COLA DYNASTY

also spelled Chola, South Indian Tamil rulers of unknown antiquity, antedating the early cankam poems (probably c. 200). The dynasty originated in the rich Cauvery Valley. Uraiyur (now Tiruchchirappalli [Trichinopoly]) was its oldest capital. The legendary king Karikalan was the common ancestor through whom small Deccan and Andhra families called Cola or Coda claimed a connection with the Uraiyur family. The Cola country (Coromandel) stretched from the Vaigai River in the south to Tondaimandalam, the capital of which was Kaci (Kanchipuram), in the north. Much of Tamil classical literature and the greater Tamil architectural monuments belong to the sangam period, which also saw a revival of Saivism (worship of Siva) and the development of southern Vaisnavism (worship of Vishnu). Revenue administration, village self-government, and irrigation were highly organized under the Colas. Cola kings and emperors bore the titles Parakesarivarman and Rajakesarivarman, alternately. Their chronology is difficult. Vijayalaya (reigned c. 850870) began the occupation of the territory of the Pallavas, which was extended under Aditya I (reigned c. 870907). Parantaka I (reigned 907c. 953), known as the destroyer of Madurai (the capital city of the Pandyas), defeated Sinhalese invaders and united the lands of the Colas and the Pandyas between 926 and 942. Coming to terms with the Rastrakutas, he took Nellore from them about 940, but their king, Krsna III, seized Tondaimandalam. Rajaraja I (reigned 9851014), an able administrator, protected Vengi (the Godavari districts) and occupied the Gangavadi territory (Karnataka state), annihilating the western Gangas. By 996 he had conquered Kerala (the Cera country) and acquired northern Ceylon (Sri Lanka). With the booty thus acquired he built the great Brhadisvara temple at Tanjore (Thanjavur). By 1014 Rajaraja had acquired the Laccadive and Maldive Islands. His son Rajendracola Deva I (reigned 101444) outdid Rajaraja's achievements. He placed a son on the throne at Madurai, completed the conquest of Ceylon, overran the Deccan (c. 1021), and sent (1023) an expedition to the north that penetrated to the Ganges River and brought Ganges water to the new capital, Gangaikondacolapuram. He conquered portions of the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. Rajadhiraja (reigned 104454) fought the Pandyas and Ceras and defeated the Western Calukya ruler Somesvara I in 1046, but he was killed at the Battle of Koppam against the Calukyas in 1054. The Cola ruler Virarajendra (reigned 106369) attempted to render the Calukya Empire in the Deccan harmless, but his death enabled Vikramaditya Calukya to dabble in Cola family quarrels. Kulottunga I (reigned 10701122), who succeeded to both the Cola and Eastern Calukya crowns by right of inheritance, wisely abandoned the Deccan and concentrated on uniting the eastern coast. Intrigues concerning the right to the Pandya throne embroiled Colas, Pandyas, and Ceylon (which by then had recovered its independence) from c. 1166. From 1216 the Hoysala kings obtained lands in the Cola country, former Cola feudatories threw off their allegiance, northern powers intervened, and the upheaval facilitated the Pandya conquest of the Cola country in 1257. The Cola dynasty end in 1279.