The Chozhas: A Forgotten Empire

Many a time has history class been accused of being Eurocentric. Eurocentric, who-cares-centric. People use big words just to seem important. At BISV, we’ve learned about the Romans, the Greeks, the Persians, and the Egyptians. We’ve also learned about the Song, the Han, the Ming, and the Zhou (so as not to be accused of Eurocentrism). 

But what about the ancient Indians?

Sure, we’ve learned about the Mauryans and the Guptas, but that’s about it. Maybe a couple of slides, a brief overview, but never in-depth. How about the Chozhas? In this article, we’re going to talk about the Chozhas, some of the most advanced people in the world.

A quick side note: Don’t even bother trying to pronounce Chozhas. The “zh” is a common stand-in used to signify a Tamil sound that doesn’t exist in English. It looks like this for anyone interested: ழ. 

Another quick side note: The Chozhas are commonly referred to as the Cholas, which is much easier to pronounce. For reasons relating to patriotism and pride, we shall be referring to them as the Chozhas.

Yet another “quick” side note: Before we get started, let me just make it clear that the Chozha Empire was one of the longest-lasting empires in all of human history, so we’re only going to focus on the 2nd Chozha period that lasted from about 800 CE to 1200 CE. This period is when they came to be known as the Imperial Chozhas, so you can expect a very exciting plot (bloodshed and gore galore).  

The Rise of the Chozhas

Around 850 CE, the Pandyas and Pallavas, two of the most dominant powers in south India, waged a bloody war. Vijayalaya Chozha (we’re going to call him V for short), took advantage of this situation and captured the city of Thanjavur from another small kingdom. There are many differing records on the aftermath, but basically, after “V” captured Thanjavur, the Pandyas were like “What!?,” attacked, and then were promptly defeated. Then the Pallavas were like “What!? Where’d he come from!?,” attacked, and then were also promptly defeated. Funny how history repeats itself. 

In red I have marked what I call “Phase 1 Expansion”

In blue is “Phase 2 Expansion” under Raja Raja Chozha

The Golden Age

Fast forward a couple hundred years, and we have the most powerful king of the Chozha empire: Raja Raja Chozha. In English, “Raja” roughly translates as “great king,” and we Tamils rarely repeat ourselves, so the fact that he was called “Raja Raja” really must mean something about the man.  

So, this Raja Raja came to power after his older brother was assassinated in a political plot. Uh oh. He conquered many places and they would be way too long to list, so I figured it would be more fun to use a map:

That’s a pretty big-looking empire to me.

So, Raja Raja went on a conquering spree from the south of India (around the lower green dot) and went all the way up to the higher green dot. Some pesky empires he crushed on the way were the Chera, Western and Eastern Chalukya, Pandya, Pallava, Rashtrakuta, and many more. 

His son, Rajendra Chozha, carried out one of the most ingenious strategies in world history. During this period the Chozhas built up a formidable navy, perhaps the most powerful of its time, which allowed them to expand trade. One petty little empire started to stand out: The Srivijaya empire of what is now Indonesia. This empire controlled the most important trade route in the world, and it probably got into their heads a little bit, because they started to raise their tariffs quite obnoxiously.

Rajendra wasn’t having any of this though. He did what most normal people would have done in the day: declare war. The Srivijayas, thinking they were being smart and strategic, stationed their warships around the blue dot, because that’s the logical path one would take if one wanted to invade and pillage the capital of  Indonesia.

Nope. You thought wrong. Rajendra, in a genius stratagem, sent the Chozha navy around the whole island. Yes, you read that right, around the whole island. He surprised the Srivijaya and pillaged their capital city before they could react. Quite a mind-blowing stratagem, really.

To conclude, the Chozhas were an incredibly powerful dynasty of southern India, lasting from about 300 BCE to around 1250 CE. They developed one of the most advanced navies in their world and used it to trade and grow rich. Ancient evidence has shown us that they formed trading alliances with the Han of China, and some sources say they even conquered some of East Africa. So, next time you hear someone speak of the Mauryans or the Guptas, maybe remind them of the Chozhas. 

Sources:

Gautam, P. K. “The Cholas: Some Enduring Issues of Statecraft, Military Matters and International Relations.” Policycommons.net, >, 4 Oct. 2013, policycommons.net/artifacts/1906698/the-cholas/2657875/. Accessed 26 September 2024.

Hari, K. “Rajendra Chola I.” WordPress.com, WordPress.com, 28 July 2019, bharathgyanblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/28/rajendra-chola-i/. Accessed 26 September 2024.

History Unravelled. “Rajaraja Chola I – the Great Chola.” Historyunravelled.com, History Unravelled, 2023, historyunravelled.com/warriors/rajaraja-chola-i. Accessed 26 September 2024.

Nikhil Chandwani. “Brief History of Chola Dynasty.” Times of India Blog, Times of India, 15 Mar. 2019, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/desires-of-a-modern-indian/brief-history-of-chola-dynasty/.

“Raja Raja Chola I – New World Encyclopedia.” Newworldencyclopedia.org, 2019, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Raja_Raja_Chola_I.