Kulottunga I

Kulottunga Chola (also spelt Kulothunga; r. 1070 – 1122 CE) (Tamil: குலோதுங்கச் சோழன்) was one of the greatest kings of the Chola Empire who ruled in the late 11th century and early 12th century. He was one of the sovereigns who bore the title Kulottunga, literally meaning the exalter of his race. During his early reign he carried out a land survey and settlement as the basis of taxation. His records also testify to the highly organised system of fiscal and local administration. He had diplomatic relations with the north Indian city Kanauj as also with distant countries like Cambodia, Sri Vijaya and China. His court poet was Jayamkondar who wrote the poem Kalingattu parani to celebrate the military victories of Kulottunga Chola. He was a liberal ruler as several land grants were given to the members of the Shudra community who were generals and royal officials during his reign. He established Chola overlordship over the Sri Vijaya province Kedah in Malaysia.

Kulottunga Chola I was the grandson of Emperor Rajendra Chola I. As a Chola prince he conquered the Sri Vijaya province Kedah on behalf of his maternal uncle Emperor Virarajendra Chola in the 11th century. As a Chola Prince he also conquered Bastar in modern Chhattisgarh. Several ancient documents and fragmented inscriptions available from places like tirugokarnam, pudukkottai, pennagadam in cuddalore, tirumaanikkuzhi in cuddalore etc. give some information on events that took place during the crowning of the Emperor. For example, the following passage from a Tamil work of the period written at tiruppadiripuliyur(cuddalore) has it as:

Paridhi kulam thannil uthitthu para samaya irulakattriya, tiru pparaman aadum perambalamum gopuramum aalayamum ponveyndhu, unmai sruthi yudan saiva neri thazhaitthu ongi, tiruneerru chozhan enru, kurumani maamudi punaintha kulothunga chola valavarul kuritthu vaazhvom

"We are pleased to collaborate with Sri Kulottunga Chola who stemmed from the race of sun(paridhi kulam) in the line of illustrious emperor valava of yore. Sri kulothunga deva chola destroyed the darkness caused by surge of false faiths(para samayam) and upheld the reality and truth of vedic saivism. May that tiruneerru chozhan(Kulottunga Chola I ),who anointed with gold the temple and tower at thillai(Chidambaram) live long!"

A Tamil work written in praise of Karunakara Tondaiman, the commander of the forces in the successful expedition to Kalingam(Orissa) and the north has once again referred to the king Kulottungan as belonging to paridhi kulam(solar race).

In the epic Periyapuranam once again a reference is made by the author to identity of Anapayan or Kulottungan I by referring to him as "illustrious one of race of sibis.".

The emperor was crowned as per traditional rules at thillai going by three epigraphs available. The fact that those that undertook the same since times immemorial, the temple priests at Chidambaram conducted the same only to the Cholas is further evidenced from the following para in the Periyapuranam

'Mallal nyaalam parakkinraar mani maa mavuli punaivatharkku Thillai vaazh anthanar thammai venda avarum sembiyar tham thollai Needum kula sirandhor kkanri mudi soottom enru nalkaaraki cheralathan than malai naatanaya nannuvaar'

“Inorder that he who conquered the world(kootruvar) may not be bereft of a royal crown he requested the crowning services of the ancient three thousand servitor priests at Chidambaram(thillai). Thereupon the priests refused the same saying that they are entitled to perform the ceremony only to the most deserving of the ancient clan of sembiyars(cholas). Having said this , they quit their dwelling to reach the hill country(kerala) of the ancient tamil chera king.”.

In addition to these we see that most of the available documents of kulothunga chola I start with the introduction in Sanskrit as Ethad kulothunga cholasya Rajakesarivarmanah. The name Rajakesari denotes a very ancient king of solar race to which the Cholas belong to.

It is under these circumstances, he moved into the 'Political vacuum created by the death of Adhirajendra' and established himself on the Chola throne as Kulottunga Chola I. Once again it would be good enough to note that during the cameo of crisis in a powerful empire, it would be impossible for anyone with contestable credentials to don the mantle of the head especially when several of the virtuous and worthy (like for example pallava chiefs) are in the fray. It is also possible that kulothungan stemmed from King Raja mahendra chola who was in charge of northern chola borders and who is praised for displaying unparalleled devotion by presenting a gemset golden image of sriranganatha to the temple at srirangam. Incidentally, the same ruler is eulogized in many inscriptions as the one who upheld law and dispensed justice " Three to four times as good as ancient manu".

