Introduction

Very few dynasties that ruled India in various spans of its history can pride themselves on having had such a succession of illustrious rulers over such a long time as can the Cholas of Tanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram. With hardly any exception, from a.d. 850 onwards till a.d. 1216, over a period of366 years, the Chola empire was ruled by giants. Kulottunga III, who ascended the throne in a.d. 1178, inheriting an empire that was solid, vast, still well-administered and where peace reigned, was to be the last of these great rulers. He was succeeded by two more of his dynasty, Rajaraja III and Rajendra III, of whom the former held very nominal sway over a truncated empire hardly extending beyond its limits as they stood in the days of Vijayalaya (who founded the dynasty), while the latter made a valiant bid, against growing odds and a powerful enemy in the Pandya rulers, to recapture the glory of the Chola empire and succeeded only in modest measure.

The prasastis of Kulottunga III, unlike those of his immediate predecessors, are historically informative and progressively richer, almost giving a chronological sequence of events. The most common, in the initial years, is one beginning with vayttu (or vaykka) valam peruga, which is borrowed from the prasastis of Rajaraja II. In his inscriptions, in addition to the prasasti, the titles of rite fring are added, descriptive of the wars fought and victories won. From the fourth year, we have: Madumiyum Pandiyan Mudit-talaiyum kondaruliya. To this Ilam (Sri Lanka) is added in the 10^th ear, Karuvur in the 16th year (and in some inscriptions, as for instance froef Kanchipuram, in the 24th year). Some other prasastis begin -With: Malar manna polil elilum, pumevi maruviya, pu maruviya tisa??ugatton etc.

Kulottunga III also bore other names and titles. One of them occurring frequently in later years (after his 24th year) is Tribhuvanavira Chola deva(see Tribhuvana Vira deva). The form Tribhuvana Chola deya is also met with. Mudivalangu-sola was a name that was appliedlto him, after he had conquered and handed the Pandyan kingdom back to the Pandyan king. After the capture of Karuvur and the defeat of the Cheras, he called himself Solakeralan and renamed the Kongu country as Sola-kerala mandalam. Kulottunga III was also called by the name of Virarajendra Chola deva, under which name a large number of records of his period occur. He also went under other, rarer, titles, such as Neriyudaichchola and Ulaguyya nayanar.

Gangaikondasolapuram continued to be the capital of the; empire, though the subsidiary capitals of Tanjavur, Uraiyur, Kanchipuram and Ayirattali appear to have had their own importance.

We find frequent mention of two prominent royal Secretaries during this reign, in whose name a large number of orders are issued on behalf of the king. They are Minavan Muvendavelan who, as we saw, served even in the days of Rajadhiraja II, and Rajendrasimha Muvendavelan.

