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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Cholas of Tanjore

The imperial Chola dynasty of Tanjore (Thanjavur) and Gangaikondacholapuram in the Tamil country, overlords of much of the Telugu country from about 1000 to the 12th century. Rajaraja I restored the Eastern Chalukya Saktivarman I in Vengi about 999 and married his daughter to Saktivarman's brother Vimaladitya. Rajendra I waited on the Godavari while his general marched to the Ganges, and Virarajendra fought the Western Chalukyas at Bezwada. In 1070 the Eastern Chalukya heir became the Chola emperor Kulottunga I, whose sons governed Vengi until 1118. After a Western Chalukya occupation, Vikrama-Chola recovered the coast, but by the mid-12th century Chola rule north of the Krishna was nominal. In the south, the Telugu Choda chiefs of Nellore and Pottappi acknowledged the Chola king until the dynasty ended in the 1260s.

Swipe sideways to see the whole chart; tap a bar for details.

Each bar is a ruling power in its region; time runs left to right. Dashed = approximate dates. Select a bar for details.

90095010001050110011501200125013001350Eastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powers (624–1163 CE)Eastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powersKakatiyas (1163–1323 CE)KakatiyasNayakas, Reddis & Bahmanis (1323–1518 CE)Vijayanagara & the Qutb Shahis (1336–1687 CE)TelanganaChalukyas of VemulavadaKakatiyasDelhi Sultanate (Tughluqs)Rashtrakutas of MalkhedTelugu Chodas of KanduruKakatiyasChalukyas of MudigondaRecherla Velamas (Padmanayakas)Eastern Chalukyas of VengiWestern Chalukyas of KalyaniCoastal AndhraEastern Gangas of KalingaCholas of TanjoreKakatiyasEastern Chalukyas of VengiKotas of DharanikotaHaihayas of Kona and PalnaduTelugu Chodas of Pottapi and NelloreVelanati ChodasPandyasWestern Chalukyas of KalyaniCholas of TanjoreRayalaseemaPallavasCholas of TanjorePandyasBanasWestern Chalukyas of KalyaniKakatiyasVaidumbasTelugu Chodas of Pottapi and NelloreNolamba-PallavasHoysalasRashtrakutas of Malkhed90095010001050110011501200125013001350
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Eastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powers 624–1163 CE

Telangana
Chalukyas of Vemulavada (c. 750–973 CE) · Kakatiyas (c. 1052–1162 CE) · Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (c. 753–973 CE) · Telugu Chodas of Kanduru (c. 1060–1160 CE) · Chalukyas of Mudigonda (c. 890–1218 CE) · Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (c. 935–973 CE) · Western Chalukyas of Kalyani (c. 973–1163 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (c. 615–973 CE) · Cholas of Tanjore (c. 999–1135 CE) · Kotas of Dharanikota (c. 1100–1276 CE) · Haihayas of Kona and Palnadu (c. 1073–1364 CE) · Telugu Chodas of Pottapi and Nellore (c. 1106–1316 CE) · Velanati Chodas (c. 1118–1209 CE) · Western Chalukyas of Kalyani (c. 1118–1126 CE)
Rayalaseema
Pallavas (c. 300–900 CE) · Cholas of Tanjore (c. 985–1268 CE) · Banas (c. 700–915 CE) · Western Chalukyas of Kalyani (c. 1000–1190 CE) · Vaidumbas (c. 750–1000 CE) · Telugu Chodas of Pottapi and Nellore (c. 1120–1268 CE) · Nolamba-Pallavas (c. 750–974 CE) · Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (c. 750–973 CE)

Kakatiyas 1163–1323 CE

Telangana
Kakatiyas (c. 1163–1323 CE) · Chalukyas of Mudigonda (c. 890–1218 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Kakatiyas (c. 1185–1323 CE) · Kotas of Dharanikota (c. 1100–1276 CE) · Haihayas of Kona and Palnadu (c. 1073–1364 CE) · Telugu Chodas of Pottapi and Nellore (c. 1106–1316 CE) · Velanati Chodas (c. 1118–1209 CE) · Pandyas (c. 1260–1264 CE) · Cholas of Tanjore (c. 1135–1264 CE)
Rayalaseema
Cholas of Tanjore (c. 985–1268 CE) · Pandyas (1285–1293 CE) · Western Chalukyas of Kalyani (c. 1000–1190 CE) · Kakatiyas (c. 1250–1323 CE) · Telugu Chodas of Pottapi and Nellore (c. 1120–1268 CE) · Hoysalas (c. 1178–1342 CE)

Nayakas, Reddis & Bahmanis 1323–1518 CE

Telangana
Delhi Sultanate (Tughluqs) (c. 1323–1336 CE) · Bahmani Sultanate (c. 1347–1518 CE) · Musunuri Nayakas (c. 1336–1368 CE) · Recherla Velamas (Padmanayakas) (c. 1361–1475 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Reddis of Kondaveedu (c. 1325–1424 CE) · Delhi Sultanate (Tughluqs) (c. 1323–1326 CE) · Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1350–1579 CE) · Haihayas of Kona and Palnadu (c. 1073–1364 CE) · Musunuri Nayakas (c. 1325–1346 CE)
Rayalaseema
Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1336–1646 CE) · Reddis of Kondaveedu (c. 1346–1386 CE) · Hoysalas (c. 1178–1342 CE)

Vijayanagara & the Qutb Shahis 1336–1687 CE

Telangana
Bahmani Sultanate (c. 1347–1518 CE) · Musunuri Nayakas (c. 1336–1368 CE) · Recherla Velamas (Padmanayakas) (c. 1361–1475 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Reddis of Kondaveedu (c. 1325–1424 CE) · Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1350–1579 CE) · Haihayas of Kona and Palnadu (c. 1073–1364 CE) · Musunuri Nayakas (c. 1325–1346 CE)
Rayalaseema
Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1336–1646 CE) · Reddis of Kondaveedu (c. 1346–1386 CE) · Hoysalas (c. 1178–1342 CE)
Kingdoms and empires Sultanates Uncertain or debated dates Held another region first This page

Reigns

Each bar is one ruler’s reign; time runs left to right. c. = approximate date.

