Chola Navy The Chola Navy ( Tamil : சோழர் கடற்படை ; Cōḻar kadatpadai ) comprised the naval forces of the Chola Empire along with several other naval - arms of the country . The Chola navy played a vital role in the expansion of the Chola Empire , including the conquest of the Ceylon islands and naval raids on Sri Vijaya ( present - day Indonesia ) . The navy grew both in size and status during the Medieval Cholas reign . The Chola Admirals commanded much respect and prestige in the society . The navy commanders also acted as diplomats in some instances . From 900 to 1100 , the navy had grown from a small backwater entity to that of a potent power projection and diplomatic symbol in all of Asia , but was gradually reduced in significance when the Cholas fought land battles for subjugating the Chalukyas of Andhra - Kannada area in South India . History . Historians divide the Chola Reign into three distinct phases . The first era is the period of Early Cholas . The second phase is of Vijalaya Cholas and the final phase in the empire was the Chalukya Chola period . The Cholas were at the height of their power from the later half of the 9th century through to the early 13th century . Under Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I , the dynasty became a military , economic and cultural power in Asia . During the period 1010 – 1200 , the Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh . Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India , annexed parts of Sri Lanka and occupied the islands of the Maldives . Rajendra Chola sent a victorious expedition to North India that touched the river Ganges and defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra , Mahipala . He also successfully raided kingdoms of Maritime Southeast Asia . Early activity . The earliest Chola kings of whom there is tangible evidence are mentioned in the Sangam literature . Scholars now generally agree that this literature belongs to the first few centuries of the common era . The Sangam literature is full of names of the kings and the princes , and of the poets who extolled them . Despite literature that depicts the life and work of these people , these cannot be worked into connected history . Ancient navy . The earliest record of Chola naval activity by an external source dates to around the 1st century , the Roman report of Kaveripoompattinam ( presently known as Poombuhar ) as " Haverpoum " and a description of how the Trade vessels were escorted by the King ' s fleet to the estuary as it was a natural harbor in the mouth of the river Kaveri . Little archeological evidence exists of the maritime activities of this era , except some excavated wooden plaques depicting naval engagements in the vicinity of the old city ( " See Poompuhar for more details " ) . However , much insight into the naval activities of the Cholas has been gathered from Periplus of the Erythrean Sea . In this work , the unknown merchant describes the activity of escort - ships assigned to the merchant vessels with valuable cargo . These early naval ships had some sort of a rudimentary flame - thrower and or a catapult type weapon . Colandia , the great ships which was used by Early Cholas . By this they sailed to pacific islands from Kaveripatnam ( as center ) . At that time , Pattinathu Pillai is the chief of the Chola ' s Navy . Medieval navy . Interregnum . Little is known about the transition period of around three centuries from the end of the Sangam age ( c . 300 ) up to the time when the Pandyas and Pallava s dominated the Tamil country ( c . 600 ) . An obscure dynasty , the Kalabhras , invaded the Tamil country , displaced the existing kingdoms and ruled for around three centuries . They were displaced by the Pallavas and the Pandyas in the 6th century . This period from the 3rd century until 7th century is a blind spot in the maritime tradition of the Cholas . Little is known of the fate of the Cholas during the succeeding three centuries until the accession of Vijayalaya in the second quarter of the 9th century . In the Interregnum , the Cholas were probably reduced to Vassals of Pallava s , though at times they switched sides and allied with Pandyas and tried to dispose their overlords . But , there is no concrete line of kings or court recordings . However , even during this time the Cholas had maintained a small but potent Naval force based inland in the Kaveri river . During this time they dominated the inland trade in the Kaveri basin and Musuri is their major inland port . Dry - docks built during this period exist to this day . Imperial navy with blue - water capabilities . This phase of the history is the most well documented one , partly due the survival of the edicts and inscriptions from the time along with reliable foreign narratives . This has enabled historians to interpolate various accounts and come up with a clear account of Chola Naval activities of the time . The Imperial Chola navy took its shape in the aftermath of the resurgence of Chola power , with the rise of Vijalaya dynasty . During the Pallavas rule , the Cholas took control of not only the territories , but the cultural and socio - economic mantle . Thus , the Medieval Cholas inherited the will to dominate trade and control seas from the Pallavas . The evolution of combat