Chola Empire

 Not much authentic information about Early Cholas is available except that they had
ruled between circa 200 BC and 200 AD. Ashoka inscriptions note Cholas as southern
neighbour of Maurya Empire.

 The only notable early Chola king is Karikala Chola, who ruled around 170AD. He
fought and won the Battle of Venni and established himself as a firm power in South. He
is also known to have built the Kallanai Dam, which is one of earliest anicuts in world.

 From third century AD to 9th century, the Chola history is obscure. During these
centuries, Chola hegemony was lost and their country was underKalabhras. Kalabhras
were non-Tamil speaking rulers who patronized Buddhism and Jainism. They were
probably remnants of Satavahanas whose demise led them to create a niche somewhere
in south India. They were finally drove out by Pallavas. Thus, in most part of this
period, the Chola territories remained under Kalabhras, Pandyas and Chalukyas. Chola,
Pandyas and Chalukyas kept fighting with each other for dominance.

 In 848 AD, a Pallava feudatory Vijayalaya Chola re-established the Chola rule by
capturing Thanjavur from Pandyas. He renovated the capital and built the Someshwara
capital at Padukottai. His son Aditya Chola-I won over Pallavas and further
strengthened the empire. The Chola empire was further extended by his son Parantaka
Chola who reigned for almost half century between 907 to 955 AD.

 In the beginning of his career, he attacked and captured Madurai from Pandyas and
assumed title Madurakonda. He also defeated a combined army of Pallavas and Ceylon
and thus assumed another title Maduraiyum Elamum Konda Parakesarivarman (The
conqueror of Madura and Ceylon).

 The successors of Parantaka Chola were insignificant. Between 955 AD and 985 AD,
the Chola country was ruled by five different princes. Finally, Chola empire was again
on path of expansion when Rajaraja Chola-I ascended the throne in 985 AD. By the
time he died in 1014 AD, his territories included whole of modern Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Odisha, whole of Kerala and Sri Lanka. He
built the Rajrajesftwaram temple (also known as Brihadeeswarar Temple or
Peruvudaiyar Kovil) at Thanjaur. This temple dedicated to Shiva is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. He also endowed a Burmese Buddhist Temple called Chudamani
Vihara at Nagapattam Port. This temple survived till 19th century before it was
destroyed and replaced by Jesuit priests with a Church in 1867.
 The powerful standing army and great navy of Rajaraja Chola-I achieved even greater
success under next ruler Rajendra Chola-I who ruled from 1014 AD to 1044 AD. He
captured Ceylon, defeated Western Chalukyan king Jayasimha-II in battle of Maski,
defeated Pala King Mahipala, defeated Kalinga, Gangas etc and assumed the title
Gangakonda. His naval forces subdued the Srivijaya Kingdom (Modern Sumatra) and
many other south east Asian kingdoms and colonies. He maintained good diplomatic
and trade relations with contemporary Song dynasty of China.

 To commemorate his victory over Palas he built the Gangaikonda Cholapuram as his
new capital. This capital served all the later Cholas until it was ransacked by the
Pandyas. Today, a temple stands there as architectural marvel of the Cholas and is a
UNESCO world heritage site. At the time of death of Rajendra Chola-I, the Chola
Empire was the widest in the word and naval prestige was highest.

 The benevolent imperialism of the Cholas was maintained by his successor Rajadhiraja
Chola till 1059 when he was killed in the Battle of Koppam with western Chalukya
King Someshwara-I over control of Vengi. His brother Rajendra Chola-II crowned
himself as next Chola monarch in the battlefield itself and reactivated the Chola army to
fight with Chalukyas. He was able to defeat Someshwara-I.

 In 1063, Rajendra Chola-II was succeeded byVirarajendra Chola, who subdued the
Chalukyas and made them his tributaries. After this, the Chola Empire started declining.
His successor Athiranjendra Chola could reign only for few months and was killed in a
civil unrest. This ended the imperial Chola dynasty. The next line of later Cholas was
basically a fresh blood arising out of Chola- Chalukya marital alliances.