9501000105011001150120012501300Rajaraja I (Chola) · 985–1016 CE · 31 yrsRajaraja I (Chola)985–1016 CE · 31 yrsRajendra I (Chola) · 1012–1043 CE · 31 yrsRajendra I (Chola)1012–1043 CE · 31 yrsRajadhiraja I (Chola) · 1018–1052 CE · 34 yrsRajadhiraja I (Chola)1018–1052 CE · 34 yrsRajendradeva · 1052–1063 CE · 11 yrsRajendradeva1052–1063 CE · 11 yrsVirarajendra (Chola) · 1063–1070 CE · 7 yrsVirarajendra (Chola)1063–1070 CE · 7 yrsAdhirajendra · 1070 CEAdhirajendra1070 CEKulottunga I · 1070–1118 CE · 48 yrsKulottunga I1070–1118 CE · 48 yrsVikrama-Chola · 1118–1133 CE · 15 yrsVikrama-Chola1118–1133 CE · 15 yrsKulottunga II (Chola) · 1133–1146 CE · 13 yrsKulottunga II (Chola)1133–1146 CE · 13 yrsRajaraja II (Chola) · 1146–1163 CE · 17 yrsRajaraja II (Chola)1146–1163 CE · 17 yrsRajadhiraja II · 1163–1178 CE · 15 yrsRajadhiraja II1163–1178 CE · 15 yrsKulottunga III (Chola) · 1178–1216 CE · 38 yrsKulottunga III (Chola)1178–1216 CE · 38 yrsRajaraja III · 1216–1246 CE · 30 yrsRajaraja III1216–1246 CE · 30 yrsRajendra III (Chola) · 1246–1267 CE · 21 yrsRajendra III (Chola)1246–1267 CE · 21 yrs
  1. Rajaraja I (Chola)985–1016 CE · 31 yrs
  2. Rajendra I (Chola)1012–1043 CE · 31 yrs
  3. Rajadhiraja I (Chola)1018–1052 CE · 34 yrs
  4. Rajendradeva1052–1063 CE · 11 yrs
  5. Virarajendra (Chola)1063–1070 CE · 7 yrs
  6. Adhirajendra1070 CE
  7. Kulottunga I1070–1118 CE · 48 yrs
  8. Vikrama-Chola1118–1133 CE · 15 yrs
  9. Kulottunga II (Chola)1133–1146 CE · 13 yrs
  10. Rajaraja II (Chola)1146–1163 CE · 17 yrs
  11. Rajadhiraja II1163–1178 CE · 15 yrs
  12. Kulottunga III (Chola)1178–1216 CE · 38 yrs
  13. Rajaraja III1216–1246 CE · 30 yrs
  14. Rajendra III (Chola)1246–1267 CE · 21 yrs
Reign

Reign years from Robert Sewell's table of the Chola kings (1932), in which the reigns of a king and his co-regent heir overlap. F. Kielhorn's calculations, followed by E. Hultzsch, put the accessions of Rajaraja I in 985, Rajendra I in 1011–12, Rajadhiraja I in 1018, Rajendradeva in 1052, Virarajendra in 1062–63, Kulottunga I in 1070 and Vikrama-Chola in 1118. Sewell's own notes place Kulottunga II's accession in 1136, against 1133 in his table; Kielhorn found that a Bapatla inscription of Kulottunga II's fourth year is dated August 1136. The end of the dynasty is given as 1267 (Sewell) or 1268 (the Cuddapah gazetteer).

Family tree

The rulers and the relatives who explain the succession. Every line rests on a cited statement on a person page; the sources are listed below the tree. Select a card to open that page.

  • parent and child
  • marriage
  • adoption
  • the sources disagree (see below)
  • order of succession
Family tree: Cholas of Tanjoreson?son?Parantaka IIChola king; father ofRajaraja IRajaraja I985–1016 CE1KundavadeviVimaladityaRajaraja NarendraRajendra I1012–1043 CE2AmmangadeviDaughter of Rajendra I;queen of RajarajaNarendraRajadhiraja I1018–1052 CE3Rajendradeva1052–1063 CE4Virarajendra1063–1070 CE5Adhirajendra1070 CE6Daughter ofVirarajendraMarried the WesternChalukya Vikramaditya VIVikramaditya VIMadhurantakiDaughter of Rajendradeva;queen of Kulottunga IKulottunga I1070–1118 CE7Vira-ChodaVikrama-Chola1118–1133 CE8Kulottunga II1133–1146 CE9Rajaraja II1146–1163 CE10Rajaraja III1216–1246 CE13Rajendra III1246–1267 CE14

  1. Generation 1

    • Parantaka IIChola king; father of Rajaraja I
    • 13Rajaraja III1216–1246 CE

  2. Generation 2

  3. Generation 3

  4. Generation 4

    • 5Virarajendra1063–1070 CE
    • 3Rajadhiraja I1018–1052 CESon of Rajendra I
    • 4Rajendradeva1052–1063 CESon of Rajendra I
    • AmmangadeviDaughter of Rajendra I; queen of Rajaraja NarendraDaughter of Rajendra IWife of Rajaraja Narendra
    • Rajaraja NarendraSon of Vimaladitya and KundavadeviHusband of Ammangadevi

