MEDIEVAL INDIA -

THE CHOLAS
STD 9
 SOURCES - INSCRIPTIONS
❖ Main source of information for the history of the Chola period.
❖ Rajaraja I conceived the idea of prefixing to his inscriptions the main
achievements of his reign, by his successors as well.
❖ There exists a formal record of the transactions made by each Chola ruler.
❖ The inscriptions are in the form of
Copper-plate grants,
stone inscriptions
inscriptions made on walls,
pillars of temples.
❖ The Copper-plate grants known as Anbil and Karandi as well as the Kanyakumari stone inscription give
a long list of rulers indicating the origin of the Chola dynasty.
❖ Another set of Copper-plate contains 31 copper sheets.
❖ These plates are written in Sanskrit and Tamil. They record a grant made to a temple by Rajendra
Chola I.
❖ The inscriptions provide the following information:

★ They tell us about the Chola administration.

For ex - the Uttaramerur inscription gives information on the village
administration, taxation and land revenue.
★ They record gifts and endowments to temples and brahmanas.
★ They are the records of grants of villages, plots of land or other privileges to individuals or institutions
by the Cholas. For ex- the Leyden grant of Parantaka Chola and Parakesari Uttama Chola.
★ They inform us about the construction of a temple or the setting up of a new image of the
deity.

★ Some inscriptions have royal orders on taxation and land revenue, resolutions of village
assemblies, judgements delivered against persons guilty of theft, murder and other
crimes.

★ Inscriptions on temple walls served the purpose of public registrations such as the record of
sales, mortgages and other forms of transfers of property rights in village lands.
THE BRIHADESHWARA TEMPLE

★ The Cholas built a number of temples.

★ The gateway of the temple was called
‘gopuram.’
★ The main shrine was known as the
‘garbhagriha’ where the images of
gods and goddesses were kept.
★ These images were made either of
stone or bronze.
★ The ‘mandapa’ or the audience hall,
was a place of worship built in front of
the main shrine.
★ The chief features of Chola temples are their
massive vimanas or towers and spacious
courtyards.
★ Brihadeshwara is also known as
Rajarajeshwara temple dedicated to Lord
Shiva.
★ It is located at Thanjavur and was built by the
Chola king, Rajaraja I.
★ It is one of the best specimens of Dravidian
style of architecture.
★ The main structure of the temple has a great
vimana or tower which rises to a height of 66
metres.
★ It is crowned by a massive dome consisting of
a single block of stone.
★ The main temple is built of 130000 tons of
granite.
★ The massive temple building is covered from
the base to the top with sculptures and
decorative mouldings.
★ The shrine houses a gigantic Shiva Lingam,
cut in a monolithic rock.
★ The temple has many structures such as a
Nandi Pavilion, a pillared portico and a large
assembly hall.
The temple has been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The temple
provides the following information:

★ The temple has a portrait of Rajaraja Chola paying obeisance to Lord Nataraja.
★ Inscriptions in the temple point towards Rajaraja as the chief architect.
★ Depictions of dancers showing eighty one of hundred and eight karanas
(synchronised movements of hands and feet) in Bharata Natyam are carved.
 ★ It shows that the temple was a platform for talented dancers to showcase
their talent.
★ The inscriptions mention the different kinds of jewels used in the Chola
period. A total of twenty three different types of pearls, eleven varieties of
diamonds and rubies are mentioned.
★ It is one of the few temples that have

Ashta-dikpaalakas (Guardians of the eight directions) idols.

POLITICAL HISTORY

➔ Chola ruler Vijayalaya established Chola rule in Tamil land, with Thanjavur
as his capital, during the middle of the ninth
century.
➔ After his death, his grandson, Parantaka I became the king.
➔ He conquered Madurai and defeated the Pandyas and the rulers of Lanka.
➔ By the 11th century AD the Chola power had reached the height of its glory.
➔ Rajaraja I and his son, Rajendra Chola were two

prominent rulers of this dynasty.

RAJARAJA I

★ He was a brilliant general and campaigned in many directions.

★ He attacked kingdoms of the Pandyas and the Cheras as well as parts of
Mysore. He annexed parts of Deccan and overran Vengi in order to prove
the strength of the Chola power.
★ The coasts of Kera, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the Maldive Islands had become
rich through the money that came to them from overseas trade. Foreigners
brought wealth to India through their trade.
★ Being aware of the importance of controlling the sea, Rajaraja decided to
show his strength along the coasts of south India. He took out a naval
expedition and conquered the northern half of Sri Lanka.
★ He built the Rajarajeshwara temple of Lord Shiva at Thanjavur.
★ On the walls of this temple are inscribed the main works of Rajaraja I.
★ Under his rule, the Cholas became the supreme power in Southern India.
★ The increase in trade brought prosperity to their kingdom, Cholamandal.
★ In fact, the word, Coromandel has been derived from Cholamandal.
RAJENDRA CHOLA

★ Rajendra succeeded his father and continued his

father’s policies.

