The Chola Dynasty, a Tamil dynasty that rules primarily in southern India, had originated in the mid-ninth century in the fertile valley of the Kaveri River.
The Cholas are to remain at the height of their power continuously from the later half of the ninth century until the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Karikala Chola had been the most famous among the early Chola kings, followed by Aditya I, Parantaka I, and Rajaraja Chola I, under whom the dynasty becomes a military, economic and cultural power in Asia.
The southern kingdoms of the Pandyas, Cheras and the Sinhalas are often allied against the Cholas, and this had been the case when Rajaraja came to the throne in 985.
He has spent the past seven or eight years organizing and augmenting his army and in preparing for military expeditions, initially against the combined Pandya and Chera armies.
The first military achievement of Rajaraja’s reign is the campaign in the Kerala country in about 994, in which Rajaraja is said to have destroyed a fleet in the port of Kandalur, which appears to have been situated in the dominions of the Chera King Bhaskara Ravi Vallaman Thiruvadi.
Inscriptions found around Thanjavur show that frequent references are made to the conquest of the Chera king and the Pandyas in Malai-nadu (the west coast of South India).
Kandalur-Salai, which later inscriptions claim to have belonged to the Chera king, was probably held by the Pandyas when it was conquered by Rajaraja.
Some years' fighting apparently is to be necessary before the conquest can be completed and the conquered country sufficiently settled and its administration properly organized.