  5. Generation 5

    • 6Adhirajendra1070 CESon of Virarajendra
    • Vikramaditya VIHusband of Daughter of Virarajendra
    • Daughter of VirarajendraMarried the Western Chalukya Vikramaditya VIDaughter of VirarajendraWife of Vikramaditya VI
    • MadhurantakiDaughter of Rajendradeva; queen of Kulottunga IDaughter of RajendradevaWife of Kulottunga I
    • 7Kulottunga I1070–1118 CESon of Rajaraja Narendra and AmmangadeviHusband of Madhurantaki

  6. Generation 6

  7. Generation 7

  8. Generation 8

Where the sources disagree

Hultzsch concluded, with reservations, that Virarajendra was a younger son of Rajendra I.

Hultzsch (1903): probably a son of Rajendra I, not 'absolutely final'.

  • His pedigree therefore shows Virarajendra as a son of Rajendra I, with a son Adhirajendra and a daughter who married the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI. →
    1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).

Sewell's table makes Rajendra III probably the son of Rajaraja III.

Sewell (1932): probably the son of Rajaraja III.

  • Sewell's table makes him probably the son of Rajaraja III. →
    1. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 341, table of the Chola kings (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased.
Sources for every line of the tree
  • Parantaka II → Rajaraja I (parent and child)
    • In Hultzsch's pedigree of 1903, Rajaraja I was the son of the Chola king Parantaka II. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Rajaraja I → Rajendra I and Kundavadevi (parent and child)
    • His son Rajendra I succeeded him, and his daughter Kundavadevi married the Eastern Chalukya king Vimaladitya. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
      2. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), p. 51 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
    • In Hultzsch's pedigree, Rajendra I was the son of Rajaraja I and the brother of Kundava, the queen of the Eastern Chalukya king Vimaladitya. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Vimaladitya · Kundavadevi (marriage)
    • Kundavadevi married the Eastern Chalukya king Vimaladitya. →
      1. J. F. Fleet, "Korumelli Plates of Rajaraja II [I]", Indian Antiquary XIV (1885), p. 50 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Vimaladitya and Kundavadevi → Rajaraja Narendra (parent and child)
    • Their son was Rajaraja Narendra, whom the Nandamapundi grant calls the son of Vimaladitya and Kundavadevi, "the goddess of fortune of the family of the Sun". →
      1. F. Kielhorn, "Nandamapundi Grant of Rajaraja I", Epigraphia Indica IV (1897), p. 302 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Rajendra I → Virarajendra (parent and child) · sources disagree
    • His pedigree therefore shows Virarajendra as a son of Rajendra I, with a son Adhirajendra and a daughter who married the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Rajendra I → Rajadhiraja I, Rajendradeva and Ammangadevi (parent and child)
    • Hultzsch made him the father of Rajadhiraja I, Rajendradeva and a daughter, Ammangadevi, who married Rajaraja. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
      2. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 195 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
    • Rajadhiraja I was the eldest of the three sons of Rajendra I in Hultzsch's pedigree of 1903. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
      2. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. II (1903), p. 195 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Rajaraja Narendra · Ammangadevi (marriage)
  • Rajaraja Narendra and Ammangadevi → Kulottunga I (parent and child)
    • Kulottunga I was the son of Rajaraja Narendra and his queen Ammangadevi, the daughter of the Chola king Rajendra-Choda. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), p. 59, translation of the Chellur plates, verses 7–13 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
      2. Fleet, "Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings" (1891), p. 279 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Rajendradeva → Madhurantaki (parent and child)
    • Kulottunga I married Madhurantaki, the daughter of Rajendradeva, a Chola king "of the race of the Sun". →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), p. 59, translation of the Chellur plates, verses 7–13 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
      2. Fleet, "Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings" (1891), p. 276 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Kulottunga I · Madhurantaki (marriage)
    • Kulottunga I married Madhurantaki, the daughter of Rajendradeva, a Chola king "of the race of the Sun". →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), p. 59, translation of the Chellur plates, verses 7–13 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
      2. Fleet, "Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings" (1891), p. 276 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Virarajendra → Adhirajendra and Daughter of Virarajendra (parent and child)
    • His pedigree therefore shows Virarajendra as a son of Rajendra I, with a son Adhirajendra and a daughter who married the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Vikramaditya VI · Daughter of Virarajendra (marriage)
    • His pedigree therefore shows Virarajendra as a son of Rajendra I, with a son Adhirajendra and a daughter who married the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Kulottunga I and Madhurantaki → Vira-Choda (parent and child)
  • Kulottunga I → Vikrama-Chola (parent and child)
  • Vikrama-Chola → Kulottunga II (parent and child)
    • In Hultzsch's pedigree his son was Kulottunga II and his grandson Rajaraja II. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
    • Hultzsch's pedigree of 1903 makes him Vikrama-Chola's son and the father of Rajaraja II. →
      1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" and note 2 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Kulottunga II → Rajaraja II (parent and child)
    • Rajaraja II was the son of Kulottunga II in Hultzsch's pedigree of 1903. →
      1. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, "Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty" and note 2 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Rajaraja III → Rajendra III (parent and child) · sources disagree
    • Sewell's table makes him probably the son of Rajaraja III. →
      1. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 341, table of the Chola kings (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased.

A line from one parent only means that the cited sources name no other parent.

