Kulothunga Chola I.

Kulothunga
Family name :	Chola
First name :	Kulothunga
Title:	Parakesari
Predecessor:	Athirajendra Chola
Successor:	Vicrama Chola
Reign:	C 1070 to c 1122
Queen:	Madurantaki, Thyagavalli, Elisai Vallabhi and Solakulavalliyār
Children:	Vikrama Chola, Rajaraja Mummudi Chola, Rajaraja Chodaganga, Vira Choda, Suttamalli
Father:	Sembiyan
Deceased on:	1122 AD

Kulothunga Chola I , Tamil குலோதுங்கச் சோழன் , was one of the most important rulers of the Chola Empire. He ruled from 1070 to 1122 and established the Late Cholas dynasty .

etymology

The Tamil word Kulothunga or Kulottunga can be translated as the exalter of his nation .

Life

Kulothunga Chola I. was a maternal grandson of Rajendra I. His father was called Sembiyan . He was married to four women and had eight children. His main wife was initially Madurantaki and he had a son with her, the future heir to the throne Vikrama Chola . Madurantaki died before 1110. Kulothunga had other concubines such as Thyagavalli , who had an equal position at court with him, as well as Elisai Vallabhi and Solakulavalliyār . One of his concubines was a daughter of the Sinhalese ruler Vikramabahu , whom he married in 1088. This was a political move that brought long-awaited peace between Sri Lanka and the Chola while exerting influence from former Sri Lankan allies such as B. belittled the Pandyas .

Kulothunga Chola I instructs his surveyors

In his early reign he had a land survey carried out, on which he based his tax system. His records show a highly organized administration and tax system. His diplomatic relations extended to northern India (for example to Kanauj ), to Cambodia , Sri Vijaya and even to China . His court poet was Jayamkondar (or Jayangondar), who paid homage to the military successes of his ruler in his poem Kalingathupparani (or Kalingattu parani). Kulothunga was liberal, as land donations to Shudra show and who even rose to become generals and high officials during his reign. In Malaysia he consolidated the Chola rule in Kedah .

Armed conflicts

Kulothunga Chola I was involved in armed conflicts at a young age, even before he ascended the Chola throne. So he had already fought under Rajendra I and under his successors Rajadhiraja Chola , Rajendra II and Virarajendra Chola . As a reward for his services, he was entrusted with lands in northwestern Telugu and in the Bastar district (in present-day Chhattisgarh ).

After he had succeeded Athirajendra Chola on the throne under dubious circumstances - possibly he also had his predecessor out of the way - he first had to get a grip on the rebellions and civil wars triggered by Athirajendra's death in the Chola Empire. Riots also broke out in Sri Lanka and the island's southern provinces had even declared their independence. From Vikramaditya VI. , the ruler of the Western Chalukya Empire , hostilities also broke out because he had never accepted Kulothunga's accession to the throne.

Kalinga Wars

Kulothunga waged two wars against Kalinga , one in his early years and one in his 40th year of reign in 1110. The first war was triggered by Kalinga's aggression against Vengi . It ended in the defeat of Kalinga, at the same time Kalinga had to cede the southern half of its territory to the Chola. The reason for the second war was the lack of tribute payments from Kalinga. The invasion was led by General Karunakara Tondaiman , who defeated the leader of Kalinga from the Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Anantavarman Chodaganga (Orissa). The Chodaganga, who is related to the Chola, then had to seek salvation in flight, whereas the Chola army returned with huge booty. The second campaign was described by the Tamil poet Jayangondar in his work Kalingathupparani.

War with Vikramaditya VI. (Chalukya)

With Kulothunga's accession to the throne, the Eastern Chalukya Empire (Vengi) and the Chola Empire became very much closer. This was an affront to the ambitious Vikramaditya VI. who in turn wanted to unite the western with the eastern Chalukya empire. Vikramaditya VI. therefore attacked Kulothunga with his army in 1075. The two armies collided at Kolar on the Tungabhadra . The Chola emerged victorious from the hard-fought battle.

At this stage, Someshvara II , who with his brother Vikramaditya VI. had been fighting over the throne of the Western Chalukya Empire, Kulothunga for help. This agreed and again attacked the withdrawing Vikramaditya VI. on. Against the now united forces Vikramaditya was in a hopeless position and had to watch as Someshvara II ascended the throne. As soon as the chola was withdrawn, however, he again waged war against his brother and eventually imprisoned him. Vikramaditya VI. was thus Chalukya ruler again, but had meanwhile come to terms with his brother by entrusting him with the southern half of the empire.

Sri Lanka

During the wars with Vikramaditya VI. the Sinhalese leader Vijayabahu had declared himself regent over the entire island of Sri Lanka. As early as 1070 he attacked the Chola armed forces from his enclave in the south of the island in the Ruhana district and inflicted a very serious defeat on them. Then Vijayabahu annexed the areas around Anuradhapura . Kulothunga then sent reinforcements and the Chola succeeded in pushing back Vijayabahu with very heavy fighting.