ships and naval - architecture elsewhere played an important part in the development of the Pallava Navy . There were serious efforts in the period of the Pallava king Simavishnu to control the piracy in South East Asia and to establish a Tamil friendly regime in the Malay peninsula . However , this effort was accomplished only three centuries later by the new Naval power of the Cholas . The three decades of conflict with the Sinhala King Mahinda V came to a swift end , after Raja Raja Chola I ' s ( 985 - 1014 ) ascent to the throne and his decisive use of the naval flotilla to subdue the Sinhalese . This period also marked the departure in thinking from the age - old traditions . Rajaraja commissioned various foreigners ( Prominently , the Arabs and Chinese ) in the naval building program . These effort were continued and the benefits were reaped by his successor , Rajendra Chola I . Rajendra led a successful expedition against the Sri Vijaya kingdom ( present day Indonesia ) and subdued Sailendra . Though there were friendly exchanges between the Sri Vijaya empire and the Chola Empire in preceding times ( including the construction of chudamani Pagoda in Nagapattinam ) , the raid seems to have been motivated by the commercial interests rather than any political motives . Trade , commerce and diplomacy . The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity , extending their influence overseas to China and Southeast Asia . A fragmentary Tamil inscription found in Sumatra cites the name of a merchant guild " Nanadesa Tisaiyayirattu Ainnutruvar " ( literally , " the five hundred from the four countries and the thousand directions " ) , a famous merchant guild in the Chola country . The inscription is dated 1088 , indicating that there was an active overseas trade during the Chola period . Towards the end of the 9th century , southern India had developed extensive maritime and commercial activity , especially with the Chinese and Arabs . The Cholas , being in possession of parts of both the west and the east coasts of peninsular India , were at the forefront of these ventures . The Tang dynasty of China , the Srivijaya empire in the Malayan archipelago under the Sailendras , and the Abbasid Kalifat at Baghdad were the main trading partners . The trade with the Chinese was a very lucrative enterprise , and Trade guild s needed the king ' s approval and the license from the customs force / department to embark on overseas voyages for trade . The normal trade voyage of those day involved three legs of journey , starting with the Indian goods ( mainly spices , cotton and gems ) being shipped to China and in the return leg the Chinese goods ( silk , incense , iron ) were brought back to Chola ports . After some materials were utilized for local consumption , the remaining cargo along with Indian cargo was shipped to the Arabs . Traditionally , this involved transfer of material / cargo to many ships before the ultimate destination was reached . Combating Piracy in Southeast Asia . The Strategic position of Sri Vijaya and Khamboj ( modern day Cambodia ) as a midpoint in the trade route between Chinese and Arabian ports was crucial . Up to 5th century , the Arabs traded with Chinese directly using Sri Vijaya as a port of call and replenishment hub . Realizing their potential , the Sri Vijaya empire began to encourage the sea piracy surrounding the area . The benefits were twofold , the loot from piracy was a good bounty and it ensured their sovereignty and cooperation from all the trading parties . Piracy also grew stronger due to a conflict of succession in Sri Vijaya , when two princes fought for the throne and in turn , relied on the loot from the sea - piracy for their civil war . The pirate menace grew to unprecedented levels . Sea trade with China was virtually impossible without the loss of 1 / 3 of the convoy for every voyage . Even escorted convoys came under attacks , which was a new factor . Repeated diplomatic missions urged the Sri Vijaya empire to curb the piracy , with little effect . With the rise in piracy , and in the absence of Chinese commodity , the Arabs , on whom the Cholas were dependent of horses for their cavalry corps , began to demand high prices for their trade . This led to a slew of reduction in the Chola army . The Chinese were equally infuriated by the piracy menace , as they too were losing revenue . The culmination of three century ' s combined naval traditions of Pallavas and Cholas led to the most known accomplishment of the Chola Navy ( or any Indian power for that matter ) . , Namely the 1st expedition of the Chola navy into the Malay peninsula . In one particular note , the Cholas went as far as to conquer the Kamboja and gave it to the Sri Vijaya kings ( as per their request ) to ensure cooperation in the curbing piracy . Cooperation with the Chinese . Chinese Song Dynasty reports record that an embassy from " Chulian " ( Chola ) reached the Chinese court in the year 1077 , and that the king of the Chulien at the time was called " Ti - hua - kia - lo " . It is possible that these syllables denote " Deva Kulo [ tunga ] " ( Kulothunga Chola I ) . This embassy was a trading venture and was highly profitable to the visitors , who returned with ' 81 , 800 strings of copper coins in exchange for