Kulottunga I participated in a few wars by the side of kings like Rajendra Chola, his successors like Rajadhiraja, Rajendra II and Virarajendra Chola. For his deeds he had been entrusted with the task of governing those parts of the Chola kingdom like north-west Telugu country and the Bastar districts of erstwhile Madhya Pradesh (modern Chhattisgarh).

He was not a co-regent and bore the title Rajakesari throughout his reign. He ascended the Chola throne in 1070 CE at a time when the Chola Empire was in a state of anarchy. Kulottunga established himself on the Chola throne soon overcoming the threats to the Chola Empire and had a reign characterised by unparalleled success and prosperity. His successes resulted in the wellbeing of the empire for the next 100 years.

Kulottunga spent the first few years of his reign fighting the war and rebellion that had sprung up in the various parts of the empire. Apart from the residues of the rebellion that caused Athirajendra's death, there was trouble in Lanka where the southern provinces had declared independence. Kulottunga also had to deal with the Chalukya Vikramaditya who never reconciled Kulottunga's accessiont to the Chola throne. Kulottunga devoted the first few years of his reign to deal with these troubles and made preparations for war.

Kalinga Wars

The records of Kulottunga contain descriptions of two Kalinga wars. From the brief nature of the description regarding the first war, we may conclude that this perhaps occurred during Kulottunga's youth. The second and later invasion happened after the fortieth regnal year of Kulottunga and was the subject of the celebrated Tamil text Kalingathupparani by the poet Jayangondar.

The first Kalinga war seems to have been brought about by Kalinga aggression against Vengi. The war resulted in the annexation of the southern part of Kalinga to the Chola kingdom.

The second invasion took place about 1110 CE and is described in detail in the records of Kulottunga. The Tamil text Kalingathupparani describes the reason for war as a response to the default of Kalinga in its payment of annual tributes to Kulottunga. The second invasion of Kalinga was led by his general Karunakara Tondaiman who defeated the ruler of the Eastern Ganga dynasty Anantavarman Chodaganga of Orissa who was related to the Chola family. Anantavarman Chodaganga had to seek safety in flight and the Chola army returned with vast booty from the Kalinga campaign.

War with Chalukya Vikramaditya VI

The Western Chalukyas involve in many wars with the Chola emperors like Raja Raja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I but their Kings like Tailapa ended up being defeated at Annigeri, Satyashraya was defeated at Kogali, Jayasimha was defeated in Kadambalige and Someshwara I was suffer defeats many a time at the hands of Rajadhiraja and Rajendra-II, and also defeated no less than five times to Virarajendra Chola. On each occasion, the wars ended with the Cholas chasing their Chalukyas rivals out of the battlefield, occupying their capital, capturing their generals, levying tribute on the Chalukyas from time to time.

In fact, for playing a major role in repulsing the Western Chalukyas under Someshvara I, whose son Vikramaditya VI and Someshvara II were leading the Chalukyas, Kulottunga I earned the title 'Viruduraja Bhayankara' meaning the 'reason for the frightening of Viruduraja (Vikramaditya VI), the Chalukyan prince. For most of his rule, he succeeded in keeping up the successes of the Cholas over the Chalukyas. There was only the temporary loss of Vengi in 1118 to Vikramaditya VI when Kulottunga I was unwell and recalled his third son Vikrama Chola, a favourite of his, for appointing him as heir to the Chola throne. When Vikrama Chola left for Gangaikonda Cholapuram from Vengi, of which part he was the ruler under Kulottunga I, the Chalukyan armies invaded Vengi, taking advantage of the Cholas being busy with the coronation preparations of Vikrama Chola and for about 4 years, Vengi passed to the Chalukyas. However, Vikrama Chola, after succeeding father Kulottunga I, swiftly consolidated his position and he too was benefited because by 1125–26 Chalukya Vikramaditya VI himself was old, ailing and close to death.

Accordingly, the first enemy to be dealt with was the Western Chalukya Vikramaditya VI, who now found that Kulottunga stood in the way of his ambitions to unite his kingdom with the Vengi kingdom. With Kulottunga's accession to the Chola throne, the two kingdoms had become more closely united than ever before. Vikramaditya therefore led an expedition against Kulottunga in 1075 CE.