The Cholas of Thanjavur (then Tanjore) were a Tamil royal family who built an empire over most of south India from the late 10th century.12 For about a century and a half they were overlords of much of the Telugu country.32 They bound the Eastern Chalukya kings of Vengi to themselves by marriage, and in 1070 a prince of Vengi became the Chola emperor.14 In the southern Telugu districts their overlordship lasted into the 13th century.56

Before Rajaraja

The Cholas reached the edge of the Telugu country before their great age.78 H. Krishna Sastri (1920) explained a title of the Chola king Aditya I.7 It meant that Aditya died at Tondaimanad, “near Kalahasti”.7 V. Venkayya wrote in 1908 that the lands of Aditya’s son Parantaka I “extended as far as Kalahasti”.8 Parantaka also uprooted two kings of the Banas, the rulers of the Chittoor country, according to Venkayya.9 See Kalahasti.

Rajaraja I and Vengi

Rajaraja I came to the throne in 985.1 His Tamil inscriptions open with a list of his conquests, which begins with “Vengai-nadu”.10 E. Hultzsch explained in 1890 that “Vengai-nadu is the well-known country of Vengi”.11

The Eastern Chalukya grants say that after King Danarnava, Vengi had no ruler for twenty-seven years.12 Then Danarnava’s son Saktivarman took the throne.12 The Godavari District Gazetteer (1907) wrote that Rajaraja “conquered the Eastern Chalukya country”.3 It added that he seems to have made Saktivarman (999–1011) king, or perhaps a vassal, in Vengi.3 Robert Sewell read a record of Rajaraja’s 14th year in the same way: Rajaraja helped Saktivarman I win back his throne.13

J. F. Fleet thought otherwise in 1891.14 He then dated Rajaraja’s accession to 1003 or 1004.14 On that dating he called Rajaraja’s claim to Vengi “merely an honorary one”.14

The Tiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra I add that Rajaraja killed “that Andhra (king) called Bhima”.15 Krishna Sastri took this to mean that Rajaraja “unnecessarily interfered in the politics of the Andhra country”.16 Neither this Bhima nor the Rajaraja whose death he avenged has been identified.17 See the Tiruvalangadu plates and the Larger Leiden plates.

The marriage alliance

Rajaraja’s daughter Kundavadevi married Saktivarman’s brother Vimaladitya.1 Their son Rajaraja Narendra married Ammangadevi, a daughter of Rajendra I.4 Hultzsch set this out in 1903 in his account of their son, Kulottunga I.14

Hultzsch had thought in 1890 that Kundava’s marriage “was probably a forced one”.11 V. Venkayya suggested that Vimaladitya, defeated by Rajendra, was taken prisoner to Thanjavur and married there.18 See the family tree below.

Rajendra I

As a prince, Rajendra defeated Vimaladitya.19 Inscriptions on the Mahendragiri hill in Ganjam record that he set up a pillar of victory there.19 See the Mahendragiri inscriptions. As king, he fought the Western Chalukya Jayasimha II.20 He claimed Kollippakkai, which Krishna Sastri, after Lewis Rice, identified with “Kulpak in the Nizam’s Dominions”, the modern Kolanupaka.20

His most famous campaign passed through the Telugu country.2122 The Tiruvalangadu plates say that his general conquered the kings of the Ganges valley and sent its water to his master.21 Meanwhile Rajendra himself “reached the river Godavari”, where he received the water.22 There he also “killed in battle (the lord of) Odda”.22 Krishna Sastri concluded in 1929 that “it was a general of the Chola king who conducted this campaign”.23 He dated it to 1028.23

The Kistna District Manual (1883) dates Chola rule over the Vijayawada (then Bezwada) country from 1028.24 Rajendra’s own inscriptions list Odda-vishaya (Orissa) and Bengal on the way to the Ganges, but not Vengi.2526 See Rajendra I.

The war for Vengi

Vengi became a prize between the Cholas and the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani.2728 Rajadhiraja I burnt the Western Chalukya city of Kollippakkai.27 His Manimangalam inscription says he “caused the centre of Kollippakkai … to be consumed by fire”.27

Virarajendra recorded three battles with Somesvara I.28 In one he defeated “an army which he had sent into Vengai-nadu”.28 In his fifth year he marched again.29 Hultzsch summed up the record: the army beat the enemy “close to Visaiyavadai”, that is at Vijayawada on the Krishna, and went on to the Godavari and Kalinga.29 “The king bestowed the country of Vengi on Vijayaditya.”29

Hultzsch identified this prince with the Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII.30 It looked to him as if the rightful heir, Kulottunga I, had been pushed aside with Virarajendra’s help.30 Sewell thought the capture of Vengi unlikely.31 See Bezwada and Vikramaditya VI.

Kulottunga I: the union of the crowns

Kulottunga I, born Rajendra-Choda, was the son of Rajaraja Narendra and Ammangadevi.4 He became Chola king in 1070.4 Hultzsch noted that his Telugu inscriptions place his accession in Saka 991–92 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years), which is 1069–71.4 F. Kielhorn narrowed it to between March and October 1070.4

Sewell used two inscriptions at Draksharama, dated in Kulottunga’s 37th year and in Saka 1029, to fix the day as 9 June 1070.32 See the Draksharama inscriptions of 1107. How he won the Chola crown is told on his own page.4

In the Telugu country Kulottunga kept his Eastern Chalukya titles.33 V. Rangacharya describes him in the Draksharama records as “Rajakesarivarman alias Saptama-Vishnuvardhana alias Kulottunga-Chodadeva”.33 A Tamil record of his 41st year at Vijayawada “gives Rajendra-Cholapuram as another name of Bezwada”.34 See the Bezwada inscription of Kulottunga I.

