sourced story
c. 985-1044 CE (reigns of Rajaraja I and Rajendra I)Primary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Chola Kings Send Fleets Across the Bay of Bengal

A Tamil dynasty builds a granite temple as tall as a tower and projects power to the neighbouring islands

On the timeline · around c. 985-1044 CE (reigns of Rajaraja I and Rajendra I) · Classical and Early MedievalClassical and Early MedievalSultanate and Mughal IndiaThe Chola Kings Send Fleets Across the Bay of Bengal800 CE850 CE900 CE950 CE10001050110011501200

Quick facts

Rajaraja I reign
c. 985-1014 CE, capital at Thanjavur
Rajendra I reign
c. 1012-1044 CE
Signature temple
Brihadisvara, Thanjavur (c. 1010 CE)
Reach
South India and the neighbouring islands

What happened

In the far south, the Tamil Chola dynasty built the most powerful maritime state medieval India produced. Under Rajaraja I, who reigned from about 985 to 1014 CE with his capital at Thanjavur, and his son Rajendra I, who ruled from about 1012 to 1044 CE, Chola power stretched, in UNESCO's phrasing, over all of south India and the neighbouring islands. Rajaraja built the great Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur, a granite tower of a temple completed around 1010 CE. UNESCO groups the Brihadisvara at Thanjavur with the Brihadisvara at Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara at Darasuram as the Great Living Chola Temples, and says these living temples testify to the brilliant achievements of the Chola Dynasty in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting, still in daily worship today.

Why it matters

The Cholas show that Indian history is not only a story of the northern plains: a Tamil south projected power by sea and built temple architecture that ranks among the finest anywhere. Their bronze casting and stone building set a standard for Dravidian art that endured for centuries.

How we know

The Chola temples survive as dated, inscribed granite monuments recognized by UNESCO, and the dynasty's reigns are recorded in temple inscriptions and in the World History Encyclopedia timeline of India.

Sources

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