Rajaraja I

A ruler of the Chola dynasty at its height in southern India, he launched overseas expeditions and built the Brihadishvara Temple.

Life

Unifying the Tamils

The Chola dynasty that Rajaraja I inherited was already an important regional power in southern India. After taking the throne he greatly expanded its military strength, defeating the neighboring Chera and Pandya kingdoms and extending Chola power over the entire Tamil region; he pushed north deep into the Deccan Plateau and crossed the sea to the south to attack northern Sri Lanka.

Navy and Temples

He also built a powerful navy and launched an expedition to the Maldives, laying the groundwork for the maritime expansion under his son Rajendra I, who later campaigned as far as Srivijaya in Southeast Asia; he was one of the rare rulers in South Asian history to value sea power. In 1010 he completed the magnificent Brihadishvara Temple in his capital, Thanjavur. Its main tower, more than 60 meters high, was one of the tallest structures in South Asia at the time, and the temple's inscriptions record in detail land surveys, taxation and temple administration, making them an important source for the study of the Chola administrative system.

Zenith and Controversy

Rajaraja I's reign is seen as the start of the Chola dynasty's zenith, and the Brihadishvara Temple remains an important World Heritage Site in India today. His conquest and rule of Sri Lanka are judged very differently in Tamil and Sinhalese historical narratives; Sinhalese sources mostly emphasize the destruction his invasion caused, and this divergence in the sources' perspectives still shapes public narratives of this history today.

Legacy

Rajaraja I inaugurated the zenith of the Chola dynasty; the land and naval forces and the administrative system he built made the Cholas a power in the Indian Ocean under his son Rajendra I. The Brihadishvara Temple, built under his direction, is a masterpiece of South Indian Dravidian architecture. In Sri Lanka, however, his conquests are often seen as a foreign invasion, and his capture of Anuradhapura is judged negatively in Sinhalese sources.

Major works & achievements

• Defeats the Cheras and Pandyas, unifying the Tamil region
• Conquered northern Sri Lanka
• Expedition to the Maldives
• 1010: Completed the Brihadishvara Temple
• Carried out land surveys and tax registers

Did you know? To mark the thousandth anniversary of the temple's completion, India held a millennium celebration in Thanjavur in 2010.

Key dates

• 947Born into the Chola Royal family
• 985Became Chola king
• 993Conquered northern Sri Lanka
• 1000Expeditions against the states of the Deccan Plateau
• 1007Sent a fleet on an Expedition to the Maldives
• 1010Completed the Brihadishvara Temple
• 1014Dies and passes the throne to Rajendra I