Chola Kingdom

Chola Kingdom

The Chola kingdom was a medieval Indian state, which saw most of southern India being brought under a united government for the first time. At its greatest extent, Chola covered not just the south of India but also Sri Lanka, peninsular Malaya, western Borneo, and other islands of archipelago Southeast Asia.

The Chola used the Tamil language and religious and cultural concepts. The origins of the state are unclear, although the Chola King Raja Raja I invaded the southern Deccan region in 993 in a series of campaigns that lasted for nearly 30 years.

This contributed to the downfall of the Calukya dynasty and provided opportunities for Chola and Deccan rulers to contest former Calukya territory. In 1070 Chola King Rajendra II united the existing holdings into a unitary state, which was then free to expand its holdings across the trade routes that stretched across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia.


The next centuries were something of a golden age for southern India, with religious and artistic expression reaching high levels of achievement. Although caste-based societies such as that of the Chola are often thought of as lacking social mobility and the ability to innovate, this was not the case. Instead, creation of new crafts and skills enabled the reordering of society and the classes within it to a considerable extent.

The fact that so many different sets of people from many different homelands were a part of the Chola kingdom contributed to this mobility. The social mobility extended to women as well as men and a number of new occupations and ranks were made available to them. Specific areas of achievement included literature, bronze statuary and works, and architecture, particularly in terms of temple architecture.

The temple of Shiva at Thanjavur, which was completed in 1009, is regarded as a noted masterpiece demonstrating characteristic styles of southern India. The pantheon of Hindu gods provided numerous opportunities for artistic creativity, and the combination of creativity and incoming influences helped to create a number of exquisite creations.

Inscriptions found on Southeast Asian islands show the progress of Chola domination across the ocean. Raja Raja and Rajendra both persecuted a fierce campaign against the Srivijaya Kingdom and ultimately destroyed it. This allowed Chola to take over a monopoly of trade in the region and to gain greater access to Chinese markets and the burgeoning city-states of mainland Southeast Asia.

However, as in the case of the Indian homeland, evidence concerning the actual nature of who governed where and when is unclear. Inscriptions make grandiose claims, which in some cases are not substantiated. The end of the Chola empire is variously given as either in the 12th or 13th century, most often in 1279.

The arrival of Mongol Yuan troops in Southeast Asia radically changed the balance of power in the region while, in India, the rise of Hosalya and Pandya polities ultimately eroded the economic basis of the Chola empire and it was subsumed by successors.

Pallava Kingdom

Pallava Kingdom

Pallava was a state based in Southeast India that flourished between approximately the fourth and the ninth centuries c.e. The Pallava dynasty was Hindu but also supported Buddhism and Brahmanism and was known as a patron of the arts. Under its rule, trade grew with Sri Lanka and with Southeast Asia and the state appears, so far as can be determined, to have been quite prosperous.

It established its capital at Kanchi, close to modern Chennai (previously known as Madras). Tamil influences and cultural institutions grew in importance throughout the course of the Pallava dynasty and continued with its Chola successors.

Various theories have been put forward for both the origin and the demise of the Pallava state. The Pallava people may have been a part of the Parthians, the Dravidians, the Cholas, or several other distinct ethnic groups.


It is most likely that the majority of the people were a mixture of different ethnic groups interacting together within a common territory. Migration was a notable feature of the ancient world and even if social mobility was rendered very difficult by the caste system, geographical mobility was often possible on either an individual or a group basis.

The first named Pallava ruler was King Visnugopa, who appears in local records in the common Prakrit version of Sanskrit. Other kings and rulers appear in subsequent records but few meaningful details are available beyond their names. The lives of ordinary people can only be reconstructed from archaeological excavation.

Pallava rulers appear to have expanded their territories in the early centuries of their existence, but it is possible that this expansion was the discovery of other peoples involved in similar cultural practices and not the result of conquest at all. However, territorial expansion ended and subsequent Pallava rulers were persistently harried by the Chola feudatory allies of the Calukya dynasty to the west.

