The CholaKingdom is very ancient, there has been references made in Mahabharatha and even in Ashokan inscriptions. It is known that Karikala was the Chola ruler who reigned in the 2nd century AD. During Karikala's reign, the capital city was moved to Kaveripattanam from Uraiyur. Nedumudikilli seems to have been the successor of Karikala, whose capital town was set to fire by the sea pirates. The frequent attacks of Pallavas, Cheras and Pandyas declined the Chola power and it was in the 8th century AD, Cholas glory began to shine when the Pallavas power declined.Vijayalaya
In around 850 AD, Vijayalaya founded the dynasty probably by starting off as a vassal of the Pallava king. With the conflict between Pallavas and Pandyas, Vijayalaya occupied Tanjore and made his capital. He was succeeded by his son Aditya-I. Aditya-I defeated Pallava king Aparajita and also Parantaka Viranarayana, the Kongu ruler.Aditya-I
Aditya-I was soon succeeded by his son Parantaka-I and ruled between 907 to 955 AD. Cholas power reached supremacy under his reign. He annexed territory of Pandya King and soon conquered the Vadumbas. He swept away all the traces of Pallavas power, but received a set back at the hands of Rashtrakutas.Raja Raja Chola
The powerful ruler of the Chola kingdom was Raja Raja - the Great. He ruled from 985 - 1014 AD. His army conquered Venginadu, Gangapadi, Tadigaipadi, Nolambavadi, Kudamalai-nadu, Kollam, Kalingam, Ilamandalam of the Singalas. His first triumph was achieved early in his reign by destroying the Navy of Cheras at Trivendrum. He annexed north part of Ceylon to his kingdom and sacked Anuradhapuram. Polonnaruva was made his capital of the Chola province of Ceylon. Political divisions of the Western Ganga's Gangavadi, Tadigaivadi and Nolambavadi were conquered in 991 AD and it remained under them for the next century. Union of Eastern and Western Chalukyas was stopped by helping Eastern Chalukya ruler . Towards the end of the reign, the Cholas was attacked by the Western Chalukyas, but Raja-raja Chola won the war.Rajendra-I
Rajendra-I founded his new capital at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. He set up Vaishnava centre and the Vedic college for teaching Vedas. He had a friendly relationship with the China emperor, and had a peaceful reign of 32 years. He extended the territory inherited from his father, and subdued the power of Pandyas and Keralas. He performed Asvamedha sacrifice too. He was very successful in the beginning but later on he lost his life in the famous battle of Koppam on the Tungabhadra. The next ruler Rajendra-II (1052-1064 AD) just managed to maintain the Chola empire though he had to struggle with the troubling Chalukyas.Vira Rajendra
Vira Rajendra (1064 - 1070 AD) was the elder brother of Rajendra-II. He succeeded his brother to reign for the next seven years. He met the invasion of Chalukya King and defeated the Chalukya ruler. He reconquered Vengi and foiled the efforts of Vijayabahu of Ceylon who was trying to drive the Cholas out of Ceylon. When Someswara-II succeeded the Chalukyas throne, Rajendra made some incursions but later on built a friendly ties by giving his daughter to Vikramaditya. Soon after the death of Vira Rajendra in 1070 AD, there was a contest for the throne and Adhi-Rajendra, the heir apparent took the throne. He had a short uneventful reign, Vijayabahu assumed independence in Ceylon.Kulottunga - I (1070 - 1120 AD)
Rajendra-II succeeded Adhirajendra under the title Kulottunga Chola. In about 1073, Kalachuri King Yasahkarana invaded Vengi but did not gain anything. Pandyas and Chera's attack were put down by Kulottunga. The southern Kalinga revolt were put down too. In about 1118 AD, the Viceroy of Vengi - the Vikramaditya VI took control of Vengi from Chola and thus succeeded in separating the Cholas from the Eastern Chalukyas. Gangavadi and Nolambavadi were lost to Hoysala's Vishnuvardhana.Vikrama Chola (1120 - 1135 AD)
The next successor, the son of Kulottunga-I restored the Chola power by reconquering Vengi and by taking control of part of Gangavadi. His reign was somewhat peaceful to his subjects though there were floods and famines in the South Arcot. The Hoysala expansion took control of Chola power slowly and subsequently. The last rulers namely Kulottunga - II, Rajaraja - II, Rajadhiraja - III could not stop the Hoysalas annexation of Chola Kingdom. Cholas hold on Pandyan kingdom had already weakened. In about 1243, the Pallava chief declared independence. The Kakatiyas and Hoysalas partitioned among themselves the territory of the Chola empire and Chola empire ceased to exist for ever.
COINAGE
In the later part of the tenth century, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Sri Lanka kingdoms adopted coinage once again after a brief break of four centuries. But this time, it triggered off with the gold coinage to initiate major transactions. Soon silver and copper coinage were minted in plenty to meet the day to day needs of commodities.
Raja raja Chola struck coins both in Sri Lanka and India. They differed much in fabric, style and in the gold purity. The monetary economy was well defined with the Imperial Cholan conquest. In Tamilnadu, Cholas introduced coinage much prior to Raja raja's campaign in Sri Lanka. They adopted 'Tiger facing two fishes' as their emblem on the coinage. Having developed a strong navy, they traded with Sri Lanka and soon conquered them too. They also set voyages as far as the islands of Indonesia and Maldives through ocean. Subsequently they felt the need to mint coins to trade!
Chola's coinage issues were in all the three metals Gold, Silver and Copper. Though the coinage was mainly destined for general currency, very few commemoratives could be observed. Uttama Chola struck silver with the royal emblem of "Tiger facing two fishes" on the obverse and the Nagari legend "Uttama Chola". Raja Raja struck gld fanams bearing the legend Yuddha Malla" on the obverse and the usual insignia on the reverse. He also struck silver and gold kahavanus with the standing king on the obverse and the seated king on the reverse. Nagari legend "Raja Raja" surrounded him on the obverse of some types, and the reverse image of some types.
Rajendra Chola struck coins with the legend "Sri Rajendrah" beneath the usual insignia on both reverse and obverse. The copper Kasu of Chola started off with the reign of Raja Raja, which passed onto next generations (even Kulottunga) with the same standard "Standing King on the obverse" and "Seated King on the reverse". Sometime legend "Raja Raja" and sometime the legend "Ku appears on the coinage surroundig the image. These coins can be seen abundantly as the same type of coins with little deformed images were circulated till the Cholas ceased to exist.
LAST UPDATED 1st Nov 2001
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