The war began with Vikramaditya's incursion into the Chola territories and encountered the Chola army at Kolar. Vikramaditya was engage the war with a mighty Chola forces up to the banks of Tungabhadra and there was heavy fighting and the Chola armies were victorious.

Someshvara II appealed to Kulottunga Chola for the help to regain the Chalukya Kingdom from his brother Vikramaditya and Kulottunga agreed to assist Someshvara and attacked Vikramaditya's rear.

Vikramaditya then concentrated all his efforts in saving his kingdom from the combined forces of Someshvara and Kulottunga. And the combined forces of both Someshvara II and Kulottunga Chola had made sufficient inroads and defeated Vikramaditya VI and the victorious Someshvara regain the Chalukyan throne. However, it appears that Vikramaditya VI seemed to wait for Kulottunga Chola to go back to the Chola country and at the first opportunity, he waged a separate war and defeated Someshvara II, imprisoned him and became the king of Chalukya Kingdom. But there was no love lost between Someshvara and his younger brother Vikramaditya as Vikramaditya had made Someshvara the ruler of the southern half of his kingdom.

Eelam (Lankan) wars

While the wars with Vikramaditya were ongoing, Vijayabahu, the Sinhala leader proclaimed himself ruler of the entire island. In 1070 CE he attacked the Chola forces from his enclave in the Rohana district and defeated them. Vijayabahu then occupied the territories close to Anuradhapura. Kulottunga sent reinforcements and there was a bloody fighting near Anuradhapura and repulsed Vijayabahu.

The tirukkalukunram and tirunidur inscriptions of kulothunga say that he dispatched many expeditions to lanka. In one case some of the lankan emissaries actually sent to help of Chola enemies in deccan were intercepted, captured, insulted, disfigured and sent back dressed in women's clothes. This was in retaliation to the attacks of the Lankan king on a ship carrying Indian merchants and looting their property. The Lankans also looted the produce of the farmers from mainland Tamil Nadu further provoking the Chola monarch.

This apart the inscriptions like the Tiruvalangadu grant of Rajadhiraja II and Kulottunga III, who claimed to have occupied Madurai, Ilam, Karur and Kalinga (after which he built the famous Kampahareswara temple in commemoration), testify well to Chola involvement in lanka.

The Polannaruwa inscription of Vijayabahu is of much later date and does not first of all make any mention of any war or its out comes. It simply says that Vijayabahu fought many chieftains before consecrating the temple of Buddha's tooth relic in Polannaruwa. It neither mentions the names of the chiefs whom he fought with nor the outcomes. However, this alone cannot be taken as an evidence for the Lankan ruler not having fought cholas. But since we have the grants of Tiruvalangadu which appears not to have been a forgery, we may safely conclude that the chola involvement in the region continued till very late in their rule. In fact, the inscriptions of Kulottunga I till the end of his rule around 1124 still call him 'Madurantaka and Ilamkondaan' meaning lord of Madurai and Ilangai (Sri Lanka).

Pandyan conflicts

At the close of his wars with Vikramaditya VI, Kulottunga turned his attention to the south. The Pandya country never reconciled to the Chola overlordship and its rulers were a source of constant trouble for the Chola emperors. Pandya made use of the troubles in the Chola country during the controversial accession of Kulottunga and tried to reassert their independence.

Kulottunga could not take this situation lightly as the loss of the Pandya territories meant a serious threat to the existence of the Chola kingdom itself. As soon the Chalukyan war ended, Kulottunga turned all his energy to the suppression of the revolts in the Pandya and the Kerala territories.

The record at the innermost prakaram(closed precincts of a temple) of ancient Chidambaram temple in sragdhara metre in Sanskrit says that:

pandyaan dandena jitva prachura saramuchaha pancha panchanana sreehi punye sahyadri srunge tribhuvana vijaya stambam ambothi theere dagdhva korggara durggam trunamiva sayata, khandavam paandu soonuhu pishtva tath keralanam balam athibalam kulothunga chola chakrehe sakra pratatapaha tribhivana vijaya sthambam ambodhipaare, kshumbyat kshmapaalaya chakram savidham akaroth

which translates to "King Kulottungan vanquished the extremely dense army of Cheras and Pandyas and also burnt down the Korkai(Tirunelveli) fort, the same way as son of Pandu(Arjuna) burnt Khandava forest. " The inscription also informs us of the war in Karnataka and Kulottunga’s subsequent placing of victory pillar in Sahyadri hills.