Pallava Map

Chola rulers gradually supplanted Pallava influence throughout its territory and gradually brought its rule to an end. It is difficult to determine whether this change of rulership made any real difference to the lives of the mass of the common people.

The sculptures and inscriptions of the Pallava state are notable in the development of the Indian artistic tradition. One of the centerpieces of this architecture may be found at the Shore Temple located at Mahabalipuram.

This combines Dravidian styles with other influences and was formerly a port. Ports are notable for the ways in which cultural institutions of various ethnicities interact and interrelate, sometimes creating entirely new combinations.

Tamil Culture

Tamil Culture

Tamil is a Dravidian language group that originated in southern India and is not linked to the northern Aryan language group. Tamil speakers are found in Tamilnadu, the region surrounded by Kerela, Karnataka, and Pradesh and parts of present-day Sri Lanka. Historically, the two largest and most influential Tamil cities were Madras and Madura.

Intense trade and military expansion resulted in Tamil cultural expansion from the second century to the 10th century. At the core of Tamil cultural identity is the Tamil language. As early as the end of the third century, Tamil script and Tamil as a distinct Dravidian language are documented.

Thus literature and poetry are at the core of culture in this period. However religion, another important aspect of Tamil culture, informed art in the form of painting, sculpture, and architecture.


The fourth century began after the end of the classical period in Tamil literature and was also the beginning of the rule of Pallavas, which would dominate until the 10th century. While this dynasty is not of Tamil origin, the integration of this dynasty into Tamil society transformed the cultural identity.

Pallavas encouraged the worship of Shiva and Vishnu and built lavish temples to honor them. They modeled their society after the great Aryan northern dynasties, the Mauras and Guptas. The Pallava kingdom marked the beginning of the Bakthi poetry movement.

The greatest collection of religious poetry that is indicative of this movement is the Thirumurai, which includes hymns of Appar, Sampanthar, Suntharar, and Manikkavasagar’s mystical poem Thiruvacagam.

The Chola kingdom (c.985–1300) began with ascension of Raja Raja I (985–1014) and the installation of his son Rajendra I. Their power and the crystallization of Tamil cultural identity provided a rich environment to facilitate cultural output. The Cholas were able to conquer vast amounts of territory as far as Malaysia.

As they conquered these lands they erected glorious temples and statues including bronzes of the dancing Lord Natarajan. By the 10th century the Cholas had a well-established trade relationship with China, which aided in enriching cultural connections.

Tamil statue

Under the Cholas, epic poetry was written by three great poets: Kampan, Ottakkootar, and Pukalenthi. The masterpiece of Tamil literature from this period was poetry created from stories written by Kamban.

Ramayanam (epics) were told in temples and were a part of worship. These were episodic public works performed in the temple, and in many ways were a reaction to the Bakthi movement.

Avvaiyar was a popular Tamil female poet, whose canon of expansive work spanned many topics, including spirituality and wisdom, which was largely popular among the people.

By the 13th century the Pandyas grew in political importance and displaced the Cholas as the dominant power. The Pandyas were highly proficient in trade and education. They controlled the pearl fisheries between the southeastern India coast and Sri Lanka, which produced the finest quality of pearls.

The Pandyas kings were known as far as Syria. The Nayaka period (c. 1336) was the instillation of the Nayaks of the Vijayanagara empire after the gradual spread of Muslim political authority in South Asia beginning in 711 with the Arabs and later, Turko-Afghans and Persians.

The decline of Tamil literature ends with the Nayaka Viceroy period under the hegemony of Sanskrit and Tugulu languages. However there was resurgence in Tamil literature in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Tamil culture from the seventh century until the mid-15th century was influenced heavily by religious devotion in the form of art, architecture, and sculpture. It was also in this period that Tamil literature underwent many transformations. This period provided the foundation for later articulations of Tamil identity.