Two Biographies of Rajaraja Chola

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Two Books on Rajaraja Chola
Rajaraja Chola	Rajaraja Chola King of Kings

Raghavan Srinivasan is a graduate in Chemical Engineering from Madras University and a post-graduate in MBA from McMaster University, Canada. After working as a systems analyst for a few years, he was a free lance IT professional before deciding to become an entrepreneur in the social development sector. At present he is a professional consultant in this area. He lives in New Delhi with his wife and son. He has written and edited a number of documents for governments and the UN system. He has also been editing a magazine called ghadar jari hai for several years now (http://ghadar.org.in/gjh_html/?nocahce). He has written several cover stories, articles and travelogues for print and online newspapers.

Raghavan is passionately interested in Indian literature, philosophy and history. He believes that the past of our sub-continent has many clues to help us find our way in these confusing times.

His first historical fiction, 'Yugantar: The Dream of Bharatavarsha Takes Shape 2300 Years Ago' has been published by Lead start.

Many novels and books have been written on Rajaraja, or Arulmozhivarman, as he was called before his ascension to the Chola throne. Films and TV serials have been made on a modest scale. In the 1950s, novelist Kalki Krishnamurthy published Ponniyin Selvan as a weekly series in the Tamil magazine Kalki. Even today, the novel has a cult following and a massive fan base among readers across several generations. A popular film on Rajaraja Cholan with thespian actor Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role was released in 1973 and received critical acclaim. In 2010, a spectacular celebration was organised to celebrate the 1000th year of the Brihadeeswara temple, built by Rajaraja in Thanjavur. A film is also reportedly under making by director Mani Ratnam based on Kalki's magnum opus. Several history books, particularly Nilakanta Sastri's The Colas, a landmark volume on the Chola dynasty, and Champakalakshmi's Trade, Ideology and Urbanisation provide a good narrative on the reign of the emperor, as a part of a larger setting. Yet they are not enough, considering the colossal changes that took place in Thamizhagam during the 25 years of his reign from 985 CE and beyond. Till today, there is no publication in English, to my knowledge, that comprehensively covers the regime of this illustrious empire builder, almost subscribing to the anguish of the people of the South that their history has been given second place.

In 2010, the Tamil Nadu government organised a well-advertised event in Thanjavur to celebrate the 1000th year of the Brihadeeswara temple, which has survived as a living testimony, notwithstanding its inanimate stone and granite structure, of the grandeur of the Chola Empire. The event and the glittering display of the relics of the empire only whetted one's appetite for a ringside view of Rajaraja's exploits and rule and the massive economic, cultural, political, administrative and spiritual transformations that took place during his eventful regime.

My own interest in Rajaraja Cholan dates back to the sixties when my sister and I used to wait anxiously for the paper boy to deliver the weekly Kalki magazine every Sunday morning. The clamour to have a first look a the week's episode often led to a fist fight!

It was much later in life, when I started editing the magazine called ‘ghadar jari hai’ which focused on bringing to the readers a non-Eurocentric view of Indian history, that I got a chance to study and write a few critical articles on the culture, administration and value systems of the Chola Empire.

I guess my bedtime reading aloud of Ponniyin Selvan and other historical novels to my son, transmitted to him large doses of the passion I had for Indian history. His graduation days in History (Honours) - it's a mystery to me how the word 'Honours adds solemnity to a degree course - gave me an opportunity to pour through history books recommended in his syllabus.

A massive amount of information is undoubtedly available on Rajaraja Chola from stone inscriptions, copper plates, coins, manuscripts and architectural findings, though historians have noted the disappearance of several literary works belonging to his period with gloom. But the challenge was to present the story of Rajaraja in an interesting way, particularly to the millennials, without in any way undermining the authenticity and veracity of the narrative. This is easier said than done. Even well-established historians differ violently, in the academic sense, on their interpretation of historical facts surrounding his imperial rule. Rajaraja's regime has been variously categorised as 'tyrannical' at one end to nothing less than a 'golden age' at the other and more often as a chronicle of 'plunder and piety'.

