The greatest Chola kings

In the coins bay, look for a showcase displaying the coins of Raja Raja Chola and Rajendra chola. Play this story there.

The coins you see in front of you were minted by two powerful southern kings who lived 1000 years ago. They belonged to the Chola dynasty - one of the longest ruling dynasties in India. At their peak in the 11th century, the Cholas directly ruled over South India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. They also collected tributes from vassal states across southeast Asia. Incredibly, much of this expansion happened in the span of just two generations - during the reign of Raja Raja Chola and his son, Rajendra Chola. This is their story. 

In 980 CE, when Rajaraja ascended the throne, the Tamil country was split between three warring kingdoms, the Cheras, the Pandyas and the Cholas. Rajaraja wasted no time in uniting all three under the Chola banner. In 1010, he built the magnificent Brihadeshwara temple, one of the tallest man-made structures of the time. Even today, it’s popularly known as the ‘Big Temple’. 

Look closely at the coin minted during his reign. You’ll see a bow, a tiger and a fish on the coin along with Rajaraja’s name written in the Nagari script. The bow, fish and the tiger were symbols of the Cheras, Pandyas and the Cholas respectively. Putting them all together was Rajaraja’s way of declaring that he had conquered them all. Befittingly, he is called Raja Raja, literally meaning ‘king of kings’.

Rajaraja’s son, Rajendra, was perhaps even more illustrious! During his rule, he embarked on an extremely ambitious expedition – an overseas naval campaign! At that time, much of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia were ruled by the Srivijaya kings. The Cholas had flourishing trade relations with them that had somehow soured. Rajendra Chola decided to set things right. And he had the right resources. The Cholas were the only dynasty to conceive of a blue-water navy in the history of India. Rajendra Chola’s navy was estimated to have nearly 1 million sailors, with 100s of vessels. In 1025, a huge naval fleet left for Srivijaya. In surprise attacks, the Cholas looted many Srivijayan ports, captured the Srivijayan King and returned with enormous riches. They did not occupy the defeated territories, but extracted tributes. 

With the wealth he got from his conquests, Rajendra Chola built a brand-new capital city for himself with an exquisite temple at its heart. The ambitious Rajendra wanted to anoint that city with water from the river Ganga – a river that was two thousand kilometres away! His huge army had to cross many kingdoms on its way. It simply conquered all the kingdoms en route – all the way to Bengal and even further, into modern day Bangladesh and returned triumphantly with the holy Ganga water! It was one of the most successful military expeditions in Indian history. His capital city was aptly named Gangai Konda Cholapuram - which literally means ‘The town of the Chola who took over the Gangetic plains’.