page_title: Rajaraja I
section_title: Chalukyan conflict
hierarchical_section_title: Rajaraja I / Military conquests / Chalukyan conflict
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of Rajaraja, Tamil Nadu, 20th century
context_page_description: Rajaraja I, born Arulmoli Varman, often described as Rajaraja the Great, was a Chola emperor chiefly remembered for reinstating the Chola power and ensuring its supremacy in south India and Indian Ocean.
  His extensive empire included the Pandya country, the Chera country and northern Sri Lanka. He also acquired the Lakshadweep and Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean. Campaigns against the Western Gangas and Chalukyas extended the Chola influence as far as the Tungabhadra River. On the eastern coast he battled with the Chalukyas for the possession of Vengi.
  Rajaraja, an able administrator, also built the great Brihadisvara Temple at the Chola capital Thanjavur. The temple is regarded as the foremost of all temples in the medieval south Indian architectural style. During his reign, the texts of the Tamil poets Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar were collected and edited into one compilation called Thirumurai. He initiated a massive project of land survey and assessment in 1000 CE which led to the reorganisation of the country into individual units known as valanadus. Rajaraja died in 1014 CE and was succeeded by his son Rajendra Chola I.
context_section_description: In 998 CE, Rajaraja captured the regions of Gangapadi, Nolambapadi and Tadigaipadi (present day Karnataka). Raja Chola extinguished the Nolambas, who were the feudatories of Ganga while conquering and annexing Nolambapadi. The conquered provinces were originally feudatories of the Rashtrakutas. In 973 CE, the Rashtrakutas were defeated by the Western Chalukyas leading to direct conflict with Cholas. An inscription of Irivabedanga Satyashraya from Dharwar describes him as a vassal of the Western Chalukyas and acknowledges the Chola onslaught. In the same inscription, he accuses Rajendra of having arrived with a force of 955,000 and of having gone on rampage in Donuwara thereby blurring the moralities of war as laid out in the Dharmasastras. Historians like James Heitzman and Wolfgang Schenkluhn conclude that this confrontation displayed the degree of animosity on a personal level between the rulers of the Chola and the Chalukya kingdoms drawing a parallel between the enmity between the Chalukyas of Badami and the Pallavas of Kanchi.
  By 1004 AD, the Gangavadi province was conquered by Rajaraja. The Changalvas who ruled over the western part of the Gangavadi province and the Kongalvas who ruled over Kodagu were turned into vassals. The Chola general Panchavan Maraya who defeated the Changalvas in the battle of Ponnasoge and distinguished himself in this affair was rewarded with Arkalgud Yelusuvira-7000 territory and the title Kshatriyasikhamani. The Kongalvas, for the heroism of Manya,  were rewarded with the estate of Malambi (Coorg) and the title Kshatriyasikhamani. There were encounters between the Cholas and the Hoysalas, who were vassals of the Western Chalukyas. An inscription from the Gopalakrishna temple at Narasipur dated to 1006 records that Rajaraja's general Aprameya killed minister Naganna and other generals of the Hoysalas. A similar inscription in Channapatna also describes Rajaraja defeating the Hoysalas. Vengi kingdom was ruled by Jata Choda Bhima of the Eastern Chalukyas dynasty. Jata Choda Bhima was defeated by Rajaraja and Saktivarman was placed on the throne of Vengi as a viceroy of the Chola Dynasty. After the withdrawal of the Chola army, Bhima captured Kanchi in 1001 CE. Rajaraja expelled and killed the Andhra king called Bhima before re-establishing Saktivarman I on the throne of Vengi again. Rajaraja gave his daughter Kundavai in marriage to his next viceroy of Vengi Vimaladitya which brought about the union of the Chola Dynasty and the Eastern Chalukya Kingdom and which also ensured that the descendants of Rajaraja would rule the Eastern Chalukya kingdom in the future.
caption: Statue of Rajaraja, Tamil Nadu, 20th century
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