The viceroys of Vengi, 1077–1118

After 1070 Kulottunga governed Vengi through others: first his uncle Vijayaditya VII, then his sons.35 S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (1911) noted the frontiers of Vengi in 1084.36 It ran from the Manneru, in the Nellore district, to Mahendragiri in Ganjam.36

Hultzsch’s pedigree of 1903 gives these sons as governors of Vengi:37

  • Mummadi-Choda, in 1077
  • Vira-Choda, in 1078 and again in 1088–89
  • Chodaganga, in 1084
  • Vikrama-Chola, from 1092–93 at the earliest until 111838

The Kalinga wars

North of Vengi lay Kalinga, under the Eastern Ganga kings.39 The Vizagapatam District Gazetteer (1907) wrote that under Anantavarman-Chodaganga “the Cholas of Tanjore seem twice to have invaded the south of Trikalinga”.39

The Tamil poem Kalingattupparani tells of one of these wars.40 V. Kanakasabhai Pillai translated it in 1890.40 It describes the march of Kulottunga’s general Karunakara from Kanchi, past the Pennai, the Krishna and the Godavari, to northern Kalinga.41 See Karunakara Tondaiman.

Two inscriptions in the Telugu country are linked with these wars.4243

  • A Sanskrit inscription of 1103 at Draksharama records the burning of Kalinga and gifts in the Vengi country.42 K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer attributed it to the same general.42 See the Draksharama inscription of 1103.
  • A Tamil inscription of Kulottunga at Simhachalam is dated Saka 1021 (1099).43 Rangacharya took it as proof that the poem’s story of the Kalinga war was true.43 See the Simhachalam inscription.

Losing and recovering Vengi

Vikrama-Chola left Vengi in 1118 to be crowned in the Chola country.38 The Western Chalukya Vikramaditya VI then took the province.38 His inscriptions at Draksharama run from 1120–21 to 1123–24.38 Hultzsch went on: “Shortly after, Vikrama-Chola must have re-conquered his northern dominions.”38 His records at Chebrolu and Nidubrolu are dated in 1127 and 1135.38

The Godavari District Gazetteer says that from 1120 to 1124 Vikramaditya was “undisputed king of Vengi”.44 Sewell found Vikramaditya’s general ruling the Vengi country in December 1118.45 He also found the Western Chalukya Somesvara III still accepted in the Palnad in 1129.46 See the Tripurantakam inscription of Anantapala.

Overlords in name

After Vikrama-Chola the coast was governed by the Velanandu chiefs and other local families.47 They still dated their records in the Chola king’s years.4849

The Godavari District Gazetteer judged that the Cholas “had little, if any, real influence in Vengi after the death of Vikrama Chola”.47 The Imperial Gazetteer (1908) wrote that the Eastern Chalukya and Chola kingdoms “were united till the middle of the twelfth century”.52

The southern districts

In the Chittoor country, Rangacharya wrote, the temple at Kalahasti “existed in his reign”, under Rajaraja I, and “was renovated by Kulottunga III”.53 Its inscriptions include records of Rajaraja I, Rajendra I and Rajadhiraja I.54 An inscription of Vikrama-Chola at Gudimallam records the building of the temple there.55 A Tamil record of Virarajendra in the Chittoor district gives his seventh year as Saka 991.56

Hultzsch thought two Tirumala inscriptions dated in the years of Chola kings were “modern and faulty copies of Chola inscriptions”.57

Further north the Chola kings were also named in records.5859

  • At Reddipalem, in the Gudur taluk of Nellore, a Tamil inscription is dated in the 32nd year of a Kulottunga-Chola “who abolished tolls”.58
  • At Tripurantakam, in the old Kurnool district, a Telugu inscription is dated in the 43rd year of Kulottunga-Choladeva I, Saka 1033.59 It records a gift by an officer of a Telugu Choda chief.59
  • The Manual of the Kurnool District (1886) lists Chola inscriptions at Tripurantakam of 1108 and 1123.60

See Nellore.

The Telugu Chodas and the end

The Telugu Choda chiefs of Pottappi and Nellore stayed Chola vassals after the coast was lost.6162 A Tamil inscription at Gunupadu, in the Gudur taluk, records a gift by Madurantaka-Pottapi-Chola Nallasiddharasa.61 It is dated in the 27th year of a Chola Kulottunga.61 See the Gunupadu inscription.

The Cuddapah District Gazetteer (1915) wrote that in 1196 Kulottunga III “entirely re-established the Chola power in the Paka-nadu”.62 It added that Manumasiddhi of Nellore, the patron of the poet Tikkana, accepted Rajendra III (it calls him Rajendra Chola II) as overlord until Rajendra died in 1268.6 After that, it wrote, “the Cholas seem to disappear from history altogether owing to their conquest by the Pandyas”.6

Meanwhile the Kakatiyas advanced.63 Sewell found the Kakatiya Ganapati seizing districts of the old Chola kingdom from 1209–11.63 A Tamil inscription of 1263–64 at Punjulurupadu, in the Gudur country, is still dated in the 20th year of “Vira Rajendra-choladeva”.64

An inscription of 1260–61 at Tripurantakam claims victories for Rajendra III.65 Rangacharya took it as evidence of a Chola campaign.65 Sewell thought it was the work of people still loyal to the Chola crown.66 The Imperial Gazetteer says that Nellore “formed part of their kingdom till their decline in the thirteenth century A.D.”5 See the Pandyas.