Kulottunga III was a great warrior and a great builder of temples; he was a contemporary of Ballala II of the Hoysalas of Dorasamudra (a.d. 1173-1220) and Jatavarman Kulasekhara, Vira Pandya and Vikrama Pandya of the rising Pandyan power. With the installation of Vira Pandya on the Pandyan throne, so brilliandy effected by Vedavanam Udaiyan alias Annan Palla-varaiyan, in the closing years of Rajadhiraja II’s reign, one would have assumed that the Pandyan problem was settled and the Simhala king kept in his place. But again, for reasons which are not explicit, the Cholas became the allies of Vikrama Pandya, a close relative of Kulasekhara, who erstwhile had sought the help of Parakramabahu I of Sri Lanka to regain his throne. Vikrama Pandya sought the aid of the Chola emperor; we learn from an exquisite inscription of the ninth year (88th day) of Kulottunga III engraved in the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram that the Chola king supported the cause of the exiled Chief, and in the First Pandyan war (of his reign) routed the combined armies of Sri Lanka and the Pandyan king Vira Pandya (the son of Vira Pandya losing his life in the battle), captured Madurai, raised a pillar of victory at the Pandyan capital and then bestowed on Vikrama Pandya his city, his crown and his kingdom in a.d. 1187. Vira Pandya, desolate and grief-stricken, sought the assistance of the Sri Lanka king, the Chera king and other neighbouring feudatories of the Cholas, and six years after his crushing defeat marched the combined armies against the Chola emperor only to be met, routed and mauled badly at Nettur in a.d. 1193. This disaster ended Vira Pandya’s six yiears of effort to re-establish himself as the Pandyan ruler. We generally term the Nettur battle and the connected skirmishes as the Second Pandyan war. Thus, defeated, Vira Pandya^[1] and his Kerala allies sought succour at the feet of Kulottunga III, who seized the opportunity, pardoned the Pandyan recalcitrant Vira Pandya and crowned him king of Madurai, but as a tributary of the Chola overlord. The Kerala ruler was similarly dealt with. We gather that, with these two principalities settled, he turned his attention towards the island kingdom of Sri Lanka, defeated their army and possibly annexed the island, as claimed by him. These resounding victories were perhaps the precursors of the disasters that were to befall the Chola empire in the next few decades. Hardly had the Second Pandyan War been fought and the Chola suzerainty firmly re-established, when rumblings of disorder and uprising among the northern feudatories were being heard from the Pallava and Telugu-Choda areas. Kulot-tunga III gathered a massive army, marched on Kanchi (a.d. 1196) and the Telugu-Choda region, crushed the rebellion and canie home triumphantly. There was unrest in Vengi due to the aggress sion of the Kakatiyas, who were a rising power ruling from Warangal (modern name) over a territory covering the lower middle reaches of the Godavari river. Kulottunga III claims to have marched against the Kakatiyas of Orugallu (the capital, as it was known to them) or Urangai (the Tamil name for it), captured and sacked it and returned home triumphantly (See Note 1 at the end of the Chapter). With these initial wars won, Kulottunga III entered upon a spell of peace that lasted a whole decade.

It was perhaps during these years that some of the majestic temples came into existence. Among the Later Cholas, Kulottunga III was the greatest temple-builder. Extensive gifts and benefactions were bestowed upon temples and charitable institutions. A large number of Saiva mathas flourished during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.

This peace was, however, only temporary and the lull in the wars was soon to terminate in the Third Pandyan War. The ferment in the Pandyan province, suppressed "for a time, was simmering. Jatavarman Kulasekhara Pandya, Vikrama Pandya’s son, who had, in his> turn, become an exile, was unwilling to reconcile himself to the deprivation of his empire and gradually strengthened his position and declared himself independent as the king of Madurai. This provoked Kulottunga III to bitter action and he marched towards Madurai in big force, stormed Mattiyur and Kalikkottai and destroyed the combined Pandyan and Kerala forces, took Karuvur after crushing the Keralar, and triumphantly entered the city of Madurai* The inscriptions of Kulottunga III found at Seranur and Kudumiyamaiai (Puduk-kottai State, now district) give a vivid description of tM death and destruction caused by the Chola army on the Pandyan forces and say that Kulottunga III crowned himself the Chola-Pandyan at the Pandyan Capital of Madurai, performed the virabhiskekam, and made known to the world his great triumph by calling himself Tribhuvana Vira deva, ‘the victor of the three worlds’, paid homage at the feet of Lord Siva presiding over the temple at Tiruvalavoy (Madurai), showered precious gems and numerous jewels on Him, gilded the Indra vimana of the deity, rechristened the Pandyan country as Chola-Pandya mandalam, changed the name of Madurai and called it Mudittalai-konda-sola-puram, ‘the city of the Chola who took the (Pandyan) crown’. The booty of war was used to enrich the shrine of the goddess Sivakami in the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, of Tyagesa at Tiruvarur and of Tribhuvanesvara (Kampaharesvara), the Lord of the temple newly built and consecrated by him at Tribhuvanam. Finally, he gave the Pandyan kingdom to the defeated Kulasekhara Pandya, along with his army, horses and elephants. After this victory, he called himself in his prasa ‘Tribhuvana Ghakravartin Tribhuvana Vira deva, the conqueror of Madurai, Ilam and Karuvur, who took the crown of the Pandya, and celebrated virabhiskekam and vijayabhishekam and returned to his capital to sit on the hero’s throne named Vira Simhasanam'. This third battle of Madurai (about a.d. 1205) paved the way for growing bitterness against the Cholas in the minds of the Pandyan rulers. (Pis, 352- 3).