articles of tributes , including glass articles , and spices ' . The close diplomatics tie between the Song dynasty of China and the Medieval Cholas facilitated many technological innovations to travel both ways . The more interesting ones to have reached Chinese shores are : Organization and administration . The Ancient Chola navy was based on trade vessel designs with little more than boarding implements , though this changed throughout the history . The later day navy was a specialized force with specially built ships for each type of combat . The Imperial Navy of the Medieval Cholas was composed of a multitude of forces in its command . In addition to the regular navy ( Kappal - Padai ) , there were many auxiliary forces that could be used in naval combat . The Chola Navy was an autonomous service unlike many of its contemporaries . The Army depended on the Naval - fleets for transportation and logistics . The navy also had a core of marines . Even saboteur s , who were trained pearl - fishermen were used , to dive and disable enemy vessels by destroying or damaging the rudder . The Chola Navy could undertake any of the following combat and non - combat missions , This multi - dimensional force enabled the Cholas to achieve the Military , Political and cultural hegemony over their vast dominion . Administration . The king / emperor was the supreme commander of all the military forces including the navy . The navy is organized mostly on role based squadrons & divisions , containing various types of ships assigned for a specific role and home - ported in an associated base / port . This procedure became necessary , especially after the conquest of Ceylon . Normally , a Ganam ( Fleet - Squadron ) would ( the largest individual unit ) be commanded by a Ganathipathy ( not to be confused with the elephant headed god Ganapathy ) . There were numerous sub - units of operational reasons and organizational reasons or otherwise . Some are presented below , Notes . ‡ 1 . Kanni May mean any of the following in Tamil , the application on the meaning is in context of the usage . Virgin / Unmarried Girl , First timer , the Eastern corner / direction . A trap is also called as ' kanni ' 2 . Thalam being both the name of a tactical formation of the army and navy . Thalapathy meaning the lord of a " Thalam " , roughly a division , and the rank is comparable to a modern - day colonel . Rank structure . The Chola navy used a hybrid rank structure . There were dedicated naval ranks as well as army - derived ranks . The Chola Navy used both naval ranks and army - style ranks . While some of the modern - day convention of ranks did apply , for example , the army captain is equal to a lieutenant in the navy and a navy captain is equal to a colonel in the army ; others were totally different . So a small comparison is provided for comparison . Other naval arms . The auxiliary forces of the Chola Navy In addition to the standing navy of the state , there were other services which had a naval arm of its own . Notable among them are the customs department , militia and the state monopoly of pearl fisheries . In addition to the state services , a small but formidable forces were maintained by various trade - guilds , these guilds are highly regulated and acted as mercenaries and reinforcements in times of need . Customs and excise . The Customs force , called Sungu ( SUNGA ILLAKA ) was highly organized and unlike anything in the ancient world . It was under the command of a Director - general like position called Thalai - Thirvai . Thalai - Head , Thirvai - duty ( customs ) . It was highly evolved and had various departments Some are Coast guard . In the later years of the 1100 , the navy was constantly battling in many fronts to protect Chola commercial , religious and political interests . So the home ports were literally , undefended . This led to a change in the of outlook Chola naval strategy , the sturdier and larger vessels were repeatedly called to reinforce the high - sea flotilla , leading to the development of a specialized auxiliary force of fast and heavily armed light ships in large numbers . The erstwhile Karaipirivu was the natural choice for this expansion and in time they became an autonomous force vested with the duties of protecting the Chola territorial waters , home ports , patrol of newly captured ports and coastal cities . Privateers . The state ' s dependence on overseas trade for much valued foreign exchange created the powerful Trade - guilds , some of which grew more powerful than the regional governors . And in the increasingly competitive field of international trade , the state faced with difficulties to reinforce and or rescue stranded Merchant ships in high seas , in a timely manner . This led to the establishment of privateer navies . Like its European counterparts , they had no National markings and employed multi - national crews . But , they were employed by the Trade - guilds rather than the Empire , giving the Traders an edge in the seas . Normally , they performed path - finding , escort and protection duties . but , in more than a few occasions , these forces had been summoned to serve the Empire ' s interests . Notable Trade guilds which employed a privateer navy were , Vessels and weapons . Even before the accounts of