Kulothunga Chola I
Chola king
1035 CE to 1120 CE
Kō Rājakēsarivarman Abhaya Kulōttunga Chōla is one of the greatest kings of the Chola Empire who rules in the late 11th century and early 12th century.
He is one of the sovereigns who bears the title Kulottunga, literally meaning the exalter of his race.
During his early reign he carries out a land survey and settlement as the basis of taxation.
His records also testify to the highly organized system of fiscal and local administration.
He has diplomatic relations with the north Indian city Kanauj as also with far off countries like Cambodia, Sri Vijaya and China.
His court poet is Jayamkondar, who writes the poem Kalingattu parani to celebrate the king’s military victories.
He is a liberal ruler, as several land grants are given to the members of the Shudra community, who are generals and royal officials during his reign.
During his reign, direct Chola overlordship is established over the Srivijaya province Kedah in Malaysia.
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Somesvara’s successor, his eldest son Somesvara II, feuds with his younger brother, Vikramaditya VI, an ambitious warrior who had initially been governor of Gangavadi in the southern Deccan.
Married to a Chola princess (a daughter of Virarajendra Chola), Vikramaditya VI maintains a friendly alliance with them.
After the death of the Chola king in 1070, Vikramaditya VI invades the Tamil kingdom and installs his brother-in-law, Adhirajendra, on the throne, creating conflict with Kulothunga Chola I, the powerful ruler of Vengi, who seeks the Chola throne for himself.
Vikramaditya VI has undermined his elder brother, Somesvara II of the Western Chalukyas, by winning the loyalty of the Chalukya feudatories: the Hoysala, the Seuna and the Kadambas of Hangal.
Anticipating a civil war, Somesvara II seeks help from Vikramaditya VI's enemies, Kulothunga Chola I and the Kadambas of Goa.
In the ensuing conflict of 1076, Vikramaditya VI emerges victorious and proclaims himself king of the Chalukya empire.
Vikramaditya, the brother of Somesvara II, the eldest son of Somesvara I, had started planning the new king's overthrow as soon as ascended the throne of the Western Chalukya dynasty.
After entering into negotiations with the Chola king Virarajendra Chola, Vikramaditya consents to rule the Vengi kingdom as the Chola feudatory.
Virarajendra also forces Somesvara to bifurcate his kingdom and let Vikramaditya rule the southern half (Gangavadi) independently.
Vikramaditya marries one of Virarajendra's daughters to strengthen the alliance with the Cholas.
During this time Virarajendra Chola had died in 1070 and his son Athirajendra Chola had succeeded to the throne.
Vikramaditya had soon found his Chola alliance a liability.
Rajendra Chalukya (future Kulothunga Chola I), a Vengi prince with close Chola connection, having been denied his rightful place on the Vengi throne by Vikramaditya, wants to assume the Chola throne instead.
Rajendra Chalukya has his opportunity when civil disturbances arise in the Chola kingdom.
To quell rioting in Kanchipuram, Vikramaditya leads his forces into the city to assist his brother-in-law Athirajendra.
Vikramaditya soon after proceeds to the Chola capital and helps Athirajendra inaugurate his reign and to defeat any attempts by Rajendra Chalukya to overthrow the rightful Chola king.
Satisfied that order had been restored, Vikramaditya had returned to his capital.
But news soon came to him that Athirajendra had been murdered in the civil uprising and Rajendra Chalukya had assumed the Chola throne under the title Kulothunga Chola I. Vikramaditya now found enemies on both sides of his domain: Kulothunga in the south and his brother in the north.
Vikramaditya has spend the past six years in protecting himself from this dangerous situation.
He had continued to undermine the position of his brother Somesvara by inducing Somesvara's feudatories to desert him.
Finally with the help of the Seuna, the Hoysalas and the Kadambas of Hangala, Someshwara II is defeated and Vikramaditya assumes sovereignty in 1076.
He marks his accession to the throne by founding the new era called Chalukya Vikram Era.
The Indian Chola ruler Kulothunga Chola I (who the Chinese call Ti-hua-kia-lo) sends a trade embassy in 1077 to the court of Emperor Shenzong of Song, and makes lucrative profits in selling goods to China.
The Eastern Chalukyas had first been conquered by the Cholas under Raja Raja Chola I in the early eleventh century and have subsequently become very closely aligned to the Chola empire through marital alliances between the Cholas and the Eastern Chalukyas.
This has insulated the Eastern Chalukyas from the interference of the Western Chalukyas, who seek to subjugate the Eastern Chalukyas.
The Eastern Chalukya dynasty loses its three-cornered war with the Hoysalas, the Yadavas, and the Kakatiyas in 1089.
The Hoysalas take territories in modern Mysore (Karnataka) state, and the Yadavas take over areas south of the Narmada (Narbada) River; the truncated Chalukya kingdom, squeezed between the two and blocked on the east by the Kakatiyas, becomes a minor kingdom, and is is absorbed into the Chola empire during the reign of the Kulothunga Chola I.
Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI is successful not only in controlling his powerful feudatories in the north and south; he also defeats the imperial Chola in the battle of Vengi in 1093.