Blog 124 - The Ancient - Indian - Mariner - Part II - A History of the Cholas

History of the Cholas —- Part II

Wikipedia

c.1030 CE (under Rajendra I)

Wikipedia

c.1055 CE (under Rajendra II)

c.1065 CE (under Virarajendra Chola)

Happy ‘Lohri’, ‘Makar Sankrati’, ‘Pongal’, ‘Magh Bihu’ to all.

Falls on 15th Jan in some places and 14th Jan in some places)

‘Lohri’ - celebrated mostly in Punjab and Haryana

‘Makar Sankranti’ - celebrated all over India

Happy Pongal celebration with sugarcane, Rangoli and pot of rice, mostly in Tamil Nadu

Celebrating ‘Magh Bihu’ in Assam and surrounding areas

It would be very unfair on my part to immediately enter into the second part of my narrative on “Ancient - Indian - Mariners” without some kind of explanation as to why I have not got to the point as yet and have not dived into the Maritime History of the Cholas, the initial focus of this article.

Just trying to gather information on the Navy of the Cholas, I have been literally swamped with so much of related history that I cannot go to the final part of my text without paying homage to all that had gone before. 

The history of South India is actually so different, so divergent, so disparate from that of their Northern counterparts that a unique blend of antagonism or animus, along with respect for the supposed enemy, cherishing the values of the enemy led to a much less of a ‘scorched earth’ policy than that of the battles of the Northern Hemisphere.

Don’t get me wrong. There were many fierce battles with thousands of dead left behind, blood being shed copiously. But civilians were not (usually) harmed, farmers were allowed to continue with their work, womenfolk were given due respect and - the most important aspect of all - temples were not destroyed, art and architecture were left alone, non-combatants such as intellectuals, poets, priests, writers were always set free to the extent that famed poets or writers or philosophers or dancers or musicians were asked to perform in the new courts of the new ruler, sometimes given important positions in court. The culture of the conquered was never destroyed and the utmost respect was paid to the knowledge libraries of the conquered. In the very rare instance of a temple being destroyed, it was rebuilt by the locals without hindrance or by the conquering king as reparation. Yes, they carried away the riches and the treasury of the conquered, but left behind those artefacts of religious sentiment.

Chanakya (375 to 283 BCE), philosopher, strategist, teacher, author, economist, juror and political advisor to two emperors, Chandragupta and Bindusara of the Maurya dynasty, was the dominant figure in the establishment of the Mauryan Empire which, at its height, extended far and wide, east, west, north and south from the capital Pataliputra, today's Patna. His politics and economics gained him an immovably famous stature in the annals of Indian history. All his philosophy, politics, economics and his full talent was enumerated in his classic "Arthashastra", a treatise that became the 'Bible' for all rulers who followed. Parts of his "Arthashastra" dealt with treatment to be meted out to the vanquished, whether ruler, soldier, educator, teacher, common man, farmer, court poet, dancer and all women - how they should be treated - with decency. Temples were all to be treated with respect.

Source : Wikipedia

Why am I mentioning this, albeit briefly? Chanakya's treatise, the "Arthashastra" had become the 'maxime legere' - most read - of state policy of all southern monarchs, which resulted in a more benevolent treatment of the conquered.

Most Mariners will also note that the leading training institution on the navigation side is the TS Chanakya, named after this strategist who lived 2300 years ago.

Chanakya is a well known figure in Indian history. One is reminded of Sun Tzu, author of "The Art of War" who lived in China almost in the same period as Chanakya in China. (Date needs confirmation).

Contrast this with the chaos brought in by hordes and hordes of invaders in the Northern hemisphere. Ravaging, raping, pillaging was the norm. How many temples were looted, how many works of art - mostly of religious sentiment - were destroyed, how many works of art were mauled - there is no count.  And knowledge repositories were never spared.

The classic and ‘burning’ example is the Nalanda Mahavihara in present day Bihar and Takshila, now in Pakistan.

For those who have only a faint knowledge of Nalanda “Wikipedia” says

Quote

Nalanda (Nālandā, pronounced [naːlən̪d̪aː]) was a renowned mahavihara (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Considered by historians to be the world's first residential university and among the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world, it was located near the city of Rajagriha (now Rajgir) and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Pataliputra (now Patna). Operating from 427 until 1197 CE, for 770 years, Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the "Golden Age of India" by scholars.

Nalanda was established during the Gupta Empire era, and was supported by numerous Indian and Javanese patrons – both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Over some 750 years, its faculty included some of the most revered scholars of Mahayana Buddhism. Nalanda Mahavihara taught six major Buddhist schools and philosophies such as Yogachara and Sarvastivada as well as subjects such as Vedas, grammar, medicine, logic, mathematics, astronomy and alchemy. The university was also a major source of the 657 Sanskrit texts carried by pilgrim Xuanzang and the 400 Sanskrit texts carried by Yijing to China in the 7th century, which influenced East Asian Buddhism. Many of the texts composed at Nalanda played an important role in the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism including the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra of Shantideva.

