Parantaka Chola I (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: பராந்தக சோழன் I; 873–955) was a

Chola The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

emperor who ruled for forty-eight years, annexing

Pandya The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

by defeating Rajasimhan II and in the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

won the Battle of Vallala against

Rashtrakutas The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta Indian inscriptions, inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing th ...

which happened before 916. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success and prosperity.

Invasion of the Pandya kingdom

Parantaka I continued the expansion started by his father, and invaded the

kingdom in 915. He captured the Pandyan capital

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and assumed the title Madurain-konda (Capturer of Madurai). The Pandyan ruler Maravarman Rajasinha II sought the help of Kassapa V of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

who sent an army to his aid. Parantaka I defeated the combined army at the battle of

Vellore Vellore ( ), also spelled Velur, is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River and surrounded by the Javadi Hills in the northeastern ...

. 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 in

in which he was to invest himself with the insignia of Pandyan 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 the Rohana 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 of ''Maduraiyum Eelamum Konda Parakesarivarman'' – Parakesarivarman who conquered Madurai and Sri Lanka.

War against Rashtrakutas

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 king Krishna 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, prince Indra III lead the battle, while the Chola side was led by King Parantaka and Prince Rajaditya. During 911 CE in the battle of Vallala, 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.

Extent of Parantaka I's influence

At the height of his success, Parantaka's dominions comprised almost the whole of the Tamil country right up to Nellore 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 king Krishna III waged war against Cholas, so Parantaka sent an army under his son Rajaditya but the Cholas were defeated and crown prince Rajaditya was killed in the battlefield while sitting on elephant.

Civic and religious contributions

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. The copper-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 the Chidambaram Siva Temple with golden roof. "''Thillaiyambalathhukku pon koorai veiyntha thevan''" He was a devout Saiva (follower of Siva) in religion.

Personal life

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.''South Indian shrines: illustrated, page 56'' Besides him he had several other sons; Arikulakesari,

Gandaraditya Gandaraditha Chola succeeded his father Parantaka I and became the Chola Empire, Chola king about 955 CE. He was also a Tamil literary poet in the Thiruvisaippa Palandu.''Epigraphy'', by Archaeological Survey of India. Southern Circle, page 1 ...

and Uttamasili. Parankata had the Chera Perumals as his close allies and the relationship was further strengthened by two marriages. The king is assumed to have married two distinct Chera princesses (the mothers of his two sons, Rajaditya and Arinjaya). A member of the retinue of ''pillaiyar (prince) Rajadittadeva'' gave a gift to the

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

temple at Tirunavalur/Tirumanallur in the 32nd year of Parantaka I.''Early Chola temples: Parantaka I to Rajaraja I, A.D. 907–985, page 64'' Tirunavalur was also known as "Rajadittapuram" after Rajaditya.''South Indian Inscriptions: Miscellaneous inscriptions in Tamil (4 pts. in 2), page 198'' 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.Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy: Political and Social Conditions of Kerala Under the Cēra Perumāḷs of Makōtai (c. AD 800 - AD 1124).'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 96-100. 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.''Epigraphia Indica and record of the Archæological Survey of India, Volume 7, page 167'' 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 as ''Viranarayana'', ''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) and ''Surachulamani'' (the crest jewel of the heroes). Parantaka I died in 955. His second son

succeeded him.

Inscriptions

The following is an inscription of Parantaka I from Tiruvorriyur. It is important as it shows that his dominions included regions beyond

Thondaimandalam Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam, also known as Toṇḍai Nāḍu, is a historical region located in the northernmost part of Tamil Nadu and southernmost part of Andhra Pradesh. Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam was divided into 24 ''kottam''s — smaller district ...

: Here we have his son Arinjaya making a donation. Once again it is from Tiruvorriyur: We also have several inscriptions of his son Rajaditya from Tirunavalur. One such inscription is the following from the temple of Rajadityesvara in Tirunavalur. The temple was also called ''Tiruttondîsvaram'':''A topographical list of inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, Volume 2, page 393''

Chola-Chera Perumal relations (c. 9th-10th centuries CE)

Notes

References

* Venkata Ramanappa, M. N. (1987). ''Outlines of South Indian History''. (Rev. edn.) New Delhi: Vikram. * Early Chola temples: to Rajaraja I, A.D. 907–985 By S. R. Balasubrahmanyam * South Indian Inscriptions: Miscellaneous inscriptions in Tamil (4 pts. in 2) By Eugen Hultzsch, Hosakote Krishna Sastri, V. Venkayya, Archaeological Survey of India * A topographical list of the inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, collected till 1915: with notes and references, Volume 1 By Vijayaraghava Rangacharya * A topographical list of inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, Volume 2 By T. V. Mahalingam * Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. (1935). ''The CōĻas'', University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984). * Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. (1955). ''A History of South India'', OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002). * South Indian shrines: illustrated By P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar {{DEFAULTSORT:Parantaka 01 Chola emperors 900s births 955 deaths 10th-century Hindus 10th-century Indian monarchs Year of birth uncertain