Coins

Walter Elliot had governed the old Vengi provinces.67 He wrote in 1886 that “a few small gold fanams of the Chola period” were all that his enquiries found.67 He described gold fanams (small coins) with the fish, the tiger or the boar, found near Pithapuram and other old places “after heavy rains”.68 He thought the Cholas “struck coins during their occupation of Rajamahendri or Vengi”.68

Where the sources disagree

  • When Vengi was conquered. In Rajaraja’s 12th to 14th years, about 997–99 (Subrahmanya Aiyer, Sewell, Aiyangar).691370 Fleet in 1891, with a later date for Rajaraja, thought the claim only honorary.14
  • Who won at Mahendragiri. Rajendra or his general, in Rajaraja’s lifetime (Venkayya).18 The Vizagapatam District Gazetteer gives the victory to Rajaraja himself, in 999–1000.71
  • Whether Rajendra went north himself. The Tiruvalangadu plates, Krishna Sastri and Aiyangar say a general led the army while Rajendra waited on the Godavari.222372
  • Which Vijayaditya received Vengi. The Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII (Hultzsch in 1903, and Subrahmanya Aiyer).3073 Hultzsch in 1899, after Venkayya, had named the Western Chalukya Vishnuvardhana-Vijayaditya.29
  • The date of Kulottunga’s Kalinga war. About 1076–77 (Subrahmanya Aiyer), 1084–90 (Kanakasabhai Pillai), or before 1095–96 (Hultzsch).747576
  • When Vengi was won back after 1118. By 1123–24 (the 1942 Nellore gazetteer), or after 1124 and before 1127 (Hultzsch, the Godavari gazetteer, Sewell).77384446
  • The end. 1267 in Sewell’s table, or 1268 in the Cuddapah gazetteer.786

Footnotes

  1. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 126 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 16 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  3. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (1907), p. 20 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 127 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  5. Imperial Gazetteer: Madras I (1908), p. 344 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Brackenbury, Cuddapah (1915), p. 34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. H. Krishna Sastri, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. III (1920), p. 289, No. 142 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. V. Venkayya, “Two Inscriptions at Uttaramallur”, Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report 1904–05 (1908), p. 133 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. V. Venkayya, “Five Bana Inscriptions from Gudimallam”, Epigraphia Indica XI (1911–12), p. 238 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  10. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, pt. I (1891), p. 8 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions I (1890), p. 63 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  12. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions I (1890), p. 59, translation of the Chellur plates (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 56 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  14. J. F. Fleet, “The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings”, Indian Antiquary XX (1891), p. 272 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  15. Krishna Sastri, “Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates” (1920), p. 421, v. 82 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  16. Krishna Sastri, “The Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates of the Sixth Year of Rajendra-Chola I”, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. III (1920), p. 387 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  17. Krishna Sastri, “Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates” (1920), p. 388 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  18. V. Venkayya, “Ranastipundi Grant of Vimaladitya”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1900–01), p. 350 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  19. Rangacharya, Topographical List I (1919), p. 710, Ganjam No. 425 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  20. Krishna Sastri, “Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates” (1920), p. 390 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  21. Krishna Sastri, “Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates” (1920), p. 424, vv. 109–117 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  22. Krishna Sastri, “Tiruvalangadu Copper-plates” (1920), p. 425, vv. 118–120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. H. Krishna Sastri, introduction to South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III (1929), p. [20] (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  24. Gordon Mackenzie, A Manual of the Kistna District (1883), p. 219 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  25. E. Hultzsch, “Tirumalai Rock Inscription of Rajendra-Chola I”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1907–08), p. 231 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  26. Hultzsch, “Tirumalai Rock Inscription” (1908), p. 233 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  27. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. I (1899), p. 56 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  28. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 193 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  29. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. I (1899), p. 65 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  30. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 128 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  31. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 81 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  32. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 83 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  33. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. II (1919), p. 739, Godavari No. 295 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  34. Rangacharya, Topographical List II (1919), p. 882, Kistna No. 77 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  35. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), p. 51 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  36. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Ancient India (1911), p. 145 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  37. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, “Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty” (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  38. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 180 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  39. Francis, Vizagapatam (1907), p. 27 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  40. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai, “The Kalingattu Parani”, Indian Antiquary XIX (1890), p. 329 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  41. Kanakasabhai Pillai, “The Kalingattu Parani” (1890), p. 334 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  42. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription of Kulottunga I.: 33rd Year”, Epigraphia Indica XXII (1933–34, publ. 1938), pp. 139–140 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  43. Rangacharya, Topographical List, Vol. III (1919), p. 1686, Vizagapatam No. 191 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  44. Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 22 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  45. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 96 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  46. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 100 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  47. Hemingway, Godavari (1907), p. 23 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  48. F. Kielhorn, “Dates of Chola Kings”, Epigraphia Indica X (1909–10), pp. 136–137 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  49. Rangacharya, Topographical List II (1919), p. 746, Guntur No. 3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  50. J. F. Fleet, “Chellur Plates of Kulottunga-Chodadeva II.—Saka 1056”, Indian Antiquary XIV (1885), p. 55 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  51. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 108 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  52. Imperial Gazetteer: Madras I (1908), p. 271 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  53. Rangacharya, Topographical List I (1919), p. 480 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  54. Rangacharya, Topographical List I (1919), p. 482 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  55. Rangacharya, Topographical List I (1919), p. 478, Chittoor No. 46 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  56. Rangacharya, Topographical List I (1919), p. 508, Chittoor No. 288 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  57. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 473 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  58. Butterworth and Venugopaul Chetty, Nellore District, Part I (1905), p. 443, Gudur No. 87 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  59. Rangacharya, Topographical List II (1919), p. 942, Kurnool No. 355 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  60. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 21 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  61. A. Butterworth and V. Venugopaul Chetty, A Collection of the Inscriptions on Copper-Plates and Stones in the Nellore District, Part I (1905), p. 406, Gudur No. 34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  62. C. F. Brackenbury, Madras District Gazetteers: Cuddapah (1915), p. 32 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  63. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 131 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  64. Butterworth and Venugopaul Chetty, Nellore District, Part I (1905), p. 439, Gudur No. 85 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  65. Rangacharya, Topographical List II (1919), p. 936, Kurnool No. 294 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  66. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 155 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  67. Walter Elliot, Coins of Southern India (1886), p. 86 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  68. Elliot, Coins of Southern India (1886), p. 134 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  69. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “The Larger Leiden Plates (of Rajaraja I)”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 225 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  70. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Ancient India (1911), p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  71. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Vizagapatam, Vol. I (1907), p. 26 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  72. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Ancient India (1911), pp. 107–108 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  73. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “The Smaller Leiden Plates (of Kulottunga I)”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 272 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  74. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, pp. 141–142 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  75. Kanakasabhai Pillai, “The Kalingattu Parani” (1890), p. 338 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  76. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 130 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  77. Gazetteer of the Nellore District, brought up to 1938 (1942), p. 43 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  78. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 341, table of the Chola kings (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