In a way, I envied Kalki, the author. He was an incomparable storyteller who could weave a web of conspiracies and romance around Rajaraja to win an exalted place for the emperor in the hearts of his readers. As a writer of fiction, he could idealise the past, and write his weekly episodes in absorbing style. He could steer away from the social and political upheavals during Rajaraja's regime and write long and captivating pages around conversations of lovers in the palace gardens and the escapades of spies and conspirators. Many of those who attended the 2010 celebrations at Thanjavur, and most importantly the organisers, would have patently harboured this romantic picture of the emperor. We often fall into the trap of hero worship as easily as a honeybee falls into sundew. Added to this, governments often love to talk about the grandeur of the past to lull people into forgetting their existential problems.

At the other extreme, there are many who dismiss history as irrelevant in today's changing world. For them, the society that existed 1000 years back and events connected to it are feudal, backward and anachronistic. But a civilisation which forgets its history has nothing to build on for its future. Negating one's heritage opens the door to subjugation by some other superior culture' of an 'advanced' civilisation. This is what happened during the colonial conquests when a section of the freedom movement failed to draw inspiration from our rich heritage and instead succumbed to western thought.

One way to write history is to acknowledge that the chariot of time is being drawn by men larger than life, before whom ordinary mortals scatter away in fear and the world's thoroughfares bend themselves to the compulsion of its wheels. The rise of an empire and the exploits of a king are portrayed as the roaring of the ocean as it sweeps away everything in its path inexorably, as an orchestra master whose wave of the wand ensures perfect harmony.

The other way to present history is to argue that it is the broad thoroughfares of the world, which in the first place, let the chariot of time be driven by chosen men and women. It is to acknowledge that the rise and fall of kingdoms are not the result of the strengths and weaknesses of kings and queens alone but an inevitable outcome of the greater rhythm of world events. It is to accept that it is the laughter and tears, the sleeping and eating, and the fortunes and hardships of the productive forces of society which determine the rise and fall of an empire.

It is from the second outlook I have approached the history of Rajaraja Cholan, as one shaped by the expansion of agriculture, the rise of centres of production, the nagarams, and the development of a web of internal and external trade networks. The development of art, architecture. sculpture, poetry and literature to their sublime heights is not attributed to the emperor's genius alone. Having made this point, one has to give credit to Rajaraja for uniting the entire South under his tiger sigil, for erecting the dakshina meru, the centre of the cosmos, in the form of the Thanjavur temple, at his capital and developing the brilliant iconography of Saivism. without which the Chola imperial empire could not have survived for more than four centuries.

I have tried to present the chapters in this book in a way that is easy on the reader. Each chapter represents a particular aspect of the reign of Rajaraja, not necessarily presented in a chronological order. An effort has been made to address points of divergence, controversies and allegations about the period as objectively as possible.

There are huge expectations among the youth today to learn more about our rich heritage from authentic sources. I hope this book encourages them on their illuminating journey.

**Contents and Sample Pages**

Rajaraja Chola, King of Kings, Incomparable Chola, Great Saviour, Jewel of the Solar Dynasty, Lion Among Kings, was one of the greatest rulers of medieval India. During his reign, the Chola empire expanded through virtually all of the southern reaches of the peninsula and beyond, from the Krishna- Godavari delta in northern Andhra Pradesh to large parts of northern Sri Lanka. Born Arulmozhi Varman in 947 CE, he trained under his father and uncle for over a quarter of a century and then ruled for twenty-nine years. King of Kings is a fitting title for this multifaceted man who was brilliant, ambitious, ruthless, and a visionary. He fortified the foundations of what was till then a ragtag kingdom, put into place a meticulously organized system of administration, and led the kingdom to reign supreme in military might, as an economic powerhouse, and in art, architecture, literature, music, and dance.