Kulottunga’s inscription at the Sriranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam says that " King Neriyan (Kulottunga I), had been happy to appropriate from the vanquished Pandyas, the magnificent pearl fisheries at Tiruananthapuram(Trivandrum) and also militarily occupy the Potiyil hills where the great seer Agastya was blessed with the knowledge of language of Tamil by lord Sivan.". These records illustrate that during Kulottunga’s time the Cholas had crushed the rebellions of Pandyans and were in complete control of the south. The smaller leyden grant of Kulottunga as well as his Suchindram temple(in Kanyakumari Dist.) inscription testify this.

Vengi

While Kulottunga was busy in Lanka, the Vengi kingdom was raided by Yakshakanaradeva, the ruler of Tripura. However, this was merely a raid in search of booty rather than an invasion for territorial gains. Vijayaditya, the Vengi king soon repulsed these intruders. Kulottunga left the administration of Vengi with Vijayaditya. After Vijayaditya died, Kulotunga took over the administration of Vengi under direct Chola rule and appointed his son Rajaraja Mummudi Chola viceroy of the province in 1076 CE. He, however, did not enjoy the rigours of the viceroyalty and relinquished his position the next year. His younger brother, Vira Choda, was then chosen as Viceroy until 1084 CE. Vira Choda was succeeded by another son of Kulottunga Rajaraja Chodaganga ruled between 1084 and 1089 as the Vengi Vieceroy. He was then succeeded by Vikrama Chola as the Viceroy.

Kulottunga Chola I promoted trade as he abolished tolls. The renaming of the famous harbor of Vishakhapattanam in Andhra Pradesh as Kulottungacolapattanam also indicates his interest in trade with foreign countries on the opposite side of the Bay of Bengal. Kulottunga sent an embassy to China in 1077 CE. This 'embassy' was a trading venture and seems to have ended profitably for the Cholas. The Cholas returned with over 81,000 strings of copper cash and many more valuables. The Khmer king Suryavarman II sent a mission to the Chola dynasty and presented a precious stone to Kulottunga Chola I in 1114 CE.

There is also evidence to suggest that Kulottunga in his youth (1063 CE) was in Srivijaya restoring order and maintaining Chola influence in that area. While there is little evidence of the political power of the Cholas having extended to the Malay Archipelago, trade relations and cultural contacts established during the reigns of Rajaraja Chola and Rajendra Chola I seem to had been actively maintained by Kulottunga and his successors. It seemed that even during these times, the Cholas would successfully pursue diplomacy with the far-east by having trade relations and cultural contacts. But it appears that at least two Chola commanders had their battalions stationed at Srivijaya and Kamboja.

According to Burmese accounts, Kyanzittha, the ruler of Pagan (Burma) met with the Chola royal family by sending an ambassador to the Chola emperor.

Kulottunga Chola instructs the surveyors A.D. 1086

The Chola kingdom remained formidable under Kulottunga in his forty-fifth regnal year. Except for the loose hold over Lanka, the rest of the empire remained intact. The boundary between the Cholas and the Western Chalukyas was as always the Tungabhadra river. The hold over Vengi was quite firm and Kalinga was under the Chola rule for the conquest of which and the levying of tribute over Alipurdoar areas of Bengal, Kulottunga I claims in his inscriptions to have built two temples dedicated to Sun god, namely the Suryanaar Koils of Nagapattinam and Pudukkottai. During his reign Gonka I of the Velanati Chodas was a vassal of the Chola Dynasty and was greatly responsible for the political stability of the Chola power in Andhra Pradesh. As a mark of his services Emperor Kulottunga Chola I conferred on Gonka I the lordship over 6000 villages on the southern bank of the Krishna River.

Chola territories at the end of Kulottunga Chola I's reign (c. 1120 CE).

