Early Cholas

Did You Know?

• Karikala Chola (c. 90 BCE) broke a confederacy of the other two Tamil kings after the Chera king was wounded on the back and committed suicide.
• The Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple was first built by Chola ruler Dharmavarma, destroyed by Kaveri flood, and rebuilt by King Killivalavan after seeing a Golden Vimana directed by a parrot.
• Kocengannan, a Chola king mentioned in Sangam literature, is one of the 63 nayanars in Tamil Shaiva tradition.

Early Cholas

Medieval Chola inscriptions contain much history about the Early Chola kings, who were regarded as descendants of the sun. Stories tell of King Kantaman, a contemporary of the sage Agastya, whose devotion brought the Kaveri river into existence, and of King Manu, who sentenced his own son to death for accidentally killing a calf. King Sibi, who gave his own flesh to a hawk to rescue a dove, is also part of early Chola lore. These incidents were heavily emphasized in later Chola mythical genealogies in copper-plate charters of the 10th and 11th centuries.

The earliest such list, the Anbil Plates, gives fifteen names before Vijayalaya Cholan, including Karikala, Perunarkilli, and Kocengannan. The Thiruvalangadu Plate expands this to forty-four names, and the Kanyakumari Plate to fifty-two, with no two lists fully agreeing. Chola kings Dharmavarcholan and Killivalavan developed the Srirangam shrine into the large temple seen today, with ancestors such as Killi, Thiru Mangai, Kulasekaran, Rajamahendra, and Thiru Vikrama named in the Sri Ranganathar temple in Tiruchchirappalli.

The temple was first built by Chola ruler Dharmavarma, destroyed by Kaveri flood, and rebuilt by King Killivalavan after seeing the Golden Vimana directed by a parrot. Stone inscriptions from late 100 BCE to 100 CE refer to this temple, making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India. Mandapas built near the main Sanctum Sanctorum date from 100 CE to 300 CE, built by Uraiyur Cholas.

Cholas in Sangam literature

The earliest Chola kings with tangible evidence appear in Sangam literature, written between 600 BCE and 300 CE, though an internal chronology of these works has not been established. Karikala Chola, from around 90 BCE, is pre-eminent among those mentioned in Pattinappaalai. His father was Ilamcetcenni, a brave king. The name Karikala, meaning elephant feller or charred leg, likely refers to a fire accident in his youth.

Pattinappaalai describes this accident and his rise to the throne, along with battles against the other two Tamil kings, in one of which the Chera king was wounded on the back and committed suicide, breaking a confederacy against Karikala. Later legends, absent in Sangam works, attribute to him the conquest of India up to the Himalayas and construction of the Grand Anicut. The poet Kovur Kilar mentions a civil war between Chola chieftains Nalankilli and Nedunkilli, with Nedunkilli besieged in Avur.

Another poem begs both princes to end the war, as the loser would still be a Chola. Kalavali by Poygayar describes the Chola King Kocengannan battling the Chera king Kanaikkal Irumporai; the Chera was captured, but Poygayar's poem praising Kocengannan led to the Chera's release. Kocengannan is one of the 63 nayanars. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written in the time of Domitian (81–96 CE), provides information on the Chola country, its towns, ports, and commerce.

Ptolemy, writing half a century later, also describes the Chola country, its port, and inland cities. The Mahavamsa recounts conflicts between Ceylon inhabitants and Tamil immigrants from Chola Country.

Social conditions

Sangam literature provides a complete picture of social and economic conditions in the early Chola period. The land was fertile, with ample food; poems state that in the Chola country watered by the Kaveri, a space the size of a lying elephant could produce enough grain to feed seven. Hereditary monarchy was the prevailing government, though disputed succession and civil war occurred. The sphere of state activity was limited, and respect for custom constrained even perverse dictators. Chola monarchs were approachable by subjects, who often received justice directly from the king. The Tamil area had an independent existence outside the control of northern empires. Tamil kings and chiefs were always in conflict with each other mostly over property. Royal courts were mostly places of social gathering rather than dispensation of authority; they were centres for distribution of resources.