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Chola Nadu also known asChola Mandalam,is an ancient region spanning on the current state ofTamil Nadu andunion territory ofPuducherry in southernIndia. It encompasses the lower reaches of theKaveri River and its delta, and formed the cultural homeland and political base of theChola Dynasty which ruled large parts of India and Sri Lanka between the 9th and 13th centuries CE.Uraiyur (now part ofTiruchirapalli city) served as the early Chola capital, then medieval Cholas shifted toThanjavur and later cholas kingRajendra Chola I moved the capital toGangaikonda Cholapuram inAriyalur district in the 11th century CE. Chola Nadu is therefore larger than the Tanjore region or the Cauvery delta in the strict sense. Although it essentially corresponds to these two overlapping areas.
The boundaries of the region roughly correlates with those of the British India districts ofTanjore andTrichinopoly, and theétablissement ofKaraikal inFrench India. Historically, the region also encompassed at time presentAriyalur andPerambalur districts (parts of erstwhileSouth Arcot), parts ofPudukkottai district (erstwhilePudukkottai State) and southern reaches ofCuddalore district (taluks ofChidambaram andKattumannarkoil).[1][2]
The Chola Nadu region covers Central Tamil Nadu and East-Central Tamil Nadu. The region is sandwiched between the historical regions ofTondai Nadu in the north, the Madurai region orPandya Nadu in the south andKongu Nadu in the west and roughly extends fromChidambaram in north to the southern frontier of the erstwhilePudukkottai kingdom and fromTiruchirapalli in the west to theBay of Bengal in the east.
According to theGazetteer of the Trichinopoly District, Vol II, 1931, p 67, "the traditional meeting place of the three Tamil kingdoms was the temple of Cellānti Amman on the banks of the Kāvēri, twelve miles west of Kulittalai and three miles below the junction of the Amarāvati and the Kāvēri. The temple was the common place of worship for the kings of the three Tamil dynasties; a bund which runs to the south of the river marks the boundary between the Cōla and the Pāntya territories, and the Karaipōttanār on the opposite bank of the river was the boundary between the Cōla and the Cēra kingdoms".[3]
| List ofChola kings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Early Cholas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interregnum (c. 200 – c. 848) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medieval Cholas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Later Cholas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chola society | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The genealogy of the Chola empire as found in the Tamil literature and in the many inscriptions left by the later Chola kings contains a number of kings recorded for whom there is no verifiable historic evidence. There are as many versions of this lineage as there are sources for them. The main source is the Sangam literature – particularly, religious literature such asPeriapuranam, semi-biographical poems of the later Chola period such as the temple and cave inscription and left by medieval Cholas.
Irrespective of the source, no list of the kings has a high level of historic fact and, while they generally are similar to each other, no two lists are exactly the same. Modern historians[who?] consider these lists not as historically reliable sources but as comprehensive conglomerations of various Hindu deities and Puranic characters attributed to local chieftains and invented ancestry of dynasty attempting to re-establish their legitimacy and supremacy in a land they were trying to conquer.
The history of the region begins with the rise of theEarly Chola kingdom in the 4th century BC. The Early Cholas ruled from the town ofUraiyur near Tiruchirapalli and their kingdom comprised the whole of the present-day Cauvery Delta. Flourishing centres of Roman trade have been excavated atPoompuhar (Nagapattinam) stand testimony to a prosperous civilization.
The Chola Nadu region is renowned as a hub of Tamil culture and civilization. The region has been continuously inhabited since the 1st millennium BC. Arts, crafts and music flourished under the Cholas whose reign is considered to be one of the golden ages in the history of Tamil Nadu. During the hegemony of theVijayanagar Empire and its successors, theThanjavur Nayak and theThanjavur Maratha kingdoms, there were frequent migrations of priests, administrators, soldiers and artists from the far northern sides of theDeccan or beyond, especially from Telugu, Kannada and Marathi speaking areas, who brought in their traditions, art and dance forms. The Chola Nadu region thus experienced a period of intense artistic and cultural development on a multicultural background, also sustained by its exchanges with foreign countries. As a result, the region's influence spread over a wide part of India. Despite its rise and initial success in the northern part of Karnataka, Carnatic music actually flourished in the Cauvery Delta.Kambar (poet) was a renowned medieval Tamil poet and the author of theRamavataram, popularly known asKambaramayanam, the Tamil version ofRamayana.Kambar also authored other literary works in Tamil, such asThirukkai Vazakkam,Erezhupathu,Silaiezhupathu,Kangai Puranam,Sadagopar Anthathi, andSarasvati Anthati hails from the Cauvery Delta region. The three great Carnatic music composers,Tyagaraja,Syama Sastri andMuthuswami Dikshitar who form the GreatTrinity of Carnatic music (orTiruvarur Trinity) hailed from the Chola Nadu region as also the music composersMuthu Thandavar,Arunachala Kavi andMarimutthu Pillai who form theTamil Trinity of Carnatic music (orShiyali Trinity).