Some writers say that towards the end his reign, Kulottunga lost the province of Gangavadi to Hoysala Vishnuvardhana who attacked this major Chola province (c. 1116 CE) in Kannada country from the times of and defeated the Chola Viceroy Adigaiman, the controller of Kongu and Kannada country there, but this proposition seems to stand on very fragile ground considering the massive power of chola empire during the period and its domination of Asia during Kulottunga's time. The disintegration of empire seem to have begun only after the rule of Kulottunga Chola III (1178–1216 CE), who was once again praised as a very powerful ruler and the same occurred not due to the excellence or power of the enemies but due to vicissitudes of time only. Even as this happened the later Pallava kingdoms of Kopperunjingan who was a devotee "at the feet of lord at thillai", were able to deliver death knell to the horde of enemies.

Kulottunga also lost much of his territories in Vengi. The northern half of the Vengi kingdom if not the whole of it seems to have slipped from his hands and gone to the Western Chalukyan empire under Vikramaditya VI. Encouraged by the successes of Hoysala, Vikaramaditya invaded Vengi in 1118 CE. The aging Kulotunga summoned the Viceroy of Vengi Vikrama Chola and installed him as heir apparent to the Chola throne. Lacking any meaningful leadership in Vengi, it soon fell to Vikramaditya and remained in his hands until his death in 1126 CE. However, overall for the Cholas the loss of Vengi was a purely temporary one for they would regain Vengi under Vikrama Chola with him routing the Chalukyas in 1124–25 and Vengi would remain in the Chola-fold till rule of Kulottunga-III (1176–1218).

As regards Gangavadi, Kannada records themselves speak of the Hoysalas under Vishnuvardhana suffering losses after his conquest of Gangavadi and Nolambavadi in Kannada country, which brought him into direct conflict both with the Cholas as well as the Western Chalukyas under Vikramaditya VI, who was the overlord of the Hoysalas, and of the subsequent loss of southern and eastern parts of Gangavadi coming back to the Cholas, who further embellished the Narasimha and Vishnu temples at Melkote and further expanded the Siva temple at Talakkad. Around 1129–30 Kulottunga-I's able successor Vikrama Chola would also re-conquer Kalinga along with Vengi, eastern and southern parts of Gangavadi from the Hoysalas and re-establish links with Kadaram, Kataha, Srivijaya etc. for trading purposes.

Therefore, towards the end iof Kulottunga's reign the extent of the empire became marginally reduceed than it was during his accession.

Kulottunga married Madurantaki, of which Vikrama Chola, the successor of Kulottunga was perhaps fourth. This fact is re-iterated at several places the most notable being in one of his son's plates. She seems to have died sometime before the thirtieth year of Kulottunga (1110 CE). Another queen Thyagavalli took the place of the chief queen. Kalingathupparani mentions her and Elisai Vallabhi (also known as Elulagudayal). It also states that Thyagavalli enjoyed equal authority with the king. Solakulavalliyār, another queen of his is also mentioned in inscriptions. One of his queens was the daughter of the King of Ilangai namely Vikramabahu, whom he married with 1088 and with that arrangement Kulottunga I heralded peaceful relations between the Cholas and the Ilam country. This was a political move that also negated any influence the traditional allies of the Lankan kings, the Pandiyans would have tried to exert on Vikramabahu. Following this marriage Lanka was allowed to be ruled with more freedom than under previous Chola kings, thus giving it a semblance of independent existence.

Kulottunga I was tolerant towards Buddhism as he continued to make donations to the Buddhist monastery at Nagapatam.

Kulottunga I also had very friendly relations with the Gahadval Kings of central India who were very artistic builders of temples and had Lord Surya as their tutelary deity. Later, inspired by his visits to the Gahadvala kingdom, Kulottunga I would build several temples dedicated to the Sun God, especially the Suryanar Temples at Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam. He built a sculptural beautiful temple Karakkoil at Melakadambur in 1113 AD in his 43rd thrown period, rarely made miniature sculptures all around the karbagraha is a finest memorable of the king. It's said to be karakkoil in Devara and the only temple named as it was like a chariot shaped one.

Melakadambur-Karakkoil

In Kulottunga Chozhapuram, a village named after him, we have streets prised equivalent to Madurai (square shape), hence it is called as Siru madurai. In the period of Kulottunga Chola made two important temples, the first one Lord Siva "Sokkanathar" temple. Another one Lord Vinava Perumal temple. From the very beginning of his reign sometimes as early as the second year, we can see that he devoted his time to renovating temples and appointing committees even in the remote parts of the empire such as Kuvalala Nadu, a district of Vijaiya Rajendra Mandalam and other places.