Chola Dynasty
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The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty of southern India, one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the world's history. At their greatest extent, the Cholas controlled most of southern India as well as part of Sri Lanka.
Establishment
January 349 BC: The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty of southern India, one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the world's history. The earliest datable references to the Chola are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Ashoka, of the Maurya Empire.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Military campaign of Bindusara, king of the Mauryan Empire.
January 272 BC: Expansion of the Magadha Kingdom until 273 BC.
In 1025 CE, the Chola Emperor Rajendra I launched naval raids on Srivijaya, a kingdom centred on the island of Sumatra.
January 1026: In 1025, the Chola Dynasty, led by Rajendra Chola I, launched naval raids on the Srivijaya Empire Coast.
Expansion during the rule of Simhana II of the Seuna.
January 1221: By 1220, Seuna Dynasty ruler Simhana had completed his conquest of the area to the north of the Tungabhadra River.
January 249 BC: The Pandyas were one of the three chiefly lines of the early historic south India - the Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas - were known as the mu-vendar ("the three vendars"). They traditionally based at their original headquarters in the interior Tamil Nadu (Karur, Madurai and Uraiyur respectively). The powerful chiefdoms of the three ventar dominated the political and economic life of early historic south India. The frequent conflicts between the Chera, the Chola and the Pandya are well documented in ancient (the Sangam) Tamil poetry.
January 204 BC: Several invasions have been made against the Anuradhapura Kingdom, all of which were launched from South India. The first invasion recorded in the history of the country is during the reign of Suratissa (247-237 BC), where he was overthrown by two horse dealers from South India named Sena and Guththika. After ruling the country for 22 years, they were defeated by Asela (215-205 BC), who was in turn overthrown by another invasion led by a Chola prince named Elara .
January 160 BC: Elara ruled for 44 years before being defeated by Dutthagamani .
January 149 BC: The Cheras of the early historical period (c. second century BC - c. third century AD) are known to have had their original centre at Karur in interior Tamil Nadu and harbours at Muchiri (Muziris) and Thondi (Tyndis) on the Indian Ocean coast (Kerala).
January 2: The Chera dynasty was one of the great Tamil ruling families that controlled the southwest coast of India and parts of what is now Tamil Nadu from ancient times to the 15th century.
January 101: Gautamiputra was succeeded by his son Vasisthiputra Sri Pulamavi (or Pulumayi). According to Sailendra Nath Sen, Pulumavi ruled from 96-119 CE. According to Charles Higham, he ascended the throne around 110 CE, according to Shailendra Bhandare, Akira Shimada, and Oskar von Hinuber Vasisthiputra Sri Pulamavi ruled ca. 85-125 CE, and Andrew Ollett considers it to be ca. 84-119 CE. Pulumavi features in a large number of Satavahana inscriptions and his coins have been found distributed over a wide area. This indicates that he maintained Gautamiputra's territory, and ruled a prosperous kingdom. He is believed to have added the Bellary region to Satakarni's kingdom.
January 151: The Ays formed one of the major chieftains of early historic (pre-Pallava) Kerala. Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century AD) described the "Aioi" territory as extending from the Baris (Pamba) to Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari).
January 276: The Pallava dynasty was established after the collapse of the Satavahana dynasty, whom the Pallavas initially served as feudatories.
January 301: The Kalabhra were a dynasty that ruled Tamil in southern India between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD.
January 852: The Mutharaiyar dynasty was ended by Vijayalaya Chola who captured Thanjavur from Ilango Mutharaiyar between 848-851 CE.
January 886: The second Chola King, Aditya I, caused the demise of the Pallava dynasty and defeated the Pandyan dynasty of Madurai in 885, occupied large parts of the Kannada country, and had marital ties with the Western Ganga dynasty.
January 886: The Kongu country, located in present-day Tamil Nadu, was conquered by the Chola Dynasty.
January 898: Pallava was finally defeated by the Chola ruler Aditya I in the 9th century CE.
January 926: Parantaka I conquered Sri Lanka (known as Ilangai).
January 936: The Chalukyas of Vengi defeated the Rashtrakuta emperor Govinda IV and expanded their territories, achieving the maximal extent of their empire.
January 951: While the Pandyas and the Rashtrakutas were busy engaging the Pallavas, with the Gangas and the Simhalas (Sri Lanka) also in the mix, the Cholas emerged from the Kaveri delta and took on the chieftains of Thanjavur.
January 951: The Chera-Perumal Kingdom was conquered by the Cholas.
January 1001: The Chola Dynasty who were seeing a resurgence of power under Rajaraja Chola I conquered Gangavadi around the year 1000, bringing the Western Ganga dynasty to an end.
January 1015: Rajendra Chola took over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
January 1026: The existence of the Pannai Kingdom was first mentioned in Thanjavur inscription written in Tamil dated from 1025 and 1030.
