Rajaraja II 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 reigned from 1150 to 1173. He was made his heir apparent and Co-Regent in 1146 and so the inscriptions of Rajaraja II count his reign from 1146. Rajaraja's reign began to show signs of the coming end of the dynasty.
Beginning of disintegration
The extent of the Chola territories remained as it was during Rajaraja's predecessors. The
Vengi
Vengi or Venginadu ( Telugu: వేంగి) is a historic region located in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India spread over the Godavari and Krishna river deltas. Its capital was located at Pedavegi, near Eluru. Vengi was a prominent city in a ...
country was still firmly under the Chola rule.
The Chola central administration did show weaknesses with regard to their control and effective administration over the outlying parts of the empire, which became pronounced towards the end of Raja Raja-II's reign. However, Rajaraja regained adequate control of provinces like Vengi, Kalinga, Pandya and Chera territories. He probably even invaded Sri Lanka as is explained in one of the Tamil poems written during his time. This is borne out by the fact that not just Rajaraja, but also his successors like Kulothunga III bore titles like Tribhuvana Chakravartin attesting to their military capabilities and cultural achievements.
During the last years of Rajaraja's reign, a civil unrest as a result of a succession dispute convulsed the
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 ...
country, further weakening Chola influence there. This was only to be expected as even though the Pandyas were subjugated by the Cholas since the time of
Aditya I
Aditya Chola I, the son of Vijayalaya Chola, was the Chola king who laid the foundation of the Chola Empire with the conquest of the Pallava Kingdom and the occupation of the Western Ganga Kingdom and Kongu Nadu. Aditya Chola I was succee ...
and were firmly controlled until the time of Virarajendra, the Madurai kingdom nevertheless kept making efforts from time to time, for gaining their independence from their occupiers. Later Pandyas like Maravarman or Maravaramban Sundara Pandyan, Jatavarman Vira Pandyan and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan steadily went on increasing their power and prestige and were to emerge as the most powerful kingdom in South India during the period 1200–1300. These developments were to slowly but surely weaken the Chola kingdom, though there was a minor revival during the fairly steady rule of
Kulothunga III
Kulothunga III was a Chola emperor who ruled from to 1218. He ascended the throne after succeeding his elder brother Rajadhiraja II. Kulothunga Chola III gained success in war against his traditional foes. He gained victories in war against ...
(1178–1218).
In as much as the cholas during his time were dominant militarily is noted by some literature that mention Raja Raja's conquest and his innovative management initiatives.
Here is excerpt from an inscription of his from the
Rajagopala Perumal temple:
Death and succession
The last regnal year cited in Rajaraja's inscription is 26. That makes the last year of his reign 1173. Rajaraja was not destined to live long. Rajaraja did not have any suitable direct descendant to ascend the Chola throne so he chose Rajadhiraja Chola II a grandson of
Vikrama Chola
Vikrama Chola, known as Kō Parakēsari Varman, was a 12th-century ruler (''r. c''. 1118–1135 CE''The Cōḷas.'' 62-63.) of the Chola Empire in southern India. He succeeded his father Kulothunga I (''r. c.'' 1070–1120 CE) to the throne.''The ...
as his heir. According to the Pallavarayanpettai inscription, Rajaraja died four years after he made
Rajadhiraja Chola II
Rajadhiraja Chola II (1166–1178 CE) reigned as the Chola emperor succeeding Rajaraja Chola II. Rajaraja Chola II chose Rajadhiraja II, a maternal grandson of Vikrama Chola as he had no sons. Rajadhiraja II's father was Sangama chola (Neriyudai ...
as heir-apparent.
Since, Rajadhiraja himself was quite young, he would require the help of Pallavarayar to usher the young sons of Rajaraja to safety.
[''History of South India, page 158''][''The Cholas: mathematics reconstructs the chronology, page 127''] According to the inscription, Pallavarayar took steps immediately after the death of Rajaraja for the protection of the king's children, aged one and two years.
According to historian Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Kulothunga Chola III who is widely considered as the last great
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 ...
sovereign was the son of Rajaraja II.
[''South India and Her Muhammadan Invaders, page 11'']
Socio-religious achievements


One of the most important achievements of Rajaraja II was that despite being considered a weak king, it appears that he did enjoy periods of calm and peace especially during the later half of his 26-year rule. It was during this period that he initiated construction of the
Airavatesvarar Temple at Darasuram, Kumbakonam, a
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
.
