Rajadhiraja Chola
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 Chola territories c.1055 C.E. |
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| Reign | 1018 C.E. - 1054 C.E. |
| Title | Rajakesari |
| Capital | Gangaikonda Cholapuram |
| Queen | Trilokyam Udaiyar |
| Children | Two sons, names unknown |
| Predecessor | Rajendra Chola I |
| Successor | Rajendra Chola II |
| Father | Rajendra Chola I |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | 1054 C.E. |
| Tomb | {{{Location of Tomb}}} |
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Rajadhiraja Chola I (1018 – 1054 C.E.) reigned as the Chola king succeeding his father Rajendra Chola I. During his reign, he maintained Chola's authority over most of Lanka, despite a series of revolts in the territory. He had fought a protracted battle with the Chalukyas during which he lost his own life.
Rajadhiraja Chola’s record shows that he was a born fighter who was very capable of maintaining an overgrown empire with eternal internal and external conflicts.
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[edit] Long Apprenticeship
Rajendra Chola I made his son Rajadhiraja Chola co-regent very early in his reign (1018). From that day forward, father and son ruled together and shared the burdens of the empire. From the inscriptions of both Rajendra and Rajadhiraja it is evident that Rajadhiraja ruled in full regal status in the lifetime of his father. Rajadhiraja was at the forefront of most of Rajendra’s military campaigns.
[edit] Military Campaigns
[edit] Revolts in Lanka
The Buddhist text Mahavamsa shows that the years following the defeat and deportation of the Sinhala king Mahinda V by Rajendra in 1017 C.E. were filled with revolt and anarchy due uprisings by the Sinhala subjects against the repressive reign of the Chola invaders. Mahinda was captured and transported to the Chola country as prisinor where he died 12 years later. Mahinda’s son Kassapa had formed the resistance against the Chola occupiers and the revolts were centred around Kassapa.
Kassapa managed to face off the almost 95,000 strong Chola army for over six months and push them northwards from the Rohana area in southern Sri Lanka he then crowned himself Vikramabahu in 1029 C.E. Cholas never managed to subjugate the entire island of Sri Lanka and only managed to occupy the whole island for a period of about 10 years. After which the province of Rohana asserted its independence and kept up a perpetual war against the Tamils. Sinhalese resistance was assisted by various Pandyan princes against their common enemy. Pandyas had a very close political as well as marital relationship with the Sinhalese.
During Rajadhiraja’s reign this became very acute as Vikramabahu launced an all out attack on the Tamil armies to expel them from the island. He was assisted by a Pandya prince Vikarama Pandya and Jagatpala, a prince from the distant Kanauj in North India. Rajadhiraja’s forces battled and killed these princes.
The Chola provinces in Lanka were a separate administrative division of the empire. The southern half was however a Sinhala stronghold in perpetual conflict with the Cholas. Prince Kitti, son of Vikramabahu became Vijayabahu in 1058 C.E. and took over the leadership of the resistance. Like all conquerors, Cholas were exasperated by the natural desire of the Sinhalese to be rid of them, seem to have adopted savage methods of repression such as transportation, decapitation, mutilation even against the royal family of Lanka. Such methods however did not succeed in the long run as the Sinhalese managed to expel the Cholas during Kulothunga Chola’s reign.
[edit] Continuing Chalukya Wars
Rajadhiraja, eager to subdue the rising power of the Western Chalukyas and to restore Chola influence with the Eastern Chalukyas in Vengi, personally led an expedition into the Telugu country in 1046 C.E. He defeated the Western Chalukya forces in a battle at Dannada on the river Krishna and set fire to their fort. This expedition was followed by number of raids into the Chalukya country by the Chola army in which they captured several generals and feudatories of Chalukya, demolished the Chalukya palace at Kampali. The victorious Chola forces crossed the Krishna river and erected a victory piller at a place called Yetagiri. After more fighting, Kalyani, the capital of Chalukya was sacked. Rajadhiraja performed a coronation of the victor at the enemy capital and assumed the title Vijayarajendra.
In 1050 C.E. Chalukya king Somesvara succeeded in expelling the Chola forces from his territories. He also managed to re-establish his influence in Vengi and compelled Eastern Chalukya king Rajaraja Narendra to acknowledge his suzerainty over Rajadhiraja. Lastly he managed to send a counter expedition in to the Chola country itself, captured Kalinga and made a dash towards Kanchipuram.
For reasons that are not clear, Rajadhiraja did not make any immediate attempts at recovering either Vengi or Kalinga. In 1052 C.E. Rajadhiraja made his younger brother Rajendra Chola II heir apparent (Yuvaraja) apparently in preference of his own sons. Rajadhiraja then led another expedition into the Chalukya territories accompanied by his brother (1054 C.E.). Rajadhiraja seeking to provoke the Chalukya king, invaded Rattamandalam (southern Karnataka) and began ravaging that country. Somesvara on hearing this became furious and marched towards the Chola armies. The two armies met at a place called Koppam on the banks of the Krishna River.
[edit] Death on the Battlefield
The battle of Koppan was a long and hard-fought one for both sides. In the early stages of the Koppam battle, Rajadhiraja himself led the armies with Rajendra Chola II holding himself in reserve. Rajadhiraja was in the thick of battle, riding a war elephant while directing his troops. The Chalukya forces surrounded the elephant in which Rajadhiraja was on, and wounded him mortally. Rajadhiraja fell dead in the battlefield.
Inscriptions of Rajendra II state that ‘the valiant king, seeing the retreat of his soldiers, entered the fray shouting out to his forces, ‘Fear not’ and pressed forward with his elephant and restored order in his army. The enemy concentrated on the king’s elephant and with a shower of arrows pierced th forehead of the elephant and the royal thighs and shoulders.
Rajendra II immediately took to the field, and turned defeat into victory conquering the Chalukya forces. Rajendra crowned himself Chola king on the battlefield, continued the battle.
Thus perished one of the greatest and bravest warriors in the Chola dynasty. From the manner of his death, Rajadhiraja came to be known as Yanal-mel-thunjina Devar (the king who died on the back of an elephant). From the time he was chosen heir-apparent by his father to the day when he laid down his life on the field of battle, Rajadhiraja let the life of a warrior king and led many campaigns in person. Some of these, like the fatal expedition that led to Koppam were of his own seeking. Rajadhiraja was first and foremost a soldier and possibly his great military talent formed the reason for his being preferred for succession against an elder brother of his.
[edit] Personal life
Rajadhiraja employed his father’s brother, his own brothers, elder and younger, in important offices of state and constituted them into subordinate rulers of regions of his empire. We know of the title (Trilokyam Udaiyar) rather than the actual name of a queen. His queens do not figure prominently in his records. Apart from Vijarajendra, he took the titles of Virarajendra Varman, Ahavamally Kulantaka and Kalyanapurangondachola. We have no details of his children or their names. They seem to have been overlooked by Rajadhiraja in the succession to the Chola throne.
[edit] References
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). The CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984).
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002).
- South Indian Inscriptions - http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/