Chola Administration
 Cholas have left an elaborate set of information on their administration.

The King and his Officers

 The Chola administration was highly organised and efficient with King at the apex.
King discharged his duties with the help of an immediate group of ministers and other
high officers called Udankuttam. They represented all the major departments of
administration and advised the King on disposal of his business.

 The Cholas had an elaborate and complex bureaucracy comprising officials of various
grades. The officers, who tended to form a separate class in the society, were organized
in two ranks viz. upper perundanam and lower sirudanam. The higher officers were
known with title ofadigarigal, while officers of all ranks were usually referred to by the
general titles of Karumigal and panimakkal.
 They were usually remunerated by assignments of land (jivitas) suited to their position.
Titles of honour and shares in booty taken in war formed other rewards of public
service.

Provincial Administration
 The empire was divided into principalities (under vassal chiefs) andmandalams
(provinces under viceroys who were mostly royal princes) with further division of
the provinces intovalanadus (divisions), nadus (districts) and Kurrams (villages).

Town and Village Administration

 There was autonomous administration for town and townships, known atsankurrams.
Town autonomy was quite similar to village autonomy and both were administered by
assemblies.

Revenue Administrations
 A well organised department of land revenue, known as the Puravu varitinaikalam, was
in existence. All cultivable land was held in one of the three broad classes of tenure
which may be distinguished as peasant proprietorship (vellanvagai), service tenure, and
tenure resulting from charitable gifts.

 The first type was the ordinary ryotwari village of modern times, having direct relations
with the government and paying a land tax liable to revision from time to time.

 All land was carefully surveyed and classified into tax-paying and non-taxable lands. In
every village and town, the residential part of the village (or nattam), temples, tanks,
channels, passing through the village, the outcastes hamlet (paracheri), artisans’ quarters
(Kummanachcheri) and the burning ground (Sudugadu) were exempt from all taxes. In
its turn, taxable land was classified into different grades according to its natural fertility
and the crops raised on it. Besides land revenue there were tolls in transit, taxes on
profession and houses, dues levied on ceremonial occasions like marriage, and judicial
fines.

Military Administration
 The soliders of the Cholas generally consisted of two types-theKaikkolar who were
royal troops receiving regular pay from the treasury; and the nattuppadai who were the
 militia men employed only for local defence. The Kaikkolar comprised infantry,
cavalry, elephant corps and navy.

 The Cholas paid special attention to their navy. Within the Kaikkolar, the Velaikkarars
were the most dependable troops in the royal service ready to defend the king and his
cause with their lives. Attention was given to the training of the army and cantonments
called kadagams.

Chola Self Government

 The most important feature of the Chola administration lies in the running of
autonomous institutions. There was a great deal of local self-government in the villages
in the Chola Empire. Each village had its own general assembly which administered
control over all the affairs of the village and was free from the control of the Central
Government.

 It enjoyed all powers regarding the village administration. There were two types of
institutions working at village level.

Ur
 Ur was the general assembly of the village. The Ur consisted of all the taxpaying
residents of an ordinary village. The Alunganattar was the executive committee and the
ruling group of the Ur. The Ur was open to all the adult men but was dominated by the
older member of the village. The members of the executive committee of ‘Ur’ were
called ‘Shashak Gana’ or ‘Ganam’. Exact number of the committee members or the
procedure adopted for their election is not known.

Mahasabha
 This was a gathering of the adult men in the Brahmana villages which were
calledagraharas. These were villages settled by the Brahmanas in which most of the
land was rent free. Sabha managed most of its affairs by an executive committee called
variyam to which educated persons owning property were elected. Reporters appointed
by the sabha were called Variyar. Generally, Variyar was assigned some or other
special task.

 Sabha could settle new lands, and executive ownership rights over them. It could also
raise loans for the village and levy taxes.
 Villages were divided among sheries, roads and blocks. Each shery constituted a
community. Shery was assigned many tasks for the welfare of the village Each shery
had its representation in the managing committee of the village.