★ He invaded and annexed the whole island of Sri Lanka. They were not able
to free themselves from the Chola control for another 50 years.
★ Rajendra’s campaigns were daring. He himself led the army upto Godavari.
★ The Chola army defeated Mahipala, King of Bengal. To commemorate this
victory, he adopted the title of Gangaikonda and built a new capital called
Gangaikonda-Cholapuram in the present state of Tamil Nadu.
★ His most daring campaign was in South-East Asia.
★ For centuries, Indian merchants had been trading with various parts of
South-East Asia and southern China, through the Straits of Malacca, held by
the kingdom of Shrivijaya (Modern day Indonesia).
★ The India merchants appealed to Rajendra Chola for help as Shrivijaya
started creating problems.
★ He sent out a huge army and defeated the Shrivijaya king.
★ As a result, Indian trade with South-East Asia and southern China
continued, thereby enriching the Chola kingdom.
★ He built magnificent palaces and beautiful temples at his new capital.
 CHOLA ADMINISTRATION
★ It was highly organised and efficient.
★ The king was the pivot of administration and all
the authority rested in his hands.
Central Government

★ The king was the most important person in the Chola administration.
★ He had Council of Ministers to advise him.
★ The king often went on tours in order to keep a check on the administration.
★ The officers were paid by giving them assignments in revenue-bearing lands.
★ The princes were associated with the ruling sovereigns and actively employed in
peace and war.
★ The Central government looked after external defence, internal peace and
order, promotion of general prosperity and cultural progress of the empire.

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

★ The Cholas were divided into mandalams or provinces.

★ They were further divided into valanadu and nadu.
★ Princes of the royal family were appointed governors of provinces.
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
★ The Cholas were good administrators.
★ They believed in local self-government. In many of the villages the
administration was carried out, not by the government officials but by the
villagers themselves.
★ These villages had three types of village assemblies - the ur, the sabha and
the nagaram. There are long inscriptions on the walls of some of the village
temples giving details of how the ur and sabha were organised.
★ The ur was the common type of assembly of the villages where the land was
held by all classes of people who were members of the local assembly.
★ The sabha was an exclusively Brahmin assembly of the villages, where all the
land belonged to the Brahmins.
★ The nagaram was an assembly of the merchants and belonged to localities
where traders and merchants were in a dominant position.
★ Villagers who owned land were chosen by a vote to the council.
★ The life and the work of the villages were discussed in these councils. This
was a source of popular strength because it united the people.
★ All affairs concerning the village - collection of taxes, settlement of disputes
and allocation of water were looked after by the committees.
★ The temple was the centre of social activity. It was not a place of worship but
also a place where people gathered together.
★ Some temples owned huge lands and participated in inland and overseas
trade.
★ The lands donated to the temples were known as the devadaya or devadana.
★ In some cases, instead of giving land to temples, land revenue of certain
villages was assigned to the temple and the concerned villagers were
instructed to pay land-revenue in produce and in gold to the temple
treasury.
★ The temples were also the biggest employers after the State, providing work
and means of livelihood .
★ The temples used to take care of the welfare of its workers by providing
food, clothing and housing facilities and by arranging proper education and
establishing hospitals.
★ The temple was also a centre for education.
★ The priests of the temple were the local teachers as there were no separate
schools.
★ The schools were housed in the temple courtyard.
★ The students learnt their lessons in two languages - Sanskrit and Tamil.
★ The religious teaching was in Sanskrit since texts such as the Vedas had to
be studied.
★ The students learnt Tamil, the language which was already widely spoken in
the Chola kingdom.
★ Tamil was influenced by Sanskrit and gradually incorporated a number of
Sanskrit words.
THE REVENUE

★ The revenue of the Chola kingdom came from - taxes on land and the
produce of the land and the tax on trade.
★ Part of the revenue was kept for the king.
★ The rest was used on public works, such as the building of roads and tanks,
on salaries of officials and on the building of temples.
★ The taxes on land were collected by the officials from the village councils.
THE CHOLA ART
★ The Chola rulers were great conquerors and efficient
administrators.
★ They loved art and architecture.
★ They built temples, canals, roads, cities and palaces.
★ Most of the Chola temples were built in the Dravidian
style.
★ Early Chola temples were simple structures but later
on became bigger and more grand.
★ The art of making stone and metal images had made
rapid progress.
★ The Cholas excelled in making images of gods and goddesses. The bronze
image of Lord Shiva as ‘Nataraja’ - Lord of Dance is an excellent work of art.
The image has been described as the “cultural epitome” of the Chola period.
Question and Answers
1) Who established the rule of the Cholas? Name the capital of his empire.
The Chola ruler Vijayalaya established Chola rule in Tamil land with Thanjavur as
his capital.
1) Name the two languages promoted by the Cholas.
Sanskrit and Tamil
1) What is known as the ‘gopuram’?
The gateway of the temple was called gopuram
1) What made the Chola administration strong and effective?
● The Chola system of administration was highly organised.
● For efficiently managing the administration, it was divided into the Central
Government, Provincial Government and Local Self-Government
5) With reference to the Chola period explain the following:

a) Taxes imposed by the Cholas

● The revenue of the Chola kingdom came from taxes on land and the
produce of the land and tax on trade.
● Of the total revenue collected, part of it was kept for the king.
● The rest was used on public works, such as the building of roads and
tanks, on salaries of officials, on paying for the upkeep of the army and on
the building of temples.
a) Administration of the kingdom.
● The king was the pivot of administration and all the authority vested in
him.The Central government looked after defence, internal peace and
order, promotion of general prosperity and cultural progress of
thetemple.
 ● The Chola Empire was divided into provinces or mandalams which was further
divided into Valanadu and nadu. The princes of royal family were appointed as
Governors of Provinces.
● The villages had local self-government and were administered by three types
of assemblies -ur, sabha and nagaram.
c) The three types of village assemblies
● These villages had three types of village assemblies - ur, sabha and nagaram.
● The ur was the common type of assembly of the villages.
● The sabha was an exclusively Brahmin assembly of the villages.
● The nagaram was an assembly of merchants and belonged to localities.