The History of Chola Kingdom - The civilizational Golden age, Chola Administration and decline.

 The History of Chola Kingdom - A Glorious Chapter in Indian history- The civilization Golden age, Chola Administration and decline.

 

The Civilizational Golden Age:-

Chola Empire and its Navel Power 

The Chola rule is also called the civilizational golden age as it sees the growth of massive infrastructure, temples, and fine bronze sculptures. The Tremendous Agrarian expansion during the Chola rule led to the formation of massive canals in the Cauvery basin, the most popular of which are the Uyakondan and Rajendran Vaikkals still exist today. Apart from the canals, massive water tanks were also built, the most important of which is the 16 miles long Solgangam of Gangaikonda Cholapuram which is also known as the "Liquid Pillar of Victory".

"Jalamaya Stambha" or "Liquid Piller of Victory" was built by Rajendra I

Talking about the temples, the kings before Rajaraja had also built many temples which were very small in size but the brilliance and massiveness of the temple architecture of the Cholas grows only under the rule of Rajaraja. Which became almost 5 times bigger than the Old Temples, symbolizing the Prosperity of Cholas. UNESCO-The great living Chola Temples have also been given the status of World Heritage Site, which includes 3 temples. Brihadeswara Temples of Thanjavur is the oldest and the largest, which was built by Rajaraja I in 1010 AD.

Brihadeeshwara Temple, Brihadisvara Temple, and Airavatesvara Temple of Chola Empire

25 years later, his son Rajendra built another temple of the same name at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. The third and smallest temple is Airavatesvara Temple Darasuram. Which was built by Rajaraja II. The Chola Temples are the best examples of the Dravida style, the most brilliant structure and engineering wonder are the Bridheshwara Temple of Thanjavur. The temple, also built without the use of mortar, has a 59 m high vimana made of granite rock. And 1000 years later it still exists today. Vimanas are pyramidal-shaped structures made of the sanctum of Dravidian temples.

Vimana of Brihadeeswara Temple of Thanjavur

The top stone of this Vimana of Brideshwara Temple weighs about 80 tons and Engineers even today debate on how this stone reached 59 meters without modern machinery. Chola rulers were devout Shaivites and so the main deity of Thanjavur temple is Lord Shiva therefore the deity of the majority of their temples is also Bhagwan Shiva. and here is one of the largest Shivlings located in the whole of India.

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Here we also find a bronze sculpture of the world-famous Nataraja, which symbolizes the cosmic dance of creation and destruction of Lord Shiva. Among the sculptures, the bronzes of Bhogasakti and Subrahmanya are also considered masterpieces. By the way, because this Chola temple received huge grants, it was also the center of economic activities, which together also worked for village welfare, they also made a lot of development in the field of literature and popular Vaishnava text Nalayir- Divya Pravandham Chola period It was compiled by 12 Alwar saints during the Chola Empire.

Famous Bronze Sculptures of Natraja, Bhogsakti and Subrahmanya of Chola Empire

Chola Administration:-

Chola is a symbol of his legacy of administration. Here we also find information on a fully developed secretariat. It is said that a brilliant record system was also created using palm leaves. Which had all the records ranging from land records to intelligence reports. Apart from this, the Chola Empire was divided into 9 provinces which were called Mandalams and the governors of these provinces were also allowed to maintain standing armies. (1. Cholamandalam 2. Jayakondacholaman, 3. Kongumandalam, 4. Pandyamandalam, 5. Gangapadi, 6. Tadigaipadi, 7. Nulambapadi, 8. Maraya Muppadi, 8. Marayapad, 9. Mummudichola).

These are the 9 Mandalams of the Chola Empire

Provinces were divided into districts called 'Nadu" and Nadu's were governed by 'Nattar' autonomous assembly, Although the Chola administration largely centralized a political system, a system of powerful autonomous and local administration was a unique innovation in the history of India. Which is attributed to Rajaraja I. The villages under Chola were governed by autonomous institutions called 'Ur' and 'Sabha'. ‘Ur’ assemblies were for villages of all castes and ‘Sabha’ assemblies were only for Agrahara Villages, a type of villages that were given to the Brahmins by the king in Grants.

Talking about Chola Military, the most interesting in it was his unmatched Navel power. Another interesting thing is that according to foreign traveler Marco Polo, all the bodyguards of the King used to sacrifice themselves on the funeral pyre of the Death King.

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Decline:-

Later Chola dynasty was ruled by capable rulers like Kulotunga-I (1070-1122AD), Vikram Chola (1118-1135AD), and Kuluthunga III (1178-1218AD) who maintained the integrity of the territory. But the decline of the Cholas started only at the time of Kolutunga Tritya.

 The first reason for this was the rise of the Sinhala Kingdom in Sri Lanka which made them vanish from Sri Lanka.

The second reason was the Weak Rulers like Rajaraja III and Rajendra III after 1216. According to a record, Rajaraja III was made hostage by one of his own feudatories.

The third cause of the decline of Cholas was the rise of Pandya and the divisive politics of the Hoysalas. Tried to stop both the Cholas and the Pandyas from rising by using divisive politics from the Hoysalas, the Hoysalas were successful in stopping the Cholas but Pandya became a form of developed power.

Empire Border of Hoyasalas, Pandya and Cholas

The Pandyas defeated the Hoysalas first and then the Cholas in 1279 AD. By the time of Rajendra III, Pandyas was at the peak of his empire and 1279 was the last recorded rule of Rajendra III of Cholas. After which the name of Cholas was erased from India. Although the Chola dynasty ended only in India, it had a revel branch in the Philippines till the 16th century. The foundation of this dynasty was done by Rajmuda Lamaya, an Indian Chola prince in Cebu/Sugabu City, Philippines, who had gone to establish a military base there. Well after the Spanish invasion, this kingdom also came to an end. And the history of the Chola Empire became glorious, but the legacy of the Cholas is still alive. And even today it is flourishing in cultures, religions, and temples.