the 1st century BCE , there were written accounts of shipbuilding and war - craft at sea . Professor R . C . Majumdar says that there existed a comprehensive book of naval - architecture in India dating back to 2nd century BCE , if not earlier . During the reign of Raja Raja and his son , there were a complex classification of class of vessels and its utility . Some of the survived classes ' name and utility are below . Though all ships of the time employed a small Marine force ( for boarding enemy vessels ) , this class of ship seems to have had a separate cabins and training area for them . This ship also is said to be able to engage in asymmetrical warfare . Apart from class definitions , there are names of Royal Yachts and their architecture . Some of which are , In addition to these , we find many names of Ship classes in Purananuru and its application in both inland waters and open oceans . Some of them are , Campaigns . In the tenure spanning the 700 years of its " documented " existence , the Chola Navy was involved in confrontations for probably 500 years . There were frequent skirmishes and many pitched battles . Not to mention long campaigns and expeditions . The 5th centuries of conflict between the Pandyas and Cholas for the control of the peninsula gave rise to many legend s and folktales . Not to mention the heroes in both sides . The notable campaigns are below Recruitment and service . The chola emperors gave a free hand to the admirals in recruiting and training of sailors , engineers , oarsmen and marines . There were no complicated tests and evaluation process . Any citizen or even non citizen could sign up for the naval service . But , one did not end up in the work of his choice . Preference were given to ex - servicemen , their sons and noblemen . But , this attitude changed in later days . And many class of soldiers / sailors distinguished themselves , irrespective of rank and class . Ports and fleets . The most ancient of ports used by Cholas was Poompuhar . Later on , they used many more ports and even built some new ones . Some of the famous ports are : In addition to these sea ports there were many inland ports and dry dock connected by Rivers Kaveri and Thamarabarani which served commercial fleets and in times of war , to facilitate mass production , ships were built inland and ferried through the rivers to the Ocean . The fleets were normally named after the dead monarchs and god ' s name . The most distinguished ones were granted Royal prefixes like Theiva - sovereign ' s name - fleet name . During the reign of Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I , there were 5 fleets , each catering to particular needs . The main fleet was home ported in Nagapatinam . The other fleets were home ported in Kadalur and a small fleet was also based in Kanchipuram . In addition to the main fleets of war ships , there were two fleets of logistics and transport ships to serve the needs of the army ; involved in a bloody war in Ceylon and later in southeast Asia . In the later years these numbers increased drastically and a several fleets were created anew . During the late 11th century , there were a total of nine battle fleets , based in various dominians across the vast expanses of the Chola empire ranging from the present day Aceh , Ankorwat to the southern reaches of Ceylon / Sri Lanka . Political , cultural and economic impact . The Grand vision and imperial energy of the Father and son duo Raja Raja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I is undoubtedly the underlying reason for expansion and prosperity . But , this was accomplished by the tireless efforts and pains of the navy . In essence , Raja Raja was the first person in the sub - continent to realize the power projection capabilities of a powerful navy . He and his successors initiated a massive naval buildup and continued supporting it , and they used it more than just wars . The Chola navy was a potent Diplomatic symbol , It was the carrier of Chola might and prestige . It spread the Dravidian culture , the literary and architectural grandeur . For the sake of comparison , it was just the equivalent of the " Gunboat diplomacy " of the modern day Great power s and super power s . There is evidence to show that the king of Kambujadesa ( modern Cambodia ) sent an ornamental chariot to the Chola Emperor , probably to appease him so that his strategic attention does not extend further than the Malay peninsula . Popular culture . From the Sangam age poems to commemorate the victory of the sovereign of the day to the immortalized Kalinga Campaign of the Kulothunga Chola I in the Kalingattuparani . " Parani " is a special type of literary work , which ; according to the traditions and rules of linguistics of Tamizh can only be composed on a king / general whose forces have killed a thousand elephants in combat . In modern times , more than a few Romance has been inspired by the Chola Navy , and mostly in Tamil Language and literature . Timeline of events . The major events which had direct impact in the development of the Chola Naval capability are listed here , which is in no case comprehensive . But , some of the events had deep impact nevertheless . Archeological evidence : The dated excavations , Literary references and recordings