Introduction (Chola or Choda dynasty)

The Cholas in the Telugu country are heard of from early times. The Chola maharajas were exercising sway in the Renadu tract till the 10th century A.D. In the second half of the 10th and the first half of the 11th centuries, the dynasties of the Telugu cholas appear all over the Andhra land ruling in its different parts for varying periods through out medieval times—till the middle of the 16th century A.D. The most wellknown of the Telugu Chodas were those of Konidena, Pottapi, Nellore, Eruva, Kandur, Ramavati etc. Besides, there were several families of Telugu chola discent, holding power in parts of South India, acknowledging the suzerainty of the Imperial Cholas, the Kakatiyas, the western chalukyas and the Kalachuris. On the whole, the Telugu Cholas are powerful, de facto independent and achieved remarkable political victories. Their assets in other fields were not less significant. The Telugu chola rule extended into Kanchi for a while and their influence into the heart of the Tamil land—Chola and even Pandya where as their power attained its zenith in the reigns of the Chola soverigns—Kullottunga III and Rajaraja III. Towards the close of the 13th century A.D. and the beginning of the 14th, the Telugu Chodas lost their power to the Kakatiyas and the Kayasthas. So their power in the 14th century and the 15 century was much less compared with that in the 12th and 13th centuries.