Photos

People

Rajaraja I (Chola)

c. 985–1014 CE

Chola king of Tanjore (Thanjavur) from 985, the founder of the Chola empire, whose inscriptions claim the conquest of Vengai-nadu, the Eastern Chalukya country of Vengi. About 999 he helped the Eastern Chalukya prince Saktivarman I back to the throne of Vengi, and he married his daughter Kundavadevi to Saktivarman's brother Vimaladitya. This began the alliance that made the Eastern Chalukyas Chola vassals and, two generations later, Chola emperors. Inscriptions of his reign are found at Kalahasti, and a Vaidumba chief ruled under him in the Nellore country.

Rajendra I (Chola)

c. 1012–1043 CE

Chola king from 1012, son of Rajaraja I and founder of Gangaikondacholapuram. As a prince he defeated the Eastern Chalukya Vimaladitya, his sister's husband, and set up a pillar of victory on Mahendragiri. As king he fought the Western Chalukya Jayasimha II and claimed Kollippakkai (Kolanupaka). His general marched to the Ganges while he himself waited on the Godavari, in a campaign that Krishna Sastri dated to 1028. His daughter Ammangadevi married the Eastern Chalukya Rajaraja Narendra and was the mother of Kulottunga I.

Rajadhiraja I (Chola)

1018–1052 CE

Chola king, eldest son of Rajendra I and his co-regent from 1018, who fought the Western Chalukya Somesvara I. His Manimangalam inscription claims that he burnt the centre of Kollippakkai (Kolanupaka), a Western Chalukya city on the edge of Telangana, and counts the Andhra king among those who paid him tribute. An inscription of his 28th year is at Kalahasti. He fell in battle against Somesvara at Koppam in 1052.

Virarajendra (Chola)

c. 1063–1070 CE

Chola king from 1062–63 to 1070, probably a younger son of Rajendra I, whose inscriptions give the fullest Chola account of the struggle with the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani for Vengi. He defeated armies sent into Vengi, and in his fifth year his army beat the enemy at Bezwada on the Krishna, marched to the Godavari and through Kalinga, and gave Vengi to a Vijayaditya, whom Hultzsch identified with the Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII. A record of his seventh year, Saka 991, is in the Chittoor district.

Vikrama-Chola

c. 1118–1135 CE

Son of the Chola emperor Kulottunga I who governed Vengi for his father from about 1092–93 and left it in 1118 to be crowned Chola king. In his absence the Western Chalukya Vikramaditya VI took the Vengi province, holding Draksharama from 1120–21 to 1123–24; Vikrama-Chola won it back, and his records are found at Chebrolu and Nidubrolu in 1127 and 1135. An inscription of his ninth year records the building of the temple at Gudimallam, and his records are at Nandalur and Tripurantakam.

Kulottunga II (Chola)

c. 1133–1146 CE

Chola king, son and successor of Vikrama-Chola, who reigned from the 1130s to the late 1140s. Coastal Andhra still recognised him: Telugu inscriptions at Bapatla are dated in his regnal years, the Velanandu chief Gonka II ruled at Draksharama as his vassal, and a copper-plate grant of his reign by Kolani-Katamanayaka, governor of Sarasipuri, survives as the Chellur plates (1143). The Godavari gazetteer thought the Cholas had little real power in Vengi by then.

Rajaraja II (Chola)

c. 1146–1163 CE

Chola king from 1146, son of Kulottunga II, in whose reign the Chola hold on the Telugu country became nominal. Telugu inscriptions at Bapatla, Appikatla and Draksharama are still dated in his regnal years, but they were set up by the Velanandu chiefs Gonka II and Kulottunga-Rajendra-Choda and other local rulers.

Kulottunga III (Chola)

1178–1216 CE

Chola king (1178–1216), the last strong ruler of the dynasty. The Telugu Choda chiefs of Pottappi and Nellore, among them Nallasiddha, Tammusiddhi and Tikka, dated their records in his reign, and inscriptions of his years are found at Nellore, in the Gudur country and at Kalahasti, whose temple he renewed. The Cuddapah gazetteer credits him with restoring Chola power in the Paka-nadu in 1196, while the Kakatiyas took over the old Chola lands north of the Krishna.