Apart from music, dance and drama have also flourished in the Cauvery Delta. TheBhagavathar Melas, a series of dance-dramas, written almost entirely in Telugu, were introduced by migrants who sought refuge in the town ofMelattur following the collapse of the Vijayanagar kingdom at theBattle of Talikota.
Bharatanatyam, a popular dance form by Bharatha muni, flourished in the dance ofsadir which was practised in the temples of Chola Nadu by ritual temple dances ordevadasis. Patronized and financed by dharmakarthas and rich mirasidars,sadir was popular until the early years of the 20th century when a strong voiced campaign resulted in the devadasi practised being outlawed. Sadir has, since, purged itself of its erotic symbolism and movements and gradually evolved into the commoners' dance Bharathanatyam.
The Chola Nadu region had a population of over 10 million with a density of above 400 persons per km2 in 2001. Due to fertile soil and favourable climate, the region has been the most densely populated in the Tamil country since ancient times.
More than 90% of the population speakTamil. There is a significantTelugu speaking minority, who had descended from migrants who had mostly moved in during the Vijayanagar andThanjavur Nayak periods. There are smaller populations speakingSaurashtra,Kannada. There are also a considerable body ofMarathi speaking people who are mostly present in the urban areas ofThanjavur andTiruchirappalli districts, as well as in both of these cities.
The Chola Nadu region has produced a number of noteworthy personalities in the fields of arts, science, film and politics. Long recognized as a hub of Carnatic music, the region is home to most of India's renowned Carnatic musicians. There have also been important individuals in the field of politics. In British times, civil servants and lawyers from Chola Nadu likeSir T. Madhava Rao,Sir A. Seshayya Sastri,Sir Mohammad Usman,Sir A. T. Panneerselvam,Sir T. Muthuswamy Iyer,Sir P. S. Sivaswami Iyer,T. Ananda Rao,S. Satyamurti,V. S. Srinivasa Sastri,V. P. Madhava Rao andR. Raghunatha Rao dominated the bureaucracy. The maternal ancestors ofSir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer hailed fromKumbakonam. Tamil writersU. V. Swaminatha Iyer,Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai,V. V. S. Aiyar andKalki Krishnamurthy,Kalki Sadasivam journalistsKalki Sadasivam,G. A. Natesan andKasturi Ranga Iyengar, Indian independence activistG. Subramania Iyer who founderThe Hindu, politiciansM. R. Sethuratnam Iyer andS. Muthiah Mudaliar and Indian media mogulS. S. Vasan were some prominent individuals from the Chola Nadu region. Yesteryear film actorsSivaji Ganesan,Manorama,M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar,Gemini Ganesan,P. U. Chinnappa andT. R. Rajakumari,Papanasam Sivan Indian scientist and Nobel Prize winnerSir C. V. Raman and mathematicianSrinivasa Ramanujan,Muthulakshmi Reddi,Sujatha,Jayendra Saraswathi,Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,U. Sagayam,Gopinath Chandran,Madhan,N. Gopalaswami,M. S. Swaminathan,Viswanathan Anand,Venkatraman Ramakrishnan were other important people from the region.
Recent time politicians include the former Chief Ministers of Tamil NaduM. Karunanidhi andJayalalithaa whose ancestors are from Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur, Former Finance Minister of Tamil NaduK. Anbazhagan, Former President of IndiaR. Venkataraman,Kaduvetti Guru, PMK, Former Cabinet Minister and Leader of the House R.M.Veerappan and late Veteran Congress leaderG.K. Moopanar,Ko. Si. Mani Former minister for local administration of Tamil Nadu, Former Union MinisterAndimuthu Raja, VCK LeaderThol. Thirumavalavan,V. K. Sasikala Indian businesswoman turned politician,T. T. V. Dhinakaran,La Ganesan,H. Raja,Karunas,S. Ve. Shekher and Union MinistersG.K. Vasan,Mani Shankar Aiyar,Murasoli Maran,T. R. Baalu,S. S. Palanimanickam,Su. Thirunavukkarasar. Film personalities such as directorsK. Balachander,S. Shankar and actorsT. Rajendar,Sivakarthikeyan,Ramesh Aravind,Arvind Swamy,Hema Malini,M. S. Bhaskar,Rajesh andDhivyadharshini are from the Cauvery Delta region.
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