In this book, Kamini Dandapani the man behind the larger-than-life image of Rajaraja and the milieu in which he reigned. The origins of the Chola empire lie in the Sangam era around 2,000 years ago, when the first rulers of the family, men like Karikala and Kochengannan, ruled over small tracts of land around the Kaveri delta. By the middle of the ninth century, the 'Imperial Cholas' (as) historians named them) began to consolidate power at the expense of rivals like the Pallavas, Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Cheras, Gangas, Pandyas, and other smaller kingdoms. Rajaraja became king in 985 CE and, during his reign, the Chola empire reached its zenith. All his major achievements are described in detail- victories on the battlefield, the expansion of territory, the building of the monumental Brihadeeshwara Temple, the gargantuan land survey, and much else besides. The book goes into every aspect of Chola society-the place of women, the flowering of culture, including the making of exquisite Chola bronzes, the spread of religion, and the lives of ordinary people. After the death of Rajaraja in 1014, his son Rajendra expanded the empire; others that followed had mixed fortunes and, a couple of centuries later, the dynasty succumbed to their greatest rivals, the Pandyas.

However, in their heyday, and especially under their greatest king, few empires or emperors could compare with the Cholas and Rajaraja. This scrupulously researched and brilliantly told biography brings to vivid and compelling life one of India's greatest empires and rulers.

KAMINI DANDAPANI was born and raised in (once) sleepy Madras. She now lives in the city that never sleeps, New York. She has had extensive training in Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, and Western Classical music (Pianoforte). A longer than desired stint in the corporate world that included Chase Manhattan Bank and McKinsey & Co. was followed by a complete change in direction back to her true loves, top among which are music and writing.

A thousand and some years ago, there arose in southern India an empire that was among the most remarkable the world has seen. It grew atop the tottering scaffolding and shifting sands of fading dynasties and fierce rivalries, ruthless kings and double- crossing aspirants, myth-burnished, propelled forward by the slow burn of faith and the blazing fires of boundless ambition. It defied a myriad obstacles that came its way, and yet, through all the struggles and violence, it also cultivated and refined an aesthetic sensibility of breathtaking beauty.

This was the Chola empire. And in a dynasty that did not lack for larger-than-life characters, there was one in particular who stood head and shoulders above by the standards of any day.

He was Rajaraja Chola. King Squared, King of Kings, a fitting name for this multifaceted man who built one of the world's most glorious empires, for whom a single 'raja' would be pitifully inadequate, wholly unequal to the magnitude of what he accomplished. He made his mark on the vast and messy canvas of the convoluted sociopolitical dynamics of his time, no mean feat in an era teeming with ambitious and brutal rulers. He fortified the foundations of what was till then a ragtag kingdom, put into place a meticulously organized system of administration, and led the empire into a period of magnificent splendour and grandeur that reigned supreme in military might, as an economic powerhouse, and in art, architecture, literature, music, dance, and religion.

And yet there is very little accurate information about this king for the lay reader of history. Most books cede a paragraph to him and his reign; more generous ones dedicate a couple of pages. They sing his praises, but don't delve into any depth to get the measure of the man, to explore the milieu, the confluences of time, place, people, and psyche that made Rajaraja what he was, what he made of his world. There are movies on him in which imagination has run riot; there are websites that shine a spotlight on just one aspect of what must have surely been a complex, fascinating personality.

Who was this man, this King of Jewels, Incomparable Chola, Great Saviour, Jewel of the Solar Dynasty, Lion Among Kings?

He was born Arulmozhi Varman in 947, the third child of Sundara Chola and Vanavanmadevi. His older brother, Aditya Karikalan, the crown prince, was killed in suspicious circumstances, and so the younger son ended up being crowned emperor in the year 985. He was close to his older sister, Kundavai, and had a great deal of respect for his great-aunt Sembiyan Madevi. This alone must have set him apart from the typical male of his time. Rajaraja was clearly a remarkable man with an extraordinary outlook and vision, a Jupiter in a universe of small planets. Narcissistic, ambitious, power-hungry, ruthless, far-sighted, shrewd, compassionate, generous-he makes for a fascinating character study.

When Rajaraja became king in 985, he inherited a kingdom that was reeling from a shattering military defeat at the hands of a foe that rivalled the Cholas in drive and ruthlessness-the Rashtrakutas. This defeat, in 949, suffered by Rajaraja's great- grandfather Parantaka, led to a thirty-year period of Chola instability, a tangled mess of brief reigns and internal strife, with foes rearing their heads in every direction.

**Contents and Sample Pages**