Unquote

Wikipedia gives a sanitized version of a colonial outlook of Nalanda. Recent Indian historians have found valuable information and a few records (saved from Nalanda) that exponentially expanded our knowledge of Nalanda. This is a separate subject in itself and I hope to be able to research this later.

The library was reputed to have held ancient texts which were more than 15000 years old, including a copy - or the original - of the Rig Veda.

The Invader Bakhityar Khilji, from the Ghor region of present day Central Afghanistan, destroyed Nalanda thrice. The first two times he destroyed the structures, which were rebuilt. On the third occasion he destroyed not only the structure but burnt all the manuscripts, records, books, ancient works of art and the full content of the vast 9 storeyed buildings, conservatively estimated at around 9 million books.

It took him and his men 3 months to burn all the written records, books.

Temples were destroyed by the hundreds of thousands and mosques built on them by the invaders. A few of them are, now, returning to the fold after more than 500 years. The "Ram Lalla Mandir" has become a reality after more than 500 years after its destruction by Babar of the Mughal dynasty.

But the books, the very receptacles of a civilisation, of a knowledge based society, were all destroyed.

That is why I say that the Northern part of India is less fortunate than the Southern part of India as more volume of civilisational history has been lost.

Temples are the spiritual, cultural and religious repositories of the populace of a particular period. The destruction of a temple also has an emotional connect. Once the danger has past, maybe even centuries later, it can be replicated and rebuilt, may not be an exact replica but enough to satisfy the emotional psyche.

But the destruction of books, records, palm leaf manuscripts, especially if they are unique and uncopied, can never be recovered. They are lost to posterity.

This is where the whole of Europe has been at an advantage as, before records are lost or destroyed, thousands of monks and priests, mostly Jesuits, sat in hundreds of monasteries and copied ancient texts and made several copies which were carried to other monasteries. The Vatican contains a huge mass of such copies in its vast subterranean libraries.

Much as we lost Nalanda and Takshila, Egypt lost the libraries of Alexandra, burnt and destroyed by pillaging Romans.

Moving out of the orbit of the narrative for a moment, from my youth, since the time I became more and more acquainted with people from the north, I have always noted one simple but enormous difference between women folk of the north and women folk of the south. The former cover their heads when entering a temple or when in the company of elders, whereas the latter do no do so. Even my friends’ wives from the north do so - cover their heads - when I take them into a temple in southern cities.

Is it because of the Muslim invaders that they covered themselves as much as possible? Just a rhetorical question.

The history of South India is marred by the various dynasties that warred with each other for territorial ascendency. At different times, different dynasties held sway.

Starting as Chieftains of small territories, all of them came into conflict with one or the other of the ruling families and the victor triumphed and increased the size of their kingdoms.

Recorded history shows that the Pandyas were the earliest, going back almost 5000 years to 3000 BCE, as the ‘Sangam’ period records indicate. Around 300 BCE, the Pandyan dynasty is mentioned in the inscriptions found on Ashoka edicts of the Mauryan period in the north. They are mentioned as late as 1618 in historical records, with the port of Korkai, one of the districts of present day Thoothukudi - its main exports being pearls, textiles and spices - as the capital in ancient times, Madurai as capital till 1335 and, finally, Tenkasi till 1618.

The apogee of the Pandya kingdom came in 1290CE in the reign of Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandyan.

The last three images are about one of the most iconic symbols of South India, the Madurai Meenakshi temple, built by the Pandyas

Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple was built by Pandyan Emperor Sadayavarman Kulasekaran I (1190 CE–1205 CE)

The Chera dynasty is one of the three ‘Sangam’ age dynasties - The Pandyas, the Cholas and the Cheras - that ruled South India intermittently - when able to wrest control from the Pandyas or the Cholas. They concentrated more on the western coast of South India and profited from trade with the ancient nations through the maritime route. They declined after the 12th century CE, but continued as monarchs on the west coast.

Chera Country

The Pallava Dynasty ruled from 275 CE to 897 CE.

The Pallavas with their capital at Kanchipuram

The ‘Shore Temple’ at Mahabalipuram - the Pallavas gift to India

The Pallavas - Byjus.com

There were other dynasties, relatively short lived, but had a powerful impact on language, arts, culture, temples and commerce. The Kakatiyas, the Hoysalas, Kadambas, Satyavahanas all played a massive part in the development of South India, even as we know it today.

But my concentration is on the Cholas.

The Cholas - One of the three ‘Sangam’ kingdoms - in actuality, kingdoms that are mentioned in any or all of the three 'Sangams' literature - Starting off as small chieftains much prior 370 BCE, their first mention in historical or other records were during the Sangam period, but no  specific dates have been found. Ashokan edifices - in stone - mention them in the year 370 BCE. They dominated the Thanjavur delta area during their entire reign from before 370 BCE to nearly 1300 CE, except for a brief period of 300 years during the 6th to 9th centuries, when they were forced out by the Pandyas and Pallavas. But they were not entirely annihilated as they survived in the Telugu heartland and in small pockets elsewhere, only to come back in force in the 9th century. From the 9th to the 13th century they expanded their domain to include nearly the whole of peninsular India, Sri  Lanka, what is today known as Myanmar, most of Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand.