Kulothunga had to send contingents of troops to the troubled Sri Lanka several times. The situation only calmed down in 1088 when he married Vikramabahu's daughter, Vijayabahu's successor.

Conflicts with the Pandyas

As the wars with Vikramaditya neared their end, Kulothunga's attention turned south. The Pandya resident there basically never accepted the supremacy of the Chola and therefore represented a source of permanent annoyance for the Chola rulers. The Pandya used the turmoil that had arisen when Kulothunga ascended the throne to make themselves independent from the Chola. Kulothunga could not allow this, as the loss of the Pandya area posed a serious threat to the existence of the entire Chola Empire. After the end of the Chalukya wars, Kulothunga used all means to put down the uprisings in the Pandya area and in Kerala . That Kulothunga's endeavor was successful is evident from the inscriptions on the Chidambaram Temple and the Suchindram Temple as well as from his victory stele in the Sahyadri hills .

Vengi

While Kulothunga in Sri Lanka was involved in the uprising there, the kingdom of Vengi (Eastern Chalukya) was attacked by Yakshakanaradeva , ruler of Tripura . It was just a robbery and not a territorial invasion. Vijayaditya , the then king of Vengi, was able to push back the invaders very quickly, which is why Kulothunga left the further administration of the territory to him. After Vijayaditya's death, Kulothunga placed Vengi under direct rule of Chola and made his son Rajaraja Mummudi Chola viceroy of the province in 1076. However, he resigned from his office the following year. His younger brother Vira Choda followed him by 1084. Then between 1084 and 1089 Rajaraja Chodaganga ruled in Vengi, another son of Kulothunga. Viceroy in Vengi from 1089 was finally the heir to the throne Vikrama Chola.

Trade and overseas possessions

Kulothunga Chola I. abolished tariffs and thus promoted trade. The renaming of the famous port of Vishakhapattinam ( Andhra Pradesh ) to Kulottungacolapattanam is a direct indication of his interest in trading with the countries on the other side of the Bay of Bengal . In 1077, Kulothunga sent a delegation to China. The delegation was primarily a trade mission, which appeared to have been quite successful for the Chola as they returned with more than 81,000 chains of copper currency and other valuable items. In 1114, the Khmer king Suryavarman II sent a mission to Kulothunga, who presented him with a precious gem .

Kulothunga is likely to have stayed in Srivijaya at a young age (around 1063) in order to create order there and to preserve the influence of the Chola. However, there is little evidence of the expansion of the Chola's political power to the Malay Archipelago. The trade and cultural contacts that had already been established under Rajaraja Chola and Rajendra Chola I were also maintained under Kulothunga and his successors. Nevertheless, the Chola were also militarily present, as demonstrated by battalions stationed in Srivijaya and Cambodia .

According to Burmese records, Kyanzittha , the ruler of Bagan , had also sent an ambassador to Kulothunga and maintained contacts with the Chola royal family.

Religiosity and building activities

The Karakkoil Temple in Melakadambur

Compared to the Buddhism Kulothunga was very tolerant, and he continued to make donations to the Buddhist monastery in Nagapatam .

He maintained friendly relations with the Gahadval kings of central India. They were very artistic temple builders and worshiped the sun god Surya . Inspired by his visits to the Gahadval, he later had temples dedicated to the sun god built, above all the Suryanar temples in Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam . In his 43rd year of reign (in 1113) he commissioned the beautiful Karakkoil Temple in Melakadambur , which has very rare miniature sculptures around the karbagraha and was built in the shape of a chariot.

In the Kulottunga Chozapuram named after him, a square road network was laid out as in Madurai . From this period two other important temples of Shiva consecrated Sokkanathar Temple and Vinava Perumal .

From his second year in office, Kulothunga had already devoted a lot of time to temple renovations and formed committees for this purpose in far-flung parts of the Chola Empire such as in Kuvalala Nadu in the Vijaiya Rajendra Mandalam district.

Conclusion

In his enormously long reign of 52 years, Kulothunga, who was probably around 90 years old, was able to fully preserve the Chola Empire until his 45th year of reign (1115). Only then did he have to accept territorial losses. For example, the Hoysala under Vishnuvardana attacked the Gangavadi province in 1116 and defeated the viceroy Adigaiman there . They probably only conquered the north and west of Gangavadi, as the Chola continued temple projects in the south and east of the province, for example the Narasimha and Vishnu temples in Melukote and the Shiva temple in Talakadu .

Encouraged by the successes of the Hoysala, Vikramaditya VI fell. entered Vengi in 1118. Against the weak warfare under the heir to the throne Vikrama Chola could Vikramaditya VI. prevailed, conquered Vengi and kept it until his death in 1126.

When Kulothunga Chola I died in 1122, the Chola empire was therefore only slightly smaller than when he ascended the throne.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sen, Sailendra: A Textbook of Medieval Indian History . PrimusBooks, 2013, ISBN 978-93-8060734-4 , p. 46-49 .