The Cholas, masters of the seas

The Cholas were a powerful dynasty in today's Tamil Nadu, with capitals at Tanjāvūr, Gangaikoṇḍacholapuram and Kānchī.

From 985, Rājarāja Chola ruled for about thirty years and conquered parts of today's Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. His inscriptions boast of conquering the 'islands of the sea' (most historians think the Maldives), and he took northern Sri Lanka, including the kingdom of Anurādhapura.

He built the Bṛihadīśhvara (Rājarājeśhvaram) temple at Thanjavur, a masterpiece of architecture and engineering. Though the Cholas mainly worshipped Śhiva, Rājarāja helped the ruler of the Śhrīvijaya Empire, across the Bay of Bengal, build a Buddhist monastery at Nāgapaṭṭinam. Remember Śhrīvijaya — his son would send a fleet against it.

Rājarāja's son Rājendra Chola I, who also ruled nearly 30 years, conquered parts of today's Odisha and Bengal. He celebrated with the title Gangaikoṇḍachola, 'the Chola who seized (or brought) the Gangā' — referring to his northern campaigns and to the holiness of the Ganga.

Rājendra is famous for his naval expedition against Śhrīvijaya. The reason was trade with China, which was booming under the Cholas (he even sent a mission to China). One sea route passed through the Strait of Malacca, a narrow sea between Malaysia and Sumatra, controlled by the Śhrīvijaya king — a rival for that trade.

Rājendra's navy defeated the Śhrīvijaya forces and captured their capital. But he did not try to keep the empire. It was a punitive expedition (meant to punish and teach a lesson), backed by many Indian merchant guilds, and it seems to have worked. Merchants backing a fleet tells you what the war was really about: keeping a trade route open.

This does not mean relations were usually hostile. There were deep, mostly peaceful cultural ties: a Śhrīvijaya ruler made gifts to Nālandā and asked the Pāla king for land to build another monastery there — and was given it.

At home, the Cholas built roads, tanks, wells, canals and artificial lakes. But constant wars with neighbours — the Western Chālukyas, the Pāṇḍyas and the rulers of Sri Lanka — emptied their treasury. By the 13th century the Chola empire had shrunk, and it was finally absorbed by the Pāṇḍyas.