Jatavarman Kulasekhara writhed in agony at this utter defeat and humiliation at the Chola hands and sank to his death after ten years of oblivion; and in a.d. 1216, his brother Maravarman Sundara Pandya I, a bitter man, determined to wreak vengeance on the Chola power, ascended the throne at Madurai. In a very short span of two years, he mustered a huge army and invaded the Chola kingdom. The prasasti of Maravarman Sundara Pandya gives a graphic description of the invasion. Determined to exterminate the seal of the Tiger (the Chola emblem) from the land of the Kaveri and establish in its place the seal of the Fish (the Pandyan emblem)”, heading a force comprising turbulent elephants and spirited horses, he razed to the ground the Chola citadels of Tanjavur and Uraiyur and destroyed the Chola authority altogether. The inscription says that he bloodied the quiet waters of the lakes and rivers in the Chola country, destroyed halls and forts, towers and dance halls, buildings and palaces, and looted the treasuries and caused a river of tears to flow from the eyes of the queens of the opposing kings, ploughed the enemy territory with plough-shares drawn by donkeys (a symbolic assertion of capture of enemy territory) and vented in full his pent-up anger againsj the Cholas. He drove the Chola king into the forest, entered thci Chola capital of Ayirattali (alias Mudi-konda-sola-puram), ‘the city surrounded by a gold-plated wall of enclosure that rose to the very skies’, and performed the virabhishekam (the ceremony of the anointment of a hero) seated on the throne in the coronation pavilion known as Sola-valavan, and declared himself the king of all Lords—with only his ‘sharp wheels and red shoulders’ as his support. Then he proceeded to Tiruppuliyur (Chidambaram), paid homage at the feet of Nataraja and Sivakama Sundari and then went to Ponnamaravati, ‘the city of lakes choked with lotuses that attracted the buzzing bees in the early morning, who woke the sleepy swans from their nightly slumber’, where Kulottunga III and his queen, who had hidden themselves in the outskirts in shame at their defeat, came forth with their son Rajaraja (III) offering to name him after the Pandya. In a poignant ceremony, Sundara Pandya bestowed the captured empire back on the Chola monarch, the ceremonial bestowal being accompanied by the pouring of water, and gave him back his capital, his seal of authority and the title of 'Solapatf and sent him (Kulottunga III) back.

This (prasasti) proves that the Pandyan ruler paid the grand Chola emperor back in his own coin, and repeated at Ponnamaravati the ceremonial disgracing of the enemy enacted by Kulottunga III at the Pandyan capital of Madurai a few years earlier.

Maravarman Sundara Pandya assumed the title of ‘Sonadukonda Sundara Pandyan’, i.e., ‘Sundara Pandya who took the Chola country’ and, since he bestowed the kingdom back on the Chola emperor, he also later assumed the title of ‘Sonadu-valangiya Sundara Pandyan’, i.e., ‘Sundara Pandyan who gave back the Chola country’.

The restoration of the Chola kingdom might have been partially in the tradition of the rivalry between the Chola and the Pandya rulers. Kulottunga III conquered Madurai and gave it back to them, so this war of revenge fought by Sundara Pandya was more to wipe out the humiliation than to annex the Chola domain to his empire. In this, Sundara Pandya signally succeeded. But apart from that reason, perhaps there was yet another factor that guided Sundara Pandya in returning the kingdom to the vanquished monarch. For that, we have to look to the north of the Chola empire. Ballala II (a.d. 1173 to 1220) who was ruling the Hoysala kingdom was the contemporary of Maravarman Sundara Pandya I and Kulottunga III; one of his principal queens was Cholamadevi, a Chola princess. So there should have been close and intimate (marital) ties between the Hoysalas and the Cholas. Thus, when the Chola empire was threatened soon after the accession of Maravarman Sundara Pandya, Ballala’s son Vira Narasimha came down as far south as Tiruvarangam (in a.d. 1217) to demonstrate his support for the Cholas. From another record, we gather that Ballala II had, among others, the titles of ‘S ola-rajya-Pratishthacharya’ and ‘Pandya-gaja-kesari’—‘the Establisher (preserver) of the Chola kingdom’ and ‘the lion to the Pandyan elephant’. Narasimha also claims a similar title, ‘Sola-kula-rakshaka’, ‘the protector of the Chola family’. From these, one can infer that at the hour of Chola defeat at the hands of the Pandyas, the Hoysalas must have tried to buttress the prestige of the defeated relative, and Maravarman as an act of political expediency must have given back the conquered empire to Kulottunga III (See Note 1 at the end of the Chapter).