January 1026: In 1025, Rajendra Chola launched naval raids on ports of Srivijaya and against the Burmese kingdom of Pegu. A Chola inscription states that he captured or plundered 14 places, which have been identified with Palembang, Tambralinga and Kedah among others.
February 1026: End of the Chola naval raid in Indonesia.
January 1031: The vassalage of the Sunda Kingdom to the Srivijaya Empire ends.
January 1043: After the reign og Rajendra Chola (1014 to 1042 AD), the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were lost.
January 1046: The Chola control over Srivijaya under Rajendra Chola I lasted two decades until 1045 AD.
January 1050: Govindachandra was the last known king of the Chandra dynasty. The Chandras were overthrown during an invasion of the South Indian Chola dynasty.
January 1051: Rajendra Chola I conquered Odisha.
January 1051: Rajendra Chola I successfully invaded the Srivijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia which led to the decline of the empire there.
January 1051: The origin of Athmallik State is obscure. Most of the state was covered by densely forested hills. In the 11th century a jagir was established by King Prattap Deo of the Kadamba Dynasty. Prattap Deo was said to have found a Honda metal vessel which was considered an auspicious sign, after which the territory was then named as "Hondpa".
January 1051: Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I were the greatest rulers of the Chola dynasty, extending it beyond the traditional limits of a Tamil kingdom. At its peak, the Chola Empire stretched from the island of Sri Lanka in the south to the Godavari-Krishna river basin in the north, up to the Konkan coast in Bhatkal, the entire Malabar Coast (the Chea country) in addition to Lakshadweep, and Maldives.
January 1051: The Mushika kingdom came under the influence of the Chera kingdom in the 11th century AD.
January 1051: The Cholas conquered Rattapadi (territories of the Rashtrakutas, Chalukya country, Talakkad, and Kolar, where the Kolaramma temple still has his portrait statue) in Kannada country.
February 1051: Rajendra Chola I occupied Odisha, but left the region after defeating the forces of the Pala Dynasty.
February 1051: End of the Rajendra Chola I invasion of the Srivijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia.
January 1056: Polonnaruwa assumed rulership of the Ruhuna principality in the southern parts of the country in 1055.
January 1071: Following a seventeen-year-long campaign, Vijayabahu I of Polonnaruwa successfully drove the Chola out of the island in 1070, reuniting the country for the first time in over a century.
January 1109: After the fall of the Chalukya and Chola empires, the Samantarajas of Kota Vamsa became independent.
January 1123: The Kingdom of Valluvanad existed as an autonomous chiefdom within the kingdom of the Chera Perumals. The disintegration of the Chera Perumal kingdom in early 12th century led to the independence of the various autonomous chiefdoms of the kingdom, Valluvanad being one of them.
January 1125: Historical records regarding the origin of the Samoothiri of Kozhikode are obscure. However, it is generally agreed among historians the Eradis were originally the autonomous rulers of Eralnadu/Eranadu region of the Kodungallur Chera kingdom.
January 1161: The first known king of the Chowta Dynasty was Tirumalaraya Chowta I (1160 - 1179).
January 1188: Vishnuvardhana's ambition of creating an independent empire was fulfilled by his grandson Veera Ballala II, who freed the Hoysalas from subordination in 1187-1193.
January 1192: Hoysala ruler Ballala went captured the important forts of Erambara, Kurrugod, Gutti, and Hangal. The Yadavas were driven to the north of the Malaprabha and Krishna rivers, which formed the Yadava-Hoysala border for the next two decades.
January 1201: In 1200, the whole northern districts of Kerala state, known as Kolathunadu, became a major political power in the region after the Cheras of Mahodayapuram and the Pandyan Dynasty disappeared in the 12th century AD.
January 1201: Establishment of the Arakkal Kingdom.
January 1221: Iltutmish of Delhi conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting Muslim rulers, as well as Ranthambore and Siwalik from Hindu rulers.
January 1241: Ganapati Deva significantly expanded Kakatiya lands during the 1230s when he launched a series of attacks outside the dynasty's traditional Telangana region and thus brought under Kakatiya control the Telugu-speaking lowland delta areas around the Godavari and Krishna rivers.
January 1259: Sri Lanka was invaded by Pandya ruler Jatavarman Sundara I in 1258.
January 1261: Jatavarman Sundara I of the Pandyan Dynasty subdued Chola ruler Rajendra III around 1258-1260 CE.
January 1310: Northern Sri Lanka remained under Pandya control until c. 1308-09 CE.
Disestablishment
January 1602: The Kingdom of Ramnad was founded along the southeastern coast of India.
Selected Sources
Schwartzberg,J. E. (1992): A Historical Atlas of South Asia, Minneapolis (USA), Plate III.B.4b (p.18) and Plate XIV.1a-c (p.145).