Around the end of the 8th century CE, Vijayalaya defeated the Pallavas and re-took Thanjavur, which was made the capital of the Cholas from then on, for a period of time. Their previous capital had been Uraiyur - now Tiruchirapalli - and then, with the ousting of the Pallavas, Thanjavur became the capital.

Thanjavur was their cash cow. Three crops were grown every year in the lush delta of the Kaveri and everyone prospered. Even to this day, the Tanjoreans are reputed to be arrogant because of their riches. “Take a bride from Thanjavur for you will receive gifts and sustenance for the rest of your life, but never a groom for you will be bled of all your belongings” - an old Tamil adage, not an exact quote, more the (quiet) sentiment in other parts of Tamil Nadu.

The landed gentry of that time and for centuries, were rich beyond measure. It was only after the coming  the British, who taxed them from anywhere between 50 to 80% of their produce - depending on the whim of the resident ‘Collector’ (who was, almost always, an ignoramus bred in the gutters of London) - that their wealth started dwindling. The produce was always shipped to England. But the Tanjoreans were also astute and cunning. They hid their wealth in various ways, till they finally ‘discovered’ it after independence. 

The digital elevation map of the Cauvery Delta 

Tourists on a ‘Coracle’ ride in the Kaveri Delta.

Coracles - known as 'parisal' in Tamil - have been in use for many millenia in the Delta for crossing or going along the river - in use today also

I suspect that the practice of the past few centuries  of pouring in gold and diamonds and 'navaratnas' into the upright posts of the front door of their new houses was one such methods of avoiding the English tax collector.

Over centuries, as on most rivers in the south, ‘anaicuts’ (anaikattu in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada) - a masonry check dam that is constructed across a stream to impound water for maintaining and regulating irrigation - were built by the Cholas, mainly with irrigation in mind.

“Grand Anicut” with its flood gates open - Wikipedia

The above ‘anaikattu’ was built in circa 150 CE by Karikala Cholan of the Chola dynasty almost 1900 years ago, across the Kaveri River, is still in existence and in use. It is the 4th oldest irrigation system in the world.

I am copying a full paragraph from Wikipedia, as it  is a very interesting read of a marvel of engineering that has withstood the ravages of time.

Quote

“The purpose of the Kallanai was to divert the waters of the Kaveri across the fertile delta region for irrigation via canals and to its northern delta branch Kollidam/Coleroon. Downstream of the barrage, the river Kaveri splits into four streams known as Kollidam Aru, Kaveri, Vennaru and Puthu Aru. However, the flood waters can be allowed, by opening the barrage/anaicut gates, to pass through the other three delta branches also to join the sea. It is constructed from unhewn stone spanning the Kaveri and is 329 m (1,079 ft) long, 20 m (66 ft) wide and 5.4 m (18 ft) high. The dam is still in excellent condition, and supplied a model to later engineers, including Sir Arthur Cotton's 19th-century dam across the Kollidam, the major distributary of the Kaveri. The area irrigated by the ancient irrigation network is about 69,000 acres (28,000 ha). By the early 20th century, the irrigated area had been increased to about one million acres (400,000 ha).”

Unquote

The above happens to be one of the larger ‘anaikattus’ of those centuries. 

Lower Bhavani area

Narasipuram Multi-Step Waterfalls

One has to necessarily and truly be amazed at the ingenuity of the citizens of that time, at how each sector or each village dealt with their water resources, without affecting the riparian villages downstream. They built an ‘anaikattu’ just high enough to serve their  own needs, allowing the river to overflow down to the next village.

It is unlike the situation of today where high dams have been built to completely stop the flow, leaving the riparian states barren. Not only the Kaveri is dammed at several places but also the tributaries to the Kaveri. Only when the dams are at the danger mark are the spillways opened to allow water to flow along the barren beds of the Kaveri.

The advantage of the low height 'anaikattus' of the ancient eras over the high height dams of today is that the former provides irrigation for an agricultural society over the full length of the river, whereas the high dams provide hydro electric power for millions of people. When dams are at danger point levels, emergency opening of the sluices flood villages and cities downstream, whereas 'anaikattus' coming to danger levels are not a problem at all, as they overflow from the top or their sluice gates are open without any danger downstream.

Present day situation has led to only one crop being harvested once a year, some years none, thereby completing destroying the economy of a vibrant ecosystem, of what was once called the “Granary of the South”.

Spare a thought for the farmers of those millions of acres downstream of the Kaveri river, who find dry river beds, bone dry irrigational canals and unable to grow crops due to an upstream state government's policies and the fervid politics that has gone on since 1975 over the release of sufficient water from the large and numerous dams in the upstream state, in spite of agreements for release of water to riparian states downstream.

Krishnaraja Sagara Dam in Karnataka, across the Kaveri, built in 1932.

Pictures when none of the sluice gates are open and the next when the gates are open. Height of dam is 130 feet, designed by Sir M. Visveswaraya

===== To e continued - about the Cholas =====