Chola Empire

Gangaikonda Cholapuram

     


















The presence of a league of Tamil merchants in the port of Barus on the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia, is attested in the eleventh century AD C.
    * Rajendra Choladeva (1014-1045) completed the conquest of Ceylon, wages war in Orissa and Bengal. He built the temple where he Gangaikondacholapuram transfer its capital. Rajendra in 1025 sent an expedition against the kingdom of Srivijaya (present-day Palembang in South Sumatra), which monitors shipping in the Malacca Straits, and the conquest of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He sent an ambassador to the Emperor of China in 1033.
    * Rajadiraja Chola I (1018-1054)
    * Rajendra II (1051-1063)
    * Virarajendra (1063-1070)
    * Adhirajendra (1070-1073)
    * Rajendra Chola I Kulottunga (1070-1118) met for a time the Chola and Chalukya realms, regains Kalinga revolt, but lost its colonies in Ceylon and overseas. In 1086, he also made a census of its territories.
    * Vikrama Chola (1118-1133)
    * Kulottunga Chola II (1134
    * Rajaraja II (1134-1162)
    * Rajadhiraja II (1162? -1178)
    * Kulottunga III (1178-1216)
    * Rajaraja III (1216 and 1245-1252)
    * Rajendra III (co-regent in 1242 -1252 and 1267-1279), the last ruler Chola.

Chola Coins

The dynasty goes into decline and the Chola kingdom again reduced to the original area of Uraiyur will be absorbed by the kingdom of Vijayanagar in the fourteenth century.

The Chola know their height during the Chola I and Rajendra Rajaraja Choladeva. It was under their reign that India is the only period of sea power in its history.