Rajendra III (Chola)

c. 1246–1267 CE

The last Chola king (1246 to about 1267). His regnal years were still used by the Telugu Choda rulers of Nellore, among them Manumasiddhi, the patron of the poet Tikkana, and a Tamil record dated in his reign survives in the Gudur country of Nellore as late as 1263–64. An inscription of 1260–61 at Tripurantakam claims victories for him over two Pandya kings, which V. Rangacharya took for a real campaign and Robert Sewell did not. The Cuddapah gazetteer dates his death, and the end of the Cholas, to 1268.

Inscriptions

Larger Leiden plates of Rajaraja I

1005 CE

Chola copper-plate grant, now in Leiden, recording Rajaraja I's gift in his 21st year of a village to a Buddhist monastery at Nagapattinam built by the Sailendra king of Srivijaya, confirmed after his death by Rajendra I. For the Telugu country it matters for its list of Rajaraja's conquests, which includes Vengai-nadu, the Eastern Chalukya country, and Kalingam, and for its editor's account of the Chola part in Vengi.

Tiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra I

1018 CE

The largest known set of Chola copper plates, thirty-one sheets on a massive ring and seal, recording a grant of the sixth year of Rajendra I (about 1018) to the Siva temple at Tiruvalangadu in the Tamil country. Its Sanskrit verses, added later, give the Chola view of the Telugu country: Rajaraja I's killing of 'the Andhra king Bhima', and Rajendra's wait on the Godavari while his general carried the war through Orissa and Bengal to the Ganges and brought back its water.

Simhachalam inscription of Kulottunga I

1099 CE

Damaged Tamil inscription of the Chola king Kulottunga I on a slab in the mandapa of the Varaha-Narasimha temple at Simhachalam, near Visakhapatnam, dated Saka 1021 (1099). V. Rangacharya and W. Francis took it as confirmation of Kulottunga's conquest of Kalinga celebrated in the Tamil poem Kalingattupparani; Robert Sewell was more cautious.

Draksharama inscription of Kulottunga I (1103)

1103 CE

Sanskrit inscription in Telugu characters on the south wall of the Bhimesvara temple at Draksharama, dated in the 33rd year of the Chola king Kulottunga I (1103). It records the deeds of his general Vanduvaraja, also called Pallavaraja, who burnt the Kalinga country, defeated the Ganga king and Devendravarman and set up a pillar of victory on the borders of the Odra country, and his gifts in the Vengi country, including a pavilion at Draksharama. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer identified him with Karunakara Tondaiman, the hero of the Kalingattupparani.

Draksharama inscriptions of Kulottunga I (1107)

1107 CE

Two lamp-gift inscriptions, in Telugu and in Sanskrit and Telugu, on a wall of the Bhimesvara temple at Draksharama, dated both in the 37th year of the Chalukya-Chola king Kulottunga I and in Saka 1029 (1107). Because they give the regnal year and the Saka year together, they helped fix the beginning of Kulottunga's reign as Chola king in 1070. The same wall carries an inscription of the Western Chalukya Vikramaditya VI, recognised at Draksharama after 1118.

Bezwada inscription of Kulottunga I

c. 1111 CE

Tamil inscription of the 41st year of the Chola king Kulottunga I on a pillar in the verandah of the Mallesvara temple at Bezwada (Vijayawada), the same pillar that carries the Telugu verse inscription of the Eastern Chalukya Yuddhamalla. It gives Rajendra-Cholapuram as another name of Bezwada.

Chellur plates of Kulottunga II (1143)

1143 CE

Sanskrit copper-plate grant of the reign of the Chola king Kulottunga-Chodadeva II, obtained from the karnam of Chellur in the Godavari district and presented by Sir Walter Elliot to the British Museum. After the full Eastern Chalukya family tree, which carries the line through Kulottunga I and Vikrama-Choda to Kulottunga II, it records a grant of villages to Brahmins by Kolani-Katamanayaka, governor of Sarasipuri in a lake in the Vengi country. Its date, written as Saka 1056, was corrected by F. Kielhorn to 24 March 1143.

Gunupadu inscription of Nallasiddha

c. 1205 CE

Tamil inscription on a pillar of the mandapa of the Puttanathasvami temple at Gunupadu, in the Gudur taluk of the Nellore district, dated in the 27th year of a Chola emperor Kulottunga, probably Kulottunga III. It records the gift of the village of Velur to the god at Tiruvengadam by the Telugu Choda chief Madhurantaka-Pottapi-Chola, alias Nallasiddha. A photograph of part of it was published in 1905.

Bhimavaram inscription of Rajendra I

Incomplete inscription of the Chola king Rajendra I on the south wall of the Bhimesvara temple at Chalukya-Bhimavaram (Samalkot), in the Godavari district, written in the Tamil language but in Telugu characters. It contains only the usual historical introduction of Rajendra's Tamil inscriptions, and it is the only record of his reign in the Godavari district in V. Rangacharya's list.

Mahendragiri inscriptions of Rajendra I

A Sanskrit inscription at the entrance of the Yudhishthira temple on the Mahendragiri hill, in the old Ganjam district, with a Tamil version on stones near the Kunti shrine, recording that a general of the Chola Rajendra I defeated Vimaladitya and set up a pillar of victory on the mountain. The Chola tiger and the two fish of the Pandya are carved below the Sanskrit record. Most writers take Vimaladitya to be the Eastern Chalukya king of Vengi; H. Krishna Sastri called him a chief of Kuluta.

References

Sources (27)
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