Chola

Chola , S Indian dynasty, whose kingdom was in what is now Tamil Nadu . Its chief capitals were at Kanchi (Kanchipuram) and Thanjavur (Tanjore). The Chola kingdom was one of the three of ancient Tamil tradition, but the dynasty had been virtually submerged for centuries when at the end of the 9th cent. AD it rose again. Under the famous rulers Rajaraja I (reigned 985-1014) and Rajendra I (reigned 1014-42) Chola power reached its zenith. The former conquered Kerala and occupied N Sri Lanka; the latter completed the conquest of Sri Lanka, invaded Bengal, and sent out a great naval expedition that occupied parts of Myanmar, Malaya, and Sumatra. For 300 years the Chola kingdom supported a flourishing social and economic life, marked by a flowering of Hindu culture. Its greatest architectural monument is an 11th-century temple at Tanjore, which was dedicated to Shiva in celebration of a military victory. By the 13th cent. the kingdom was in decline, and the dynasty ended in 1279.

Chola Dynasty of s India. Between 985 and 1024, they established an empire that included Sri Lanka, Bengal, and parts of Sumatra and Malaya. The dynasty declined and ended in 1279. The Cholas marked a great era of Hindu culture in s India.

Chola A Tamil Hindu dynasty dominant in south India from the 9th to the 13th century. Their origins are uncertain, but they were influential from at least the 3rd century AD, becoming an imperial power on the overthrow of their Pallava neighbours in the late 9th century. Victory over the Pandyas followed, and then expansion into the Deccan, Orissa, and Sri Lanka. Their peak was during the reigns of Rajaraja I (985–1014) and Rajendra I (1014–44), when Chola armies reached the Ganges and the Malay archipelago. The dynasty remained the paramount power in south India until the mid-13th century, when HOYSALA and Pandya incursions and the rise of Vijayanagar eventually destroyed its claims.