Almost overnight, the Chola kingdom in almost the last year (a.d. 1216) of the reign of Kulottunga III who ‘took Madurai, Ilam (Sri Lanka), Karuvur, and the crown of the Pandya’ and who performed the ceremonies of virabhishekam and vijayabhishekatn and crowned himself Tribhuvanavira deva, lost its greatness, its power and authority and the enviable position it had held for more than three and a half centuries. The empire that at its zenith extended from the Ganga in the north to Ilam (Sri Lanka) in the south, from Mahodai (Cranganore) in the west to Kadaram (Kedah in the Malay Peninsula) in the east, lay prostrate at Ponnamaravati at the feet of the Pandyan hero. The Chola kingdom in its three and a half centuries of existence, from a.d. 850 to A.p. 1216 (the date of Kulottunga III’s retirement) had known no serious reverses except the stray ones such as occurred during the days of Parantaka I, viz., the loss of Tondaimandalam in a.d. 949 to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III. The great emperor, the Lord of the three worlds, Kulottunga III, did not survive this humiliation long; he ceased to be the ruler, after the shame of Ponnamaravati and the crowning of his son as the Chola king Rajaraja III in a.d. 1216. He removed himself from the administration and died two years later (a.d. 1218). We do not have any records of his time beyond his 40th year, viz., a.d. 1218.

The reign of Kulottunga III was one of the many glorious chapters in the evolution of South Indian Art and Architecture. Blessed with a long reign of nearly 40 years, and succeeding to an empire which had been presided over by Kulottunga II and Rajaraja II, two great patrons of the arts, Kulottunga III added greatly to the already large number of temples in the kingdom. His greatest contribution was, of course, the grand temple of Tribhuvanesvaram at Tribhuvanam, but, apart from that, his additions to existing temples in the form of new shrines and pavilions were numerous and his gifts of jewellery were also noteworthy.

The feudatories of the Cholas played a very important part in the administration and protection of the empire. They were powerful local representatives of the central authority, deriving their strength from, and in return helping to strengthen, the emperor. During the closing days of Kulottunga III, however, the balance of power between these Chieftains and the emperor began to be unsettled and during his successor’s time, their strength increased beyond limits. At this stage, it would be necessary to take note of them, for their role in temple-building activity tot) was none-too-insignificant (See Note 2 for further details).

Elements of Disruption of the Empire

In spite of the outward glory and expansion of the Chola empire to its farthest limits, the signs of decay and disintegration were already visible. The defection of the Telugu-Chodas and the growing importance of Chola feudatories of the Tondaimandalam region, the Sambuvarayars, the Kadavas, the Chiefs of the Magadai country and others were visible symptoms of a weakening empire. Local compacts and non-aggression pacts became necessary, indicative of unrest and revolt (See Note 3 for details on such compacts).

List of inscriptions mentioning Kulottunga Ill’s title of Tribhuvana Vira deva:

24th year Tiruvarur ARE 554 of 1904,
26th year Tiruvorriyur ARE 120 of 1902,
33rd year Murmur ARE 63 of 1919,
33rd year Rishiyur ARE 476 of 1907,
33rd year Tiruvottur ARE 94 of 1900,
34th year Kalahasti year ARE 116 of 1922,
34th year Tirumalavadi ARE 74 of 1925,
35th year Kanchipuram ARE 589 of 1919,
40th year Tirumangalam ARE 273 of 1914.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Parakrama Pandya Vs Kulasekhara,
Vira Pandya Vs Vikrama Pandya,
Son (killed)

Jatavarman Kuklasekhara,
Pandya (acc A.D. 1190)

Maravarman Sundara,
Pandya I (acc A.D. 1216)