The Airavateswarar Temple was completed either by the time his rule ended or during the initial period of his successor,
Rajadhiraja II
Rajadhiraja Chola II (1166–1178 CE) reigned as the Chola emperor succeeding Rajaraja Chola II. Rajaraja Chola II chose Rajadhiraja II, a maternal grandson of Vikrama Chola as he had no sons. Rajadhiraja II's father was Sangama chola (Neriyudai ...
. The temple contains innumerable miniature freezes containing stories from
Ramayanam
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
,
Periya Puranam
The ''Periya Purāṇam'' (Tamil: பெரிய புராணம்), that is, the ''great purana'' or epic, sometimes called ''Tiruttontarpuranam'' ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poet ...
and other stories devoted to Siva-Parvati, Vinayagar, Karthikeya etc. It also has musical stairs called the Saptasvaras near a small shrine for Ganapati. The
Mukhamandapam or the Mukhyamandapam of this temple is a real architectural marvel containing many great architectural specimen and was a continuation of the Later Chola tradition of building temples in the shape of giant elephant-driven Rathas or Chariots as like as in
Melakadambur
Melakadambur is a village located from Chidambaram, and can reach at 6 km from Kattumannarkoil, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for Arulmigu Amirthakateshwarar Thirukkoil temple, constructed during the reign of Chola ...
siva temple built by
Kulothunga I
Kulottunga Chola I ('; Middle Tamil: Kulōttuṅka Cōḻaṉ; Classical Sanskrit: Kulottuṅgā Cōḷa; 1025–1122) also spelt Kulothunga (), born Rajendra Chalukya (Telugu language, Telugu: Rājēndra Cāḷukyuḍu), was a Chola empire, C ...
, which was also carried on not just by later Chola kings such as Kulothunga III but also by the kings of Kalinga and culminated in construction of the Sun Temple of Konarak by Eastern Ganga king Narasinghdeo.
Rajaraja also made numerous grants to the temples at Tanjore, Chidambaram, Kanchi, Srirangam, Tiruchy as well as to the temples at Madurai. He was also believed to be a regular visitor to the temples in Parasurama's country (Kerala), which were also recipients of his grants. During his time the chola navies did remain dominant in the western sea as well as eastern sea.
Overall he was a benevolent king who did put up good administrative processes, including efficient revenue generation systems as evidenced by his relief measures to the people during the times of both the famine and civil unrest, which though did take some effort to subdue, but which finally ensured that he retained the loyalty and respect of his ministers, commanders and the general sections of the populace.
Extent of the empire and summary of the rule
Even though there was a famine which further caused a civil disturbance, Raja Raja-II nevertheless, kept most of his adversaries under control and also succeeded in largely maintaining the Chola territories consisting of their possessions in Tamilakam including Kongunadu, Madurai and Thirunelveli, Nellore-Guntur areas (with Renandu and Telugu Cholas having allegiance to Raja Raja-II but controlling their areas with more authority than before), Visaiyavadai(Vijayawada)-Eluru-Rajahmundry-Prakasham (Draksharama) areas traditionally controlled by Vengi kings, Kalinga (whose King was a tribute paying subordinate and a supportive feudatory to Chola overlordship).. up to the banks of Hooghly. In addition, he also had Northern Sri Lanka (as was the case during the time of his illustrious predecessor, Raja Raja-I) under his loose control while as compared to before, even though he had subdued Chera kings, due to the re-emergence of Pandya power, he was forced to allow more autonomy to Malainadu kings with whom he was believed to be having marital relations. But somehow, Raja Raja-II proved not strong enough to regain control of the eastern Gangavadi province, which was lost to the Hoysalas by his predecessor, the great Vikrama Chola. Possibly, the Hoysalas themselves were trying to free themselves from the control of Western Chalukyas and other rapidly growing adversaries like Kalachuris and Kakatiyas, who were as hostile to the Chalukyas and Hoysalas, as they were to the Cholas and even the Pandyas, as would be evidenced in the later years.
Notes
{{Reflist
References
* History of South India By Pran Nath Chopra, T. K. Ravindran, N. Subrahmanian
* The Cholas: mathematics reconstructs the chronology By N. Sethuraman
* South India and Her Muhammadan Invaders By Krishnaswami S. Aiyangar
* 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).
Chola emperors
1173 deaths
Year of birth unknown
12th-century Indian monarchs