastar in modern Chhattisgarh. Several ancient documents and fragmented inscriptions available from places like tirugokarnam, pudukkottai, pennagadam in cuddalore, tirumaanikkuzhi in cuddalore etc. give some information on events that took place during the crowning of the Emperor. For example, the following passage from a Tamil work of the period written at tiruppadiripuliyur(cuddalore) has it as:

Kulothunga Chola

Kulothunga was the name of several later Chola kings in India: