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| Parantaka I | |
|---|---|
| Parakesari Varman, Maduraium Eelamum Konda Parakesarivarman, Veera Cholan, Irumudi Cholan | |
 Chola Empire under Parantaka Chola I in 915 CE | |
| Chola Emperor | |
| Reign | 907 CE - 955 CE |
| Predecessor | Aditya I |
| Successor | Gandaraditya |
| Born | Veera Narayanan 873 CE Tiruvottiyur,Chola Empire (Modern dayChennaiTamil Nadu,India) |
| Died | 955 CE (aged 82) Tiruvottiyur,Chola Empire (Modern dayChennaiTamil Nadu,India) |
| Consorts | 11 Total[1] Including: Ko "Kizhan Adigal" Iravi Nili Solamadeviyar |
| Issue | Rajaditya Gandaraditya Uttamasili Arinjaya Viramadevi Anupama. |
| Dynasty | Chola |
| Father | Aditya I |
| Mother | Tribhuvanamadeviyar |
| Religion | Hinduism |
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| Interregnum (c. 200 – c. 848 CE) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Related dynasties
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Parantaka Chola I (Tamil: பராந்தக சோழன் I; 873 CE–955 CE) was aChola emperor who ruled for forty-eight years, annexingPandya by defeatingRajasimhan II and in theDeccan won the Battle of Vallala againstRashtrakutas which happened before 916 CE.[2][3] The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success and prosperity.
Parantaka I continued the expansion started by his father, and invaded thePandya kingdom in 915. He captured the Pandyan capitalMadurai and assumed the title Madurain-konda (Capturer of Madurai). The Pandyan rulerMaravarman Rajasinha II sought the help ofKassapa V ofAnuradhapura who sent an army to his aid. Parantaka I defeated the combined army at the battle ofVellore. The Pandya king fled into exile in Sri Lanka and Parantaka I completed his conquest of the entire Pandya country.
Parantaka I spent many years in the newly conquered country reducing it to subjugation, and when he felt he had at last achieved his aim, he wanted to celebrate his victory by a coronation inMadurai in which he was to invest himself with the insignia ofPandyan monarchy. However he was failed in this attempt by the Pandyan king, who had carried them away and left them in the safe custody of the Lankan king. Towards the end of his reign, Parantaka I tried to capture them by invading Lanka.Mahavamsa records that the Lankan king Udaya IV took the Pandya crown and the jewels and hid himself in theRohana hills. Parantaka I's armies had captured the Anuradhapura kingdom and pillaged the Country, returned with many booties.
After his exploits in the Pandya country and in Lanka, he took the title ofMaduraiyum Eelamum Konda Parakesarivarman – Parakesarivarman who conquered Madurai and Sri Lanka.
Aditya I had two sons namely Parantaka I and Kannara Deva. The eldest son was Parantaka, born to a Chera wife; the youngest son was Kannara Devan, born to Rashtrakuta wife. After the death of Aditya I, Rashtrakuta kingKrishna II tried to exert his influence in the Chola country by placing his grandson Kannara Deva on the throne. But in 907 CE, Parantaka became the king. Disappointed by this,Krishna II invaded the Chola country. On Rashtrakuta side, princeIndra III lead the battle, while the Chola side was led by King Parantaka and PrinceRajaditya. During 911 CE in the battle of Vallala,[2] a large number of Rashtrakuta soldiers died and their army began to weaken. Krishna II withdrew and his forces retreated. The Cholas advanced further and attacked the Rashtrakutas and chased away from their territory. Eventually the Cholas defeated the Rashtrakutas. Parantaka Chola's early series of victories would also includes this Rashtrakuta War.
At the height of his success, Parantaka's dominions comprised almost the whole of the Tamil country right up toNellore in Andhra Pradesh. It is clear from other Chola grants that Parantaka I was a great militarist who had made extensive conquests. He may have had it recorded, but those records are lost to us. He is known to have defeated the kings of Deccan kingdoms by 912 CE and completed at least temporarily the conquests started by his father Aditya. Later in 949 CE, Rashtrakuta kingKrishna III waged war against Cholas, so Parantaka sent an army under his sonRajaditya but the Cholas were defeated and crown prince Rajaditya was killed in the battlefield while sitting on elephant.
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Although Parantaka I was engaged for the greater part of his long reign in warlike operations, yet he was not unmindful of the victories of peace. The internal administration of his country was a matter in which he took a keen interest. He laid out the rules for the conduct of the village assemblies in an inscription. The village institutions of South India, of course, date from a much earlier period than that of Parantaka I, but he introduced many salutary reforms for the proper administration of local self-Government.
Thecopper-plate inscriptions detail Parantaka I's promotion of agricultural prosperity by the digging of numerous canals all over the country.
He also utilised the spoils of war to donate to numerous temple charities. He is reported to have covered theChidambaramSiva Temple with golden roof. "Thillaiyambalathhukku pon koorai veiyntha thevan" He was a devout Saiva (follower of Siva) in religion.
From his inscriptions we can gather a few details about Parantaka I's personal life. He had many wives, of whom no fewer than eleven appear in the inscriptions. He was religious but secular and encouraged various faiths. We find various members of his family building temples and regularly making donations to various shrines across the kingdom. Kotanta Rama, incidental with Rajaditya, was the eldest son of Parantaka I. There is an inscription of him from Tiruvorriyur making a donation for some lamps during the 30th year of his father.[4] Besides him he had several other sons;Arikulakesari,Gandaraditya and Uttamasili.
Parankata had theChera Perumals as his close allies and the relationship was further strengthened by two marriages. The king is assumed to have married two distinctChera princesses (the mothers of his two sons,Rajaditya andArinjaya).[5][6]
A member of the retinue ofpillaiyar (prince) Rajadittadeva gave a gift to theVishnu temple at Tirunavalur/Tirumanallur in the 32nd year of Parantaka I.[7] Tirunavalur was also known as "Rajadittapuram" afterRajaditya.[8] It is assumed that a large number of warriors from the aristocratic families of the Chera kingdom were part of the contingent of this Chera-Chola prince.[9] In the 39th year of Parantaka I, his daughter-in-law, Mahadevadigal, a queen of Rajaditya and the daughter of Lataraja donated a lamp to the temple of Rajadityesvara for the merit of her brother.[10] He had at least two daughters: Viramadevi and Anupama. Uttamasili does not appear to have lived long enough to succeed to the Chola throne.
He bore numerous epithets such asViranarayana,Virakirti,Vira-Chola,Vikrama-Chola,Irumadi-Sola (Chola with two crowns alluding to the Chola and the Pandya kingdoms),Devendran (lord of the gods),Chakravartin (the emperor),Panditavatsalan (fond of learned men),Kunjaramallan (the wrestler with elephants) andSurachulamani (the crest jewel of the heroes).
Parantaka I died in 955. His second sonGandaraditya succeeded him.
The following is an inscription of Parantaka I fromTiruvorriyur. It is important as it shows that his dominions included regions beyondThondaimandalam:
..record of the Chola king Maduraikonda Parakesarivarman(Parantaka) dated in his 34th year. Records gift of lamp to the temple of Tiruvorriyur Mahadeva by Maran Parameswaran alias Sembiyan Soliyavarayan of Sirukulattur in Poyyurkurram, a sub-division of Tenkarai-nadu. Refers to a military officer who destroyed Sitpuli and destroyed Nellore.[11]
Here we have his sonArinjaya making a donation. Once again it is fromTiruvorriyur:
On the eleventh slab. Records in the 30th year of Maduraikonda Parakesarivarman(Parantaka) dated in his 30th year, gift of gold for a lamp by Arindigai-perumanar, son of Chola-Perumanadigal (i.e Parantaka), to the god Siva at Adhigrama.[12]
We also have several inscriptions of his sonRajaditya from Tirunavalur. One such inscription is the following from the temple of Rajadityesvara in Tirunavalur. The temple was also calledTiruttondîsvaram:[13]
A record in the 29th year of the Chola king Maduraikonda Parakesarivarman. Records gift of 20 sheep for offerings and of two lamps to the shrines of Rajadityesvara and Agastyesvara by a servant of Rajadityadeva.[14]
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| Preceded by | Chola 907–955 CE | Succeeded by |
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